Forex Trading For Beginners 2021: Covid: Boris Johnson upbeat about easing lockdown in England on 19 July

Boris Johnson visiting a Nissan plant in Sunderland

The PM says he is hoping England will return to as close to the pre-pandemic status quo as possible on 19 July.

Boris Johnson said he would set out in the next few days what step four of the roadmap out of lockdown - due in just over two weeks - will look like.

But he added some "extra precautions" may still be needed and urged patience over the possibility of scrapping isolation for whole bubbles in schools.

The PM also said double jabs would be "a liberator" for foreign travel.

During a visit to a new Nissan plant in Sunderland, Mr Johnson was asked whether measures such as social distancing and masks would be removed on 19 July.

"I know how impatient people are to get back to total normality, as indeed am I," he said.

"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."

Asked about reports that fully-vaccinated people may be able to travel from amber-list countries without quarantining by 26 July, the prime minister told reporters: "Everybody who is frustrated about travel over the summer - double jabs will be a liberator.

"I want travel to be possible but I've got to stress that this year will not be like every other year, because of the difficulties with Covid. People shouldn't expect it will be completely hassle-free."

Analysis box by Vicki Young, deputy political editor

The prime minister was sounding very confident about lifting restrictions on 19 July, on his visit this morning to the Nissan vehicle factory in Sunderland.

What everyone wants to know is how far he'll go when it comes to masks, social distancing, school bubbles, travel.

The feeling around Whitehall is that it's going to be very close to a return to normal life.

I'm hearing that an announcement laying out these details could come as soon as next week, with final confirmation giving formal go-ahead a week later.

On the possibility of replacing isolation with daily testing to prevent whole groups of pupils needing to stay at home, Mr Johnson said Public Health England (PHE) were looking at the advantages of this.

"I understand people's frustration when whole classes, whole bubbles, are sent home and people are asked to isolate," he said.

However, the prime minister said PHE had not yet concluded their research, adding: "So what I want to do is just to be cautious as we go forward to that natural firebreak of the summer holidays when the risk in schools will greatly diminish, and just ask people to be a little bit patient," he said.

If a pupil tests positive, anyone who has been in close contact with them is told to self-isolate.

This can result in whole classes or year groups being sent home.