AS Covid-19 rates are rising in more UK areas than at any point since January, scientists have urged Matt Hancock to delay England's full re-opening on June 21.

Figures show that Covid numbers are increasing in almost all of north-west England, London as well as parts of Scotland.

While the Scottish Government has paused any more relaxation of rules, the UK Health Secretary Hancock has not yet committed to delaying easing restrictions in England. Hancock has however said ministers are open to the delay ahead of an update in Westminster later today.

When using a seven-day average to flatten out fluctuations in the data, 256 of 380 local areas in the UK are currently recording a rise in rates – the highest number since January 10.

Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire continues to record the highest rate in the UK, with 515.7 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to June 2, up from 390.8 a week earlier.

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Across England, three-quarters of local areas are currently seeing a rise in rates, including 30 of the 32 local authority areas in London and 35 out of 39 in north-west England, while in Scotland rates are up in 31 of the 32 council areas.

In Scotland, steep jumps have been recorded in South Ayrshire (from 46.2 to 158.1), Edinburgh (65.9 to 134.3) and Angus (21.5 to 87.8).

Sir David King, the former chief scientific adviser to the UK Government and chair of the Independent Sage Group, said ministers should announce a delay to the June 21 reopening.

He told Sky News: “[On] the number of people in our hospitals, which the Government says is relatively stable, it’s 932 per day going into hospital, which is up 65 from last week. It’s not actually stable, it is slowly rising.

“What all of this means is that intensive care is needed for a significant proportion of our population today.

“I’m very reluctant to say that we should not go out of lockdown on June 21, but I think the figures are in now, and it will be wise for the Government to announce right away a delay in opening, just so that we can all plan for the post-June 21 period.”

Asked for how long, he said: “I would give a few weeks’ delay and see how the fingers are emerging.

“So, I don’t know how long.

“As the Prime Minister has said, it’s data, not dates, that we should be governed by, and that’s response as well.”

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Ravi Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at Cambridge University, told BBC Breakfast that options could include a modification of a full exit from lockdown, involving continued mask-wearing in workplaces, and remote working.

He said: “I think that to go completely back to normal may not be in everyone’s best interests.

“The views of scientists such as myself and others reflects the fact that we want this to be the last lockdown that we ever go into, and we do not want to go into a reverse situation which would be much more damaging to the economy, people’s businesses and long-term welfare.”

Prof Gupta said people should not forget that the virus is still “on its way to mutating and becoming better at avoiding our defences”.

He told the programme: “The more transmissions that are allowed to happen, the greater the chance of these new added variants arising.

“We are not achieving the limitation of new infections in the way that we need to remain fully open as a society in the long term.

“I think that, once we do suppress the virus and get vaccination up to 80%, including young people, then we can continue that strategy with boosting in the years to come.

“We are in a situation where we could obtain huge gains just by a little bit more work.”

The National:

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Pressed on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday over whether June 21’s easing of restrictions in England could be postponed, Hancock said: “We are absolutely open to doing that if that’s what needs to happen.”

He suggested that the Delta variant first discovered in India was up to 40% more transmissible than the Alpha variant first discovered in Kent – but that vaccines were “working” and that “very few” people who had been fully vaccinated were ending up in hospital.

“The vaccine is working and it is our way through it, but the new variant, because it’s more transmissible, is obviously making that calculation harder and we’ll look at the data for another week and then make a judgment,” Hancock said.

The Health Secretary is expected to give a Covid update to MPs at 3.30pm today.