BORIS Johnson is facing a furious backlash as he prepares to put the final lifting of coronavirus lockdown restrictions in England on hold.

The Prime Minister is expected to announce the ending of social-distancing rules – which had been slated for June 21 – will be delayed for four weeks to July 19, with the BBC reporting early on Monday the decision had been signed off by senior ministers.

The move follows warnings from scientists that the rapid spread of the Delta variant first identified in India risks a “substantial” third wave if it is allowed to spread unchecked.

Mr Johnson is expected to appeal to the public to show patience, with one last push to ensure that when controls do finally end it is “irreversible”.

However, it comes as a huge setback to many businesses – particularly in the battered hospitality sector – which had pinned their hopes on a full summer reopening to recoup some of the losses of the past year.

Mr Johnson is expected to make the formal announcement at a press conference this evening after he returns to Downing Street from attending the Nato summit in Brussels.

Gazette:

After hosting the G7 summit in Cornwall over the weekend, the Prime Minister is thought to have spent Sunday evening going through the latest data with the senior ministers and officials most closely involved in the process.

The latest daily Government figures from Sunday showed another rise in infections with a further 7,490 lab-confirmed cases in the UK – up 2,149 from a figure of 5,341 the previous week.

The data also had England with a total of 35,971 positive tests in the past seven days at a rate of 63.9 per 100,000 people.

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