Coronavirus: Boris to axe masks, social distancing as UK looks forward to ‘Freedom Day’

With two thirds of adult Britons fully vaccinated, Boris Johnson is planning to axe masks, QR codes and social distancing in two weeks.

Boris Johnson has hailed Britain’s successful mass vaccination program as he prepares to lift all restrictions on the country in two weeks.

The British Prime Minister plans to ditch compulsory social distancing and masks, replacing them with a call for personal responsibility on July 19, the country’s so-called “Freedom Day.”

The lifting of restrictions comes as two thirds of adult Britons are fully vaccinated and Mr Johnson is expected to declare the link between coronavirus infection and hospitalisation is broken.

But as cases increased by 75 per cent on Saturday, Mr Johnson warned people to take “extra precautions” in what is expected to be a new summer wave of infections.

Under the blueprint to be announced early next week, from July 19 masks will become voluntary in all settings, including shops, hospitality and public transport, and social distancing rules will be dropped, UK media reports.

The requirement to scan a QR code when entering venues such as bars, restaurants, hairdressers or gyms will be dropped and the government will also dump regulations that require businesses to collect customers’ contact tracing details.

On Friday, Mr Johnson said England was in the “final furlong” of emergency coronavirus restrictions and acknowledged that people were “impatient” to get back to normality.

He said he aimed to “go back to a world that is as close to the status quo ante Covid as possible, try to get back to life as close to it was before Covid”.

But he cautioned: “There may be some things we have to do, some extra precautions that we have to take”.

A Downing Street source told the Sunday Times: “We believe it is now time for the public to start learning to live with Covid.

“All the data and scientific modelling suggests that the lifting of restrictions will lead to a rise in cases but — with the continued success of the vaccine rollout and the break in the link between hospitalisations and deaths — we are confident there will be no risk of it putting significant additional pressure on the NHS.”

International travel will also be on the agenda in the lead up to “Freedom Day,” with fully vaccinated Britons expected to be allowed to travel to amber list countries by August 2. However those countries may not allow British holidaymakers in, much as Australia won’t open the border to British holidaymakers despite the UK listing it as “green” for travel.

The news comes as cases continue to rise in the UK, and the NHS Test and Trace app comes under increasing pressure over its ability to deal with rising infections.

The Times reports that in the week to June 23, 79,248 people tested positive for coronavirus, up 43 per cent in a week and the highest figure since February 17.

At the same time, increasing numbers of cases were not having their contacts traced, with 13,865 people testing positive not transferred to the system, up from 9,086 last week.

Whitehall officials hope to replace the mandatory collection of contact tracing details with a “test and release” system, under which anyone who has been a contact of an infected person does not need to isolate for 10 days, as they do now, but can return to normal life once they’ve produced a negative test.

The Times reports a similar scheme is being considered for schools so entire classes are no longer sent home if one pupil tests positive.

Boris Johnson welcomes German Chancellor Angela Merkel on her arrival at Chequers, Buckinghamshire. Picture: AFP

While Britons are looking forward to Freedom Day, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed her fears about some aspects of the lifting of restrictions.

On a farewell visit to the UK, Mrs Merkel said she was concerned about the potential for close-contact spread of the coronavirus when London hosts the semi-finals and finals of the European football championships.

Wembley Stadium is hosting the final matches of the competition, with a reduced capacity of up to 60,000; but that far exceeds other venues, particularly in Germany, with concern widespread about the transmission of the more virulent Delta strain of the virus.

“We in Germany, as you know, decided to have fewer people attend games in the Munich stadium,” Mrs Merkel told a joint press conference with Mr Johnson.

“The British government, obviously, will take its own decision. But I’m very much concerned whether it’s not a bit too much.”

Last month, Mrs Merkel called for tough restrictions, including longer quarantine, for people travelling from Britain, where the Delta variant has caused a surge in cases.

But she indicated that stance could soften as travel advice is reviewed. “We think that in the foreseeable future, those who have received double jabs will … be able to travel again, without having to go into quarantine,” she said.

While cases are again rocketing, Covid rates are both highest and rising fastest in those aged 10-29 who have not been offered both vaccine doses, with the under-18s not eligible for jabs at all.

In those aged 20-39, rates have also more than doubled in two weeks. Rates are lowest in the over-80s but are also rising and have increased fourfold in four weeks, The Times reports.

Last week, Dr Mike Tildesley, an epidemiologist on the Government’s Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, said: “If you look at cases, they are going up in a really concerning way – however, we haven’t yet seen that translate into a significant rise in hospital admissions and deaths.”

Yvonne Doyle, the medical director of Public Health England, said: “Across all areas of the country, cases are rising rapidly although it is encouraging to see that hospitalisations and deaths are not rising at the same rate. Case rates are currently highest in younger age groups, who are less likely to be hospitalised so the vaccine is working to reduce severe disease.”