Cabinet infighting is in full swing over how and when to ease the draconian curbs strangling UK plc, with demands for primary schools and non-essential shops to reopen early next month.
The row escalated after the government's own watchdog issued apocalyptic estimates for what three months in lockdown would mean - suggesting GDP will crash 35 per cent this quarter and two million people lose their jobs. It said 'for now' it was assuming there would be a fairly rapid bounce back - but the recession would still be the worst for 300 years.
Labour has also turned up the temperature on the government, with new leader Keir Starmer saying it is 'obvious' restrictions must continue in the coming weeks, but calling for clarity on 'what happens next'.
However, a senior government source suggested they could not trust the public with their plans. 'Talk of an exit strategy before we have reached the peak risks confusing the critical message that people need to stay at home in order to protect our NHS and save lives,' the source said.
The wrangling came as the death toll for patients in hospital who tested positive for coronavirus rose above 12,000 - and fears were raised the numbers in care homes could be far more.
There are growing complaints that the Cabinet is rudderless, with decisions being effectively put on ice until Boris Johnson completes his recovery from coronavirus.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for the PM, has been dismissed as a 'convenor' of the Cabinet rather than a leader.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is understood to be among the 'hawk' ministers emphasising the need for lockdown to be eased as early as possible.
After the grim Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) figures yesterday - as well as dire IMF forecasts that the global economy is facing its deepest recession for 90 years - Mr Sunak told a Downing Street briefing that people must brace for 'hardship'.
Whitehall sources told the Mail that the Chancellor fears some members of the public have 'over-interpreted' the lockdown advice and believe only designated key workers should be working.
He is said to be pushing for ministers to 'strengthen the message' that people should be trying to work unless their sector has been directly shut down or they can not practise social distancing.
And he warned colleagues the Government risks causing permanent damage to the economy if the lockdown goes on too long.
In a sign of tensions, one Cabinet minister told The Daily Telegraph: 'We should begin to release the things that can be released, so primary schools and non-essential shops could reopen. If you can go into Sainsbury's to buy non-essential items while observing social distancing rules, why not other shops?'
Suggesting that pensioners will have to sacrifice their freedom to let the country get back to normal, the minister added: 'It looks like elderly and vulnerable people are going to be self-isolating for six months rather than three.'
Former chancellor Sajid Javid told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the government must 'phase out' lockdown 'as soon as we possibly can'.
'I think it is the right policy because it is based on scientific and medical advice,' he said.
'That said, we should be trying to phase out this lockdown as soon as we possibly can, based on that scientific and medical advice.
'Because that will make the biggest immediate difference to the economic pain the country is going through.'
The OBR said unemployment could hit 3.4 million - up from 1.3million - leaving around one in 10 of the working population without a job, while the economy may shrink by 35 per cent between April and June.
In its first estimate of the economic toll taken by the crisis, the watchdog said public sector net borrowing is expected to increase by £218billion this year, compared with March forecasts, hitting £273billion, or 14 per cent of GDP.
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