Pushing ahead with full lockdown easing on 21 June would be “foolish” and a “major risk”, an expert has warned, amid a surge in new cases of coronavirus.
Professor Stephen Reicher, who sits on the SPI-B advisory committee, said that the rise of the Delta variant meant the government’s own criteria did not support taking the final step to reopening.
It came as reports suggested ministers are considering delaying the full reopening date - or “Freedom Day” - by a fortnight to 5 July.
However further good news arrived on the vaccine front as the UK hit another milestone, with 40 million first doses administered in just six months.
And Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said data from Bolton suggested that vaccines had “broken the chain” between coronavirus infection and serious illness.
Delta variant hospitalisations are increasing but not “very significantly” and, in Bolton at least, typically involve individuals who are “a lot younger and a lot less at-risk of very serious complication” or death – reducing the demand for critical care, he said.
On Friday daily coronavirus cases surpassed 6,000 for the first time since March and health secretary Matt Hancock said on Friday it was “too early to say” whether current plans could go ahead.
Saturday’s daily figure for new cases was down slightly, at 5,765, but that is still higher than Thursday’s tally.
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