LONDON, June 29 (Bernama) — British Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed Monday that the final easing of coronavirus lockdown measures in England is set for July 19 as planned, Xinhua reported.
In his first statement in the House of Commons, lower house of British Parliament, since taking on the new role on Saturday evening, Javid said: “We see no reason to go beyond the 19th of July.”
“Because in truth, no date we choose comes with zero risk for COVID. We know we simply cannot eliminate it, we have to learn to live with it,” he said.
“We also know that people and businesses need certainty, so we want every step to be irreversible. Make no mistake, the restrictions on our freedoms must come to an end,” said the health secretary.
“July 19 remains our target date,” he said.
Javid made the remarks as Britain reported another 22,868 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, the highest since Jan 30 this year, according to official figures released Monday.
The total number of coronavirus cases in the country now stands at 4,755,078.
The country also recorded another three coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain to 128,103. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.
Javid’s statement came less than 48 hours after he was named the health secretary following his predecessor Matt Hancock’s resignation on Saturday.
Hancock resigned after admitting that he broke COVID-19 social distancing guidelines during an alleged affair with his aide, which caused an outrage in the country.
Johnson has announced a four-week delay to the final step of England’s roadmap out of COVID-19 restrictions until July 19, amid a surge in cases of the Delta variant first identified in India.
To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Russia, the United States as well as the European Union have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.
— BERNAMA