Normal life will not resume for at least six months, a key Government doctor has said, as she warned of the “worrying” first confirmed death of a frontline NHS worker with coronavirus.

Dr Jenny Harries, deputy chief medical officer for England, said the nation will not be in “complete lockdown” for half a year but social distancing measures will be lifted gradually.

Her warning at Sunday’s coronavirus press conference came as the Government placed all parts of the UK on an “emergency footing” in an “unprecedented step in peace time”.

Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick also said “we simply cannot” ask health workers to go on to the frontline without adequate protective equipment, shortly after the NHS announced the death of a 55-year-old consultant with Covid-19.