New York will conform with the latest CDC guidance and relax its mask mandate indoors. This relaxation will only apply to vaccinated New Yorkers holding vaccine passports.
Fears over the Indian Covid variant could delay key announcements from the Prime Minister on "social" distancing and vaccine passports as the Government needs more "time to assess the latest data".
The Government is expected to spend £372 billion in its response to Covid, according to the National Audit Office, with the estimated cost having risen by £100 billion since January.
More than 500 bank branches have permanently shut in the U.K. during lockdown, according to a report by Which?, despite calls for branches to remain open for those who rely on in-person banking.
The Government is considering extending lockdown beyond June 21st to protect those who refuse the vaccine from the Indian variant. According to one minister, some unvaccinated "idiots" risk ruining it for everyone else.
Restaurants will be able to reopen for indoor service tomorrow, but only if lockdown hasn't already forced them to close for good. Data shows that there are now 9.7% fewer restaurants across Britain than in March 2020.
The U.K. has reached the milestone of fully vaccinating more than 20 million people, yet concern over the Indian variant continues to dominate the Government's – and the media's – Covid narrative.
Scientists from around the world have criticised the World Health Organisation's investigation into the origins of Covid, saying that the agency has not properly looked into the lab leak theory.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock says there is a "high degree of confidence" that vaccines work against the Indian Covid variant, but that it can "spread like wildfire" among those who are unvaccinated.
The U.K.'s biggest crowd in more than a year celebrated the return of football on Saturday evening for the final of the FA Cup – but Wembley Stadium was still at less than a quarter of capacity.
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