England should retain some coronavirus measures beyond July 19, when most remaining restrictions are due to be lifted, to help limit the spread of the disease, a doctors' union warned.

The British Medical Association (BMA) wants people to continue using face masks and called for a renewed focus on ventilating properties after a sharp recent rise in Covid-19 cases, with 27,125 reported on Friday.

“This data coupled with some increases in hospitalisation suggests that it would be quite wrong from a public health interest to on July 19 remove all restrictions [...] or to give the public the expectation that we will have a pre-Covid society where no one has to take any measures to prevent spread,” Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, told Sky News.