Britain Expected to Delay Lifting COVID-related Restrictions Voice of America 13 Jun 2021, 22:05 GMT+10 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce the delay of the easing of COVID-19-related restrictions due to the growing presence in the U.K. of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, first identified in India. A prominent British epidemiologist told the BBC that she supports the delay. Sian Griffiths said, "From a public health point of view, we're seeing the cases increase, we're seeing a slight increase in hospitalization in areas where there are a lot of cases, and the vaccination does work, but we need to get second doses into everybody over 50 and expand the vaccination program to keep everybody safe. I think waiting a little bit longer to sustain the progress is necessary."