Matt Hancock said the Government would “rule nothing out” on the prospect of a new fourth tier of restrictions.
The England Health Secretary told BBC Breakfast: “We’ve always said all along that we take nothing off the table.
“Having said that, we have seen the rise in the number of cases has slowed a bit.
“The problem is it’s still going up, and while it’s still going up we’ve got to act to get it under control.
“We rule nothing out but at the moment the three-tier system is what we’re working to and it’s effective in slowing the growth of this virus but it hasn’t brought this curve to a halt.”
He also said the idea of reducing isolation time for people who have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19 from 14 days to seven is “entirely led by the clinical science”.
He told Sky News: “It’s always under review. You might remember that a couple of months ago we increased the amount of time that people who have a positive test have to isolate from seven days to 10 days.
“That’s a clinical decision.”
Mr Hancock said France has reduced the amount of time people have to isolate based on clinical advice, adding: “So it isn’t about the compliance issue. It’s about the overall clinical judgment of what time is required for isolation.
“Obviously I’d rather have isolation as short as is reasonably possible because of the impact it has on people’s lives, but it must be safe.”
He said the Government will be “guided by the science as we have been in all decisions in this pandemic”.
