VIRUS THREAT STILL CRITICAL

● Public urged ‘show resolve’ as measures are loosened tonight ● Prime Minister won’t fully unlock UK as NHS is still in danger zone ● New alert system will bring epidemic under control at last

- David Maddox

BORIS Johnson will keep a tight rein as he gently loosens lockdown because the threat to the NHS and medics remains critical.

Addressing the nation tonight, the Prime Minister will relax some measures to open garden centres and give people more freedom to exercise.

But plans for a larger scale lifting have been put on hold after experts warned that Britain was still in the virus danger zone.

Mr Johnson will urge the public to show “resolve” and stick with the measures.

The Government also has a new weapon in the war against Covid-19 – a pandemic alert system.

The Joint Biosecurity Centre, a disease version of British intelligence agency GCHQ, will be set up in the coming weeks and help the nation to emerge from the full lockdown.

The JBC will bring together our world-leading epidemiological expertise and fuse it with the best analytical capability from across government in an integrated approach.

The UK remains on alert level orange – one below the highest red alert level, which would see the NHS overwhelmed.

The Government’s plan is to advance with maximum caution in order to protect the NHS and save lives.

In his televised address to the nation at 7 this evening, Mr Johnson will set out his road map to bring Britain out of lockdown.

He will explain that the new JBC will identify and address new local spikes across England in coronavirus infections and build a clear national picture of infection rates.

This means that in future the Government can order localised lockdowns rather than forcing the whole country to take emergency measures.