UK will have to live with some restrictions until coronavirus vaccine is developed, say officials

Advice to work from home and stay in for seven days if you have symptoms will probably still be in place next year. Ministers want to lift the most restrictive parts of the lockdown, including school and shop closures, within weeks. But senior Government sources say the only true 'exit strategy' is a vaccine or a cure. Until then, the UK will have to adjust to a 'new normal' which includes shoppers forming long queues outside supermarkets to buy groceries (bottom left, in the North-East) and police taking 'heavy-handed' measures to enforce the Government's lockdown. Police have been spotted patrolling parks with megaphones (centre, in London's Hyde Park), and dispersing a group of youngsters riding bicycles in Swansea (top left). It comes as the UK recorded another 980 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday. 

An official last night told The Telegraph that social distancing measures that have been placed upon Britons could be 'indefinite'. Official plans to encourage social distancing on a long term, voluntary basis, have also been discussed, as the government continues to hold talks on how long Britons can cope with the current measures.

Some measures, such as remote working, could be left in place for longer. 

Dominic Raab, standing in for the Prime Minister while he is sick, has said it is 'too early' to lift the full lockdown, which will be formally extended next Thursday for several weeks. 

Scientists expect the restrictions to be phased out gradually. They say some will stay in place until there is a vaccine - which they expect to take 18 months - to prevent infection levels soaring again. 

Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night admitted the economic impact of the lockdown will cause deaths. 

In other developments: 

• The number of UK deaths rose by a record 980 - worse than any daily death toll in Italy or Spain; 
• Boris Johnson can now have 'short walks' as he continues to recover while playing Sudoku and watching films including Withnail And I; 
• Police apologised after an officer scolded a family for allowing their children to play on their own lawn; 
• Polling showed most Britons are heeding the call to stay at home; 
• Heads called for pupils to return to school before the summer break amid fears they may be off until September; 
• Government experts said social distancing measures that have been placed upon the UK could be 'indefinite';
• The total global death toll from coronavirus reached 100,000.

+22

A police van is seen patrolling Hyde Park where people were sitting on the grass today despite the coronavirus lockdown