Charlie Jones
BBC News

Image source, Jasmine Hayer

A former health coach who said her life had been destroyed by long Covid is worried more people will suffer from it when restrictions are lifted.

Jasmine Hayer, 31, says she has never fully recovered after catching the virus in March 2020.

She says she has experienced chest pains, shortness of breath, weight loss, "stabbing pains" in her heart, irregular periods, acid reflux, an increased heart rate, palpitations, depression and insomnia since catching the virus.

The government says it has opened more than 80 long Covid assessment services.

Under planned changes due to come into effect in England from 19 July, face masks will no longer be legally required, and social distancing rules will be abandoned.

But Ms Hayer said: "I implore you to continue to wear a mask and social distance where possible because take it from me, you don't ever want to risk the insidious horror of long Covid."

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Image source, Reuters

Ocado and Sainsbury's have said shoppers are getting back to their normal, pre-pandemic shopping habits.

Sainsbury's says online order sizes have shrunk as people are starting to shop more in stores again, while Ocado puts its smaller order sizes down to people eating out more again.

Both supermarkets say online sales are still way above pre-pandemic levels.

Sainsbury's says 18% of their business is now online, whereas it was 8% in the year 2019-2020.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Reuters

Melvin Benn is founder of the Latitude Festival in Suffolk, and is CEO of Festival Republic, which runs the Reading and Leeds festivals.

He says the festivals - Latitude in late July and Reading/Leeds in late August - will "sell to capacity", as the risk to under-30s of death or serious illness is "significantly less" than for those over 60.

"I think the government have got this right," he says, "the country wants to reopen, we are tired of this, we want to reopen".

He adds that he is not inclined to encourage festival guests to wear masks, even indoors.

Jacinta Rowsell is manager of the Westfield Shopping Centre in White City in west London. She says the company "has adapted so many times over the past 18 months," after 19 July, she says staff will still "encourage guests" to wear masks.

"We are very focused on the fact that guests coming to the centre want to feel safe," she says.

She says the centre is currently at 70% of the footfall it used to have in 2019.

Each retailer "may implement their own policy" on mask-wearing policies inside their stores, she adds.

Image source, Reuters

With the relaxation of restrictions, what's going to happen to the Covid-19 app?

From July 19, there will be no requirement to scan a QR code on your phone as you enter a venue.

In recent days there have been complaints from many businesses that the app is sending out far too many alerts, causing disruption as employees are sent home.

"It can be a nuisance, but it's a nuisance for a reason," says Professor Alan Woodward, who advised the government last summer to switch to a more privacy-focused app. An early version trialled on the Isle of Wight proved unreliable.

But Professor Woodward says research from the Alan Turing Institute has shown that the current app, launched in England and Wales last September, has done a good job.

"Something of the order of half a million to 600,000 cases were averted, as a result of using this app. So that has to be worth it," he said.

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

For more than a year, personal freedoms have been curtailed to keep Covid at bay.

That looks likely to change, with ministers proposing to lift many of the remaining restrictions in England on 19 July. The details, set out on Monday, have sparked intense debate.

But what is unarguable is that the nature of the pandemic in the UK has changed - and with it so should many of our assumptions.

The rollout of the vaccination programme has altered everything, reducing both the individual risk and the wider one to the health system.

Back in January, about one in 10 infections could be expected to translate into a hospital admission 10 days later. Now that figure appears to be somewhere between one in 40 and one in 50.

What is more, those ending up in hospital seem to be less sick, and need less intensive treatment.

The risk of death, as a result, has reduced even further. In January about one in 60 cases resulted in someone dying. Today it's fewer than one in 1,000.

Read more from Nick

The number of deaths registered in the UK in the week ending 25 June 2021 is 6% below the five-year average, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

There were 10,052 deaths in total during this period and 118 involved Covid-19 - two more deaths than the previous week.

The UK is experiencing a rapid rise in the number of coronavirus cases, driven by the new, more infectious Delta variant, but the daily death figures remain low.

On Monday, a further 27,334 cases were reported across the UK - and another nine deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Image source, PA Media

All coronavirus restrictions are expected to be lifted in England on 19 July.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all in charge of their own coronavirus rules.

The Scottish government has said it may continue to require masks in certain settings even after 9 August, when it is hoped the final curbs will end.

Ahead of a review on 15 July in Wales, ministers said people would need to learn to live with Covid.

Rules in Northern Ireland have just eased, with another review due on 8 July.

We've heard this morning that Health Secretary Sajid Javid will make an announcement in the Commons at about 12:30 BST on self-isolation rule changes for those who are fully vaccinated in England. Here is what we know so far.

• Javid says it "makes sense" for people who have been fully vaccinated to be treated differently from those who are not
• He also says daily cases "could go as high as 100,000" when restrictions are fully lifted
• People identified as close contacts of a confirmed Covid case are currently required to self-isolate for up to 10 full days when contacted by NHS Test and Trace
• Our health editor Hugh Pym says the rule change will likely mean a requirement to test rather than self-isolate for those who are double jabbed
• The government will also give more details later on how it plans to relax Covid rules for schools in England - we'll hear from Education Secretary Gavin Williamson at about 13:30 BST
• On Monday, the prime minister confirmed he intended to scrap most of the remaining restrictions in England on 19 July, including the laws on mask wearing and rules on social distancing
• Other changes announced on Monday include the planned reopening of nightclubs for the first time since the pandemic began, an end to all legal limits on the number of people who can attend events, and the scrapping of guidance to work from home

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Image source, Reuters

• Germany is to end its ban on visitors from the UK and four other variant-hit countries. The restrictions, which also applied to people from Portugal, Russia, India and Nepal, will be relaxed from Wednesday. Visitors who are fully vaccinated will not be required to quarantine on arrival, while non-vaccinated people will be able to end their 10-day quarantine period early if they test negative after five days
• The number of cases in Spain has spiked, with more than 32,000 new infections announced on Monday – up from single figures announced the previous week. Authorities say young people have been most affected, with 640 cases per 100,000 among the 20-29 age group. Around 19m people – or 40% of the country – have received two doses of a Covid vaccine so far
• France’s government spokesman has said the country could see a rise in cases by the end of the month due to the spread of the Delta variant
• Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel remained in a “serious but stable” condition after being admitted to hospital with Covid-19 on Sunday, the government said yesterday

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth says the Labour Party "wants to see a balanced reopening," but calls for the government to put "mitigating precautions in place".

He asks why the government isn't helping with making sure public spaces get more ventilation, or encouraging the continued use of masks, or paying people to self-isolate who have Covid.

England will name a new squad for their One Day International (ODI) series with Pakistan after three players and four staff members tested positive for Covid-19.

The team were due to begin the series in Cardiff on Thursday.

Tests administered on Monday returned seven positive results and the rest of England's party will be required to self-isolate as a result.

The England and Wales Cricket Board said Ben Stokes will return to captain a squad which will be named in the next few hours.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Imperial College London

Professor Neil Ferguson says the four-week delay to lifting coronavirus restrictions "has been worth it".

"The modelling tended to indicate that there was a real benefit to the four-week delay we're just coming to the end of now, in terms of topping up vaccination, getting second doses to people over the age of 40," he tells Radio 4's Today programme.

"I should say of everybody who has died in this pandemic in the UK, 99% of them have been over the age of 40.

"By the time we finally relax, nearly everybody in that age range will have had two doses, which gives a high level of protection.

"There are benefits going beyond that, there are still a few benefits but they're more incremental.

"So I wouldn't say it is a sweet spot but the four-week delay we have gone through has been worth it."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

It "makes sense" that double-jabbed people are treated differently from those who are not, Health Secretary Sajid Javid says.

He is due to give us more details in the Commons at about 12:30 BST on rule changes for those who have had both of their vaccines.

He tells Today: "It makes sense because of the vaccines and the way they are working that the people who are double-vaccinated are treated differently than people that are not.

"And that’s what I’ll be saying in Parliament today."

He also says coronavirus case numbers could reach 100,000 per day in the summer as restrictions are eased.

"By the time we get to the 19th (of July), we would expect case numbers by then to be at least double what they are now, so around 50,000 new cases a day," he says.

"As we ease and go into the summer, we expect them to rise significantly and they could go as high as 100,000 case numbers."

But he says "what matters more than anything is hospitalisation and death numbers", adding that the link between cases and these figures has been "severely weakened" by the vaccine programme.

Calum Semple, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) says the lifting of coronavirus restrictions is a "calculated risk".

The professor of child health and outbreak medicine at the University of Liverpool tells Times Radio: "I wouldn't say this is a gamble, it's more of a calculated risk."

"I should point out, looking at the data last night, 88% of people in hospital, from what I could see, had not been vaccinated or had had the vaccine but hadn't had the chance to develop immunity, so that's within 28 days of the vaccine.

"There's now an incredibly strong signal that the vaccination is working and protecting the vast majority of people."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor

Chair of parliament's Health Committee Jeremy Hunt urges caution around "using the language of irreversibility" when lifting coronavirus restrictions because there are still a high number of infections globally each day.

He tells Radio 4's Today programme: "At the moment, the projections are that the deaths from Covid will actually be less than some of our worst years for flu.

"When you have that kind of change, I think it's reasonable to change the social contract to one of co-operation, rather than compulsion.

"But I think we have got to be careful about using the language of irreversibility, because we still have 350,000 new infections every day across the world, there is still room for the vaccine-busting variants that we are all worried about.

"So we have to be on our guard and recognise that things may sadly yet change."

Image source, EPA

Here's the latest headlines from around the world:

• Germany is lifting its travel ban on people from the UK, Portugal, Russia, India and Nepal from Wednesday. Visitors who are fully vaccinated will also not be required to quarantine, however non-vaccinated people will still be required to quarantine for up to 10 days. Read more here.

• Indonesia is calling for help from other countries, including Singapore and China, as it struggles with its fastest spreading and deadliest Covid-19 wave so far. It has sourced emergency oxygen from Singapore and prepared backup medical facilities for a worst-case scenario.

• Japan will ship 1.13 million more doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Taiwan later this week - it had already sent 1.24 million last month. A further 1 million doses will each be sent to Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Image source, EPA

Hugh Pym
BBC News Health Editor

An announcement today on rules for those who are double jabbed is very significant because people are getting pinged on the app or contacted by contact tracers and having to self-isolate for 10 days.

Ten days isolation when you’ve been in contact with somebody who’s positive causes quite a lot of disruption to people’s lives.

If you’ve got a double jab, and that’s shown on the NHS app, instead of self-isolating you would probably be required to test each day.

I think that will be very, very widely welcomed. We’ll have to wait for more details this afternoon from Sajid Javid.

Of course what we are still waiting to hear is whether the double jab status will allow you to come back from holiday from an amber list country say, and then not have to self-isolate for 10 days, but to do tests instead.

Now obviously that’s very, very important to anyone who’s waiting for a holiday. I think we may have to wait a few more weeks for that one to be actually confirmed.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid says it will be up to shops and transport operators to have their own policy on masks.

"It shouldn’t be a central diktat," he tells BBC Breakfast.

"It’s about relying on sensible guidance as we move to a world that feels much more like normal."

A second man has been charged with common assault after England's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty was accosted in a London park.

Jonathan Chew, 24, of no fixed address, was charged on Monday over the incident, which took place in St James's Park on 27 June.

Officers spoke to the uninjured victim and checked his welfare, a Met Police spokesman said.

They then reviewed video footage that emerged on social media.

A "gamble" is how The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Mirror and Metro all see Boris Johnson's intention to do away with most Covid restrictions in England in two weeks' time.

The Guardian says England will become "the most unrestricted society in Europe", external. The changes, it says, will make the country "an outlier in much of the rest of the world, where restrictions remain to combat infections". It reports a "backlash" from Labour, bereaved families and regional mayors.

The science editor of The Times,Tom Whipple, believes "we are opening up just as we are riding a huge wave" of coronavirus infections. , externalHe says that while, ostensibly, the decision about unlocking will be made next week, really it was confirmed yesterday: "England's, and by extension Britain's, great gamble begins," he says.

Read more here.