Ů��С��Ƶ

The planned lifting of coronavirus restrictions in England on 21 June may have to be delayed,  scientists have said, with rising infection numbers threatening to cause a third wave.

On 31 May, there were 3383 lab-confirmed cases in the UK – the sixth day in a row that 3000 or more cases had been recorded.

The B.1.617.2 variant first detected in India – now named the delta variant – may be responsible for up to three quarters of cases in the country, UK health secretary Matt Hancock said last week.

Ravi Gupta at the University of Cambridge, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, said a delay of a few weeks could have a significant impact on the UK’s battle against the pandemic. He recommended that it should be made clear to the public that such a postponement would be a temporary measure based on the surge in cases of the delta variant.

“Even a month delay could have a big impact on the eventual outcome of this,” Gupta told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

Across the UK, almost three quarters of the adult population has had their first covid-19 vaccine, with almost half having had their second dose.

But despite the success of the vaccination programme, many people remain vulnerable, said Adam Finn at the University of Bristol, UK, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

“There’s vulnerability across the country. The idea that somehow the job is done is wrong,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “We’ve still got a lot of people out there who’ve neither had this virus, nor yet been immunised, and that’s why we’re in a vulnerable position right now.”

Mark Walport, a former chief scientific adviser to the UK government, said ministers need more data before they can make a final decision.

“The situation is very delicately balanced with some three sets of moving parts,” he told BBC Breakfast. “Firstly, we have got a new more transmissible variant, of that there is no doubt, though we don’t know exactly how much more transmissible.”

“Secondly, there’s been a change in behaviour following the relaxation of measures on May 17 and the effects of that will just be starting to come through,” he said. “Thirdly, we’ve got a vaccination programme that is very successful, but with a lot of people that still need both their second dose of vaccine and vaccination from scratch. I’m afraid that weeks before the prime minister has to make the difficult decision, it is going to be necessary to bring in the data.”

Asked if the nation is in the foothills of another wave, Walport said: “I hope not, but it’s not impossible.”

Sign up to our free Health Check newsletter for a round-up of all the health and fitness news you need to know, every Saturday