Jump benefit. Government borrowing could jump to its highest level in peacetime history. And one of the nurses thanked by Boris Johnson for watching over him in intensive care says. Her team was is doing itsjob. He was just another patient we were trying to do our best for, so it is just business as usual. We build up to the Coronavirus Briefing today led by Health Secretary matt hancock. First minister Nicola Sturgeon has set out her strategy for exiting the lockdown. The rest of the year and possibly beyond that. Ms sturgeon told a News Conference in edinburgh that a return to normal life was not on the cards in the near future. A total of 18,738 patients have now died in uk hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus up 616 on yesterday according to the department of health. The figure does not include those who died in care homes or in the community. In other news, researchers at Oxford University are beginning the first human trials of a possible vaccine against covid 19. 20,000 households in england are being asked to take part in a study to track the virus in the general population. Ministers will review advice given by scientific advisers on whether the use of face masks in public is effective in preventing the spread of coronavirus. And business output has fallen at its fastest rate on record, and new figures about government borrowing have underlined the scale of the damage done to the public finances. More on those stories as we build up to todays government briefing, but first heres nicola surgeon outlining her plan for easing scotlands lockdown. It is only when we are sure that the virus is under control that we can even start to ease any of the restrictions. And it is my next point really that takes us to the hard part. When we do reach that stage, the virus will be under control only because of the severity of the restrictions we are all living with just now, but the virus will not have gone away. So, as we start to lift the restrictions, the real risk, and it is a very real risk, is that covid 19 runs rampant again. So a return to normal, as we knew it, is not on the cards in the near future and it is really important that i am upfront with you right now about that. What we will be seeking to do is find a new normal, a way of living alongside this virus but in a form that keeps it under control and stops it taking the toll we know it can do. Social distancing and limiting our contact with others will be a fact of life for a long time to come. Certainly until treatments and ultimately a vaccine offer different solutions, so that means possibly for the rest of this year, and maybe even beyond. And that is why talk of lifting the lockdown, as if it is a flick of a switch moment, is misguided. 0ur steps, when we take them, will need to be careful, gradual, incremental and probably quite small to start with. We will need to assess them in advance and monitor them in action. Sometimes, as i said a moment ago, we may even need to reverse things. That was Nicola Sturgeon speaking earlier. Lets speak to scotland correspondent alexandra mackenzie. A return to normal is not on the cards anytime soon, that was the message. What might a new normal look like . Nicola sturgeon talked very much about a new normal, she also talked about having a long conversation with the people of scotla nd conversation with the people of scotland to get us there. We also heard her talk about small steps, there will be more often forward but sometimes we will go backwards as well, she said. Some of the detail she gave us, although she said there we re she gave us, although she said there were no Firm Decisions at this stage, and we will have to be flexible as more data comes in. She has said very definitely social distancing will continue for some time, possibly towards the end of this year and possibly even beyond that depending on a vaccine and treatment for coronavirus. She also talked about the impact on schools and businesses. She has said she would like the children of scotland to continue their education. She did say she wanted people to get back to work, but thats not likely to happen any time soon and she certainly didnt give dates. She also said schools could be very different. She said classrooms could possibly be redesigned and possibly fewer children could go to school each day so children possibly wouldnt go to school every day. She also said large gatherings are not likely to take place anytime soon and in terms of getting back to everyday life, like possibly going to the pub or to restaurants, thats not likely to happen anytime soon either. So she had an open and frank conversation with us today, but the message was strong indeed, we are not likely to see any changes any time soon and the message remains to stay at home to save lives. Alexandra, thank you. Scientists at Oxford University are expected to begin the first trial on humans of a possible vaccine for coronavirus. The team says if all goes well, they hope to have a million doses ready by september. Yesterday, the governments chief medical adviser warned that it was unlikely a vaccine would be ready this year, and social distancing measures would have to remain until one was found. In other developments, 20,000 households in england are being asked to take part in a study to track covid 19 in the general population. Jane dreaper reports. The faces of lives lost in this medical emergency. More than 18,000 people in the uk who had coronavirus have now died. The virus is still a new one, but scientists at Oxford University have worked quickly to get to the point where they hope to Start Testing a potential vaccine on 500 people. Developing and producing any successful vaccine will take many months though. We are not going to see a vaccine available and proven and tested and ready to go in the next few weeks. It is going to be some way down the line before thats done. It is good news it is happening but we have to continue to focus on what is working in terms of flattening the curve and dealing with this virus right now. Half of the volunteers will receive the potential coronavirus vaccine, while the other half will be given a jab that protects against meningitis. They wont be told which they will be getting, but they are happy to be part of this crucial research. This virus is affecting everybody in society. It is affecting my parents. I benefit too. It is not a selfless act. I am part of the community. And if we find a vaccine then we all benefit. So its a small, well managed, well regulated risk that i feel able to take. Everyone is facing some worry and anxiety at the moment, be it the household finance, be it worrying about their family or health orfriends. Some people are more at risk than others. God forbid about bereavement and loss. I dont think the risks of the trial are significantly greater or more alarming than any of the realities that all of us face. There has been heated debate about whether the public should wear face masks. Scientists advising government will tell ministers later what they think. Theyre not expected to recommend the widespread use of medical masks and Doctors Point out that other face coverings have drawbacks. We think it potentially means that people are touching their mouth and theirface more often. We know that the masks may become contaminated with other peoples coughs and sneezes. And also when people take them on and off again. At a time when we are relying heavily on science we have to be honest and say that sometimes the science does not give us perfect answers, and this is probably one of those times. 25,000 people will provide nose and throat swabs in a new government study to find out more about the spread of coronavirus. This will help researchers working on new tests and treatments. Lockdown continues in the meantime. And were being warned that any move away from the current restrictions will be very gradual. If people are hoping that its suddenly going to move from where we are now in lockdown, suddenly into everything is gone, that is a wholly unrealistic expectation. We are going to have to do a lot of things for really quite a long period of time. The question is, what is the best package . This is what we are trying to work out. The government says it needs to be confident that the rate of infection has gone down to a manageable level before ordinary life can begin to resume. This could mean more widespread testing and also a system for tracking who people with the virus have come into contact with. Jane dreaper, bbc news. With me now is our chief political correspondent, vicki young, as we build up todays briefing. Interesting, we heard earlierfrom Nicola Sturgeon talking about potentially lifting the lockdown and how far away that may be, but downing street really saying nothing about this at the moment. There is a difference between uk ministers and what they have been saying, and up to now they have been very keen to stick to that core message of staying at home. They dont want to die loop that message. They think it could confuse people at a time when we are still working through the peak of these infections. Dont wa nt to peak of these infections. Dont want to dilute that message. They havent give details on how things will change, not dates and not how it will happen. I know cabinet ministers are pushing for the government to start to prepare the public a little bit more, and that could be in terms of practicality is, if youre thinking of schools are reopening and how might that happen, and whether you have to reduce the numbers of children there, all that will take time to plan. And there is huge concern about the Economic Impact of the lockdown and the consequences of that itself. The government says it will be informed by scientific advice, but i think the problem here is that scientists dont always agree on everything. And in the end agree on everything. And in the end a lot of these decisions are going to be political decisions which will need to be taken by the Prime Minister along with others, but ultimately it will be borisjohnson who decides, because we are talking here about having this virus live alongside us, if you like, for a long time, and the question is, can the nhs cope with that and how much of that virus will we have to live with . But whenever the lockdown is eased, or the measures themselves, it will be incredibly gradual. One way out of the lockdown is testing. Matt hancock is leading the briefing this afternoon and we expect the focus will be heavily on testing again. He has made that very ambitious statement that he wants to have 100,000 tests ambitious statement that he wants to have 100 , 000 tests completed ambitious statement that he wants to have 100,000 tests completed every day. We know capacity has increased quite a lot, that has been on the road to success, but there is a difference between having capacity to do it and actually getting the tests completed. There has obviously been a problem there. People have been a problem there. People have been trying to get to the bottom of what the problem is. Partly i think it is people who want the test, like those in the nhs or other key workers, they have to be referred to get the test. They then need to get to the place where they are holding the test, so drive through centres are the test, so drive through centres a re often the test, so drive through centres are often out of town, not everyone has a car. If you have symptoms of covid 19 you might not feel up to the journey, and sometimes covid 19 you might not feel up to thejourney, and sometimes it can be a journey of dozens of miles. So i think there has been a logistical problem there. We are sure to hear more about that today, partly because professorjohn newton is also at the press conference, who is the person in charge of all of this, and they want to make sure they can up and they want to make sure they can up the capacity, as you say, because when the lockdown starts to ease, testing people with symptoms will be crucial to this, as well as tracing them and their contacts. Thank you, vicki young, we will speak to you again later. Banks have agreed less than half of applications made under the governments Coronavirus Business interruption loan scheme. While £2. 8 billion of loans have been agreed compared with the £1. 1 billion approved up to last week, banks are wading through a large backlog. Many small firms have told the bbc they require quick access to cash in order to survive. Im joined now byjustin king the former ceo of sainsburys who also sits on the board at marks and spencer. Good afternoon and thank you for joining us. The impact of all this on the high street is really quite ha rd to on the high street is really quite hard to imagine what we will be left with. Yes, i think thats right. But of course, its the unknown that still persists. We are starting to see a level of candour in the last few days, particularly with the scottish briefing at lunchtime today, some level of social distancing that is pretty close to what we are currently experiencing will be with us for the long term and the exit will be slow. I hope that candour also allows a conversation about how we put the country back to work because we clearly cant go on as we are now with perhaps 10 Million People furloughed and back to the high street, we will have to open shops again. In the last number of weeks supermarkets have shown it is possible for shops to operate with good social distancing. But how will that translate to the rest of the high street . We have seen huge queues outside supermarkets already. Looking at retail shops like clothing shops, can you envisage people standing in long lines just to buy clothing . I think each shop will have to work out its own solution. Some shops are very large and out of town with car parks. 0thers and out of town with car parks. Others are in high streets and town centres. Its not just others are in high streets and town centres. Its notjust about the shop themselves. Councils will have to work out how car parking might work for example. If you take a multistorey car park with a lift, i expect they will be restricted to small numbers in the lift. There are hundreds of small details to be worked out, but at the moment, because there is really no end in sight, its very difficult for people to plan. I think thats the thing that now has to be start being discussed so people can work through the answer to those questions. What is the mood at the moment within the Retail Community . Are people understanding what is happening or are they getting agitated and want to know and have some certainty about the next few weeks . I dont think people want or expect certainty, there is no possibility of that but the certainty they have that with the exception are supermarkets and a few others, they are not allowed by law to open. What we have to do is turn that on its head, presume that it is possible, and give businesses the opportunity to plan for how they open in a socially distanced way. Of course, for many businesses, the ability to furlough, and for some businesses the ability to have, if you like, a holiday on business rates, and on the whole landlord is being very understanding, it means there has been a pause in large part but we are increasingly seeing that distress that the high street is feeling manifested itself in administrations, in business failures. We have seen cath kitson in recent days. We are really at the edge of a very significant problem for retail and we have to give retail the opportunity to start planning to go back to business. And i think customers in very large part wa nt to i think customers in very large part want to be able to do that as well as long as they can do so safely, or as long as they can do so safely, or as safe as is possible in the current circumstances. Because i think the other thing that is coming through from the briefings recently is that we are going to have people dying from coronavirus into the medium term, we will not be eradicating it anytime. And however shocking this may sound, it is going to become part of our normal daily life in much the way, for example, as cancer is that we will have to expect people to keep dying and we have to find a balance between the economy working and an appropriate level of control over the virus and of course managing it at a level that the nhs can cope. And there will of course be a lot of fear, people will continue to be fearful of going out and about. The impact on the high street, it was already struggling before this. You think it has completely changed and will change for good now . Yes, it will be a step change moment come of that i think there is no doubt. We have seen a shift, largely of course because shops are open, a big shift towards online and those businesses that have online operations have been able to pick up some, mostly, not all of the business they have lost online. I dont think everything that has shifted to online will go back to shops. And for some businesses, that will be a major problem because some dont have online operations. We have seen the supermarkets that do have sophisticated online operations not able to meet the demand. By the time they focused on those customers that need it most, Vulnerable People at home, there really are not booking Slots Available for the majority of the population. Eight or nine out of ten shops forfood the population. Eight or nine out of ten shops for food in the uk are going to continue to need to take place in grocery stores. It will be different in the rest of retail depending on how businesses are online but we will see a structural shift and there is no doubt that many businesses that have been on their last legs will not survive this. At the moment we are probably not seeing the real harm because of furloughing which is, if you like, putting back the date tough decisions have to be made about whether those furloughed jobs are still real and still there. And that is really an issue for the next small number of months. What about the supermarkets . Youre obviously an expert in that world, how do you think they have coped with all this . 0verall think they have coped with all this . Overall i think they have done an exceptionaljob and im hugely proud of the industry that i have been a pa rt of the industry that i have been a part of my entire working life. Many hundreds of thousands of employees in the supermarket industry have continued to go to work, some of them of course visible, front line, on tills and stacking shelves, many more in the back rooms, if you like, making sure food is kept flowing. I think they have done a truly exceptionaljob of keeping us all fed. Although there have been a small number of short term availability challenges, in very large part they have been addressed and as you commented on earlier, all supermarkets, and this is not dictated by law, have found very sound ways, i think, of changing their it is possible for customers to feel comfortable to do their Grocery Shopping in a socially distanced way. That does mean we are seeing queues across car parks, people standing two or three metres apart with those queues are being managed, but if you have the Opening Hours over a week, maybe a hundred Opening Hours, everybody can flow through. They clearly are because every is getting the food shopping they need to put it maybe not every time exactly what they want because there is still availability challenges but the supermarkets have done an exceptionaljob. Justin king, thank you very much for talking to us. As muslims prepare to begin the holy month of ramadan, some doctors are expressing concern that the official advice about social distancing isnt reaching many in the community. 0ur religion editor, martin bashir, has been speaking to one gp in greater manchester, to hear her views about fasting, faith and whether Public Health messages are cutting through. With afternoon surgery over, dr siema iqbal is on the school run. She and her husband are key workers, and at the start of ramadan she says shes concerned about whether the governments message on the coronavirus is getting through. I dont understand how it would get through to the Muslim Community. A lot of the messaging coming out from the government is in english. Its on radio stations and on tv channels that they may not necessarily be listening to or watching. Even the letters that we send out advising patients to shield themselves for 12 weeks are all in english. These are real specific challenges that this community in particular is facing. 46 of the Muslim Community lives in the 10 of the most deprived parts of the uk. That surely plays a part. We also have increasing rates of poverty, ill health, and we have a lot of the community doing more of the precarious roles. They may be working as cleaners, bus drivers, front line workers. A promotional video prepares british muslims for ramadan during the pandemic. No prayers at the mosque. And without communal meals, iftars, like this one held in london last year, that break the daily fast. How significant is the gathering of muslims together at that time . We find that actually peoples perception of muslims in this country has improved through simply coming together to have a meal. For us, seeing the many thousands of stories weve heard from people who have come to events and have left feeling more optimistic, feeling a sense of belonging, its incredibly difficult to accept the fact that we will not be able to reach out to those in the same way. But the challenges of ramadan this year may yet present an opportunity. Im always apprehensive about fasting. Will i be able to get through the day . How angry will i get when im hungry . You know, how much am i going to shout at the children . I think the pandemic has actually brought me closer to religion and made me more spiritual. I cant imagine how awful it must be to do iftar on your own. But i think it will bring us back to the true essence of fasting. Martin bashir, bbc news. A number of celebrities havejoined forces to create a video, aimed at promoting Safety Measures within the British Asian community. One of those behind it is the actor, comedian and broadcaster adil ray from the bbc Comedy Series citizen khan. Hello. Tell us about the film you have made. A number of us from different faiths, hindus, sikhs, from the British Asian community, we wa nted from the British Asian community, we wanted to do something and as the doctor mentioned in that report, it is quite apparent that the government had been unable to communicate to the heartlands of some of these ethnic communities are not just the some of these ethnic communities are notjust the government, institutions and some Media Organisations even, and this is me working for one. We had to sometimes accept that we have not been able to the specific precise messages, the right language, and not as in punjabi, but the right information to people that matter put notjust ethnicity but class as well. I think when we look back at this, we will find that many of the White Working Class immunity have suffered from this book is the biggest question that needs to be answered, the problem is social inequality in this country and that is a thing that in and the White Working Class people really suffer from and the government had not been able to communicate product we will see a clip of the video but how have you tried to challenge that and meet it in the film . I remember some of the first advice was that if you are over 70, to isolate and that is impossible, if you are a multi generational family ora you are a multi generational family or a poor White Working Class family ina or a poor White Working Class family in a small house living together it is impossible. We suggest that if there is a separate room, can you put an elderly person in a separate room or if you only have one open area, create a separate area in that room and leave windows open to provide some ventilation point we took medical advice and we worked with Public Health to try to get the right information out. And suggestions of eating healthily, and reminding people to eat healthy food, fruit and vegetables. And also culturally among some asian communities, it is the norm to meet especially with ramadan and eid coming up so we emphasise its ok to say no to family members who want to visit and you shouldnt go and visit. Lets have a quick look. Lets talk about ramadan, how will it be different for you and the community more broadly this year . First of all, these stories muslims are going to unnecessarily conquer great i dont think are true and the mosques are close great i dont think are true and the mosques are close congregate. The problem for a lot of people, you perhaps cannot put it in your pa rents perhaps cannot put it in your parents or grandparents like you might do in ramadan and my father, for example, is very dependent, 81 yea rs old very for example, is very dependent, 81 years old very healthy actually for his age but decided to live on his own and he does very well. But im very worried for him. Although he does not have any underlying conditions, is it the right thing for him too fast . There has been no word on that for people who are healthy over 60 or 70 from any of the muslim scholars or imams and he has made that decision too fast so it isa has made that decision too fast so it is a worry for me. I will be speaking to him throughout the day and making sure hes 0k and he has promised that if he does feel unwell at any point he will break his fast. That is a concern for a lot of muslim families up and down the country. I can understand why you are so worried about him at 81 even if he is fit and healthy. Do you try to talk him out of that . Of course, idid, and to talk him out of that . Of course, i did, and you try to explain that with the nhs under the strain it is, the fact you will not be able to see a doctor physically, you are probably down to a phone consultation, you might not get the best health care. But religion is very important to these people. It is very difficult to really argue against what they will see as the word of god. Again, i do think that this debate can happen and could happen and i think actually it comes down to a point i was talking earlier about a disconnect. If government was more connected to some of these communities and they knew what some of the issues were, some of this debate could be hosted by the government. And some of these families, they would see this discussion happening on National Television like we are now but for this to happen more regularly, perhaps some of the Muslim Community, actually the bbc are talking about this, maybe we should ta ke talking about this, maybe we should take heed. These very specific, precise bits that are relative to the Muslim Community or other Diverse Communities are just not being mentioned. It is like there is one mission mitt should apply to all and im afraid that is not the case. Thank you very much the case. One message and it should to all. Vicki young joins us now before the downing street briefing to. Give us a quick idea of what we might expect. I think there will be an emphasis on testing, notjust capacity but getting enough people tested to meet the government target of 100,000 per day by the end of april. The person in charge of that in terms of the Health Secretary for england, matt hancock, will be at the conference as well as Professor John newton who is trying to make it all work get tested, who can get tested and i think they have to try to make it easierfor people think they have to try to make it easier for people because that has clearly been a problem up till now. They have some capacity but theyre not using it and people want to know why. I think there will be questions about easing the lockdown measure having heard from Nicola Sturgeon about what she might be planning in scotland. There will be more pressure on the uk government to save not when it will happen but what kind of thing are they thinking about. Up till now they have been relu cta nt to about. Up till now they have been reluctant to do that but they are coming under pressure from their own mps to some extent, some conservatives are very keen to give people a glimmer of hope, some idea of what is coming ahead. There are certainly cabinet ministers behind the scenes saying to the Prime Minister and others that we have to Start Talking about this and Nicola Sturgeon said it was a grown up conversation that had to be had. We will see if the Health Secretary is willing to have that today. Because the next review of the lockdown is not due to take place until the 7th of may. Thats right. Its a rolling three week review. Three week review on the 7th of may. Partly the Prime Minister is not around, he has had the odd phone call and has been speaking to the man deputising for him, dominic raab. He had a phone call with donald trump and an audience with the queen on the telephone but hes not doing day to day government work in the same way he was before. To some extent, cant imagine one of these major decisions being made without him and we dont know when he will be coming back to work full time. That will be up to his doctors. But certainly at work is going on behind the scenes. Uk ministers are thinking about how they do this but what has been intriguing today is that Nicola Sturgeon has been a little bit more open about it, talking about how it would be a gradual easing of restrictions, something is happening more quickly than others. But also talking about how this is a such a long term issue and we will have to learn to live alongside the apologies, vicki young, but the Daily Briefing looks like it is about to get under way. Matt hancock, Health Secretary, is arriving now. Welcome back to downing street for todays daily Coronavirus Briefing. Iamjoined by todays daily Coronavirus Briefing. I am joined by sir patrick vallance, the government was made chief scientific adviser, and Professor John newton, who is coordinating the work on testing. The government is working through our action plan which has as its core that we must protect life and protect the nhs. Both by slowing the spread of the virus so we flatten the curve, and by ensuring the nhs is always there to treat all people who need its care. According to the most recent figures, 583,496 tests for coronavirus have now been carried out in the uk, including 23,560 tests carried out yesterday. 138,078 people have tested positive for the virus, an increase of 4583 cases since yesterday. 17,615 people have sadly died. Patients in hospitalfollowed by nhs and social care colleagues, and by those in care homes. As we expanded the capacity from just 2000 tests per day at the start of march, to 10,000 per day at the start of this month, so we have been able to further expand access. Today i can go further. We can make it easier, faster and simpler for any essential worker in england who needs a test to get a test. From today, employers of essential workers will be able to visit the government website to get a test for any of their staff who need a test, gov,uk. From tomorrow, any essential workers who need a test will be able to book an appointment on gov,uk themselves directly. This all applies for people in essential worker households as well who need a test. It is all part of getting britain back on her feet. It is all part of getting britain back on herfeet. Those included as essential workers will be based on the list for schools and education set out on gov,uk. The whole process will be free and once you have entered your details on the website you will get a text or e mail inviting you to book an appointment. After you have had your test, results will be sent out by text and a help desk will be available to deal with queries. People who cannot go online can still apply through their employer. I want to make it as easy as possible for people to get a test, not least because we are talking about people who are ill. 0ur talking about people who are ill. Our network of regional test sites has now reached over 30 locations across the uk and more are being set up across the uk and more are being set up each day. I want to take this moment to applaud the private companies who have been involved, as well as my team at Public Health england and the nhs. Boots, amazon, run docs, rush, gsk, astrazeneca, they have really stepped up to the mark andi they have really stepped up to the mark and i am grateful to everyone of them. We also introducing home test kits. With support of the armed forces, mobile sites too. The armed forces, mobile sites too. The armed forces and mod have played a vital role and i want to pay tribute to their work. I thought at yesterdays briefing, general sir nick carter, when he said coronavirus had presented the single greatest logistical challenge in his 40 years of service, i thought that spoke a truth. 0ur armed forces have played their part in rising to this challenge and i want to thank them all. In addition to testing essential workers, we are also using testing to find out how many people have coronavirus and how many people have coronavirus and how many people have had coronavirus. These are critical pieces of information to inform our battle against this novel virus. And we will use it to learn, and we keep learning about it every day. This week we have begun one of the biggest virus infection and antibody studies this country has ever seen. This is a joint project with the office for National Statistics bringing their experience of running large household surveys and the university of oxford bringing their world leading scientific expertise will stop in total, 25,000 people will take part in the first phase with plans to expand it up to 300,000 people over the next 12 months. Scientific expertise. There will be samples taken from expertise. There will be samples ta ken from self administered expertise. There will be samples taken from self administered swabs, and questions answered from home visits from Trained Health workers and these tests will help us strengthen our Scientific Understanding and inform us on the big choices we have to make about social distancing measures and how we start returning to a more normal life. Letters a re we start returning to a more normal life. Letters are arriving on doorsteps from today. Please, if you are asked, take part in this Vital Research for your country. The early signs from today are that there is huge enthusiasm for those who have received letters taking part in this survey. If you get a letter, please respond to it as soon as you can because you will be doing your bit. As we ramp up our ability to test in large numbers and as we slow the spread of the virus, we also need to make sure we have the ability to trace contacts just as effectively. As we look ahead, this is critical to keep the virus under control. So we are putting infrastructure in place now so we can roll out Contact Tracing on a large scale. We are currently testing the new nhs Contact Tracing app. If you become u nwell Contact Tracing app. If you become unwell with symptoms of coronavirus you will be able to tell the nhs through this app, which will then send an alert to other app users that you have been insignificant contact with in recent days, even before you had the symptoms, so they know, and they can act accordingly, so we can get the tests to people evenif so we can get the tests to people even if they are asymptomatic. If we are worried that they have been in significant contact with someone who has the disease, we will be able to let them know. But it isntjust about the technology, we need the people too. We need to really kick start Contact Tracing is the new number of cases begins to fall. We are preparing for this now by hiring an additional 18,000 people, including over 3000 clinicians, including over 3000 clinicians, including Public Health specialists. We will be training up the massed ra nks we will be training up the massed ra n ks of we will be training up the massed ranks of contact tracers over the coming weeks and rolled out the service. This test, track and trace will be vital to stop a second peak of the virus. But recent weeks have shown there is something we can all do. And that is to follow the rules on social distancing. I am acutely aware of how difficult this has been. And especially as we enter ramadan, a month that is so special for so many people. This ramadan, many muslims who serve their country in the nhs and in the armed forces, and in so many other ways, will not be sharing thejoy and in so many other ways, will not be sharing the joy of this month as they normally do. I want to say to all british muslims, thank you for staying at home. I know how important the daily ifta is, how important the daily ifta is, how important communal prayers are at night and how important the festival of eid is. Thank you for making these allowances. Thank you for your service and citizenship and thank you for your sacrifice. This will help so we can together emerge from this challenge all the more united, all the more grateful to one another and all the more safe. We have travelled together to far to go backwards now. Please, stay at home, protect the nhs and save lives. I am now going to ask sir patrick to set out the latest data on the charts. Thank you, can i have the first slide. A reminderon thank you, can i have the first slide. A reminder on this slide, the virus spreads between people when we get too close, when we have coughs and exchange because of contact. All of us have actually done a good job in staying away from multiple contacts. You can see on this slide, 90 and more in some cases of people have stayed away from people outside the household. We have tried to avoid contact with Vulnerable People, however difficult that has been, but it has made a big difference. You can also see the numberof difference. You can also see the number of people who have managed to work from home has actually increased. That has been a really important part of making sure we reduce the chance of the virus spreading and it is very clear that actually the transmission in the community is way down from what it was. In terms of the infection spread among the population, the social distancing is having a very big effect. Next slide. This shows new cases. I have said before and will say again, this is new cases as determined by testing. There are many more cases, but we know those cases are coming down. Here it looks fairly flat because it is the testing slide. What you can see here is the numberof testing slide. What you can see here is the number of people being tested for medical reasons in blue is coming down slightly, even on this, even though being done, and it is now possible to test a number of essential workers, the orange bar. The real acid test will be what this is turning into interns of the next slide. This is the number of people in hospital with covid 19. You can see a very people in hospital with covid 19. You can see a very clear decline in london. You can see in other areas there are declines such as in the midlands and you can see in nearly all areas this is flat or on the way down. This speaks to the point that as we have radically reduced the numberof as we have radically reduced the number of infections in the community, this has turned into a reduction in the number in hospital. We are still at that period coming through the peak but you can see it is heading in the right direction. This in turn, with a delay, translates into what happens in intensive care units. You can see here, the percentage of beds being occupied in intensive ca re beds being occupied in intensive care units, the number of course we nt care units, the number of course went up, reached a plateau and is gradually decreasing. As ive said before, you would expect this to be gradual decline and take longer in the decrease in admissions. I want to say one other thing about what is happening in hospitals. There is a very large Clinical Trial going on trying to work out which medicines make make a difference with this disease. And one of those studies has recruited 7000 patients, and there will be result coming from that in due course. I would urge, as we enter the phase where the plateau has been reached, a slight decrease we can see, we continue to make sure that we enrolled patients in Clinical Trials so we get the answers to the critical questions about which medicines might work. Final slide. Not surprisingly, we know this is a problem in terms of the severity of the disease, that although the numberof the disease, that although the number of patients in intensive care units is coming down slowly, the deaths remain at a plateau, coming down slightly from not coming down fast. I would expect that to continue for another couple of weeks and we will then see a faster decline thereafter. It is crucially important, going back to the beginning, that we all keep firm with our attention to social distancing because it is at that end that we stop the progression through a hospital intensive care unit and ultimately, unfortunately for some people, to death. I think it is crucial we all do our part to keep this going and you can see it is headed in the right direction and we must stay firm with the measures we have ta ken. Must stay firm with the measures we have taken. Thank you very much. John, if you could update us on where we are on the Testing Programme ina where we are on the Testing Programme in a bit more detail . Thank you. I want to use this opportunity to talk about the why and the what of our national Testing Programme. Why do we need it and what are we doing to make sure everybody who would benefit from a test could get one . I should first explain, when we talk about testing, with talking about two different types of test. The first is a swab test for the presence of virus and the second is a blood test to show who has previously had it. Swap testing is currently the main focus because relatively few people have had the virus at this point in the pandemic. Swab test can tell us what treatment the patient should receive in hospital, who needs to be isolated in any care service, and which key workers are currently self isolating can which key workers are currently self isolating can safely which key workers are currently self isolating can safely return to work and some two thirds of those we have been testing have returned to work which is very gratifying and we have seen some reductions in the nhs Sickness Absence results as a result. In hospitals or care homes where social distancing is more difficult to achieve, testing is vital to help control outbreaks of infection where they occur. Finally, swa b infection where they occur. Finally, swab test can help us understand the spread of the disease across the population through carefully designed surveys of the type the secretary of state has just described, the one led by the office of National Statistics and Oxford University. Although a positive swab testis university. Although a positive swab test is very reliable, i want to stressed that a negative result does not absolutely guarantee that you are free of the virus. However it is are free of the virus. However it is a very good guide for whether it is safe to return to work. Blood testing, by contrast, can tell us who has previously had the infection, again improving our understanding of the spread of the virus when used in surveys. And in individuals it may also be able to tell us about the risks of future infection. Which of course is so important. If you had had if you have had the virus, you may have acquired some degree of immunity and i stress may because the science on immunity is still uncertain and it also takes some time for that immunity to build up and for the test to be positive. Our five pillar national Testing Programme is designed to ensure that everyone who needs a test can have one. To make that happen, we are doing two things. Increasing capacity for testing and increasing access. May i have the first slide, please . Here we can see that as the secretary of state said, we have now performed more than 500,000 tests in the uk, which has been steadily increasing over time. The second slide, please. This slide shows the increase in the capacity to undertake tests. We are talking about the swab test, and compared to the start of the month you can see we have increased substantially so we have increased substantially so we can outdo more than 51,000 tests per day. And the shape of the curve is exponential, you can see that it is exponential, you can see that it is rapidly increasing at this point which is what we expected. We have done despite securing supplies of kits and consumables from some of the leading manufacturers the secretary of state mentioned and these are the very best of the kind available in the world. We have also introduced new tests, new types of tests, so at least for example two nhs labs are using a test that has no rna extraction stage which means no rna extraction stage which means no need for the chemical reagents which are in such high demand around the world. We have also developed technology within the nhs to direct capacity to where it is needed most and that has made a huge difference. In addition, we have the three new lighthouse labs which are all now on stream, the ones in milton keynes, manchester and glasgow. Each of these labs will be able to process tens of thousands of tests per day and we are introducing automation into those processes, which really ramps up the capacity. We have also entered into partnerships with leading labs in industry and academia in addition to these other labs i have mentioned and this will help increase volume further. We are currently on track to reach 100,000 tests per day as planned and in fact we are somewhat ahead of where we thought we would be at this stage. A huge amount of work has gone into this across the board and i want to ta ke this across the board and i want to take this opportunity to thank everybody involved. Next we are increasing access to testing so if i could have the next slide, please . You can see from the map we already have more than 30 drive through centres and these are increasing to around 48. At the secretary of state mentioned, home testing options are also now in place and we will increase this further. We also want to use an approach we call the satellite approach where test kits are delivered in batches to a single site and then returned in batches. Finally, as you heard, we are also currently working with the army on a new pop up mobile testing option which was developed for us by the army and is really working very well. We are going to have 48 of these pop up facilities which can travel around the country to where they are needed most, for example in ca re they are needed most, for example in care homes. 80 development that will transform access is this new web portal for employers and essential workers to repair themselves for a test a key development. All this together means any essential worker or memberof their together means any essential worker or member of their household who has symptoms and would benefit test will be able to get one. At the same time, we are developing new and better blood tests. These could be used to help people assess their individual risk, although as i said, the science on this is incomplete. Of the existing tests on the market do not work well enough for individual advice and impact no country in the world is using them for that purpose. The existing tests however can be used with care in surveys to understand the spread of the virus. Just like our National Effort on vaccines, the uks top scientists are working with industry and the nhs to develop better blood tests. We have made Good Progress and several candidate tests are being evaluated. When we have identified the accurate tests, they can be provided in labs in large quantity relatively easily, much more easy to scale up than the swab tests. Finally, a Public Private consortium, the uk rapid test consortium, the uk rapid test consortium, is working on a method of getting antibody tests to people at home. Of course, all this Testing Capacity is needed now but notjust now, also for the future. To support the Government Strategy as we move to the next stage of the response to the pandemic. In the coming weeks and months, as you heard from the secretary of state, we will need testing to keep the fire was under control with a test, track and Trace Programme and we will also need, as i mentioned, intensive testing in settings like hospitals and care homes including of people who may not have symptoms to prevent spread, protect staff and save lives. Finally, we will need Testing Capacity to support these large repeated surveys of population to assess the ongoing situation. Let me summarise the current state of play as faras summarise the current state of play as far as testing goes. We have exponentially increased our Testing Capacity and we are on target to have capacity for 100,000 tests per day. We are opening up access so that all essential workers and members of their household who have symptoms and could benefit from a test can get one. At the same time, as weve heard from sir patrick, the success of social distancing has almost certainly reduced the number of people who would benefit from a test at this stage of the pandemic. Perhaps most important is that as we moved to the next phase of the response to the pandemic, i can say with confidence that we will have the testing capability that we need. Thank you. Thank you, john. And now we will open up to questions. Firstly, Laura Kuenssberg of the bbc. Thank you very much, secretary of state. There is broad public support for the lockdown but the Scottish First minister, the opposition and some of your own mps think you should be more transparent about what might come next. Are they all wrong . Because the five tests you have set out our about when it might be time but not about how we might be time but not about how we might move on into that next phase. Ifi might move on into that next phase. If i could ask sir patrick, what do you think the gap between the peaks in terms of time could be in different parts of the country . Thank you. I understand the thirst for knowledge, but the tests we have set out, which are the basis from which others, for instance the Scottish Government, have then developed their plans, those tests are the critical tests for when changes can be made. And of course, monitoring what is happening and making sure we move at the right time is absolutely critical. But the message remains to your viewers and everybody across the country, the message is the same, that people need to stay at home to protect the nhs and save lives. The reason we have clarity on that message is that it has succeeded in bringing down and flattening the curve, but were through that yet. And there is an awful lot of work that still needs to be done and we are absolutely determined to avoid a second peak. We have set out precisely as you said the five tests for when we should move. We have not met them yet and therefore we must keep the social distancing measures in place. It is worth remembering that what we have done it really suppresses the numbers. This is not a natural peak, it isa numbers. This is not a natural peak, it is a suppressed peak. And i think london is ahead of the rest of the country, it may be by a couple of weeks, but there is quite a lot of synchrony across the country, its not massively different. I cannot be absolutely sure about this but i think two or three weeks is the sort of order where might you expect to see some differences across the country. Thank you very much. Robert peston, itv. Hello, good afternoon. First of all, if you look at the intensive care surveys , if you look at the intensive care surveys, it seems that people who are overweight are more at risk of becoming acutely ill but being overweight is not something you talked about as a risk factor and secondly, to sir patrick, its not that long ago that you sit 20,000 deaths would be a good result but its clear there will be more than that. This is not a blame thing but what have you learnt about this virus and how it is behaving that explains why it will be considerably more than 20,000 deaths . And do you have a sense in this phase of how many deaths we are likely to see . Thank you, i will askjohn to answer the first and patrick to answer the second. Thank you, the data you mentioned showed a number of differences between the characteristics of people receiving ca re characteristics of people receiving care for coronavirus and the general population and impact the secretary of state has asked the Public Health england to undertake Detailed Research to look into this sober looking at the relationship between obesity and outcomes but also the numberof other obesity and outcomes but also the number of other factors such as ethnicity, age and gender even which are all important factors. There is quite a lot of work to do, there are some in the data we have, there are some in the data we have, there are some techniques to try and assess how important these differences are so there is a certain amount of statistical work to do but it should be possible to get an answer to some of those questions reasonably soon. Thank you, patrick. In a way, your first question answers the second. There is a lot we dont know about this virus. It is odd you see this obesity signal, odd that it has a gender difference, there are a lot of things about it we dont understand. There are lots of things that are being learnt quite fast. There are lots of things we need to understand about the immunity to it. In terms of the numbers of deaths, i think it is difficult to speculate exactly what that will look like at the end of this. It is very clear there have been large numbers right across the world and i think the Key Statistics we need to look at Going Forward is the overall excess deaths which encompass direct and indirect as the cmo as laid out repeatedly. Im not going to try to put a number on that. Clearly every death is absolutely regrettable and affects many people and ourjob is to try to make sure we suppress this as far as we can keep those numbers down. Beth rigby at sky. First a question for mr hancock. Does the test, trace system have to be up and running before you even countenance using the lockdown and if so can you get it ready by may the 7th . And to sir patrick, do you intends to establish what you think is a tolerable level of Community Transmission based on the not overwhelming the nhs and so allowing some spread of the virus through the population, or is your aim to push daily new cases as low as possible to control the virus . Thanks, both those questions are for ultimately, for politicians because they are big judgments. I will ask patrick to comment on the science of the latter, but ultimately the judgments are made by by the cabinet on the advice of the scientists. On the first, there is no automatic link between the two. There is no automatic link between the scale of test, track and trace, and any changes to the social distancing measures. So i wouldnt put a deadline on it in the way that you did. Whati deadline on it in the way that you did. What i would say is that test, track and trace, done effectively, can help to suppress the transmission in a way that allows you to then have lesser social distancing rules. And critically, test, track and trace works more effectively when the rate of new cases is lower. So the lower the rate of new cases, the more effectively you can keep it down using test, track and trace rather than having to use heavier social distancing measures. So the link between the two is in fact that once you have full blown tracking and tracing with the test capacity that, asjohn set out, we are increasing, that allows you to hold down the level of transmission under lesser social distancing rules. But you have to get it down their first four test, track and trace to be effective. That comes to the second point, which is that our objective is to get the rate of transmission down. And that seems to have happened, because instead of an exponential rise as we saw before, we now see a flattening of the curve. And then crucially, to get the level of transmission down, as in the number of new cases, so it is both about the rate of new change and the level, so it appears we have got the rate of transmission lower, that r figure, because we have flattened the curve, but we have got to see the number of cases come down as well because then you can use test, track and trace to hold it down. Thats the way those two things fit together. Its all part ofa things fit together. Its all part of a piece, things fit together. Its all part ofa piece, and things fit together. Its all part of a piece, and both of your questions are entirely tied to each other, which is why all of this becomes a strategic question rather than purely a scientific question, but it is of course based on the science. Patrick . Absolutely right. We advised on what measures needed to be put in place to keep numbers down below nhs Critical Care capacity. That was absolutely crucial, and it looks like that has achieved, and therefore thats one really important step, and we are now advising on what measures need to be in place in order to get those numbers lower for the reasons the secretary of state said, and what numbers are necessary in order to get down to test, track and trace approaches. But the decision on how far to approaches. But the decision on how farto go and approaches. But the decision on how far to go and which measures should be released and so on are ones for ministers. Thank you, beth rigby. Ben from lbc. Everyone agrees the contact, the track and trace method you are talking about will be important in the coming weeks. I wonder if you can give us few specifics. How many of those 18,000 tracers are in place and when do you think you need to get that 18,000 . How low, roughly, the case numbers need to be before track and trace can need to be before track and trace ca n start need to be before track and trace can start to be in any way effective . And a second question, on science and facemasks. We are behind other countries and going into lockdown and we are behind other countries in scaling up Testing Capacity and it seems we are behind other countries in the use of facemasks. When i asked about this two weeks ago for example,. Inaudible and that advice may change. Is there a sense we are a bit slow compared to other countries in following the science, and is there a risk that might delay, given other countries have been buying facemasks for citizens for many weeks now, that there is a problem when it comes to british people having access Given International shortages to effective protection facemasks. On the first question, we are recruiting now and we need. We have set out in the first instance we are recruiting 18,000, of whom 3000 will be clinical personnel, and we will train up the other 15,000. That process is ongoing. In terms of when it will be ready, it is in a matter of weeks. That will then help, but critically we need to keep the rate of transmission down. On the second question, we have discussed timings many time before. I dont accept the premise of the question. We followed the science throughout this, building on that science. And the science develops as we learn more about the virus. As for making sure we are ready for any change in the science, many countries have been buying facemasks, as have we, but the position on facemasks is unchanged. Of course constantly the science is being reviewed on that and we will consider updated scientific advice, if thats what we get, as and when we need to. And also consider the sort of knock on implications you talk about, because it is absolutely critical that the facemasks we buy are, first and foremost, for people in the nhs and social care and other places where they are clearly in clinical need. That is what we have been buying facemasks for. Patrick, anything to add . I dont think so. The evidence on facemasks has always been variable, quite weak, it is difficult to know exactly, there are no real trials on it and we have undertakena no real trials on it and we have undertaken a review and will give our advice to ministers and they will make decisions about what to do around that. The daily express. A question for sir patrick first. In the early stages of the crisis you told us social distancing measures should not be introduced too quickly because of the dangers of long term public fatigue. What is your behavioural modelling telling you now about the publics willingness to continue enduring these restrictions . And is the increased road traffic and people on the streets we have seen this week a sign that some peoples patience is beginning to wear out . Secretary of state, as we prepare to applaud nhs workers again tonight, can tell us what progress the government has made into providing improved support for the relatives of those doctors, nurses and other medical staff who lose their lives in this emergency . Dozens of mps have been calling for a scheme similar to that operating for bereaved armed forces families. Would you consider Something Like this . I will ask sir patrick to a nswer this . I will ask sir patrick to answer the first question on the endurance of the public for the lockdown measures. All i would say is that it has been absolutely phenomenal how the british people have responded when we have asked them to do something that is quite difficult. To follow those new social distancing rules. They have risen to that and i am very proud of them. On the second point, of course it is not just them. On the second point, of course it is notjust applause them. On the second point, of course it is not just applause for the them. On the second point, of course it is notjust applause for the nhs, it is notjust applause for the nhs, it is notjust applause for the nhs, it isa it is notjust applause for the nhs, it is a clap for carers, including social care, and one of the good things about this crisis is that the clarity with which people who work in social care and do such important work there have seen that the country cares for and is grateful for them too. On the important question you ask about support for families of those who have lost their lives, of course this is something i am looking into and i hope to be able to Say Something more about it very soon. Patrick. On social distancing we said at the outset it is important to break transmission between households, lower the rate of transmission and social distancing is clearly the way you do that. It needs to be sustainable and i think if you look at the evidence, the data, actually looks like people are really doing a very good job on that and it is sustaining, so i dont think there is evidence this is tailing off and its important we carry on with it for all the reasons that have been said. Sol for all the reasons that have been said. So i think at the moment things look very good there and it is reducing the r dramatically and we suspect there will be far fewer infections in the community as a result. A final thing i infections in the community as a result. A finalthing i would infections in the community as a result. A final thing i would say is that i pay tribute to the support of the daily express has shown for our health and care staff throughout this crisis, with constant messages of support, which i know my collea g u es of support, which i know my colleagues appreciate. Joe murphy from the evening standard. Secretary of state, it is really encouraging to see that curve for london coming down. Sir patrick said london was two weeks ahead of other regions. Wouldnt it make sense, and perhaps save thousands of firms from going bust, and hundreds of thousands of jobs from being lost, if london could start coming out of lockdown two weeks ahead of regions who are not so lucky at the moment . And could i ask professor newton at the same time, doctors are telling us that you cant rely on the certificates of cause of death to make figures on how many patients. Sorry, how many people in the community have died of coronavirus because doctors are not always writing covid 19 on certificates because they dont know without a test. Wouldnt it make sense to Start Testing every person who dies ina care Start Testing every person who dies in a care home with any sort of symptom so figures could be more accurate . Thank you, i will ask sir patrick to answer the first, and professor newton to answer the second. The only thing i want to add is that the point about supporting those who live in care homes is incredibly important, and front of mind. We have already expanded the availability of testing to those in ca re availability of testing to those in care homes, including to asymptomatic residents in care homes, and its a very important pa rt homes, and its a very important part of the Testing Programme. Sir patrick. What i said was that there is more similarities than differences, and there may be up to two or three weeks differences in some places. It is not that london is two weeks ahead of everywhere. There actually a lot of similarities across a number of areas, including big urban areas, so i dont think you should take the message at all that there is two weeks difference between london and the rest of the country. There may be up to two weeks difference with some parts of the country. Thats the point. In terms of releasing measures, you only have to look at the way in which the disease can spread in cities and urban environments to know the release of the measure is something you want to do absolutely when you are sure you have got on top of it. Thats the right time to do it and to make sure you dont get reimportation across the country. So how this is done is a matter for ministers to make decisions on, but it is not as straightforward as saying, because you hit the peak two weeks early you can release two weeks early you can release two weeks early. It depends on absolute numbers and a number of other factors. Did you have another . One of the reasons for wanting to have more available testing is to get better statistics and understand the data better but in fact we have always been testing people, residents in care homes. Over 11,000 people have been tested in care homes already and we are rolling out significant capacity to test all people in care homes. Public health and it has been looking at the data carefully so even if the doctor doesnt write down coronavirus on the death certificate, we know by linking together the data we have on the test with National Records when a patient dies, which goes through to the national register, so we can already pick up quite a lot that way. So there will be some that we miss, but perhaps not as many as your question implied. Its very important to emphasise the fact we need better data in care homes and that will help us to look after people, protect them and save lives in care homes as well as in the nhs. I have the right and argus. Good afternoon point it was 46 days between the first case in Brighton And Hove and a nursing home in a city calling out for proper protective equipment and testing after a cluster of cases among patients and stop and what steps is the government taking to reduce outbreaks in care homes and have you considered limiting Agency Workers to one or two homes to reduce the spread . Also, to one or two homes to reduce the spread . Also, people to one or two homes to reduce the spread . Also, people are still coming to the beach, floating logs and rules despite efforts from the local council and police point at what can be done to limit the number of people coming to destinations like brighton on the weekend . Thank you very much. There is a huge effort under way to limit the spread of this disease in care homes, and i followed the reports from the care homes in brighton very closely. As you said, there was a significant gap between the first positive case in brighton and the first reported cases in care homes. What we have been able to do recently is expand the amount of testing so that anybody who has symptoms in a care home now gets tested and, as of yesterday, we have introduced the testing to people who do not have symptoms in care homes for exactly the sorts of reasons you set out, so that everybody who can benefit from a test, who is a resident in a care home, can now get a test. And the amount of work that has gone on reflects the importance of supporting people who live in care homes and trying to make sure that they are protected not least because people who live in care homes are often amongst the most vulnerable to this disease. Is for people going to the beach in brighton, i think the police have done a good job, i have also seen reports of the police stopping people from having barbecues on the beach and making sure that people follow the social distancing rules. The rules are there for a reason and that is because people need to follow them in order to protect the nhs and to slow the spread of this virus point at what i would say to people in brighton, and the rest of the country, is that the measures we are taking are working, they are supported by the vast majority of people in this country, and everyone should follow the social distancing rules because that is how we come through this, as a city and as a country. Finally, hannah rogerfrom the herald. Hello. A question for the herald. Hello. A question for the secretary of state and one for sir patrick. Today the Scottish Government has produced a detailed 25 page report on their exit strategy from the lockdown. Nicola sturgeon, our first minister, said she wanted to have an adult discussion and receive feedback from the scottish public on her plan. My question to you is why hasnt the uk government been unable thus far to produce a similarly detailed plan which not only can be scrutinised by members of the public but can also be used to give people some hope . And my question for sir patrick, the Scottish Government report today says one of the ways forward out of the lockdown could be too varied restrictions based on geography, professional sector and by specific demographics and groups of population. Do you agree that this is something that should be considered and is it something that you yourself might take into consideration when looking at the exit strategy for the uk . Thank you very much. We have set out the five tests that are needed for us to make changes to the lockdown measures. And the Scottish Governments proposals are based on those tests. I think that having the four nations of the uk Work Together on this has been important thus far, notjust on social distancing but also, for instance, on testing. And i think the country has essentially moved together and you can see that in the flattening of the curve which has essentially happened in all regions and nations of the uk together. And i think it is important that, us having set out the tests and the Scottish Government having set out their approach, which is very similarand their approach, which is very similar and based on those five tests we have set out, i think that the uk wide approach is the best way to go. Just to echo that, the scientists are all working together and actually we are working closely with the chair of the scottish science advice group who joins us as well for all our meetings. And we share information and look at all the same things in the modelling is shared so people dont have to repeat what others are doing. This is very much a unified approach to looking at the different options and the impact they can have in terms of social distancing, which is the key thing, how you make sure you reduce the contact in a way that allows the rto the contact in a way that allows the r to stay below one and allows things to return more towards normal in due course. Thank you, that concludes the downing street Coronavirus Briefing for today and i will no doubt see you again soon. Matt hancock ending the Daily Briefing today. Youre watching bbc news and the governments latest Coronavirus Briefing hasjust ended. Lets take a look at some of the key points from todays briefing. It was confirmed that the uk reported 616 more coronavirus deaths in hospital, bringing the total to 18,738. That does not include deaths in care homes or in the community. Mr hancock said that from tomorrow, all essential workers and their households who have symptoms will be able to book tests for coronavirus. He added that about 18,000 people are being hired as part of a Team Involved in tracing infections. And professorjohn newton said that the uk is on track to increase its capacty to the promised amount of 100,000 tests a day. With me now is our chief political correspondent, vicki young. As we expected, testing was very much the focus and now all essential workers will be able to get tests if they have symptoms. And looking at what the problem has been, it was initially not having enough labs up and running whether tests could be carried out. The government has tried to change that, bringing in private companies to help. What has happened is that the capacity has increased up to 51,000 tests possible per day at the moment, but they are not being carried out in that number. What they have done to date is to hugely increase the pool of people who are eligible for the test. Up until now it has been people going into hospital, the staff working in hospitals and their families, people caring for people in social care settings. What i have done is to say that everyone classed asa done is to say that everyone classed as a key worker or essential worker, and if you want to know who that is it is on the website but it involves people who were told they would be allowed to send children at school if they had them, it could be up to 10 Million People from all of those people could qualify for this test. To be really clear, this is the test to save whether you have coronavirus now, not about antibodies or if you have had it before, its if you have symptoms and you think you have it now, you can get a test. What they have done is to try to make it easierfor people to have done is to try to make it easier for people to get that test. They have been a lot of complaints from people who wanted to get a test, that they were having to drive miles or did not have a car to get toa miles or did not have a car to get to a Testing Centre but they are changing that. They are saying you can refer yourself and book it online which has been a problem, people even getting a booking for the test, but they will have mobile units and they will send some tests to peoples houses come up 2000 per day at the idea is to make it far easierfor day at the idea is to make it far easier for easier for a greater number of people to qualify for the test up to 1000. They hope that will bring them up to their target of 100,000 tests carried out per day and just to clarify, we have been told several times, clarified by downing street and others, that the target is the number carried out, not the capacity or how many could be carried out in theory but how many are carried out. They will hope this will go some way to achieving that by the end of the month. And after Nicola Sturgeon spoke earlier about lockdown and how long it might go on and about possibly lifting it eventually, no new information from the uk government on that . No, matt hancock saying that what Nicola Sturgeon outlined was in line with the uk government thinking and that tells us something to do it is based partly on these five tests which include could the nhs cope if they ease the restrictions. To some extent, they dont know the answer to that. Its not an exact science, there will have to be political judgments about how you ease things, in what areas you do that. Nicola sturgeon outlined that could happen in some sectors of the economy but also made it very clear that this is going to go on for months and months and there could be some people have been shielding, those most at risk and the elderly, that might have to continue for some time as well. There will not be a moment where this lockdown just ends over night, it will be very gradual. Things like social distancing could well continue for months, if not even longer than that. Thank you very much. The six oclock news is coming up much. The six oclock news is coming up shortly but now the weather. Good afternoon. Changes in our weather over the next few days will tend to be very slow, very subtle and certainly today has turned into yet another dry and largely sunny one. You can see from the earlier satellite picture some clumps of cloud, theres been some high cloud turning the sunshine hazy in places, and some quite low cloud lurking close to the northern isles, and i think as we go through this evening and into tonight we will develop some low cloud close to some of these north sea coasts, which will roll in across parts of yorkshire, lincolnshire, east anglia and maybe getting down into the midlands as well, could be some mist and fog around in these areas. Temperatures typically overnight 3 9 degrees, some parts of eastern scotland maybe getting just a bit colder than that. Could be a touch of frost for some. So a fairly cool start for tomorrow, this lump of cloud and mist and fog affecting parts of eastern england, but that will tend to lift and clear and for most parts it is yet another fine, dry and mostly sunny day, patchy cloud turning that sunshine hazy at times. Not quite as warm as it has been today, but still temperatures peaking between 14 22 degrees, the coolest weather for some of those north sea coasts. And later in the day, just the chance of seeing the odd shower breaking out across high ground in wales and the south west of england. And as we go into the weekend, we do see the increasing chance ofjust one or two showers. Still a lot of dry weather around, but it will start to feel a little cooler as well. Look at this pressure chart. Barely any white lines, barely any isobars on the weather map. That means there is not much wind, theres not much to push the weather around. That is why any changes, any shifts, will only be slow and subtle. So i think on saturday, yes, a little more cloud around for some and maybe the odd shower for wales and the south west later. Still plenty of sunshine to be had, and then this type of cloud might bring some patchy rain into the far north west of scotland later in the day. Temperatures continue to fall back a little bit, but still well into the teens or early 20s for some and then as we move through saturday night into sunday, we see this very weak area of low pressure sinking into the picture and a frontal system as well. That will introduce a band of cloud, perhaps some showery rain pushing southwards across the uk, ahead of it one or two showers breaking out. In northern scotland we could well see some showery rain working into the picture, but still a fair amount of dry weather. Still into the 20s towards the south, but it will turn quite noticeably cooler across northern areas. Today at six p m. The start of the first human trials of the coronavirus vaccine. It is under way in oxford. Two of them were injected today. Well, im a scientist so of course i want to try and support science, the scientific process whenever ican. Scientists at this lab in oxford have achieved in three months, a process that would normally take years. There is absolutely no suggestion we are going to start using this vaccine in the Wider Population before weve demonstrated that it actually works and stops getting people infected with coronavirus. Also tonight Nicola Sturgeon is the first uk leader to describe what easing the lockdown might look like. Some social distancing measures are here to stay
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