Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has confirmed that pubs, restaurants and hotels will be among the last to reopen when the coronavirus lockdown is relaxed.

When he was asked on BBC’s whether we could see them reopening before the winter, Gove replied: “Areas of hospitality will be among the last to exit the lock down, yes that is true, they will be among the last.”

He went on: “This virus has changed so much, it’s a new virus of a great potency and lethality. It spreads remarkably fast, we want to ensure that we can get on top of it.

“We also want to ensure the economic life of the nation, the social life of the nation can return over time but even as some restrictions are lifted the way in which our schools, the way in which our shops and factories operate will change as a result of what we know about this virus and what we know about social distancing.

“Of course, we want to make sure that the best scientific advice guides us as we take an approach towards easing these restrictions in the right way with appropriate safeguards.”

On Thursday (16 April), the UK Government officially extended the lockdown restrictions for at least another three weeks.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab announced the extension in the daily coronavirus briefing, where he was joined by chief medical officer Chris Witty and chief scientific advisor Sir Patrick Vallance.

Raab says lockdown in UK will be able to end when five factors will need to be satisfied.

These include, space in hospitals, a sustained fall in the daily death rate, reliable data to show infection rate is decreasing, having testing and PPE in hand, and to ensure the NHS won’t be overwhelmed.

The extension of the measures, which were brought in on 23 March, mean all UK residents must remain in their homes in all instances other than to shop for essential supplies, obtain medicine, exercise once a day and travel to work if they absolutely cannot work from home.