U.K. to announce plan to ease restrictions this Sunday

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday announced the government will unveil a plan to ease coronavirus-related restrictions this Sunday.

The U.K., with a population of 66 million, has reported the highest number of coronavirus deaths in Europe at 29,501, according to the Johns Hopkins University. Britain has reported 196,243 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 926 have recovered.

Government officials have vowed to reassess a plan to reopen the government on May 7 after repeatedly extending restrictions.

“We will, of course, be setting out the details of that plan on Sunday,” Mr. Johnson told opposition members during a parliament meeting.

The latest announcement suggests the country may have passed five established tests that signal the country is ready to continue easing restrictions, after a spokesperson for Mr. Johnson last week said the country was not yet ready to lift the measures.

The World Health Organization has cautioned countries to ease restrictions in phases in an effort to monitor the impacts of the changes and prevent a resurgence of the virus.

“The reason for [the Sunday announcement] is very simply that we have to be sure that the data is going to support our ability to do this, but that data is coming in continuously over the next few days,” Mr. Johnson said. “We’ll want, if we possibly can, to get going with some of these measures on Monday.”