England's freedom day beckons after vaccine success

Prime Minister announces remaining restrictions will be lifted on July 19

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives an update on relaxing restrictions imposed on England at a virtual press conference from No 10 Downing Street, London. AFP

England is to eventually come out of lockdown with its successful vaccination programme weakening the link between Covid-19 and death, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday.

Despite a tenfold rise in infections over the last six weeks with the Delta variant taking hold, Boris Johnson said it was time for the country to “learn to live with coronavirus” and end most restrictions.

The UK recorded 27,334 new daily infections, the second highest since 29 January at the height of the deadly second wave. But on that day 1,247 died whereas today there were nine deaths.

From July 19 social distancing laws will be dropped but at a time when Britain could be experiencing a mass outbreak of 50,000 infections a day, Mr Johnson said.

While Britain has the fourth highest number of weekly infections in the world, with a 68 per cent increase in the past week, fatalities are low with 122 deaths in the same period placing it the nation 47th on the global list.

“We're seeing rising hospital admissions and we must reconcile ourselves sadly to more deaths from Covid,” Mr Johnson said. “There's only one reason why we can contemplate going ahead to Step Four [full reopening] in circumstances where we'd normally be locking down further and that's because of the continuing effectiveness of the vaccine rollout.”

He insisted that with high vaccine numbers and the warm summer months dampening infections, if Britain did not “open up” in two weeks then it would have to wait until after winter next year.

The UK has vaccinated 45 million adults with one dose and 33 million with two out of a population of 68 million. Mr Johnson said it was clear that vaccines had “helped to break the link between disease and death” and that the majority of those admitted to hospital were unvaccinated.

From July 19 people will no longer have to observe the one-metre social distancing rule or wear masks. Music, theatre, sport and other large events will be allowed, with the restriction of 30 people gathering outside lifted allowing for full-scale weddings and funerals.

Nightclubs can reopen and table service at restaurants and pubs will no longer be mandatory. The directive to work from home where possible will be shelved.

While the government had to “balance the risks”, the prime minister argued that to continue with lockdown would take a “toll on people's lives and livelihoods”.

The government’s gamble is based largely on scientific evidence which suggests enough people are vaccinated to prevent hospitals being overwhelmed or large-scale deaths.

There will now be a voluntary approach to Covid with people asked to act responsibly although it is unclear whether this will extend to transport. The London Underground, where thousands of commuters pack into train carriages, looks likely to insist on mask-wearing for passengers.

For travel, those coming from amber countries may not need to isolate for 10 days on return. “We will work with the travel industry towards removing the need for fully vaccinated arrivals to isolate on return from an amber country,” Mr Johnson said.

The prime minister said he hoped everyone over 18 would be “double jabbed” by the middle of September.

The government decided against mandatory domestic vaccine passports in England.

Mr Johnson said people would now have to learn to live with coronavirus as they do flu, which accounts for about 10,000 deaths a year.

“We will do everything possible to avoid reimposing restrictions with all the costs that they bring,” he said.

“Freedom day” only applies to England. In Scotland it is scheduled for August 9 and a date has yet to be set for Wales and Northern Ireland.