It is too early to consider a strategy for exiting the coronavirus lockdown, the foreign secretary has said.
Dominic Raab said the current measures were “beginning to work” – but shifting focus could mean “we won’t get through the peak as fast as we need to”.
He added Boris Johnson remained in charge of the government from hospital, where the PM spent the night receiving treatment for coronavirus symptoms.
The number of virus hospital deaths in the UK now stands at 5,373.
The Department of Health and Social Care reported 51,608 confirmed cases.
Asked during the government’s daily briefing when the current social distancing measures could be lifted, the government’s chief medical adviser, Prof Chris Whitty, said it must first establish when the peak of the epidemic will come.
“The key thing is to get to the point where we are confident we have reached the peak, and [that] this is now beyond the peak,” he said.
“At that point, I think it [will be] possible to have a serious discussion about all the things we need to do, step by step, to move to the next phase of managing this.”
He added to start “having that discussion” before then would be a mistake.