Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that step four of the coronavirus roadmap will not go ahead in England on June 21.
Mr Johnson says that England will remain at step three for at least four more weeks (Monday 19 July) because two of the four tests have not been met.
These are the tests on variants changing the risks; and the risk of a “surge in hospitalisations which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS”.
This is due to the rapidly spreading Delta variant.
A review on whether restrictions will be lifted on July 19 will be made a week before.
The announcement comes as a further three people have died in the UK after testing positive for Covid-19.
There have also been a further 7,742 lab-confirmed cases.
Meanwhile more support for surge testing, tracing, isolation and maximising vaccine uptake will be deployed in Birmingham, Blackpool, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Liverpool City Region and Warrington, the government has announced.
The support package, which is the same as was announced for Greater Manchester and Lancashire last week, is being provided after a number of cases of the Delta variant were detected in the areas, a spokesman said.
