out to the front essential equipment out to the front line staff, and residents in care homes. and also what we are waiting for, although we may not get it today, is news on the lockdown, and how much longer it will be extended for. yeah, i think it is clear that the lockdown is very likely to be extended because we heard from dominic rob earlier this week, we don't expect changes this week and also we have heard from the northern ireland assembly today and arlene foster as well, that it's likely to continue. the question therefore, as you say, how long will the lockdown continue? interestingly, we have been hearing the labour leader... studio: apologies, we willjoin the press c0 nfe re nce studio: apologies, we willjoin the press conference with the health secretary. welcome to the downing street daily coronavirus press briefing. i'm joined by the chief officer chris whitty and angela mclean. i want to thank everybody who is staying at home in this sunshine. together, we

are slowing the spread of this virus. i want to pay a special tribute today to captain tom moore who at the age of 99 has raised over £7 million so far for nhs charities by completing 100 laps of his garden. captain tom, you are an inspiration to us all and we thank you. at the core of our plan is to protect the nhs from being overwhelmed. so that its ability to ca re overwhelmed. so that its ability to care for everybody who needs that ca re care for everybody who needs that care is always there and is never outmatched by the ability of the virus to do us harm. that is central to our plan and i'm glad to say that the spare capacity in critical care in the nhs today has reached a new record high of 2657 beds. expanding the nhs faster than the growth in

demand has been a critical objective throughout this crisis, and it means that every single person who has access to nhs care has been able to get the very best available. at no point has the nhs been unable to offer ca re point has the nhs been unable to offer care to people suffering from coronavirus. i know at the start of this crisis some people said that would be impossible. but so far we have met this objective throughout, andi have met this objective throughout, and i want to thank all those involved for their part in this national effort. 313,769 people have 110w national effort. 313,769 people have now been tested for coronavirus. 0f these 98,476 people have tested positive. the number of patients in hospital with symptoms is now 19,529. 12,868 people have sadly died. an increase of 761. this all

just goes to show why we cannot let up just goes to show why we cannot let up in our efforts. we cannot let go of the hard work that's been done so far. this shared sacrifice, and i know it's a sacrifice, is starting to work, but we will not lift these measures until it is safe to do so. everyone who stays at home is doing their bit, protecting the nhs and saving lives. but while everyone else stays at home to save lives, oui’ else stays at home to save lives, our health and care workers go out to work to save lives. today, i want to work to save lives. today, i want to focus on social care. i want to set out the next steps in our action plan for social care that we are publishing today. from the moment of the emergence of coronavirus, we've known that some of the most vulnerable to this disease are in social care and we've been taking

action right from the start. we first set out guidance back in february and today i can tell you what further steps we are now able to make. 0ur what further steps we are now able to make. our goal throughout has been to protect residents and to support our1.5 been to protect residents and to support our 1.5 million colleagues who work in social care. we have injected an extra £1.6 billion and as the chancellor said, we will do whatever it takes. this is our plan. first and foremost, from the start, we focused on the need to control the spread of infection in social ca re the spread of infection in social care settings. today we have strength in the rules, so that all ca re strength in the rules, so that all care home residents who are discharged from hospital will be tested before being admitted into their care home. we will test all symptomatic care home residents and asi symptomatic care home residents and as i announced last friday, we have introduced testing for all social ca re introduced testing for all social care colleagues and members of their households who need a test. at the

same time, we are increasing again ppe supplies to social care. we are creating a supply logistics and distribution network of unprecedented scale. building on the ppe plan i set out on friday, over the next three weeks, we will continue priority drops to the local resilience forums, who distribute to the social care system according to local need, while we roll out our new online delivery system for social care settings. this will be integrated with the nhs supply chain's central ppe logistical operations with kit shipped to social care providers via royal mail. all of this will contribute to slowing the spread of coronavirus within care homes. i want also to enhance support for oui’ i want also to enhance support for our social care workforce. 0ne i want also to enhance support for our social care workforce. one of the things that i am most proud of that during this terrible crisis is that during this terrible crisis is that people have held health and

social care workers in such high esteem across the board. it is not cla p esteem across the board. it is not clap for the nhs, it is clap for carers. to take this further, we are today introducing a single brand for social care to symbolise the entire ca re social care to symbolise the entire care profession. this is something i know so many people in the profession have called for. this badge will be a badge of honour in a very real sense, allowing social ca re very real sense, allowing social care staff proudly and publicly to identify themselves. just like nhs staff do with that famous blue and white logo. i know that many businesses will want to offer the same recognition and benefits as they do wonderfully to the nhs. we have asked the supermarkets to confirm that social care workers can have the same priority access and i know that the public value your work in care as much as i do. i also know

that we need more people to return to social care or choose to serve for the first time. to make that happen, we are strengthening our national recruitment campaign, with the aim of recruiting tens of thousands more people into social care. we will pay for the initial induction training. this is a job where you have the chance to make a difference to people's lives every single day that you go to work. and i've seen, as i'm sure we have all seen, the amazing efforts of good social care. i've seen it with elderly members of my own family. i've seen the tenderness and the dedication with which people in social care support our loved ones at their time of greatest need. everyone knows the job isn't easy, whether supporting people of working age who are some of the most vulnerable in society, or supporting people and their families with

dignity at the end of their lives. but i know what a fulfilling profession it is and i know that many will answer our call. there is one other thing and one other change i want to make. which is giving people the right to say goodbye. 0ne of the important that care homes do is people at the end of their life. sadly, even in normal times, each month, about 10,000 people die in ca re month, about 10,000 people die in care homes. 0ur social care collea g u es care homes. 0ur social care colleagues work incredibly hard to ensure support for people and dignity to people at the end of their lives. wanting to be with someone you their lives. wanting to be with someone you love their lives. wanting to be with someone you love at the end of their life is one of the deepest human instincts and it is a moment that will be with you for ever. done right, it can help those left behind to cope and it brings comfort to

those who are dying. coronavirus, of course, has made this much more difficult and i've been really moved and upset by some of the heartbreaking stories of people dying without a loved one nearby. as a father of a 13—year—old myself, the reports of a 13—year—old dying without a parent at his bedside made me weep. the sight of his coffin being lowered into a grave without a member of his family present was too awful. so i am pleased to say that working with public health england, the care sector and many others, we are introducing new procedures so we can limit the risk of infection while where ever possible giving people's closest loved ones the chance to say goodbye. and we are making crystal clear that it is unacceptable for advanced care plans, including do not attempt to resuscitate orders, to be applied in

a blanket fashion to any group of people. this must always be a personalised process, as it always has been. i want to end by addressing carers directly. as much as the doctors, nurses, the paramedics, you are on the front line in this battle. i want to thank you for your courage and your commitment, for doing paid or unpaid, formal or informal, the work you do, difficult, demanding, vitally necessary and you do it with such love and care and attention. taking on the extra shifts that might be needed to fill the gaps left by self—isolating colleagues, juggfing left by self—isolating colleagues, juggling your own caring responsibilities very often, providing dignity and comfort to people in some of the most difficult circumstances — we as a nation stand with you. i say to everyone watching, you can stand without

carers, too, by staying at home to protect the nhs and protect social ca re protect the nhs and protect social care and save lives. with that, i wa nt to care and save lives. with that, i want to pass to angela, to set out the recent information about the progress of the disease. thank you. the information we wanted to start with today is evidence about how people really are staying at home. so what is shown here is roughly speaking for the last month, so from the 19th of march to the 14th of april, how much use there has been of different kinds of travel compared to how it was in february. what you see is that for all the different coloured lines, thatis all the different coloured lines, that is now down to less than a third of what it was back in february and that for the cube and national rail, it's particularly low. —— the tube. this is real hard data to show that all of us have done what we were asked and stayed home. if i could have the next

slide, please. what we see is part of the evidence about how that is working. so this is new uk cases in blue is people diagnosed in hospital, and in orange, is people whose diagnosis has been outside hospital in the second new pillar of commercial swabbing activity. but really... and the time goes from the zist really... and the time goes from the 21st of march to the 15th of april. and what i see that encourages me when i look at that slide is two weeks now is definitely not increasing any more, i see a flattened curve. for me, that is evidence that what everybody has done together has worked for us all. ifi done together has worked for us all. if i could have the next slide, please. that is further reflected in this data about people in hospital beds with covid—19. across the

country, that fell by 1% yesterday and in greater london, it fell by 596. and in greater london, it fell by 5%. so, once again, whati and in greater london, it fell by 5%. so, once again, what i see here is evidence that everybody‘s efforts to stay home and not have as much contact with other people as normal as having the impact we hoped it would have and bringing this epidemic to a much better trajectory, where this is currently flat are no longer rising. final slide, please. the final slide is comparing the sad deaths that we have had in our country with those in other countries. these curves are all lined up, so they all start on the day at which each of those countries first had 50 deaths. you can see the line in dark blue in the middle there is united kingdom's

trajectory. still climbing. we a lwa ys trajectory. still climbing. we always expected that to still be climbing, even though the number of new cases are starting to flatten off and that is because these are very lagged data because sadly it ta kes a very lagged data because sadly it takes a while for people first of all to succumb to this disease and then, secondly, that those cases to be reported. the united kingdom data there are from public health england and from our devolved administrations and we are watching and hoping that those will also start to follow a flatter trajectory. with that, i think i will stop with today's data. thanks very much. if we go to questions from the media. the first question is from the bbc and hugh pym. thank you very much. secretary of state, you very much. secretary of state, you are now offering testing to social care staff and care home residents where appropriate, but how is that going to be achieved, given

the pressures on capacity and your existing promises to nhs staff? and when exactly will it be delivered? thank you. i am very glad to say that we now are testing regularly nhs staff across the board and we rolled that out from last weekend and we have started also testing social care staff. 4100 social care staff have already been referred for tests. as our testing capacity increases, so this means that more and more people can be tested. in fa ct, and more people can be tested. in fact, we have, as some people have reported, over the easter weekend, we had some spare capacity because the number of people coming forward for testing was not as high over the easter weekend, which means that we can now expand testing not only to staff in social care but also within social care settings. the previous

rule had been that once five people ina rule had been that once five people in a social care setting had tested positive, then others with symptoms we re positive, then others with symptoms were deemed to have coronavirus because of its likelihood of being coronavirus. now because of its likelihood of being coronavirus. now we ensure because of its likelihood of being coronavirus. now we ensure that eve ryo ne coronavirus. now we ensure that everyone who has symptoms will be tested. the critical other change is those leaving hospital will now be tested and they will be put into isolation until those test results come through and if the test results come through and if the test results come through and if the test results come through positive, they will be held in isolation to make sure that they protect those currently in the ca re they protect those currently in the care home. so this is a positive step, all about strengthening the tools that we have to reduce the spread of coronavirus within care settings and to support the care sector staff that i've spoken about, that are doing so much to look after some of the most vulnerable. cani can i come back quickly? given you

are making slow progress to your 100,000 a day target by the end of the month, how are you going to cover this large number of social ca re staff cover this large number of social care staff and nhs staff and hospital patients? how is it going to be achieved? as i say, we are building capacity of testing all the time and the reason the number of tests being done has been flat over the last couple of days has been because of not enough demand rather than not enough capacity. that gives us than not enough capacity. that gives us the space to be able to increase the number of people eligible for testing. so now we have testing available right across the nhs and social care for all those who need it and social care for all those who need itand i'm social care for all those who need it and i'm very pleased we have been able to expand capacity so that that can happen, and as we build the capacity further over this month and then beyond to that 100,000 a day target by the end of this month we will expand further those who are

eligible for tests. all as part of a plan to get a hold of this virus and to make sure that we support the key public services that we need at this moment. robert peston from itv. afternoon to all of you. a couple of quick questions for all of you. the data seems to indicate that we are either at or past the peak of this phase of the epidemic. now, in countries where that is so, phase of the epidemic. now, in countries where that is 50, spain, germany, italy, austria, denmark, they are already talking about how and when they will ease the lockdown. what is it about the british people which means you can't trust them, you feel, to continue to isolate, if you just talk a bit about what the process of using these restrictions will be? and secondly, those who work in social

ca re secondly, those who work in social care homes and settings have been saying for weeks that they are not getting enough help and guidance from you about how to isolate those who are showing covid—19 symptoms. they are deeply worried about infection to other vulnerable people in those homes. is there more you could do to extract those people with these symptoms and put them in safer settings? part of the plan that was set out on that second question is precisely about more isolation and maybe chris can say more about this. i know that chris will want to comment on the point about the peak, because you are right that the clear message is that it is too early to make changes, therefore, the message to the public watching is that everybody can play their part by staying at home, which protects the nhs and saves lives.

that message is very clear and very straightforward. of course i understand there is a broad discussion about what next, but we are very, very clear about the thing that people need to do now. on the issue of the peak, our view is that it is probably reaching the peak over all and that is what the flattening shows. i think it's important, and i'm saying this because new data will come out presumably tomorrow, my expectation would be that the number of deaths may well go up because there has been after every weekend we see a dip over the weekend and for the two days afterwards and then an increase as we catch up with the numbers, and after a long four day weekend there may well be a bounce up tomorrow. it is important we don't get to the point where we say look at the number of deaths, we have passed the peak, but we do all think this has flattened out. sadly, we think that high numbers of deaths will continue

for certainly a short while on from where we are at the moment. i think there is an additional reason. at there is an additional reason. at the moment we are not yet at the point where we can say confidently and safely this has now passed the peak and we can start thinking very much about the next phases. i think the additional technical point i would make, and there are others i could make as well, is that at this point in time we do not know where we are in terms of the transmission scale. the more we understand about that, which will happen over the next ten days or so, the more easy it is for us to judge exactly how we can go through to the next phase in a way that is properly evidence—based. there are technical reasons as well as other reasons for being cautious at this point. angelo, did you want to add anything? just to reiterate what chrisjust said. -- angela. observe

what happens with new cases as they arrive in hospital in order to make estimates about how much impact all this very hard work that people have done has had because that's absolutely crucial for us to understand properly what changes, if any, might be possible. robert, did you want to come back on that?l couple of points, i didn't hear from you any practical proposals for how to help care homes isolate, quarantine those who are suffering to protect other vulnerable members of those homes, because we have all seen large numbers of deaths within a single home. some of those families would have thought they could have been avoided if there had been better quarantine around those who had fallen sick. and secondly, i think the bit that many people don't understand, i don't think they are saying, you've got to essentially name a date for when these restrictions on our civil liberties will be eased, but i think they

would expect a grown—up discussion about what that phasing of the restrictions would look like. and that simply hasn't been forthcoming from the government. and it is forthcoming from other governments. it may be but different countries are in different stages in this epidemic. and one of the things that i think we have learned during this crisis is that the clarity of the guidance to the public is incredibly important. and hence, we repeat it. and it is increasingly understood and strongly supported. so that's good. on the other point on care homes, of course, there is detailed guidance and further guidance in the action plan we are publishing today. of course, amongst the 25,000 different ca re of course, amongst the 25,000 different care settings, approximately three fifths of which

are ca re approximately three fifths of which are care and nursing homes, there are care and nursing homes, there are very different circumstances in terms of how isolation is best done. in some cases, particularly in the larger settings it is possible to have isolation within the home. in other cases it will be necessary to isolate by having a resident stay elsewhere. but there is detailed in the guidance and there is an awful lot of work that goes on at a local level with the directors of adult social care to make sure that we get those details, that isolation done, as well as possible in these incredibly varied settings across the country. do you want to add anything? to reinforce the point there is much more variety between different ca re there is much more variety between different care and nursing home settings than there is between different hospitals. advice does have to be tailored very much to the specific setting. and on your wider point, what we have tried to do is lay out very clearly some of the

trade—offs that will have to be made just on the health side between different, for example, forms of mortality, the direct ones from covid, the impact on nhs and emergency services, the longer term and medium to longer term impact of having to reorient the nhs towards covert over the medium term, and the long—term impact of socioeconomic factors on health. these do not a lwa ys factors on health. these do not always end up with exactly the same answer. and what we are going to have to do in bringing together the right solution is to try and make sure, based on information that we will get more of over the next while, including a better understanding of the r command at zoology data to understand what proportion of the publishing has had this, that will help us in a sense balance these different important impacts on health over the next phase. thank you very much. alex thomson, channel 4. good phase. thank you very much. alex thomson, channel4. good afternoon,

everybody, and a response from all three of you would be good if you can. i'm sure you will all accept what is obvious. you have all been very late in dealing with the crucial issues of care home staff and care home residents. was that because frankly you wanted to prioritise the lives of younger people in hospitals at the nhs sharp end? and have people simply died in british care homes unnecessarily? no, alex, neither of those things is the case. and very obviously not. the truth is that, as i said in my opening comments, we first put our guidance to social care in february and we have repeatedly updated that guidance according to the circumstances, according to the progress of the disease, the increasing prevalence of the disease in the community and in terms of the support that has been available. what we have been able to do today

is update that guidance and improve some of the policies to respond to the conditions that prevail today. that's why we have put out the action plan now. it builds on the work that we have been doing, as i said, since the first moment we understood coronavirus. one of the first things we understood about this disease is that it has a disproportionate impact on older people in our very first conversations about it, and therefore it was clear that especially for care settings supporting older people, and it is also true for care settings that support people of working age we we re support people of working age we were going to have to have a particular focus, and we were going to have to have a particularfocus, and we have had that focus throughout. angela, do you want to add anything?” that focus throughout. angela, do you want to add anything? i suppose what i would like to add is looking forward , what i would like to add is looking forward, what are the burning questions? the questions we have

talked about already today about what to do inside care homes, and i guess also there is a huge question which we haven't focused on quite so much, which is how to protect the ca re much, which is how to protect the care homes that don't yet have cases and try everything we can to keep it that way. thanks very much. nick martin from sky. very good afternoon. the question to all of you, i suppose, afternoon. the question to all of you, isuppose, but afternoon. the question to all of you, i suppose, but to the secretary of state first. secretary of state, it was sunday when i broached the subject of tests in care homes with you following the report the night before. i have spent several days now in care homes and i can tell that there is now some optimism with some of what you have said about tests. but there are a few issues that i've been hearing time and time again, and i've spent another sobering day in a nursing home today. one of the issues which has been cropping up has been there

seems to be, nurses are telling me, notjust in this home but in other homes, that they are getting some pushback when it comes to trying to send elderly residents into hospital for treatment. and at the other end of the scale, there seems to be, and we have evidence to show this, that there seems to be an eagerness to discharge elderly from hospitals. one care home it was told it was policy to clear beds. it looks like the elderly are being cleared out of hospitals. is that policy? firstly i will pay tribute to the work you have done, nick, and i think your reports have been excellent. i think it has helped to shine a light on an area that often doesn't get as much attention, certainly as the nhs. and soiam attention, certainly as the nhs. and so i am grateful to you for that. i'm glad that you report from optimism, from some of the steps we have been able to take today, is testing capacity goes up, for instance, to focus those extra tests

on care homes and care settings. so that's positive. i will ask the chief medical officer to respond on one of the points that you make. the point i would make is that the decision to admit somebody into hospital must be a clinical decision based on individual not a blanket rule. and on the discharge, of course, the best place for people who clinically are able to be discharged is to get them home. so of course, there is a policy that when people are clinically ready for discharge that they should be discharged. that's they should be discharged. that's the nature hospitals, that's true all of the time. but it has got to be made on that individual clinical diagnosis of what is best for that individual patient. just to reiterate what the secretary of state said, working in hospitals, what you are aware of is that hospitals are very good for certain

things and people need to come into hospitalfor medical or things and people need to come into hospital for medical or nursing things and people need to come into hospitalfor medical or nursing care under specific circumstances. but once that need is no longer there, people should absolutely be aiming to be discharged to the right place for them to stay. staying in hospital is neither, for most people, a particularly pleasant experience, it is also an area where you are actually more likely to catch infections and other issues than you are in any other setting. it is sensible for older, and indeed all patients, to keep hospital stay is as short as it is medically or from a nursing point of view sensible. clearly not to be in a situation where people are living hospital before that stage but once that point is reached it make sense from every point of view that people are then discharged back to their normal place of residence. are you happy or another question?” do have a follow up. with regards to

tests, can you just be specific, secretary of state, about numbers. there are 1.6 million people working in social care, all doing a very difficult job, in social care, all doing a very difficultjob, potentially in social care, all doing a very difficult job, potentially all needing tests. how many tests have you put aside for social care and what is the timescale that you promised to deliver them in? just one more question, with regards to funding. you will know there was a crisis in social care before coronavirus came along and just a few weeks ago the chancellor announced £1.6 billion to help communities get through it. social ca re communities get through it. social care providers are telling me, across the country, that they are coming up against a brick wall from their local authorities who are not releasing the funds. what do you say to councils who have been given money to help things like social ca re money to help things like social care who have so far not handed it over? we have funded councils in

order to support the front line and thatis order to support the front line and that is where the money needs to get. it is something that we watch very closely and i work with the communities secretary on making sure that that happens. councils themselves are doing an incredible amount of hard work in responding to this crisis, both in terms of their responsibilities for social care and right across the border. so i support councils in this difficult time, but we do need to get the money that is there for social care to the front line. there is... on the other point that you raise, i just think that on testing, we currently do have capacity to increase. as i say, there have been 4100 social care staff referred for tests so far. the co sea have done great work at finding out whether tests are most needed and finding

out where people are actively referred and are setting out a process with the lga, the directors of adult social care and the coc how actual work. at the moment we have spare capacity in their thousands and the capacity is ramping up to 100,000 a day by the end of the month. the vast majority of that increase will be for the nhs and social care as a whole, as the testing capacity ramps up. martin from the daily mirror? good afternoon. the action plan refers to everyone in social care getting a test who needs one, can you expand on this criteria? does it mean any social care home resident or staff memberwho social care home resident or staff member who wants one? and can you

announce the time frame? white markets immediately, the policy change comes in today with the publication of the document. the staff, the process of getting staff their tests and social care started when we changed that policy on friday. as i say, there is over 4000 who have already been referred to a test. the definition of who needs it is, in the first instance, those who are symptomatic or a member of their household, if they are under household, if they are under household isolation because a member of their household is symptomatic, because it is primarily for staff to ensure that staff can get back to work if they are off and, of course, if they are symptomatic and at work, then they should be at home because they should be self—isolating. as they should be self—isolating. as the capacity expands, so we will be able to expand that definition of need.

laura hughes from the ft. i have just been laura hughes from the ft. i havejust been informed laura hughes from the ft. i have just been informed that laura is not able to join us. jessica from the edp? good afternoon. secretary of state, when the time comes to lift restrictions on businesses and peoples lives, will the end of lockdown be rolled out across the country as a whole at the same time given that many areas of the uk, including the north and east of england are some weeks behind the capital in getting to the peak of the virus, so will those decisions be taken on a regional basis? also for the chief medical officer, we have heard about some elderly people ina have heard about some elderly people in a norfolk care home living with dementia being confined to their rooms dementia being confined to their rooms for up to three weeks. can you offer a my rooms for up to three weeks. can you offer any clarity on whether the government's advice on those exercising outside also refers to

home care —— care home residents? thank you, jessica. i will ask angela to answer the first question and chris the second. but first, i am so glad you are on because one of the things i am missing most about... in this lockdown is getting to suffolk, where the eastern daily press cove rs my to suffolk, where the eastern daily press covers my constituency as well. it was wonderful to see on the front page of the newspapers this week a baby from brandon in suffolk, in my constituency, who recovered the west suffolk hospital and is now home and safe and well, which i know was well covered in the paper as well. angela? is it possible to go back to the slides and look? if we can go back to the one called people in hospital beds. you ask a terrific question. no, not possible? 0k, what we would expect to happen is that peak would be at the same time

across the country. that is because, of course, the way we changed our behaviour in the country was largely speaking the same everywhere. so whilst we have always said london is two weeks ahead, what we meant was london was two ahead on the way up. in terms of starting first to flatten and then go down, what we expected was everywhere to be the same... that is not exactly what we're seeing, that inland and the number of people in hospital beds fell by 5% in london yesterday but across the country it was 1%. i can tell you we have had quite long discussions about that, in various forums. we decided there is so much variation that we don't have a clear a nswer variation that we don't have a clear answer for the differences yet and that it answer for the differences yet and thatitis answer for the differences yet and that it is quite possible that actually we are seeing what we would expect, which is that the flattening off is pretty similar in different places and that may be one of the reasons that london seems to be at

the... the people in hospital beds in london is falling faster is perhaps in london, because cases rose faster here, people responded to the earlier bits of advice about staying away a little bit faster. that is the advice before the 23rd of march, when everyone was told please to stay home. thank you, jessica, chris? i think it is important to understand there are two things, in a sense, which are linked to one another. in general. on the first thing, which is very clear, there is no situation, there is no age, there is no condition where exercises not a good thing. so anything that can be done to encourage people and allow people to ta ke encourage people and allow people to take exercise is clearly a good thing. that might mean, in this period when people are in lockdown, exercise indoors. there is lots of things people can do in their rooms

and houses. nevertheless, one of the reasons that we had exercise as one of the very limited range of reasons people could leave their houses and still be protecting nhs and saving lives was for exercise and it was for this reason. exercise is one of the best things you can possibly do. on the other hand, there are a small but important number of citizens who are either much older or have other health conditions, where shielding, where what we try to do is prevent a situation where they come into contact with someone who could pass on this virus, is a very important thing to do for them. that is because these people are highly vulnerable if they get an infection to actually that going on to be a severe infection and some cases, sadly, going on to die. a much higher proportion of older citizens or people with significant health conditions are in that situation. of course, if you have someone who is

both shielding but also needs exercise, there is a bit of a tension between those and i think in those situations we would want people to exercise indoors. we definitely would want them to exercise. the final reason why it may be sensible for some individuals to be in their rooms is for an infection control reason. that was something the secretary of state talked about earlier. if someone is suspecting they might be at risk of having the coronavirus, then we say we want them to stay in their rooms to protect other people in their nursing home and their residential home, in their shared home. those... people who are care home staff and people indeed who are living with more vulnerable people have to be aware of these different areas. but i certainly want to re—stress the point you are making that where ever possible, people should be taking exercise. this is very important for long—term health. thank you very much, jessica. now

laura hughes at the ft. the government pledged there would be 25,000 tests being carried out by the middle of march. we are now the 15th of april and haven't reached that target. so why should the public believe that you can achieve 100,000 tests a day by the end of april? secondly, northern ireland hasjust april? secondly, northern ireland has just announced they are extending their lockdown for another three weeks. can we expect the whole of the uk to move at the same pace? on the first one, i'm afraid the premise of the question is wrong. we committed to 10,000 tests by the end of march, which we hit. then we had previously committed a 25,000 by the end of april. i increased that goal to 100,000. so we have hit each of the goals that we have set on testing and, as i say, we have had capacity continue to ramp up this month. the demand has been lower over the easter weekend, as staff

haven't wanted to come forward for testing, which is understandable during a long weekend. but the goal is still clear, to reach 100,000 by the end of this month. we will publish all that data, of course. on the second point, this is very much a matter for the decisions that we are going to take at cobra tomorrow, as the uk and i think that it's probably best to leave it at that and say we will wait until the formal decision is taken tomorrow. thanks very much. isabel hardman at the spectator. thank you. a question refers to the health secretary on an issue that has a huge impact on your brief, domestic abuse. i know the government has set out some help for victims of domestic abuse and more money for a helpline and an awareness campaign but the front

line charities that i have spoken to say they are experiencing such big demand, a big increase in demand and such a dramatic fall in funding, they don't say not only how they can help victims right now but more worryingly after the lockdown, once women are better able to escape and children go back to school and start telling their teachers what has been happening at home. so do you have a post lockdown support plan in place for the predicted surge in domestic violence which we have seen already? the second question to the chief medical officer: what impact are you expecting on the nhs of this rise in abuse, notjust expecting on the nhs of this rise in abuse, not just in expecting on the nhs of this rise in abuse, notjust in terms of physical injuries but the complex mental health issues survivors will have after leaving these relationships? this is such an important question. i know the home secretary set out a package of measures and other support to those brilliant charities who help people who are subject to

domestic abuse at the weekend. of course we are open to expanding that and in particular looking at this point that you raise about what happens afterwards and making sure that if there is an increase in revealed cases that are currently hidden because the lockdown is ongoing that we make sure we give the right level of support to all those who come forward. you know, there are many costs to this terrible epidemic in this sadly is one of them. i'd talked to the home secretary about it. i think the package she brought forward was very strong but clearly we need to do the work that is necessary to support everybody on this. as much as is possible, given the nature of the lockdown and the impact that it has. chris? it is clearly not possible to be sure exactly what the implications

of this will be in terms of domestic abuse over time. i think anybody who claims to know that is probably unlikely to have data to back it up. it is, at any time, domestic abuse isa it is, at any time, domestic abuse is a very major both mental and physical issue as well as all the huge social ramifications that come out of it. and dealing with victims of abuse, of whatever sort to be clear, because abuse can take very many forms, has to take account of those very complicated interactions of mental distress, ill—health, in some cases post—traumatic stress, and the things that go with that, and the things that go with that, and then in some cases, not all, physical impacts ranging from relatively small to really quite profound. this is a very serious issue and it always needs a multidisciplinary approach to dealing with it properly. is there anything you want to add? nothing. you have a follow—up?” anything you want to add? nothing. you have a follow-up? i wondered if you could explain how the package the home secretary has set out is

strong, when there was nothing for accommodation for victims who are fleeing? obviously you would rather they were able to stay in their homes and the perpetrators were supposed to move out but that isn't always possible and particularly given they need to get away to somewhere where the perpetrator doesn't know where they are. and given that that before this lockdown refugees were having to turn down around 90 women and the same number of children on an average night, there is clearly a need for a huge package of funding over the next few months, which there has been no mention of so far. i think the most important thing in the first instance, especially during a lockdown, as far as i understand it, is to make sure that we give channels of communication for people who are not able to cry for help because the sorts of places like at a school where you might be able to get out of your home and be able to have the confidence to come forward,

to make sure that there are alternative provision for that. that was the urgent thing that needed doing. and of course, when it comes to supporting refuges, and all of the supporting infrastructure, we are, of course, willing to look at that and make sure that it is a strong as it possibly can be. thank you very much. that concludes today's downing street coronavirus briefing. thank you and we will see you again no doubt at the same time tomorrow. studio: the health secretary matt hancock ending this afternoon's press conference. while he was speaking, some more terrible news about health care worker, a nurse, who has died at luton and dunstable university hospital. she was pregnant. she died after testing positive for coronavirus. she worked asa positive for coronavirus. she worked as a nurse on the general ward of the hospital and died on sunday and

we are told the baby was successfully delivered and is doing well. let's talk to our health correspondent lauren moss now. the focus very much on the carers, the people looking after those particularly in care homes and we saw some of the graphs, the figures the government is publishing today about the number of cases and the progress that is being made. yes, we had a daily update of the number of people being treated in hospital, currently 19,529 patients in hospital beds being treated for the coronavirus. but if we take a look at the lines on the graph at different areas of the country for hospital admissions, we can see there is more of a steadying out in most places, that could signify cases flattening out, those hospital admissions reducing. most significantly in london where there was a 5% drop in the last 24 hours, but overall there is a more steady

rate of admissions, it isn't hugely increasing. we were also shown the chart comparing deaths in the uk to other countries, and all of these lines on the graph, which we will show you, begin on the date that each country first recorded 50 deaths of patients that tested positive for covid—19. the uk is in dark blue and you can see it still climbing and important to bear in mind there is a delay in these deaths being recorded and these are just hospital deaths being recorded for the uk right now. we can anticipate this line to keep climbing for a while before it finally to flatten out to represent more of what we are seeing domestically but that will not happen for a while. the chief medical adviser chris whitty said we are probably reaching the peak overall, which is what the flattening of cases shows. he says his expectation would be the number of deaths may increase again tomorrow because of that long bank holiday weekend and there has been in previous weeks a delay in the deaths being recorded and the number

of positive cases as well, so he expects they may climb again tomorrow as we catch up with that. we do think we are possibly starting to flatten out overall but we still need to be cautious. it is clearly the next few days and what happens in the next few days that is going to be pivotal in the decisions over the next few weeks. we are into the fourth week now and an update on thatis fourth week now and an update on that is expected tomorrow but i do not think it will be much of an update because at the health secretary matt hancock said we still need to carry on very much with what we are doing because we are now seeing hopefully those measures taking into effect, with that slowdown of the increase in new cases and new deaths as well, but we still do need to be very cautious with this command like i say, cases could again tomorrow. we will need to watch over the next few days. lauren, thank you. with me now is our political correspondentjessica parker. the focus very much from the health secretary today on the carers, particularly those looking after the

elderly, the vulnerable in care homes at the moment. yes, that comes after some criticism, including from those within the sector, saying they feel left behind compared to perhaps nhs workers, both in terms of the number of tests being administered and made available to people working on the front line, of social care, and also residents as well but also personal protective equipment, those crucial masks, gloves and gowns that people need in order to keep themselves safe and give themselves themselves safe and give themselves the best chance of not catching the virus while potentially helping and caring for those potentially with the virus. there was something interesting more broadly and what matt hancock were saying about social care, he talked about strengthening the national recruitment campaign to bring tens of thousands of workers into the social care sector. even before the coronavirus outbreak there was a shortage of social care workers on the front line so he is saying they are going to try and focus on that to make sure that the sector is properly staffed. talks about asking

supermarkets to ensure social care staff have the same priority access to supermarkets as nhs front line services have been as well. and this idea of a single brand for social ca re idea of a single brand for social care to symbolise the profession. he talked about a badge, a badge of honourfor talked about a badge, a badge of honour for social care workers. i think what he's trying to do is create that sense of togetherness within the social care sector. it is a more disparate, fragmented sector than the nhs, of course, run by private care homes. there is council involvement but it is a more disparate sector, so trying to create the sense of togetherness and send the message the government is aware of the problems and challenges on the front line and is doing its best to ensure the social care workers get the personal protective equipment they need, that those people living in care homes are being cared for properly as well. i noticed there is some criticism emerging already of this idea of a badge, some suggesting that is something of a gimmick and what people really need in the social ca re people really need in the social care sector is access to that ppe, access to tests and the full support

they say they need. the question is of course about the tests, because thatis of course about the tests, because that is what he says will happen now, tests for people in care homes when they show symptoms. but there are questions about how that is going to be achieved, given the pressure on testing people in hospitals, the nhs workers at the moment. absolutely. and something that has been a recurring theme is that has been a recurring theme is that while the government moves, or tries to move towards that 100,000 tests per day figure by the end of this month, whilst they have been increasing capacity for testing, at something like 20,000 over the last 24 hours, not all of those tests are necessarily being used because it isn't just necessarily a necessarily being used because it isn'tjust necessarily a challenge of sourcing the tests, the government has talked before about global demand for the bits of kit and the various bits of chemicals that are needed in order to get these tests together. but it is also distributing them, getting them to the right people so they have set up drive—through sites across the country so that nhs workers can go and get tested in these drive—through sites as a means of improving access. the challenge of

getting the tests out to the right people, and again it's the same with personal protective equipment. yes, they have millions of items of personal protective equipment but have been saying they want to distribute them to an unprecedented number of settings. previously they we re number of settings. previously they were distributing them to the... excuse the helicopter going over making noise, but previously they had to distribute them to dozens of hospital trusts. now they are having to distribute them to social care settings across the country, again, and of the huge logistical challenge for the government. but ministers are undera for the government. but ministers are under a lot of pressure because as we have seen every thursday, as people come out on the uk mapping for carers, not nhs workers alone but also the carers in social care settings as well, people expect and wa nt to settings as well, people expect and want to see those people get the support that they really need. jessica, thank you so much. as the health secretary matt hancock mentioned at the very start of today's briefing, a 99—year—old second world war veteran who was hoping to raise £1000 for the nhs by

walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday at the end of this month, has now raised more than £8 million. in fact, i think he has raised 1 million since i've been on airaround an has raised 1 million since i've been on air around an hour and a half ago. captain tom moore from bedfordshire says the response to his appeal has been almost unbelievable. it is extraordinary. he was live on the bbc news channel as donations reached over £5 million. that was this morning. completely out of this world. thank you so much to all you people who subscribed to the national health service because for every penny that we get they deserve every one of it. they do. captain tom moore. let's have a look at the weather with louise. good afternoon. not much change in weather story at the moment. it's very quiet out there with high pressure in control. that means that many of us asking sights like this,

lots of fair weather, lots of sunshine coming through. the only exception further north, yet again we've got some thicker cloud, thick enough for the odd spot or a two of drizzle as well. put those two weather watchers on the satellite it helps tell the story. to the north and west it's a rather cloudy, disappointing day, but both the vast majority lots of dry, sunny weather to look out for. a little bit more of a breeze, perhaps along channel coasts, and certainly more of a breeze up into the north feeding that cloud in. here, 9—11d. but elsewhere we could see those temperatures into the high teens, particularly anywhere in the east. through the night tonight the crowd sinks south across the whole of scotland into the north of england and northern ireland and we will continue to see some drizzle. elsewhere, it's a quiet story with a little bit of patchy mist and fog, temperatures holding up between 4—8d. so that cold front continues to push its way through scotland and behind it colder air. at the same time, an area of low pressure moves into the south—west and it feeds in this warmer air for a time, so warmer still. thursday looks likely to be the warmest day of the week. so a bit of a contrast on thursday.

again, thicker cloud as that front sinks south, no significant rain but a noticeable difference in the field. no significant rain but a noticeable difference in the feel. lots of sunshine across england and wales, a few sharp showers arrive by the end of the afternoon. but we could see temperatures peaking at 21 or 22 degrees as opposed to just 8—11 further north. now, that cold front will ease away and then high pressure build and quieten things down for the northern half of the country as we move into the weekend. at the same time, this low is going to bring us some rain. now, useful rain, some gardeners and growers may be shouting, as it pushes into the south—west, moves its way up through wales. some of those showers could be quite heavy for a time. a feed of north—easterly wind means it will feel quite cold on those exposed east coasts, not quite as warm generally across the country for friday. but there will be some showers

and some of them heavy, possibly thundery for the start of the weekend across england and wales. drierfurther north. so just to summarise for you, if you haven't already got the picture.

today at six... the latest government promises to try to help care homes, both residents and staff, in the fight against coronavirus. there's a pledge to do far more testing, and anyone going from hospital into social care in england should be tested for the virus. ministers claim that there is capacity to increase testing in the care sector despite the pressures elsewhere and there's no detail on the timescale. today we strengthened the rules so that all care home residents who are discharged from hospital will be tested before being admitted into their care home. the minister also said that those dying of covid—19 would be able