Prime Minister Boris Johnson has disclosed plans to lift most of England’s coronavirus restrictions, including face masks and social distancing from July 19.
This move would see the government urge more personal responsibility rather than government regulations.
Africa Today News, New York had earlier reported that Johnson had initially aimed for a full reopening on June 21, but was forced to push back the date because of a surge in the highly contagious Delta variant.
That variant now accounts for nearly all new Covid-19 cases in Britain, and infection rates have soared, sparking concern.
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But mass vaccinations have stopped a resultant surge in hospital admissions or deaths.
‘This pandemic is far from over, it certainly won’t be over by the 19th,’ warned Johnson. ‘We must reconcile ourselves, sadly, to more deaths from Covid.
‘There’s only one reason why we can contemplate going ahead… in circumstances where we’d normally be locking down further, that’s because of the continuing effectiveness of the vaccine rollout.
‘We will move away from legal restrictions and allow people to make their own informed decisions,’ he said.
Around 86 percent of British adults have had their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and 63 percent their second dose.
Opposition politicians warned Johnson was moving too fast.
The leader of the Labour party, Keir Starmer, told journalists that the decision ‘to throw off all protections at the same time when the infection rate is still going up is reckless’.
London Mayor and Labour politician Sadiq Khan tweeted that ‘further discussions’ were planned with public transport providers over mandatory mask-wearing, arguing this ‘gives Londoners confidence to travel’
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK