Covid UK news LIVE – Chris Whitty ‘assault’ video investigated by police after ‘yobbos’ grab him in the street

JAVID CONFIRMS JULY 19 AS DATE FOR ENGLAND'S LOCKDOWN RESTRICTIONS TO END

Boris Johnson and his new Health Secretary Sajid Javid have confirmed their intention for July 19 to mark the end of England's lockdown restrictions.

Mr Javid resisted pressure from Tory MPs to bring forward the date of Step 4 of the road map, but he said there was "no reason" why the July 19 deadline would not be met.

The Prime Minister signalled that the "terminus" date would mean going "back to life as it was before Covid as far as possible".

In his first Commons statement since replacing Matt Hancock, Mr Javid told MPs: "There remains a big task ahead of us to restore our freedoms - freedoms that, save for the greatest of circumstances, no government should ever wish to curtail.

"So my task is to help return the economic and cultural life that makes this country so great while of course protecting life and our NHS."

SAJID JAVID PRAISES MATT HANCOCK DURING FIRST COMMONS SPEECH

Sajid Javid also praised his predecessor Matt Hancock, telling MPs: "He worked hard throughout all these testing times.

"He has achieved a great amount in the work that he did and I know he will have more to offer in public life - and I wish him the very best."

SAJID JAVID: 'WE OWE IT TO THE BRITISH PEOPLE TO RESTORE FREEDOMS AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN'

Striking a bullish tone that life will revert to near normal, the minister told MPs: "The restrictions on our freedoms, they must come to an end.

"We owe it to the British people who have sacrificed so much to restore their freedoms as quickly as we possibly can. And not to wait a moment longer than we need to."

SAJID JAVID CONFIRMS LOCKDOWN WON’T END ON JULY 5

SAJID Javid today confirmed England WON'T unlock early on July 5 - as he urged Brits to hang on three more weeks for Freedom Day.

Making his first appearance in the Commons, the new Health Secretary said the Government will look to scrap the majority of restrictions on July 19.

Read more here.

SAJID JAVID: JULY 19 REMAINS OUR TARGET DATE

Number are heading in the directions - and July 19 remains our target date.

It is not only the end of the line but the start of an exciting new chapter for the country, he adds.

JAVID: STEP 4 IS NOT BEING BROUGHT FORWARD

We have decided not to bring forward step four - but there is no reason to go beyond July 19, says Mr Javid.

SAJID JAVID: MIX OF JABS COULD GIVE BETTER IMMUNE RESPONSES

A mixture of jabs such as AZ and Pfizer could give better immune responses, Mr Javid told MPs.

JAVID: MORE THAN HALF OF ADULTS OVER 30 GOT JABBED THIS WEEKEND

More than half of adults over 30 took up chance to get vaccinated this weekend.

JAVID: USING DELAY TO PROTECT AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE

The health secretary says we can all be assured as to how many people are getting the life saving opportunity.

JAVID: BIG TASK AHEAD OF US

He says his task is to restore the economic and social life that makes the country so great.

The Delta variant will make that task more difficult - and the new strain is a greater risk to people who have not been vaccinated.

SAJID JAVID: UK IS MAKING 'GREAT PROGRESS'

He pledges to do all he can for this "great country".

Mr Javid says the UK is making "great progress" - and is allowing us to take first steps out of lockdown.

SAJID JAVID MAKES STATEMENT TO MPs

The new health secretary says he 'understands the responsibility that comes with the job during this critical moment'

SAJID JAVID DUE TO ADDRESS COMMONS NOW

The new health secretary will address MPs now.

COVID CASES RISE BY 70% IN A WEEK IN BIGGEST DAILY SURGE SINCE JANUARY WITH 22,868 NEW INFECTIONS

COVID infections have risen by 70 per cent in a WEEK as 22,868 new cases were recorded today - in the highest daily count for five months.

Three more people have also died from the virus in the last 24 hours.

Read more here.

ANDREW MARR URGES CAUTION AFTER CATCHING COVID DESPITE BEING FULLY VACCINATED

Andrew Marr has urged people to "stay cautious" after he contracted coronavirus despite having been fully vaccinated.

The BBC journalist said he felt "seriously ill" after catching Covid-19 earlier this month.

The political interviewer announced on his Sunday programme, The Andrew Marr Show, that he had contracted the illness.

Writing on the BBC's website on Monday, he warned those who have been given two jabs against complacency.

"I had received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine long before. I wasn't behaving recklessly - but I did feel pretty much invulnerable. I was wrong."

RESEARCHERS MAKE FACE MASKS THAT DETECT COVID WHILE YOU’RE WEARING THEM

SPECIAL SERVICE OF THANKSGIVING FOR PEOPLE WHO HELPED IN THE PANDEMIC

St Paul’s Cathedral is to play host to a special service of “commemoration and thanksgiving” for the people who have played a role in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

NHS England said staff will be placed “at the heart” of the socially distanced service in central London on July 5, which coincides with the 73rd anniversary of the foundation of the health service.

Doctors, scientists, vaccine champions and health bosses are all due to be present.

Among those attending will be Dr Ashley Price, a member of the team who treated the very first patients with the virus in the country, and May Parsons, who administered the first vaccine outside of a trial.

Rheumatology consultant Dr Perpetual Uke, from Birmingham, who gave birth to twins while in a coma with Covid-19, will have a role in the service, as will Kathrine Dawson, who also gave birth and was in a coma with the virus and whose baby Ruby was born with it.

NHS England said people from “all faiths and none” will attend the service which will “recognise the dedication and commitment of all those who have played their part in combating coronavirus across the NHS, care sector and beyond”.

WIND DOWN TEST AND TRACE TO TACKLE HOSPITAL WAITING LISTS

Covid-19 test and trace services should be "wound down" so funds can be diverted to deal with the growing NHS waiting list, peers have heard.

Concerns over the Delta variant of the virus, first identified in India, were played down by Conservative Lord Balfe as he suggested a change in approach was required by the Government.

More than five million people are on the waiting list, with former health secretary Matt Hancock last week warning "millions" of people had also yet to come forward with their conditions during the pandemic.

Lord Balfe, speaking during an urgent question on the effectiveness of the NHS Test and Trace system, said: "The latest variant is pretty mild, deaths have gone right down but we're spending billions of pounds on this while there are huge waiting lists building up in the NHS.

"Is it not about time that this programme was wound down and the money was spent on the millions of delayed operations and procedures?"

GRANT SHAPPS SAYS QUARANTINE FREE TRAVEL FOR BRITS WITH TWO JABS WON’T BE READY FOR FREEDOM DAY

Travel to amber countries won’t be relaxed for double-jabbed Brits in time for Freedom Day on July 19, Grant Shapps admitted today.

With holiday hopes taking a blow, a blow the Transport Secretary said it will be “complicated” to exempt the fully vaccinated from quarantine.

When asked about that prospect today, Mr Shapps replied: “It’s unfortunately more complicated than that.

“One of the very big areas is what do you do if children are not going to be getting vaccinations?

“So we’ll probably focus in phase one on UK people who’ve been double vaccinated, and what that means for their travel into other areas.

WATCH: THE SUN'S LISA MINOT CLARIFIES THE NEW TRAVEL GUIDANCE

COVID RULES NEED A RETHINK SAYS EXPERT

Rules about Covid protections in schools need a "rethink", an expert advising the Government has said.

Professor Russell Viner stopped short of calling for so-called bubble arrangements to be scrapped but said a balance should be struck between how much certain approaches might protect broader society and how much they might harm children.

The member of the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said there must be careful thought around putting restrictions on children as the one group in society who are not vaccinated against coronavirus.

The professor in adolescent health at University College London told BBC Radio 4 's Today programme: "We set our rules on bubbles quite early in the pandemic, and we isolate large numbers of children.

"I think we need to rethink all of our rules about schools, all of our protections about schools, as we move through into the new school year, for a number of reasons.

"If all adults will be vaccinated - and we won't get to 100% but we hopefully will get close - and if all adults are vaccinated and can move around freely, we need to think carefully before we put restrictions on the one part of society - our children - who won't be vaccinated.

UK DELTA VARIANT CASES RISE 46% IN A WEEK

Cases of the Delta variant which was first identified in India have risen 46% in a week across the UK, new figures show.

Public Health England said there had been 35,204 more cases since last week.

This week, 514 people were admitted to hospital in England with Covid-19, where reports show 304 were unvaccinated.

Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said: “Through the success of our vaccination programme, data suggest we have begun to break the link between cases and hospitalisations. This is hugely encouraging news, but we cannot become complacent.

“Two doses of vaccine are far more effective against Covid-19 than a single dose, so please make sure that you come forward to get your second dose as soon as you are invited.

“Whilst vaccines provide excellent protection, they do not provide total protection, so it is still as important as ever that we continue to exercise caution.”

BORIS JOHNSON TO DISMISS POSSIBILITY OF EARLY FREEDOM DAY

Boris Johnson has dismissed the possibility of ending coronavirus restrictions early by saying it is "sensible" to stick with the planned "terminus" date of July 19, after talks with his new Health Secretary Sajid Javid.

The Prime Minister said on Monday that England was "set fair" to be free of lockdown measures and back to normality "as far as possible" by the later date he set when previously delaying his plans by four weeks due to the surging Delta variant.

Mr Javid earlier sparked opposition concerns that he was ignoring the "data, not dates" approach by saying his "absolute priority" was to end controls as quickly as possible and declaring there would be "no going back" once they were ended.

He was to update the Commons on his coronavirus plans having succeeded Matt Hancock who resigned over the weekend after being revealed to have broken Covid-19 guidance by kissing an aide in his ministerial office during the pandemic.

PM: GOVT WORKING TOWARDS A RETURN TO NORMAL POST-COVID LIFE

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the Government was working towards a "return to pretty much life before Covid" on July 19, when restrictions in England are due to be further lifted.

On a campaign visit to Johnstone's Paints Limited in Batley, he told reporters: "There is positive science, so it's absolutely true that, as I was saying just now, deaths are low and hospitalisations remain low, although they have been rising a little bit.

"We are seeing an increase in cases, and quite a big increase in cases.

"What is clear is that we have interrupted the link between infection and serious illness and death, and that is very, very important.

"So that shows that the vaccination programme has been working and I'm very, very encouraged by that.

"What I think we should do now is continue to take a cautious but irreversible approach and use the next three-and-a-half weeks or so to make sure that we get another five million vaccinations into people's arms, build up even higher that wall of protection, and then go forward on July 19 as a terminus date when I think that we will be able, really, to return to pretty much life before Covid. That's what we're working towards."

JAB HAPPY

The Oxford vaccine is so effective that autumn booster shots may not be needed, its makers have said.

Protection against the virus remains for at least a year after just one dose - and stays at more than 90 per cent “for quite some months” with two jabs, new tests have shown.

Oxford announced today its vaccine CAN be used as a third-dose booster following trials, producing “a substantial increase in antibodies”.

But Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said: “There’s no indication today that we need boosters.

"We have data showing very good levels of protection for quite some months after the second dose - over 90 per cent.