Dominic Raab says it’s ‘too early’ to end coronavirus lockdown as he begs people to stay home over Easter weekend

IT IS too early to lift the coronvirus lockdown measures right now and Brits must stay home this Easter bank holiday weekend, Dominic Raab said tonight.

The Foreign Secretary, who is standing in for Boris while he’s in hospital, apologised to the nation that they will be unable to see their families this weekend as part of the fight to stop the virus.

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And he took the chance to thank everyone – including NHS staff on the front line – for their hard work so far in savings lives.

He told the public ahead of a sunny weekend: “It is too early to lift the measures we have put in place.

“We must stick to the plan and continue to be guided by the science.

“Thank you for your sacrifice but we are not done yet. We must keep going.”

No easing of the lockdown will happen until at least the end of next week, he said – but the strict measures will likely continue for even longer.

Professor Chris Whitty said he would expect the number of deaths to continue rising for at least two weeks past when the number of people in intensive care starts to flatten off, showing the peak is still some time away.

Mr Raab urged anyone considering breaking the rules in the coming days to “think very hard” about those who were on the front line battling the virus.

He would usually be spending the Easter bank holiday weekend with his family but admitted “we just cant do those sorts of things, and I am really sorry about that.”

“As a country we need to be united in this mission.

“We have to keep it up.”

Mr Raab admitted tonight that he hasn’t spoken to Boris Johnson since he went into hospital, and was rushed into intensive care on Monday evening.

He said it was important to give him time to rest and recover, and stressed “I’ve got all the authority I need to make the relevant decisions”.

That will include huge choices on extending the lockdown next week, if the PM isn’t well enough by then.

The news came as:

• Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance suspects the number of people who may get it with no symptoms could be around 30 per cent.  He estimated that less than 10 per cent of the population has had it so far
• The number of deaths rose by 881 – taking the total dead to nearly 8,000
• Positive cases in the UK have also hit 65,077 – up from 60,733 infections yesterday.
• Boris Johnson remains stable in hospital and improving, but is still in intensive care
• Ministers are expected to launch a fresh campaign to urge people to stay home this weekend, with new advertising posters and billboards

The Government is continuing to gather all the data on how the lockdown is working so far before making any firm calls, he said.

“The early signs suggest that they are having an impact, but it’s too early to say that conclusively,” he added.

“We will be guided by the science at all times.

“We don’t expect to be able to say more on this until the end of next week.

“The measures will have to stay in place until we have the evidence that clearly shows we’ve moved beyond the peak.”

Mr Raab said the PM was “still in intensive care but continues to make positive steps forward, and he is in good spirits”.

He is still not in need of a ventilator and is able to breathe without assistance.

Boris is said to be sitting up in bed and talking to the NHS staff who are caring for him too.

It’s expected that the lockdown will be extended past the three week target in the coming days – because Britain is not yet over the worst of the virus.

Speaking this morning, Scottish First Minister Sturgeon said: “I don’t think there is any possibility, any likelihood of these lockdown measures being lifted immediately, or even imminently.”

Extensive work is being done across Whitehall on the Government’s exit strategy, but they have yet to spell out any detail or say when the public might see a plan.

No10 say the focus now needs to be on stopping the spread of the virus and increasing capacity in the NHS to save lives.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan suggested Britain is still 10 days off the peak – now expected to be at the end of next week rather than Easter Monday.