Coronavirus live: expected delay in UK lockdown easing backed in poll
Follow all the latest updates on the pandemic as a UK poll shows public support for a delay in the easing of restrictions
8.36am BST
A prominent academic has joined calls for the UK government to postpone its planned lifting of coronavirus restrictions on 21 June, PA reports.
Epidemiologist Sian Griffiths also said an envisaged “all-or-nothing Freedom Day” could be a bad idea in itself, promoting instead a more gradual lifting of measures aimed at containing the spread of the virus.
The public health advice would be to take it slowly and in a sustained way so we can keep up the progress we’ve been making.
It does depend on the balance. It’s a political decision at the end of the day, what happens on the 21st of June, but, from a public health point of view, we’re seeing the cases increase, we’re seeing a slight increase in hospitalisation in areas where there are a lot of cases, and the vaccination does work, but we need to get second doses into everybody over 50, and expand the vaccination programme to keep everybody safe.
8.29am BST
Welcome to a Sunday edition of our coronavirus live blog covering the latest on the pandemic in the UK and across the world.
Boris Johnson appears poised to announced a delay of up to four weeks for the final phase of lifting restrictions in the UK. An official announcement is due on Monday, but on Saturday Johnson said the government had to be “cautious” because of the rise in cases of the more infectious Delta variant.
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