British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has delayed plans to remove England's final COVID-19 restrictions to next month as the Delta variant continues to spread throughout the country.
June 21 was due to see the lifting of the final set of social restrictions and allow the reopening of nightclubs, theatres and the full reopening of other hospitality venues.
It would also have allowed groups of more than six people to meet indoors.
But that date, labelled by many in the UK media as "Freedom Day", has now been pushed back four weeks to July 19.
"I think it is sensible to wait just a little longer," Mr Johnson told a news conference, adding that he was confident that the delay would not last more than four weeks.
On Monday, the UK recorded 7,742 new COVID-19 cases and three deaths, and Mr Johnson said the country was seeing cases rise by 64 per cent per week due to the highly transmissible Delta variant, which was first identified in India.
Britain currently has the seventh-largest coronavirus death toll in the world, which currently stands 127,907 people.
The delay to the unlocking date, the prime minister said, would allow the UK's ambitious vaccination rollout to continue, with up to two-thirds of the adult population set to have their second dose by July 19,
"By being cautious now, we have the chance in the next four weeks to save many thousands of lives by vaccinating millions more people," he said.
More than 41 million people have now had their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccination in the UK, and nearly 30 million have had their second, which is nearly 57 per cent of the adult population.
Monday's decision was based on scientific modelling which showed that, if the reopening went ahead as planned, under some scenarios hospitalisations could match those in March last year when ministers feared the health system could be overwhelmed.
A study released earlier on Monday showed the Delta variant doubles the risk of hospitalisation, but two doses of vaccine still provide strong protection.
Unlike in March 2020, the increase in hospitalisations was likely to be among younger people who require shorter treatment and are less at risk of dying.
Nevertheless, the risk of increased pressure on the health system meant that the tests the government set out for going ahead with the reopening had not been met.
