Hancock says ‘it’s on all of us’ to help ease Covid lockdown in England

The UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, has said that everyone needs to play their part in order to meet the targets set for easing lockdown in England with the aim to move to “personal responsibility” rather than having social distancing laws “that get in the way of normal life”.

Hancock said that while England’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, made it clear that people might still need to wear a mask this winter, the government wanted to “get rid of social distancing-type laws” that “dictate how all of us live our daily lives.”

“But, it is also clear that eradication is unfortunately not possible with this disease, so we are going to have to learn to live with it,” Hancock told Times radio.