Boris Johnson to announce lifting of England’s COVID restrictions for July 19

Boris Johnson will announce Monday that he is pressing ahead with the lifting of most coronavirus restrictions in England by July 19.

In an afternoon press conference, the U.K. prime minister will say England must “learn to live with the virus” and “exercise judgement” as the U.K.’s vaccination program helps reduce coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths.

The prime minister is expected to make clear that, with a large part of the population having at least a first jab, the government will no longer rely on legal restrictions but rather on individual responsibility to deal with the pandemic.

In remarks released by No. 10 overnight, Johnson reminded Britons the pandemic is “not over” and that “cases will continue to rise over the coming weeks.”

But he said: “As we begin to learn to live with this virus, we must all continue to carefully manage the risks from COVID and exercise judgement when going about our lives.”

From July 19 onwards, England’s one-meter plus social distancing rule, its work-from-home order and a ban on mass events should be history, according to the Sunday Times. The Guardian also reported that mask mandates on public transport are set to be ditched, although their use may still be recommended. Johnson is expected to kill off plans to require certificates on COVID status to attend events, according to the Independent.

But Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of doctors’ union the British Medical Association, said it “makes no sense” to stop wearing face masks. “We know that face masks are proven to reduce spread of this infection,” he told BBC’s Today program.

The number of new infections is rising again rapidly in the U.K., largely because of the Delta variant. On Sunday, U.K. authorities recorded more than 24,000 new cases and 15 new deaths. Johnson previously delayed the ending of England’s restrictions from June 21 amid concern over the variant.