PM confirms delay to England lockdown easing

Boris Johnson confirms a four-week delay to the lifting of all restrictions in England beyond 21 June.

Capacity limits for sports, pubs and cinemas will remain, and nightclubs will stay closed

The delay is designed to allow more people to be vaccinated and have second doses amid rising cases of the Delta variant

Cases are growing by about 64% per week and in the worst affected areas are doubling each week

By 19 July 'we will aim to have double jabbed two-thirds of the adult population', says the PM

Mr Johnson says he is confident the delay will not need to go beyond four weeks

Businesses are fearful of further heavy losses and the clubbing trade body is threatening legal action

Headache, sore throat, runny nose are now the most commonly reported symptoms linked to Covid infection in the UK, researchers say

India has reported 70,421 new infections - its lowest number since 31 March and down from a peak of about 400,000 daily cases in May