Coronavirus live news: Johnson expected to pause lifting restrictions; India reports lowest cases since March

India on Monday reported 70,421 new Covid infections over the past 24 hours, the lowest since 31 March, data from the health ministry showed.

The country’s total case load now stands at 29.51 million, while total fatalities are at 374,305, the data showed. India added 3,921 deaths overnight.

Boris Johnson is facing a furious backlash from Tory MPs as he prepares to put the final lifting of coronavirus lockdown restrictions in England on hold/

Press Association: The Prime Minister is expected to announce the ending of social-distancing rules – which had been slated for June 21 – will be delayed for four weeks to July 19, with the BBC reporting early on Monday the decision had been signed off by senior ministers.

The move follows warnings from scientists that the rapid spread of the Delta variant first identified in India risks a “substantial” third wave if it is allowed to spread unchecked.

Mr Johnson is expected to appeal to the public to show patience, with one last push to ensure that when controls do finally end it is “irreversible”.

However, it comes as a huge setback to many businesses – particularly in the battered hospitality sector – which had pinned their hopes on a full summer reopening to recoup some of the losses of the past year.

There was deep frustration among lockdown sceptics on the Conservative benches who said there was no reason not to end the restrictions as those most at risk of death or serious illness are now fully vaccinated.

Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

India on Monday reported 70,421 new Covid infections over the past 24 hours, the lowest since March 31, data from the health ministry showed. The country’s total case load now stands at 29.51 million, while total fatalities are at 374,305, the data showed. India added 3,921 deaths overnight.

Boris Johnson is facing a furious backlash from Tory MPs as he prepares to put the final lifting of coronavirus lockdown restrictions in England on hold. The Prime Minister is expected to announce the ending of social-distancing rules – which had been slated for 21 June – will be delayed for four weeks to July 19, with the BBC reporting early on Monday the decision had been signed off by senior ministers.

Here are the other key recent developments:

• The UK reported eight new deaths and a further 7,490 positive cases, according to official data. Sundays figures are an increase of 2,149 from last weeks figure of 5,341. Becoming the second week in a row, the country has recorded over 2000 new cases from an increase on 30 May – 6 June, which showed an increase of 2,101.
• G7 leaders renewed calls into an investigation of the origin of the pandemic amid questions over whether it leaked from a Chinese laboratory.
• Lebanon administered more than 40,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in a weekend drive to contain the pandemic.
• British prime minister Boris Johnson rejected suggestions by a former prime minister that there may be an ‘unforgivable moral failure’ in the supply of vaccine doses to cover the needs of poorer nations.
• Colombian president Ivan Duque received his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Sunday, as he urged people to continue keeping themselves safe against Covid-19 amid a record number of daily deaths.
• Peru passed two million positive cases, with 2,001,059 people now contracting the virus and 188,443 deaths.
• Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa pledged no return to Covid restrictions despite growing infections over the past month.