Don't you DARE ask when the lockdown will end! Matt Hancock loses his cool as he tells radio interviewer that the government won't release exit plan because public can't be TRUSTED with it

Matt Hancock today insisted the public cannot be trusted with a coronavirus 'exit strategy' as they might stop obeying lockdown rules.

In a bad-tempered interview as the government prepares to extend draconian curbs for another three weeks, the Health Secretary said he recognised that 'everybody wants to know what the future looks like'.  

But he flatly dismissed calls for the government to flesh out how the restrictions will finally be eased, despite mounting fears that they are wreaking havoc on the economy. 

Mr Hancock said the 'clarity of messaging' had a 'direct impact on how many people obey' social distancing rules.

In bruising clashes with Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4''s Today programme, Mr Hancock angrily told the interviewer to stop interrupting. 

'The communications are part of the policy. That is why we will not be distracted in to confusing that messaging. The scientists can say what they like, the commentators can say what they like,' he swiped. 

The bitter spat came as one of the government's own key experts condemned the response from ministers and warned curbs cannot be eased until mass testing is in place.  

Professor Neil Ferguson insisted schools and more shops should not be open until everyone with symptoms, and everyone they have come into contact with, can been screened. Even then, he warned there is no possibility of the country returning to 'normal' until a vaccine is produced. 

The epidemiologist - who has been modelling the outbreak for the government - delivered a withering verdict on the performance of ministers, urging them to 'accelerate action'. He suggested the organisation in Whitehall was not on the same scale as the effort on Brexit, despite the crisis being much bigger. 

Dominic Raab is set to confirm that lockdown will stay in place until at least mid-May after a Cobra emergency committee meeting this afternoon. 

Meanwhile, a report sent to ministers has suggested coffee shops, restaurants and estate agents should be among the first to reopen on Britain's high streets, as they are the businesses most likely to boost the economy and pose the smallest risk of spreading the virus. 

As the government prepares to extend draconian curbs for another three weeks, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he recognised that 'everybody wants to know what the future looks like'

Health minister Nadine Dorries suggested last night that a vaccine is the only true 'exit strategy' from coronavirus lockdown

In a round of broadcast interviews, Mr Hancock insisted it was 'too early' for an exit strategy. 

Mr Hancock said he did not want to 'waste' the efforts of the public by lifting the lockdown measures prematurely, because coronavirus would 'run rampant once again'.

'I'm not going to pre-judge the formal decision that is going to be taken, however, I think everybody can see that we've been clear that we think that it is too early to make a change,' the Health Secretary told BBC Breakfast.

'And whilst we have seen a flattening of the number of cases, and thankfully a flattening of the number of deaths, that hasn't started to come down yet, and as far as I'm concerned is still far too high.'

Mr Hancock added: 'I understand those who are calling for an end to the lockdown or some kind of exit strategy to start now, but I think it's just too early for that.'

Asked about comments from health minister Nadine Dorries urging people to stop asking about an exit plan, Mr Hancock told Good Morning Britain that it is 'far too early' for things to return to normal.

'What Nadine is saying is that this talk about an exit strategy, with the idea that we go immediately back to exactly how things were before, it is far too early for that,' he said.

'We are seeing that peak, but it's still far too high. And so it is too early to be making changes.' 

Mr Hancock defended the government's handling of testing, despite it already having missed a target of carrying out 25,000 tests a day by mid-April. Levels have been hovering around 14,000.

Mr Hancock said the daily capacity for testing was 25,000.

The Health Secretary told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'In the middle of March, we expected the rate to be, in around four weeks, at around 25,000.

'That is what our capacity is today.'

Asked why the full capacity of testing was not being reached, Mr Hancock said: 'We have increased the capacity, over the Easter weekend far fewer people came forward to be tested frankly than we expected.

'Hence, yesterday, I could say that all social care staff who needed to be tested can be tested, and residents in social care and people coming from hospital to social care, precisely because we have got that capacity.

'We've increased the capacity and that is on a trajectory to get to the 100,000 by the end of the month'.

Discussing whether lockdown measures could be eased after another three weeks, Professor Ferguson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I think that will very much depend on quite how quickly case numbers go down, and that does require us to get on top of things like transmission rates in hospitals and care homes.

'I think the other thing I would say is that it really requires a single-minded emphasis in Government and the health system on scaling up testing and putting in place the ability to track down cases in the community and contact-trace.

'Because without that, our estimates show we have relatively little leeway; if we relax measures too much then we'll see a resurgence of transmission.

'What we really need is the ability to put something in their place. If we want to open schools, let people get back to work, then we need to keep transmission down in another manner.

'And I should say, it's not going to be going back to normal. We will have to maintain some form of social distancing, a significant level of social distancing, probably indefinitely until we have a vaccine available.'

Asked whether the Government is moving towards having an exit strategy in place, Prof Ferguson said: 'I'm not completely sure. I think there's a lot of discussion. I would like to see action accelerated.

'We need to put in place an infrastructure, a command and control structure, a novel organisation for this.

'I'm reminded by the fact we had a Department for Brexit for Government - that was a major national emergency, as it were - and we're faced with something which is, at the moment, even larger than Brexit and yet I don't see quite the same evidence for that level of organisation.'

Prof Ferguson added: 'There needs to be more co-ordination I think, yes. That may be going on, I don't have unique insight, but I think it could be enhanced.' 

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has said a three-week extension of lockdown measures would be 'reasonable'.

Mr Ashworth told BBC Breakfast: 'We would expect the lockdown to continue, we would support that, I actually called for a lockdown before the Government introduced one.

'But we also want more details from the Government about what happens next.

'I mean, last night the junior health minister Nadine Dorries was complaining on Twitter saying that people shouldn't be asking about an exit strategy because there's no exit strategy until we get a vaccine.

'Well that could be 18 months away so if the Government are saying we're in lockdown for 18 months they probably need to tell us.'

'And I would argue that the best way to come out of lockdown or to manage a way out of lockdown is to move to a testing and contact-tracing strategy.'

A report drawn up by Conservative peer Lord Gadhia and GlaxoSmithKline chairman Sir Jonathan Symonds has suggested a way out of the lockdown.

It called for a small number of high street stores to open as Britain 'must learn to live with Covid' until a vaccine is mass produced in 12 to 18 months.

All of these shops will have to practise social distancing with gaps between tables to ensure they are safe.  

The report, seen by the Sun, says: 'The initial focus for reopening the economy should be on sectors that have the greatest multiplier effects with minimum risks — such as coffee shops and restaurants which support agriculture.

'The property market is another that has wide multiplier effects. We need to avoid a stop-start economy which would sap public morale and damage business confidence yet further.'

Several high street chains like McDonalds, Primark and Topshop have closed their doors due the coronavirus outbreak.

Recently, Burger King, KFC and Pret have announced plans to partially reopen.

Their shops will open near hospitals and GP surgeries for delivery and takeaway services only.

Ministers could be given the green light to start planning an exit from the lockdown within ten days, the Chief Medical Officer suggested last night. 

Chris Whitty said Government experts hoped to have enough evidence about the transmission of the coronavirus by that point to 'judge how we can go into the next phase'. 

The lockdown is set to be extended today for at least three weeks, despite fresh warnings about the long-term impact on the economy. 

The Cabinet is expected to rubberstamp the extension in a conference call this morning ahead of a formal decision this afternoon by the Government's emergency committee Cobra, which will be attended by Nicola Sturgeon and political leaders in Wales and Northern Ireland. 

Multiple Government sources said there would be 'no surprises', with restrictions rolled over for another three weeks and the next review unlikely before May 7.  

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the continuing high death toll, which rose by 761 to 12,868 yesterday and is expected to spike again today, showed 'why we cannot let up'. 

He added: 'We will not lift these measures until it is safe to do so.' 

But at the daily Downing Street press conference, Professor Whitty said the epidemic was 'probably reaching the peak overall' and 'we do all think this has flattened out.' 

He added: 'The more understanding we have of where that is, which will happen over the next ten days, the more easy it is to judge how we can go into the next phase in a way that is properly evidence-based.' 

And Matt Hancock gave a further hint that lockdown measures would be extended tomorrow, saying: 'We cannot let go of the hard work that's been done so far... we will not lift these measures until it is safe to do so.' 

Discussing the coronavirus crisis in Downing Street last night, Professor Whitty said: 'On the issue of the peak, our view is that it is probably reaching the peak overall and that is what the flattening shows.

'I think it is important, and I am saying this because new data will come out presumably tomorrow, my expectation would be that the number of deaths may well go up because there has been after every weekend we see a dip over the weekend and for the two days afterwards and then an increase as we catch up with the numbers.

'After a long four day weekend there may well be a bounce up tomorrow. I think it is very important we don't get to the point where we say, look at the numbers of deaths that means we have passed the peak.

'But we do all think that this has flattened out. Sadly we do think that high numbers of deaths will continue, certainly for a short while on from where we are at the moment.

'So I think at the moment we are not yet at the point where we can say confidently and safely this is now past the peak and we can start thinking very much about the next phases.'

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab - standing in for Boris Johnson as he continues to recuperate from the disease - will chair the meeting of the Cabinet this morning. 

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called on ministers to publish an 'exit strategy' from the lockdown, which has been in place since March 23. 

There is also growing unease in Tory circles about the economic damage being caused. 

Former Chancellor Sajid Javid said it was vital to 'phase out this lockdown as soon as we possibly can based on scientific advice'.