Health chief warns the UK must stay on lockdown till JUNE

BRITAIN must stay in full coronavirus lockdown until June to beat coronavirus, a health chief has warned.

It comes after the UK’s death toll for the deadly bug surged to 1,019 last night – the biggest 24-hour jump the nation has seen so far.

The Prime Minister, who is self-isolating after testing positive for Covid-19, said on Saturday “things will get worse before they get better” as he stressed the need to stay indoors to support the NHS by slowing the spread.

Senior government figures have been more optimistic and have suggested that coronavirus could peak in April with approximately 5,700 deaths. But Professor Neil Ferguson said Britons will need to stay indoors for a full three months.

The leading epidemiology adviser to the government told The Sunday Times: ‘We’re going to have to keep these measures [the full lockdown] in place, in my view, for a significant period of time – probably until the end of May, maybe even early June. May is optimistic.’

Professor Ferguson added that even if the lockdown is lifted, people will still need to abide by social distancing measures for months to come.