Further easing of Covid restrictions in England is likely to be pushed back by another month.
The BBC reports officials have agreed to delay easing further curbs on the planned 21 June ‘Freedom Day’, according to government sources.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to confirm the delay of stage four of the roadmap later today.
It would mean venues such as nightclubs will stay closed and people will be encouraged to continue working at home.
Other limits on social contact were also due to be scrapped on 21 June.
"We always knew there would be a chance of mutations and variants – that’s why this unlocking process was a progressive one and that’s why we have had these decision points laid out," Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said at the weekend but declined to confirm the delay.
Medical advisors, as well as the British Medical Association, have called for a delay in easing further curbs due to rising cases of the Delta variant, which is thought to be 60% more infectious than the Kent variant.
