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UK looking at options for planned end of Covid-19 lockdown
Covid-19 lockdown in the UK: The government, which said there is "nothing in the data" to suggest ending lockdown should be delayed, is expected to mandate wearing of masks in certain settings and encourage people to continue working from home.
The Britain government on Saturday said it was looking at options to strategically end the nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on June 21, according to news agency PTI. The UK on Saturday reported 5,765 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours as the country mulls over whether it should take the final step of easing restrictions. The total number of coronavirus cases in the country now stands at 4,511,669. With 13 new deaths on Saturday, the UK's total toll went up to 127,836.
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While a Downing Street spokesperson said "no decision" has been made on whether to ease the Covid-19 restrictions, another government official told Sky News that other options were being drawn but "we are still expecting to be in a place to go ahead on June 21," PTI reported.
"As the prime minister has set out, we can see nothing in the data at the moment to suggest that we need to deviate from the roadmap," according to the Downing Street spokesperson. The government would continue to review the latest data, she added.
The government, which said there is "nothing in the data" to suggest ending lockdown should be delayed, is expected to mandate wearing of masks in certain settings and encourage people to continue working from home.
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The number of Covid-19 cases in the country is at its highest since March 25, when 6,397 were recorded. The rise in cases is being largely attributed to the 'Delta variant' or the highly transmissible B1.617.2 variant of concern (VOC) first detected in India.
"We always expected cases to rise as the country was opened up, the critical thing is the impact on the number of people who end up in hospital for any given number of cases," said UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
"That link has been broken by the vaccine, but it hasn't been completely severed yet. That's one of the things that we're watching very carefully, and it's too early to say what the decision will be ahead of June 21, but we'll make sure people know in good time," he added.
