BRITAIN is in the “final furlong” of the race to beat Covid, Boris Johnson said today.
Hailing the vaccine as a “an amazing thing”, the PM declared hospitalisation and deaths remaining low means Freedom Day is in “scope”.
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And he said he would set out exactly how far restrictions will be lifted in “the coming days.”
The PM has been pushing for a “maximalist” approach to lockdown lifting with an end to social distancing and mask wearing in pubs and shops.
But it is thought he’s backed down to medics who want masks to continue on public transport.
Speaking on a visit to Nissan in Sunderland, Mr Johnson hinted at some rules staying, saying “there may be some things we have to do and some extra precautions that we have to take, but I’ll be setting all that out.”
But in a upbeat assessment of the latest data, the PM added: “All I am saying to people is we’re now in the final furlong, I really believe.”
“We have to look very carefully at the data and at the moment what we’re certainly seeing is a big increase in cases – 26,000 as you will have seen – but that is not translating into a big increase in serious illness and death.
“And so it looks ever clearer that the vaccination programme, the speed of that vaccine rollout, has broken that link between infection and mortality. That’s an amazing thing.”
Mr Johnson continued: “I know how impatient people are to get back to total normality as indeed am I and I will be setting out in the course of the next few days what Step 4 will look like exactly.
“But I think I’ve said it before, we’ll be wanting to go back to a world that is as close to the status quo ante Covid as possible, to try to get back to life as close to it was before Covid.”
