There are some signs that the UK may be able to slow the rate of coronavirus infection, Michael Gove has said.
The Minister for the Cabinet Office told a press conference on Tuesday that people's sacrifices and efforts are "worth it."
His message came with the caveat that now is not the time for relaxation or the "slackening" of lockdown measures.
Answering a question from ITV's Robert Peston, Mr Gove said: "There are some signs that we may be able to flatten the rate of infection.
"But now is not the time to think of any relaxation, and we must maintain this united national effort to keep people safe.
"Now is absolutely not the time for people to imagine there can be any relaxation or slackening of lockdown measures.
"People's sacrifices and efforts are worth it, but we must not let up."
NHS England national medical director Stephen Powis urged the public not to let today's data lead to complacency.
"These are just green shoots," he told the briefing.
"Winter could come and they may not end up being the hopeful green shoots we hope for.
"There are signs transmission in the community is reducing, but there is a lag in the number of hospital admissions and deaths.
"The next week will be critical.
"No complacency, I don't want to give the message other than we need to maintain our compliance with instructions as that is the only way we will get through this."
"The number of infections appears to now be plateauing - but says we must not be complacent," Mr Powis added.
"We’re not out of the woods and need to keep our foot on the pedal."
Mr Powis congratulated the public for paying attention to government measures, saying the amount of social contact had reduced "dramatically."
"Public transport use has decreased dramatically, and shows people are paying attention and avoiding social contact," he said.
"The less social contact, the less change the virus can move between people, which in time will see a reduction in the number of cases."
On Tuesday afternoon, NHS England announced a total 1,651 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died.
The figure shot up by 367 in 24 hours - the largest jump in a day so far.
Professor Powis said that the rate of hospitalisation of cases for Covid-19 was still increasing, as was expected at this stage of the epidemic.
However, he said that if the number of infections started to drop, then in the next few weeks the “hope” was that the number of hospitalisations would also begin to fall.
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