All social distancing rules for pubs, restaurants and bars will be scrapped in England on Freedom Day, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed will be on July 19.
Speaking during a much-anticipated press conference at Downing Street, Mr Johnson said there will be no more restrictions on seating numbers, meaning you will be able to sit with more than six people at a venue.
Table service will no longer be mandatory, meaning you can order at the bar again without having to be seated at a pre-booked table.
There will also no longer be the need to scan a QR code upon entering a location for the purpose of NHS Track and Trace, the PM said.
The one-metre rule will also be ditched, as will the mandatory wearing of face masks in shops, restaurants and on public transport.
Guidance, however, will suggest people might choose to do so in "enclosed and crowded places".
The prime minister made the announcement as he confirmed the government's intention to go ahead with the forth and final step to lifting lockdown on July 19 - despite widespread concern it could cause "variant factories".
While he said the pandemic is "far from over" with a potential 50,000 cases detected a day by July 19, he said the effectiveness of the vaccine rollout warrants the lifting of restrictions.
"We're seeing rising hospital admissions and we must reconcile ourselves sadly to more deaths from Covid," he said.
"In these circumstances we must take a careful and a balanced decision. And there's only one reason why we can contemplate going ahead to step four in circumstances where we'd normally be locking down further, and that's because of the continuing effectiveness of the vaccine rollout."
Ahead of the expected announcement, scientists had urged caution amid soaring case rates across the country caused by the spread of the more transmittable Delta variant, which was first identified in India and which is causing a resurgence of cases all around the world.
The British Medical Association warned over the weekend that the rise in cases was "alarming" and it made "no sense" to remove all restrictions at the same time.
The highest number of cases since January's peak was recorded last Wednesday as cases soared to more than 26,000 in the UK.
There were 27,334 new cases recorded on Monday, while a further nine deaths were reported, bringing the overall death toll to 128,231.
Meanwhile, 86.1 per cent of the adult population in the UK have received one dose of a Covid vaccine, while 64 per cent have received two.
The PM's bullish approach represents a shift from the relative caution of recent months when he delayed the final step out of lockdown by four weeks.
Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick said the Government was now in a position to "roll back" restrictions in England and "return to normality" as far as possible.
He stressed that individuals should take personal responsibility to protect themselves - even though it could lead to conflict with others.
"It will be a different period where we as private citizens make these judgements rather than the Government telling you what to do," he said.
