STOURBRIDGE MP Suzanne Webb has welcomed the Government's decision to delay the further lifting of final lockdown restrictions.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in a press conference this evening (Monday) that freedom day, June 21, would be put back until July 19 to give everyone over 18 the chance to have a first dose of the vaccine.

Second dose jabs will also be brought forward for people over 40.

The PM told how the Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus, which is more transmissible, has now become the dominant variant in the UK and it has become necessary to delay somewhat the lifting of all legal limits on social contact.

Confirmed cases of the virus have also been rising and in Dudley the infection rate has gone up by 77 per cent in the last week, according to latest figures published by Public Health England.

Stourbridge MP Suzanne Webb, who recently had her second dose of the vaccine, said of the news of the delay: "We need to come out of lockdown safely and the Prime Minister has made it clear all along that this would happen only if the data said it was safe to do so.

"That we have got this far on the road map is a great achievement. Our economy is back up and running and job vacancies are increasing as millions receive vaccine protection and life is nearly back to normal in many ways.

"However, it is the responsibility of the Government to get us out of all lockdown restrictions safely. If that means a delay to the final easing due to concerns about the Delta variant then it has my full support.

"The four weeks will also allow around ten million more people to receive their second vaccine. This is the most important weapon we have in this pandemic. Making time to better deploy it makes perfect sense to me."

Limits of no more than 30 people at weddings and wakes will be lifted from June 21 but capacity limits for sports, pubs and cinemas will remain, and nightclubs will remain closed for now due to concerns around rising cases and the Delta variant of the virus.

Official figures show cases confirmed in Dudley have risen from 79 to 140 in a week - a rise of 77 per cent. The infection rate currently stands at 43.5 cases per 100,000 people compared to 24.6 cases per 100,000 in the previous week.

In Sandwell, cases have gone up from 118 to 145 in the last seven days -with the infection rate now standing at 44.1 cases per 100,000 people compared to 35.9 cases per 100,000 people in the previous week.

A total of 851 people have died in Dudley with Covid listed on their death certificates since pandemic began, according to figures published by the ONS, while in Sandwell 1,109 people have passed away with the virus mentioned as a cause of death.