LONDON — Britain’s vaccines minister says that people in England are expected to continue wearing masks indoors from July 19 even though the legal requirement to do so would be dropped.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will confirm Monday whether most coronavirus restrictions including social distancing and mandatory mask-wearing will be lifted the following week as widely expected.

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said new guidance will be issued Monday on mask-wearing. He said there will be “an expectation of people to wear masks indoors, in crowded places, on public transport" instead of a legal requirement.

The U.K. is seeing a sharp surge in coronavirus cases. It's partly driven by the more transmissible delta variant and partly by increased social mixing with the easing of lockdown rules. New cases now stand at over 34,000 a day. But deaths and hospitalizations have remained low and broadly stable.