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Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty issued a warning to anyone attempting to put definitive dates on the end of lockdown measures. During a meeting with the Commons Science Committee, Mr Whitty insisted it was not wise to put exact dates on the relaxing of measures, hinting that the second lockdown may exceed the set date of December 2 despite Boris Johnson’s claims. He noted that the projections and data used to formulate strategies would show trends and not exact dates when change could be expected.

He said: “Putting exact dates on these things is nearly impossible. 

“Neither Patrick, nor I, nor anyone who is advising Government would say this is definitely going to happen on this date.

“I think people who give this degree of certainty have not understood modelling of this sort, with scenario uncertainty, properly works.” 

Mr Whitty added that despite this, due to the R rate being above 1 in many areas, it was important the Government took action now.

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While he noted that the projection data does not and should not be used to give definitive dates, it can still help highlight when the Government should intervene.

He also defended the need for a national lockdown as he claimed the data showed that a rising R rate would quickly put a lot of pressure on the NHS.

He said: “The inevitably if your remains above 1, even by quite a small amount, once you have actually got to a high level of bed usage, you have got very little headroom.

“So quite a small R can take you from I am just about coping to I am not coping.

“We are looking forward in a bad way to the fact that the most difficult time for a respiratory virus is over the winter months.

“We have hardly got into them so the chances of things suddenly improve without action between now and the next few months are quite low.

“If you are giving advice to ministers, that has to be the advice you give.”

MPs are expected to vote on the second lockdown on Wednesday in Parliament.

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Boris Johnson has received from business chiefs and other Tory MPs about the impact of implementing a second lockdown, however.

Mr Johnson guaranteed that “without a shred of doubt” the restrictions would expire on December 2.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove last week admitted that this may not be the case if the number of coronavirus cases has not fallen significantly.

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