Government set to review lockdown measures today

Boris Johnson will review coronavirus lockdown measures with ministers today ahead of an expected easing of restrictions next week.
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The Prime Minister will chair a meeting which is likely to focus on what freedoms can be restored after measures were put in place on society to halt the spread of the virus.

Mr Johnson hinted he will announce a limited return to pre-pandemic life in an address to the nation on Sunday, with new measures set to come in as early as Monday.

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Reports suggest changes could include unlimited exercise, the return of some sports, park picnics, and the opening of pub and cafe gardens - but people would still be required to remain two metres apart.

Mr Johnson hinted he will announce a limited return to pre-pandemic lifeMr Johnson hinted he will announce a limited return to pre-pandemic life
Mr Johnson hinted he will announce a limited return to pre-pandemic life

The move could also see the Government scrap its ‘stay home’ slogan, and encourage people to wear face coverings on public transport and in crowded places.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders have demanded an explanation for the decline in coronavirus testing, after the Government missed its 100,000-a-day target for the fourth day in a row.

Labour said that the news ‘does not inspire confidence’ in the plans to ease lockdown measures.

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Labour’s former prime minister Gordon Brown said that the Government's target for tests needed to be increased.

He said the Government needed to reassure ‘the one and a half million health service workers, the one and a half million in the care sector, the 1.7 million in construction, three million in retail, one million that have got contact with the public - police, fire, teachers and everything else’ that it was safe to return to normal duties.

He added: “You have got to say to them we can reassure you that you go back to work because we are going to offer you the testing that will find out whether you've got it, or whether other people that you are working with have got it, so that we can actually isolate those people if they had it.”

Latest figures from the Department of Health show 30,076 people have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK.