that evening and welcome to a special programme on bbc one and bbc news channel head of the daily coronavirus briefing from downing street at a slightly lighter time than usual. on the day we find out more about how after seven straight weeks of lockdown, the restrictions will be eased in england only for the time being. as soon as the briefing starts, we cross straight to downing street to hear from the prime minister in the uk government's chief medical officer professor chris whitty and the government's chief scientific adviser at sir patrick vallance. the government publish more details about its plans to ease the lockdown in england setting out three phases over the coming months, addressing mps, boris johnson described over the coming months, addressing mps, borisjohnson described it as very good advice for the entire population of the uk. but the leaders of scotland, wales and northern ireland have largely rejected it, deciding to stick with the core message that people should stay at home. but speak to our chief

political correspondent vicki young in westminster. the prime minister has been trying to add flesh to the bones of the plan he announced the nation last night and there is a slew of more documents to come. yes, there certainly is, we had a broad picture from boris johnson there certainly is, we had a broad picture from borisjohnson last night talking about the differences between outdoor and indoor activities. today, there has been a lot more detail, a 50 page document giving guidelines, there are guidelines about workplaces and how they can be made safer people and there will be more on education and public transport. but people are desperate for information. that stay at home message in england has gone, people want to know what it will be replaced by and what that means for every aspect of our life. so they are trying to give much more detail on all of that, but it is pretty clear it is much more difficult unlocking and raising up some of these restrictions and stopping them thanit these restrictions and stopping them than it was to bring in the measures in the first place. it won't be the case there are guidelines for every single moment and aspect of our

lives. but the government have certainly been trying to put a lot more detail into all of this to reassure people, especially those being advise now to go back to work. the unlocking taking place at a different pace across the various nations of the united kingdom? nicola sturgeon in scotland says she doesn't feel it is the time to relax some of these measures, she thinks the virus is transmitting on a slightly different way and a different timeline in scotland. and in wales, they are saying they don't wa nt to in wales, they are saying they don't want to change things. this can bring up difficulties, you have to be careful about which rules you follow. in england, from wednesday, you will be able to drive to the beach, it doesn't matter how far away that is, but you cannot drive into another country in the united kingdom. all of those things make it slightly trickier and it was clear the prime minister would have preferred the four nations of the united kingdom to work together but he accepts some of these issues are devolved and every country can make its own decisions and the decision is best for the people in their

country. we are still waiting for the prime minister to appear and he will a nswer minister to appear and he will answer questions from members of the public this evening as well as from journalists, one question we don't seem to have the answer to is when people can meet family members or friends in a group rather thanjust one other person. yes, there has been a lot of talk over whether one household can combine together with another to meet up. in england, the government said they will ask the scientists to have more of a look about this because they don't know what impact that would have on the transmission of the virus, but what will happen in england from wednesday she will be able to meet up wednesday she will be able to meet up with one other person not from your household, but it does have to be outside. and in various briefings today and i'm sure we will hear that ina minute today and i'm sure we will hear that in a minute from the scientists, they do think the virus does not transmit in the same way outdoors as it does indoors and that is why in england, people will be allowed to meet up with somebody, one person

from outside the household for a game of tennis or to play gulf or to go swimming. those kind of relaxations, but the government are making it very clear this is all going to be gradual and, crucially, it will be kept under review. serve some of these measures are brought in and they look at it and realise that reproduction rate is going up... that reproduction rate is going . i that reproduction rate is going up... i have to interrupt you, the prime minister hasjust up... i have to interrupt you, the prime minister has just appeared, let's hear what he has to say. good evening and thank you for joining us for this latest downing street press conference, first, i wa nt to street press conference, first, i want to update you on the latest data in our fight want to update you on the latest data in ourfight against coronavirus. i data in ourfight against coronavirus. i can data in ourfight against coronavirus. i can report through the government's ongoing testing and monitoring programme that as of today, 1,000,920 tests for coronavirus have now been carried out in the uk. including 100,490 tests carried out yesterday. 223,060

people have tested positive, that is an increase of 3877 cases since yesterday. 11,401 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus, down from 11,768 the previous day. and sadly, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 32,065 have now died. that is an increase of 210 fatalities since yesterday. this figure includes deaths in all settings, not just in figure includes deaths in all settings, notjust in hospitals. before we begin questions from the public and from the media, ijust wa nt to public and from the media, ijust want to remind people of a number of important things i said in my address to the nation last night,

and can we have the first slide, please? in order to monitor our progress, we are establishing a new covid alert level system. the covid alert level has five levels, each relating to the level of threat posed by the virus. the level will be primarily determined by the r value in the number of coronavirus cases. in turn, that covid alert level will determine the level of social distancing measures in place. and the lower the level, the fewer the measures, the higher the level, the stricter the measures. throughout the period of lockdown, which started in march the 23rd, we have been at level four, meaning a covid—19 epidemic is in general

circulation. and transmission is high or rising exponentially. thanks to the hard work, sacrifices of the british people coming in this lockdown, we have helped to bring the r level down and the number of infections down and we are now in a position to begin moving to level three in steps. next slide, please. and we have set out the first three steps we will take carefully to modify the measures, gradually ease the lockdown and begin to allow people to return to their way of life. but crucially, while avoiding what would be a disastrous second peak that overwhelms the nhs. after each step, we will closely monitor the impact of that step on the r and the impact of that step on the r and

the number of infections and all the available data and we will only take the next step when we are satisfied that it the next step when we are satisfied thatitis the next step when we are satisfied that it is safe to do so. so, step one from this week, those who cannot work from home should now speak to their employer about going back to work. you can now spend time outdoors and exercise as often as you like. you can meet one person outside of your household outside. outdoors. provided you stay two metres apart. the social distancing measures remain absolutely crucial to us keeping the infection rate and the number of cases down as low as we possibly can. so, step two, from jean the first at the earliest, we aim as long as the data allows it,

we aim for primary schools to reopen for some pupils in smaller class sizes —— jean the first. nonessential retail store start to reopen when and where it is safe to do so. cultural and sporting events to ta ke do so. cultural and sporting events to take place behind closed doors without crowds. and then step three, no later than july the 4th without crowds. and then step three, no later thanjuly the 4th and, again, only if the data says it is safe, we aim to allow more businesses and premises to open, including potentially those offering personal care such as leisure facilities, public places and places of worship. many of these businesses will need to operate in new ways to ensure they are safe and we will work with these sectors on how to do this. so, given we have taken the first step in carefully adjusting

some of the measures, today, and therefore our advice to people what to do, we have also updated our messaging. we are now asking people to stay alert, control the virus and save lives. yes, staying alert, for the vast majority people, still means staying at home as much as possible. but there are a range of other actions we are advising people to ta ke other actions we are advising people to take as we modify our measures. people should stay alert by working from home if you can, limiting contact with other people, keeping distance if you go out two metres apart where possible, washing your hands regularly, wearing a face covering when you are in enclosed spaces and where it's difficult to be socially distant, for example in some shops or on public transport,

and if you or anyone in your household has symptoms, repeat, you all need to self—isolate. because if eve ryo ne all need to self—isolate. because if everyone stays alert and follows the rules, we can control coronavirus by keeping r down and reducing the number of infections. and this is how we can continue to save lives and livelihoods, as we begin, as a nation, to recover from and livelihoods, as we begin, as a nation, to recoverfrom coronavirus. and i am now going to go to questions from the public. and the media. i don't think cso or cmo are going to say anything at this stage, we will go straight to questions beginning with scott, who has a question from devon.

can we see friends and family at the parkif can we see friends and family at the park if we practice social distance rules? what if they are already at the park when we get there, should we leave or stay and talk if we keep to the social distance rules? thank you. well, thank you very much, scott. what we are saying and i will ask chris and patrick to comment, what we are saying is that you can go to the park to exercise on your own certainly and in an unlimited way, you can go with members of your own household, but if you want to meet somebody from outside your household, it has got to be you and that other person just asa pairand to be you and that other person just as a pair and you should observe social distancing while you are there and so it should be basically a one on one thing, but with social distancing. so keeping two metres apartand distancing. so keeping two metres apart and obeying the rules. chris. just to reiterate what the

prime minister has said, really what we are trying to do is to take a very small steps which allow us to be sure that we are not going to end up be sure that we are not going to end up with an increase in transmission again and these are the first steps which allow much more exercise and activities outdoors, and this is for two reasons. the three reasons additionally. the first one is that it is very important for people to ta ke it is very important for people to take exercise whenever they can, thatis take exercise whenever they can, that is very good for health generally and also good for mental health as well. the second is we recognise we are going to have to do changes for a long period of time and making things sustainable is extremely important. and the third reason is that the scientists on the age group looked at this and they are confident that the risks of transmission outdoors are much lower than the risks of transmission

indoors —— sage group. but they are not zero, so we want to take modest steps one group —— one step at a time and that is why the ministers and the government have decided to make this small change, it is an important change, but does not lead to people meeting with multiple people outside the household at once. yes, chris, just to get to exactly what scott was asking, i think what he was saying was can we meet lots of members of our family in the park if each member is individually spaced two metres apart? our answer to that at the moment is that is pushing it too far. correct. you can meet other people in the park, but it should be one of the person from another household and observing social distancing. patrick? that is exactly right. it is important we take these very small steps because that is the way we are going to know what the effect is, we can monitor it and we can see what effect that is having on the r and on the numbers and only by

knowing that that is a small difference can we move to the next step. we are doing this step—by—step, monitoring carefully, measuring is a crucial part of how we take this forward. and it is vital to repeat what we we re and it is vital to repeat what we were saying earlier with the covid alert level system, if we think that the alert level is in danger of going up again, that is going to mean that we cannot proceed with the steps that we have outlined in our road map, we will be forced to be frank with everyone and hold off and we will not be able to deliver stages two and three, steps two and three at the pace they are currently set out to do. where schools have remained accessible to children of key workers, are they now expected to allow children to return where their parents are from industries that are being encouraged to return to work

such as construction and manufacturing etc? if not, how do you propose these people return to work if there is no childcare available? thanks very much, simon. first of all, i want to pay tribute to the teachers and the schools who have been going throughout this crisis and looking after at least some kids of some vulnerable children, vulnerable pupils and some children, vulnerable pupils and some children of essential workers. what we are saying now is that if we continue the same way, we are hoping to begin to open primary schools at the earliest by during the first, so reception, year one and year six will come back for primary school. we hope by the end ofjuly for all primary schools to have at least one month of education. and we hope we

will be able to get those children back into school. and yes, we do want, from now, people who cannot work from home whose jobs do require them to go to work to talk to their employers about doing that. again, i would just remind you that throughout the crisis, lots of businesses have kept going. and they have done so in a way that is safe and secure for their workers, whether they are in construction or manufacturing, and lots of offices have kept going. but as we go forward and encourage people who can't work from home to think of going to work, to get in touch with their employers about getting to work, the key thing is that those places of employment should be safe.

there is guidance that we are publishing today and tomorrow about how to make our places of work covid secure, how to make transport covid secure. it's only on that basis that we will be encouraging people to get back to work and they can't work from home. your point about not having access to childcare is a crucial one. obviously, if people don't have access to childcare and they have a child who isn't back in school for one reason or another yet, can't get them back into the 1st ofjune or even then, they don't fall into the years we are getting back immediately, then i think it's only fair to regard that as an obvious barrier to their ability to go back to work. and i am sure employers will agree. so stay at home if you can, but go to work now

if you have no alternative. anything to add to that? thank you very much, simon. we are going to pooja in solihull. good afternoon. yesterday, you left the nation with more questions than answers. when lockdown initially started, you were very specific about what needed to shut down very specific about what needed to shutdown and when. why have you been so vague with who can start back at work and which businesses can reopen this week? when will the british public received further clarity on this? thank you, pooja. the frank answer to your excellent question, and i think everybody gets this, we have had to make a big change in our lives over the last couple of months and everybody has

got the clarity of the message. what we said is basically, stay at home. the british public heard that message loud and clear. in the uk, people have stayed at home overwhelmingly. and that has been a good thing in terms of delivering our ability to combat the disease and to get the rate of transmission down. but it's a very simple message was that it couldn't be starker — stay at home. it is when you come to ta ke stay at home. it is when you come to take small steps back to normality, as we are now, that the message becomes finer and more complicated. i hope, pooja, that when you listen to what we are saying tonight, you do get what we are saying. we are saying that if you can't work from home, you should talk to your employer about getting back to work.

we mention various sectors, construction and manufacturing and others, scientific research and others, scientific research and others, where people can't work from home. we are insisting that it has got to be safe at work and take to get there. we are also making some changes this week about exercise. other than that, pooja, things are pretty much as they have been and they will be until we start to make further progress driving down that r and getting to steps two and three that i outlined earlier. but as patrick says, all this is totally conditional. all that future progress is conditional on our collective effort to continue to beat the disease and drive down the r. just to add, when the regulations we re r. just to add, when the regulations were first introduced, firms and

companies were divided into things that were essential and should keep operating, things like pharmacies and supermarkets, things that definitely should not, and some in between where it was dependent on whether they could be made safe for work. that remains the case today. what is changing is the sense of emphasis. but those three groups remain the same, essential things which are open, things that should stay shut, and things where if they can be adapted, there may be possibilities to open things up. that is exactly right. pooja, i want to stress that i don't think any of us to stress that i don't think any of us expect that tomorrow or for the rest of this week, there is going to bea rest of this week, there is going to be a sudden big flood of people back to work, but i think a lot of people will now start to think whether they fall into that category and whether maybe they could think about going back to work and whether it is time to ring up their employer to check about the arrangements and so on. we

are taking baby steps, if you like, and we think that is the right way to do it. we have some leeway now. the british public have worked, we all worked together to drive the r down. we have made huge progress in combating the disease. so now is the moment it makes sense for us all as a country, now is the moment to use that progress to allow us to go back to work where that is feasible and to work where that is feasible and to do it provided we can do it in a safe way. we are going to go now to members of the media. first we have laura kuenssberg of the bbc. thank you, prime minister. as youjust heard from pooja, a lot of people felt your speech last night raised

as many questions as it gave answers. there are different instructions for people in different parts of the uk. you can see your colleagues if you go to work, but grandparents can't look after their children. many employers say they are not ready to have people back to work yet. so what do you say to millions of people watching who may bea millions of people watching who may be a bit perplexed by what you are actually trying to say and what they are meant to do? and if i could ask professor chris whitty and sir patrick vallance if they approved the change from the stay at home to stay alert message? laura, pooja rather brilliantly anticipated your question, if i may say so. the a nswer question, if i may say so. the answer is, and i get where you are coming from, yes, of course the message we were giving out initially was incredibly clear and start and

the uk population obeyed it more thoroughly perhaps than other populations around the world. we really did stay at home. as i say, we have now made so much progress in combating the disease and pushing the r down that we need to make progress if we can in relaxing some of the measures very cautiously. and the way we are going to do it in this initial phase is to reemphasise what we said before, which was that if you can't work from home, you should now think about going to work, provided that your workplace is covid—secure work, provided that your workplace is covid—secu re and work, provided that your workplace is covid—secure and provided you can travel safely to work. obviously, when it comes to transport, we are very keen that there isn't a huge

crush on transport or it won't have the capacity because we have to maintain social distancing measures on public transport. it will greatly reduce capacity if everybody has to be two metres apart. that doesn't mean public transport could operate, we wa nt mean public transport could operate, we want to be running more tubes and trains if we can. but it does mean people should think about alternatives, about either going by car or walking or by bicycle, using alternative means to get to work. patrick? yes. science is adding to the whole plan. we have been particularly concentrating on the three phases to make sure they are properly grouped. and also, as i have said already, the conditionality is crucially important. it is very important that this is done slowly and carefully

and we don't rush to measures that could push the r above one. therefore, it is also important that there is a measurement system in place, and that can allow us to track what is happening with the numbers of infection and the r, and thatis numbers of infection and the r, and that is why the alert system that is in place is a crucial part of it to know where we are. it is obviously true that we must all be alert during this in terms of hand washing, social distancing and understanding what role we play. if we are lattice —— if we allow this to get out of control, then we go back to where we were and more measures come in. so back to where we were and more measures come in. so it is crucially important that during this phase, we do not view this as a change were suddenly all things are ok. it is the steps which have been announced which are ok and then you move to the further ones. broadly, we have been involved at all stages of the

process. neither sir patrick nor i would consider ourselves to be experts in commune occasions, so we would not get involved in those strategies, but we have been involved at every stage. thank you very much. for those who think, laura, that stay alert is not the right message, i think it is absolutely the right message for our country. i am interested thatjust a in france, —— today in france, they have gone for a french slogan, which as i'm sure everybody knows means roughly the same sort of thing is our message. i think it is the right way to go. can we get a beth rigby of sky? thank you. we have learned a lot about this disease in the past

few weeks and you acknowledged today that we may never find a vaccine. that is rather different to what you said on march the 19th, when you said on march the 19th, when you said this would be finite. isn't it the case that this could be infinite? should we be preparing for changes to our lives not just infinite? should we be preparing for changes to our lives notjust in 2020, but permanently? answer patrick, if i may, you have now tested 1.4 million people for coronavirus. nearly quarter of a million people have tested positive, 1596 million people have tested positive, 15% of those tested. do you now have some idea about what the level of infection is across the uk? well, beth, two very good questions. of course i hope, hope, hope that we will achieve a vaccine and actually, iam hearing will achieve a vaccine and actually, i am hearing some very encouraging things from what is going on at

oxford. but you are perfectly right to point out that this is by no means guaranteed. i'm going to hand over to patrick and chris in a minute because they know a huge amount about vaccines. i believe i amount about vaccines. i believe i am right in saying that even after 18 years, we still don't have a vaccine for sars. but what i can tell you and i'm sure you have heard many times is that the uk is at the forefront of concerted international activity to try to deliver a vaccine. if i look back at what has happened in the last two months, for a lot of the time you saw countries going out on their own and doing things individually. we want is the uk to be bringing countries together as far as we can for this next phase to be developing vaccines together

and developing strategies together. and we are putting huge sums now into finding that vaccine and we will work with partners across the world. but yes, beth, if you ask me, ami world. but yes, beth, if you ask me, am i certain that we won't be living with this for a long time to come, i can't say that. it may be that we have to become ever more flexible, evermore agile, ever smarter in the way we tackle not just this infection, potentially future infections as well. on the vaccine, i think you can never guarantee you will get a vaccine, it is a tough thing to do. i will say great progress has been made. there are a number of vaccine programmes around the world progressing, there are a number in the clinic now and so far, so good. i think the chances are a bit higher than they wear that you will get a vaccine, but you never know until

you have got one. in terms of other options, there are therapeutics and drug development programmes under way. i would be surprised if we didn't end up with something, you will end didn't end up with something, you willend up didn't end up with something, you will end up with a therapeutic or a vaccine or potentially both, but you can't guarantee you will get a vaccine, that would be my message andl vaccine, that would be my message and i think it is very encouraging the huge amount of effort going in and around the uk and in the world on that. in terms of the numbers of people, the ons study, which is an ongoing study trying to measure the numberof ongoing study trying to measure the number of people in the population with infection, suggests at the moment that the number might be somewhere around 130,000 people, quite wide intervals around that so it is not a precise number. it could be lower, it could be 65 or 75,000 or higher, up to 200 and 50. but thatis or higher, up to 200 and 50. but that is the central estimate. and then on top of that, if you look at then on top of that, if you look at the serology coming back, so the

antibody tests, these are now all a bit out of date because the way they get tested is we have data from a couple of weeks ago and if you think about it, those people would have had an infection three weeks before that and you are looking back in time. it looks like in london, it might be from that time may be 10% of people positive for antibody, suggesting that is the sort of range of infection. and across the country, different levels in different places, but on average, somewhere around 4%, something like that. those numbers will get updated as we get more information and the 0ns as we get more information and the ons study will continue to give more information, but it'sjust to be that sort of magnitude, around 130,000 people may currently have infection and because the r is less than one, that should come down and the halving time may be something like two weeks —— harbouring time. before that, we had a doubling time of about two days. between three and

four days, then that emphasises the importance, if you take the brakes off too fast and in the wrong way, you accelerate faster at this and thatis you accelerate faster at this and that is what we have to avoid. one additional thing to say, which is if you look back 100 years, infectious diseases were still very dominant and if you went back further, the dominant thing in medicine. we humans have proved remarkably successful at tackling almost all major infections that we have had by some means or another. sometimes vaccines, sometimes drugs, sometimes public health measures. i am very confident we will find a solution to this latest threat, but, it will ta ke this latest threat, but, it will take time. science takes time and therefore, we have to take a careful sta nce therefore, we have to take a careful stance at the moment because we cannot guarantee when we will find those solutions. thanks, very much. can we go to alex? we are going to leave the downing street briefing for now and the

coverage is continuing on the bbc news channel. let's have a reaction to what we have heard from the prime minister and from the experts. laura kuenssberg is at westminster, a lot of questions being asked and we heard from members of the public at the press conference, so let's try and be clear what we can and cannot do. when it comes to who we can see and hear we can't, where do we stand now in england? i was about to say but it bears repeating, this relates to england only and there was conflicting messages from different ministers this morning, but the detailed guidance from the documents today spelt out by the prime minister tonight is absolutely clear. you can see somebody else from outside of your household, but only one on one, only one person meeting one other at a time, it has to be outside where the risk of any kind of infection is far lower and you have two at all times keep that crucial two metre distance. there was a question at the beginning

about how if you happen to bump into about how if you happen to bump into a group of other people who you know, can you just hang out and talk to them for a couple of minutes if you keep a two metre distance, it seems the answer from the prime minister is no, you can't, it has to bea minister is no, you can't, it has to be a one—on—one. when it comes to the over—70s, what is the guidance exactly? this is important because the rules for the over—70s are not different to the rest of us, but they are urged to take extra care if they are urged to take extra care if they are urged to take extra care if they are out and about. but of course, more people in that group are in what is called the vulnerable group who may be what is known as shielding at home so there is different and much more stringent advice for those people who might be very elderly, particularly with underlying health conditions, and the advice to the most vulnerable groups in our society and whatever age, that has not changed and that is important to understand. but for most over—70s, the rules are not

we need to protect them, as i said last night, but we need to take care. all the rules of social distancing, of course, apply to them and apply particularly strongly to them, but otherwise, they can go about their lives. chris. just to add to that, dividing between these very high—risk groups, these shielded, and the vulnerable, which isa shielded, and the vulnerable, which is a larger shielded, and the vulnerable, which isa largergroup, shielded, and the vulnerable, which is a larger group, it is important people maintain the shielding thing if they are in the very high group or take even more caution than the general public if they are in the vulnerable group because, although the risk of the virus has gone down in the community, it is still significant out there as sir patrick was saying earlier on, and therefore this would not be the time to start

revisiting those bits of advice. yes, andi revisiting those bits of advice. yes, and i think there'sjust revisiting those bits of advice. yes, and i think there's just one bit of data that patrick mentioned that is... i think i heard you say 496 that is... i think i heard you say 4% of the population outside the capital might have got the, or had, the virus. when you think about how low that figure is, i think it tells all of us how strongly we need to maintain ourdiscipline, all of us how strongly we need to maintain our discipline, our social distancing. there are huge numbers of people in this country who could be infected by this. that's what we've got to take a very cautious approach, the baby steps that were year —— that we are taking. natosha from richmond. good afternoon. where does seeing family again fit into the road map out of lockdown and how is it logical that i as a primary school teacher can mix with the many returning children but see my relatives is still not allowed?

natasha, thank you very much and thank you for everything you're doing as a teacher and have done and will do throughout this period. i think ijust have to go back to what we we re think ijust have to go back to what we were saying at the beginning, that there are new flex abilities to ensure that people can see somebody who is not in their household but you have to do it one on one, outdoors and obeying social distancing. so there is new scope to see one other member of your family somewhere outdoors, and it may not sound like much but given what we have all been saying, i hope you understand the contracts we are all under. we have to keep this disease at bay, we have to advance very gradually, and natasha, just to say what you're doing as a primary school teacher, and thank you for

that, we will have to do everything to ensure that teachers, parents, children can have total confidence that we are going to make those schools, your working environment, as safe as possible and we will be publishing guidelines to make schools covid secure. natasha on the face of it has a legitimate question she is asking here. the first thing to say about schools is, in a sense, there were three separate risk people are concerned about when it comes to schools. one of them is risk to children, and although there are very sadly a number of children who get the disease, actually, it is extremely small. the one good thing about this virus, and it is one thing, is that the risk to children is very low. the second question is, is very low. the second question is, is this, having primary schools come back, going to lead to a significant

upswing or a change in the r? and this has been modelled very carefully by sage, but the view is, if it is done carefully, if it is done slowly, than it is very unlikely due to that but it has to be done very carefully. and patrick may wish to comment. the third thing is that teachers and parents are understandably concerned about individual risk, and that is very much what we are consulting on at the moment with the profession, and it is very important we have a proper debate around that to make sure people understand that we can do many things to reduce the risk. as with all of society, you can never reduce the risk completely to zero and that's not a realistic aspiration but we can reduce the risk. the biggest thing is to get

the virus down. just to add a little bit to that, we said in the way in that, actually, schools are a relatively small part of the spread. they are not nothing but there are relatively small part. therefore, now, in terms of key workers and vulnerable children in at school, that's ok, that's the pit that's done now. we did not recommend from sage that primaries came back now. as the prime minister has laid out, that would be done in a very staged way, so as not all primaries coming back, it's some classes, its reduced class sizes. that allows that to be monitored so the effect can be seen, so it's notjust a simple to say everything comes back now and the r is ok. it needs to be done carefully, step— by—step, and measured. thanks very much. can we go to john? with so many conflicting

statements with you and scotland, who do i not listen to, as you are my prime minister and we are all a united kingdom? thank you very much. what i've said just now as we have a situation in the uk where the disease, the epidemic is at different stages in different places and it is entirely right that different devolved administrations are taking slightly different approaches to deal with the epidemic in their nation, and we respect that and we support that. when you look at the totality of the approach, i really think that, actually, the unity between us is far more significant of the differences, and ican significant of the differences, and i can tell you that every member of cobra that was there yesterday,

everybody from all forward evolved -- all everybody from all forward evolved —— allfour everybody from all forward evolved —— all four nations, was absolutely determined to have a uk wide solution to this. i have no doubt we will achieve that, but you've got to respect local issues, local flare—ups, local problems. and part of the solution is going to be, as we go forward, we will be responding, john, with local responses. if there is a flare—up in a particular part of the country, in a particular part of the country, in a town or in a village, which we detect with our covid alert system, we will be firefighting, doing whack a mole, to deal with that issue. you have a regional, national approach, makes sense. it is also important to have a uk wide approach as well.

thanks very much. let's go to peter in londonderry. if the devolved governments are having different strategies to that of yours, what of controlled points of entry to england? thanks, peter. the answer to that is no. the common travel area will remain between the uk and ireland. there will be no checks, nothing between ireland and northern ireland, and the motherly, you would not except anything between gb and northern ireland. possibly the most useful, what we really want people to do in this country is to look at our social distancing measures across that we are proposing in all four nations, totally understand what those social distancing measures are and apply them with common sense. the two metre rule,

how you interact with people, these are ways in which we can push down this virus, and i think it's the common sense of the british people that has been so crucial in the whole of the uk in getting the r down. everybody understood roughly what to do in the first phase ended despite applying common sense that i think we will be successful in this second phase as well. thank you very much. we round off with two more questions from the media. tom. thank you, prime minister for questions from the media. tom. thank you, prime ministerfor some millions will have seen your road map today and seen what it meant for their jobs. map today and seen what it meant for theirjobs. people in nightclubs, aviation, the tourism sector, all the sectors that are quite friendly going to struggle to ever get their jobs back. they will be very worried

about this. there is talk already of about this. there is talk already of a lost generation of young people losing theirjobs, struggling to get intojobs if they losing theirjobs, struggling to get into jobs if they are leaving their education this summer. and you share some of your future thinking? these people will not be helped by an extension of the furlough scheme. is it time to be talking of a jobs energy scheme? it time to be talking of a jobs energy scheme ? you it time to be talking of a jobs energy scheme? you have done a very good job ramming home the threat of the dangers so far, the virus, but is now time to start explaining to the public new statistics that might alleviate some of the concern and fear, for example, the recovery rate is met we are one of the few countries that don't seem to publish the amount of people recover on a day—to—day basis. the amount of people recover on a day-to-day basis. tom, can i first of all say that, actually, one of the things people don't make enough of it this country has been absolutely unique in the world in a way that we have tried to keep

people in hospitality, and retail, in the sectors, the very sectors you mentioned, tom, we have kept them in funds through the furlough scheme. it has been absolutely crucial. nothing like it. 6.5 million people have been supported and we believe in it. one of the difference between this crisis in 2008 is we really wa nt to this crisis in 2008 is we really want to look after the working people in this country, the people who need our help. they are our priority. look, you're totally right and what you say. we are going to have to think about the economy differently going forward, but i will not be quite as pessimistic as you in some of these sectors. i do believe they will recover. as you know, we have an ambition to get lee some hospitality going byjuly four.

—— that will be a tough ask, and it depends on a great deal of conditionality that i've sent out, but that's the ambition, that's the target that we are setting, so elites some of the jobs, the groups that you mentioned there, will start to come back. and then over the medium—term, iam to come back. and then over the medium—term, i am absolutely in no doubt the uk economy is immensely resilient and will come back but we are going to have to think a lot more about, to get back to the question pethrick be asked, if we can negative act dumb act faxing fast enough, —— to the question beth rigby asked, if we cannot get back fast enough... we are a very ingenious bunch. i'm sure we'll find ways forward and that is what we intend to do. on the second one, certainly i have tried and patrick have tried right from the beginning

to balance two things. the seriousness of this virus as an epidemic, and it clearly is a very serious epidemic, but equally the fa ct serious epidemic, but equally the fact that the great majority of people will not die from this, and i will just repeat some people will not die from this, and i willjust repeat some thing i said right at the beginning because i think it's worth reinforcing. most people, a significant portion of people, a significant portion of people, will not get the service at all at any point in the epidemic which is going to go on for a long period of time. of those who do, some of them will get the virus without even knowing it. they will have the virus with no symptoms at all. a schematic carriers. we know that happens. —— a and thematic areas. about 80% of those with symptoms will have a mild to moderate disease. an unfortunate minority left to go as far as hospital, but the majority of those will just need oxygen hospital, but the majority of those willjust need oxygen and will then leave hospital, and then a minority of those will end up having to go to severe and trickle care, and some of

those sadly will die. but that is a minority. it's1% or possibly even less tha n minority. it's1% or possibly even less than 1% overall. and even in the highest risk group, this is significantly less than 20%. even the very highest groups, if they catch this virus, will not die, and i really wanted to make that point really clearly. and if you look at the curves, the second point, because of the work the whole country has done, these are coming down. the number of deaths are coming down, the number of those intensive care are coming down, the deaths and care homes are coming down. these are very positive things. absolutely wanted to reinforce that, but that does not mean you can get away from the fact that if we did not do anything, if we left this virus to run, we would be back in a very similar situation that would threaten any lives and the nhs. it is about to be those m essa g es the nhs. it is about to be those messages and balance. ifully the nhs. it is about to be those messages and balance. i fully agree with you. you have to give both

messages, not the one. your information you have got, the better, so people know where we are. thanks very much, chris and patrick, and thank you, tom. just very quickly. is it time to start publishing daily recovery rates? do you know, for example, now how many people have recovered from the virus, such as the prime minister, for example? we have data. we don't know everybody. we do have recovery rates. they are available and i see absolutely no reason why they should not be made available. we certainly have hospital recovery rates. in a sense, what we have. we have data on people who got as far as hospital, how many of those left hospital.

theyis how many of those left hospital. they is a very severe and of the spectrum, all the ones i was talking about before that point, they make a full recovery, they don't enter the statistics. they will increasingly enter the statistic now that we have a better testing capacity, the means we are picking up more of the mile cases in the trinity. but if people look at those, but i would not is people to say, the mortality rate is more than i would expect full stub thatis more than i would expect full stub that is because the recovery rates are severe enough to get to hospital. and even so, that is a majority, so it is important it is read in that context. thanks very much, tom. i am sure the hospital recovery rates are readily available. we should supply those. next very much. last question is from heather stewart of the guardian. low-paid workers have been four times more likely to die from this disease than professionals, and many more of those low skilled

workers are actively encouraged to return to work from wednesday. lockdowns are in much tougher when you're in... nannies allowed to return to help those who are working from home, professionals working at home. can you understand why some people feel the burden of this crisis is falling unfairly on these people? and dr chris whitty, you talked about children having the disease. i was wondering we could see the statistics on that before schools return on the 1st ofjune? sorry, heather, look, very good question. we have got to look very carefully at the end of this at all the impacts this has had on society, which people have been particular hard—hit, and there's no question it is falling hardest on certain groups and you are right to point that out,

and you are right to point that out, and we are going to need to address that. i would just make a couple points about what we are proposing this week and what we are doing. i wa nt to this week and what we are doing. i want to be clear that, yes, in saying that people who cannot work from home should now go to work, we are absolutely categorical that their workplace, your workplace, must be safe, must be covid secure. if employers will not be allowed to get away with forcing people to work in conditions that are not covid secure, everybody must obey social distancing and we are going to have a lot more inspections by the health and safety executive, we will have a random spot inspection to check that companies are doing the right thing. and if people feel that they are made to work in conditions that they

think are unsafe, they should immediately report it and we will ta ke immediately report it and we will take action, and that goes for all work. and i want to stress we are not expecting this week a huge change. we are civilly encouraging those in those sectors we've outlined who cannot work from home now to talk to their employers —— simply encouraging. just on your point about the burden falling on working people, i just, point about the burden falling on working people, ijust, i remind you what this country has done, virtually uniquely, to support working people through the furloughing scheme, through the coronavirus job retention scheme. furloughing scheme, through the coronavirusjob retention scheme. it is quite a remarkable thing we have done but it is right, and we are protecting people's jobs, done but it is right, and we are protecting people'sjobs, lives and livelihoods, and it is entirely what we have done that way. chris.

patrick want to add an additional point, but there are basically three questions within what you have just said stop do children have severe disease? the answer is very rarely, not never, and i think it is widely accepted. the second question, do children transmit the virus? that is still uncertain, that is still being looked at quite carefully in lots of different places, but... then the third question is, do schools actually contributing difficultly to an increase in the r? a certain amount. and this is what has been modelled very carefully by sage and this is a thing patrick might wish to talk about, but as i think you know, both sir patrick and as

co—chair in this area, we are committed to the publication of all these sums behind sage and that is happening ever is fastest people want, but that is happening, and thatis want, but that is happening, and that is cruelly part of the scientific endeavour. most of the data on this is in the public domain —— particularly part of it. the very low rates of severe disease, as chris has said, but also in terms of, do children become infected as much? certainly not more, and there is some evidence they might be infected less. do they transmit more? no. might they transmit less? possibly. that is not entirely clear. and do they come at a young e, clear. and do they come at a young age, act as less of a trend mission between households in terms of their behaviours and patterns and contact? they do a bit about and that's the sort of evidence that we are looking at and will make all our papers open

as we pledge to do. thank you very much, patrick. thank you very much, chris. thank you very much, heather. thank you very much for watching. that was the prime minister, boris johnson, with today's briefing, taking ona johnson, with today's briefing, taking on a lot of questions there. people after detail. the stay—at—home message in england has changed to stay alert. lots of people want a lot of detail about what that means. there's been a number of government documents today laying out some of that, by think overall, the message there from the medical and scientific advisers, as well as the prime minister, slow, careful changes. they don't want to rush into anything and they're going to monitor what happens. they're going to be some slight changes and they are going to see how those change but there will be constantly reviews. that is all from westminster now and it is time for outside source.

this is outside source on bbc news for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm lewis vaughan jones. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. large parts of europe start to ease lockdown conditions, with businesses reopening and children heading back to school there's a warning from germany, progress against the virus remains fragile, as infection rates go up. britain's prime minister, borisjohnson, defends his plan for easing the lockdown in england, amid claims there's a lack of clarity. we are now asking people to stay alert, control