Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said that the shielding scheme will be eased for people in England from 6 July. He stressed that this decision would be reversed if necessary. He said: “I use the word ‘pause’ very deliberately because the (shielding) list will continue and should the clinical advice be that we need to bring it back in, then that is what we will do.” Hancock said that the incidence of coronavirus had fallen so much that now just one person in 1,700 had the disease, compared with one in 400 a month ago. He also said that the daily number of new cases, at 1,000, was at its lowest level since coronavirus started peaking in March, and that the daily headline UK death rate, at 15, was at its lowest level since mid March. The home secretary spoke in the Commons about events in Reading, in which three people were killed and at least three others were injured, in what was declared a terrorist incident. Priti Patel said that it is “clear that the threat posed by lone actors is growing”. She said: “The United Kingdom has the best security service and police in the world. Since 2017 they have foiled 25 terrorist plots including eight driven by right-wing ideologies. School exams could be delayed next summer to allow more teaching time, MPs were told. The government is considering delaying the 2021 summer exams because of the disruption caused by Covid, Gavin Williamson, the education secretary for England, confirmed in the Commons.He told MPs the government would be consulting with exams watchdog Ofqual to push back the exam dates to later in the summer to maximise teaching time. The UK has recorded a further 15 coronavirus deaths, the lowest daily increase since mid-March. The Department for Health and Social care said: “As of 9am 22 June, there have been 8,029,757 tests, with 139,659 tests on 21 June. 305,289 people have tested positive.” They added: “As of 5pm on 21 June, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 42,647 have sadly died.”