THE Prime Minister is set to explain the Government's plans for the easing of national lockdown restrictions later today.

Boris Johnson is expected to lead a Downing Street press conference at 5pm tonight as all remaining restrictions are set to be eased in just two weeks' time.

It comes as the Health Secretary Sajid Javid over the weekend suggested that the UK will need to learn to live with Covid going forward.

Read more: Covid infection rates among Durham students have ‘rocketed’

At the weekend, The Northern Echo reported that Durham City had seen the highest infection rate in the country following a surge in cases over the past two weeks.

Covid case rates had suggested that one in 50 people in the city centre had tested positive in the past week. 

But the country is still set to see the fourth and final step of the Government's roadmap out of lockdown as the PM is this evening set to explain.

July 19, dubbed 'Freedom Day' is set to see all remaining lockdown restrictions - originally imposed in January - removed. 

The PM previously said that despite rising infection rates across the country, the vaccination programme had "broken" the link between infection and death.

Speaking at Nissan in Sunderland last week, he said: “I know how impatient people are to get back to total normality, as indeed am I.

“I will be setting in the course of the next few days what Step 4 will look like exactly.

“But I think I’ve said it before, we’ll be wanting to go back to a world that is as close to the status quo, ante-Covid, as possible. Try to get back to life as close to it was before Covid.

“But there may be some things we have to do, extra precautions that we have to take, but I’ll be setting them out.”

Mr Johnson acknowledged there has been a “big” increase in positive cases in England after the latest Test and Trace figures put this at more than 79,000 in the week to June 23 – the highest figure since February.

But he insisted the nation is in the “final furlong” of ending restrictions.

He added: “It looks ever clearer… the speed of that vaccine rollout has broken that link between infection and mortality and that’s an amazing thing. That gives us the scope, we think on the 19th to go ahead, cautiously, irreversibly.”

It is not yet known who will join the PM at tonight's press conference.

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