G7: leaders to sign landmark global health declaration to stop future pandemics - live updates

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The head of the World Trade Organization said on Saturday she hoped that post-Brexit tensions between Britain and the European Union would not escalate into a trade war.

“I would really, really hope that a UK-EU trade war will not take place,” the WTO director general, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said in response to a question when speaking to reporters covering the G7 summit in south-west England.

“With all the opportunities there are too for dialogue, I would be a little surprised if we ended up with a UK-EU trade war,” she said. “It’s too costly for both sides. This is not what the world needs right now.”

Boris Johnson has said the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus is a matter of “serious, serious concern” as he prepares to put lockdown lifting on hold.

The prime minister is expected to announce a delay of up to four weeks in the final easing of restrictions in England which had been due to take place on 21 June under the government’s road map.

Speaking during the G7 summit in Cornwall, he insisted that no decisions had been taken ahead of a formal announcement on Monday.

However he made clear that there had been a deterioration in the situation, with a surge in cases of the Delta variant – first detected in India – since the start of the month.

“It’s clear that the Indian variant is more transmissible and it’s also true that the cases are going up, and that the levels of hospitalisation are going up,” he told Sky News.

“Now, we don’t know exactly to what extent that is going to feed through into extra mortality, but clearly it’s a matter of serious, serious concern.”

Asked if he was less optimistic now than he was at the end of May, he said: “Yes, that’s certainly fair.

“What we want to do is make sure that the road map is irreversible, but you can’t have an irreversible road map unless you’re prepared to be cautious.

“Some of the data is still open to question, but we’ll be making an announcement on Monday.”

Sky’s political editor, Beth Rigby, asked Boris Johnson about comments he once made saying there would be a border in the Irish Sea “over my dead body”, and he said the EU understand “the strength of our feeling on this”.

He added: “I think [the Northern Ireland] protocol can work if it’s sensibly applied but at the moment it’s not just a question of chilled meats or sausages, there are all kinds of impediments being constructed, And we need to sort it out. I think we can sort it out.”

Rigby also asked Johnson about the Delta variant of coronavirus delaying lockdown, over which the government has said it will make a decision on Monday.

Johnson said: “It’s clear the Indian variant is more transmissible and it’s also true the cases are going up and that the levels of hospitalisation are going up.

“Now we don’t know to what extent that exactly is going to feed through into extra mortality but, clearly it’s a matter of serious, serious concern,” he added.

He said that the country would not go back to a full lockdown and that “the whole point of having an irreversible roadmap is just that – to make it irreversible.”

“To do that, as I’ve said repeatedly, you have to be cautious and where it’s necessary to be cautious we will do so.”

Rising Covid case numbers and hospitalisations are a matter of “serious, serious concern”, Boris Johnson said on Saturday, adding he was less optimistic about reopening the country than he was last month.

“It’s clear that the Indian variant is more transmissible and it’s also true that the cases are going up, and that the levels of hospitalisation are going up,” the prime minister told Sky News.

“Now, we don’t know exactly to what extent that is going to feed through into extra mortality, but clearly it’s a matter of serious, serious concern.”

Johnson is expected to set out on Monday whether a planned lifting of coronavirus restrictions in England can go ahead on 21 June, or whether rising cases will force it to be delayed.

Steven Morris

A second police officer involved in the security operation around the G7 summit in Cornwall has tested positive for Covid.

Devon and Cornwall’s police told the Guardian on Saturday: “As part of our testing regime, we have identified one officer who is currently supporting G7 policing who has tested positive for Covid-19 following a PCR test on 11 June.”

The officer is one of the 5,000 from forces outside Devon and Cornwall who have arrived to help the local police. He was not staying on the cruise ship MS Silja Europa, which is housing 1,000 officers.

A police spokesperson said: “The officer, plus a further five officers who have come into close contact, will be repatriated back to their host force where they will enter into a period of self-isolation as per the advice of Public Health England.

“We can confirm that those affected were not staying on the ferry. We wish them a speedy recovery and thank them for their support to this operation.”

On Friday police said one officer who had been billeted on the ship tested positive. That positive led to 11 other officers having to isolate.

Steven Morris

Hundreds of surfers, kayakers, swimmers and paddle boarders took to the sea off Falmouth for a mass “paddle out” calling on world leaders to put ocean health at the heart of the G7 summit.

Organisers of the mass “paddle out”, Cornish-based Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), said demonstrators hoped to drive home the need for urgent action by governments in the face of the global climate emergency.

Surfers from all over the UK gathered on Gyllyngvase beach in brilliant sunshine, some unfurling banners demanding: “Save our seas” while others chanted: “Climate action, now!” and: “Do not let or planet die”. A giant inflatable shark warned about the issue of sea life-consuming discarded plastic.

Rhi Westcott, 38, a surfer who traveled from Cheltenham, Glos, to join the demonstration, said: “Protecting our oceans is something millions of us feel very strongly about. Today is about sending a message to governments that the world demands action, that helping to better protect our oceans and the environment is paramount.”

Hugo Tagholm, the chief executive of SAS, said: “SAS is bringing together hundreds of ocean activists and supporters who are calling for great protection of our oceans.

“We’ve got world leaders, down the coastline in Carbis Bay, discussing how we’re going to emerge from the pandemic greener and more sustainable and the ocean needs to be central to that. We have to put the ocean at the heart of climate action.”

SAS is calling on G7 leaders to:

Stop damaging the ccean

• Ban destructive extraction of ocean resources.
• Unite to regulate ocean pollution.

Protect, manage and restore the ocean

• Expand effective ocean protection, management and restoration of people, biodiversity and climate.
• Catalyse and coordinate action on ocean, carbon, and climate.

Lead a decade of global ocean action

• Prioritise ocean nature-based solutions and support ocean science.
• Close the gaps in ocean governance and finance.
• Mainstream ocean education.