BORIS Johnson will reveal his decision whether to go ahead with Freedom Day on July 19 at a Downing Street briefing tonight.
The PM is expected to push ahead with plans to axe the majority of Covid restrictions next Monday when he addresses the nation at around 5pm.
Ahead of the announcement, Mr Johnson said: "We are tantalisingly close to the final milestone in our road map out of lockdown, but the plan to restore our freedoms must come with a warning.
"While the phenomenal vaccine rollout has offered every adult some protection against the virus, and the crucial link between cases, hospitalisations and deaths is weakened, the global pandemic is not over yet.
"Cases will rise as we unlock, so as we confirm our plans today, our message will be clear. Caution is absolutely vital, and we must all take responsibility so we don't undo our progress, ensuring we continue to protect our NHS."
It comes as the UK has seen a massive upsurge in the number of cases and hospitalisations.
Covid cases have risen by 31,772 with a total of 512,145 confirmed cases.
Read our coronavirus live blog below for the latest updates…
- Joseph Gamp
WHAT WILL BORIS JOHNSON SAY LATER IN HIS PRESS CONFERENCE?
Mr Johnson is expected to say that the country can move to Step 4 of the plan to lift measures, including ending the legal requirement to wear masks.
Quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers returning to the UK from abroad will also be ditched, as will the school bubble system.
Ahead of the announcement, Mr Johnson said: "We are tantalisingly close to the final milestone in our road map out of lockdown, but the plan to restore our freedoms must come with a warning.
"While the phenomenal vaccine rollout has offered every adult some protection against the virus, and the crucial link between cases, hospitalisations and deaths is weakened, the global pandemic is not over yet.
"Cases will rise as we unlock, so as we confirm our plans today, our message will be clear.
“Caution is absolutely vital, and we must all take responsibility so we don't undo our progress, ensuring we continue to protect our NHS."
- Joseph Gamp
IMPENDING BIG WAVE: SCIENTISTS SAY THE DELTA OUTBREAK WILL GET BIGGER
Scientists expect the outbreak to only get larger with “Freedom Day” just a week away.
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, a statistician from the University of Cambridge, said it is “absolutely inevitable” there will be a “big wave” of coronavirus cases as restrictions are lifted.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show: “Frankly, you know, unless tomorrow an immediate lockdown is announced – which I think is pretty unlikely – there’s bound to be a big wave of cases coming up, absolutely inevitable.
“It was predictable right from the start of the road map announcement back in February.
“Of course it’s been made worse by the Delta variant. And I would guess that, you know, 100,000 a day is quite possible, and relaxing everything at once on July 19 will only make that more likely.”
- Joseph Gamp
DELTA VARIANT’S TERRIFYING SPREAD ACROSS UK LAID BARE IN SHOCKING MAPS – JUST WEEKS APART
THESE shocking maps show how the Delta variant has become dominant in all corners of the country in a matter of weeks.
The strain is behind several hundreds of thousands of infections each day, as it now makes up around 99 per cent of all cases.
Data from the Wellcome Sanger Institute reveals that in almost every local authority of England, the Delta variant is the most prominent strain.
It is now seeding itself in parts of the North East that until now, had been barely touched.
Maps show that around a month ago – on June 12 – several authorities were yet to be overtaken by Delta. The most recent stats, to July 3, paint a very different picture.
Read more here.
- Joseph Gamp
MP SORRY FOR SAYING RASHFORD SHOULD HAVE SPENT LESS TIME 'PLAYING POLITICS'
A Tory MP has apologised after suggesting that Marcus Rashford should have spent more time "perfecting his game" than "playing politics".
Natalie Elphicke made the comment in a message to fellow MPs after the footballer missed a penalty in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday night.
His failure to convert from the spot – along with misses from Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka – consigned England to another agonising penalty shoot-out defeat in a major tournament as Italy secured victory at Wembley.
Rashford waged a high-profile campaign to persuade the Government to provide free meals to vulnerable youngsters throughout the school holidays during the coronavirus pandemic, forcing Prime Minister Boris Johnson into a U-turn.
In a late-night private message, Ms Elphicke said: "They lost – would it be ungenerous to suggest Rashford should have spent more time perfecting his game and less time playing politics."
- Joseph Gamp
FLU JABS ‘PROTECTS AGAINST SOME SEVERE COVID EFFECTS’, SCIENTISTS DISCOVER
FLU jabs protect against some of the serious effects of Covid, scientists have discovered.
It serves as another reason to get the vaccine in the autumn, when it’s feared flu and Covid could cause a double whammy of disease.
Researchers looked at the health records of almost 37,400 people who had gotten Covid from the UK, US, Germany, Italy, Israel and Singapore.
Half of them, in the first group, had gotten the flu jab between two weeks and six months before a Covid diagnosis, while those in the second group had not been vaccinated against the flu.
Those who had not gotten a flu jab were up to 20 per cent more likely to have been admitted to ICU with Covid.
- Joseph Gamp
HEATHROW PASSENGER NUMBERS REMAIN ALMOST 90% DOWN ON PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS
Heathrow passenger numbers remain almost 90% down on pre-pandemic levels and significantly lower than EU rival airports, new figures show.
Airport bosses revealed just 957,000 passengers passed through its terminals in June compared with 7,246,157 who used the west London airport in June 2019.
The number of passengers travelling through the airport covers the month where Portugal was moved from the green list of countries to amber and led to widespread fury in the travel sector over the speed of rule changes for travellers.
Following the latest data, Heathrow bosses urged the Government to do more to support the sector.
They pointed out that Schiphol and Frankfurt airports in the Netherlands and Germany respectively have surpassed their 2019 cargo volumes, growing by 14% and 9% respectively compared to 2019.
- Joseph Gamp
RUSSIA REPORTS 25,140 NEW COVID-19 CASES, 710 DEATHS
Russia reported 25,140 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, including 5,403 in Moscow, taking the official national tally since the pandemic began to 5,808,473.
The government coronavirus task force said 710 people had died of coronavirus-linked causes in the past 24 hours, pushing the national death toll to 143,712.
The federal statistics agency has kept a separate count and has said Russia recorded around 290,000 deaths related to COVID-19 from April 2020 to May 2021.
- Joseph Gamp
MORE THAN 250 DELTA VARIANT DEATHS
As of June 21, there had been 257 deaths in England of people who were confirmed as having the Delta variant and who died within 28 days of a positive test, Public Health England said.
Of this number, 26 were under the age of 50 and 231 were aged 50 or over.
Of the 231 aged 50 or over, 71 were unvaccinated, one was within 21 days of a first dose of vaccine, 41 at least 21 days after one dose of vaccine and 116 had received both doses.
Of the 26 under 50, three were at least 21 days after a first dose of vaccine, two had received both doses and 21 were unvaccinated.
- Joseph Gamp
HOSPITAL WAITING LISTS COULD HIT 13MILLION PATIENTS IF COVID LOCKDOWNS CONTINUE
Sajid Javid said the backlog will take “some considerable time to clear” as the current record number of 5.3 million people waiting for treatment looks set to more than double in the coming months.
In his first interview since being appointed, the 51-year-old told The Telegraph the pandemic has worsened “non-Covid” health problems.
He said many people had chosen not to go to hospital for fear of catching the virus, but also blamed a “very British” attitude of not wanting to too much pressure on the NHS.
England’s NHS waiting list last month reached the “grim milestone” of five million for the first time since records began.
Over a quarter of a million Brits have waited more than a year to start hospital treatment, with appointments pushed back by the pandemic.
- Joseph Gamp
FORMER HEAD OF AMAZON UK DOUGLAS GURR APPLIES TO HEAD UP NHS AS SERVICES FACE 5 MILLION PATIENT BACKLOG
The British businessman, who has net worth of more than £1million, would replace Lord Stevens of Birmingham who leaves the role next month.
According to the The Times, Gurr was interviewed by Treasury officials last week, which involved a number of evaluations and ten rounds of interviews.
The 57-year-old, who divides his time between London and Yorkshire, served as global vice-president of the online shopping giant between 2016 and 2020.
Since leaving Amazon, he has been the director of the Natural History Museum and chairman of the British Heart Foundation.
He is also believed to have close ties with the UK government – something he utilised when he was allegedly given free access to NHS data as Amazon boss in 2019.
The Times sources listed him as one of many applicants vying to become the head of Europe’s largest employer which oversees a huge £150 billion budget.
- Joseph Gamp
UK COVID HOSPITALISATIONS RISE BY MORE THAN 500 FOR 3RD DAY IN A ROW WITH 31K CASES AS FREEDOM TO BE CONFIRMED
UK Covid hospitalisations rise by more than 500 for 3rd day in a row with 31k cases as freedom to be confirmed
- Joseph Gamp
GRAPHIC: UK COVID-19 CASES AND DEATHS PER DAY
- Joseph Gamp
JOHNSON EXPECTED TO CONFIRM LIFTING OF REMAINING COVID RESTRICTIONS
England is "tantalisingly close" to lifting all remaining coronavirus restrictions, Boris Johnson has said, as he is expected to push ahead with the next stage of unlocking.
The Prime Minister will host a press conference on Monday where he is expected to say that the country can move to Step 4 of the plan to lift measures, including ending the legal requirement to wear masks.
But he will also warn cases will rise as rules designed to suppress the coronavirus are removed.
Mr Johnson will host a press conference on Monday afternoon while Health Secretary Sajid Javid will announce the plans in Parliament.
Downing Street said the unlocking would be based on four tests – the success of the vaccine rollout, evidence that the vaccine is causing a reduction in hospital admissions and deaths, that infection rates do not risk a surge in admissions, and that no new variants of concern throw progress off track.
- Joseph Gamp
JULY 19 UNLOCKING WILL GO AHEAD DESPITE TOP DOCTOR WARNING – BUT DOWNING STREET ADMITS THERE WILL BE ‘DIFFICULT DAYS’
It is full steam ahead for the lifting of lockdown restrictions later this month, but Downing Street has admitted there will be “difficult days” ahead.
All legal Covid measures are due to end on July 19 – with face masks and social distancing mandates scrapped and mass events permitted.
Quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers returning to the UK from abroad will also be ditched, as will the school bubble system.
Boris Johnson is expected to confirm the move, with No 10 sources saying the PM trusts “the innate good sense of the British people” not to act “recklessly”, the Daily Mail reports.
But the great unlocking is likely to prompt a significant surge in already rising cases.
Experts have warned infections could reach a peak of 100,000 a day.
- Joseph Gamp
POSSIBLE THAT DAILY COVID CASE NUMBERS COULD HIT 100,000
Health minister Edward Argar said it is “possible” that daily coronavirus case numbers could hit the 100,000 mark but stressed that vaccines are helping to protect people from serious illness and hospital admission.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “You’ve seen the Secretary of State and others talk about between a range of 50,000 to 100,000 is possible.”
Mr Argar added: “If you look at hospital admissions, and forgive me if my figures are a little bit out, but the seven-day rolling average of hospital admissions for now, when we’re seeing this level of infection rate, is roughly between 350 and 400 a day.
“Back in January, with an equivalent infection rate, we were seeing 1,800 to 2,000.
“So you can see how that vaccine programme may not have broken it by 100% because the vaccine isn’t 100% effective, but it has really severely weakened that link and therefore the numbers we are going to see in hospital are going to be much smaller.”
- Joseph Gamp
BORIS JOHNSON PRAISES ENGLAND FOR LIFTING THE SPIRITS OF THE WHOLE NATION WITH ‘ENERGY & TENACITY’ WITH EURO 2020 FINAL
The PM said the Three Lions had “already made history” as they prepare to face Italy in the final after a string of historic victories at the tournament.
Mr Johnson was among a string of famous public figures, including the Queen, to offer their support as the nation waits nervously for tomorrow’s crunch match at Wembley – the team’s first final in 55 years.
The Three Lions’ incredible run has captivated the entire country after a miserable 18 months of lockdown restrictions, with excitement reaching fever pitch after the team surged into the final with a 2-1 over Denmark on Wednesday.
Over 60,000 fans will have Wembley rocking tomorrow night as Harry Kane leads the Three Lions into their first tournament final since 1966
- Joseph Gamp
ANTI-VAX BEAUTY THERAPIST REFUSES TO TREAT JABBED CUSTOMERS
Anti-vaxxer Sarah McCutheon announced that her business, Wellness and Wellbeing With Sarah, will not “conduct treatments on any vaccinated person.”
McCutcheon posted the message on her Facebook page for the business, based in Glasgow, Scotland, claiming that her “long term clients follow a very natural path.”
But a national beauty trade body has said that her policy goes against UK government guidance, which has been put in place to keep customers safe.
According to the Daily Record the health and beauty therapist shared the message from an Australian hair salon which read: “We are not your hairdresser if you have had the Covid vax.”
She added: “We agree and will not conduct massages or treatments on any vaccinated people.”
When one follower asked why she had decided to take the stance, the business responded: “Many of my loyal long term clients follow a very natural path and I want to ensure they feel safe in the environment that they come to relax in”.
- Joseph Gamp
MASK FORCE
Brits will be “expected” to wear masks in indoors and enclosed spaces, vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi revealed yesterday.
Face coverings will no longer be mandatory from July 19 once all Covid curbs are lifted.
Boris Johnson is expected to confirm tomorrow that all remaining restrictions will be lifted on Freedom Day.
Last week, the PM said masks would become a “personal choice” as he tore up laws making them a legal requirement on buses, trains, and in shops and other indoor venues.
But new guidance to be published on Monday will advise people to wear masks in crowded, indoor settings, Mr Zahawi told Sky News this morning.
Mr Zahawi said: “I think it is important that we remain cautious and careful and the guidelines that we will set out tomorrow will demonstrate that.
- Joseph Gamp
ONE IN 17 OVER-80S IN ENGLAND MAY NOT HAVE ANY COVID-19 VACCINE, FIGURES SUGGEST
Some 6% of people aged 80 and over in England may not have received any doses of Covid-19 vaccine, new data suggests.
The figure is the equivalent of around one in 17 over-80s, or just over 171,000 people, with 47,000 of them in London.
Other age groups among the over-50s are likely to have a much lower percentage of unvaccinated individuals, with estimates of 0.5% for 70 to 79-year-olds, 2.3% for 60 to 69-year-olds and 4.9% for 50 to 59-year-olds.
The data has been published by NHS England and covers vaccinations delivered up to July 4.
The Government has said all adults in England will have been offered a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine by July 19.
- Joseph Gamp
SCOTLAND RECORDS SEVEN NEW COVID-19 DEATHS IN LAST 24 HOURS
Scotland has today seen a further 7 Covid-19 related deaths in the last 24 hours according to the latest figures,
There have also been a further 2,190 cases in the same time period.
The Scottish Government’s figures for Saturday also showed the daily test positivity rate was at 9%.
A total of 435 people were in hospital with recently confirmed Covid-19, with 42 patients in intensive care.
- Joseph Gamp
NEARLY 4M PEOPLE GIVEN FIRST VACCINE DOSE IN SCOTLAND, WITH 2.8M GIVEN A SECOND JAB
So far, 3,920,145 people in Scotland have received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, figures on Saturday showed.
The Scottish Government figures show 2,861,110 Scots have received their second jab.
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