“Prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to confirm the July 19th plan that sees the removal of almost all legal COVID-19 restrictions later today.”
Ahead of the news conference this afternoon, the prime minister has urged everyone to “still be cautious”.
“We must all take responsibility so we don’t undo our progress, ensuring we continue to protect our NHS,” he remarked.
Johnson warned that the virus cases, currently around 30,000 a day, would continue to rise as society is reopening.
Boris Johnson’s conference this afternoon will present the most recent data, with Downing Street saying current data suggests hospital admissions, serious illness and deaths from COVID-19 will carry on, but at a lower level than before the vaccination programme begun last year.
Number 10 says the delay in moving the COVID-19 restrictions to the 19th of July has allowed an additional 6.8 first and second vaccination doses to be administered so far.
The government had also moved the end of restrictions closer to the school summer holidays, when transmission was believed to be lower than average, Downing Street stated.
Mr Johnson remarked: “We are tantalisingly close to the final milestone in our road map out of lockdown, but the plan to restore our freedoms must come with a warning.”
He stated the vaccine rollout had weakened the link between hospital admissions and deaths, but added the pandemic in the UK was “not over yet”.
With cases set to rise as restrictions are set to be lifted, “caution is absolutely vital”, prime minister Johnson stated.
As well as the news conference today, Health Secretary Sajid Javid is expected to announce the plans in Parliament.
