Prime Minister Boris Johnson today signalled the government did not expect to return to a national lockdown in future - indicating that local approaches would be taken instead.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference on the next steps in the UK's recovery from the coronavirus crisis, Mr Johnson suggested the country would not go back in to full lockdown.
Whereas a national approach was taken in the spring as the virus grew, the government now feels a local approach such as that currently taken in Leicester will be the best way forward to limit the spread of coronavirus in future.
The Prime Minister said local lockdowns can be used to control Covid-19 in future.
Boris Johnson, speaking at a Downing Street press briefing, said: "At the start of the pandemic, we knew far less about the spread of the virus and we had to take blanket national measures.
"National lockdown was undoubtedly the right thing to do and has saved many thousands of lives.
"Now, however, we know more about the virus, we understand the epidemiology better and our intelligence about where it is spreading is vastly improved.
"That means we can control it through targeted local action instead."
