Health Secretary Matt Hancock will lead a Downing Street press conference later on Friday, No 10 has confirmed.

He will be joined by Public Health England’s Dr Susan Hopkins.

He is expected to provide an update on the coronavirus crisis, with the latest figures around vaccinations, hospitalisations and deaths.

Lockdown is set to begin to be eased on Monday, with schools reopening to all pupils.

The Government is also under pressure after just a one per cent pay rise was proposed for NHS staff.

Here are four things likely to be on the agenda for this evening's briefing:

Vaccinations

Across England, 17.2 million people had received their first dose of a vaccine by February 28, covering 38 per cent of the population aged 16 and over.

That includes 9.7 million people aged 65 and over – 94 per cent of the age group.

This week nearly two million people aged 60 to 63 were sent letters inviting them to book a coronavirus jab.

It follows the NHS writing to almost 450,000 people aged 64 last week over getting a first dose, as well as 600,000 at-risk individuals who have recently been asked to shield.

The Government has pledged to offer vaccinations to everyone aged over 50 by the end of April.

Mr Hancock will likely give an update on the latest vaccinations stats as well as setting out how the programme will continue.

Covid strains

It was announced on Thursday scientists had identified 16 cases of a new Covid variant in the UK.

The cases have been identified by Public Health England after being first detected on February 15 through genomic horizon scanning.

All individuals who tested positive and their contacts have been traced and advised to isolate, and the variant was designated a Variant Under Investigation (VUI) on February 24, Public Health England said today.

The variant is understood to have originated in the UK.

Mr Hancock will likely to discuss this new variant as well as the Government's latest thinking on the existing Brazil and South African variants of the virus.

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NHS Pay

Even if Mr Hancock doesn't address this, he is very likely to face questions from the media about it.

Nurses are preparing for strikes after the Government offered them just a one per cent pay rise next year, despite their heroics during the Covid crisis.

The one per cent rise will apply to NHS workers in England, which doesn't include doctors.

The Royal College of Nursing has called this "pitiful".

At least 1.3 million other public sector staff - including teachers, the armed forces, firefighters and police officers - are about to have their pay frozen for a year.

Lockdown update

The first stage of the Government's roadmap out of lockdown comes into force on Monday.

It will see schools in England reopen for the first time since Christmas.

Unions have been critical of the move and have warned the "big bang" approach could lead to a spike in Covid infections.

Mr Hancock will likely address how the data is shaping up as we approach the first easing of lockdown restrictions in 2021.