Boris Johnson has confirmed that social distancing will be scrapped in England from 19 July as people will be asked to use their own judgement to manage the risk of Covid-19.
The prime minister told a Downing Street press conference on Monday that the restrictions would end despite concerns from scientists that the government is moving too fast.
He said: “We must be honest with ourselves that if we can’t reopen our society in the next few weeks, when we will be helped by the arrival of summer and by the school holidays, then we must ask ourselves: when will we be able to return to normal?”
Mr Johnson warned that a further delay would “run the risk of either opening up at a very difficult time when the virus has an edge” or “putting everything off to next year”.
However chief medical adviser Chris Whitty warned the NHS could face a ‘very difficult’ winter, after it emerged that Covid cases were set to increase to 50,000 a day over the next two weeks.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the PM was “reckless” to remove all legal restrictions at once and suggested mask rules should have stayed in place until the third wave peaks. A new YouGov poll also found most British adults think mask rules should be kept for longer after other restrictions are lifted.
Earlier on Monday care minister Helen Whately declined to say that Covid-19 was “under control” but argued that the government did not expect rising case rates to lead to a significant increase in hospitalisations due to the success of vaccines.
