June 21st lockdown easing ‘could be pushed back by four weeks’

Boris Johnson is considering delaying the next stage of lockdown restrictions being lifted by up to four weeks, new reports are claiming. 

The final stage of the lockdown road map is set for June 21st, however, after a recent surge in cases across the country – Greater Manchester, in particular – the Prime Minister has been under mounting pressure to push back the date.

Johnson has previously stressed that he will be using ‘data not dates’ to make his decisions on lockdown restrictions but, more recently, had said that there was ‘nothing in the data’ to suggest the now famed June 21st date should not be adhered to.

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However, The Times reported last night that the Prime Minister is considering pushing back the lockdown easing by as much as four weeks, with Rishi Sunak reportedly accepting a delay in the roadmap.

It was reported that plans are currently being discussed for either a two-week or four-week delay thanks to the spike of the Delta variant, which accounts for 91% of new cases in the country.

For the lockdown easing to go ahead as normal on June 21st, four key tests have to passed, as outlined by the government in March.

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The four tests are: if the vaccine deployment programme is continuing successfully; whether vaccines are sufficiently effective in reducing hospital admissions and deaths in those vaccinated; if infection rates risk a surge in hospital admissions which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS; and whether the government’s assessment of the risks is fundamentally changed by new Variants of Concern.

By Step 4, which will take place no earlier than June 21st, the government hopes to be in a position to remove all legal limits on social contact.

Johnson is expected to make an announcement on Monday, June 14th, after chief scientists have presented the latest scientific data on the pandemic to him.