'No going back' after July 19, says UK government as cases spike in schools

Lockdown easing in England will not happen earlier but there will not be any “going back” once it happens on July 19, suggested prime minister Boris Johnson and UK’s new health secretary Sajid Javid in different statements. Meanwhile, the cases continue to rise with more spikes reported among children, leading to widespread absence from school.

"Although there are some encouraging signs and the number of deaths remains low and the number of hospitalisations remains low - though both are going up a bit - we are seeing an increase in cases,” Johnson said on Monday (28), adding that “it's sensible to stick to our plan to have a cautious but irreversible approach, use the next three weeks or so really to complete as much as we can of that vaccine rollout”.

“And then with every day that goes by it's clearer to me and all our scientific advisers that we're very likely to be in a position on 19 July to say that really is the terminus and we can go back to life as it was before Covid as far as possible” Johnson said.

Johnson’s comments came after Javid reportedly promised that there will be no return of coronavirus rules after July 19 Freedom Day, saying that his “absolute priority” is to get life back to normal “as quickly as possible”.

Javid is due to deliver an update to MPs this afternoon on the Government's plans for loosening curbs when he is expected to say that the nation is not yet in a position to return to normal life but hopes are high that it will be possible by the July 19 deadline.

(Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, more than 38,000 new infections have been confirmed across the country in the last seven days, a general rise of almost 59 per cent. However a bigger spike of 70 per cent is reported among children aged five to nine leading to their widespread absences in primary schools.

As per Public Health England, about  148 outbreaks were linked to educational settings of all ages in the week up to June 20, which is a jump of 54 per cent from last week’s figure of 96.

The Office of National Statistics also shows that the number of pupils absent from school for Covid-related reasons has risen sharply. The main reason for absence, according to the ONS, was self-isolation due to contact with a potential case inside the school (2.3 per cent) and 0.1 per cent of all pupils were absent because their school had been forced to close altogether.

About 14, 876 new cases were reported on Sunday (27), along with 11 new deaths. The rise in cases are said to be driven by the more transmissible Delta variant, first identified in India, which is now the main type of coronavirus in the UK.