Ministers have warned it is still too soon to start lifting the lockdown as the number of people in the UK who have died in hospital after testing positive for coronvirus passed 20,000.

At the daily No 10 press conference, Home Secretary Priti Patel said the entire nation was grieving as it marked another "tragic and terrible milestone" in the outbreak.

According to the latest official figures, a total of 20,319 patients had died in hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 in the UK as of 5pm on Friday - up by 813 from the previous day.

It meant the UK has become the fifth country to pass 20,000 coronavirus deaths, behind the US, Italy, Spain and France.

The latest figures are likely to lead to renewed questions as to whether Boris Johnson was too slow to order the lockdown - allowing sporting fixtures like the Cheltenham horse racing festival and the Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid match to go ahead.

At the same time, ministers are coming under increasing pressure from senior Conservatives to explain how they intend to start easing the restrictions amid growing dismay at the economic damage the lockdown is causing.

With the Prime Minister expected to return to Downing Street after recuperating from the virus, former chancellor Philip Hammond said he hoped his reappearance would mark a "step change" in the Government's approach.

"The reality is that we have to start reopening the economy. But we have to do it living with Covid," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"We can't wait until a vaccine is developed, produced in sufficient quantity and rolled out across the population. The economy won't survive that long."

Ms Patel acknowledged the sense of public frustration after five weeks staying at home, but said it was still too soon to begin easing up.

"We know that people are frustrated but we are not out of danger yet, it is imperative that people continue to follow the rules designed to protect their families, their friends and their loved ones," she said.

"This will continue to save lives."

However, she said that the regulations did allow people to go to work if they could maintain social distancing and were unable to work from home.