The five-week gap between easing restrictions is vital to ensure the outbreak isn’t getting out of control again, he added.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson also dismissed the notion there could be a change in pace at this evening’s Downing Street briefing.
Mr Williamson said: “As the Prime Minister said, there are no plans whatsoever to be moving ahead of the dates that have already been given.
“We want to give the public as well as business the confidence and the assurance as to when these next steps are going to be happening.”
