Britain must not ease coronavirus restrictions too soon

Britain should not start to lift restrictions on social contact until it is clear that coronavirus transmission is in retreat, otherwise a second wave could occur, England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jenny Harries said on Sunday.

"The very last thing we would want to do is to have put in all of this effort, with everybody trying to do the right thing – almost everybody – across the country, and then finally lift the lid too early and we have a second spike," she said.

"It will waste the effort we have put in. And we will still need to get over the first hump of the epidemic curve, and then look at the detail (of restrictions)."