You are watching bbc news. The foreign secretary dominic raab has said that it is far too early to talk about relaxing covid 19 lockdown measures despite positive signs from official data. At todays Government News conference, mr raab said figures indicated the uk was starting to win this struggle against the virus but warned it was still not past the peak. It came as the government said it might change its advice on using face masks. The uks chief scientific adviser sir Patrick Vallance told the News Conference an ongoing review was considering the guidance on whether people should wear them. Lets listen in to todays downing street press conference. Good afternoon and welcome to todays downing street press c0 nfe re nce. Im pleased to bejoined by professor chris whitty, the chief medical officer and sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser. On saturday, i spoke to the Prime Minister and updated him on coronavirus and the progress we are making and the plans for the next few weeks. The government is united in ourfocus, determination and our National Mission to defeat the coronavirus and defeat it we will. I want to join the Prime Minister in expressing our heartfelt thanks to the Brilliant Team at St Thomas Hospital and as the Easter Bank Holiday weekend draws to a close, i also need to thank all the nhs staff, all the other front line staff, who have been working so hard over the long weekend to care for those suffering from coronavirus. We thank you, we pay tribute to you, and we are immensely proud of all you are doing. Can i also take the opportunity to thank everyone who followed the advice to stay at home despite the wonderful weather and despite the challenges and sacrifices that sticking to the advice presents to many families. I have to say that at the end of last week we were concerned people might start ignoring the advice or cutting corners, given the temptation to go out into the sunshine. In fact, the overwhelming majority of people stayed at home and understood the importance of doing so. You stuck to the advice, you have denied the coronavirus the social contact it needs to spread and people should be no doubt that by staying at home this weekend you have saved lives and also help protect our precious nhs at this critical moment in the crisis. Thank you, your efforts are making all the difference and please keep them up. We have come too far and lost too many loved ones and sacrificed too much to ease up now. I can tell you now that on the latest data that 290,720 people have been tested for coronavirus. 88,621 have now tested positive. And i am very sorry to say that 11,329 people have now died from coronavirus. Everyone of them is a tragedy and our hearts go out to all those loved ones who are grieving their loss at such a difficult time. Amidst this sobering death toll there are also some positive signs from the data that we are starting to win this struggle. But weve still got a long way to go and as those grisly figures i have just read out show we are still not passed the peak of the virus. So, please, continue to follow the advice now more than ever, to stay at home, save lives and protect the nhs. This week, sage will review the evidence of the effectiveness of social distancing measures we have taken and we will consider their assessment based on the evidence at that point. I should say we dont expect to make any changes to the measures currently in place at that point and we wont until we are confident, as confident as we realistically can be, that any such changes can be safely made. In the meantime, the government will continue to redouble all our efforts to buy and deliver ventilators so we can treat the most vulnerable in our hospitals, to deliver masks, gowns and other protective equipment to protect those on the front line in the nhs and also in care homes and to ramp up testing so the nhs staff and other key staff can return to the front line as soon as possible. The chancellor and business secretary are working round the clock to mitigate the damage this crisis has undoubtedly done to our economy, getting support to businesses, workers and the most vulnerable in society. So please keep following the guidance to stay at home, save lives and protect the nhs. If we let up now, the virus will only take full advantage, it will spread faster and kill more people. If we refuse to give into it, if we keep up this Incredible Team effort, we will beat this virus and we will come through this national test. Our plan is working, please stick with it and we will get through this crisis together. I will hand over to Patrick Vallance to talk us through the data today. Thank you, first slide, please. As the first secretary has said, a reminder that the aim is to keep numbers below nhs capacity and in doing so we save lives. The mobility change on this slide shows what we have all done, we have stayed at home more, reduced activity in terms of retail, recreation, transport and in the workplace, with more home working and reduced presence in parks. That is having an effect in terms of reducing transmission in the community. This slide shows the the community. This slide shows the number of new cases but this is important, of course it is not all cases put it is the cases that have been tested and there are many more that have not been tested. The blue bars show the number of cases that have been tested for medical need. You can see that even allowing for some vagaries of the number of tests done, that is at least flattening off and we would expect it to decrease. The orange bar is the number of people who have tested positive who are Critical Care workers including those in the nhs and im pleased to say there is more testing going on and that is an important part of what is happening to detect more cases and be able to tell people who are negative. Next slide, please. This is in some ways harder data, which measures things that relate directly to the infection and that is the number of people in hospital beds with covid and here you can see, as discussed before, it is beginning to flatten off. You can see it beginning to flatten off in many parts of the country, not absolutely everywhere but you would expect this to continue to decrease, flatten and then start to decrease as the effects of the social distancing we have in place really feed through into the illness we are seeing in hospital. And finally, if i can have the last slide, please . This is the slide of deaths and again, it does not carry all deaths. It looks at the deaths in hospital and the reason it does that is because that is the International Standard which everyone else is doing in terms of reporting deaths. Unfortunately there are of course many that occur outside hospital. We are tracking behind italy, following the same path and what to expect to see happen in question i think this week is difficult and we will see a further increase and thereafter we should see a plateau as the effects of the social distancing come through. That might last for some time and then begin to decrease, that is what we very much. Hell make in this very difficult death curve. Thank you, patrick. David shukman from the bbc. Thank you, two question if i may, want to sir Patrick Vallance put this morning the World Health Organization special envoy described the wearing of masks is becoming a social norm and in america, the centre for Disease Control recommended the American Public wear them as a measure against people who are infected but dont show symptoms passing on the virus. Is it possible that you would change your advice to the British Public about Wearing Masks when they are outdoors . But first, if i might ask a question to the first secretary. Understanding that it is too early to consider relaxing any of the measures, could you share with us any of the specific ideas you are considering within government for how those measures might be relaxed when that time comes . I think it is far too early to talk about that. As certain sir patrick has explained, we are going through the peak and were doing all the work in government to assess the evidence and we will be guided by the science and medical advice we get and i think until you have got that evidence, we would be getting ahead of ourselves. The focus right now, particularly after the relative success i think of encouraging people to stay at home during the bank holiday weekend, is to keep up the national effort, keep the social distancing measures in place and there will come a time in the future where we can talk about relaxation but we are not there now. In answer to the question about masks, i will answer the question about if we sought new evidence we would change our months, their answer is yes and we would give new advice if we have new evidence predict the who have stayed with their recommendation around masks. We look at this and update our view from time to time and we are looking at it again now. The evidence on masks is much more persuasive for masks stopping you giving it to somebody than it is for preventing you from catching it. We are continuing to look at new evidence as it emerges and if there is evidence that looks like we should change our advice, we would do so. Would you like to come back with a supplementary . If i may, on the question of masks, lily the growing Scientific Evidence about asymptomatic transmission, people having the virus without realising and passing it on, has convinced the americans if they need to change policy. Might that happen here . It might do because we are looking at evidence all the time and of course it is complicated because there do seem to be asymptomatic or pre symptomatically people but they are also not coughing and doing things that can spread it but we are looking at all the data and we have a review ongoing at the moment of the evidence around masks. If that review concludes that the position it should change, we will of course make that recommendation and if it stays the same, we will make that clear as well. Mark mcmillan from itv. Thank you, you mentioned the lockdown measures that are set to be extended, as you indicated. Why is there no clear plan as yet as to how we get back to normal once the lockdown is over . Also, why is there still no daily death toll for the number of people who are dying outside of hospital . I will let chris talk about how we are measuring the death toll and the different figures. We are working assiduously to make sure we are ready when the right time comes but at the moment, the evidence suggests we are still going through the peak of this crisis, whether that is measured on their death count, the death toll, or some of the other measures that sir patrick talked us through. It is crucially important we do not take our eye off the ball or the publics focus on the thing that has been a success so far in relative terms which is our ability, through widespread support for our social distancing measures, to deprive this virus of the means to spread product is critically important, and i think a lot of people listening at home would understand that, that as we are going through the peak of the crisis, with the death toll at the level it is an increasing, but absolutely keen to make sure and determined to keep our eye on the ball and ourfocus on what will save lives which is people staying at home and protecting the nhs in that way. I dont know if you want to say anything further on the point about social care homes at nhs deaths . In terms of. The question was why we dont measure death toll outside hospital and the answer is that we are. There are two separate bits of information that come out but they come out at different times. The first, which is what we show here and can update on a daily basis is deaths in hospital and we are able to get those data are relatively fast and they are proven cases, we know that they actually have covid 19 from testing. Then the second area of data, which is usually delayed by some days, trying to shorten that period, is the 0ns data and that covers all the people who have covid as a diagnosis on their death certificate, irrespective of where they have actually sadly died. Those data do include deaths at home, at care homes, in other areas, where the doctor who has seen them thinks that covid is or is likely to be the cause of death or an important contributor to the cause of death. Those are the two main ways we are measuring at the moment put would you like to come back on any of that . I was going to mention on the deaths outside hospitals, you mentioned the ways they are being calculated. Will that information be part of the figures that are released to the public . Is there any plan to release that information . The 0ns data is completely open to the public and always will be and i think the other thing which is important, in every situation we look at, is notjust the covid direct deaths but the all cause mortality because of some of the way that covid will be causing death sadly is obviously direct from the virus and some of it include things like people not being able to get into hospital, which at the moment the hospitals are operating very effectively, below that ceiling in terms of Emergency Care but also things that might be postponed. Also, the long term effects of the economic and other effects on people is a long term health. Victoria mcdonald from channel 4. Being properly recorded that we may actually never know the true extent or we might have people putting pneumonia it is covid 19. How can we overcome that . How will we ever see that the true figure . We didnt catch the first part of it but i think it was how we can reliably track the sources of deaths from covid 19, critically outside the nhs. More specifically, it was about the true numbers of deaths. Im afraid you cut out on us but i think we have got the question. I think that the most important number in my view over the epidemic as a whole is going to be all cause mortality put it that is deaths from any sort. And obviously of that, some will have been diagnosed by their doctor as having covid 19. Of the ones that are diagnosed as such, in hospital now and increasingly it will be true in other settings, that will be based on testing. Overtime, the accuracy of that will increase. Our view is that at this point in time, most people who have the syndrome that looks like covid probably do have covid as a syndrome but honestly that would not be so true if we were talking about the period when the flu season happens late in the year. For interpreting these data becomes more difficult but ramping up of testing, which is happening, will allow us to get greater accuracy on this overtime. You want to come back in, not sure we have a signal with you. I hope you can hear me. I was very specifically talking about deaths in care homes because there is some concern, especially if a doctor cannot get into that care home, that they are not being recorded properly. I think this is one for chris, actually. Obviously everybody who sadly dies, the doctor will make an assessment based on her or his view about what the cause of death is, that is what the death certificate said in all cases and doctors take it very seriously and try to make sure they get as much information to give accurate data. One of the things we want to do is to extend the amount of testing of people in care homes is the ability to test ramps up over the next few weeks. Because clearly, care homes are one of the areas where there are large numbers of Vulnerable People and that is an area of risk and therefore we very much would like to have much more extensive testing in that assenting which will help with this. Andy sparrow from the guardian. Hello, a question for sir patrick and a question for the first secretary please. Sir patrick, you said in your Opening Statement that when the death toll peaks there will be a plateau and that will carry on you said for some time. Can you explain a bit more about what you mean by some time. Are you talking days, weeks . Could that plateau last for over a month . And first secretary, on the issue of ppe, when the home secretary was asked about bits at the weekend, a lot of people were not very happy when she was asked to apologise for failings with ppe and she said she apologised if people felt there had been failings. Isnt it clear that there has been a problem notjust with distribution but supply . And why cant ministers just say, just apologise for that . We understand the importance of getting the ppe to the front line, whether in care homes or the nhs. We are trying to give notjust the stop on the front line the equipment but the reassurance they need. I think the strongest reassurance, practical reassurance that they would want and we can give them is that over the bank holiday weekend, over 16 million ppe items were delivered and we are straining every sinew to roll them out even further and faster. Patrick . If you look at the effect on a number of cases in the community, you would expect the measures put in place to cause quite a sharp decrease. Unfortunately, with the deaths, there is not only a delay but we would expect there to be a much more gradual decrease from the peak time and expect there to be a bit of a plateau, if you look at other countries that is what they have seen and what we would expect a point that you expect that to go on for two or three weeks. But i cannot be absolutely sure on the time of that. Would like follow up . Inaudible. We cant hear you. Im afraid we will. We will have to move on, martin brown from the daily express. Foreign secretary, i want to take you back to your opening remarks when you said our plan is working. Inaudible. But we have seen so far that testing has been slow and the government is to frantically trying to get ventilators, front line nhs staff are still struggling to get hold of ppe, and some experts are predicting britain will have the worst death rate from coronavirus in europe. Was this all part of the plan . And to sir patrick and professor chris whitty, what specific evidence are you looking for, the Scientific Evidence you are looking for to reopen schools, and do you think it will be wise that the uk follows the european example and opens schools so soon after the supposed peak . The two crucial things that we have always argued, flattening the peak and making sure the nhs can cope, is on the one hand getting people to follow guidelines on social distancing. They have shown the forbearance and sacrifice that has allowed us to deliver on that. It has been a national effort. A lot of people, when you think of the warm weather and people with young families, that has been a success in terms of delivering on that side of things will stop it has helped limit the spread. I know it is difficult when you look at the death toll and those figures, but we are seeing signs, tentative signs, of a flattening out, and that was the original plan. The second thing was to make sure the nhs has capacity, and indeed some headroom, whether it is Critical Care beds or ventilators that can support those who need it. On those two key aspects, and im not saying there havent been challenges right across the range of Different Things we have to achieve, but on those two critical aspects, actually we have got ourselves into a good place and the key thing is to keep delivering on that. In terms of the timescale, we will look to see when the peak is and when we are firmly on the sun other side and see numbers coming down. Only at that stage we will see what numbers we can release. It would be a complete waste of what everyone has had to do up to now. I can absolutely understand the difficulty some of the decisions made but it would be a waste to rapidly reverse that and lead to a re emergence of this. The key is to keep the r value below one and see it come down. When it gets above one you see the exponential growth again which we cant afford to have, nobody can. Therefore the timing of the decisions around things like schools will have to be taken in light of the evidence as it emerges. If we took our foot off the pedal too early and eased up too early, we risk that second wave, and that would be particularly damaging and i think even for businesses, some of whom are particularly concerned and have been asking for more clarity, i think it would be particularly damaging for them so we want to take the right decisions at the right time. Is there anything you would like to come back on . On that r value, sir patrick, how close are we to getting towards that . Are we closer to one than two for example . As i have said recently, i think in the community you would expect the r now to be below one in general. We will review that again this week but thats what we expect in the community. That doesnt mean overall it is below one because there are cases in care homes and hospitals where there is still infection being picked up, but in the community, with distancing in place, the r is expected to be below one. If you were briefly out on easter monday, im sure youve taken some of that fresh polar air from the northern climes. In this evening, the temperatures will be dropping rapidly. Tonight we are expecting a widespread airfrost rapidly. Tonight we are expecting a widespread air frost north and south. Heres our temperature map, you can see the air frost developing across scotland into wales, and even towns and cities that dont exactly fall to zero arejust towns and cities that dont exactly fall to zero are just outside of spots, there certainly will be a frost. Lets look at the weather map for tuesday, and we are right in the middle of High Pressure. Often in the middle of High Pressure, the winds are very light. So that means a windless day on the way for many of us with plenty of sunshine. Heres the forecast, lots of sunshine from the word go. Noticeably lighter winds on the north sea coast in the southeast as well, hardly a breath of wind across the central parts of the uk. Temperatures will also recover a bit because the sunshine is strong, it is warming at the air, so temperatures getting up to 13 celsius on the north sea coast. The same process continues through wednesday, so it High Pressure is right over us with very little wind to move things around, allowing the airto warm up to move things around, allowing the air to warm up a bit stop temperatures should be as high as 1719dc temperatures should be as high as 17 19dc on wednesday. On thursday there will be a subtle change in our weather pattern. We start to see this low pressure developing to the south west of us, and weather fronts will be travelling in our direction. That also means that wind direction will change, so it will start to come in from the south and southeast, pushing that cool air towards the north. Again, things will be warming up. You can see the hints of the weather fronts for the south at southwest. If youre a gardener and farmer and you do want some rain, you will have to wait until friday and the weekend. But by thursday, temperatures and sunshine could get up to 20 21dc. Its still a nip in the air there across scotland, around nine celsius. And friday through sunday, these weather fronts will be crossing the country but it will be a slow process. The High Pressure tends to slow things down. So once again, there is some rain on the way but the chance is it is not there until the end of the week. Bye bye. This is outside source on bbc news for viewers in the uk and around the world. Were covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. In new york state, the number of people who have died has now passed 10,000. However the authorities are optimistic the worst of the outbreak is now over. The World Health Organization warns countries across the globe not to end the coronavirus lockdown too soon. While covid 19 accelerates very fast, it decelerates