British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will only impose another nationwide coronavirus lockdown as a last resort, comparing the tool to "a nuclear deterrent".
Mr Johnson, who is hoping Britain can return to "normality" by Christmas despite fears of a second wave of cases over winter, insisted the country was getting better at tackling the virus.
The UK has been among the worst-hit countries in the world by Covid-19, registering the highest death toll in Europe. Meanwhile, its economy has been battered by a months-long lockdown that has only been gradually eased over recent weeks - and which Mr Johnson is desperate to repair by avoiding another national shutdown. "I can't abandon that tool any more than I would abandon a nuclear