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Covid restrictions to ‘continue until daily cases drop below 1,000’ as Government prepares ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown
COVID restrictions in the UK are likely to continue until daily cases drop below 1,000, according to reports.
Boris Johnson is due to unveil a roadmap detailing a path out of lockdown next Monday.
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Cases have slumped since the start of January and are now the lowest since October, boosting hopes of an easing of coronavirus restrictions.
But the PM's roadmap will insist on reviews that could postpone the reopening of shops, pubs and restaurants until numbers drop into the hundreds,
Data reviews on infection levels could be examined every three weeks and determine how quickly restrictions are eased, it's claimed.
Cases are due to fall below 1,000 by the start of April if they continue at their current downward rate.
It comes as:
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But the planned reopening of schools on March 8 could slow the fall in case numbers.
A senior Whitehall source told The Telegraph: "For any significant relaxation of lockdown, household mixing and reopening pubs, case numbers have to be in the hundreds, not thousands.
"The numbers are coming down quite fast, but the plan is likely to be high level and set out the tests that have to be met for restrictions to be released.
"There is real reluctance about committing to specific dates without knowing what the case numbers are doing."
Ministers are hopeful shops could reopen in April and pubs in May, it's claimed.
When pubs and restaurant reopened last July after the first lockdown, recorded daily case rates were around 370.
For any significant relaxation of lockdown, household mixing and reopening pubs, case numbers have to be in the hundreds, not thousands
Whitehall source to The Telegraph
The UK recorded 10,625 Covid cases and 799 deaths in the last 24 hours, it was announced on Tuesday.
Both fell significantly compared to last Tuesday's toll of 12,364 cases and 1,052 deaths.
Tuesday's case numbers compare to more than 60,000 a day in the first week of January.
The seven-day average for cases is currently at its lowest since early October amid hopes the UK's successful vaccination rollout is having an impact on infections.
So far, more than 15.5 million Brits have received at least one Covid jab after more than 260,000 were injected on Monday.
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Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed signs the vaccine is starting to work, with antibodies showing in more than 40 per cent of over-80s.
A Public Health England report on the effect of the vaccine programme is due to be published in March, after the PM's roadmap is unveiled.
Around 26,000 patients are currently in hospital with coronavirus, the lowest level since the New Year.
The number of patients being admitted each day has fallen below 2,000 for the first time since December and the number of patients on ventilation beds is also falling.
Meanwhile, another 1.7million Brits have been told to shield, and 800,000 of them who are yet to get a Covid jab will be prioritised for vaccinations.
People shielding have been told to stay home until March 31 at the earliest.
Urging an end to lockdown, Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the influential 1922 Committee of Tory backbench MPs, told The Telegraph: "The case for the current lockdown was made on the grounds that NHS ICU [intensive care unit] capacity was about to be overwhelmed.
"Now the picture is profoundly different. All of the most vulnerable groups have been vaccinated.
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"Positive test numbers, hospitalisations, deaths are all falling rapidly.
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"The presumption should be that people are given back control over their own lives and we move from a world of arbitrary regulation to one where we are able to take responsibility for ourselves and each other.
"We cannot allow the goalposts to be moved every time we are about to reach freedom."
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