Slipped in at the end of Boris’s hopeful lockdown restriction lifting timetable was a warning that restrictions could come to be re-imposed on a local level in the case of flare-ups or new varients emerging:

“Finally, Mr Speaker, we must remain alert to the constant mutations of the virus. Next month we will publish an updated plan to responding to local outbreaks with a range of measures to address variants of concern, including surge PCR testing and enhanced contact tracing. 

“We can’t, I’m afraid, rule out re-imposing restrictions at a local or regional level if evidence suggests this is necessary to contain or supress a new variant that escapes the vaccine”

You have been warned…