Boris Johnson today poured cold water on the prospect of easing the remaining coronavirus rules early as he refused to rule out future lockdowns and warned the nation should brace for a ‘rough winter’. The Prime Minister has delayed ‘freedom day’ by four weeks to July 19 but a two week review will take place on July 5 to see if the return to normal can be moved forward. Mr Johnson struck a pessimistic tone during a visit to a laboratory in Hertfordshire as he said ‘Delta’ variant cases, hospitalisations and admissions to intensive care are still rising and the country must therefore be ‘cautious’. But he insisted it is ‘looking good’ for the rules to be lifted at the ‘terminus point’ of July 19 as he said the ‘vaccination rollout is going gangbusters’. However, Mr Johnson declined to rule out reimposing draconian curbs later in the year as he warned ‘some new horror’ could emerge which ‘we simply haven’t budgeted for’.
