Covid UK: Self-isolation will not be dropped for the double-vaccinated until ...

Millions more healthy people face putting their lives on hold after Sajid Javid revealed the requirement for the double-jabbed to self-isolate will not be dropped until August 16.

The Health Secretary said the 'protective wall' thrown up by the vaccine drive meant that ministers can 'look afresh' at rules when people are 'pinged' for contact with an infected individual.

From the middle of next month people who have received two doses - with the second administered at least two weeks previously - can take PCR tests rather than self-isolating. Under-18s will also not be subject to the restrictions from the same date.

But the timetable is far slower than many had hoped, and potentially means huge numbers of people will be caught after 'Freedom Day' on July 19. Mr Javid told the Commons that he had looked at changing the system earlier, but was 'more comfortable' waiting until even more people are vaccinated.  

The dramatic news came after Mr Javid admitted coronavirus cases could top 100,000 a day by the summer as the government pushes ahead with the unlocking. 

He gave the grim figure as he insisted Boris Johnson is right to continue with the dramatic endpoint on July 19, saying the hospitalisations and deaths were what mattered.

The PM was also given a boost this morning as 'Professor Lockdown' Neil Ferguson said he is 'optimistic' the 'gamble' of releasing restrictions will work - although he cautioned that cases could hit 200,000 a day and they might need to be reimposed if vaccines are slightly less effective than hoped and deaths surge. 

Mr Javid said that by 'Freedom Day' he expects daily cases to reach 50,000 - nearly double the current level. 

'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,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

'We want to be very straightforward about this... but what matters more than anything is hospitalisation and death numbers. That is where the link has been severely weakened.'

Last night Mr Johnson signalled a 'big bang' end to lockdown on July 19, saying it was now or never for a return to normality despite the pandemic being 'far from over'.

He claimed further delay would run the risk of trying to reopen in autumn or winter when 'the virus has an edge'. 

And at a sombre Downing Street press conference, Mr Johnson warned against going 'demob happy' at the ending of most coronavirus restrictions on July 19.

And he toned down previous pledges that the path out of lockdown would be 'irreversible' – with restrictions potentially returning and 'contingency' powers kept in reserve. A final decision on whether to press ahead on July 19 will be taken at the start of next week but seems almost certain to be approved.

In other twists and turns in the crisis today:

Professor Ferguson said 'policy will have to remain flexible' after coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

The Government adviser told Today: 'At the peak of the second wave 50,000 cases would translate into something like 500 deaths, but that's going to be much lower this time, more like 50 or so.

'The challenge is, there's still the potential of getting very large numbers of cases and so if we get very high numbers of cases a day, 150,000 or 200,000 it could still cause some pressure to the health system.

'This is a slight gamble, it's a slight experiment at the moment, and I think it's justifiable and I'm reasonable optimistic, but policy will have to remain flexible.

'If we end up in something close to the worst-case scenario we and other groups are looking at, which I think is unlikely but can't be ruled out, then yes there will need to be some course direction later.'

In a downbeat assessment slipped out in documents alongside the briefing last night, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said that even if hospitalisations and deaths remained low, there were major risks in letting cases surge.

The group warned that should a 'variant of concern' arrive that threatened immunity, lockdown restrictions would need to reimposed for much longer. 

Sage warned that some 'baseline measures' may have to stay, with 'sustained behavioural change' necessary.

Experts said self-isolation when ill would remain 'critical' and working from home was a 'highly effective' long-term option. And in a grim sign that Britons face a return of some curbs in the near future, Sage added: 'Stronger measures may be desirable for autumn and winter.'

Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth struggled to explain how Labour would do things differently as he toured broadcast studios this morning.

Told on ITV's Good Morning Britain that he only seemed to be complaining that masks were being made voluntary, Mr Ashworth insisted there was a wider problem. 

'Yes I would've been happier. But it's not just the masks, it's things like sick pay,' he said.

'Sick pay is really, really important; if you're on really low pay, or in a temporary work or zero hour contact, you've not been able to access sick pay throughout this whole crisis.

'Some people have been forced to make use of their annual leave to go on the sick, that's not on, that's not fair. So I really want that resolving as well.'

Mr Johnson's decision to defy gloomy warnings from scientists and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was warmly cheered by business chiefs and Conservative MPs.

However there was confusion over quarantine for summer holidays, the end of mandatory mask wearing and the future of working from home.  

Mr Johnson's leading scientific advisers appeared cautious at the press conference, with chief medical officer Chris Whitty saying the third Covid wave was 'significant and rising'.

And the updated roadmap document makes clear that options are being kept open for renewing the curbs. 

'The Government will maintain contingency plans for reimposing economic and social restrictions at a local, regional or national level if evidence suggests they are necessary to suppress or manage a dangerous variant. Such measures would only be re-introduced as a last resort to prevent unsustainable pressure on the NHS,' the document said.

'The Government will also maintain the current regulations until 28 September that enable local authorities to respond to serious and imminent public health threats. The Government will also publish an updated COVID-19 contain outbreak management framework for local areas in due course.' 

Sage scientific advisers published documents saying there was a 'significant risk' in allowing cases to rise – and that restrictions might need to return this winter. And in a sign that the political consensus over Covid was fracturing, Sir Keir branded Mr Johnson's announcement 'reckless'.  

At last night's briefing, Mr Johnson warned cases were predicted to rise to 50,000 a day later this month and that 'we must reconcile ourselves, sadly, to more deaths from Covid'.

But he declared: 'We must be honest with ourselves that if we can't reopen our society in the next few weeks, when we will be helped by the arrival of summer and by the school holidays, then we must ask ourselves: when will we be able to return to normal?'

He said a further delay would 'run the risk of either opening up at a very difficult time when the virus has an edge' in the autumn or winter or 'putting everything off to next year'.

Chief scientist Sir Patrick Vallance said Covid cases were doubling every nine days and hospitalisations were also rising, albeit at a slower rate. 'The vaccines have weakened the link, not broken it,' he said. 

Both he and Professor Whitty said they would continue to wear face masks in busy settings. Professor Whitty acknowledged there were 'some advantages' to reopening in the summer and Downing Street denied a claim from Dominic Cummings that the Prime Minister had overruled his scientific advisers.