The rules might be gone, but life in England may not be much different after 19 July

So what’s changed? Not much, it seems. Life in COVID England may not be much different after 19 July.

Masks? Yes, we’ll almost certainly still be wearing those.

They won’t be mandatory. But Boris Johnson says “we expect and recommend” that we carry on wearing them in crowded and enclosed places such as public transport.

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Working from home? No change, really. We’re removing the instructions, the PM says, but we don’t expect the whole country to return next week.

COVID passports? Ah, now that is a change. A U-turn, in fact. The government is now urging nightclubs, pubs and restaurants and other venues with big crowds to use the NHS COVID pass.

Only last week it was reported that minsters had dropped plans to introduce them, fearing they would place a burden on the testing system.

Freedom day? We don’t hear that label for 19 July from the prime minister any more. Irreversible? Well, he hoped the roadmap would be, he said, rather unconvincingly.

So why the change of tone, prompting more accusations of mixed messages?

Rising COVID infections, obviously. And a backlash from the medical community, top regional politicians like Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan and – yes – the public.

A poll in the Observer at the weekend suggested 73% of people now believe wearing masks on public transport should continue and 50% said “freedom day” should be pushed back beyond July 19.

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Mr Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, says that with COVID cases rising rapidly again, “freedom day” risks becoming “anxiety day” for vulnerable people.

And Mr Khan, the London mayor, is talking to ministers, transport chiefs and train companies about keeping masks mandatory on London’s transport network.

Leading the boffins’ backlash, England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty – standing alongside the PM in Downing Street – told the public to “avoid unnecessary meetings”, even after 19 July.

The PM said restrictions would only return under exceptional circumstances, such as a new variant, yet Sajid Javid told MPs in the Commons there’ll be a review in September.

The Tory lockdown sceptics weren’t happy with the health secretary. Sir Desmond Swayne said businesses were grinding to a halt and Mark Harper attacked “dodgy data”.

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But Sir Keir Starmer is still saying the changes are “reckless” and the shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth told Mr Javid: “Instead of caution, he’s pushing his foot down on the accelerator while throwing the seatbelts out of the window.”

At his news conference, however, the PM said it was “absolutely vital we proceed with caution” because the pandemic isn’t over.

So why the changes now? Because a delay until September or later would mean a risky re-opening in colder weather when schools are back, said the PM.

And Mr Javid told MPs: “To those who say why take this step now, I say: ‘If not now, when?'”

But because of the need for caution, while in theory the rules are being torn up – for now – in practice many of the curbs on our daily lives are likely to remain.

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