Image source, Getty Images

Cabinet ministers meet to discuss planned changes this morning and business minister Paul Scully has been speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live.

He says the "pandemic hasn't gone away" but we need to get the balance of restrictions right "to give people freedoms back".

"We're learning to live with Covid - it's not that we're just packing up and going home because Covid has been beaten and finished - it's about how we move on to the long term as we gradually look to soon that pandemic becoming endemic," he said.explains.

He was also asked about testing following huge speculation that free lateral flow tests could be scrapped for most people.

Scully says he won't pre-empt announcements, but the prime minister is clear while we have to keep an eye on variants, "what we can't do is keep up this relentless pace, the £2bn a month on testing".

Instead, he says that should be going on other areas and not least the backlog in the NHS.

Michelle Roberts
Digital health editor, BBC News

The daily UK figures, external published by the government, which are based on how many people come forward for testing and have their results recorded, say there were 25,696 new cases confirmed on 20 Feb.

That’s a 25% drop compared to a week ago. It’s the lowest figure since the first UK cases Omicron were reported in late November.

But it does mean there is still a lot of the virus around.

Other Covid data from the Office for National Statistics, based on community swabs of volunteers whether they have symptoms or not, suggests around one in 20 people in England and one in 25 in Wales and Scotland has Covid. That means just under 3 million people in the UK would test positive for the virus in the week ending 12 February, down from over 3.3 million the week before.

This wave is receding, but the pandemic is not over.

Image source, PA Media

The Queen will be working on "light duties" this week at Windsor Castle this week, despite having mild Covid symptoms, royal officials say.

Buckingham Palace confirmed yesterday the Queen, 95, was experiencing "mild, cold-like symptoms".

She’s one of the tens of thousands of people who have been testing positive each day in recent weeks (latest case numbers show a further 25,696 cases were reported on Sunday, and around 34,000 on Saturday).

The Queen's light duties likely include reading state papers, which usually takes up a significant chunk of nearly every day, and correspondence, or maybe taking a phone call.

"The mood at Windsor Castle is one of caution and no major cause for alarm," says BBC royal correspondent Daniela Relph.

There's a sense, she says, that it will be "business-as-usual as much as is possible for the Queen" – but the royal doctor will likely be keeping a very close eye on her, especially as she is considerably thinner and frailer than she was last year.

More here.

News that the Queen has Covid dominates Monday's front pages. But most of them note that she is continuing with light duties from her Windsor Castle home.

"One keeps calm and carries on" is the headline carried by the Metro, external.

Looking at news on rules changing, The Daily Telegraph, external reports that people over the age of 80 will still be eligible for free coronavirus tests once their availability is reduced.

It expects universal free kits to be phased out at the beginning of next month, as part of the government's plan for living with the virus - but hospital staff, patients and care home workers will still qualify for them too.

And according to The Times, external, at least two Cabinet ministers will withdraw their support for Prime Minister Boris Johnson if he is given a fine for breaching Covid laws. Scotland Yard is investigating 12 gatherings at Downing Street - six of them with links to the prime minister. He has previously denied any wrongdoing.

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

Covid is no longer an exceptional threat. Despite the huge wave of infections, the numbers dying in recent months has been similar to what you would expect during a normal winter.

Most agree some scaling back is warranted, but it needs to be done carefully.

During the pandemic, £37 billion has been set aside for test and trace. This is a huge sum - more than has been spent on GP care.

Mass PCR testing in the community is almost certain to go. But these gold standard tests will be kept in hospitals to diagnose patients who are seriously ill and to keep an eye out on variants.

Many believe the Office for National Statistics surveillance survey can be done on a smaller scale, but it is essential to have something to keep a check on how the virus is spreading.

Then there are rapid tests. They will be vital for high-risk settings such as care homes. But to what extent should the government make them available to the wider public so they can test themselves when mixing with vulnerable friends and family? That's the really difficult and controversial call.

The full piece is here.

Image source, Getty Images

Today could mark a big moment in the UK’s handling of the pandemic.

Boris Johnson is to set out his plans today to scrap all remaining Covid legal restrictions in England - including the requirement to self-isolate.

He will present the proposals to his Cabinet of ministers this morning, before updating MPs this afternoon.

The PM is expected to say “now is the time” to remove the measures and bring the country "towards a return to normality".

But some experts think he's acting too quickly and have urged caution.

And Labour has questioned plans to reduce free testing.

We don’t know what the PM will say on lateral flow testing yet – there’s been speculation that free tests could be scrapped, so that’s one thing to watch out for.

Read the latest here.

Welcome along to our live coverage. I'm Claire Heald and will be bringing you the latest updates with Francesca Gillett and Lauren Turner.

Could this day see the last PM coronavirus press conference, as Boris Johnson ends legal restrictions put in place for the pandemic in England?

Before we hear from him later today, he'll meet ministers to agree the plan and then address MPs this afternoon.

Stick with us for the news as it happens.