‘Ministers are later expected to announce a three-week extension to the coronavirus lockdown.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will lead emergency Cobra committee and cabinet meetings about the continuation of social distancing measures.
Labour has said it will support an extension, but also called for details on how and when the lockdown would end.
Meanwhile, social care directors have said distribution of protective kit for carers has been “shambolic”.
There have been 27 verified deaths with coronavirus among NHS staff, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed.
On extending the lockdown, Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast he believed the government had been clear “we think it too early to make a change”.
He said: “We can see that we’re reaching a peak, that is good news, but we can see that the numbers are not yet coming down, therefore we can’t make a change.”
Mr Hancock added that he did not want to put the “good effort” of the public to waste by ending the lockdown too early.
“If we just released all the measures now then this virus would run rampant,” he said.
The health secretary is due to meet the first ministers of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales later ahead of making a formal decision on the lockdown.’
Read move: Coronavirus: Three-week lockdown extension set to be approved
