London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Covid: Final decision on 21 June easing not taken yet, Boris Johnson says

Covid: Final decision on 21 June easing not taken yet, Boris Johnson says

A final decision on whether to lift Covid restrictions in England on 21 June has not yet been taken, Boris Johnson has said ahead of an announcement on Monday.

It comes after Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said "we don't want to yo-yo in and out of measures".

One scientist advising the government said easing more rules would "fan the flames" of rising infections.

The BBC has been told a delay of up to four weeks is being considered.

Asked at a G7 press conference about plans to ease lockdown measures, the prime minister said: "We are continuing to look at the data, no final decision has been taken, and the right time to fill everybody in on what we are going to do with step four with June 21 is tomorrow, as I have said.

"That's when we will be putting out the whole package of information so that everyone can see it together."
Mr Raab said the decision would depend on whether the link between infections and hospital admissions had been severed.

The foreign secretary told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "The crucial thing that we set out in the four tests that we set at the outset of the road map is the link between transmission of the virus, and then the variants, and hospitalisations."

He said the country had made "great progress in weakening the link".

But he added: "The question is whether we have severed and broken it. We are looking at the data in real time."

"The race we're in is to get everyone as quickly as we can up to two doses," he said, adding that this maximises the effectiveness in preventing serious illness and stopping transmission of the virus.

He stressed that the roadmap out of lockdown said that stage four - when all legal restrictions on social contact are due to be lifted - was due no earlier than 21 June.

If stage four went ahead, nightclubs would also be allowed to reopen and there would be no limits on numbers for theatres, sports events and wedding guests.

With 90% of infections in the UK now due to the Delta variant, first identified in India, Dr Jeffrey Barrett at the Wellcome Sanger Institute said a "major part" of why the UK is facing a growing wave of cases is because hundreds of infections were brought in from abroad in April.

But Mr Raab denied the government had acted too slowly to prevent the variant being introduced to the UK, saying: "We've got a system where we get flagged variants of concern and we take action when we get that advice."

On Sunday, the UK recorded 7,490 new cases of Covid-19 and eight deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Prof Andrew Hayward from University College London, who is a member of the Sage group which advises the government, said it was "clear" the UK would have "a substantial third wave of infections".

"The really big question is how much that wave of infections is going to translate into hospitalisations," he told the Andrew Marr Show.

He said the suggestion that the Delta variant was 60% more transmissible was "extremely worrying" and added there was still a "substantial chance" there could be a wave of hospital admissions that would put significant pressure on the NHS.


Infections in the UK are doubling every one or two weeks, depending on the region, Prof Hayward said. He said the UK is only "three or four doubling times" from reaching the same peak of infections as the second wave in January.

Labour's Emily Thornberry said tomorrow's decision about the 21 June reopening was "the last chance" for the government to follow the science and communicate clearly with the public.

She said: "This is the last push and we need to make sure it's done properly. The weak link is government ministers not making decisions fast enough and not communicating them properly."


"The crucial thing that we set out in the four tests that we set at the outset.... is the link between transmission of the virus" - Dominic Raab

Professor Andrew Hayward: "If we were to open up more, that will just really fan the flames"


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×