PM Johnson: Will Need To Wait On Data To Make Decision On Full Unlocking

Comments emerging on social media from Prime Minister Boris Johnson's pool clip where he confirms that the gov't is yet to make a decision on whether the planned full removal of COVID-19 restrictions in England - scheduled for 21 June at the earliest - can go ahead.

• Says that it is necessary to see how the data plays out before a decision can be made.
• Reiterates that the vaccines in use in the UK (OAZ, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna) are all effective against the increasingly prevalent Indian strain, especially after 2 doses.
• Says the gov't expected to see a spike in cases after the latest unlocking on 17 May that allowed for indoor hospitality and visits to other people's houses.
• As can be seen in the chart below, the number of new daily patients being admitted to hospital with COVID-19 remains well below the levels seen in the early months of the year, but over the past week there has been a small jump in hospitalisations following a rise in cases in recent weeks alongside the spread of the Indian variant.

Source: UK Government, MNI

• Defending himself and his gov't from yesterday's select committee testimony from former chief advisor Dominic Cummings - where Cummings repeatedly highlighted alleged mismanagement from the gov't on the pandemic -, Johnson says that "When you go into a lockdown it's a very, very painful, traumatic thing for people, for people's mental health, for their lives, their livelihoods. You've got to set that against the horrors of the pandemic...We followed to the best we can the data and the guidance we had."