New Health Secretary Sajid Javid will address MPs less than 48 hours after taking over the role following Matt Hancock’s resignation. He will give an update on when Covid restrictions are lifting in England.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson says remaining measures will ease on 19 July. But a data review is due to determine whether it can happen sooner on 5 July. Ministers expect details of this review in Javid’s announcement in the House of Commons at around 15:30 BST.
Original plans for lifting all legal limits on social contact were to happen on 21 June. But it was delayed by four weeks due to concerns about the spread of the Delta variant.
Meanwhile, Portugal, which was removed from the UK’s green list of quarantine free locations, introduce new rules. UK travellers visiting the mainland now need to quarantine for 14 days on arrival. This is unless they are fully vaccinated for at least two weeks before travelling. The legislation is expected to last until at least 11 July.
The number of new cases of Covid infections in the UK continues to rise quickly, and is up by 59%.
But the government’s decision on relaxing all measures will also take the progress of the UK’s vaccine rollout into consideration. So far, 44 million UK adults (84.1%) have received a first dose, and over 32 million (61.6%) had their second.
The government are urged to ease measures quickly, because the country must learn to live with Covid. Early investment in providing large numbers of vaccines always had the intention of achieving that result.
“Most immediate priority”
Mr Hancock resigned as Health Secretary on Saturday, for breaching social distancing rules, after images emerged of him kissing his aide Gina Coladangelo. Not long afterwards, Sajid Javid stepped into the role. He spent most of Sunday at the Department of Health and Social Care, receiving the latest briefings from advisers. However, he is no stranger to high profile roles, having worked for three different prime ministers. His previous positions have included business secretary, culture secretary and chancellor. He may be new to the job, but it should not faze him.
Chief executive of the NHS Confederation, Matthew Taylor, urges Mr Javid to become a “voice of caution” over the pressures placed on the NHS by the pandemic. A careful eye needs keeping on the increasing hospital numbers, and the impact of the infectious nature of the disease.
However, if levels of protection from vaccinations continue, then the UK should find themselves in a “very good position” to lift restrictions soon. Data from Public Health England (PHE) is promising, showing 90% protection in effectiveness of the vaccine.
On Sunday, Mr Javid stated that his “most immediate priority” was dealing with the pandemic. He gave thanks to the “fantastic efforts” of the NHS and social care staff for working tirelessly every day throughout the crisis. This, along with the “phenomenal” vaccination programme, helped the enormous progress in the fight against the disease.
Hundreds of walk-in vaccination sites opened over the weekend in England. They aimed to boost the number of people receiving their jabs.
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