Boris Johnson will announce this evening that the easing of final lockdown restrictions in the UK will be delayed by four weeks.
The UK government had pinpointed 21 June as the date for the lifting of the last of the restrictions, but concerns over the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 have prompted the delay.
A government source said that the prime minister sees this delay as the “final stretch,” as the UK looks to accelerate the vaccination programme even further to make sure as many people as possible have at least one dose before restrictions are lifted.
Johnson has repeatedly argued that once lifted, the decision is “irreversible.”
