It is looking increasingly likely that June 21 will not be the day lockdown ends in England.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to approve plans to extend coronavirus restrictions due to growing concerns about the highly transmissible Delta variant.
The PA news agency reports that Mr Johnson is expected to agree to delay lockdown's end by four weeks, when he meets senior officials on Sunday after he returns from the G7 leaders summit in Cornwall.
The reported plan would see 'Freedom Day' - when nightclubs can open, rules about how many people can meet will end and capacity limits are removed on venues like theatres - pushed back to Monday, July 19.
PA reports that the move to delay step four of the lockdown roadmap is expected to be signed off on Sunday and announced on Monday.
It will be a bitter blow to businesses, which have dealt with more than a year of restrictions and lockdown closures.
Mr Johnson is also likely to face opposition from some of his own MPs who have been chafing for months over the restrictions and will be furious at any further delay.
However, a poll by Opinium found significant public support for a postponement, with 54% in favour and 37% against.
Scientists have been pressing for additional time to get more people vaccinated – particularly those in younger age groups – before controls are relaxed.
Studies have shown that people who have received only one dose of the vaccine have significantly less protection against the Delta variant – first identified in India – than those who have had two jabs.
Public health officials believe a delay would also give more opportunity to control the spread using surge-testing techniques which proved successful in Bolton, which was the first Delta variant hotspot.
Speaking in Cornwall on Saturday, a downbeat Mr Johnson acknowledged that the rise of the variant was a matter of “serious, serious concern”.
With infections and hospital admissions both rising, he said that it was not yet clear to what extent that would feed through into more deaths.
However, in order to ensure the final lockdown lifting was “irreversible”, he said that it may be necessary to give the vaccines “extra legs” in the race against the virus.
When will Boris Johnson decide if June 21 lockdown end will go ahead?
The Prime Minister has spent the weekend in Cornwall, meeting with world leaders at the G7 summit.
Mr Johnson is due to return to London today (Sunday June 13), where he is expected to agree to delay the end of lockdown by four weeks.
When will we know when a decision about June 21 is made?
Mr Johnson is expected to call a press conference at Downing Street on Monday, where he will confirm plans to delay lockdown, likely from Monday, June 21 to Monday, July 19.
Many of the Government's coronavirus press conferences have taken place in the early evening, around 6pm, but the announcement could be earlier.
Either way, expect to know for sure by the evening of Monday June 14 what the decision will be about ending or extending lockdown's stage four.
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When will lockdown end if it doesn't on Monday June 14? What is the new date for 'Freedom Day'?
Over the past week, health experts have called for the lockdown to be extended, due to the worrying rise of the Delta/Indian variant. Extensions of between two and four weeks have been suggested.
PA reports that Mr Johnson will choose to extend lockdown by four weeks.
If that happens, 'Freedom Day' will be Monday, July 19.
If Mr Johnson chooses to extend lockdown by just two weeks, then restrictions will be removed on Monday, July 5.
But do not rule out lockdown measures being reintroduced or extended again.
There are even fears they may be necessary until spring 2022, after the next flu season has ended.
