Lockdown set to continue until cases drop below 1,000 per day

Boris Johnson is due to reveal the roadmap out of lockdown next week

England looks set to remain in lockdown until daily Covid cases drop below 1,000, The Telegraph has reported. According to the report, the government's roadmap out of lockdown will not commit to a clear timetable, and instead consist of a series of reviews that would delay the reopening of shops and hospitality venues until cases fall to the levels that they were at in August. Boris Johnson is set to reveal a plan for coming out of lockdown next week, with schools expected to reopen as early as March 8th. "For any significant relaxation of lockdown, household mixing and reopening pubs, case numbers have to be in the hundreds, not thousands," a senior Whitehall source told The Telegraph. "The numbers are coming down quite fast, but the plan is likely to be high level and set out the tests that have to be met for restrictions to be released. There is real reluctance about committing to specific dates without knowing what the case numbers are doing." In recent weeks Covid cases in England have fallen, and based on the current trajectory could be under 1,00 per day by April. However, the return of children to schools is likely to disrupt this progress. 10,625 new cases of people testing positive were reported Tuesday, with 86,321 being reported over the last seven days - a drop of 27.8%. 799 daily deaths were reported, with the seven-day total at 4,345, which is a drop of 25.6%. Yesterday, the government added an additional 1.7 million vulnerable people to the shielding list. The move came after the introduction of a new model that took into consideration factors other than just health, including ethnicity, deprivation and weight. Half of those added have not yet been vaccinated and will be prioritised to receive the jab.