Prime minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that Step 4 of the UK’s reopening has been pushed back to 19 July. He said current restrictions on social contact would remain in place for a few more weeks because of rising infections due to the Delta coronavirus variant. The original roadmap plan had targeted 21 June as the earliest possible date for unlocking the economy, subject to the virulence of the coronavirus, but that all the steps would be driven by "data not dates".
The extended target date, the prime minister said, was to allow all adults in the UK over the age of 18 to receive their first vaccination. Two doses of the vaccination reduce the risk of hospitalisation by 84%, professor Chris Whitty noted in the press conference. Scientists have said 10 million second vaccinations would be administered over the next month, providing recipients with high protection against the Delta variant. Daily infections have increased threefold over the past few weeks in the UK but are still way down from over 65,000 daily cases recorded in January.
The prime minister added: “We cannot simply eliminate Covid. We must learn to live with it” and said weddings would be allowed to go ahead from 21 June without the need for a 30-person capacity limit, so long as social distancing can be maintained.
Reacting to the prime minister's announcement, a spokesperson for the Events Industry Alliance, which represents the UK’s event and exhibitions organisers, venues, and suppliers, said: “We understand the balance the government needs to take but this further delay risks striking a fatal blow to many companies in the UK events sector and it is essential that support measures are extended to match this new roadmap. The sector has worked tirelessly to demonstrate that organised events can be held at a lower risk than many currently permitted activities and this further delay without a clear new reopening plan and government backed insurance risks significantly damaging the confidence of customers and companies in the sector around events due to take place later this year.“
Meanwhile, 12 European Union countries have been using the Digital Covid Green Pass system for travellers, expected to be rolled out in all EU countries from 1 July.
Many European countries have placed restrictions for British travellers to prevent the Delta variant from spreading. Despite high vaccination levels, the UK has recorded the highest number of Covid-related deaths in Europe - 128,000.
At present, there is no confirmation on the need for Covid-status certification in the UK: the requirement to show proof of vaccination, proof of negative test, or proof of natural antibodies.
The UK’s furlough job protection scheme will begin to wind down from 30 June.
