Some experts have suggested England could be free on July 5 (Picture AFP/PA)
Englands Freedom Day will not be brought forward to July 5, despite some experts suggesting it is safe to do so, reports suggest.
There are hopes all social contact rules could be lifted in two weeks time after Boris Johnson promised a Covid review when he delayed June 21.
But senior Government sources insisted the country is probably not in the place on Sunday night.
An insider told The Telegraph: Weve made it quite clear that July 19 is the terminus date. If you look at the data, were probably not in the place to reopen on July 5.
Meanwhile, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng admitted this morning it is unlikely for people to wake up on July 5 without any restrictions.
Advising the public to err on the side of caution, he said: It could be before but I think that is unlikely.
Generally, we have stuck to the dates we have set. I think now I am very focused on 19 July.
It comes despite an expert saying vaccine data is looking very encouraging, as more than 81% of adults have their first coronavirus jab and 59% are fully immunised.
Prof Brendan Wren, an expert in vaccinology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said on Sunday: I think if the numbers continue to be promising then I think theres great hope that we could open up on July 5.
Other scientists remain cautious, with one even warning the public could still face winter lockdowns.
A mass vaccination centre for those aged 18 and over at the London Stadium (Picture: Reuters)
Passengers wear face masks and stand apart on a platform at Canning Town underground station in London (Picture: PA)
Dr Susan Hopkins from Public Health England said the country is currently seeing the impact of vaccination with cases slowing down in areas like Boton and Blackburn and Darwen.
But there are other parts, particularly in some parts of the north-east, some parts of London that are still rising quite fast.
When asked about the prospect of future restrictions, Dr Hopkins said we need to move to a situation that we live with this.
Speaking on the BBCs The Andrew Marr Show, she said: I think that means we wouldnt normally put people into lockdown for severe cases of influenza.
We may have to do further lockdowns this winter, I cant predict the future. It really depends on whether hospitals start to become overwhelmed at some point.
But I think we will have alternative ways to manage this through vaccination, through anti-virals, through drugs, through testing that we didnt have last winter.
All of those things allow us different approaches rather than restrictions on lives and restrictions on livelihoods that will move us forward into the next phase of learning to live with this as an endemic, which is something that happens with respiratory viruses.
Meanwhile, a senior member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has warned Brits could face a pretty miserable winter as other respiratory viruses rear their ugly heads.
Prof Calum Semple, an expert in respiratory and outbreak medicine, said: Theres a sting in the tail after every pandemic, because social distancing will have reduced exposure, particularly of pregnant women and their newborn babies, they will have not been exposed to the usual endemic respiratory viruses.
The protection that a pregnant woman would give to their unborn child has not occurred. So we are going to see a rise in a disease called bronchiolitis, and a rise in community-acquired pneumonia in children and in the frail elderly, to the other respiratory viruses for which we dont have vaccines.
So thats why were predicting a rough July, August and then a rough winter period.
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