Boris Johnson has said he is “optimistic” that people will be able to take summer holidays this year but warned it is too early to lift restrictions.
Speaking during a visit to West Yorkshire on Monday the prime minister said there were signs lockdown measures were working but it was too early to “take your foot off the throat of the beast”.
“We are starting to see some signs of a flattening and maybe even a falling off of infection rates and hospitalisations,” he told reporters.
“But don’t forget that they are still at a very high level by comparison with most points in the last 12 months, a really very high level.
“So the risk is if you take your foot off the throat of the beast, as it were, and you allow things to get out of control again then you could, alas, see the disease spreading again fast before we have got enough vaccines into people’s arms. That’s the risk.”
Mr Johnson added that he could not give “concrete” dates for the lifting of restrictions, though said he was “optimistic” about the possibility of summer holidays.
But he added that “some things have got to go right”.
Inside Politics newsletter
The latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekday
Inside Politics newsletter
The latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekday
“The vaccine programme has got to continue to be successful,” he said.
“We have got to make sure we don’t get thrown off course by new variants, we have got to make sure that we continue to keep the disease under control and the level of infections come down.”
Mr Johnson was speaking as the government announced that urgent community testing for a new South African variant of Covid-19 would take place in eight areas across the country.
People aged over 16s in eight areas in Surrey, London, Kent, Hertfordshire and Walsall will be asked to take tests, with mobile tracking units sent to out to neighbourhoods.
UK news in pictures
Show all 50
UK news in pictures
31 January 2021
People walk a dog in Pugneys Country Park in Wakefield, West Yorkshire
PA
UK news in pictures
30 January 2021
Firefighters inspect the charred remains of a block at Napier Barracks after police have said a fire was started deliberately in Folkestone, England. Napier Barracks, part of the disused Somerset House Sir John Moore Army Barracks, has been used since last summer to house Asylum Seekers arriving from France to the South Coast. It has been reported that 120 of the 400 people being housed there have caught Coronavirus and a visiting doctor had described the living conditions as “inhumane”
Getty
UK news in pictures
29 January 2021
Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community take part in Friday prayers at the Baitus Subhan Mosque in Croydon, England. For nearly the past year, the Covid-19 pandemic, and its resulting limits on public gatherings, have forced religious communities to find new ways to observe prayers, with many events being marked at home. Mosques as well as other places of religious worship remain open, though numbers have been limited to help maintain social distancing
Getty
UK news in pictures
28 January 2021
Artwork depicting animals, created by Raymond and Leonard is displayed in the window of a house in Acton, London, to launch The Great Big Art Exhibition, the nation’s largest ever exhibition, an initiative by Firstsite
PA
UK news in pictures
27 January 2021
Fishing boats, some abandoned, lie in the waters of the River Wyre at Fleetwood in Lancashire
PA
UK news in pictures
26 January 2021
A group of friends use a sheet to sledge in the snow-covered Lickey Hills Country Park, Birmingham
PA
UK news in pictures
25 January 2021
A cyclist watches the sun rise from Primrose Hill
PA
UK news in pictures
24 Janaury 2021
People go sledging in the snow on Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath
Getty
UK news in pictures
23 January 2021
Denise Munday (left) and Ruth Richards (right) check on Ruth’s rescued ex-battery hens, in flood water at her home near Naburn Lock in York following heavy rain during Storm Christoph
PA
UK news in pictures
22 January 2021
The clean up as floodwater begins to recede from the town of Northwich, Cheshire, in the aftermath of Storm Christoph
Getty
UK news in pictures
21 January 2021
Members of the Emergency services work to evacuate Care Home residents after they became stranded by flood water, in Northwich, northwest England as Storm Christoph brings heavy rains and flooding across England
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
20 January 2021
Flooding underneath the A46 at Six Hills Lane in Leicestershire, as Storm Christoph is set to bring widespread flooding, gales and snow to parts of the UK
PA
UK news in pictures
19 January 2021
A surfer rides a wave in the sea off of Boscombe beach in Dorset
PA
UK news in pictures
18 January 2021
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stands outside a room where technicians are manufacturing the AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine at Oxford Biomedica, in Oxford
Reuters
UK news in pictures
17 January 2021
People on the sea front in Brighton during England’s third national lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus
PA
UK news in pictures
16 January 2021
Cubicles erected inside Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, for people to receive an injection of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine
PA
UK news in pictures
15 January 2021
Vehicles negotiate a flooded road in Mountsorrel, Leciestershire, with a large swathe of England covered by 30 flood warnings by lunchtime Friday
PA
UK news in pictures
14 January 2021
NHS workers from hospitals across the capital during a socially distanced protest outside Downing Street, London, timed to coincide with the weekly clap for heroes
PA
UK news in pictures
13 January 2021
A public health notice to ‘stay home’ at a bus stop in London
EPA
UK news in pictures
12 January 2021
The sun rises behind Scarborough Castle in Yorkshire
PA
UK news in pictures
11 January 2021
A healthcare workers fills a syringe with a Covid-19 vaccine at the NHS vaccine centre that has been set up at the Centre for Life in Times Square, Newcastle
PA
UK news in pictures
10 January 2021
Grey seals on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, where Friends of Horsey Seals, who monitor the coast from Winterton to Horsey, have recorded over 2000 births this season
PA
UK news in pictures
9 January 2021
An open water swimmer holds up a sheet of ice as she enjoys a socially-distanced dawn swim after breaking the ice on the surface of a lake near Scunthorpe, northern England
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
8 January 2021
Sledgers have fun in the snow surrounding the Angel of the North near Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
PA
UK news in pictures
7 January 2021
A dog wearing a jacket running in Queen’s Park in Glasgow
PA
UK news in pictures
6 January 2021
A pedestrian crosses a deserted road in Leeds
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures
5 January 2021
Pigeons gather outside the shuttered entrance to a John Lewis department store, closed down due to pandemic restrictions, on an empty Oxford Street in London as Britain enters another national lockdown
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures
4 January 2021
Supporters of Julian Assange celebrate after the verdict outside the Old Bailey in London. District judge Vanessa Baraitser denied the extradition of Assange to the United States. He faces charges for hacking computers and violating the country’s Espionage Act. The US has confirmed it will appeal the decision
Getty
UK news in pictures
3 January 2021
Allenheads in Northumberland, after heavy snowfall overnight
PA
UK news in pictures
2 January 2020
A paraglider flying over Mam Tor, a 517m hill near Castleton in Derbyshire
PA
UK news in pictures
1 January 2020
Ollie King, 22, and his sister Laura, 19, take a dip into the sea at King Edward’s Bay in Tynemouth
PA
UK news in pictures
31 December 2020
Fencing around Trafalgar Square, London, ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations. People are being urged to stay home on New Year’s Eve to prevent the “dire” situation in hospitals from getting worse
PA
UK news in pictures
30 December 2020
Ambulances outside the Royal London Hospital. NHS England figures show England’s hospitals now have more Covid-19 patients than during April’s first-wave peak, with reports of ambulances carrying coronavirus patients forced to queue outside hospitals
PA
UK news in pictures
29 December 2020
A lorry travels along the M9 near Falkirk, Scotland after severe lockdown restrictions were announced for December and January with all of the country moving into the highest level of lockdown
PA
UK news in pictures
28 December 2020
Krystyna (right) pulling Isaac,7, making the most of the snowfall, going sledging in Tatton Park, Knutsford, in Cheshire
PA
UK news in pictures
27 December 2020
Anthony Gleave and his son Arthur, 3, canoe along the flooded A1101 in Welney, Norfolk
PA
UK news in pictures
26 December 2020
Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy, left, celebrates with James Maddison after scoring their second goal during the boxing day Premier League match against Manchester United at King Power Stadium
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
25 December 2020
Picture taken with permission from the Twitter feed of @markstockdale69 showing snowfall on Christmas Day in Hessle, East Yorkshire
PA
UK news in pictures
24 December 2020
Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he holds a remote press conference to update the nation on the post-Brexit trade agreement, inside 10 Downing Street
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
23 December 2020
Swimmers prepare for dip in the Thames estuary at Chalkwell Beach near Southend On Sea in Essex
PA
UK news in pictures
22 December 2020
The MS Princess Seaways arrives at the mouth of the Tyne as the sun rises on the North East coast of England
PA
UK news in pictures
21 December 2020
The closed entrance to the Port of Dover. France has closed its border with the UK for 48 hours over concerns about the new coronavirus variant. Freight lorries cannot cross by sea or through the Eurotunnel and the Port of Dover has closed to outbound traffic
EPA
UK news in pictures
20 December 2020
Police officers at Euston Station, London, with more being deployed to enforce travel rules at London’s stations
PA
UK news in pictures
19 December 2020
Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a news conference in response to the ongoing situation with the coronavirus disease pandemic, inside 10 Downing Street, London. He announced London and southeast England set for tier 4 rules with Christmas bubbles canceled
Reuters
UK news in pictures
18 December 2020
Actors from the Wintershall Estate perform an adaptation of their traditional Nativity play on December 18, 2020 in Guildford, England. The Wintershall Estate have adapted their traditional Nativity play to accommodate the Coronavirus pandemic restrictions and this year it takes the form of a walk through the estate set in the Surrey Hills. Walkers will enjoy beautifully staged mini-tableaus from the Nativity story, performed by a cast of volunteers with a full complement of sheep, cows and horses
Getty
UK news in pictures
17 December 2020
People walk through Ashford in Kent as Tier 3 restrictions are planned for large areas of England
PA
UK news in pictures
16 December 2020
A dog retrieves a hard hat from flood water in Sutton in Cambridgeshire, as the Met Office have warned the next couple of months are likely to be wetter than normal in the UK, raising the prospect of flooding
PA
UK news in pictures
15 December 2020
Queens Park Rangers fans cheer on their side in the stands during the Sky Bet Championship match at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, London
PA
UK news in pictures
14 December 2020
An empty restaurant in the West End of London after the announcement that the capital and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire will face Tier 3 restrictions from Wednesday following a rise in coronavirus cases
PA
UK news in pictures
13 December 2020
Lobsters are processed at the fishing port at Bridlington Harbour in Yorkshire, after European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she and Boris Johnson had agreed to continue negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal
PA
Like the UK variant, the South African variant is though to he more contagious than the original strain of Covid-1.
There is some evidence that the strain might make vaccines slightly less effective, however.
But Mr Johnson told reporters: “It’s very, very important that our vaccines continue to develop and to adapt – and they will.”