Will Easter be the new Xmas, albeit a thin one? This is the PM's new hope, I'm told. He has privately shared an aspiration to see restrictions begin to ease by Good Friday (April 2), to allow families some small contact again. But there is tension with Chris Whitty though (1)
It is weeks away yet, but ministers have begun to put together a plan for the unlock. The CMO is adamant any end to the lockdown must be 1. conditions dependent (deaths down, pressure off the NHS etc), and 2. very careful and in slow degrees with pauses to test them (2)
That means no dates stated, and no promise of Easter offered. This tension emerged briefly during last Friday's press conference when Whitty and Johnson clashed briefly in public over the definition of 'Spring' - is it pre or post Easter (3)
Whitty is backed by Matt Hancock and other Cabinet 'doves'. One source close to the PM said Whitty “is being a bit wet” as tens millions of vaccinations will have cut the fatality risk a lot by then (aides insist this is not the PM’s view and he has deep respect for the CMO) (4)
Others in Government say there is a grim dawning realisation emerging that heavy restrictions - Tier 4 and 3 - are likely to have to remain in place in the big cities through April and even into May because current cases are so high and will take many weeks to decrease (5)
That's with or without the success of the vaccination programme, whose early huge success has even stunned No10. Senior Cabinet ministers' biggest worry now is another mutant variant that requires a new vaccine for everyone afresh. More on @TimesRadio after 7am (6)
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