'days days and country over the last few days and business owners are behaving very responsibly. of course there are a lwa ys responsibly. of course there are always in small numbers of people who are not, but in general the public is doing the right thing. the more we comply, the more we can protect the nhs, save people's lives and the faster we will turn the tide on the virus. if i can take the next question from david shukman, from the bbc. thank you. two questions if i may. first to robertjenrick. the prime minister in his letter talks about levelling with the public, about levelling with the public, about things getting worse before they get better. what do you think they get better. what do you think the coming week is going to look like? and then a question for dr harries. we have had the confirmation of an ent surgeon, —— death, what message does that send

to people on the front line? thank you, and can i also give my deepest sympathies to members of his family. the prime minister has written to all of the households in this country setting out clearly the task thatis country setting out clearly the task that is before everyone. we see on the news the difficult scenes in other european countries like italy for example, and the deaths that we are reporting daily in these press conferences are reporting daily in these press c0 nfe re nces a re are reporting daily in these press conferences are very sobering. every death is a tragedy. we don't want to see any unnecessary death so what the prime minister has said in that letter is we all have the power to influence events in respect of this virus. if we want to help the nhs to

be able to have the capacity to continue to perform the good quality public service we all wanted to do throughout the course of the virus, then we need to take heed of the medical advice. we do need to stay at home. by doing that we will protect the nhs and hope to save people's lives. so this is on all of us, we all have a responsibility to protect each other. we just need to follow the advice in the days and weeks ahead. clearly you will not expect me as a medical professional to comment on an individual case, that would be normal practice, but equally as a medical profession i am very saddened by the fact that one of our professional colleagues has passed away. it clearly is a worrying event. it is worrying for the nation because it is another deathin the nation because it is another death in our statistics. it is another loss to the family, and it will be another loss to an nhs family as well. i think for nhs staff on the front line and our

caring staff, it is notjust in our health services, it is all people battling against this virus. they will inevitably be concerned and some of the work we are doing around communications and personal protective equipment is tojust communications and personal protective equipment is to just try and ensure there is a common understanding between us of the support that is there for them. it is in no one's interests that we lose our colleagues on the front line, and we really want to support them. so the only thing i would say is that clearly in a disease like this, which is effecting everybody, we just need to remember that it is notjust the we just need to remember that it is not just the nhs we just need to remember that it is notjust the nhs orjust we just need to remember that it is not just the nhs orjust a family, we are finding this right across the population. it will affect everyone. it will upset undoubtedly our colleagues in the nhs, but we shouldn't take that as any signal specific to the nhs. we do have some

new guidance coming out for colleagues in the nhs shortly, and i'm hoping that will help to support them in theirwork i'm hoping that will help to support them in their work on the front line. thank you, jenny, and the guidance will also apply to those working in other essential public services for example in social care and local government and other settings, so they can have the best possible advice to the type of ppe they need to continue to do their role safely in the days ahead. now sam lister from the role safely in the days ahead. now sam listerfrom the express. role safely in the days ahead. now sam lister from the express.“ role safely in the days ahead. now sam lister from the express. ifi could ask dr harries first, ijust wa nt could ask dr harries first, ijust want to be really clear about what you have said. are you saying that come judgment day in two or three weeks' time, if you have not seen the necessary changes you require, the necessary changes you require, the country realistically is facing lockdown for six months? and if i could ask the secretary of state, we have seen a number of police forces over the weekend set up hotlines

where people can report concerns about their neighbours or other people they believe have flouted the rules. would you encourage people to raise their concerns with these hotlines? to be clear, i do not think i have said we will be in lockdown for six months and i also have not said we will definitely be in the best place possible in two or three weeks. this isa possible in two or three weeks. this is a moving target. if we do well, it moves forward and comes down and we manage our care through the health system sensibly in a controlled way. that is what we are aiming for. the issue about the two two to three weeks, there is a time lag between someone getting the disease and, very sadly, for those who become ill, they are usually ill

for a period of time and then deteriorate in their health status. and, sadly, some will end up dying and there are time periods for that. one on how well we do our intervention. if we all stop shopping on monday we would not expect the data to change on tuesday but would expect a footfall dropping over the first week and expect to see new infections dropping over the next week and start to see deaths dropping over the following week. the implication is that we anticipate numbers will get worse over the next week, possibly two, and then we are looking to see whether we have managed to push the curve down and we start to see a decline. the issue on the timeframe is important, this is not to say we would be incomplete lockdown for six months but it means as a nation we have to be really responsible and keep doing what we are doing until

we are sure we can gradually start lifting various interventions which are likely to be based on science and data until we come back to a normal way of living. that may mean we have bumps on the way, rather than the nice curves you have seen in the graphs in the media and on oui’ in the graphs in the media and on our charts. it is important we do that together. we will not have succeeded until we get right to the end of this outbreak and we understand how the disease transmits. as we have more information in due course about the pattern of transmission we will have more insight into how to manage the tail end and can provide more information then. as i have said, the measures we have taken, which are restrictive, and not things we have taken are restrictive, and not things we have ta ken lightly, are restrictive, and not things we have taken lightly, the evidence suggests a high degree of compliance

from the public. the scenes we saw last weekend have by and large not been replicated this weekend. police forces have reported very few insta nces forces have reported very few instances of nonessential retailers remaining open against the rules, andi remaining open against the rules, and i think it is encouraging that people are increasingly taking this seriously and playing their part in helping us to protect the nhs and save lives as a result. police forces have powers and are able to enforce these measures and can fine individuals and those fines can ratchet up for the small number of people who repeatedly refused to follow the measures and take the advice of the police. that is right, but we want to do this by consent. we wa nt but we want to do this by consent. we want to do this with us coming together in a national effort and there is a moral obligation to play

oui’ there is a moral obligation to play our part, protect ourselves and protect others and that is regardless of your age and there are many young people who feel they are invincible. that is not correct. the virus affects all of us, but each of us virus affects all of us, but each of us has the ability to protect others and soi us has the ability to protect others and so i really urge once again everybody to pay heed and adhere to the strong medical advice we have received to stay—at—home and, where you go out, do it in the manner we have advised, respecting social distance advice and, when you cannot work from home, try to work from home but when you cannot do so, go to work and, at work, follow public health england guidance. so together we can protect the country and begin to turn the tide. i come now to the last question from politico. jack,

good afternoon. a question for each of you. we have seen large increases in the numberof of you. we have seen large increases in the number of deaths. is that as you had expected or is the number increasing more quickly than you had hoped? and increasing more quickly than you had hoped ? and secretary increasing more quickly than you had hoped? and secretary of state, have you modelled more extreme social distancing measures should they be necessary and can you give an indication of where things might go if what we are doing does not prove to be enough? sadly, the answer is yes, it is as expected in many ways. it is not easy to say we expect a large number of people to die, but we have a pandemic on our hands and an unprecedented event for this generation. it is because of where we are on the curve, all the above

applies. we expect that number will increase the next week or two, but then we anticipate that if we keep doing what we are doing and we have to keep doing it, it is no good doing it a few days and stopping, that we anticipate those numbers will start to drop. the important thing about the number of deaths and it is sadly an easy to count statistic, and it is difficult to translate what it means often to the public in terms of death rates. there has been a lot of media reported on that but it is a stable statistic but it lags behind impressions on the rate of increase of infections. we need to watch it carefully a nd of infections. we need to watch it carefully and hold tight for a week oi’ carefully and hold tight for a week or two, keep doing what we are doing and come back and asked the question again and hopefully we will be on the way down a little bit.|j

again and hopefully we will be on the way down a little bit. i think the way down a little bit. i think the task as a country is to adhere to the social distancing measures announced. they are very significant moves, unprecedented in peacetime history. if we follow those measures there is every reason to believe we can turn the tide on the virus and we will be able to protect the nhs and save lives. if those measures prove insufficient or if members of the public do not comply, we will have to consider what further options are available but that is not our intention. we believe these measures can be sufficient but, because of the nature of the virus, it will take a couple of weeks before we can see whether that is truly happening. and to add to that for reassurance, because we have talked a lot about the capacity of the nhs to manage the number of people coming through, we have

plenty of capacity right now to manage people coming through the system. those deaths represent sadly individuals who have not been able to respond to the high quality care the nhs has provided. to respond to the high quality care the nhs has providedlj to respond to the high quality care the nhs has provided. i think there is one further question from channel five. the further question is from the guardian. kate proctor. you will have seen reports of british people stranded abroad who want to get back to the uk. what can you tell us about the scale of the repatriation package you will put together. germany has put aside 50 million euros. will britain do something on a similar scale? will you use the raf to bring people home? and michael gove said this morning the uk had not got all the information

needed from china to make decisions earlier in the outbreak. do you know what information was missing from decision making? with respect to british citizens overseas, we take seriously our responsibility to protect nationals where ever they are in the world and that is a top priority. the foreign secretary has worked hard with british missions all over the world to try to bring citizens back to the uk and he spent this weekend speaking with his cou nterpa rts this weekend speaking with his counterparts in a range of countries where there are citizens we want to get back safely to the uk as soon as possible. we have advised those abroad to come back to the uk while there are still commercial flights available. that is not the case in all countries but it is in many. we have not ruled out repatriation flights and we are doing those in some cases. there is a flight on going to peru to bring back a group

of british citizens who have been in a difficult situation there. if we need to do more in the days ahead, we will do so. we want to get those citizens back safely to the uk. with respect to the international picture more generally, the uk is leading the international efforts. this is a global pandemic and we want to play oui’ global pandemic and we want to play our part. the prime minister has spoken to counterparts from the g7 and t20. we are now the world's leading country in offering funding to support vaccine research, almost £500 million we have offered and we will put more at the disposal of that important mission, if required. there may be more steps we can do as an international community. we want to be at the heart of that. there will be lessons to be learned in future about how we and other

countries have responded to this virus, but the uk, our government, has focused ioo% virus, but the uk, our government, has focused 100% on trying to save lives here. that means putting in place measures to discuss today and means supporting the nhs and social care, shielding vulnerable individuals for whom we have provided food parcels beginning this weekend. above all, for people listening to this, it means everyone of us in our own lives, following the advice from jenny and colleagues, stay at home, protect the nhs, and that is the way we can all save lives and begin to turn the tide on the virus. thank you, jenny, for joining tide on the virus. thank you, jenny, forjoining us, tide on the virus. thank you, jenny, for joining us, and tide on the virus. thank you, jenny, forjoining us, and thank you everybody for at home.

—— watching at home. that was robertjenrick, the communities and local government secretary bringing to an end the press c0 nfe re nce . secretary bringing to an end the press conference. chris mason is with me. you listen to that briefing. some interesting detail, particularly on the timetable. that was the most striking detail from particularly on the timetable. that was the most striking detailfrom dr jenny harries. perhaps the most explicit setting out of the likely timeline in terms of the impact on day—to—day lives and suggesting over a six—month period there might be a turning on and off of the restrictions we have got used to in the past week and she pointed out a distinction between that and a so—called lockdown for the full period of time but the expectation from her is you would not be able to suddenly liberalise things in a couple of weeks, that there is a time lag, so when you institute a measure it takes a couple of weeks to work out if it has had the right

effect. she thought the next 2—3 months they would need to as sheep oi’ months they would need to as sheep or to keep a lid on the growth of cases and then you would just gradually try to ensure that the peak of cases is kept as low as possible, that is key to ensure that at any one point in time, the nhs can cope. right at the end from jenny harries, saying right now there is plenty of capacity in the nhs to cope, despite news we received about the number of deaths which has risen to 1228 in the uk. one other thing for the communities secretary, the infrastructure put in place to help the most vulnerable, though shielding themselves for a period of at least 12 weeks, particularly those who might not have people close by to collect medicine or deliver food. these food parcels that are being provided by

the government via the infrastructure involving nhs, local authorities and army. the first 50,000 of those due to be sent out by the end of the week. a relatively small number in the context of 1.5 million people who are shielding, but i suspect many of those will have made their own arrangements locally or with family to receive what they need. clearly, it is a huge effort the government is putting in place to ensure those in england get what they need. i suspect we will have similar announcements in scotland, wales and northern ireland. many thanks. you've been contacting us in your thousands with questions about practical advice and support on covid—19. we're going to do our best now to answer some of them now — on the bbc‘s your questions answered.

we can speak to dr william bird, who is a gp in reading. dr bird also advises the uk government on physical activity. and also peter drobac, a global health physician from the said business school at the university of oxford. thank you, both, forjoining us on bbc news and i think you were probably listening to the press briefing which may inform some of your answers. we have had so many questions and i'm going to start with one for doctor william byrd if i may from abbey. "if i am a parent of children who cannot exercise alone, am i allowed to exercise once a day for myself in addition to taking out my children for some fresh air and exercise?" thank you, and not going out is the one thing we can really do to make a difference. if we want to keep the

nhs, we can keep fit. our immune system is boosted when we take exercise and it helps us deal with the coronavirus so it is important we ta ke the coronavirus so it is important we take that exercise outdoors or indoors. as far as the question is concerned, we indoors. as far as the question is concerned , we are indoors. as far as the question is concerned, we are told only to do it once, that is strict guidance, so if you can do it with your children in one go, that will be guidance we expect. i know you will probably think you want to go for a run. if you go out together with the children, that will be the most important thing. people have asked how long we should go out for. probably 30 minutes but up to an hour the prime minister said. if you wa nt to hour the prime minister said. if you want to denied it with half an hour with your children and half an hour on your own, that is probably ok. finejudgments. on your own, that is probably ok. fine judgments. thank you for that. this question from savannah brown. "will the uk reach

a point after the peak where restrictions can be lifted so normal life can resume?" that was partly answered i think by dr harriesjust that was partly answered i think by dr harries just now. that was partly answered i think by dr harriesjust now. that's right. the short answer is they will be restricted at some point but probably not soon and not suddenly. the deputy chief medical officer laid out a timeline for this whilst acknowledging there is some uncertainty. the expectation is the more extreme social distancing restrictions we have in place now will likely continue for weeks up to a couple of months until we start to see a peak and levelling off of cases. after that point, hopefully we will be able to begin to soften those measures are somewhat, but it will take some time, and i think this will be a gradual process that will take several months. 0k, thank you for that. another question for william bird, this time from jenna

brooke. "i suffer from asthma and believed that i fell under the vulnerable category. it appears the government has now changed its wording regarding this category and is now concentrating on the extreme vulnerable. i haven't received a letter from the nhs to say i'm in this category. am i classed as vulnerable or not?" thank you, and this has caused confusion to people are some of whom we re confusion to people are some of whom were expecting a letter to come, and it hasn't arrived so they don't know which group they are in. there is the at risk group and the at high risk group. the high—risk group are the ones who have received a letter, so the ones who have received a letter, so ifi the ones who have received a letter, so if ijust mention about them because those are the ones that really cannot leave the house at all. if they are living with else, they have to be two metres apart from everyone, sleep in separate beds, have their meals brought to them. if you are sharing a bathroom it has to be cleaned out, so that there is a difficult group, but it is one when you are really in lockdown. the at risk group, which

is onejenna lockdown. the at risk group, which is one jenna is lockdown. the at risk group, which is onejenna is a is the one that means you can still go for exercise. i wouldn't feel you should go shopping, although you are allowed to go out for essentials, but far better for someone to bring things to you. you don't have to have that real strict isolation within the house, so the at risk, if you look it up, the at high risk, you can see that guidance as well which is different. that is useful, thank you so different. that is useful, thank you so much. this question from fiona dennis. "why is germany seeing more cases but fewer deaths than here in the uk?" i think the key here is reported cases and it comes down to testing. in germany there are 60,000 reported cases and 30 also death. the real difference here is germany has been very aggressive about testing in its population. they have done tens of

thousands more tests then we have in the uk which means they are catching a lot of the cases that are mild or even without symptoms so the numbers are higher. ours are artificially low because there has been a decision here to only test people who are sick and hospitalised. i think the uk and germany are in similar places in their epidemic, in that we have far more cases then are reported. what do you base that on, when you say you think we have a similar number of cases? germany is trying to test everyone affected whereas here testing is only limited to those people in hospital. we know for example one in five to one in six people get sick enough with covid—19 to be hospitalised. those are the only ones who will be tested in the uk, whereas in germany anyone with symptoms is going to be tested. so they are catching most of the cases, and we are only catching and

reporting a small number of the cases. thank you very much. william bird, a question from denise berry. "i'm a grandparent. can i look after my young grandchildren when my daughter goes into hospital to have her baby?" this is a really difficult one. i don't know how old you are, denise, whether you fit into the over 70 gi’oup whether you fit into the over 70 group 01’ whether you fit into the over 70 group or have whether you fit into the over 70 group 01’ have some whether you fit into the over 70 group or have some other condition. ideally we really don't want children to be mixing with grandparents at this time because children can get incredibly mild symptoms and a lot of children in general practice we are seeing, we just don't know whether they have got it. they have a cough and a temperature which can be around at this time of year anyway, so they can be spreading that virus and they come to you and give it to you. far better if they can go to friends who are better if they can go to friends who a re lower better if they can go to friends who are lower risk or someone else who can look after them, but you may be

having to take them. i agree, if you are going into hospital, those children have to be looked after. if that happens, you have got to be incredibly careful when you are with them that you are washing hands and practising hygiene. if possible, if they could go to someone with lower risk that would be better, but this is where it gets difficult to make ha rd is where it gets difficult to make hard and fast rule. thank you for that. peter, this one is for you from lender. "are people who have recovered from the virus still a threat to others?" the only way to know when it will happen would be to test for the virus after someone has made a full recovery, which is not something we can do on a case—by—case basis. presumably within a couple of days of fever resolving and becoming well, a person would no longer be

infectious. one thing to note is our guidance from the government for self isolation for those with an illness consistent with covid—19 is to self—isolate for illness consistent with covid—19 is to self— isolate for seven illness consistent with covid—19 is to self—isolate for seven days. many have symptoms for over ten days, so i would advise people sick beyond seven days to consult with their gp and understand if it is safe to stop the self isolation at that point.l question for doctor william bird. the questioner does not give their name. "what are the dangers of going out for a walk twice a day, as opposed to once?" there aren't any dangers to you. the rationale behind doing it once is because in a densely populated area, if everyone goes out more than two 01’ if everyone goes out more than two or three times, you will get difficulty in having social distancing and we saw that in the parks last weekend when people

started to connect together far too closely. once a day is to try to keep a rationing of people out in public spaces. that is why it is once a day. there has been no guidance really about how long that can be, but i think really it is a common sense thing. we need to do 150 minutes every week, that is the guidance well before covid—19 came along, 30 minutes per day, so if you can do that outdoors. don't forget you have also got to do indoor exercise, and muscles are incredibly good at helping the immune system so exercising indoors is very important as well as exercising outdoors. we should not be going out twice a day. you can make it up to an hour if you want, but passed on our, particularly in cities, is starting to cause congestion almost in the outdoors which is what we are trying to avoid. that is very clear, thank you so much. we will have to leave

it there. william this is bbc news. hello to our viewers in the uk and around the world. the latest headlines: 1,228 people have now died from coronavirus in the uk — a rise of 209. the prime minister sends a letter to every household warning that things will get worse before they get better. ministers say the public should prepare for a "significant period" of social distancing. i wish i could predict when this will end, but it is vitally important that at the moment and for weeks ahead, that people maintain the strict social distancing guidelines that have been laid out. the uk government says all parts of the country are now on an emergency footing. this is an unprecedented step in peacetime.