Leeds news LIVE: Treatment offers new lifeline for people who get most ill from Covid-19

Sir Patrick Vallance suggested giving over-18s a single dose by July 19 would reduce spread.

“The single dose will put up another barrier to spread amongst the age group most likely to spread because they have more social contact,” the chief scientific adviser said.

The combination of jabs for the over-18s and two doses for the over-40s would offer a level of “double protection that should be in place over the next few weeks”.

The NHS could “run into trouble” if the number of people being admitted to hospital with Covid continues on an “exponential path”, England’s chief medical officer has warned.

Presenting data on the Government’s four tests for lifting coronavirus restrictions, Professor Chris Whitty said rates of hospitalisation are low in all parts of the country, but there was a “rapid rise” particularly in the North West with the rest of England following.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, he said these numbers are “still relatively modest compared to the capacity of the NHS”, adding: “But several doubling times, a relatively small number of doubling times and you start getting to really quite large numbers.” Prof Whitty said Covid-19 cases were increasing across the country, adding the link between people being admitted to hospital had been “substantially weakened” but “it has not been completely stopped”.

He said the rates of people being admitted to hospital were following a rise in cases but with a delay.

Prof Whitty added: “So although we don’t think an immediate overwhelming of the NHS is likely, if this continues on an exponential path, and in particular if that then accelerated further due to further loosening, then we would run into trouble in a relatively small number of doubling times.”

Gavin McQueen, general manager of PRYZM Leeds said the nighttime sector is “at the back of the queue” as he calls for extra financial support following Boris Johnson’s announcement.

“It’s a huge blow, both psychologically and financially,” Gavin told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Read the full story here.

Amanda Beresford, Leeds Chamber President, has given some initial reaction to this evening’s announcement.

She said: “There needs to be appropriate support measures available to those sectors and their supply chains still affected.

“Certain sectors of the economy continue to be severely damaged by lockdown, possibly long-term, and all areas of business and industry need to be back up-and-running as soon as possible.

“That said, we understand the difficulties caused by the different emerging variants of the pandemic and the difficult balance between protecting health and supporting the economy.”

Here’s more on the four tests that were key to the decision taken to delay the easing of restrictions...

- Test one: The vaccine deployment programme continues successfully.

A big tick for the Government and NHS on this one. The Government is setting more ambitious targets for the programme, with an aim to offer everyone aged over 18 in England a first jab by July 19, sooner than the original goal of the end of that month.

By July 19, which is the next date earmarked for the lifting of England's remaining restrictions, officials hope around two thirds of all adults will have been offered both doses of vaccine.

- Test two: Evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths in those vaccinated.

Again, officials judge this test has been met. Analysis by Public Health England suggests the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 96% effective against hospitalisation after two doses, while the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is 92% effective after a second jab.

- Test three: Infection rates do not risk a surge in hospital admissions, which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS.

This is where things start to get tricky for the Government. Officials acknowledge there is a huge amount of uncertainty on this issue.

Modelling suggests that had the easing of lockdown not been delayed, hospital admissions could have reached the heights of the first peak in March 2020.

- Test four: Our assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new Variants of Concern.

This is the main reason why the Prime Minister felt he could not proceed with the June 21 reopening.

The Delta variant, first identified in India, is believed to be between 40% and 80% more transmissible than the Alpha strain.

There are around 8,000 new cases a day, the highest since February.

In around one third of England, cases are doubling every week, with a national figure of a 70% weekly growth.

Unvaccinated people have twice the risk of hospital admission with the Delta variant as the Alpha variant, while among those who are vaccinated 12 people in every 100 may end up in hospital with Delta compared with eight for Alpha.

The original roadmap for exiting lockdown gave June 21 as the earliest possible date for ending all legal limits on social contact and this has now been put back to July 19.

It means limits on numbers for sports events, pubs and cinemas will remain in place, nightclubs will stay shuttered and people will be asked to continue working from home where possible.

Downing Street left open the option of ending restrictions on July 5 if the data proves drastically better than expected but conceded this is "unlikely".

But there are still some changes coming from June 21:

The 30-person cap for wedding ceremonies and receptions, as well as wakes, will be lifted, with limits to be set by venues based on social distancing requirements.

Care home residents will also no longer need to self-isolate for 14 days after leaving for visits in most cases.

Fans are expected to be able to attend the Euro 2020 semi-finals and final in Wembley as the pilots on attendance of large events continue.

Chris Witty says hospitalisations are low but they’re seeing a rapid rise in the North West where Delta variant cases are highest. They expect to see this mirrored in other parts of England as cases are rising in many areas now.

They do not have immediate concerns about the NHS being overwhelmed but easing restrictions further would present a risk of more cases and, in turn, more hospitalisations.

Chief medical officer Chris Witty is setting out the data used to make the decision to delay the next phase of lockdown easing and seek to get more adults vaccinated first.

He says Public Health England data issued today shows one dose of the vaccine does provide some protection but you do need two doses to provide a strong degree of protection.

UK data shows there is a “very good” reduction in hospitalisations after one and two doses, with a reduction of 85 to 98 per cent for the latter.

The new target for vaccinations is to give everyone a first dose by July 19, with young people aged 19 to 24 being able to book for jabs from tomorrow.

The stage four easing will be delayed until that date, Mr Johnson says. There will be some exceptions, including for weddings.

He says they are confident they will not need to delay beyond July 19 and by being cautious now, we have the chance to save many thousands of lives by vaccinating millions more people.