U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced early this week that England was on track to lift almost all of its coronavirus pandemic restrictions on July 19, even as the highly transmissible Delta variant drives a new wave of infections in the nation.
Johnson said in a news conference on Monday that while the pandemic is "far from over," vaccines have proven to be successful at preventing severe disease from multiple COVID variants, including Delta, meaning there will be less of a threat on the National Health Service (NHS) moving forward.
The U.K. has authorized vaccines developed by AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN)-Oxford University, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)-BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX) and Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) for emergency use.
Johnson called the lifting most restrictions this month, a move that was already been delayed once, the end of government intervention and the renewal of personal responsibility when it comes to the pandemic.
"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 school holidays, then we must ask ourselves when will we be able to return to normal?," Johnson argued, quoted by the Wall Street Journal.
Here's the coming changes under Johnson's new plan:
- All limits on social contact will end for both indoor and outdoor gatherings. Weddings, funerals and other life events will also be able to take place without limits or restrictions.
- All venues previously closed will be allowed to reopen, including nightclubs. Additionally, there will no longer be a legal requirement for table service and all limits on capacity will be lifted.
- Face coverings will no longer be legally required in shops, schools, restaurants, or on public transit. Passengers will still be encouraged to wear a mask in enclosed or crowded areas.
- The "1-meter plus" rule for social distancing indoors will be lifted, other than in specific places like airports and when individuals are self-isolating.
- The limit on the number of guests for care home residents will be lifted, through infection prevention and control measures will remain in place to protect the most vulnerable.
- There will be no legal requirement for COVID status certification to be used as a condition of entry for any public setting, though businesses can still voluntarily adopt so-called COVID Passports.
- The U.K.'s test, trace and isolate system will remain, and free asymptomatic testing will be extended to all citizens until the end of September.
- The legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive for COVID or were asked to do so by the NHS will remain.