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UK Prime Minister urges caution as 19 July unlocking set to go ahead
The BBC reported Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to confirm later the plan to lift almost all legal restrictions on social contact in England on 19 July. But ahead of a news conference on Monday afternoon, Mr Johnson has urged people to be cautious.
According to the BBC, he said "We must all take responsibility so we don't undo our progress, ensuring we continue to protect our NHS."
He warned that Covid-19 cases, currently at about 30,000 a day, would continue to rise as society reopened.
The PM's news conference will present the latest data, with Downing Street saying that current modelling suggests hospital admissions, serious illness and deaths from Covid-19 will continue, but at a lower level than before the vaccination programme.
Number 10 said the delay in moving to the final stage of the roadmap out of lockdown, originally scheduled for 21 June, had allowed an additional 6.8 million first and second vaccine doses to be given out so far.
The government had also moved the expected end of restrictions closer to the school summer holidays, when transmission is likely to be lower, Downing Street said.
The BBC reported Mr Johnson as saying: "We are tantalisingly close to the final milestone in our road map out of lockdown, but the plan to restore our freedoms must come with a warning."
He said that vaccine roll-out had weakened the link between infections, hospital admissions and deaths, but added that the pandemic is "not over yet".
With cases set to rise as restrictions are lifted, "caution is absolutely vital", the prime minister said.
As well as the news conference, Health Secretary Sajid Javid is expected to announce the plans in Parliament.
Source: BBC
Image source: Getty Images-BBC
