Heswall: June 21 lockdown lifting is off, weighed down by Delta variant

It's not much of a surprise given many recent scientific warnings and government notes of caution, but the majority of COVID-19 rules will remain in place in England for another four weeks beyond the hoped for 21 June unlocking date set out in the government's 'roadmap to freedom'.

Senior ministers backed the decision to push back the tearing up of all legal restrictions on social contact.

It looks likely that limits on capacity for sports events, pubs and cinemas will remain in place, while nightclubs will remain shut - though it is possible that some flexibility in terms of numbers of guests may be extended to events like weddings.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to confirm the delay and give more details at a news conference at 6pm this evening.

The extension won't be plain sailing for the government. It will be put to a Commons vote in the near future and could inspire a significant revolt amongst Conservative backbenchers.

The desire to stick to the June 21 'freedom day' and its implication that we should learn to live with COVID-19 is set against scientific opinion that we mustn't run before we can walk.

In recent weeks, many scientists have called for restrictions to remain while more people are vaccinated for the first or second times - against a background of worrying rises in the number of people infected by the variant now known as Delta.

A delay would also allow for more work to be done on whether vaccines are breaking, or simply weakening, the link between infections and hospitalisations.

Last week, Julie Webster, Wirral's Director of Public Health, made this appeal:

"Even though the Delta variant is very transmissible the vaccines have been shown to still be effective against it. I would strongly encourage those who are eligible to join the more than 200,000 vaccinated Wirral residents in accepting your jab when it is offered to you. Please make sure you have both doses of the vaccine."

The most severe cases involving the Delta variant have featured unvaccinated people or those who had received only one shot.

The government believes that the four week delay will enable the second dose vaccination of almost ten million people to increase protection amongst the population.