Boris Johnson is to hold an emergency 5pm briefing as cases of the India Covid variant surge.

The PM will chair a televised press conference from Downing Street amid uncertainty about whether the next stage of reopening will go ahead.

He is expected to discuss the spread of the imported strain and the steps the government is taking to combat it.

The prime minister said earlier this week that the third phase of lockdown lifting will go ahead on Monday. But he admitted yesterday that he is ‘anxious’ about the threat of the variant to future freedoms.

On May 17, pubs, restaurants and bars can open indoors and indoor mixing between houses will be allowed again.

 It was hoped all restrictions could be lifted by June 21, but the Indian strain has cast doubt on the likelihood of that happening.

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Modelling for Sage has concluded that if the variant is much over 30% more transmissable than the Kent strain that triggered the third national lockdown, it would be a big risk to go ahead with the final easing of restrictions next month.

Microbiologist Professor Paul Hunter told the BBC there could be a ‘huge number’ of Indian cases by June.

He said the UK may be able to ‘weather it’ but if cases and hospitalisations increase in the elderly and vulnerable, the planned June 21 date for step four of the Covid roadmap was ‘now in doubt’.

Cases of the India variant of concern have doubled in a week. Public Health England yesterday said 1,313 cases of the B.1.617.2 variant had been identified, up from 520 last week.

Government data also shows that four people have died in the UK after being infected with the variant, the first known domestic deaths from the new variant.

The Department of Health said there is ‘no firm evidence yet to show this variant has any greater impact on severity of disease or evades the vaccine’.

Reports have suggested vaccines could be targeted in hotspot areas, with older people given their second jab earlier than the standard 12 week gap.

But scientists have cast doubt on how effective this could be as studies show a 12 week gap boosts antibody responses, meaning greater protection.

Officials hope surge testing will help stamp out cases, as it has for the South Africa variant.

The prime minister has hinted that if this does not work, he will resort to local measures rather than delaying the easing of restrictions nationally.

Asked if that meant local lockdowns, he said: ‘There are a range of things we could do . . . Obviously there’s surge testing, there’s surge tracing. If we have to do other things, then of course the public would want us to rule nothing out.’

Meanwhile vccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said that as long as the government’s ‘four tests’ have been met, they will ‘absolutely’ go ahead with the June 21 easing.

The four tests are:

• That the vaccine deployment programme continues successfully
• That evidence shows jabs are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths in those vaccinated
• That infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations which puts unsustainable pressure on the NHS
• That the Government’s assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants of concern

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