Debate continues over whether the final stages of unlocking restrictions in England can take place on June 21 due to concerns over the spread of the Delta variant first identified in India.

Downing Street reported that Boris Johnson still sees nothing in the data to suggest the plan will need to be delayed.

A spokesperson for No 10 said:

The Prime Minister has repeatedly said that we haven’t seen anything in the data, but we will continue to review the data, we will continue to review the latest scientific evidence as we head into June 21.

Tuesday’s zero death tally is likely to fuel ministers’ considerations.

They will also consider the figure to follow a public holiday weekend, so there could be a delay in reporting deaths.

The NHS Confederation said the ONS figures, which show a 29% drop in coronavirus deaths from the previous week, were reassuring but “the race is not yet won”.

Policy director Dr Layla McCay mentionned:

With forecasts of a summer wave of infections, the government must now use all available data to carefully consider whether June 21 is the right date to lift all restrictions.

It is of great concern that cases are increasing rapidly and our members are increasingly concerned that this will lead to more hospital admissions.

The vaccination program in England will be extended to all adults within a few weeks, while those aged 18 and over in Wales and Northern Ireland will be able to reserve their vaccines.

In Scotland, those over 18 are invited to pre-register for a jab with dates from mid-June.

The UK as a whole is set to take another step forward with three quarters of the adult population receiving their first Covid-19 jab.

The latest government data suggests that more than 39.4 million people received their first dose, or 74.9% of adults.

Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that the current numbers “don’t seem too intimidating” but they still have to “play for a few weeks” before the government does not make its final decision The reopening of June 21 can take place.

He said:

I think the payoff now is, can we get more people in younger and younger age groups vaccinated to try and stop more transmission.

In Scotland, the Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon suspended plans to ease restrictions across much of the country.

She announced on Tuesday that although parts of the country will move to Scottish Government restrictions on Level 1 from Saturday, much of the central belt, including Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow, will remain at Level 2.

Sturgeon insisted the country was still at a “delicate and fragile point” in the battle against the virus, in an announcement on the restrictions she called a “mixed bag.”

Clinical Director of Scotland, Jason leitch, warned that the Delta variant “gives us a problem and is spreading faster than we expected.”