Number 10 indicates England still on track for 21 June shedding of Covid restrictions
Downing Street has today suggested England is still on track to shed its Covid-19 restrictions on 21 June, despite warnings from scientific advisers that rising case numbers should lead to a delay.
A Number 10 spokesperson said that Boris Johnson’s comments last Thursday, that there is nothing “currently in the data” to suggest a delay to the roadmap, still apply.
It comes as a new Ipsos Mori poll today found 58 per cent of people think the government will keep to the target of shedding most if not all Covid restrictions in June – a 25 per cent fall compared to just weeks ago.
Several government scientific advisers said over the weekend that the date should be delayed as Covid cases and hospitalisations are beginning to rapidly rise thanks to the more transmissible Indian variant.
When asked on multiple occasions today if a delay is likely, a Number 10 spokesperson told journalists that “we’ll continue to monitor the latest scientific data as we have throughout the pandemic” and that Johnson’s comments from Thursday still stand.
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On Thursday, the Prime Minister said: “I think the question people want to answer is to what extent is our vaccine shield now going to be enough to allow us to go ahead with 21 June with the unlocking.
“Now, as I’ve said many times, I don’t see anything currently in the data to suggest we have to deviate from the roadmap but we may need to wait.”
The UK has recorded 23,418 cases in the past seven days – a 29 per cent weekly increase.
Hospitalisations rose by 23 per cent during this same period.
The increasing spread of the Indian variant has provided increasing evidence that people who have had just one jab are less immune from the strain.
Professor Adam Finn, a member of the government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told LBC this morning that “I fear it may be a bad decision” to ease restrictions on 21 June.
“The truth is that a more infectious virus, which is what it looks like we’ve got, will reach people who are vulnerable — those who did not make a good response to the vaccine, those who have not yet had their doses,” he said.
“That will be a problem for everyone because in the end it will be worse economically as well as for public health if we end up having to shut down again.”
Business minister Paul Scully told Sky News that no decision had yet been made about the 21 June date.
“By accelerating the vaccination programme, making sure people get their second jabs… those vaccinations are going to help up break the cycle [of hospitalisations] and keep us on the roadmap,” he said.