British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the government could fully lift COVID-19 restrictions, including social distancing rules and mask requirements, by July 19 even as cases and hospitalizations rise in the country. The prime minister made clear that learning to live with the virus meant cases would continue to rise significantly, even if the success of the vaccination program meant hospitalizations and deaths will rise at a lower level than during previous peaks. He set out how cases could rise to 50,000 per day by July 19, with daily hospital admissions and deaths also rising although more slowly. Johnson said the government planned to let people decide for themselves how to deal with their social contacts and not reimpose restrictions. He said they would rely on people to follow personal responsibility even though the pandemic is "far from over". "If we can't reopen our society in the next few weeks...then we must ask ourselves when will we return to normal," Johnson said of those who recommend delaying reopening. The UK prime minister said vaccines had helped in reducing mortality and disease but have not eliminated COVID-19. UK officials said that one in 210 people were now infected with COVID-19 and that the country was facing an increase in infections. Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK's chief scientific adviser, said that deaths were increasing at low levels and would further increase. "The Delta variant is more transmissible" which makes things more "tricky," said England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty. The UK recorded 27,334 infections on July 5 and 358 people were admitted to the hospital. This comes despite high vaccination rates in the population. About 86 percent of the adult population has received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 64 percent have received two doses. — Agencies
