BORIS Johnson has been forced to delay the end of England’s coronavirus restrictions by up to four weeks.

The Prime Minister announced the setback to the final phase of his plan to end the lockdown this evening, Monday, due to concerns over the rapidly-spreading Delta variant first identified in India.

Experts feared going ahead with step four on June 21 as planned could lead to hospital admissions on the scale of the first wave of Covid-19 heaping unsustainable pressure on the health service.

To avert this, Mr Johnson said during a Downing Street press conference that the end of all legal limits on social contact would be put back to July 19.

“We have obviously faced a very difficult choice,” he said.

“We can simply keep going with all of step four on June 21, even though there is a real possibility that the virus will outrun the vaccines and that thousands more deaths would ensue which could otherwise have been avoided.

“Or else we can give the NHS a few more crucial weeks to get those remaining jabs into the arms of those who need them.

“And since today I cannot say that that we have met all our four tests for proceeding with Step 4 on June 21, I think it is sensible to wait just a little longer.”

Mr Johnson said by July 19, around two-thirds of the adult population would have received two jabs, including all over-50s, the vulnerable and health and care workers, along with over-40s who had received a first dose by mid-May.

“To do this we will now accelerate the second jabs for those over 40, just as we did for the vulnerable groups, so they get the maximum protection as fast as possible,” he continued.

Knutsford Guardian:

“We will bring forward our target to give every adult in this country a first dose by July 19.”

The PM added: “We will monitor the position every day and if, after two weeks, we have concluded that the risk has diminished then we reserve the possibility of proceeding to step four, and a full opening, sooner.”

He said he is “confident” that no more than four weeks will be needed and that restrictions will not go beyond July 19.

“It’s unmistakably clear the vaccines are working and the sheer scale of the vaccine roll-out has made our position incomparably better than in previous waves,” he said.

“But now is the time to ease off the accelerator, because by being cautious now we have the chance in the next four weeks to save many thousands of lives by vaccinating millions more people.”

Limits on numbers for sports events, pubs and cinemas will therefore remain in place, nightclubs will stay shut and people will be asked to continue working from home where possible.

Mr Johnson did, however, announce a limited easing of restrictions to take place from June 21, with a 30-person cap for wedding ceremonies, receptions and wakes to be lifted, with limits to be set by venues based on social distancing requirements.

Care home residents will also no longer need to self-isolate for 14 days after leaving for visits in most cases.

Mr Johnson felt he had to delay the relaxation after at least one of his four tests to easing restrictions – that the risks are not fundamentally changed by new variants – had been failed.

Experts believe the Delta variant is driving a rapid accelerations in cases, estimating it is between 40 and 80 per cent more transmissible than the Alpha variant first found in Kent.