The UK has recorded another 7,490 COVID-19 cases and eight deaths in the latest 24-hour reporting period.

It is down slightly on the 7,738 coronavirus cases and 12 deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported on Saturday, but is the fifth day in row that new infection numbers have exceeded 7,000.

On vaccinations, a further 254,185 first doses were administered on Saturday, along with 320,326 second jabs.

The total number of people who have had at least one vaccine dose now stands at 41,551,201 – 78.9% of adults, while 29,792,658 people have had two jabs, which is 56.6% of UK adults.

It’s the final set of data that Boris Johnson will get ahead of the decision on Monday to go ahead with the final step of the roadmap, or whether to delay.

It is widely expected that Mr Johnson will announce a delay to the full lifting of lockdown restrictions, which was originally pencilled in for 21 June.

It is due to concerns about the rapidly-spreading Delta variant, first discovered in India, which is found to be more transmissible and more resistant to vaccines – particularly in those who have not yet been fully vaccinated.

A delay, potentially of up to a month, will mean millions more can get their second dose.

Dr Raghib Ali, a government adviser on COVID-19, told Trevor Phillips On Sunday that a delay to lifting lockdown is “inevitable”, and he “expects” the prime minister to say it was needed “to make sure that we don’t get to the situation again where the NHS is unable to provide care to all its patients”.

He added: “Hospitals are extremely busy at the moment, the emergency departments last month were the busiest they have been for years because of the huge backlog of patients that didn’t come in during the previous waves.

“Even a relatively small increase in hospital admissions from COVID will have a significant impact on all our non-COVID patients.

“We really can’t afford for those people to suffer any more; they have already suffered enough over the last 18 months.”

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