‘Britain’s end of lockdown may be pushed back by two weeks’

BRITAIN’s roadmap for easing lockdown on June 21 may be delayed by a fortnight, a media report said, following a “grim” briefing reportedly given to the cabinet on Monday (7).   

Chief medical officer Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance apparently gave a “downbeat” assessment to the cabinet regarding the current state of the pandemic, including transmission rates and concerns about the new delta variant, said The Times. 

The government is said to be considering postponing the lockdown lift after Whitty and Vallance gave a briefing to ministers that is described as “fairly grim” by a source. There can be a delay between two weeks and a month is coming but as long as the final reopening is taking place before the summer holidays the “political fallout” is likely to be limited, the reports said citing the source. 

“They emphasised again that the vaccine did not provide 100 per cent protection and there were real concerns about the transmissibility of the new variants,” the source said. 

June 21 is the current date for stage four of the easing of Covid restrictions though constantly rising cases amid growing concern of the delta variant are now posing a threat to prime minister Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown. The latest figures show that the UK recorded over 5,600 cases on Monday (7), up from the recent low of around 1,350 infections a day at the start of May.  

Meanwhile, more than 40 million people in the UK reportedly have received the first dose of the vaccine and nearly 28 million people have been fully vaccinated. 

It is being said that the speculated delay will enable over-50s to get fully vaccinated before restrictions are lifted completely. The government is reportedly aiming to get second doses to all over-50s before June 21, but they can take up to three weeks to have a full effect. 

Johnson's spokesman has said that while there is “nothing in the data” to say that restrictions could not be eased on June 21, the government will look carefully at case numbers and hospitalisations.  

The speculation comes days after UK health secretary Matt Hancock said that “it is too early” to say whether the government will stick to its plan to fully lift Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in England on June 21. 

He is expected to give an update on the forthcoming lifting of restrictions with a formal announcement on Monday (14).