Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing requirements in England are set to be lifted on July 19 - meaning employees will no longer be told they have to work from home.
The so-called "Freedom Day" is set for July 19, though will only be confirmed a week earlier.
At a Downing Street press conference today Mr Johnson said the country had to learn to live with the virus, saying the pandemic was "far from over" as case numbers continued to rise.
He said: “There could be 50,000 cases detected per day by the 19th.
“We are seeing rising hospital admissions and we must reconcile ourselves, sadly, to more deaths from Covid.
“In these circumstances we must take a careful and a balanced decision – and there’s only one reason why we contemplate going ahead to Step 4 in circumstances where we would normally be locking down further and that’s because of the continuing effectiveness of the vaccine rollout.”
He added: “We have to balance the risks. The risks of the disease which the vaccines have reduced but very far from eliminated and the risks of continuing with legally-enforced restrictions that inevitably take their toll on people’s lives and livelihoods, on people’s health and mental health.
“We must be honest with ourselves that if we can’t reopen our society in the next few weeks, when we will be helped by the arrival of summer and by the school holidays, then we must ask ourselves: when will we be able to return to normal?”
Most Read
Asked about the future of working from home, the Prime Minister hailed the success of the vaccination programme and said: "The Government is no longer telling people it's necessary that they should work from home. The rest is really for employees and employers to work out for themselves."
What would step 4 of the road map mean?
If Step 4 of the Prime Minister's road map came into effect on July 19:
– All remaining businesses will be able to reopen, including nightclubs, while capacity caps will be lifted and bars and restaurants will no longer be restricted to table service.
– The Government will no longer instruct people to work from home.
– There will be no limits on social contact, meaning the end of the orders such as the “rule of six” and restrictions on guests at weddings and mourners at funerals.
– Legal requirement to wear face coverings will be lifted, although guidance will suggest people might choose to do so in “enclosed and crowded places”.
– The “one metre plus” rule on social distancing will be lifted except in specific circumstances such as at the border, where guidance will remain to keep passengers from red and amber list countries from mingling with other travellers.
Don’t miss
– The limit on named care home visitors will be lifted but infection control measures will remain in place.
– There will be no compulsory use of Covid status certification – so-called domestic vaccine passports – although firms will be able to voluntarily use the system.
– The gap between vaccine doses for under-40s will be reduced from 12 weeks to eight, meaning that all adults will have the opportunity to be double-jabbed by mid-September.