The UK is facing a "rough" winter, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned - with the possibility of further Covid restrictions and even a return to lockdown a fear if an unexpected "horror" appears.
Asked if he'd rule out a return to lockdown if the coronavirus surged again, the Prime Minister said: "I think you can never exclude that there will be some new disease or some new horror that we haven't budgeted for.
"But looking at where we are, looking at the efficacy of the vaccines against the variants that we can currently see - so alpha, delta, the lot of them, kappa, I think it's looking good for July 19 to be that terminus point."
July 19 is the date where the EU Digital Green Cert comes into effect in both Ireland and the UK.
Already, the Prime Minister postponed the re-opening of England back to July 5 as the delta variant ravaged communities.
Representatives for Downing Street confirmed the decision on whether "early" unlocking could take place will be announced next Monday.
The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said: "In the normal way we will be setting out our approach a week ahead to give people certainty and time to prepare if necessary.
"We will review the data as we're doing daily and we will be judging it against the four tests throughout to see if we can proceed."
He added: "I think what the scientists are saying is that things like flu will come back this winter, we may have a rough winter for all sorts of reasons.
"Obviously there are big pressures on the NHS - all the more reason to reduce the number of covid cases down, give the NHS the breathing space it needs to get on with all those other pressures - and we're certainly going to be putting in the investment to make sure that they can."
