Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi stressed that the Government’s four tests must be met for the June 21 easing of restrictions and warned there could be a delay if variants or infection rates become a problem.
Asked if there is a possibility that the June 21 easing could be paused, he told LBC: “The way we don’t have to do that is by everybody doing their bit, by taking the two tests a week, doing your PCR test in those areas, and to isolate, isolate, isolate.
“We have got to break the cycle of infection, because one of those big tests was infection rates have to be suppressed, and the other big test is variants.
“If those cause a problem, then the tests will fail. The four tests have to be met for June 21.”
The Welsh Government has “paused” plans to allow smaller events to reopen, as well as relaxing rules on people meeting, due to the Indian variant, First Minister Mark Drakeford has said.
“We had thought of moving ahead with the reopening of smaller events, we’ll pause that for a moment,” Mr Drakeford told Sky News.
“We were thinking of liberalising the rules in the way in which people can meet together, not just in their extended household but beyond that, we’ll pause that for the moment.
“If the advice on the Indian variant is that it is safe to move ahead, we won’t need to wait for the end of our next three-week cycle to do those things, but the Indian variant is giving us cause for concern.
“We don’t know enough about whether it is more transmissible than the Kent variant, we don’t know enough about whether the vaccination programme is as effective in dealing with it as it is with other variants we have in Wales, and until we’re a bit clearer on that I think it is sensible to take a precautionary approach.”
Mr Zahawi said that Monday’s easing of restrictions in England will still go ahead despite concerns around the B1617.2 variant, which was first found in India.
“We think that the road map for Monday remains in place, because the vaccines are delivering, and vaccines are keeping people out of hospital and, of course, away from severe infection,” he told Sky News.
He added that the Government was “confident” this could continue but said officials would “continue to monitor” the situation.
