Alongside the return of indoor hospitality and an increase in the number of people allowed for events like christenings, it will be a joyous day for those who have not cuddled their nearest and dearest for several months.

In an acceleration of its original schedule of the roadmap, the Government has announced that 'friendly intimate contact' will be allowed in the next phase which starts on May 17.

Health minister Nadine Dorries was asked what “cautious cuddling” means and, with a laugh, she told BBC Breakfast: “I don’t think you can cautiously cuddle.

“The Prime Minister’s going to make the announcement this afternoon. I urge everyone to listen to him. He’s going to set out the next steps.”

Ms Dorries told the programme: “We do have variants of concern on one hand, on the other hand we have the capacity to lateral flow twice test everybody in the UK, we have the capacity to surge test in localised areas where we see those variants of concern and where we know problems may be rising.

“We have that in our armoury now which we never had before, but we still need to be cautious. We’re incredibly aware that everybody wants to get together, that people want to hug each other, that people want to entertain in their own homes.”

Speaking in February on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that while it was “some time off” he hoped that people would be able to hug friends and family from the May 17 milestone.

When asked about when people could hug their loved ones, he said: “Well I hope that will happen from May 17, that you will be able to go and stay away. That is some time off.

“You and I, both of our parents live in Cheshire, and to be able to go and see them and stay overnight – not before May 17.

“So I appreciate that that is some time, but that is the earliest that we thought it was safe to be able to take that step.”