(Image: NurPhoto/PA Images)So how will the Prime Minister decide when, and how, to ease the lockdown in England? Speaking to a committee last month, the Health Secretary said there were “four conditions” for easing lockdown - he did not include the R number or case numbers. Number of casesWhen Matt Hancock set out “four conditions” for easing lockdown last month, this wasn’t one of them. R numberDowning Street today said the R number is another key factor in deciding how to ease the national lockdown. But every unlocking step will raise the R number higher, and once it tips above 1 the virus begins to grow exponentially.

Source: Daily Mirror February 15, 2021 13:40 UTC