IN his first speech in the House of Commons as the new Health Secretary, Sajid Javid confirmed that Covid-19 restrictions will end on July 19.

Javid, who was named the new health secretary at the weekend following Matt Hancock's resignation in the wake of his affair being made public, said all rules will be dropped next month and there is "no reason" they should last any longer.

The announcement comes as more and more people are getting vaccinated, but case numbers continue to rise; in Bradford there were almost 1,000 new cases in the week to June 23, up from 260 a month earlier, and in Oakworth & Laycock and Steeton & Silsden - the two areas currently worst affected by Covid - case numbers have shot up 1,600 per cent and 767 per cent in just a week, respectively.

Mr Javid resisted pressure from Tory MPs to bring forward the date of Step 4 of the road map, but he said there was “no reason” why the July 19 deadline would not be met.

The Prime Minister signalled that the “terminus” date would mean going “back to life as it was before Covid as far as possible”.

In his first Commons statement since replacing Matt Hancock, Mr Javid told MPs: “There remains a big task ahead of us to restore our freedoms – freedoms that, save for the greatest of circumstances, no government should ever wish to curtail.

“So my task is to help return the economic and cultural life that makes this country so great while of course protecting life and our NHS.”

When Step 4 of the roadmap was pushed back from June 21 to July 19, an early lifting of rules on July 5 was considered, but has been ditched by ministers.

Mr Javid added: “While we decided not to bring forward Step 4, we see no reason to go beyond July 19, because, in truth, no date we choose comes with zero risk for Covid.

“We know we cannot simply eliminate it, we have to learn to live with it.”

Cases of Covid have started rising again nationally - driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant - but the vast majority of cases are in the young and unvaccinated, so it is hoped all these age groups can get at least one jab by July 19 to try and halt the Delta variant's spread.

Javid returns to the Cabinet in the place of Hancock, who quit on Saturday after his affair with a member of staff Gina Coladangelo was exposed, with CCTV footage of them kissing in his office leaked to the press.

There was huge pressure on Hancock, who has been married for 15 years and has two children, to quit and after initially standing firm - with the full backing of the Prime Minister - he quit late on Saturday, posting a glum video on his Twitter account.

It means Javid is back in the Cabinet after 14 months away, after he quit as Chancellor after refusing to bow to the demands of Dominic Cummings and Boris Johnson by sacking his advisers.