Data looks encouraging to fully end lockdown on July 19, says Hancock

BRITISH health secretary Matt Hancock said on Tuesday (22) the Covid-19 data looks encouraging and currently suggests England's lockdown can fully end on July 19 as planned because a recent rise in cases is not resulting in deaths.

"We're on track for the opening on the 19th of July, and we will watch vigilantly and we'll look at the data in particular at the start of next week," Hancock told BBC radio.

"But I would say that the data, over the last week or so, has been encouraging, and especially looking at the number of people who are dying, that is staying very, very low, and it shows that the vaccine is working"

Holidays for vaccinated Britons

Moreover, Britain is also working on plans to open up travel for the fully vaccinated and restore other freedoms but they are not ready yet, Hancock said on Tuesday (22).

"We're working on plans to essentially allow the vaccine to bring back some of the freedoms that have had to be restricted to keep people safe," Hancock told Sky News.

Asked whether people could expect to have a family holiday, Hancock said: "We'll get there when it's safe to do so... but of course we do want to get those freedoms back."

"When I'm in a position to be able to say something more concrete, then we will do, but it is absolutely something we're working on, it's something I want to see," he added.