UK curbs may lift by July 19 over Delta variant case spike
London, June 14: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce a four-week delay to an end to all legal lockdown restrictions in the country when he makes a statement later on Monday in relation to so-called “Freedom Day”, which was set for June 21.
The last and fourth stage of the lockdown roadmap is now expected around July 19 instead amid a worrying spike in cases of the Delta variant, which experts fear will result in greater hospitalisations in the coming weeks. On Sunday, the UK recorded
7,490 new cases of Covid19 and eight deaths, with the seven-day average for cases up 49 per cent compared with the seven days before. Scientists and health officials have called for a delay in lifting all social distance norms in order to allow the vaccination programme to gain further ground, with second doses for the older age groups and first doses for the younger population cohorts of over-25s now eligible for jabs.
“It is one last heave. It is a straight race between the vaccine and the virus,” a senior government source was quoted as saying after Johnson met his Cabinet ministers and scientific advisers to assess the latest data. Johnson is expected to blame the delay on the third wave of Covid-19 infections and say it will allow millions of more people to be vaccinated and more to receive a second jab by the end of July. As well as a delay in lifting restrictions to allow scientists more time to monitor the Delta variant, the UK Prime Minister is also likely to announce a drive to accelerate the vaccination programme. The extension will be put to a House of Commons vote this month and could trigger a backbench rebellion from Johnson’s own Conservative Party MPs.