The planned scrapping of remaining restrictions in England on 21 June has been thrown into doubt with reports that the government is looking at contingency plans including a two-week delay to allow more adults to be fully vaccinated. The Telegraph and the Financial Times reported on Saturday that civil servants were drawing up contingency plans to delay the easing lockdown restrictions by two weeks, possibly to 5 July. The estimated R number for England is now 1.0 to 1.2, up from 1.0 to 1.1 last week. A government spokesperson said no decision had been made on whether to ease all coronavirus restrictions on 21 June. “We continue to look at the data and the latest scientific evidence and no decision on step 4 has yet been made.”

Source: The Guardian June 05, 2021 13:30 UTC