Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just announced at the latest Downing Street briefing that the so-called 'Freedom Day' will be delayed to 19 July and this new date will be reviewed in two weeks time.
Thia will be a huge blow to those in hospitality who have either had to restrict numbers, such as theatres and cinemas, or have not been able to open fully or not been able to open at all, such as night clubs.
The news comes as Covid cases have risen with 7,742 reported today and hospitalisations are rising - mainly due to the Delta variant, although thanks to the vaccination program, the number of deaths remain small with three reported today.
However, today also sees new analysis by PHE published which shows for the first time that 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective against hospitalisation from the Delta variant.
The analysis suggests:
> the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 96% effective against hospitalisation after 2 doses
> the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is 92% effective against hospitalisation after 2 doses
Therefore, there is sure to be an outcry from foodservice operators who have been pinning their hopes and have been preparing for many weeks on restrictions lifting on 21 June.