UK PM Johnson's spokesman: Any easing of guidelines next week will be very limited

"Cabinet discussed where we are in response to coronavirus and the review which is being conducted into social distancing measures," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman noted on Thursday.

Additional takeaways

"We will not do anything to risk a second peak and move forward with maximum caution."

"Government will be guided by science in the next steps."

"Any easing of the guidelines next week will be very limited."

"Actions government has taken helps to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on the economy."

"We fully understand the huge impact the measures are having on the economy, but what would be worse would be to ease those measures too soon and risk another spike."

"Government has adopted a four-nation approach and where it makes sense the four nations should exit at the same time."

"We have set out plans for centralised tracing app model and these will be taken forward."

Market reaction

The UK's FTSE 100 Index largely ignored these comments and was last seen gaining 1.1% on a daily basis at 5,917 points.