England is a 'long, long, long way' off being able to ease Covid-19 restrictions, Matt Hancock has confirmed.
The health secretary said that the evidence shows that the restrictions have started to reduce cases of coronavirus, while the vaccination programme is making 'brilliant progress'.
But while some improvement is being seen, case numbers and the daily death toll are still 'incredibly high', with the NHS still under huge pressure.
Speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sky News' Sunday programme, Matt Hancock said: "There is early evidence that the lockdown is starting to bring cases down but we are a long, long, long way from being low enough because the case rate was incredibly high.
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"You can see the pressure on the NHS - you can see it every day."
The UK's death toll from Covid is currently at 97,329, with 1,348 deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test recorded on Saturday alone.
Public Health England reported yesterday (Saturday 23 January) that a total of 5,861,351 people have receieved their first dose of a Covid vaccine.
Matt Hancock was asked by the BBC when coronavirus restrictions could be lifted - with the whole of the UK currently in a national lockdown - but said he didn't know the answer yet.
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He did say that although he hoped schools in England would reopen by Easter, it will depend on local and regional levels of infection.
He told Sky News: "We have got to look at the data, we have got to look at the impact of the vaccination programme.
"The Education Secretary (Gavin Williamson) has said that we will ensure schools get two weeks' notice of return. I don't know whether it will be then or before then. We have got to watch the data."
On 4 January, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the UK's third national lockdown since the pandemic began.
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He once again ordered the country to stay at home, and not to leave other than for a number of permitted reasons, such as for work, shopping for essential items, and medical issues.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: UK News
