The Prime Minister has confirmed that all five tests required for the next phase of lockdown easing to begin have been met.

At the daily Downing Street briefing, Boris Johnson said: “The result is we can move forward with adjusting the lockdown on Monday.”

The Conservative leader said that all five of the Government’s tests for easing the lockdown can be met, so adjustments can begin being made in England on Monday.

He said: “I cannot and will not throw away all the gains we’ve made together and so the changes we’re making are limited and cautious.

“It’s thanks to the caution you’ve shown so far that all five met are being met.

“The result is that we can move forward with adjusting the lockdown in England on Monday.”

Mr Johnson said from Monday groups of up to six people can meet in private gardens “provided those from different households continue to stick to social distancing rules” by staying two metres apart.

People should “try to avoid seeing too many households in quick succession so we can avoid the risk of quick transmission from lots of different families and continue to control the virus”.

The PM added: “It remains the case that people should not be inside the homes of their friends and families, unless it is to access the garden.

“I should add that, at this stage, I am afraid that those who have been asked to shield themselves should continue to do so.”

Boris Johnson said that the “heroic efforts” of NHS workers and the public mean that the first test of protecting the NHS’s ability to cope has been met, with 475 admissions in Covid-19 in England on May 26.

A “sustained and consistent fall in the daily death rate” has been witnessed, meaning the second test has been met, he said.

The Government is satisfied the third test has been met because the rate of infection is “decreasing to manageable levels across the board” with an average of 2,312 new cases being confirmed in the last seven days, he said.

Test four has been met by signing new contracts for protective equipment and boosting testing capacity to 161,214 a day, he said.

On the final test, the PM said that the adjustments have been crafted to not risk a second peak that would overwhelm the NHS.

“This package has been carefully designed so we can ease the burdens of the lockdown while expecting to keep that R below one,” he said.