The UK lockdown has been extended by another three weeks, with coronavirus death toll hitting 13,738 and cases above 100,000.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced the extension today.
He said the lockdown will be in place till early May.
The announcement came on the tail of 870 more patients dying in the space of a day.
Raab who is deputising for recuperating Boris Johnson, said the public’s ‘efforts are starting to pay off’.
But he said the restrictions cannot be lifted, even though community spreading is thinning out.
This is ‘almost certainly’ below the level at which the outbreak will peter out, he said.
He also mentioned the spread in hospitals and care home.
‘Based on this advice the government has decided the measures must remain in place for at least the next three weeks,’ he told the daily Downing Street briefing.
However, Mr Raab said: ‘We are being as open as we responsibly can at this stage.’
