Ministers today continued apace rewriting the COVID rules that have governed our lives for the last 16 months, with government sources relishing what they call the “bonfire” of restrictions.

There was some surprise among MPs that new Health Secretary Sajid Javid decided to wait until 16 August – a whole six weeks – until the government scraps 10-day quarantine for double-jabbed adults who come into contact with an individual who has tested positive.

Some MPs thought it would come this month.

But there will be no such delay for those waiting for the end of travel quarantine from amber list countries.

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That will likely be abandoned around the end of the month, with an announcement of the exact date pencilled in for Thursday or Friday this week.

All this unlocking comes against a backdrop of worsening data.

There were 28,773 new cases in the last 24 hours in the UK, an increase of a whopping 49% on a week ago and Mr Javid suggested this could top 100,000 new cases a day in weeks.

The increase in hospitalisations – the ultimate arbiter of government policy – is also rising week on week by 29%.

There is plenty for opponents to use to suggest Boris Johnson is on the wrong course if they wanted to.

For instance, in a paper prepared by government advisers for ministers in April and released on Monday, scientists argued there was a “significant risk in allowing prevalence to rise even if hospitalisations and deaths are kept low by vaccination”.

It added that “even beyond the point when all adults have been offered the vaccine, keeping some level of measures in place both through summer and beyond would significantly decrease ongoing transmission”.

Asked on Sunday whether the UK is on track for the end of lockdowns, JCVI member Adam Finn answered: “Who knows?”

Yet ministers have been able to wave through the changes with relatively minimal bother.

Labour is opposing the end of compulsory mask wearing that Mr Johnson announced on Monday.

Its other two demands – greater ventilation indoors and more payments to support self-isolation – are longer-term demands.

The rest – reopening pubs and hospitality venues in full, an end to social distancing, the go-ahead for festivals and other mass events, the end of test and trace quarantine and an end to school bubbles – all seem to be supported by Labour.

This may surprise some who listen to Labour’s rhetoric.

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Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth is arguing that only 50% of people across England are fully vaccinated and another 17% partially.

He even says “widespread transmission will not make us healthier”.

Yet it is unclear beyond opposing mask freedoms what Labour would do differently.

Indeed Mr Ashworth made clear on Sky News on Tuesday that reopening is important.

“Let’s reopen our economy, let’s reopen hospitality properly, let’s be cautious,” he said.

Some believe Mr Johnson has made a mistake in reopening on this scale on 19 July. But the opposition is not – yet – saying so.

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