The Health Secretary has said that it is too early to say whether the country can fully reopen on June 21, amid claims the Indian variant is now the dominant strain in Britain.
Mr Hancock stated on May 27 that “potentially as many as three quarters of all new cases” are the Indian variant.
It comes after Downing street refused to rule out local lockdowns on May 26 to tackle the spread of the Indian Covid strain. While the number of patients admitted to hospital with coronavirus has continued to fall, there has been a rise in cases, which the Health Secretary confirmed remain focused in “hotspots”.
Mr Hancock said: “It is too early now to say, yet, whether we can take the full step four on June 21. I desperately want us to, but we will only do that if it’s safe.”
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson told reporters on a visit to a hospital in Essex on May 27 that he does not “see anything currently in the data” to divert from the June 21 target for the next stage of exiting lockdown but he said that “we may need to wait” for more data.
The Prime Minister added: “Don’t forget the…
