The English have to wait longer for the "Day of Freedom"

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Boris Johnson extended the still applicable corona measures until July 19 on Monday

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POOL / REUTERS

Because of the rapid spread of the so-called delta variant of the corona virus, people in England have to wait even longer for further easing.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson extended the still applicable Corona measures until July 19 on Monday, as he explained at a press conference in London.

The British media had previously reported on it.

The vaccination program is now to be accelerated again - for example, all over 40-year-olds should receive their second vaccination dose earlier than previously planned.

"If we are careful now, we have a chance in the next four weeks to save many thousands of lives by vaccinating millions more people," Johnson said.

Second vaccination dose is considered particularly important

According to scientific experts, postponing further easing by four weeks could prevent thousands of new patients in hospitals.

It is now a matter of giving the health service a few more weeks to distribute as many vaccinations as possible, said Johnson.

With the Delta variant, the second dose is extremely important because the protection after just one vaccination dose should be significantly lower than with the previously known Corona variants.

The »Day of Freedom«, which was previously planned for June 21, is to be postponed by up to four weeks.

So far, it was planned that all contact restrictions still in force will be lifted on Monday next week.

Shops and restaurants have already been open for weeks.

Now only the rules for weddings on this date are relaxed - more than 30 guests are now allowed there again.

The other parts of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own corona rules, which, however, differ only slightly from those in England.

If the situation in England improves quickly, Johnson said changes could be made after two weeks.

The British government had already announced in February that it wanted to lift all corona restrictions by June 21.

This project has now failed.

Mutation drives up the number of infections

Although the British vaccination campaign is well advanced and almost 57 percent of adults are already fully vaccinated, the Delta variant, which was first discovered in India, has caused the number of infections in the country to skyrocket again.

After only very few new infections were counted for weeks, the so-called seven-day incidence is now almost 68 again. The value reflects the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within one week.

According to the British government, the delta variant is 40 percent more contagious than the alpha variant widely used in Great Britain.

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) had also expressed concern about the spread of the variant that first appeared in India.

ngo / dpa / Reuters