Covid: UK 'past the peak' but levels 'forbiddingly' too high to relax lockdown

It is too soon to imagine the relaxation of lockdown restrictions in England, with infection levels of coronavirus 'still forbiddingly high', the prime minister has said, though the UK is thought to be 'past the peak'. Boris Johnson said the UK's Covid vaccination programme has provided 'some signs of hope', with 10 million people having received their first jab, but he warned the NHS is still 'under huge pressure'. The PM said his plan remains to set out a plan, on February 22, for an exit out of lockdown but the 'level of infection is still forbiddingly high for us to imagine relaxation of currently guidelines'.