Boris Johnson has been warned the national lockdown must not be lifted until there are fewer than 1,000 Covid cases a day.
NHS bosses and top scientists have intervened on the government's lockdown strategy, with the chief executive of NHS Providers Chris Hopson set to write to the Prime Minister, setting out the key reasons why.
He urge Johnson not to lift the restrictions too early or the NHS will be left to face another unmanageable increase of infections - despite 22 per cent of all over-18s in the UK now having been vaccinated.
A fourth wave of more than 1,000 deaths a day if restrictions are lifted - or eased too quickly - could hit in Spring, according to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).
Mr Hopson said in the Sunday Times: "We have crested the peak but we're only just beginning the descent.
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"We're still at a dangerously high altitude where the NHS is under great pressure and the thing we know is the descent is going to be much slower because people are taking longer to recover.
"It's going to take months, not days and weeks."
The current restrictions in place are set to be reviewed on March 8.
The government’s scientific advisers predict there could be as many as a further 130,000 deaths between now and June next year, bringing the total close to 250,000.
The virus - including the new variants blighting the nation - could lead to younger people, who have yet to receive the vaccine, taking up hospital beds, according to scientists.
Although the government is on course to vaccinate over-70s by February 15, it is feared infections could prove severe in the small percentage of recipients in whom the vaccine does not block symptoms.
