Have your say: Will this coronavirus lockdown be the last?

The prime minister says he wants to make this lockdown the last. (PA) (SIPA USA/PA Images)

Boris Johnson has said he wants the current national lockdown in England to be the last.

The prime minister said on Monday he hopes the country’s third coronavirus lockdown, which he announced at the beginning of January, will be the final one.

However, Johnson admitted he could not offer a “cast iron guarantee” there will not be another lockdown.

“We want this lockdown to be the last. And we want progress to be cautious but also irreversible,” he told a Downing Street briefing.

According to the latest figures released on Monday, the UK’s COVID-19 infection rate is at its lowest since October, while the government reached its target of vaccinating 15 million people across the top four priority groups by the middle of February.

But while the prime minister said there are “grounds for confidence” that vaccinations reduce the spread of coronavirus, he added that the government is waiting for the “hard facts” before setting out a timetable for easing the lockdown.

Read more: PM wants ‘irreversible’ lockdown easing but cannot guarantee it’s the last

Watch: PM says 'we want this lockdown to be the last'