(CMR) Although there have been concerns about the rise in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson said laws requiring persons to wear face masks and to practice social distance could end later this month.
Johnson said, “I want to stress from the outset that this pandemic is far from over…We must reconcile ourselves, sadly, to more deaths from COVID.” But Johnson said Britain would have to “learn to live with this virus.”.
Johnson said legal controls would be replaced by “personal responsibility” when the country moves to the final stage of its lockdown-lifting roadmap. That is scheduled to happen on July 19, though Johnson said a final decision would come on July 12, AP reported.
Confirmation of the lifting of restrictions and guidance will happen on 12 July, when the latest COVID-19 health data will be reviewed. However, according to BBC reports, the following measures are expected: no limits on social contact, 1m-plus rule removed (except in some settings, such as ports of entry and medical settings), no legal requirements for face coverings although their use will still be advised in hospitals, healthcare settings and enclosed, crowded public spaces.
The lifting of restrictions will also see nightclubs permitted to reopen, capacity caps on businesses lifted, and hospitality businesses will no longer be required to provide table service only. There will also be no limits on numbers at weddings and funerals and no communal worship and singing restrictions. People attending concerts, theatres, or sports events will also not be limited.
Also, there will be no legal requirements for COVID-19 certificates for any venue or event.
Meantime, symptomatic testing and contact tracing will continue; it will still remain a legal requirement to self-isolate if persons test positive for the coronavirus.
So far, 86% of U.K. adults have received at least one vaccine dose, and 64% are fully vaccinated. The government aims to give everyone over 18 both shots by mid-September.
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