Sajid Javid says ‘no going back’ on lockdown lifting
New health secretary Sajid Javid has said there is “no going back” on lifting England’s remaining Covid restrictions as Boris Johnson suggested it was looking “set fair” to ease measures on 19 July.
Mr Javid told reporters on Monday that he would outline his updated roadmap out of restrictions when he addresses MPs in the Commons this afternoon.
“I want to see the restrictions lifted and life going back to normal as quickly as possible,” he said. “It’s going to be irreversible, there’s no going back. That’s why we want to be careful during that process.”
Health bosses had earlier urged Mr Javid to be a “voice of caution” in the Cabinet over the pressures that the pandemic is piling on the NHS.
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson said it was looking “very likely” that 19 July would be the date for lifting restrictions, allowing the UK to return to relative normality.
Elsewhere, top military chiefs are self-isolating after Sir Nick Carter, the head of Britain’s military tested positive for coronavirus. Defence secretary Ben Wallace is among those affected.
Immune response of AstraZeneca shot boosted by mixing dose schedule with Pfizer – study
A mixed schedule of vaccines where a shot of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine is given four weeks after an AstraZeneca shot will produce better immune responses than giving another dose of the AstraZeneca shot, an Oxford study said on Monday.
The study, called Com-COV, compared mixed two-dose schedules of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines and found that in any combination, they produced high concentrations of antibodies against the coronavirus spike protein.
Matt Mathers28 June 2021 16:40
Juror in Wembley Park murders trial tests positive for Covid
A juror in the trial of a teenager accused of murdering two sisters in a park has been discharged after testing positive for Covid-19.
Danyal Hussein, 19, is alleged to have savagely stabbed Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, in the early hours of June 6 last year.
The sisters’ bodies were discovered concealed in bushes near a spot where they had been celebrating Ms Henry’s birthday in Fryent Country Park in Wembley, northwest London.
During Hussein’s Old Bailey trial, jurors have been socially distanced and divided by screens in court.
On Monday, Mrs Justice Whipple formally discharged one juror who had tested positive for Covid-19.
Matt Mathers28 June 2021 16:25
Update on number of fixed penalty notices issued by police
Police in England and Wales have processed a total of 117,213 fixed penalty notices for breaches of Coronavirus restrictions up to 20 June 2021.
The latest provisional figures released by the National Police Chiefs’ Council show that 2,010 fines were processed in the latest reporting period.
The total processed in England is now…
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