British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will proceed with "extreme caution" in easing the lockdown, a cabinet minister has said, as he warned the public not to "throw away" their hard work by going outside.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it would be "absolutely tragic" if people damaged the success social distancing has had on tackling coronavirus by leaving home to enjoy the warm weather.
His warning came after police warned they were "fighting a losing battle" as Londoners headed to parks and beachgoers descended on Brighton's pebbles.
Mr Johnson was expected to announce only very modest changes in detailing his "road map" for easing the lockdown tomorrow evening, but there are concerns mixed messaging has prompted the public to head outside.
Mr Shapps said: "It's vital that we don't throw away essentially the great work of seven weeks of people respecting very impressively the rules and the guidelines by throwing it away because it happens to be sunny outside this weekend, that would be absolutely tragic."
He said the government would be proceeding with "an unbelievable degree of caution".
Mr Sharps comments come as the latest figures from the Department of Health show that a total of 31,587 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm yesterday, up by 346 from 31,241 the day before.
In Northern Ireland, another four people have died from the virus bringing the total death toll there to 430.
A total of 4,078 cases of the virus have been confirmed in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, Britain's deputy chief medical officer has said he was confident the coronavirus "R" number, a measure of the rate of contagion, was below 1 across the United Kingdom.
Speaking at the government's daily news briefing Jonathan Van-Tam said: "I am confident that our R is less than 1 overall".
The R number, or effective reproduction number, measures the average number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to.
An R number above 1 can lead very rapidly to exponential growth.
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Passengers to UK may face mandatory quarantine - report
The UK Government could be set to announce a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all passengers into Britain as part of measures aimed at avoiding a second Covid-19 peak, according to reports in British media.
The Times newspaper said travellers from the Republic of Ireland will be excluded from the quarantine.
Under the measures, which are expected to be implemented in June, all passengers arriving at airports and ports will be required to provide an address at which they will immediately self-isolate for 14 days.
The paper reports that "authorities will conduct spot checks", with punishments for those not adhering to the rules including "fines of up to £1,000" and deportation.
A British Home Office spokeswoman said: "We do not comment on leaks."
The aviation industry is calling on the UK government to reveal specifics of the proposal amid concerns that the measures could have severe repercussions for the travel and tourism sectors.
"We need to see the details of what they are proposing", Airlines UK, which represents British Airways, EasyJet and other UK-based airlines, said in a statement to the BBC.
It said the proposal "would effectively kill international travel to and from UK and cause immeasurable damage to the aviation industry and wider UK economy".
It added: "Nobody is going to go on holiday if they're not able to resume normal life for 14 days, and business travel would be severely restricted.
"It will also make it all but impossible for aviation to resume any time soon, thereby setting back the UK's economic recovery still further."
Bosses at Belfast International Airport have written to the British government asking for clarification over the prospect of a 14-day quarantine period for all travellers coming to the UK.
A spokeswoman for the Northern Ireland hub said it has not been consulted on the plans which it fears would have a "serious effect" on both the airport and the local economy.
