UK public must “learn to live with Covid”

New health minister Sajid Javid said that the government sees “no reason to go beyond the 19^th July” in regards to extending Covid restrictions.

Whilst he urged caution amongst the public and a duty to uphold the restrictions set out currently, Javid confirmed that “July 19th remains our target date. The prime minister has called it our terminus date. For me, the 19th of July is not only the end of the line but the start of a exciting new journey for our country.”

Although Britain currently has one of the highest official death tolls from Covid globally, officials have maintained that the mass vaccination programme is widening the gap between cases and deaths.

The government has not, however, committed to removing all existing pandemic rules in July, with Javid responding by saying, “no date we choose comes with zero risk for Covid. We know we cannot simply eliminate it, we have to learn to live with it.” Instead, officials will be closely monitoring the data and set out more details in due course regarding the step-by-step easing of restrictions.

Step 4 is the final stage of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown, but it has already been delayed once due to the surge in the Delta variant.

New figures also show that 44,454,511 people have received a first dose of the vaccine, while 32,583,746 have had both doses.

What does Step 4 entail?

Click here for the Governments Summer 2021 Covid-19 Response

Social contact

The government hopes to be in a position to remove all legal limits on social contact. It is expected that the wearing of face masks and working from home procedures will still be encouraged.

Business, activities and events

• The reopening of remaining premises, including nightclubs
• Easing of restrictions on large events and performances that apply in Step 3. This will be subject to the results of a scientific Events Research Programme to test the outcome of certain pilot events through the spring and summer