Health & Fitness Covid rules ‘may go’ once half of the UK has been vaccinated, Matt Hancock suggests as he sets Easter deadline

All Covid-19 rules could be lifted once roughly half of the UK has been vaccinated against coronavirus, Matt Hancock has suggested in the clearest timetable yet for the end of social distancing.

© Provided by The i Matt Hancock has laid out a timetable for the end of Covid-19 rules (Photo: Justin Tallis/PA)

The Health Secretary said it may not be necessary to wait until the whole of the country is protected against Covid-19 for the existing laws to be revoked. Instead they could go once all health workers, over-50s and younger people who are vulnerable due to pre-existing medical conditions have had the chance to get a jab.

Drinking tea can significantly lower blood pressure

© wenn A new study has found that drinking tea can significantly lower blood pressure. Researchers at the University of Reading and Cambridge University have found that foods and drinks such as tea, apples and berries are high in flavonoids, and may reduce the risk of high blood pressure. High blood pressure can increase the chances of being diagnosed with a serious disease, such as coronary heart disease or kidney disease, if left untreated.

He believes the capital city may be just "two or three days" behind the hotspots of the north-west In contrast, Mr Hancock said he would call the police on his neighbour if they were breaking rules Currently, large swathes of the UK , where cases have spiked, are living under tighter local restrictions.

He also said a roll-out of a Covid vaccine would signal that life could go back to "normal" by Easter , which falls on April 4 next year. Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said there could be a "slight and careful" easing of the rules for a few days while Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething has

The exact timing depends on how well the rollout of the vaccine goes over the coming months, but all vulnerable groups are expected to be vaccinated by Easter, which is on 4 April next year. Restrictions can only be lifted if the jab is found to prevent transmission of the virus, as well as symptoms in protected individuals.

Mr Hancock told the Commons health and science committees that if the most vulnerable are no longer susceptible to infection, and the R number has fallen below 1, it will not longer be necessary to limit social mixing. He said: “Should we manage to get the number of deaths, the number of hospitalisations down sharply because of the vaccination programme… there the argument for more personal responsibility in how we respond to this, rather than NPIs [non-pharmaceutical interventions], particularly the NPIs which damage the economy and damage society and wellbeing, I think that is where we will get to.”

Long Covid proves the coronavirus can 'strike us all'

As many as 60,000 people of all ages in the UK are thought to be suffering from long-lasting effects of coronavirus, which linger after the original illness has cleared up. Speaking at the Downing Street briefing this evening, Mr Hancock said it demonstrated how the 'virus can strike us all, and we must all do our bit to strike back.'He said even the young and healthy are suffering symptoms months after their coronavirus illness. These include fatigue, breathlessness and brain problems. Mr Hancock confirmed at least 43 NHS mini-hospitals are to be established in England to help those suffering from long Covid.

Hancock says he was “the architect” of the original tier system, and a big supporter of it. But, as they could see case rates going up all around the country Matt Hancock says, overall, test and trace has had an important impact. He suggests the Sage comment only referred to the impact of test and

The health secretary Matt Hancock said he wants to ensure that loved ones can be with people who are dying of coronavirus. Some 63% of would- be graduates said their applications had been put on pause or withdrawn because of the virus’s continued spread and only a third felt confident about

Months of pain

He added: “Once you have protected or given the opportunity to protect or given the opportunity to protect older and more vulnerable people, the public health rationale particularly for strict and damaging measures is reduced.” However, the minister warned that before the vaccine rollout measures tougher than the previous three-tier system of localised rules will have to remain in place because the old regime “wasn’t enough to get the R below 1 and therefore cases falling”.

© Provided by The i Matt Hancock speaking to MPs on Tuesday

Questioned on why the UK experienced so many deaths in the first wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, Mr Hancock claimed the pandemic plan codenamed “Project Cygnus” had failed to foresee the arrival of a pandemic such as coronavirus which could be stopped quickly, as opposed to a global flu outbreak which was already raging uncontrollably.

The Health Secretary said: “The problem was it started from the assumption that we were going to have a pandemic flu that was already rampant and widespread, because it was an exercise of what you do when lots of people are already dying. What it didn’t ask was the prior question of what type of pandemic is most likely, what are the different characteristics of different pandemics – like flu and coronavirus being two obvious examples – and can we act to stop getting to the position at which Project Cygnus started off.”

But he defended the Government’s scientific advisers and refused to say whether the UK should have locked down earlier in spring, or been quicker to impose the current time-limited restrictions in England after the start of the second wave.