British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out new plans for the final step of easing lockdown in England on Monday, including guidance on social distancing, face coverings and working from home, the  UK government said in a statement. The remaining legal restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are due to be lifted on July 19, with the decision whether to go ahead scheduled for July 12.

"Thanks to the successful rollout of our vaccination program, we are progressing cautiously through our roadmap, But I must stress that the pandemic is not over and that cases will continue to rise over the coming weeks,” Johnson said in a statement. Data suggests that cases will continue to rise as restrictions are eased, but the link to hospitalizations and deaths has been weakened by the vaccination program, the government said.

The cases of COVID-19 have risen in recent weeks, driven by the now-dominant Delta variant, and the final step of lockdown easing was deferred by four weeks to so as to enable more people getting vaccinated. Data from Public Health England show that vaccines are highly effective in preventing severe illness and hospitalization from this variant, the government said. People will learn to live with COVID-19 as they do already with flu, Johnson is expected to say, meaning that hospitalizations, serious illness and deaths will continue but at a much lower level than before widespread vaccination.

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