Prime Minister to set out plans ahead of step 4

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold a press conference this afternoon to set out plans for the final step of the Roadmap in England.

Step 4 is expected to begin on Monday, July 19, if the government’s “four tests” for easing Covid restrictions have been met. This will be confirmed on July 12 following a review of the latest data.

The latest data and scientific modelling suggest that cases will continue to rise as restrictions are eased, but the link to hospitalisations and deaths has been weakened due to the vaccination programme.

Prime Minister Johnson is expected to reiterate that Covid will become a virus that we learn to live with as we already do with flu. This means that hospitalisations, serious illness and deaths from Covid-19 will continue, albeit at a much lower level than before the vaccination programme.

“Thanks to the successful rollout of our vaccination programme, we are progressing cautiously through our roadmap. Today we will set out how we can restore people’s freedoms when we reach step 4. But I must stress that the pandemic is not over and that cases will continue to rise over the coming weeks. 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,” Johnson is expected to say on July 5.

As of July 2, there were 27,714 new positive cases in England, 331 people were admitted with Covid-19 and there were 1,611 patients in hospital. The latest estimates show that one in 260 people have Covid-19 in England.

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