WORKPLACE floor markings, the closure of office lifts and canteens and reduced hot-desking are among a range of social distancing measures being proposed by the UK Government to get back people back to work.

Leaked draft documents from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy say extra cleaning should be introduced in office spaces and the use of protective equipment should be considered where maintaining a distance of two metres between workers is not possible.

For workers who have customer-facing roles, plastic screens should be erected to help protect them, while continued home working and staggered shifts should also be encouraged, the guidance says.

The proposals are among a list of guidelines in seven documents drawn up after consultation with executives, trade bodies and unions.

Workers look set to have their temperatures taken when they arrive for work to see if they have the virus and firms will also be told to lay on more parking spaces so that staff do not have to rely on lifts from colleagues.

Under the plans, millions of companies will have to draw up a Covid-19 "risk assessment" before allowing staff to return to work.

The guidance also says social distancing will have to be maintained, whether on the shop floor, in shopping queues, or in communal spaces.

A Government spokesman said: "The Business Secretary[Alok Sharma] continues to work with businesses, union leaders and the science and medical community so we can ensure workplaces are safe for those who will go back to work once the measures are relaxed and give people the confidence to return to work."

Mr Sharma is due to take questions in the Commons this afternoon.

The draft guidance comes as Britain enters its seventh week of the lockdown with the Government review due on Thursday although it is thought Boris Johnson will address the nation on Sunday to lay out his plan for the next phase of the lockdown.

The Prime Minister is expected to hold telephone talks with Nicola Sturgeon and her Welsh counterpart Mark Drakeford in the next 48 hours to discuss the strategy for a gradual easing of some of the restrictions.

Later today, Mr Johnson in a speech will describe the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine as the "most urgent shared endeavour of our lifetimes" as he calls on nations to "pull together" in response to the pandemic.

The PM is expected to tell an online pledging conference this afternoon - co-hosted by the UK and eight other countries and organisations - that the sooner states share their expertise, the faster scientists will succeed in defeating the disease.

He will say: “To win this battle, we must work together to build an impregnable shield around all our people, and that can only be achieved by developing and mass producing a vaccine.

“The more we pull together and share our expertise, the faster our scientists will succeed. The race to discover the vaccine to defeat this virus is not a competition between countries, but the most urgent shared endeavour of our lifetimes.

“It’s humanity against the virus - we are in this together, and together we will prevail.”

Also today, Matt Hancock, the UK Health Secretary, is expected to see out more details of a smartphone app to help trace the spread of coronavirus as it begins a trial on the Isle of Wight this week before being rolled out more widely later this month.

The issue is set to be the Government’s main focus at the daily Downing St press conference.

This morning, Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, said a "range of methods" including the use of personal protective equipment and shields could allow people to be less than two metres apart for periods.

He told BBC Breakfast: "There are lots of ways, there's PPE, there's use of time. You could be closer than two metres but not for long at all. There are a range of ways to do this.

"And if it's very vital you work next to each other then potentially things like shields that you see in supermarkets, or indeed PPE, is a way forward."

However, business leaders said clarity was needed on issues such as PPE and whether firms could be held liable even if they fulfilled their obligations to protect employees from coronavirus.

Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said the issue was one of the "key questions we've asked".

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We need as much specificity as possible so businesses can ensure they've taken all the steps they can in order to protect their people.

"And, as much as possible, we want to see consistency across the UK. It would be very confusing and costly for businesses if we saw different nations going in very different directions.

"They[bosses] will want to know that they're not going to be held liable for horrible things that may unfortunately happen if they've done everything in their power to keep their people safe.

"Whereas, by contrast, you'd want to see those employers who didn't take adequate steps face the consequences of that so the question of legal liability is extremely important."

Mr Marshall insisted there was a need for "clear guidance" on PPE.

"We're still waiting for more detail on that and it's going to be hugely, hugely important for a lot of firms because the number of questions we're hearing from businesses about protective equipment grows by the day."

A UK-wide procurement strategy will be "hugely important" in order to source and manufacture the necessary PPE, he added.

In other developments:

*Mr Johnson, in an interview with the Sun newspaper, told how, during his treatment in intensive are for Covid-19, he feared he might not live to meet his son Wilfred, who was born on Wednesday;

*Mr Wallace said the Government has been "trying to source as many masks as possible" in case guidance for their use by the public changes;

*Gavin Williamson, the UK Education Secretary, announced a package of support worth almost £3 billion to help universities weather the coronavirus crisis – this is expected to produce a knock-on windfall for the Scottish Government of around £250 million and

*Sir David King, the Government’s former Chief Scientific Adviser, will host a meeting of experts this afternoon in response to concerns over the "lack of transparency" coming from the Sage group of advisers.

Meanwhile, rail union leaders have voiced "severe concerns" over any moves to increase train services as part of the expected easing of the lockdown.

The three main rail unions have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson warning that increasing services would send out a "mixed message" that it is OK to travel by train, despite official advice suggesting otherwise.

"This mixed messaging could be dangerous and lead to the public flouting the rules on travel and work," said Aslef, the RMT and TSSA.

The letter continues: "We will not accept new working patterns that put the lives of railway workers and passengers at risk.

"To be clear - we are not convinced that there is any basis at this time for a safe escalation of services.