STAND-IN PM DOMINIC RAAB ADAMANT: NOW IS NOT THE MOMENT TO GIVE COVID-19 A SECOND CHANCE

STAND-IN PM Dominic Raab revealed probably the "worst kept secret" of this Covid-19 pandemic by announcing to Atherstone and the rest of the nation that lockdown will be with us for at least another three weeks.

Boris Johnson's First Secretary of State praised the efforts of the population near and far for sticking with the restrictions to stop the spread of the virus that has already claimed 13, 729 UK lives in hospitals alone.

But he warned that extending the measures was essential for the health of everyone in the UK.

At the daily press briefing, he handed out a five point litmus test before considering lifting any lockdown.

• The NHS must still be able to cope – with the confidence that critical care and special treatment can continue across the UK;

• A sustained and consistent fall in the daily death rates so experts are confident that the peak has passed;

• The rate of infection falling to "manageable levels"

• Making sure that Britain has enough testing capacity and PPE to relax measures; and

• Ensuring that the changes will not risk a second peak of infections that overwhelm the NHS. Mr Raab said: "Now is not the moment to give the coronavirus a second chance. "Let's stick together, let's see this through, and defeat the coronavirus for good." He added: "Please, please, stay home, save lives, so we can return to normal lives as soon as possible." The measures will now be reviewed next month. Rules on going outside the house, seeing friends or family outside of the household, and on exercising just once a day, will stay in place for now. The announcement came after Mr Raab held an emergency COBRA meeting with the other devolved nations this afternoon where scientific experts are thought to insisted it was not yet time to ease off on them. The UK death toll rose by 861 from the previous day to 13,729 with two hugely popular Atherstone characters – retired 3M worker Roy Allitt and horse racing fan Brian 'Cunner' Cadman – both losing their personal battles to the virus in the last week. Confirmed cases in the UK passed the 100,000 mark today –rising by 4,617 to 103,093.

Isolation measures appear to be having a positive effect on the trajectory of the outbreak, national data indicates.

Angela McLean, UK deputy chief scientific adviser said the nation was beginning to see a "flattened curve" for new Covid-19 cases.

According to Ms McLean, hospital admissions fell by one per cent across the country on Tuesday, and by five per cent in the Greater London area.

In the last 24 hours, the numbers in hospital was down three per cent, according to chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance.

There are reportedly 10,000 beds available before taking into account the Nightingale field which includes the one close to Atherstone at the NEC.