British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday he would be cautious in lifting restrictions as it is still unclear how protected the population would be against a new surge of Covid-19 cases should lockdown end as planned in June. Johnson has previously warned that the swift spread of the B.1.617.2 variant of concern first identified in India could derail his plans to end England's Covid restrictions on 21 June. On Wednesday he said there was nothing in the current data to suggest that date would have to be pushed back, but he could not commit to a 21 June reopening either. Johnson said that a recent rise in cases after the latest easing of restrictions was expected, adding that he had been in long meetings each day looking at the data with science advisors. The roadmap for reopening England from lockdown included 5 week intervals between steps so the impact of each step to ease restrictions could be assessed before the next step was taken.

Source: News 24 June 02, 2021 14:26 UTC