Health Secretary Matt Hancock says he has grown “more and more confident” that life will be closer to normal by Spring next year.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference on Friday night, Mr Hancock said: “[Professor] Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Officer for England) has said he hopes that we will be able to get back more towards normal by the spring.
“And with this news we’ve had over the last few weeks and with the expansion of mass testing I’m more and more confident that he’s right.”
Mr Hancock said it is still too early to say what contact people will be able to have over Christmas and what additional restrictions may be required after lockdown is eased.
He said: “We’re doing the work on what happens after December 2 right now, it’s still too early to tell.
“I’m afraid we still haven’t made those decisions.
“Over Christmas I know how important it is that we have a system in place, a set of rules that both keeps people safe but also allows people to see their loved ones.”
Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, has warned infection rates will pick up again if the public ignore any guidelines put in place around Christmas.
“If people don’t (follow the guidelines) then the first scientific principle is things will go back up again. There is dual responsibility here. There is no magic number about how many days it is going to cost us."
Prof Van-Tam said he believed they were on the “glide path” towards rolling out a vaccination programme.
“Do I believe that we are now on the glide path to landing this plane? Yes I do,” he said.
“Do I accept that sometimes when you are on the glide path you can have a side wind and the landing is not totally straightforward, totally textbook? Of course.”
Prof Van-Tam, who was appearing remotely, said he was self-isolating due to a “household contact”.
