Macer Hall, from the Daily Express, asks whether there is any prospect of Covid-style restrictions, such as school closures and mask-wearing, to protect the NHS from other respiratory diseases, such as flu.

Prof Whitty says he doesn't think society has ever suggested that strong measures like those taken to tackle Covid are necessary in the face of seasonal flu, although he says if there was a flu pandemic that would be a different situation.

However, he adds that simple measures needed to prevent the spread of Covid, such as washing hands, also reduce the risk from flu.

The PM is also asked whether his message is that people should return to the office from 19 July.

Johnson replies that the government is no longer telling people it is necessary that people should work from home - and the rest is for employees and employers to "work out for themselves".

He stresses the change in guidance has been made possible by the success of the vaccine rollout, with the aim for everyone over 40 to have had two doses by 19 July and everyone over 18 to have had one dose.

Beth Rigby, of Sky News, asks if lifting the measures is "cautious but irreversible" despite the country facing an increasing epidemic.

The prime minister says he wants to strike the right balance and the government will rely on people to exercise personal responsibility and following guidance.

He says the vaccine rollout has "put us in a very strong position" compared with many other countries but we must remain cautious.

"I don't want people to feel that this is, as it were, the moment to get de-mob happy, this is the end of Covid. We are very far from the end," he says.

The prime minister adds that if a new variant which escapes the vaccines comes along then, "We will have to take whatever steps we need to do to protect the public."

Rigby asks Chris Whitty whether unlocking now will make more restrictions in the winter more or less likely.

England's chief medical officer says the winter is "inevitably" going to be tricky.

He also says the transmissibility of the Delta variant makes things difficult.

Jane Merrick from the "I" newspaper asks about the mental health impact and damage to children's education from Covid restrictions.

Can the PM guarantee schools won't close again, she wants to know?

"We have a massive catch-up plan for schools," the PM says, but people "want to see a different approach to outbreaks in schools".

The education secretary will announce later this week "how we will move away from sending bubbles home" in England, he adds, to reduce the impact on schools.

He says "the way forward is testing".

And asked whether children should be vaccinated, Sir Patrick Vallance says we need to wait for guidance from the the JCVI which regulates the rollout.

Susan Hulme
Parliamentary correspondent

Jeremy Hunt, chair of the health select committee, says the pandemic is far from over and the NHS Test and Trace system needs to be improved if we want to avoid another lockdown this winter.

He says contact tracing has enabled South Korea to avoid any lockdowns but NHS Test and Trace has failed to prevent three in the UK.

Journalist Romilly Weeks from ITV asks why the government is not waiting to fully vaccinate all adults before any further major unlocking.

Prof Whitty says these are decisions for ministers, not advisers, and there was a "really clear consensus" among scientists that some degree of social distancing would be need to be maintained even after restrictions are lifted in law.

He says there was a "pretty high degree of scientific agreement" that a four week delay to the final stage of the roadmap was an "extremely sensible thing to do."

However, Prof Whitty adds that views were more mixed about exactly the right time for easing.

He says there is a risk that you move to a situation where, instead of averting hospital admissions and deaths, you are simply delaying them

He says many people, including himself, also believe that easing restrictions in the summer has some advantages, as in the autumn schools return and the NHS faces other winter pressures.

The PM is also asked why he is ignoring some scientists and doctors who say rules on wearing masks should remain in place.

Johnson says he is trying to move away from "government diktat" to "personal responsibility".

However, he adds that he will continue to wear a mask in crowded places, when meeting people he doesn't normally meet, to protect others and as a matter of courtesy.

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

The PM talked about a "balance of risk" and opening up is a political risk. Boris Johnson has said there will be more deaths - though not how many. It will be mid-September before all adults are offered a second vaccine dose.

But his argument is that if we cannot open up now in summer, it would be riskier to do so in winter.

And what he could have said but wasn't so explicit about, is that it would be politically unsustainable not to open up at all this year - and economically damaging

But while the PM has talked about the "irreversibility" of his roadmap, England's chief medical officer has stressed the uncertainty over the future -and pointed out that choosing the right time to re-open is a difficult technical decision.

Scientists thought a delay until 19 July was sensible but there does not appear to be the same consensus over whether it is right to lose nearly all legal restrictions in a couple of weeks time.

Susan Hulme
Parliamentary correspondent

Image source, ParliamentLive.TV

Labour’s shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, tells the Commons the government’s strategy will still expose many thousands of people to Covid.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid should spell out what learning to live with Covid actually means, he says.

“How many deaths does he consider is acceptable when we’re living with Covid. How many cases of long Covid are acceptable?” Ashworth asks.

On masks, he says Israel has reintroduced them.

“Masks don’t restrict freedoms in a pandemic when so much virus is circulating. They ensure that everyone who goes to the shops or who takes public transport can do so safely, because wearing a mask protects others,” he says, adding that vulnerable people are feeling very anxious.

The BBC's Deputy Political Editor, Vicky Young, asks the first question from a journalist.

Can the PM tell us how bad he expects hospitalisations and deaths to get after 19 July, she asks, when restrictions are lifted.

"Obviously we have to be cautious," the PM says, and look at all the data.

"We always did say there would be a third wave" of the virus, he adds, and "sadly more deaths" - but the question people have to ask themselves is if we don't go ahead now, when the summer firebreak and the school holidays are coming up, then when would we go ahead?

The virus will have an extra advantage in winter, he says.

Asked if he will continue to wear a mask, he says it is about a move to personal responsibility. There is a big difference, for example, between a crowded tube train and sitting late at night in a virtually empty carriage.

Aaron from Kent asks how effective vaccines are at preventing long Covid.

Prof Chris Whitty says the data is not really clear - but says that because the vaccine prevents people from catching Covid, that of course is a protection against long Covid.

Anita from London asks if the Covid vaccine will be made available to children.

Boris Johnson says the JCVI is looking at the issue.

Whitty says that the scientists are confident that the vaccine will protect children, but says the second issue is safety.

"For any vaccine, what you want to be confident of is that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh any risks involved," he says.

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

There will be a lot of focus on mask-wearing advice.

It will no longer be legally required in certain settings in England, the PM has said, (though there will be guidance for health and social care staff and visitors) but there will still be non-enforceable advice to do so in crowded places.

Critics will say this has echoes of Matt Lucas's satirical send-up of the PM's advice last year, when in a Johnsonian voice the comedian pronounced: 'go to work/don't go to work'.

But this shouldn't, as it were, mask the scale of the government's changes from 19 July in England.

For businesses, scrapping all social distancing measures will be an economic lifeline - as will ending capacity caps for venues.

This will also be popular with many of the PM's backbenchers, but Labour says it wants to see more data on which decisions are being taken.

Image source, No 10

Vallance says deaths are increasing, albeit at low levels, and he would expect those figures to keep going up.

We have a high level of vaccination coverage, he says - which makes it more difficult for the virus to spread.

If you have not had a vaccination and are eligible, then get jabbed, he says.

We are in the middle of another increase of the virus, he adds.

Image source, No 10

Image source, No 10

Sir Patrick Vallance is up.

He says we are in the middle now of another increase in cases, with a doubling time of roughly nine days.

It is mainly among young people, he adds, but is spreading up the age groups.

"There is no doubt we are facing an increase in case numbers," he says.

Hospitalisations are rising too in some places, he says. The vaccine has weakened the link - but not completely broken it.

Image source, No 10

Boris Johnson says while the government will end the legal obligation on wearing a face covering, guidance will suggest "where you might choose to do so".

The prime minister gives the example of crowded public transport as somewhere that you may wish to do so.

He says there will be no Covid certificate required to attend events or venues.

Johnson also says there will be a different regime for self-isolation,including different measures for children.

More on the changes to mask rules here.

The prime minister now sets out his plan for "living with Covid", which he hopes will give families and businesses time to prepare.

• The interval between vaccine doses for under-40s will be reduced from twelve weeks to eight - meaning everyone over 18 should be double-jabbed by mid-September
• This is in addition to an autumn programme for booster jabs for the most vulnerable
• The government will move away from legal restrictions to allow people to make "informed decisions" about how to manage the virus
• From step four, all legal limits on numbers meeting indoors and outdoors will be lifted
• All businesses, including nightclubs, will be allowed to reopen
• The limits on named visitors to care homes will be lifted, as will the limits on numbers attending concerts, theatres and sports events
• The 1m-plus social distancing rule will end

Susan Hulme
Parliamentary correspondent

There have been shouts of “hallelujah” in the Commons as Health Secretary Sajid Javid announces that all social distancing rules in England are to be dropped, and that there will be no restrictions on communal singing.

The PM says the vaccines have reduced the risk of dying from the virus although not eliminated it. But there's a risk with continuing with restrictions too because they take a toll on people's lives and mental health.

He says it is time to be honest with ourselves. If we cannot open up in summer when the weather is good, then when can we return to normal?

The alternative is to open in winter he adds and that is not a good idea.

The prime minister says the only reason why we can consider easing restrictions in circumstances when we would "normally be locking down further" is because of the effectiveness of the vaccine rollout.

Boris Johnson says the reason for the previous pause to easing restrictions was to get more jabs in arms, and he says it remains the government's expectation that the UK will have offered every adult a first dose by 19 July, with two-thirds having received both doses by then.

He says it has grown ever clearer that the vaccines are successful.

"As we come to the fourth step we have to balance the risks," he says, pointing to both the risks from the disease and also the risks to people from continuing restrictions.

"If we can't reopen our society in the next few weeks when we will be helped by the arrival of summer and the school holidays, we must ask ourselves 'when will we be able to reopen?'" he says.

The prime minister begins by saying the final decision on easing lockdown in England will be taken on 12 July, but he will set out further details on the plans for 19 July now.

He stresses the pandemic is "far from over and won't be over by 19 July".

Cases are rising "fairly rapidly", he says, and the country is also seeing a rise in hospital admissions.

We must reconcile ourselves to the fact there will sadly be more deaths, he says.

The press conference is now under way, with Boris Johnson beginning his opening remarks.

Callum May
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

There is clear support for continuing to wear face masks, the latest opinion poll suggests.

71% of people questioned by YouGov said face masks should continue to be mandatory on public transport for some time once restrictions were lifted, while 21% said they should not.

Meanwhile 66% supported compulsory face masks in shops and indoor public places for a further period of time and 27% opposed them.

Yougov surveyed 2,749 GB adults online today.

YouGov says there is support for face masks in voters from all major political groups, although the strength varies across them.

For example, 82% of 2019 Lib Dem voters support keeping masks mandatory on public transport, while 79% of Labour voters are in favour and 67% of Conservative voters are in favour.