LOCKDOWN measures enforced to slow the spread of the coronavirus will be reviewed by PM Boris Johnson after Easter, it was confirmed today.

Business secretary Alok Sharma said restrictions on daily life that were announced on March 23 were for an initial three-week period.

He was standing in for Mr Johnson, who is in self-isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 last week.

Professor Yvonne Doyle of Public Health England said during the press conference that the situation will be reviewed using the use of scientific evidence and clinical information as to how the epidemic is progressing.

In response to questions regarding the UK lagging behind countries like Germany in widespread testing for the virus, she stressed that the strategy is to increase rates of testing for the virus among healthcare workers but also in the population at large.

It comes as healthcare workers, unions, and Labour continued to press ministers to ramp up testing to provide clarity and curb staff shortages.

Five drive-through sites will be carrying out tests on a priority basis, with workers in contact with the sickest patients tested first, Ms Doyle added.

She said this would increase tests from 10,000 a day to 25,000 as part of efforts to reach hundreds of thousands over coming weeks.

Ms Doyle also announced that there has been a “concerning” increase in motor traffic, despite the sharp decline in public transport use. 

She urged people to stay at home to slow the spread of the virus as the number of known cases have increased three days in a row to more than 29,000 so far.

Tuesday saw the UK’s biggest rise in deaths – 563 – in one day so far, while the total number exceeded 2,300.