Transcripts For BBCNEWS Coronavirus 20200524

Mrcummings insists he dominate todays press conference. Mr cummings insists he acted legally by driving from london to County Durham in march while his wife had coronavirus, but new reports suggest he was seen in the north east of england on two further occasions. There is growing pressure from within the conservative party itself for borisjohnsons top adviser to step down. The country cannot afford this nonsense, this pantomime now. Dominic should go and we should move on and deal with the things that matter in peoples lives. And we will have a special report on the impact on care homes as care leaders say two months into the pandemic support, for homes, remains not great. You can only hold their hand, not give them a cuddle, i cannot do myjob, it not give them a cuddle, i cannot do my job, it makes not give them a cuddle, i cannot do myjob, it makes me feel frustrated inside. Welcome to viewers on bbc one, building up to todays Coronavirus Briefing from the government. Theres growing pressure from within the conservative party for borisjohnsons top advisor, Dominic Cummings, to step down, because of allegations that he broke lockdown rules. He and the government say he acted reasonably and legally by driving more than 250 miles north from his london home to County Durham for childcare reasons when his wife had coronavirus symptoms. Theyve also dismissed as inaccurate claims he was seen in the north east of england on two more occasions. Heres our political correspondent, helen catt. Are you going to resign . Correspondent, helen catt. Did you leave the family home in durham while you were there . Is it one rule for you and another rule for everybody else . Dominic cummings facing more questions about his decision to travel more than 250 miles with his wife, ill with suspected coronavirus, to seek back up childcare. Now, some conservative mps have broken ranks to say it has to stop and he has to go. I think his position is untenable. It is because of dominics slogans around these rules that mums and dads, grannies and grandpas across the country will have felt that they had to stay at home if covid got into their families, and of course they also care about their children. On the 23rd of march, Boris Johnson announced lockdown restrictions. The last time Dominic Cummings was spotted in downing street before developing covid symptoms was the 27th of march. He returned to work on the 14th of april and spent the intervening time at a family property near relatives in durham, where the transport secretary, grant shapps said yesterday he had stayed put. But fresh allegations claim that, on the 12th of april, he was seen at a tourist hot spot, Barnard Castle, 30 miles from where he was staying, and in durham once again on the 19th of april, after he returned to london, although downing street denies this. Grant shapps was pressed to explain the apparent contradictions. As i understand it, the most important thing here is that mr cummings and his family remained, er, locked down. They did not then, as i think some of these stories start to suggest, move around. I also understand that it is not true that he came back. He came back on the 14th of april. It is not true that he then returned to durham, i think there has been some sort of, i think, incorrect reporting. It is that sort of exchange which some tory mps now believe is losing the Government Authority and risks confusing the Public Health message at a crucial time. Labour, the liberal democrats and the snp have all written to britains most senior civil servant, sir mark sedwill, asking him to investigate. The british people have made sacrifices, extraordinary sacrifices, and the particular situation of Dominic Cummings, where there was someone in his household with the suspected symptoms of coronavirus, the guideline was very simple about not leaving home. The allegations we have seen are extraordinarily serious and they do need to be dealt with. Labour has also called on the Prime Minister to answer questions, drawing him directly into the row about his adviser. Lets talk to our political correspondent, nick eardley, who is in downing street. The pressure is mounting, but at the moment it seems that the cabinet and the government are sticking by mr cummings. Yes, and weve heard that defence of mr cummings from a number of ministers over the last 2a hours oi of ministers over the last 2a hours or 0. Of ministers over the last 2a hours or so. Grant shapps, of ministers over the last 2a hours orso. Grant shapps, as of ministers over the last 2a hours or so. Grant shapps, as you heard of ministers over the last 2a hours orso. Grant shapps, as you heard in helen s package, the transport secretary without batting for mr cummings again morning and he has beenin cummings again morning and he has been in number ten for about four and a half hours now, fairly long period of time, suggesting to me that he isnt going anywhere. If he was going to be sacked or resigned you would assume he would have been in and out pretty quickly. Its certainly not a conversation that ta kes certainly not a conversation that takes four and a half hours. We also know that the press conference is normally out for pm on a sunday, so normally out for pm on a sunday, so normally in the next five minutes or so, has been delayed by an hour. We dont know for sure and weve not had it confirmed who is going to be hosting the press conference, but we know there is a lot of pressure on the Prime Minister to come out and tell us what he knew about mr cummings movements as well. I think thats what a lot of people will be looking for over the next few hours, among them a number of tory mps who have not come out yet and criticised mrcummings and have have not come out yet and criticised mr cummings and have not yet called for his resignation. They want to know exactly what went on and whether there is that rebuttal of those claims in the mirror and guardian about mr cummings notjust going to durham once, but potentially visiting nearby and going back to london, something so far that number ten is denying. That does seem to be the key, at the moment. We heard from grant shapps, the transport secretary, saying the most important thing is that the family stayed locked down when they got up to the north east. Now, clearly, the government believes it can defend that position but the suggestion from the reporting subsequently is that mr cummings left to go to a beauty spot on the 12th of april and then, once he had recovered or his wife had recovered from coronavirus and he returned back to downing street after self isolating, he returned to the north east again on the 19th. Now if those reports are right, that means the governments argument doesnt fly and, frankly, mr cummingss position is untenable. It becomes a lot harder to defend, absolutely. We do know that 10 downing street is dismissing that suggestion that mr cummings came back to london after originally travelling to durham and then went back to the north of england. They are saying that didnt happen and we heard that from the transport secretary this morning. There is a bit more uncertainty about that other allegation you mentioned, that when mr cummings had travelled to durham initially after his wife had shown coronavirus symptoms, he said he wanted to get close to his family to make sure he had childcare if he got sick from their young son. That second allegation, that he was seen that somewhere 30 miles outside of durham, isa somewhere 30 miles outside of durham, is a really tricky one for the government and i think that is something a lot of people will be looking for explanations of, because we know that the rules are, if you have coronavirus, if you are showing symptoms, you dont leave the house. At that point you are to self isolate, take yourself out of society and remove yourself from the public realm altogether. We know mr cummings thinks he had a reason to travel to durham in the first place, to make sure he had childcare, but then travelling somewhere else within that vicinity is a lot more tricky for the government to explain, so we will be looking for a nswe is explain, so we will be looking for answers on that in the press conference in an hour or so, but as i say, i get the impression nothing has changed in there. I dont think borisjohnson is has changed in there. I dont think Boris Johnson is about has changed in there. I dont think borisjohnson is about to sack mr cummings. I dont think hes going to resign. It does seem that 10 downing street think they can tough this out. You notice a bit of activity behind me in the last few minutes as we had Stephen Powys from Public Health england arriving for the press conference, so i suspect he will be there. Those questions will remain on the danger for Boris Johnson is in what is going to be a really crucial week as the government tries to persuade us all that its time to start gradually reopening the economy, opening schools potentially from a week on monday for some pupils, that is what borisjohnson monday for some pupils, that is what Boris Johnson wants to monday for some pupils, that is what borisjohnson wants to be talking about. The government wants to be telling us that it is time to start thinking about reopening parts of society rather than talking about whether his own chief adviser flouted the rules that weve all been told consistently that we have ican bring i can bring in our viewers from around the world on bbc world news who are watching this now. Were building to todays Coronavirus Briefing from the uk government. It will be at 5 oclock this evening, led by the Prime Minister borisjohnson, amid growing pressure from within his own party for his chief advisor Dominic Cummings, to step down, because of allegations that he broke lockdown rules. Lets talk to our political correspondent, nick eardley, who is in downing street. To be clear, this whole conversation about mrcummings to be clear, this whole conversation about mr cummings isnt necessarily about mr cummings isnt necessarily about his travel diary and what he did and did not do. Ultimately, its about the credibility of the governments message on coronavirus and the importance of keeping institutions like the National Health service going, because members of the public are sticking to the rules. Youre absolutely right, and that the really awkward thing for number ten this afternoon, its the fact that for the last few weeks weve all been told consistently to stay at home unless its completely necessary and if you have coronavirus symptoms, dont leave the house, youve got to self isolate at that point. We know that the Prime Ministers trip advisor, one of the men behind the stay message by the way chief adviser, we know that he did travelled 260 miles from london to durham, in the north of england, because he was worried about childcare and his wife had shown coronavirus symptoms and he was worried he would get them as well and wanted to make sure, he says, that there was someone to look after his son. The problem for the government is, does that undermine their message . Weve been hearing from conservative mps this afternoon around eight so far, who have said that mrcummings around eight so far, who have said that mr cummings should resign because he has undermined that Public Health message. They are getting messages from their constituents saying, look, ive had people who have been sick in my family and ive needed childcare and had someone in another part of the country that i felt i needed to do, but i didnt, because i was following the rules. That is the big dangerfor the following the rules. That is the big danger for the government here. There is a perception of one rule for ministers and one for their close advisers and a different rule for everybody else. Number ten is denying that and has stuck by mr cummings and you get the impression that they are still doing that and i suspect that is what we will hear from borisjohnson suspect that is what we will hear from Boris Johnson in suspect that is what we will hear from borisjohnson in an hours time, but the danger for the government is that it starts to eat away at some of the credibility they have to tell us all to follow the rules if there is a perception that one of their own is not doing the same. 0k, nick, thank you very much. Live at number ten. Speaking on andrew marrs show this morning, the transport secretary, grant shapps, defended Dominic Cummings. My understanding is that he stayed there, in the house, for the 14 days, until he would have been out of the sort of quarantine period. Thats my understanding of the situation. Are you absolutely sure that he was not back in durham, seen walking in a bluebell wood on the 19th of april . Yeah, again, my understanding is that hes been down in london since the 14th of april and has not returned to durham since that time. So, i mean, as i say, look, theres been a lot of stuff in the papers. I mean, were throwing all these dates around. No, no, i know that. Just because somebody. It may come as a surprise to you, butjust because you see it in the newspaper doesnt mean that it is true. No, im trying to establish whats true. Now, you say that he definitely didnt go back up to durham. How do you know that . Who have you spoken to . Because the statement from number 10 says that once he came down to london, on the 14th, hes remained in london since. And the reports of him being back up in durham since i think you said it was on the 19th are erroneous. Thats how we know. So, were talking about statements from number 10 at the moment. The number 10 statement which you again read out yourself yesterday said that at no stage was mr cummings, or his family, spoken to by the police about this matter. Now, the Durham Police have flatly denied that and put out a very clear statement yesterday evening saying needed to speak to his father. Who should the public believe . Ok, i think theres been some confusion about this. There certainly has. 0k, well, lets try and clear it up. For one thing, the father contacted the police, and secondly, it was about an unrelated matter, which i think quite rightly, i dont want to go into about security. So, its not the case that the Police Made Contact without any reason to discuss this specific matter. Why did number 10, therefore, say, and why did you say, that the police had not spoken to mr cummings or his family about this matter, when they had . No, they spoke to. About this matter . No, lets be. I can read you the police statement, if you like . You can. 0k, they said. 0n the 31st of march, our officers were made aware that Dominic Cummings had travelled from london to durham and was present at an address in the city. At the request of mr cummingss father, an officer made contact the following morning by telephone. During that conversation, mr cummingss father confirmed that his son had travelled with his family from london to the north east and was self isolating in part of that property. That is a conversation between the police and mr cummingss family about the situation. I think you havent read out the end of that statement as well. Ive read out all that ive got. I mean, yes, they did go and talk about security. They did, thats it. So, there are two things, arent there . One is that, a, it was mr cummingss father who contacted the police, not the other way round. And, b, the discussion was a discussion about a separate matter related to security. Which is the key thing. They also talked about this matter, and number 10 denied that. No, i mean, the point is that. Number 10s statements very clear. They said they didnt talk, and they did. If you read the original newspaper allegation to which they were responding, as i understand things, the newspaper allegation was that the police had made contact in order to raise this subject. A, the police were only. In fact, it was the father who made contact. And secondly, it was to discuss the security issue, which you didnt mention at the end of that statement. Well, the father is a member of the family, obviously. Can i ask, after all of this is there, in effect, a new cummings clause, which is that if you are worried about a child, you can decide where you go and self isolate in any part of the country . You can drive where you like and the government is comfortable with that . Well, i dont think theres been a specific thing which says you can only move a mile, or anything like that. The key points always been that people remained locked down, which is exactly as i understand it what happened in this case, in order to isolate and get beyond coronavirus. Im sorry, let me read you your own governments guidance on this subject, given on the 22nd march. It says, essential travel does not include visits to second homes or similar whether, and including, for isolation purposes. People must remain in their primary residence. Mr cummings did not do that. Although, as weve discussed, when he arrived there, at the place where he was going to get support, in the property adjacent to his parents, he didnt then move around. He remained there, in a place where they thought they could bring the best care to their child. And as the bit of guidance that you didnt read out makes clear, it asks people to make every effort. It acknowledges that. It says, keep following the advice to the best of your ability. However, we are aware that not all of these measures will be possible. The key thing is not to keep moving around. The transport minister grant shapps speaking earlier today. With me is tom harwood, he is a Senior Reporter from the right of Centre Website guido fawkes. Also, im joined by sienna rodgers, shes the editor of the labour list website which focuses on news about the labour party. Thank you forjoining us. Tom, we know what number 10 has been saying about this situation and what certain members of the cabinet have been saying. The fact that members of the backbench are beginning to voice doubts about whether or not mr cummings should stay in his post, does that give you cause for concern . I think if we look at the specific mps who have come forward and said Dominic Cummings should go, if we asked those same people at any point over the last year whether Dominic Cummings should go, just about anything, they would say yes. These are people who do have history with Dominic Cummings and who dont get along with Dominic Cummings, dont quite frankly, so it should not surprise is that the specific few m ps not surprise is that the specific few mps have said publicly that he should go. There is an intense Media Campaign against mr cummings right now and that is almost to be expected. What is interesting, however, is that what those mps are saying doesnt quite match up with a lot of the reporting. If you listen to what for example steve baker were saying this morning when he was one of the first to come out and say Dominic Cummings should go, he said it was about the spirit of the rules, rather than the letter of the rules. So Dominic Cummings had not necessarily broken the letter of the rules, that is all of that fine print within the rules about specifically safeguarding children that Dominic Cummings seems to have abided by. So a lot of this is about how it looks, rather than the legality of it. So you think there isa legality of it. So you think there is a difference between the spirit of the letter of this lockdown, is that what mr cummings might be able to explain to an nhs nurse who might be upset by his decision to drive halfway up the country with his wife next to him, having coronavirus symptoms . Of course it is not a good look and this is not a pr victory for the government by any stretch, but what this it is about Dominic Cummings doing what he thought was best for his family at the time. And of course, it is within the letter of course, it is within the letter of the rules and it is more complicated to explain the fine print of the rules than the broad overarching message. And of course, when you are explaining, you are losing. That is not to say that he did something wrong and i think there is a great degree of hypocrisy when it comes to this issue. Someone like Dominic Cummings who it looks like Dominic Cummings who it looks like stayed within the letter of the rules, if not the spirit, is having this intense Media Campaign against him, trying to get him to resign, yet you look at for example the welsh Health Secretary, a labour politician, who explicitly broke the lockdown rules and faced no such intense Media Campaign to get him to resign. I think there is intense double standards within the media today and that is something we should be ashamed of, quite frankly. Sienna rodgers, he didnt do anything wrong, according to tom, there is a letter of the law and the spirit of these rules. And he was simply trying to protect his four year old son, what you make of that . Well, i think obviously, i would have to disagree. I think guidance was very unclear at the start and then when the lockdown restrictions really came into force, it started to be much clearer, that government message. They said that if you are symptomatic of a stay at home, take yourself out of society with your family and stay there, at home, unless there is an extreme risk of life, risk to life. And i dont think we can say that in this situation, there was an extreme risk to life. Nowhere in that government guidance did they say, well, if you are worried about childcare issues, maybe you can travel 260 miles across the country in order to, just in case you need child care, in case the other partner becomes ill with coronavirus symptoms as well, then you can do that. There just wasnt any of this coming out of the guidance at the time, it was very clear that you have to stay at home. They even said, at your primary residence. So the fact that grant shapps this morning on the sunday shows was saying they were not specific about what location you have to be staying in when you are self isolating isjust have to be staying in when you are self isolating is just nonsense, frankly. And i think it is the explanation is, the very poor explanations afterwards that really are going to do damage in this story, not the actual initial act of breaking the lockdown rules. It is the response of government ministers. 0k, grant shapps seems to be quoting from the rules himself this morning when he said that if you are living with children, follow this advice to the best of your ability. However, we are aware that all these measures will not necessarily be possible. So there is wiggle room there, which is what thomas suggested earlier, that if you are concerned , thomas suggested earlier, that if you are concerned, deeply concerned about the welfare of the four year olds child, then perhaps you do, you are allowed to make the kind of journey you do, you are allowed to make the kind ofjourney mr cummings made. |j think there are a few points there. First, some of that wiggle room really applied to in your own home, you should be self isolating within one iooiti you should be self isolating within one room and then isolating from the re st of one room and then isolating from the rest of your family in your home. I think that is how that was interpreted, that wiggle room. That is not always going to be possible because you have got to take care of your children. The other point is that actually, according to Dominic Cummings and his story and the statement they have put out, they didnt need that childcare in the end. Theyjust didnt need that childcare in the end. They just had didnt need that childcare in the end. Theyjust had a Family Member drop off the chapping outside. It wasnt actually necessary in the end. You cant do these things drop off shopping. You cant do these things as a precaution and it didnt say anything about this in government guidance and i think for all the parents, especially Single Parents, who made sacrifices and he we re really parents, who made sacrifices and he were really worried about their situations and they didnt know they could go and visit their parents and get grandparents look after the kids and all of that, that just was not and all of that, that just was not an option given to them. Tom, back to you, do you agree with grant shapps that the most important thing in this day bacca as it were were that the Cummings Family stayed locked around stayed lockdown. In this debacle. At no time did he return to durham after the 19th of april . That is an important point because when we speak about the other high profile discussions about people, whether they broke lockdown oi people, whether they broke lockdown or not, for example, kevinjames the labourmp or not, for example, kevinjames the labour mp went to a birthday party. That query is very different from a safeguarding issue to do with family. Again, no big fiore. The welsh secretary, labour politician, had a picnic with his family outside explicitly ruled out of the welsh guidance, yet there was no enormous media intense anger. Lets focus on grant shapps. You say you believe thatis grant shapps. You say you believe that is a crucial point, but they stayed lock down. So the suggestion that grant shapps made, mr cummings made a second trip to durham on the 19th of april and indeed were seen ata 19th of april and indeed were seen at a tourist spot on the 12th of april, he has got to resign, right . If those two facts and suggestions are borne out, he has got to resign because he did not stay locked down . I think these two reports that came out subsequently from the earlier report are very flimsy. It is based on an enormous source who thinks they saw something. It is very engaging. Crucially, the point is that Dominic Cummings stayed locked down for the isolation period. And i understand he did come back down to london once that isolation period was over. So that seems to be the story, im not sure there is much credible evidence that question that story. But if the evidence becomes available that that is the case and, trust me, the observer in the mirror is sticking by their story, but again changes things, he has got to 90, again changes things, he has got to go, right . Look, ithink this doesnt help when we startjumping down peoples throats calling for a scalp, this is not helpful in terms of the general political discourse. What is helpful as asking questions, not making demands. Yes, lets ask these questions, lets approach this ina these questions, lets approach this in a serious way, but lets not start trying to call for peoples heads, that is not edifying and that is not how the media in this country should behave. It is not the media saying this, tom, it is members of the tory party themselves saying this. Siena, finally, labour interestingly are not suggesting that the head of cummings should roll, they said there should be a full inquiry which may exonerate him orfind him guilty. Full inquiry which may exonerate him or find him guilty. Yes, labour has taken this approach. Basically, lets take a step back and first, we need a lot of questions answered about what happened here. When was the Prime Minister first made aware that Dominic Cummings was experiencing symptoms, that he travelled to durham . We need to know a little bit more about that story, whether he was a notorious spot. It doesnt matter whether that was outside the seven day or 14 day isolation period, he shouldnt have been there anyway, this is the height of lockdown restrictions. There are so many questions to be answered and keir starmer has taken the approach of actually, there are tory mps calling for Dominic Cummings to go, the labour party doesnt need to do that and make this a Party Political issue, it just needs a lot of questions and swing at the moment. And lets hope the Prime Minister does actually provide some of those answers and doesntjust say, well, we dont know the details yet, as grant shapps did this morning. Sienna rodgers from labour list and tom harding from the guido fawkes website, thank you. Thank you. This week, the official number of deaths in care homes in england and wales from covid 19 will pass 10,000. That wont include residents who died in hospital. Care leaders say two months into the pandemic, support for Homes Remains patchy and inconsistent. In the last week, the bbc has spoken to more than a hundred residential and Nursing Homes nearly a third had still had no staff tested for the virus. The government says it threw a protective ring around care homes from the start and that the majority are coronavirus free. 0ur social affairs correspondent, alison holt, has returned to one home we have followed throughout the crisis to get their views. Out of mind for too long, the strain on care staff is so close to the surface. Its like an emotion, you know . Youre up and down, youre up and down. Youre caring for people under the hardest conditions. Erm, to see people get so sick and so poorly and only be able to hold their hand, not be able to give them a cuddle, not be able to do myjob, it makes me feel frustrated inside. 0ne home, but their experience here tells the story of so many. Weve followed care staff at St Ives Lodge in chingford, as theyve struggled with covid 19. Six residents have died. Now eight weaks on, they hope theyve got the better of the virus. So, right from the start, weve tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes. This wasnt what the home manager remembers. Struggling to get testing, protective equipment and health support, she felt ignored. Weve made sure that care homes have the resources they need to control the spread of infection. Well, that makes me really angry to watch that, erm, because its rubbish. Going back to that time and even now we still feel like were on our own. We had no one. You know, we were making decisions, we were using google. It was. It was a nightmare, you know, but we did it. Staff locked the home down in early march. Then, official advice in england said it was unlikely people in residential and Nursing Homes would be infected by the virus. That advice changed on march the 13th, when care homes were told they should ask no one to visit who has suspected covid 19, or is generally unwell. Three days later, St Ives Lodge had its first case a resident who visited hospital regularly. The virus spread to others he sat with at mealtimes. 0n the 17th, the nhs told hospitals they should urgently discharge all hospital in patients who were medically fit to leave. Theres increasing evidence that some patients took the virus into homes. 0n the 21st, the government said the medically vulnerable should shield, including those in care homes. Three days later, lockdown began for everyone. At this point, the representatives of key care organisations believe that their voice was not really being heard at the heart of government. The focus was on preventing hospitals being overwhelmed. I think it says something about how we value people in the care system. Vic rayner, who represents not for profit care homes, says in march, some residents were receiving blanket letters from gps, saying they might not be taken to hospital. We will be signing forms to say if your heart and breathing stop, the carers will not try to resuscitate you. There will not be ambulances available to come and continue any resuscitation, or take you to hospital. The home that received this letter refused to pass it on to its residents. Its not thinking about people. Its not thinking about individuals. Its thinking about a process and a system, and its saying, the system cant help you. Three weeks into lockdown, with the pandemic at its peak, Council Directors of social care wrote to the government describing protective equipment distribution as shambolic, guidance as contradictory, and saying social care appeared an afterthought. Four days later, the health and care secretary set out his action plan. The government insists its provided the care sector with protective equipment, testing and extra money, and in a system that was already underfunded and under pressure, theres talk of the longer term reform thats needed. Im hopeful that this crisis will mean that the government realises it cant afford not to reform social care. I think too often, in the past, the focus has been on the cost of reform, without thinking about the human and financial consequences of not reforming. For residents and care staff, getting this right for the future couldnt be more important. Alison holt, bbc news. With me now is our health correspondent, anna collinson. We will get onto the situation in ca re we will get onto the situation in care homes in a moment following that report, but first, anna, going back to the situation involving Dominic Cummings, just explain what the government rules were at the beginning of the lockdown, the end of march beginning of april . beginning of the lockdown, the end of march beginning of april . If we go back to the end of march, the uks Strict Lockdown had been announced and i looked back on the 3ist announced and i looked back on the 31st of march what the figures were looking like. 1800 people had so far died from coronavirus and 10,000 people had been admitted to hospital. The governments headline message at this time was simple, stay at home and lead unless you need to do several things which includes going for exercise or buying essential food. Includes going for exercise or buying essentialfood. If you had symptoms you are told not to leave your home for up to 14 days and that meant not seeing friends or family outside of your household and not travelling anywhere. However, around the same time, a Government Medical adviser told a Daily Press Briefing that if two parents are sick and they have a child they cannot look after, that would be considered an exceptional circumstance, particularly if they are not able to provide adequate support. Now, Dominic Cummings would argue that his main focus was looking after his little boy and as i say, with this guidance, it does appear there is some wiggle room, but for a lot of people who have followed that guidance to the letter, that is no consolation. We have heard from people who have not seen dying relatives because they thought it went against the lockdown measures. We heard from Single Parents who had coronavirus and struggled and did not get help. So while he found the wiggle room, for the others, it must be extremely difficult not to have done that. Sure, but what kind of risks would mr cummings or someone else in his position taken in making that journey to the else in his position taken in making thatjourney to the north east . Else in his position taken in making that journey to the northeast . 0k, its a 260 mile journey from london to County Durham. I spoke to a virology is about what would have happened if Dominic Cummings stopped ata happened if Dominic Cummings stopped at a service station to get petrol, and we dont know if he did, but what would happen . Doctor grover from the University College of london said he cannot comment on the case because levels of infections can vary from person to person but he can comment on the virus itself and we know that the virus can live ona hard and we know that the virus can live on a hard surface like metal or plastic for several days. So we know that that is Something Like a petrol pump. That that is Something Like a petrol pump, so if he had the bare hands and put his hand on a petrol pump, the virus could stay there. If they stop to use the toilet or get a snack, they could leave the virus behind on a surface. Another thing to consider is the two locations he travelled from, from london to cou nty travelled from, from london to County Durham. Back at the end of march, london was the centre of the Coronavirus Crisis while cases in cou nty Coronavirus Crisis while cases in County Durham were extremely low. The aim of the lockdown was to stop the virus spreading from london to other parts of the country but roll on two months, the north east has the highest rate of infections in england. Now, know one person is to blame for that, but experts say the fa ct blame for that, but experts say the fact that if people dont follow the measures and we dont all follow the lockdown measures agreed, its not going to work. Weve also been hearing its been claimed that Dominic Cummings made may be more than one journey to the north east. He has obviously denied that but the more journeys you make, he has obviously denied that but the morejourneys you make, the more interaction you have with other people, the more the virus will spread. Anna, thank you very much for that. We are waiting for the Coronavirus Briefing coming from number ten which will be in about half an hours time. And that will actually be led by the Prime Minister himself, and im sure he will be taking questions on the situation involving Dominic Cummings, his special adviser. The conservative mp and former brexit minister steve baker is one of the conservative backbenchers calling for Dominic Cummings to go. Earlier, he told us why. I think his position is untenable. Its because of dominics slogans around these rules that mums and dads, grannies and grandpas across the country will have felt that they had to stay at home if covid 19 got into theirfamilies had to stay at home if covid 19 got into their families and day to care about their children, but they knew that they must stay at home for the first person for seven days and 14 days for the others, and now it turns out that they could have been driving around the country with symptoms, perhaps four hours, to get toa symptoms, perhaps four hours, to get to a position of more convenient childcare. This requires an extremely broad interpretation of latitude in the rules and makes untenable for dominic to to stay and my real objection is that we are burning through capital, co opting members of the cabinet with vapid lines trying to defend the indefensible. We saw yesterday enormous Political Capital expended to try and fix todays press, and it didnt work and it isnt going to work. Until dominic goes, i think were going to find were talking about dominic. I want us to get onto the real concerns people have like getting out of this Coronavirus Crisis and on with the normal programme of Boris Johnsons government. Steve baker there. Lets take a look at the timeline of events around mr cummings trip to durham. 0n the 23rd of march, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the uk would be placed into lockdown with strict limitations on travel. The government guidelines stated you should not be visiting Family Members who do not live in your home. on the 27th of march, Boris Johnson tested positive for coronavirus. Three days later, on the 30th of march, downing street confirmed that Dominic Cummings was suffering from coronavirus symptoms and self isolating. A day later, Durham Police said it was made aware of reports that an individual had travelled from london to durham and was self isolating at an address. newspaper reports say witnesses saw Dominic Cummings in Barnard Castle around 30 miles from durham on the 12th of april. Two days later, on the 14th of april, mr cummings was photographed back in downing street. And on the 19th of april, newspaper reports say a witness spotted mr cummings in bluebell woods near durham. Lets talk to our political correspondent, nick eardley, who is in downing street. We are expecting this briefing at 5pm, in about 32 minutes time. What are we likely to get, do you think . I think we are likely to hear Boris Johnsons justification for keeping his chief adviser, frankly. Sources in downing street say that his position has not changed and they still think that Dominic Cummings acted within the rules and therefore he is not going to be sacked or walk. He has been in downing street, by the way, for about five hours. The arrive this morning and is still in there. The Prime Minister is in there as well and they have a lot to talk about. I suspect borisjohnson will be asked a number of questions about the specifics of mr cummingss case and why he thought it was so essential to travel 260 miles from london to durham during lockdown, whether he went back to durham, whether he went back to durham, whether he went back to durham, whether he stayed in one property, as had been suggested by ministers, to self isolate or whether there is any truth in those reports you were just talking about that he was spotted 30 miles away from durham when he was supposed to be self isolating. But Dominic Cummings is a key ally, a key strategist for the Prime Minister and it does seem that mrjohnson is prepared to back him, despite those calls from some tory backbenchers for him to be sacked and despite those calls from labour and despite those calls from labour and the snp for a full investigation from the cabinet secretary. You mention the snp, and Nicola Sturgeon has just tweeted that mr cummings should resign and she compares it to the Catherine Calderwood incident. Just refresh our viewers on what that was. Catherine calderwood was the chief medical officer in scotla nd the chief medical officer in scotland and she travelled to her second home from edinburgh to five, a fairly lengthy journey second home from edinburgh to five, a fairly lengthyjourney of an hour and a half, twice over two consecutive weekends. If you cast your mind back to when that story broke in the scottish sun, the Scottish Government initially didnt tell miss calderwood that she had to resign. She was not sacked. Nicola sturgeon took part in an incredibly painful press conference where she was repeatedly asked why miss calderwood was allowed to stay in herjob, despite calderwood was allowed to stay in her job, despite breaking calderwood was allowed to stay in herjob, despite breaking the lockdown rules so clearly. A lot of pressure on Nicola Sturgeon and eventually the Scottish Government decided that the Public Health message was being undermined by the fa ct message was being undermined by the fact that the person who was on Television Every Night talking about it had broken those very rules, so eventually she was told that she had to resign. I dont think that is necessarily what is going to happen here and i dont think downing street sees it as exactly the same. The justification we have heard from ministers is that mr cummings was worried that his wife had started to show coronavirus symptoms. He was worried he was going to become symptomatic as well and they wanted to make sure their youngest son had appropriate childcare if the two of them fell ill, so they drove to durham where the family were staying to make sure that that support was on hand if they needed that. It doesnt sound like it was actually used. It doesnt seem like the trial spent time with mamas of the families, they dropped off with members of the family and they dropped food, but there are still questions and gaps in the story which we dont know the complete details. That, isuspect, is exactly what the Prime Minister is going to be asked in about 25 minutes time, why he thinks its ok for mr cummings to stay in his job why he thinks its ok for mr cummings to stay in hisjob and why he thinks its ok for mr cummings to stay in his job and how he is going to justify keeping his chief aide in position despite many people, many in his own party, Many Political opponents and i suspect many members of the public considering him to have broken the rules. Nick, thank you very much. Nick eardley at downing street. The government has repeatedly warned that breaking the coronavirus guidelines risked exposing other to the virus. Lets talk to drjoe grove, who is a virologist at Univeristy College london. Hello to you and thanks for being with us. 0bviously, lots of criticism of mr cummings on the journey he is supposed to have made. His behaviour, how could that have caused a problem in terms of the spread of the virus . So, much of the conversation today has been about whether or not Dominic Cummings and his family could have potentially transmitted the virus either on the journey or once they arrived in durham, and that, of course, is an important factor epidemiologically because they could spread the infection to other people in a different part of the country. However, in my opinion, this is also a bit ofa however, in my opinion, this is also a bit of a distraction because the effect of any one person is quite minor. The more important thing is the message it is sending out. The lockdown has been very successful in flattening the curve and diminishing the current epidemic, but this is because people have been thinking in a Community Minded way and beating the virus together but for us to come out of that and to have the track, trace and isolate policy to work, people need to act continually against their own self interest so we need good mould role models in Public Office that we can follow and look up to. So track and trace is seen as the way forward as the r number goes down and you are saying that that potential policy is in jeopardy if people still dont stick to the rules . People are going to need to abide closely to the rules for track and trace to work, people might be told that they have recently been in close contact with someone who may have the virus and therefore they need to isolate whilst the rest of the society is going about normal business, so people need to focus on the national interest, the community interests and not their own self interest, so we really need the government to lead by example. Is the danger then, you are saying, that the actual message is getting muddled and confused and there are now suggestions that the original message back at the end of march, beginning of april, allowed loopholes that some would argue, his supporters would argue, Dominic Cummings was well within his rights to exploit. I would maybe argue that someone in Public Office needs to think hard about how they are acting and really go above and beyond to model the best behaviour that the whole nation needs to. When it comes to track and trace, as we say, that is the next step in dealing with this pandemic as the curve is flattened and the r number goes down. Do you think we are in a place where we can really begin to track and trace enough people to keep that r number down . Im probably not well placed to answer that question. Im not so much on top of the logistics of that, but you are right that its an important component of coming out of lockdown because it is a strategy that would allow us to strike a middle ground between complete lockdown and complete reopening of the economy and society. So its very important that we get the numbers down, that our Testing Capacity is high and also that we have the ability to trace individuals and ask them to self isolate. So its very important, for instance, that we have the it infrastructure and those applications we will be asked to download, they need to work very well. Doctorjoe grover, via a neurologist from the university couege neurologist from the University College london. Scotlands Health Secretary, jeane freeman, has announced that death in Service Cover will be extended to social care workers during the pandemic. This is what she had to say at the news briefing a couple of hours ago. Social care workers have always played a vital and valuable role, but the importance of what they do has never been more apparent than during this emergency period. Several employers already offer Employment Contracts to social care workers, which are broadly in line with the Scottish Governments fair work principles. But it is clear that others do not. At this time, even more than is usually the case, that cannot be justified. It is not acceptable for any social care worker to be faced with the impossible situation of testing positive for the virus, knowing that their weekly income will reduce to only the level of statutory sick pay. So, we have intervened to ensure that social care workers do not face that situation, but receive better levels of sick pay. It is also the case that for some social care workers, their contract of employment offers no cover for death in service. Again, that is not acceptable. So, our intervention will also ensure that in the tragic circumstances of this pandemic, where a social care worker dies, their next of kin will receive financial support. That sick pay fund will ensure that care workers who test positive for covid 19 will receive sick pay above the current statutory level of £95. 85 a week. The death in Service Benefit will see a one off payment of 60,000 made to a named survivor of any social care worker who dies without death in Service Cover in their contracted pension arrangements. And both these arrangements will be retrospective. Scotlands Health Secretary jeane freeman. Turkey which had one of the Fastest Growing coronavirus outbreaks in the world says its turning the tide. The daily growth in infections has dropped to the lowest level since the countrys first case in march. The Authorities Say the countrys Contact Tracing system which involves almost 6,000 teams nationwide is a key weapon in tackling covid 19. 0ur international correspondent, 0rla guerin, joined a tracing team in istanbul. How do you track a virus that sweeps, unseen, through a city . In istanbul, home to more than 16 million, the answer is, dont waste a minute. Right from the very beginning, we were ready for the covid 19. This is where we pick up the calls. Dr aslan tells me teams began tracking the virus from day one when turkeys first case was diagnosed in march. The system was well established from decades of tracking measles outbreaks. Manning the phone lines here, dedicated doctors and nurses. We, as a team, feel as if we are in a war because people forget to go home, they dont know the timeframes that theyre working in. We say that, 0k, eight hours is completed, but they dont even care for going home because they know that this is a duty that they have to complete, before it spreads to anyone else. So teams like this suit up and head out, responding to calls from the Emergency Services and from worried members of the public. They track down contacts of those who test positive, using an app and shoe leather. Wejoined them in fatih, the heart of old istanbul. In this city alone, 1,200 tracing teams are on the move. Theyre heading to see two flatmates who are already being monitored theirfriend is covid positive. Now sumaya and nasla, both in their 20s, have a doorstep test. A rapid response, one day after they called to say they had mild symptoms. Translation we follow foreign news, and when we first heard about the virus, we were really scared. We were very concerned about how we would beat this, but turkey has rallied faster than we thought, much faster than europe and the united states. Well, the doctors are out of their ppe now, everything has been bagged up, its going to be disposed of safely. They have taken the swabs and they will be sent off to the labs, and the results will be back within 24 hours. This is the key part of the battle here, its house by house, contact by contact. Were keeping the virus out of the streets, thats very important for us. Once we isolate them, the virus stops spreading to their friends, to their relatives, to their co workers. So far, it seems to be working, along with widespread testing and partial lockdowns. The official death toll is more than 4,200, but International Experts say turkey has managed to shield its people from a greater disaster. 0rla guerin, bbc news, istanbul. Greece will reopen its islands to Domestic Tourism tomorrow, the latest in a series of measures ending lockdown restrictions. It closed its borders early, and has had only 171 deaths from coronavirus. But greeces tourist industry which makes up at least a fifth of the economy has been badly hit by the pandemic, as Quentin Sommerville reports. The parthenon is a landmark notjust for greece, but for the entire world, and for the last few months, it along with western civilisation has been closed to visitors. This week, it reopened. Social distancing means new markings on these ancient stones and new plastic defences on the ramparts. For greece, there is no greater symbol but, for now, this is mainly a symbolic reopening. On any given day, there would usually be 20,000 visitors here. Today, barely 100. Foreign tourists can return here without quarantine from the middle ofjune. For the moment, its mostly locals. The fact that its open makes me feel hopeful, but cautiously so. Our government reacted well and quickly, and the results show. Greece hasnt been overwhelmed by the pandemic only 170 deaths. Lockdown is easing here. The mainlands beaches are open and, from monday, its islands will be, too. For now, tourists from high infection areas the us, russia and the United Kingdom wont be allowed in, but that will change as the virus weakens, says the countrys tourism minister. Everybody has been under stress. I think this vacationing process is a healing process, especially for this year. Tourism is the bedrock of the greek economy. Back at the acropolis, its slow going. Yanis hasnt had a customer in days. Yiannis hasnt had a customer in days. Its about time to accept that the world has changed and now we have to start learning new things, and one of them is to be able to. And the acropolis, some days of the year, is going to be like this as well. The acropolis is a monument to insurance a fitting place to take the first cautious steps out of the pandemic. More now on the controversy surrounding the Senior Adviser to borisjohnson, dominic surrounding the Senior Adviser to Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings. Lets speak now to tom swarbrick, former number 10 advisor to theresa may and current lbc presenter. It is good to see you, thanks very much indeed for being with us. What is the calculation borisjohnson, do you think, is making as we speak about whether or not to keep Dominic Cummings in the middle of all this . I think it is a calculation between damage done by keeping him and damage done by keeping him and damage done by letting him go. And i think the damage done by keeping him so far seems to be relatively obvious, in that, well, there are three really. The first is that the claim to be a peoples government ta kes a claim to be a peoples government takes a bit of a hit. You know, i know, i have been listening to my collea g u es know, i have been listening to my colleagues talking about it, people have made immense sacrifices during this, Single Parents, kids with educational special needs, families who have not been able to see loved ones when they have passed or go to funerals, people have made immense sacrifices. So for the peoples government not to be seen to be standing alongside the people during this doesnt seem like a good fit, in fact, it could be very damaging. The Political Capital of the Prime Minister is eaten up by this no doubt, but he has such a big majority so he has a lot of it. But perhaps the most dangerous bit in the context in which we find ourselves with this pandemic ongoing is the trust needed in the government message in order to inform the responsible decisions of individuals is going to be damaged by this. So they have got a calculation to make about whether that hit is with the hit of losing him and they may well decide, and we will wait and see when the Prime Minister speaks, the facts are not yet known. So the second visit is disputed, we dont really know on what grounds, but it is still disputed. Dominic cummings clearly performs a very central and large and key role during this pandemic. And the context in which we are in, the pandemic, means that this story may start to disappear if they can regain some control of the news agenda for a few days, and the cabinet anger may die down, the anger of mps and the public, not least because big things are happening during the pandemic. So it might bea happening during the pandemic. So it might be a tactical win for a bit, but the strategic aim of being the peoples government is going to take it from this if they do decide to keep him. We know nick timothy and fiona hill, special advisers to your old boss theresa may, they walked the plank after the mass of the 2017 election. Is Dominic Cummings from what you understand the kind of person willing to do that, given the situation as it stands . |j person willing to do that, given the situation as it stands . I dont know. I have to say, i dont know Dominic Cummings, i have never met him or spoke in two words to him and i dont know inside his mind. But from everything he has said so far on the record, he doesnt look like he is giving an inch here. What i understand, his role in downing street is absolutely critical and is seen to be completely critical, hence why presumably the Prime Minister is inclined to be loyal towards him. But it is whether that, overall, that role being so critical ultimately ends up damaging the government or whether they calculate that keeping him for now is the right thing to do to steer through the pandemic and lets see what is on the other side of it. I see lots of rumours at the moment about possible enquiries are being set up to look at exactly what he did and whether it falls foul of the code. But it is sort of extraordinary that so much Political Capital is being used to keep a special adviser in place. Yes, he is not a minister, he is not in the cabinet. But one wonders, the stirrings of rebellion potentially on the backbenches towards mr cummings potentially on the backbenches towards mrcummings in potentially on the backbenches towards mr cummings in this situation, is that the kind of thing that might give borisjohnson pause for thought, or of those people coming out and criticising mr cummings, are they likely suspects for criticising him in any other situation anyway . I mean, i dont think so. If this were a straight sort of grieve, remain proxy fight, it would be surprising to see leave voting tory mps having a go at mr cummings. Soi voting tory mps having a go at mr cummings. So i am not sure it is straight grieve remain battle. I think people are worried about the time, energy and effort Boris Johnson spending on keeping him and raising questions about how quit how critical and central he is and whether his remit is too big and it should be cut back a bit. I think there will always be either political sort of motivations for wanting him gone, but it is interesting what the labour party isnt doing at the moment, i may have missed it, but i have not seen keir starmer say he ought to resign. And i think that is part of a long game being played which, as much as the tactical battle for control of the tactical battle for control of the headlines might be about to take depending on what the Prime Minister does and they may be able to regain some control, by keeping him, there isa some control, by keeping him, there is a big strategic question about the peoples government claim, the on your side claim, the ability of people out here to trust in what the government is staying at this critical moment and that is perhaps more damaging than losing the tactical narrative battle at the moment. 0k, tom swarbrick, former adviser to theresa may and now an lbc presenter, thanks forjoining us. Lets speak now to the acting leader of the liberal democrats, sir ed davey. Thanks for being with us. What do you make of all this . The Prime Minister has to choose between backing the millions of people who made huge sacrifices, personal sacrifices, change their daily lives, not gone to family weddings and funerals, and his closest adviser. I would strongly hope, given we have a National Crisis of u ntold given we have a National Crisis of untold proportions, with Peoples Health and the economy, the Prime Minister would act on behalf of the millions of people. Dominic cummings has now become a distraction, increasingly a dangerous distraction because the government is not getting on with the job of looking after the people in our care homes, for example, or sorting out the testing or the ppe. Surely the Prime Minister should stand up to the millions of people in britain and not back his closest adviser. Mr cummings made it clear, and the government has made this clear as well that he was protecting his four year old son. Thats understandable, isnt it, surely . We all have sympathy for that. I have children of my own and i have a disabled child he was quite vulnerable, so i absolutely understand that but the message from the government, the order, the instruction from the Prime Minister at the height of the peak, which is what we are talking about, was stay at home. Stay and we do know that Dominic Cummingss family had family and friends in london and did not need to go to the other side of the country for help for their child. That is just a fact. And they appear to have done it possibly even twice, and the story of mr cummings does not stack up. It looks like there is one rule for him, the Prime Ministers closest adviser, and another rule for the rest of us. Is the fear that on a much deeper level that the coronavirus message that the government is trying to put out there to protect people, that that is what is actually damaged as a result of this whole discussion . Thats right. During this pandemic, this crisis, its vital that the government communicates in a way that people will have faith in and can trust and will follow. In the early stages, lets be clear, i think they did, and they said to stay at home, but if we learn that the person who was advising the Prime Minister, right at his right hand side, was not abiding by the rules and the instruction Prime Minister was giving to the rest of us, im afraid that brings the whole Government Communication strategy about what we are supposed to do and not do into question, and that should be worrying to people, because its about the Public Health of our nation, about how we recover our economy and if the governments instructions and views and guidance can no longer be trusted because people lose faith in it, then that isa people lose faith in it, then that is a very, very dangerous step for our country. So thats why the liberal democrats have been clear for a while now but im afraid Dominic Cummings is now an impediment even to the fight against coronavirus pandemic, because hes getting on the way. The stopping the government getting on with the job it must do to keep us safe. We heard grant shapps this morning say that according to him that the rules governing travel during the lockdown suggested that if you are living with children, follow this advice to the best of your ability. However, we are aware that all of these measures may not be possible. We are aware that all of these measures may not be possiblem looks like grant shapps was trying to rewrite the rules in order to save the skin of the Prime Ministers closest adviser. I remember at the time we are talking about the police were stopping people going just ten or 20 miles away. Because that was deemed to be against the rules, and im afraid it does look to me that this was a direct breach of the rules, wilfully breaching rules, and im afraid the explanation however human it may be, does not stand up to scrutiny. His ward his wife could have sought ca re ward his wife could have sought care for the child from Family Members here in london, so while i have sympathy on a human level with them, im afraid the country is in a crisis, this is a man who is right at the centre of government, in the Prime Ministers office, the leading adviser, and if hes not sticking to the rules it would become impossible for the Prime Minister to convince the rest of the country to stick to the rest of the country to stick to the rules. And thats why he must go and thats why we need to get on, move on, so we can tackle the lack of testing, the lack of tracing, the lack of ppe. The tragedy in our care homes, thats what we should be focusing on. And mr cummings has become a distraction and if the Prime Minister cannot see that and cant act, i have some concerns about the Prime Minister. 0k, we will leave it there. Many thanks. Among the conservative mps calling for Dominic Cummings resignation is sir roger gale. Speaking to my colleague ben brown, he explained why he thought the Prime Ministers chief aide should go. Im a father and grandfather. I understand mr cummingss desire to protect his four year old son, and i think any parent would understand that but this man is a member of a tea m that but this man is a member of a team in number10 that but this man is a member of a team in number 10 downing street and you cant have one law for the Prime Ministers team and another law for absolutely everybody else. I agree with steve baker, i think his position is untenable and i think he has to go. But youve heard what downing street have said, that he acted reasonably and legally, so whats the problem . The problem is that you cannot have one law for downing street and another law for everybody else. People all over the country have children, but theyve had to self isolate with them, and they have not been able to provide childcare for them. This is not one law for one person and one law for absolutely everybody else and there isa absolutely everybody else and there is a degree of hubris and arrogance in this that goes beyond acceptability. As ive said, i think his position is untenable, and i think to maintain the credibility of the administration, he has to go. Do you think you broke the rules or just bent the rules . Broke, bent, its neither here nor there. The fa ct of its neither here nor there. The fact of the matter is there is a tea m fact of the matter is there is a team of people who set the rules. They and we all have to bide by those rules. Im sitting now in a rather peculiar office in isolation. Why ami rather peculiar office in isolation. Why am i doing that . Because i have to. Ive been told i need to and im doing it. Do i like it . No, not particular, id sooner be in the house of commons doing the job particular, id sooner be in the house of commons doing thejob im elected to do but if this is the way i have to work, i will work this way and do the job. I have to work, i will work this way and do thejob. Mr cummings has to play by the rules that he has said that everybody else has to abide by. He has broken those rules. He has to go. You say that, but the question is, in the end, its down to him whether he wants to go. He has said obviously he wont go and he doesnt ca re obviously he wont go and he doesnt care how it looks. Thats what he said yesterday. Borisjohnson is quoted in one of todays newspaper saying i wont throw him to the dogs. Does the Prime Minister need mrcummings too dogs. Does the Prime Minister need mr cummings too badly that he wont fire him . I think yesterday there was a degree of sympathy for Dominic Cummings for the reasons i gave in my opening remarks. As parents or grandparents, we understand that fathers want to protect their children, need to protect their children, need to protect their children and are determined to protect their children. That, people can sympathise with. If it turns out, and it is and if at the moment, but if it turns out that the full story has not been told, that he has been coming and going, that he has been coming and going, that he has been seen in places other than in isolation, then that becomes a different story. The story that the cabinet members were defending yesterday was his right to look after his trial. The other story is indefensible. We are expecting the Coronavirus Briefing from downing street led by the Prime Minister borisjohnson street led by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson today. Lets talk to our political correspondent, nick eardley, is in downing street. Any rumours or rumblings as to what we might get today . All the signs are, clive, that mrjohnson is backing Dominic Cummings. He has beenin backing Dominic Cummings. He has been in there all afternoon, both of them have and there is no sign coming from downing street at all that its changed its mind about those statements we have had over the last couple of days which have made it pretty clear that the government machine is sticking behind mrjohnsons key adviser. So i suspect he will face a lot of questions about exactly why and exactly what went on and exactly when mrjohnson knew that mr cummings had travelled from london to durham to self isolate. Mr johnson has a lot of other things he wa nts to johnson has a lot of other things he wants to talk about though, because the next few days are going to be really important for the government as it tries to persuade people in england that it is time to start easing some of those lockdown restrictions. We know that the government wants some school kids in england to return to school from a week tomorrow, so it wouldnt surprise me of mrjohnson also wants to talk about easing those lockdown measures to perhaps try and move the story on from mr cummings. That will be easier said than done though, because the potential for more reports on mr cummingss whereabouts is there, and i suspect mrjohnson will face a number of questions about what exactly is going on here. 0k, nick, about what exactly is going on here. Ok, nick, thank you for that. We are expecting that briefing on the next few minutes or so. And a warm welcome to our viewers around the world for this bbc news special which will bring you the Coronavirus Briefing, the latest, today, in the next few minutes from downing street and it will be led by borisjohnson, the downing street and it will be led by Boris Johnson, the prime downing street and it will be led by borisjohnson, the Prime Minister and im sure there will be many, many questions concerning the future of his chief aide, mr Dominic Cummings even the suggestion that he broke the lock down in the middle of this pandemic. Lets go back to nick who is at westminster for us, rather, he is at number 10 downing street for us. Nick, do we know whether or not the Prime Minister is actually going to be potentially backing mrcummings . All actually going to be potentially backing mr cummings . All the indications are that that will be the case. Yes, i think that will be the case. Yes, i think that will be the case. Yes, i think that will be the case. No official confirmation from number ten but my sources tell me that really the position in government hasnt changed, that the Prime Minister was backing mr cummings when this story first broke on friday night and is continuing to back him now, but as i say, what will be really interesting over the next hour or so is to see what sort of explanation mrjohnson gives for arriving at that conclusion. Does he provide the detail that opposition parties like the labour party have been asking for about exactly when mrcummings drove from been asking for about exactly when mr cummings drove from london to durham, and why he thought that was com pletely durham, and why he thought that was completely necessary, despite the lockdown being in place. I suspect he will also face questions about exactly when he, borisjohnson, knew that mrcummings had exactly when he, borisjohnson, knew that mr cummings had taken that decision and had moved himself from london up to the north of england, asi london up to the north of england, as i say, a journey of 260 miles. But, all of this, of course, comes ata time but, all of this, of course, comes at a time when the government is trying to persuade people in england that the infection rate is under control, and if it remains under control, and if it remains under control, its time to start easing some of those restrictions, to start, for example, sending some kids who have not been at school back to school in england as soon as a week tomorrow. It wouldnt surprise me if we had more than borisjohnson on that and about his other plans for the next few weeks. He hasnt done many of these press conferences in the last few weeks. Theres been a lot of criticism. Lets listen to the Prime Minister now. Good afternoon. I want to begin by answering the big question that people have been asking in the last 48 hours, and that is, is this government asking you, the people, the public, to do one thing whilst senior people here in government do Something Else . Have we been asking you to make sacrifices to obey social distancing, to stay at home, while some people have been basically flouting those rules and endangering lives . And its because i take this matter so seriously, and frankly, it is so serious, that i can tell you today that ive had extensive face conversations with Dominic Cummings and ive concluded that in travelling to find the right kind of childcare at the moment when both he and his wife were about to be incapacitated by coronavirus, and when he had no alternative, i think he followed the instincts of every father and every parent, and i do not mark him down for that. And though there have been many other allegations about what happened when he was in self isolation and thereafter, some of them palpably false, i believe that in every respect, he has acted responsibly and legally and with integrity. And with the overwhelming aim of stopping the spread of the virus and saving lives. And i stress this fundamental thing, because it is thanks to this countrys collective resolve in achieving that aim that we continue to make progress will stop so let me give you todays figures. 3,000,450 tests for coronavirus have now been carried out in the uk, including 110,000, 401 tests carried out yesterday. 100 and thousand 401. 259,550 people have tested positive, an increase of 2409 cases since yesterday. A small increase and we have seen over the last few weeks. 8951 people are in hospital with covid 19 in the uk, downing 11 from 10,085 this time last week. And sadly, of those tested positive for coronavirus across all settings, 36,793 have now died. That is an increase of 118 fatalities since yesterday. Each of those fatalities represents a family in mourning, the grief of friends and relatives. And as we mourn them, we resolve again to beat this virus and get our country back on its feet. And we can and we will. Two weeks ago i set out the governments road map to begin easing the measures we put in place to control the spread of coronavirus. Isaid we i said we would do so in a safe and controlled way based on our assessment of progress against the five tests we set for adjusting the lockdown. We are going to set out that assessment in detail in the coming days but, today, i can confirm that i do believe we will be ina confirm that i do believe we will be in a position to move to step two of our plan. As part of step two, we set out plans for a phased reopening of schools. Because the education of our children is crucial for their welfare, their health, for the long term future and for social justice. And so in line with the approach being taken in many other countries, we want to start getting our children back into the classroom ina way our children back into the classroom in a way that is as manageable and as safe as possible. So we said we would begin with early years settings and reception, year one and year six settings and reception, year one and yearsix in settings and reception, year one and year six in Primary Schools, early yea rs, year six in Primary Schools, early years, reception year one and year six. And today, i can announce that it is our intention to go ahead with that as planned onjune the 1st, a week on monday. We then intend, from june 15, for secondary schools to provide some contact for year ten and year 12 students to help them prepare for exams next year with up toa prepare for exams next year with up to a quarter of the students in at any point. By opening schools to more pupils in this limited way, we are taking a deliberately cautious approach and this comes after a constructive period of consultation with schools, teachers and unions led by the education secretary, gavin williamson. I want to thank all the teachers, education and childcare staff who have stepped up to the challenge and kept schools open throughout this crisis. The department for education will engage with teaching unions, local authorities and School Leaders in the coming days. Giving them an opportunity to ask questions and probe the evidence behind our plans. And the final decision will be taken as part of the formal review into lockdown measures which the law requires us to undertake by thursday. We will of course continue to consider all the evidence as we said we would do, and we will continue to work hard with those bodies over the course of the coming weeks. But i think it is important for us to be clear about the governments intentions now, so that teachers and parents can plan in earnest. We open a week on monday. Now, i acknowledge that a june 1st opening may not be possible for all schools, but the government will continue to support and work with the sector to ensure that any school experiencing difficulties are able to open more widely as soon as possible. Detailed guidance has been published by the department for education on how schools could open ina way education on how schools could open in a way that is safe for children, teachers and parents. While, of course, we recognise that full social distancing may not be possible, especially when teaching young children, our guidance sets out a range of protective measures to keep children and staff safe. This includes, reducing the size of classes and keeping children in small groups without mixing with us, staggered break and lunchtimes, as well as drop off and pick ups. Increasing the frequency of creaming, reducing the use of shared items and utilising outdoor space. All children and staff and their families will have access to testing if they display symptoms. And this will enable children and staff to get back to school if they test negative. And if they test positive, we will take the appropriate reactive measures. We will continue to work with the sector to support them to prepare for wider opening and ensure all children and young people can continue to receive the best care, education and training possible. We will set out what moving to step two means for other areas such as nonessential retail and more social contacts over the course of the next week. So, let me stress again in conclusion, we are making good progress, but that progress is conditional. Provisional. We must keep reducing the incidents of this disease. We must keep that r down below one. And this means we must all remember the basics. Wash our hands, keep social distance, isolate if you have symptoms, get a test. We are beating this thing. But we will be it all the faster if we stay alert, control the faster if we stay alert, control the virus and save lives. We will be it all the faster. I turned medical director of nhs england Stephen Powis to present todays data, steve. Thank you, Prime Minister and good afternoon, everybody. If i could go through the slides of data with which i am sure you are all familiar. As ever, the first data side is in respect to the effect of social distancing in our transport usage within the country. As we have shown you before, when it comes to vehicles, cars, light goods and heavy goods vehicles, there has been a gradual increase following an early decline, but in public transport, national rail, transport for london and non tfl bus routes, you can see that there has been a dramatic decline and that that reduction in travel has been maintained over the period of the social distancing measures. On the next side, we take a look at the Testing Programme and the new positive cases of covid 19 arising from that programme. First, you will see that in the upper graph, there has been a large increase in testing andindeedin has been a large increase in testing and indeed in Testing Capacity in recent weeks. You will see in the bottom graph that we continue to see new confirmed test positive cases. But even with an increase in the Testing Programme, they have maintained steady or indeed have started to drop, which reflects that we are seeing less virus, less transmission of this virus in the community and, therefore, lower rates of infection. And then the next side shows how that data then tra nslates next side shows how that data then translates into our hospitals. And clearly, for the vast majority of people, this is a mild illness. If you catch the virus. But u nfortu nately for you catch the virus. But unfortunately for some, symptoms and complications do require hospitalisation. And you can see data here on new daily admissions into england with covid 19, you can see that that peaked in april, but has now been steadily declining in recent weeks. Again, reflecting lower transmission rates in the community. And then for our u nfortu nately sickest community. And then for our unfortunately sickest patients who require sometimes time in our Critical Care facilities, our intensive treatment units, u nfortu nately intensive treatment units, unfortunately and need medical ventilation to support their breeding, you can see in the lower graph that there has been another full since april breathing. In all parts of the country in the percentage of beds in intensive care units occupied by covid 19 patients, again representing the reduction of cases in the community and therefore less critically ill people coming to our communities. And then on the next slide, we can see the general data on the number of people in hospital with covid 19. And you can see that compared to last week, there has been a fall from 10,085 to 8951, so i continued fall in the number of hospital beds that are occupied with patients with covid 19 continued. And the grass you can see, there is variation around the country to this. London, as i have said before, had the biggest peak and the fastest reduction, but you can see in other parts of the country, they again are coming off a plateau of numbers of people in hospital and there is overall a sustained decline. And then finally and unfortunately, we go to our side on the number of deaths in the uk. And again, you will be familiar with this. As i have said before, the daily count does vary from day to day and particularly at weekends, where we have a reporting lag and especially on Bank Holidays where it might be three days rather than two, but the important aspect of this particular graph is the seven day rolling average, which ta kes seven day rolling average, which takes out that day to day variability and you can see that once again, we are seeing a steady but sustained decline the number of deaths. Again, reflecting success in reducing the transmission of the virus in the community. Thank you. Thanks very much, steve. Questions first from the public and then from the media. Penny, in hampshire. As this is a Global Pandemic, how is the government working with other countries to find solutions to vaccines, chasing gaps, ratherthan everyone working on their own solutions . Well, thanks, i will ask steve to comment on that. Penny, thank you very much for that question because i do think one of the most depressing things about the way the epidemic ripped through the world was there was a kind of devil ta ke world was there was a kind of devil take the hiding most approach amongst countries that scrabbled to get their own share of very scarce resources such as personal protective equipment or enzymes for testing and a real fight took place across the world as we tried to protect our own populations. And you could see that this was something that was a global problem as you rightly say, a Global Pandemic that produced a national, everywhere, a national response. And we in this government want to see a much more international approach. We want to see the nations coming together to produce the long solutions, particularly in vaccines. And that is why on gene the fourth, the uk is holding a big summit, we have got huge numbers of countries participating the 4th ofjune. They will pledge very considerable sums, we hope, into finding a vaccine. People different people had Different Levels of optimism about whether we will get a vaccine this year or next year. But i am hearing more and more signs of confidence about our ability to do it. And i certainly think that we will do it all the faster if we collaborate across countries and across scientific communities. So the uk is definitely reading in that effort. Steve, any thoughts . Yes, thank you penny. Science is a Global Endeavour andi penny. Science is a Global Endeavour and i think it has been really heartening how scientists across the world have rapidly come together and rapidly advanced the case the pace of not only our Scientific Understanding of this completely new virus, but also in terms of working through the biology and then to the sorts of treatments and therapeutics that might be used, notjust for vaccines as the Prime Minister has said, but also in terms of using drugs, some of which are drugs we use in other contexts and rapidly working through clinical trials, some of which are international and some of which are international and some of which are in individual countries to try and determine which drug or which combination of drugs might be capable of treating and modifying the effects of this virus infection. So, as i have said before, i think it is remarkable how quickly science has progressed, but there are still challenges ahead and we dont underestimate the amount of new science we need to learn and the challenges such as vaccine development. But i can be confident that that will be a global effort. And of course, the uk is very strong in life sciences. We have a long history of science and particularly biological sciences, very strong universities and they will be contributing to the global effort. Thanks very much, steve and penny. Kate, from woking. Forgive me, she asked, our school has decided its not possible to accommodate children critical workers alongside year one, reception and year six, will the government head teachers and teachers unions Work Together to find a plan that will provide for all building at home or in school in september . Kate, look, itotally understand the difficulties that your school faces and it will be tough, andi your school faces and it will be tough, and i repeat my thanks to all teachers and educational staff who have worked hard to keep schools going for Vulnerable Children and the children of key workers throughout the last ten weeks. What we will do is make sure that we stagger things and we pace things and we work directly with you, with local authorities, to make sure that there is a plan, and youve heard some of the measures i outlined today. I think the really important thing to ensure that we get everybody back and this whole thing up everybody back and this whole thing up and running by september at the very latest is just to keep pushing down the incidence of that disease, to keep pushing the r down, that will be the most effective way to make sure notjust our schools but our economy is ready to go back as fast as possible. Steve . The only thing i would add is on behalf of all of my colleagues, staff in the nhs who worked so magnificently through the surge in the virus, how grateful everybody is to our collea g u es grateful everybody is to our colleagues in schools, School Teachers and those that work in schools for keeping the children of our staff safe at school and to continue schooling during the last few weeks. Everybody is very grateful. Its been absolutely critical, so thank you. Could we go to the media now, ian watson from the bbc. Ian . Ithink to the media now, ian watson from the bbc. Ian . I think you need to unmute, ian. Can we get ians audio . Ican kind i can kind of lip read, but i think we will need to. Im so sorry, ian, can we come back to you . I think we will go to Robert Preston of itv. We will come back to you. Pro bally of itv. We will come back to you. Probally hello. Hello, Prime Minister and hello professor, good to see you both. The central agreed fa cts to see you both. The central agreed facts in this case that Dominic Cummings, reached. Can you not hear me . I can hear you well. As i say, the agreed facts are very simple. Dominic cummings, your aid, breached three of the lockdown rules, he left the house when somebody he was living with had coronavirus symptoms, he was in a confined space with that person, in this case a car for several hours and he went to a second home. Ijust wa nt and he went to a second home. Ijust want to be clear, Prime Minister, in saying that he behaved honourably and did the right thing, trying to put in place of childcare arrangements, are you saying that if somebody is in the same position as Dominic Cummings, they are at liberty to do precisely what he did quest what yes, no, not sure. And secondly, Retail Businesses need a bit of time, shops need time to prepare to open. Are they opening on june the 1st . Thanks, robert, and i wa nt to june the 1st . Thanks, robert, and i want to repeat what i said early on. Looking at the very severe childcare difficulties that presented themselves to Dominic Cummings and his family, i think what they did was totally understandable and there is actually guidance about that particular difficulty, about what you need to do about the pressures that families face when they have childcare needs and he found those needs where they could best be served, best be delivered and, yes, it did involve travel, but i have to say, looking at the situation, any father, any parent would frankly understand what he did, and i certainly do and i spent a long time talking to him about it today and on your point about the future and during the first, all i can say robert is watch this space. You will have heard me say what i said and we remain firmly on that road map, but we are proceeding in a way that is provisional, contingent, entirely dependent on our ability to continue to make the progress we are currently making in pushing that r down and defeating the virus. And you will hear more about that in the next few days. Is ian back . No, we will come to ian as soon as we can. We will go to gary given of channel 4. Thank you, Prime Minister. Im a bit puzzled. Youve had this long chat with Dominic Cummings and you said he went where he could get childcare. I thought he was now saying he did not receive any childcare and did all the childcare himself and you say he drove up the road when he was about to be incapacitated. He didnt know then. He couldnt know that. Could he . And you say more alarmingly that you say he was following instinct but the re st of he was following instinct but the rest of the country was following rules, not instincts. Are we now all entitled to follow instincts . Where will that leave us when a tracer goes round to someone who says i need you to isolate . Gary, as i said just now, the guidance makes it very clear that where you have particular childcare needs, that has got to be taken into childcare needs, that has got to be ta ken into account childcare needs, that has got to be taken into account and as ive said, i have seen a lot of stuff in the last few days about this episode of self isolation by mr cummings that does not seem to correspond remotely with reality and as far as i can see, he has stuck to the rules and he acted legally and responsibly and with the sole objective of avoiding such contact as would spread the virus. He got the virus, probably in the car, didnt he . His objective was to stop the spread of the virus and he behaved in such a way as to do that. Can we have Charlie Cooper . No, sorry, thanks, gary, we will go back to ian watson of the bbc. Prime minister, can you hear me now . Yes, we can. For better or worse. Conservative mps have got in touch with us today because they say lots of your constituents are angry and they feel that allowing somebody who is already ill to travel 250 miles across country breaches at least the spirit of your guidance. Hand on heart, can you say this did not breach the spirit of your guidance . When were you told that Dominic Cummings was making this trip, and did you approve that trip . And can i also ask another question just before i get muted again, is that you said some of the stories in the press were palpably untrue . Can you clear up one story that your minister has not been able to clear up, did Dominic Cummings make a trip to Barnard Castle in april when he was isolated or at least was based in durham . Right, ian, what i can tell you is that i think when you look at the guidance and you look at the particular childcare needs that mrcummings faced at the particular childcare needs that mr cummings faced at the time, it was reasonable of him to self isolate as he did for 14 days or more with his family where he did. Ithink or more with his family where he did. I think that was a sensible and defensible, and i understand it. As for all the other allegations, again, i repeat what i said earlier on. I have looked at them carefully andi on. I have looked at them carefully and i am content that at all times throughout his period in isolation, actually on both sides of that period, he behaved responsibly and correctly and with a view to defeating the virus and stopping the spread. But some conservative mps are saying, Prime Minister, that this defence that Dominic Cummings behave responsibly, many constituents are angry about that and they say it was irresponsible in not reaching those guidelines . And they feel insulted by that, so what would you like to say to their constituents, because that is where the postbag is coming in . understand that. And i think one of the reasons why it is so important and why i was so determined to come and why i was so determined to come and talk to everybody about this is because i can totally get why people might feel so confused, and as you say, so offended by the idea that it was one thing for people here and another for others. But having really looks at what happened and what his intentions and what he was trying to do for the good of his family, i really think most people will understand what he was doing and, above all, what he did, if you look at the measures that he took, they were designed to stop the spread of the virus. And i think that he, at all times, as i say, behave responsibly and legally. Though, ian, i perfectly accept the point that you make, and thats why its so important and it is why i wa nted its so important and it is why i wanted to come out and make these points this afternoon. Can we go now to Charlie Cooper of politico . Banks for having me. Prime minister you say that mrcummings for having me. Prime minister you say that mr cummings had no alternative, but what is your definition of no alternative in this context . Its important context because there is the question of the ongoing advice to the public, so is it now government advised that if you have symptoms but are concerned about childcare and have no alternative, in your words, you dont have to stay at home but you can travel to another home, may be ina nicer can travel to another home, may be in a nicer part of the country, if youre lucky enough to have access to one . Is that the new advice . The advice remains unchanged, charlie, and that is that if you have symptoms you should self isolate for 14 days, and that is what mr cummings and his family did. Scott mcnabb from the scotsman . cummings and his family did. Scott mcnabb from the scotsman . If the advice remains unchanged, can you explain how mrcummings advice remains unchanged, can you explain how mr cummings did not breach the advice . Sorry. Because the advice makes it absolutely clear that if you have particular childcare issues, that is a factor that has to be taken into account, and when i look at what actually happened, Dominic Cummings and his family self isolated for 14 days, and that is what you have got to do. And as i said at the outset, there was a risk that they would not, if they both went under in such a way as to be unable to care for their child, to get your point, then they might have needed the help of relatives who were living nearby, who could come in a socially distant way. As it happened, that was not necessary , way. As it happened, that was not necessary, for medical reasons i dont want to go into, but that was the risk and i think it was a real risk, and i think it was absolutely responsible of Dominic Cummings to see the risk to his family and to see the risk to his family and to see the risk to his child and to ta ke ste ps see the risk to his child and to take steps to avert it, and that is what he did. And that in no way changes the guidance or the advice. Can we go to scott mcnabb from the scotsman, please . In scotland, our former chief medical officer resigned after a late night conversation with Nicola Sturgeon when it emerged she had breached lockdown rules, travel to her second residence in another part of the country. The reason she had to go, we we re country. The reason she had to go, we were later told, because keeping heron we were later told, because keeping her on would risk undermining the Public Health campaign to keep the virus under control. Is there not a real danger that if mr cummings remains in place, people might choose to disregard these lockdown restrictions and so undermine the progress we have made so far in suppressing the virus . Know, because the sharp distinction is that unlike the sharp distinction is that unlike the lady you mention, mr cummings actually went into lockdown because he had symptoms, went into self isolation for 14 days or more, and thatis isolation for 14 days or more, and that is what you should do and the particular circumstances of his isolation, as ive said several times now, were determined by the childcare needs of the family. The oxford mail . Good afternoon, Prime Ministerand oxford mail . Good afternoon, Prime Minister and Stephen Powis, this week we reported on the death of peter gough, week we reported on the death of petergough, an week we reported on the death of peter gough, an Administrative Assistant at a hospital who died from coronavirus after raising concerns that he did not have access to dpe or hand sanitiser, even after the death of two porters at the same hospital. The managing trust have said they followed the National Guidance and as staff did not have direct contact with patients, they did not need ppe. The family and friends believe he died unnecessary and should have been better protected at work. To professor Stephen Powis, what is the evidence and rationale towards limiting ppe in this way in hospital . Is it entirely science based or is it down to limited resources . And to the Prime Minister, an oxford doctor who works in intensive care in the city had coronavirus in march, had a four month old baby at home, but he said he followed the guidance which he saw as incredibly clear and stayed in lockdown throughout. If the government guidance included the exemption that mr cummings used, why did so many people in oxfordshire and beyond seem completely unaware of it, and at great cost to themselves and their loved ones . On ppe guidance the answer is, yes, ppe guidance is based on the science. The ppe guidance in the uk is developed by our experts at Public Health england, Public Health scotla nd health england, Public Health scotland and the other devolved administrations and it closely follows World Health Organization guidance as well. That guidance has been refreshed a couple of times since we learnt about this virus in january. The last time it was reviewed was now about a month ago, at the weekend after easter. And that was done with a huge amount of input from professional colleagues across the health care sector, including the royal colleges, some of the unions and others. And there was a real consensus around the work on that. I think Public Health england had over a thousand comments over the course of refreshing that. Soiam over the course of refreshing that. So i am confident the guidance in place at the moment, which is that guidance, is not only based on the science, but on the professional input and support of many, many professional groups within health care. Thanks very much, steve. Just on ppe, if i could say something, because it has been one of the most difficult and the most intractable and in some ways infuriating aspects of the crisis, the difficulty of delivering ppe in a timely manner not just to the delivering ppe in a timely manner notjust to the nhs, by the way, but to ca re notjust to the nhs, by the way, but to care homes and across the whole of the country. I think we are now doing much, much betterjob than we we re doing much, much betterjob than we were a month, six weeks ago. As far asi were a month, six weeks ago. As far as i know, no hospitals currently have stock outs in the way you describe, but i will look at what is happening in the radcliffe and i will try to make sure that they get what they need and thank you for raising that. But on the other issue, of mrcummings raising that. But on the other issue, of mr cummings and the doctor you mentioned in oxford. Ijust repeat my point. I think they are in the same position. Mr cummings did isolate for 14 days or more and the circumstances of his isolation, self isolation, were determined by the difficult childcare position he found himself in. And i understand that. And i think that many other people do. Thank you very much, everybody, for tuning in this evening. Thank you for watching. I think we will be back again tomorrow. Thank you. The Prime Minister borisjohnson tomorrow. Thank you. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson making tomorrow. Thank you. The Prime Minister borisjohnson making it clear in his opening remarks he was standing by his special adviser Dominic Cummings, a man who is under a lot of scrutiny as a result of getting in his car and breaking the lockdown. In the minds of many people, in driving from his home in london up to County Durham. The Prime Minister said that he had spoken to mr cummings and concluded that his special adviser had acted responsibly, legally and with integrity, with the overwhelming aim of stopping the spread of the virus. Lets talk to our political correspondent, nick eardley, is in downing street. He has fulfilled what he said he would potentially say and he said he believes mr cummings acted responsibly. Yes, a clear endorsement of Dominic Cummings from the Prime Minister. And in some ways, it is a political gamble. Borisjohnson is counting on either the public understanding that mr cummings was worried about his kid and wanted to make sure childcare would be available or, frankly, the public dont really care and see this as a bit of a westminster row. I have to say, it is quite a bold gamble because there are many conservative mps who are deeply unhappy, that think that mr cummings has undermined the government because my own guidance and think that he should go. Clearly, mr johnson is sticking by him, that was a clear endorsement of his chief adviser. But there are also still some unanswered questions. Wendy macro know that mr cummings was travelling from here in london to durham, miles away, to self isolate when did the Prime Minister know. Mrjohnson said he believed mr cummings had self isolated for 14 days, but there is also a report mr cummings were seen 30 miles away from where he was supposed to be self isolating. Im not sure we got a complete answer on that either. If borisjohnson was going into that press co nfe re nce borisjohnson was going into that press conference hoping that what he said would put this issue to bed, i think he will be disappointed, i think he will be disappointed, i think many people over the next few hours will continue to have those questions and i suspect this political row is going to continue. Yes, the suggestion as well from the Prime Minister that he believed that there were many people potentially out there asking this very question, is the government asking people to make sacrifices while members of the government are not being asked to do this . And he said the answer was categorically no. Yes, absolutely. And the suggestion from Boris Johnson is one we have heard from other ministers over the last 24 hours, that the guidance made clear that if you had particular childcare issues that could not be solved by self isolating where you were, then it was permissible to go somewhere else, to make sure that your kit was safe. That is essentially the defence the government has come up with for mr defence the government has come up with foercummings defence the government has come up with for mr cummings travelling to durham your child was safe. But are people going to buy it, do people think that is a fair and valid defence, do they think it was justified to travel not a small distance, but the other side of england, to make sure you are close to family . That is an unanswerable question, but what we do know is pressure from tory mps was building earlier today, some deeply unimpressed and about eight made it public saying mr cummings should go. Others privately are worried, including some ministers who are concerned this undermines the Public Health message, coming from the government. I should just point out that there a Big Development on when the lockdown might start to be lifted in england as well. Mr johnson wants to move the story on, he wants to talk about what happens next, rather than what happens to his chief adviser. He said he thought we were in the right place in england, remember, to move on to phase two that will see some Primary School children start to return a week tomorrow. That is really controversial as well because unions have warned that teachers dont have to go back unless they are com pletely to go back unless they are completely convinced that it is safe to do so and mrjohnson did give something of a concession on that front, saying that not all schools will be able to reopen for primary children in year one and year six a week tomorrow, saying that some might not be able to open onjune 1st and might not be able to open onjune 1stand in might not be able to open onjune 1st and in that case, he hoped they would open as soon as possible. That is what he wants to talk about. As i say, i suspect this row has a bit to go yet. Nick, thank you, at downing street. With me now is our health correspondent, anna collinson. To crunch the numbers. Lots of controversy about Dominic Cummings and so on and he did mention, the Prime Minister, this idea that schools could potentially full secondary and reception and year one and year six secondary and reception and year one and yearsix in secondary and reception and year one and year six in Primary Schools, they will reopen onjune1st, but as far as the Health Figures are concerned and the numbers of those who have sadly died, bring us up to date. As every day, we get these daily death figures and we have got a slide to show you. They are the latest figures for the uk. 118 more coronavirus deaths were recorded, bringing the total to 36,793. Todays is the lowest death toll in may so far, but it is important to point out we do see a reporting lag over the weekend and that it is a bank holiday today and that can lead toa bank holiday today and that can lead to a further delay in reporting. And daily figures come with a lot of caveats. They include deaths in care homes and in the community, but not all of them. So it gives us an idea of what is going on at the moment, an idea of the pandemic, but a lot of what is going on is partially masked by these figures. If we can also look at the second slide. This is looking at the governments Testing Capacity. An issue that has been a real issue for the government over the previous weeks. More than three marine tests have now been carried out and as you can see, there has been a gradual increase in testing. Yesterday, more than 100,000 deaths tests took place and the government wants to reach a capacity of 200,000 by the end of may, so they are a way off that an haze they have reached so far is 177,000 this month. The bottom graph shows confirmed cases and that is dropping and that is a positive sign for the scientists because they are increasing testing, yet the number of cases are dropping, so they are taking some hope from we know the direction of travel, june 1st, early years, reception pupils are going to go back in some cases. We know that the Prime Minister has also made it clear that nonessential retail and more social contact nonessential retail and more social co nta ct over nonessential retail and more social contact over the next few weeks will be announced. As to when they can increase and be opened as well. Are we seeing the kind of flattening of the curve that means that the country has pretty much got on top of this, or is it still too early to suggest that . It is still too early to say, Boris Johnson is talking about stepping in to phase two and every time they talk about lifting the lockdown at all, it is paired with a caveat of, if the reproduction of the virus increases we are going to have to ta ke increases we are going to have to take a step back and that is why it is so important for everyone to follow the social distancing rules. In relation to schools, at this press co nfe re nce , in relation to schools, at this press conference, borisjohnson was making a real attempt to move away from Dominic Cummings and on a normal day, it is all everyone would have been talking about, but today is not a normal day. The Prime Minister said education of our children is crucialfor minister said education of our children is crucial for the minister said education of our children is crucialfor the health and long term future and he says in england, pupils and reception, year one and year six will return to school from june 1st and from jean 15, secondary schools will provide some content for pupils in year ten and year 12. Some content for pupils in year ten and year12. Some content for pupils in year ten and year 12. Jean the some content for pupils in year ten and year 12. Jean the 15th. Children at risk of contracting coronavirus, if they do, their symptoms tend to be mild, but it is not yet clear what extent the role they play is in spreading the virus and for example, the role that can have an impact on teachers for example. As nick mentioned, that is a real concern for teachers and unions. Scientific advisers to the government have said the risk of coronavirus in classrooms is very, very small, but not zero. So Boris Johnson has said they will take precautions to try and protect pupils and teachers, reducing class sizes, staggering breaks, lunches, pick up points, and all children and staff will have access to testing if they display symptoms. Quickly, it is important to point out this is for england. In scotland, schools are due to reopen on august the 11th, in northern ireland, schools are not expected to reopen until september and at the welsh the welsh Education Minister has recently said schools will open when it is the right thing to do. What about care homes . Not a large amount, frankly, mention on that in the briefing. And we know from the bbcs and research that there are a lot of care homes who still feel they have been left out in terms of they have been left out in terms of the planning for this virus. Yes, absolutely, we have been hearing from alison holt who has been doing amazing work looking into care homes and is part of that, she has come back to one of the care home she has been following and there were some extremely powerful accounts from that, including one care worker who really stood out who said they were so unsure at the beginning of this pandemic what to do, they were having to google answers because they felt they had such little guidance. Now, the official number of deaths in care homes in england and wales from covid 19 will pass 10,000 this week and that does not include residents from, residents who died in hospitals. The bbc has spoken to more than 100 residential and Nursing Homes and nearly a third of them says staff have had no testing. That is backed up by other data which came out today from the data which came out today from the Data Analysis bureau and they found 40 of care homes have had no residents tested. The government says it is spending £600 million to try and reduce infection care homes and testing will be available hopefully for all staff and residents by earlyjune. Hopefully for all staff and residents by early june. Anna, thank you. Back to the controversy surrounding Dominic Cummings, the most Senior Adviser of borisjohnson. Lets take a look at the timeline of events around mr cummings trip to durham. on the 23rd of march, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the uk would be placed into lockdown with strict limitations on travel. The government guidelines stated you should not be visiting Family Members who do not live in your home. on the 27th of march, borisjohnson tested positive for coronavirus. Three days later, on the 30th of march, downing street confirmed that Dominic Cummings was suffering from coronavirus symptoms and self isolating. A day later, Durham Police said it was made aware of reports that an individual had travelled from london to durham and was self isolating at an address. newspaper reports say witnesses saw Dominic Cummings in Barnard Castle around 30 miles from durham on the 12th of april. Two days later, on the 14th of april, mr cummings was photographed back in downing street. And on the 19th of april, newspaper reports say a witness spotted mr cummings in bluebell woods near durham. The Prime Minister defended the position of his chief of staff, Dominic Cummings, who this weekend it was revealed had travelled across the country while sick with the virus during lockdown. I want to begin by answering that question people have been asking in the last 48 hours, and that is, is this government asking you, the people, the public, to do one thing while senior people here in government do Something Else. Have we been asking you to make sacrifices to obey social distancing, stay at home, while some people have been basically flouting those rules and endangering lives . And its because i take this matter so seriously and because it is so serious that i can tell you today that ive