Health Secretary Sajid Javid tested positive for Covid-19and many residents believe it is too early to ease restrictions.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Mr Javid said he was awaiting the result of a full PCR test and had only mild symptoms.

He said: “This morning I tested positive for Covid. I’m waiting for my PCR result, but thankfully I have had my jabs and symptoms are mild.

“Please make sure you come forward for your vaccine if you haven’t already.”

Now ministers and officials across Whitehall are waiting anxiously to learn if they will have to isolate on so-called 'freedom day'.

It could potentially mean a swathe of ministers and senior officials will be confined to their homes when lockdown restrictions in England finally end today.

The timing could hardly have been worse for Government with scientists voicing increasing concern at the idea of ending all statutory legal controls while cases continue to surge.

It raises the prospect that 'freedom day' will descend into chaos with ministers reduced to welcoming the changes remotely from their living rooms.

The Liberal Democrats said that Mr Javid’s positive test underlined the case for Government to rethink its plans.

Mr Johnson has repeatedly said he wants the lifting of lockdown to be 'irreversible', but in recent days ministers have begun to sound more cautious.

Health spokeswoman Munira Wilson said: “This shows no-one is safe from this deadly virus.

“By easing all restrictions with cases surging, they are experimenting with people’s lives.

“Right now, they are pursuing a strategy of survival of the fittest, where the young and clinically vulnerable will be left defenceless.”

Oxford Doctor Rachel Clarke responded to the news with apprehension about 'freedom day'.

She tweeted: "Saijd Javid is indeed lucky he's had two vaccine doses and his symptoms are mild.

"But what about the 47 per cent of the population who are not yet 'double jabbed'?

"Javid is literally advertising the wisdom of postponing so-called Freedom Day until more of us are vaccinated."

We asked readers if they think the restrictions should be eased today and many said no.

This is what our readers had to say on Facebook.

Sean Motherway: "Every Tory MP should be forced to isolate for a minimum of a month and let someone without any self interest or moneymaking schemes for their old college mates run the country."

Peter Dwyer: "As someone has said Whitty says Covid hospitalisations are doubling every three weeks, potentially hitting 'scary numbers'.

"He says we shouldn’t 'underestimate the fact that we could get into trouble again surprisingly fast'.

"He says this 'could actually be really quite serious'; he says Covid’s 'got a long way to run in the UK, and it's got even further to run globally'; and he says Covid could mutate into a 'vaccine escape variant' that could take the UK 'some of the way backwards' to the worst days of the pandemic.

"He does say is that Covid restrictions should not be lifted on Monday as the Johnson government proposes.

"Once more we have highlighted the extent to which science is never merely science but an art ultimately determined by politics."

Darren Stephen Hall: "Keep masks but all other restrictions should go."

Bertie Neal: "No, get everybody vacation first and let it open slowly."

Maria Louise: "How is this foolhardy action going to 'Protect the NHS'?"

Chris Randell: "Sheer madness, reckless and irresponsible.

"Yesterday the U.K. recorded over 51,000 new cases.

"Only one other country in the world (Indonesia) had more positive diagnoses (54,000) in the last 24 hours."

Paul Clark: "We are testing more people than any other country on the planet, more tests, more cases."

While social-distancing rules in England will end, Government guidelines advise face masks should still be worn in enclosed spaces such as in shops and on public transport, while pubs and bars should be table service only.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445.