Sajid Javid, the new UK health secretary, on Monday said the country has to “learn to live” with Covid-19, in a bullish statement to MPs in which he confirmed the government’s plan to return England to economic normality on July 19.
In a sharp break with the tone of his predecessor Matt Hancock, Javid aligned himself with the views of many Conservative ministers who believe it is time to discard caution and reopen the country.
“No date we choose comes with zero-risk for Covid,” he said in his first House of Commons statement since returning to the cabinet on Saturday. “We cannot eliminate it, instead we have to learn to live with it,” he added.