Matt Hancock, the UK’s Health Secretary, has said that the government “will not risk lives by lifting lockdown measures”.
At tonight’s daily briefing, Hancock said the lockdown measures will only be lifted once certain criteria is met. These are:
• NHS can cope with the pandemic
• Operational challenges are met
• Covid-19 death rate falls sustainably and consistently
• Rate of infection decreases
• Decreased likelihood of a second peak
The address comes after Boris Johnson voiced his concerns to colleagues that if the UK's lockdown is relaxed too soon it could cause a second peak of coronavirus.
Experts have also raised concerns about whether or not coronavirus contact-tracing apps can live up to the promise of alerting users when someone they were recently near becomes infected.
