England may still need “extra precautions” to protect against coronavirus even after the final stage of lockdown easing, Boris Johnson has said.
The PM said he would set out “in the course of the next few days” what that might entail. The planned 21 June lifting of restrictions was postponed until 19 July because of rising cases driven by the Delta variant, but infections are still rising.
Nearly 28,000 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Thursday - the highest daily reported infections since late January - along with a further 22 deaths recorded within 28 days of testing positive for the virus.
Meawnhile, the World Health Organisation has warned that Europe will inevitably face a new wave of Covid-19 infections unless the public and national governments remain disciplined in their attempts to control the pandemic.
The body’s European chief, Hans Kluge, said the three conditions for a wave of excess deaths were now in place: low vaccine uptake; increased social mixing; and new variants.
