The coronavirus rate in Leicester is falling, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told MPs.
The Midlands city was placed into the first local lockdown on June 29 following a surge in cases of the virus.
Non-essential shops were forced to close again and schools shut to most pupils while the strict measures were eased further in the rest of England.
But Mr Hancock has said today that the seven-day infection rate in the city has fallen from 135 cases per 100,000 people to 117.
He went on to say that this underlines the importance of the "difficult but vital" decision to impose a lockdown.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth – a Leicester MP – asked what would trigger the lifting of the lockdown in the city.
Mr Hancock said in response that 14 days of data were needed and the next steps for the city would be announced on July 18.
He would not give a specific figure for lifting the lockdown "because both the level and the rate of change matters".
"If the level were lower but it was going up, that could be a worse situation than a higher level that is under control and falling," he added.
Mr Hancock also praised the actions of three pubs in England which have been forced to shut after cases were identified among their drinkers following the reopening of bars on Saturday.
The Lighthouse in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, the Fox and Hounds in Batley, West Yorkshire, and The Village Home in Gosport were "doing the right thing by their customers and by their communities".
"This is NHS Test and Trace working precisely as intended,” he said.
"Three pubs shut so that others can be open."
