5,000 concerts will be cancelled if lockdown is extended by four weeks

Boris Johnson is due to announce the latest lockdown news today (14 June)

5,000 concerts will be forced to cancel over the next month if Boris Johnson announces a delay in lifting lockdown restrictions today (14 June).

The prime minister is expected to announce whether the plan to lift the last stage of lockdown will go ahead as scheduled on 21 June, which would allow the reopening of nightclubs and large events such as concerts.

However, questions have been raised as to whether the government will push that date back by four weeks due to a rise in the Delta variant cases of coronavirus in the UK.

This would mean that some level of lockdown restrictions will remain in place until at least 19 July.

According to the BBC, the four-week delay would cost the hospitality sector £3bn and would also result in 5,000 music events having to be cancelled over the next month.

“Think about nightclubs, they have been closed for 15 months. An extension means that nine out of 10 of them – 90 per cent – fear they will have to close,” said a BBC reporter.

“Festival season is upon us, or should be, an extension of restrictions by four weeks [means] it’s estimated that 5,000 concerts will have to be cancelled – think of all the revenue and jobs around that.”

The Delta variant, which first originated in India, is now dominant across the UK and thought to be 60 per cent more transmissible between household members than the Alpha variant that started in Kent.

It accounts for more than 90 per cent of new Covid-19 cases in the UK.