UK still in Covid-19 peril so too early to talk about lifting lockdown, minister says

Britain's Secretary of State of the Home Department Priti Patel speaks to the media at Westminster, in London, Britain, January 18, 2021.

Image: REUTERS/Hannah McKay Britain's Secretary of State of the Home Department Priti Patel speaks to the media at Westminster, in London, Britain, January 18, 2021.

The Covid-19 death toll and the level of hospital admissions means it is far too early to speculate about when the lockdown may be lifted or eased, one of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's senior ministers said on Wednesday.

"We are still in a perilous situation," Home Secretary Priti Patel told Sky.

"When we still see hospitalisation figures, now standing at over 38,000 people, with the number of people still dying with coronavirus, with the number of hospital admissions increasing, this is no time to speak about the relaxation of measures," she said. "We have a long way to go."