The prospects for England being able to lift nearly all Covid-19 restrictions in mid-July were looking good, although hassles and delays to international travel might continue, the Prime Minister said.
Government officials would nevertheless continue to scrutinise incoming data on the pandemic, especially as regards the so-called Delta variant, before taking a decision.
In remarks to a television crew, Boris Johnson said that “looking at where we are [and the effectiveness of vaccines against all the known variants] I think it’s looking good for July 19 to be that terminus point,” Bloomberg reported.
Johnson reportedly also confirmed that ministers were studying whether travelers would be required to quarantine upon returning to England if they had been previously vaccinated.
“We will certainly be looking at that but I want to stress that this is going to be, whatever happens, a difficult year for travel,” the PM cautioned.
“There will be hassles, there will be delays, I’m afraid, because the priority has got to be keeping the country safe and to stop the virus coming back in.”
