New Health Secretary Sajid Javid made it clear that the final stages of lockdown will come to an end on July 19, in his first official statement in his new role.
As expected, he confirmed that remaining rules will not end on July 5. The Government had been considering this date for "step 4" of the roadmap for ending the lockdown, which involves scrapping almost all existing rules.
However, he also said that restrictions were set to end on July 19.
READ MORE: Updates and reaction as Sajid Javid says July 19 'remains target date'
Mr Javid, who took over as Health Secretary following the resignation of Matt Hancock, didn't quite make the date official, describing it at one point as a "target".
But he also called the date "the end of the line" and said he saw "no reason to go beyond the 19th of July".
A full, final announcement will be made on July 5.
Remaining restrictions include a ban on more than six people from different households, or more than two households, meeting indoors.
Other remaining restrictions include a ban on more than 30 people attending an event outdoors.
Mr Javid told MPs: "I spent my first day as Health Secretary just yesterday looking at the data and testing it to the limit
"While we decided not to bring forward step 4, we see no reason to go beyond the 19th of July. Because in truth, no date we choose comes with zero risk for Covid.
"We know we cannot eliminate it. We have to learn to live with it.
"We also know businesses want certainty So we want every step to be irreversible. And make no mistake, the restrictions on our freedoms, they must come to an end.
"We owe it to the British people ... not to wait a moment longer than we need to .
"So, with the numbers heading in the right direction ... July 19 remains our target date. The Prime Minister has called it our "terminus date".
"For me, 19 July is not only the end of the line but the start of an exciting new journey for our country."
He said the Government aimed to ensure that two-thirds of all adults in the country will have had two vaccine doses by July 19.
And he said more than half of adults under 30 have already been vaccinated.
Data showed a single dose of vaccine was less effective against the "delta" variant of coronavirus than against previous variants, but two doses were just as effective with the new variant as with older ones, he said.
Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow health secretary, suggested that the Government might be forced to delay after all.
Responding to Mr Javid, he said: “A word to the wise – I’ve responded to a lot of these statements these past 15 months.
“I remember ministers telling us there was nothing in the data to suggest June 21 wouldn’t go ahead, I remember children returning to school for one day before the January lockdown, I remember ‘It will all be over by Christmas’, I remember ‘We will send it packing in 12 weeks’.
“Well, we’ve seen around 84,000 cases in the last week, an increase of around 61%. Today we’ve seen the highest case rate since January."
