Britain at a very dangerous moment in the pandemic, health official says

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is at a very dangerous moment as it starts to ease some of its lockdown measures, England's deputy chief medical officer said on Saturday, warning that people would need to follow the guidelines and not "tear the pants out of it".

Jonathan Van-Tam told the daily briefing that people have got to be "sensible and proportionate with the freedom that we absolutely want to give to people because we need to see loved ones".

He said the public needed "to actually follow the guidance, don't tear the pants out of it, and don't go further than the guidance actually says".

(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Giles Elgood)