they had at 430. as the death toll rises, sign to say a new test to show whether people have been infected with covid—19 is a major step forward. the government says it could be available in weeks. we are keen to get as many as we can and get them out, primarily to the front line first of the nhs, social care and then more widely, because this really will be, as the prime minister said, a game changer. the number of people going to accident and emergency is a record low. might be getting infected with coronavirus in england.

it's believed 1—in—400 outside of hospitals and care homes have caught covid—19. let's go, we'll start cutting at 12:01, so come on in. people queue at midnight for much needed haircuts, as new zealand reopens thousands of businesses at the end of lockdown. # when tiers are in your eyes... #. and the hospital choir whose bridge over troubled water got a shout out from paul simon. good afternoon and welcome to viewers on bbc one and the bbc news channel ahead of the daily downing street coronavirus update. the government has announced that a further 428 people have died with the virus in the uk — bringing the total number of deaths in hospitals and the wider community to 33,614 people. the news comes as scientists say a new blood test,

which detects whether someone has had coronavirus, is a major step forward. the test looks for antibodies which could indicate some immunity to covid—19 in the future. it was approved last night by public health england, and ministers say they want to roll it out as soon as possible, first to health and care workers. but experts have cautioned that it's not yet clear whether someone who has recovered from the illness develops long—term immunity. here's our health correspondent dominic hughes. a reliable, accurate antibody test that can tell if a person has had covid—19 is one of the keys to escaping the coronavirus crisis. now a test developed by scientists at the swiss pharmaceutical giant roche offers serious potential. having been officially approved for use in england, the nhs is now negotiating to buy hundreds of thousands of them. officials in scotland, wales and northern ireland will make

their own decisions that are likely to follow suit. we are keen to get as many as we can and get them out, primarily to the front line first, the nhs and social care, and then more widely because this has the potential to be a game changer. the test matters because it can detect the presence of antibodies in the blood, produced if you have had the illness, even if you have never had any symptoms. that is vital because antibodies could offer protection against reinfection, at least for a while. knowing which people have had the virus and therefore should be protected from it, and we will need to know more about that, is again good news and should enable us to understand how the virus has spread and where it has spread to across the population. again, that knowledge is really important. developing a test that is good enough has proved difficult. this laboratory in south wales was one of hundreds around the world involved in the effort, and there have been false dawns. the uk government bought more than 3 million tests that proved to be ineffective.

questions remain over the level of immunity you might gain from having had the illness. you can say for certain you have had the infection, so you will have had covid—19. that is useful for a variety of reasons, but what you cannot absolutely for sure say is that you will be protected in the future because those antibodies are capable of neutralising the virus. nhs officials in england still need to negotiate an acceptable price, with roche, and other tests are also being assessed, but this is being hailed as the best prospect so far. dominic hughes, bbc news. dr alexander edwards is an associate professor in biomedical technology at the university of reading. hejoins us now. good afternoon. thank you forjoining us. it's been made clear that this is an antibody test and not an immunity test. what

purpose does it serve, given that that's the case? i think there are so that's the case? i think there are so many benefits. i won't list all of them but one way of thinking about it is that with one really good test, it allows us to develop more and more tests. the other thing is, we won't be able to see whether antibody—positive people are protected from infection unless we can actually measure the level of antibodies. so it's the first step towards understanding this great puzzle of how long people stay immune, is to be able to measure those antibodies in people. so if you have antibodies, you have a certain level of immunity or immunity that goes on for a certain period of time and it's the case scientists and doctors don't quite know how to measure that awe at what level that is? the difficulty is the immune system is always surprisingly complicated. 0ver many, many decades, we've learned with lots of different infections that often we can measure really reliably, we can

measure immune responses that every individual varies. so measure immune responses that every individualvaries. so forsome people a certain level of antibodies may be protected and for other people not so. we've learned the ha rd people not so. we've learned the hard way from different infections that just having antibodies, hard way from different infections thatjust having antibodies, it's useful because it allows you to make certain you have had an infection but it can't always guarantee you will be protected and if you are protected, it doesn't tell you how long you will be protected for. protected, it doesn't tell you how long you will be protected fonm it harder to develop a test for immunity than antibodies or are they essentially run at the same thing? they are really not. the thing about antibodies, they are one part of a very complicated immune system. you need all of those different elements acting together to protect you from acting together to protect you from a viral infection. it's a very useful sign, a very useful marker but the next phase in the next stage for intense scientific research is to try and find out more about what protective us up again, coming back to the beginning, actually, if you have had the infection, it's quite likely won't get reinfected for a

period of time, possibly even for some infections, you can retain that protection for the rest of your life. but the lack of certainty makes it important not to assume this antibody test proves that you are safe. sojust in this antibody test proves that you are safe. so just in terms of practical implications for society, will this test enable us to behave differently in some way?” will this test enable us to behave differently in some way? i think what it does as it starts to eliminate some of the big uncertainties that we have had up until now. until we have had some of these big surveys and until we have this retrospective study of being able to see who is infected in the past, if you don't actually know how many people have been infected and in different regions, it's much harder to plan your policies and control measures. 50 as harder to plan your policies and control measures. so as we get more information, all of the decisions that we make will be data driven, rather than you know best guest data driven, which is where we have been

up driven, which is where we have been up until now. 0k, really interesting, very good to talk to you. thank you so much, doctor alexander edwards. thank you. the number of people going to a&e in england has hit a record low. visits more than halved in april compared with the same month last year. the latest nhs figures also show cancer referrals in england have fallen. health charities have warned it could be many months before nhs services return to normal. lauren moss reports. as cases of coronavirus climbed this spring, visits to a&e departments across england plummeted. this is the first time official figures have shown how other areas of the nhs have been affected by the pandemic. as non—urgent procedures were postponed, patients had to wait. roxanne has had stomach pain for several months. her colonoscopy at southmead hospital in bristol was cancelled in april. i feel very abandoned, in a way, because it's kind of like before the covid—19 situation it was like,

right, 0k, go to your doctor, you see your doctor, get an appointment, and now the appointments are not happening. i'm sure there are many people in the same boat as me, all thinking the same question and all wondering what's going on. what happens if it's something sinister? more than 181,000 people were referred for an urgent cancer check in march, down by more than 7% on the same time last year. 97,000 fewer patients were admitted for routine treatment and operations, down by a third. but it's a&e figures for april are the most stark — at its lowest level since records began in 2010 with almost 2 million fewer visits compared to april last year. although it has meant that a&e departments have been a lot quieter than they would otherwise have been, and that has helped in terms of tackling covid, it does mean there are lots of people who should have been turning up to a&e who have not been turning up. as the nhs looks to restart more

routine care, leading health think tanks are warning it could be many months before returning to normality and there will be a backlog. that means we have people with needs before covid struck, so they might have been a waiting list for surgeries. we then have needs that have developed during the covid period, both from people having covid and the support they need but also from the wider health implications of the lockdown. for example, mental health needs. could this be part of the new normal? since the outbreak began, the royal berkshire hospital has been using artificial intelligence to read brain scans and diagnose stroke patients faster. it's one of the ways the nhs is adapting and reminding people it's very much open for business. if you are concerned about having a stroke, a heart attack, perhaps cancer, do come forward. and, at the same time, the nhs will be redesigning the way in which services are offered to keep them safe. but there are no easy answers.

think tanks warn that covid—19 is still a major threat, and there will be painful choices for many months to come. lauren moss, bbc news. the office for national statistics has published the first results from its coronavirus infection survey. based on the findings, its estimated that on average, 1 in 400 people in england has covid—19. the survey was carried out using 11,000 people who were asked to carry out swab tests over the two weeks up to 10th may. those tested were in the community — not in hospitals or care homes, where rates are likely to be much higher. pete benton, from the office for national statistics, explained a little earlier what the survey showed. what we have done is we've invited people in 10,000 households in england, so about 20,000 people, to take a swab test and to do that once a week for five weeks and then to carry on once a month for a year. 10% of those we've also invited to do a blood test to check whether they have got antibodies.

so, we've published some results today, based on swabs from about 10,000 people, injust over 5000 homes. what that tells us is about 0.27% of the population, so about 148,000 of us, have coronavirus at the moment or over the last two weeks. now, it's a survey and we have to gross that up to be representative of the whole population. when you do that, there is a bit of uncertainty. we're pretty confident the true is somewhere between 94,000—220,000 but it's about 148,000, we think, that have coronavirus now. pete benton from the office of national statistics. i'm joined by nick tringale, how do you look at that information? it's about gathering the evidence. this is the government's surveillance programme to see how much is in the community

at the moment. we know testing capacity has been limited and so the numbers we hear about each layer of new infections are an underestimate on how much infection is out there. this survey, and it'sjust on how much infection is out there. this survey, and it's just the first tranche of information from the survey that will be continued for months and months and the numbers involved will grow but this survey suggests there is about 150,000 people out there with an infection of coronavirus. that works out at one in 400 people. that is both good news and bad news, i think. one in 400 people. that is both good news and bad news, ithink. in terms of the good news, it means for anyone who may be returning to work or as lockdown eases doing other things, that chances of coming into contact with an infected person is pretty low. but the bad news is that when you think about it, if there are 150,000 infections out there, as we move to track and trace to try and contain outbreaks, that's quite and contain outbreaks, that's quite a significant number to try and keep track of and contain those outbreaks. that, ithink, would be

quite and ask for that new system being set up now. really interesting. we have had a lot of figures today, haven't we? including figures today, haven't we? including figures about the fall in the number of people going to accident and emergency units? yes, these are the monthly figures published by nhs england. i think if we can see on the chart, there has been a huge drop in the number is coming to a&e. normally we would have over 2 million people a month visiting a&e. that fell to 1.5 million. in april, at the peak of the pandemic, dropped below a million for the first time, the lowest since records began in 2010. nhs bosses are very concerned that seriously ill patients are staying away. they noticed a drop in the number of people coming forward with the signs of stroke. the figures also show the impact of how the nhs was changed and reorganised to cope with the pandemic. services

we re to cope with the pandemic. services were scaled back, if you remember, and staff redeployed. although we only have the data for march are not april, in march there was a small drop in cancer referrals compared to the year before and routine operations, which were expected to go down because routine operations we re go down because routine operations were sort of postpone during the peak of the pandemic, they have fallen by a third compared to the same period last year. just a brief run on a&e, presumably there are also fewer people involved in road accidents because people haven't been on the road as much. fewer people going on because they have had too much to drink on a night out? absolutely. i think we expected the figures to come down. nhs england expected the figures to come down but it's the scale of that drop. it has halved from the level it was at before the pandemic. that is causing concern and in particular, they can see from the figures and the data that fewer people are coming with signs of

strokes or heart problems. those sort of problems don'tjust go away sort of problems don'tjust go away so there is concern people are suffering. these are the sort of indirect costs of lockdown. they wa nt indirect costs of lockdown. they want people, if they need help, to come forward. a&e is open, nhs is open and they want them to come forward. we will talk to you shortly, we are waiting for the daily downing street briefing but for now, thank you. some news from northern ireland, some changes to the lockdown rules taking effect from monday. the case is garden centres and recycling centres will reopen and marriage ceremonies for people who are terminally ill will be allowed to go ahead so those changes being reported from stormont. they are due to come into effect from monday. universities across the uk sent students home in march and moved lectures, classes, exams and graduation ceremonies online. while many students assumed that they would be returning to campus in september,

whether that will go ahead seems increasingly unlikely. meanwhile, the pandemic is threatening to sharply cut overseas student numbers and put universities in financial danger. sir steve smith is the vice—chancellor of the university of exeter, and part of a ministerial task force looking at university funding through the coronavirus crisis. good to talk to you here on bbc news. this is a very tough time for stu d e nts news. this is a very tough time for students and a tough time for universities, isn't it? what are the prospects of students getting a term in september that is partly on campus? i think the truth is we honestly don't know yet. we are monitoring it day by day. on the one hand, we really want to try to get stu d e nts hand, we really want to try to get students on campus. all the evidence stu d e nts students on campus. all the evidence students want to come to campus. they want to attend, they want to live in halls of residence, they wa nt live in halls of residence, they want that all—around experience that

you get going to university but we are of course having to plan on the basis that may not be possible or might be delayed. so we in exeter are in the process of putting our programmes online, as nearly all universities are doing, so we are ready for any eventuality. but our aim and desire will be to try to be able to accommodate students for the autumn term to get that all—round university experience. you can see from the point of view from the students, they now paying up to £9,000 a yearfor their students, they now paying up to £9,000 a year for their tuition. they are faced with the prospect of not having that university experience. that's true. what we have tried to do is try to ensure we don'tjust send them away. we have given them a lot of assessment and support in exeter, all our careers abroad has gone online, we put all our assessment online. 2240 students

are taking exams remotely today. what we are doing is absolutely trying to make sure that although it is different we are trying to make sure the quality is what the stu d e nts sure the quality is what the students rightly expect. you are on a ministerial task force, looking at international students who bring in a great deal of money for uk universities and that's going to be a real issue, isn't it? everyone is expecting lower numbers, perhaps vastly lower numbers. international stu d e nts vastly lower numbers. international students are worth about £7 billion a year to the uk. and, therefore, what we've got to do is to find a way whereby we can work with government on the task force to make sure that the rewards that come financially at universities can come from another source. the key point is international students in part, besides doing many other things, subsidise the research base of the uk. the group i am on is focused on trying to make sure we continue to

invest in research because that is going to be absolutely central to the future of the uk for me. but will it be the case you'll be looking to government for help? we will be looking to government help. we have put forward a package to ask for government support. we would like something in the region of £2 billion because that is the amount we think at least we will lose from international students income. therefore we very much want to talk to government about how they can support us through that. ultimately, it is the future of the uk economy that the research base actually guarantees. 0k, very good to you, thank you so much, says steve smith, vice chancellor of exeter university. thank you. people in england who cannot work from home have been returning to their workplaces, as the government begins easing some lockdown measures. the hospitality sector was the first to shut down when borisjohnson introduced lockdown restrictions back in march and the industry has been hit hard by

the government's lockdown. the prime minister announced in sunday's speech that some parts of the sector may partially re—open injuly depending on the rate of coronavirus infection. but what has the impact been on the industry and how can hospitality move forward post lockdown? let's speak now to chef and restaurateur yotam 0ttolenghi. thank you so much forjoining us here on bbc news, yotam. just describe to us first your own situation with your own restaurants, how are you coping on what has happened? like everyone else in the industry, we had to shut down in march. and the situation is that, you know, the vast majority of the staff, almost all of them are furloughed, waiting to come back to work when we are allowed to reopen. some of my businesses will reopen

for takeaway only. and deliveries. but the vast majority of the staff are waiting at home ready to get the go—ahead to come back to work. and reopen the restaurant. that's the situation. even if you are allowed to partially reopen injuly, how do you envisage that experience been? anyone who has been to any one of your restaurants, people often sit at the same table, it is communal dining so how can that happen? look, our company dining so how can that happen? look, ourcompany and dining so how can that happen? look, our company and others are thinking of all kinds of clever ways to create a certain degree of distancing within the restaurants. as an industry, we have been famous for creating convivial atmosphere and serving great food, and service in our establishments. the uk restau ra nt in our establishments. the uk restaurant industry is one of the most innovative and creative in the world and i think we will find ways

to do that. i want to say it will be extremely hard. because we will have fewer people walking into our restau ra nts fewer people walking into our restaurants either from their own volition or due to government regulation, which we understand. but we are all planning to work extremely hard to make this happen and to make this industry, which is absolutely vital to the economy, millions work in this industry, and it isn't just millions work in this industry, and it isn'tjust us, it is farmers, to suppliers, it is cleaners, it is laundry people, it is a whole ecosystem that relies on this industry, and we are planning to fight extremely hard for every singlejob and fight extremely hard for every single job and every single penny that can come our way post lockdown. but you'll also need customers who are willing to come, and feel the situation is safe enough for them to come. you've got a very loyal following. do you have a sense from people whether they might be prepared to come back or not?|j

people whether they might be prepared to come back or not? i feel that there will be a really pent—up demand for going out and socialising, combined with a certain relu cta nce socialising, combined with a certain reluctance to get too close. with these two pressures, kind of going head—to—head, it will be a bit difficult but i feel people will wa nt to difficult but i feel people will want to go back to normality of a certain kind. a safe normality. it is human nature to want to get together. i just want to say one thing about the whole industry, which i want to raise and it's important for us, and that is the importance of rent that hasn't been resolved by government. all of us have not been paying rent since the beginning of lockdown. that has been accumulating on the balance sheets. if there is no legislation or regulation by the government to give us some kind of rent break, many of the restaurants won't be able to operate again, something which needs

to be dealt with straightaway, a rent break for nine months at the very least tonight, for all industry, is the only way to allow us to survive going into the future. when you say a rent break, do you mean deferring rates or cancelling them? i think there will need to be some kind of cancellation of rent. the hospitality union, a group of restau ra nt the hospitality union, a group of restaurant ares and operators, has come up with a national timeout, which is us not paying rent until january next year. which is absolutely vital. there are landlords and they need to get their payment, but restaurants that have been close not to pay rent and operating at a 50% capacity post lockdown is not viable. that idea is a very sound idea and offers breaks to landlords that need to repay debts from banks. but it will... it is the only way to allow our

industry to stand on its feet again and start supporting communities, workers, and the whole industry all over the uk. 0k, workers, and the whole industry all over the uk. ok, so good to you, thank you so much, yotam 0ttolenghi. thousands of businesses have reopened in new zealand, as the country ends its coronavirus lockdown. shops and restaurants have welcomed customers for the first time since march and some barbers began work at the stroke of midnight, to cater for people desperate for a haircut. the authorities say the risk of transmission in new zealand is now very small, but have urged people to follow social distancing guidelines. shaimaa khalil sent this report. hey! this i do for queenstown — we're back! taking the plunge into new—found freedom. this new zealand mayor went the extra mile, heralding the country's new phase of eased restrictions. new zealanders can once again enjoy going to cinemas, shops and gyms. let's go, let's go — we'll start cutting at 12.01, so come on in.

but top of the list for many was getting a haircut. so badly did some people wanta trim, that they queued through the night to get into salons. she got the boys organised in three hours to open at one minute past 12, so we're going to be looking as sharp as elvis when we turn up at work tomorrow! new zealand is seen as a success story in fighting the virus, with 21 deaths in a population of 5 million. they've been gradually easing restrictions over the last few weeks. now people can get together in cafes again. it's magic and great to just reconnect and actually be in a different environment. that's been the biggest bonus, i think. good view, lovely day, so yeah, and just having someone else making coffee for a change is fantastic. businesses will still be required to maintain physical distancing and strict hygiene measures. the other thing that's really bizarre, we are quite proudly

displaying our cleaning products and wiping down tables, whereas normally we'd sort of stuff it out of the way. now, it's like, no, no, look at us, we're clean! in christchurch, this college is one of the first educational facilities opening their doors. absolutely delightful. you know, this is what schools are about, the chatter and energy of the girls. smiles all around from teachers and from students and, not surprisingly, from parents as well! like most countries around the world, the economy in new zealand has been hit hard. in its budget announcement, the government has unveiled a record $30 billion recovery package. there will be extra spending on wage subsidy schemes, healthcare and infrastructure. for a nation where the outdoors is a part of everyday life, new zealanders are relieved the lockdown is over. as the country eases into normality, many are still getting to grips with the economic impact covid—19

will have on their lives. you may now kiss your beautiful bride. for now, some are enjoying the first day of happier times and truly being together again. shaimaa khalil, bbc news. while we wait for the daily downing street briefing, led by the transport secretary, grant shapps, let's talk to our political correspondent nick eardley, whojoins us from westminster. what are we expecting today? hello. i think there are bound to be some questions about how the transition to get some people back to work in england is going. the question of how you socially distance if you are on busy buses and trains and undergrounds on busy buses and trains and underg rounds here on busy buses and trains and undergrounds here in london. there is also the question that has been asked over the last couple of days about how local transport providers are going to get through this period. we know the mayor of london,

sadiq khan, has warned transport for london, would it be able to afford to put on all the services that will be required? to put on all the services that will be required ? the to put on all the services that will be required? the massive decrease it has seen in the number of people who are on trains paying fares. there is are on trains paying fares. there is a big question about the viability of what the government wants to happen in england over the next few weeks. how you encourage people slowly back to work if they can't work from home. but, at the same time, maintain strict social distancing measures that the government says it still have to remain in place. we have seen in the daily data that is produced that there are more people getting into their cars and getting to work but that, of course, goes contrary to any notion of a green sort of message. do you think we can expect to hear more about quite how people are meant to get to work? yes. i think grant shapps has said already that he's going to encourage lot

more people to walk if they can, to cycle. 0bviously, more people to walk if they can, to cycle. obviously, there are parts of england where that is not possible, if you live in a rural community it's not necessarily possible to walk to work. in the cities, it's something the government are encouraging. i think inevitably we will see some people driving to work who weren't before, the government has conceded that as well. there is a question about people who used to get a bus or a trade in the city and how that will be managed over the next few weeks and months, as the economy slowly gets moving again. 0ne economy slowly gets moving again. one other thing that is inevitable, i think, that will come up today is that question of the antibody test, which the government seems to be quite optimistic about. this antibody test that has been tested by public health england and showing positive signs of working. we know the government is entering into negotiations with the german firm roche about buying some of those. it is not a silver bullet and won't

solve everything. we know there are big questions still about whether antibodies show you are actually immune, how long those antibodies might last for butter is another one of those of life... for the last few weeks we've watched these press conferences waiting for the government to tell us more about restrictions, increasingly they are becoming about how england and perhaps other parts of the uk eventually, might start eating their way back to something starting to resemble normal. how the economy might get moving again. how more of us might get back to work. the focus is certainly changing slightly to look towards that and not just restrictions. yes, we did hear a little earlier that people in northern ireland from monday will be able to go to garden centres and recycling centres. absolutely as you say. as we wait for grant shapps to start the daily briefing, the issue of care homes and the situation there simply

hasn't gone away, has eight? it's the biggest pressure by the government is facing at the moment. big questions were asked yesterday about the advice that was given in the first place, about when people should be sent back to care homes if they had perhaps been in hospital. there are big fears that one of the main reasons the infection rate is continuing to be higher than some in government would want it to be is because of the spread of this disease still happening in care homes. the prime minister announced... nick, iwill homes. the prime minister announced... nick, i will stop homes. the prime minister announced... nick, iwill stop you there, let's go over to grant shapps. good afternoon and welcome to today's downing street press conference. i'm pleased today to be joined by professor jonathan van—tam. let me start by updating you on the latest information from the government's cobra data file. from our testing programme, as of

today, 2,219,281 tests for coronavirus have now been carried out in the uk, including a new record of 126,064 tests carried out yesterday. 233,151 people have tested positive. that is an increase of 3446 cases since yesterday. 11,041 people are in hospital with covid—19. that is down 14% from a week ago. and sadly, of those tested positive for coronavirus, 33,614 have now died. that is an increase of 428 fatalities since yesterday. this new vigour does include all deaths in all settings, notjust in hospitals. 0ur deaths in all settings, notjust in hospitals. our deepest sympathies go out to the families and friends as this nation battle is to defeat this

disease. today, i'm going to set out how, while the country has been at a virtual standstill, this downtime has been used to fix and upgrade the nation's road and rail structure and longer plans to help our economy bounce back. but before i set out to plasma transport announcements, let me briefly remind you of the government's road map out of this crisis. can i have a first slide, please? as you know, we have established a new covid alert system with five levels, based primarily on the number of cases. throughout the lockdown, we have been at level four. thank to the british people, we have brought the r down and can begin moving carefully to level three. can i have slide two? from this week, we are at step one on the slide meaning 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 much as you like. you can meet one person who is not part of your household out side, provided you do state two metres apart. step two, from the 1st ofjune at the earliest and as long as it is safe, we aim to allow primary schools to reopen for some pupils in smaller class sizes. nonessential retail to start to reopen and cultural and sporting events to take place behind closed doors and without crowds. and then, on step three, no earlier than the 4th ofjuly and only if the data says it is safe to do so, we aim to allow more businesses to open, including those offering personal care, those in the leisure sector, together with places of worship. next slide, please. we can control this virus if we stay alert. but what does staying alert actually mean? staying alert for the vast

majority of people still mean staying at home as much as possible and working from home if you can. but it also means limiting contact with other people, keeping your distance if you go out, washing your hands regularly, wearing a face covering in enclosed spaces where it's difficult to be socially distanced, for example on public transport. if you or anyone in your household has symptoms, you all need to self—isolate. today, i want to update you on the measures we are taking to speed up our economic recovery while keeping people safe. the two months, we have remained locked down, travelling as little as possible and in doing so, the whole country has protected the nhs and help to reduce the number of covid infections. but as we begin making tentative steps towards restarting our economy and people in some sectors who can't work from

home are beginning to return to work places, it is clear that transport has a critical role to play. last saturday, i explained why it is our civic duty to avoid public transport if at all possible because even when we have 100% of the services up and running, there may only be socially distanced space available for one in ten passengers. therefore, in order to help reduce crowding, we set out a£2 to help reduce crowding, we set out a £2 billion programme to put cycling and walking at the heart of transport, with £250 million of that emergency money spending already under way. 0ver emergency money spending already under way. over the past week, we have followed this up by publishing three pieces of detailed guidance. first, for local authorities in england, explaining how they should prepare for significantly increased numbers of both cyclists and pedestrians. next, for the transport

sector, to ensure that they provide safer services for those travelling and safer workplaces for their staff. third and most importantly, for passengers. we are asking the public to help ensure that the transport system does not become significantly overwhelmed by returning commuters. the guidance makes it clear that if you can't walk or cycle but you do have access toa car, walk or cycle but you do have access to a car, please use it rather than travelling by bus, train or tram, especially where the public transport is liable to be overcrowded. and for those people who absolutely need to use public transport, it also explains how you can best protect yourself and those around you. in the coming weeks, as we carefully and cautiously restart sectors of our economy and people begin to travel once again, they should notice that whilst the country has beenin notice that whilst the country has been in downtime with the roads and

ra i lwa ys been in downtime with the roads and railways quiet, we have been busy, getting on with the essential work, fixing the nation's infrastructure so we can recover faster when the time comes. this upgrade programme, the kind of work that at any other time would cause inevitable disruption and service delays whilst costing the taxpayer more, has instead carried out previously unimaginable circumstances of a largely unused transport network. for example, we've completed 419 separate network rail projects over easter, with a further 1000 upgrade is being carried out throughout the may bank holiday. meanwhile, highways england has been busy accelerating maintenance projects on the nation's roads. lastly, for example, we opened the vital a14 upgrade seven months ahead of schedule. this was a route normally used by 85,000 drivers daily which

will dramatically improve access to the uk's largest container port of felixstowe and permanently boost the distribution of goods around the uk. as northern powerhouse minister, i can report that in the north we have delivered £96 million of rail infrastructure improvements during april and throughout the country we have accelerated maintenance projects on rail and road whilst away sticking to public health england safety guidelines. so that all together, highways england has delivered over £200 million of upgrades and network rail has delivered £550 million worth during april alone. i would like to thank the army of transport and construction workers who have been grafting very hard throughout this lockdown. but to make sure that britain is ready to bounce back from coronavirus, today i can announce nearly £2 billion to upgrade our roads and our railways. to put our

transport infrastructure in the best possible shape and to get our economy growing once again. this package includes £1.7 billion for local roads, making journeys smoother and saferfor local roads, making journeys smoother and safer for drivers, hauliers, drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and others. by filling millions of dangerous potholes we can make our roads safer and encourage more people to cycle or ta ke encourage more people to cycle or take part in the upcoming e scooter trials. helping more people play our pa rt trials. helping more people play our part in relieving public pressure on public transport. this investment will help fix damage caused by the winter flooding, will help fix damage caused by the winterflooding, repair roads will help fix damage caused by the winter flooding, repair roads and bridges and fund numerous road improvement schemes. as more people become mobile again, we will also be building a network of rapid charging stations for electric cars, including a big expansion of rapid charging facilities at motorway service stations. helping the

country to lock in the dramatic air quality improvements we have experienced during the coronavirus knock—down. amid all the sad news and the tragedy of loved ones we've lost, we have somehow managed to do things in weeks that would normally take yea rs. weeks that would normally take years. building new hospitals, moving public services online, making instant reforms and fast track new laws. extraordinary changes in the way employers and employees work effectively taking swathes of the economy online almost overnight. now, we want to ensure that we can maintain this momentum and if building a new hospital takes just two weeks, why should building a new road still take as long as 20 yea rs ? a new road still take as long as 20 years? if gp surgeries can move online, why are most rail passengers still travelling on cardboard tickets? we must exploit our new—found capacity to respond at

pace and apply it to rapidly improving our infrastructure. and we must examine why it is that bureaucratic bindweed makes british infrastructure some of the costliest sense lowest in europe to build. because whilst many will continue to work from home after this crisis, both the long—term transport trend and the pressing need for communities to level up across the country to take that infrastructure will be even more important in stimulating our recovery and securing and supporting newjobs. so by combining fast home internet access with vastly upgraded transport connections, we can help revive many of our small and medium—sized towns which over the decades have been left behind. this has been a devastating start to the year. not just this has been a devastating start to the year. notjust for britain but for the world. we are only at phase one of that recovery plan. but we

all know that it is our reaction to adversity that will ultimately define how we recover. we must harness our approach to tackling the pandemic and apply it to rebuilding our own infrastructure, with the same swift action, innovation and collective determination that has characterised us over the past few weeks and in doing so, we can emerge stronger. i would like to turn now to jonathan van—tam for the stronger. i would like to turn now tojonathan van—tam for the data. good afternoon to you all. i am going to go through today's slides beginning with some new data. these are social distancing data. they've been collected by the 0ns and they represent the period from 24th of april to the 3rd of may this year. and what they show to you quite clearly is that 80% of adults in

great britain only left their homes for the permitted reasons, if at all. 91% of adults avoided contact with vulnerable people. and, compared with 12% last year, 44% of employed adults work from home in that period. so, you can see there have been very dramatic and very important changes that the british people have made that have contributed to where we are now, in terms of being able to begin easing the social distancing restrictions that we have been under for so the social distancing restrictions that we have been underfor so many weeks. next slide, please. now, this slide shows you in a bit more detailed testing and new cases across the uk from the period sixth april on the left of the graph through to the 14th of may on the right. 0n the top rate in pink is

testing. please, bear in mind that some people, a very small proportion, will have been tested more than once but, nevertheless, on 14th may, 126,000 tests were performed. this is a new record. it goes on the back of over 2.2 million tests delivered in total. and, in terms of confirmed cases, on 14th may, there were 3446 confirmed cases against a total of 233,151. if you look carefully at the bottom graph, the green graph, you can now see a gradual downward trend in the number of confirmed cases. next slide, please. these are new data again.

recently published by the office for national statistics. based upon a survey of households that will eventually get to a total size of 10,000 households surveyed. what it shows use data from 27th of april through to 10th of may. and these are estimates based upon the sample. these are estimates for all of england and the estimate is that in that time period, 148,000 people we re that time period, 148,000 people were infected with covid—19. that is 0.27% of the english population. which isjust 0.27% of the english population. which is just under three 0.27% of the english population. which isjust under three people infected in every 1000. so, that is really now quite a low level of infection in the community that is being picked up through this survey. and this survey will be repeated

regularly, over time it will show us regional trends and regional data, and the data will feed into the joint bio—security centre to help us keep a very close eye on covid—19 as we move forward. next slide, please. iam turning we move forward. next slide, please. i am turning now to the data from hospitals. the upper curve shows new daily admissions from the 24th of march through to the 12th of may. the bottom curve shows the percentage of critical care beds occupied by covid—19 patients. and there are four traces covering the five... five traces, covering the four nations of the uk. what you can see on both of those slides are now long, steady declines in admissions

and the proportion of critical care beds occupied by covid—19 patients. this is clearly extremely good news and shows that the pressure on hospitals is now beginning to ease. 0ver hospitals is now beginning to ease. over the page, please. this further date her shows the total number of people in hospital with covid—19 across the uk. and the general pattern across the uk you can see is clearly downwards. there has been a 14% drop in the total number of people in hospital since last week, and, again, this is moving in the right direction. next slide, please. this slide sadly shows deaths due to covid—19... confirmed with a positive test right across the uk, beginning at the 14th of march at

the left of the slide and moving to the left of the slide and moving to the 14th of may. and there have been 428 deaths with a confirmed test reported on the 14th of may. but, as importantly now, when you look at the slide itself and look at the yellow curve, picking out the seven day rolling average, this decline is now continuing, and it is sustained which, again, is a very positive sign indeed. thank you. thank you, jonathan. questions first from the members of the public. helen from cheshire. my son is due to start the final year of his engineering degree at durham in 0ctober which cannot be done purely online. he has to start paying rent online. he has to start paying rent on his student house injuly and ta ke on his student house injuly and take out the student loan of £9,250 in august. if lectures move online, he will be thousands of pounds worse off and will miss out on the student

experience. there was no mention of stu d e nts experience. there was no mention of students or universities in the government's plan to rebuild on monday. what is the government's plan for students and universities this autumn? thank you. helen, thank you very much. we share an interest, i also have a son at university wondering about exactly the same sort of issues. that comes down to what happens with the pace from the chance the professor has just shown us from the decline of this disease. if we can get those numbers down, different parts of the economy will be able to reopen. i think it is too early to say but the education secretary will be returning to this subject and providing us all with further guidance and, like you, helen, i'm very interested to hear it when it comes. there is something we can all do in the meantime, which is when we say stay alert, make sure

we have that social distancing in place particular as some of the tentative first baby steps in unlock and start to happen. so, it is wait and start to happen. so, it is wait and see but we are absolutely aware of the concerns and we want to make sure we beat this virus in a way that can allow parts of society, including education, higher and further, to get going again. can i turn to naomi from farnborough, and this is a written question. yes, naomi, it is definitely the case we want the nhs, which, as jonathan was demonstrating, has capacity increasingly coming back into it because of the number of people in hospitalfor a cocoa vet has been coming down to be able to ta ke has been coming down to be able to take up routine operations. many of which haven't stopped but some of which haven't stopped but some of which i know the health secretary

has referred to specifically come and he will be seeing more about that soon. i don't know if there's anything you want to add from that? 0nly anything you want to add from that? only to say that we absolutely understand the national health service is not a covid treatment service. it has had to focus on that in the last few months but we are very conscious, everybody in health is conscious of the fact that as soon as is physically and humanly possible, services must be restored to normal. but that takes time and it has to be done at a paste, measured, safe way. it is worth noting that at no time has the nhs become overwhelmed. we have the nightingale hospitals, we have managed to increase the capacity in the nhs has done a phenomenaljob of that. and, asjonathan rightly says, we wa nt that. and, asjonathan rightly says, we want to make sure it is therefore everything, and we also encourage people to contact their gp or dial 111 to make sure they are getting

the support they require from the nhs. can we turn now to questions from the media, and alison holt of the bbc. secretary of state, there is growing anger amongst people in the care sector about what they see as the ongoing slowness of the government's response to their needs, their problems. they are still waiting for instance for details of the infection control plan that was announced yesterday. it is two months into the pandemic. what would you say to reassure them that this is going to change? and also a question from my sports colleagues for professorjonathan van—tam, you've been involved in talks with premier league players. how likely is it to be safe enough to return to competitive football by june the 12th? alison, thank you very much indeed. look, with care homes, there are specialists in infection control,, that is something that care homes routinely at the front line of handling, are

often more so than hospitals, and many of them, welcome all of them, will know what to do exactly and testa m e nt to will know what to do exactly and testament to that is in the vast majority of care homes, covid—19 hasn't been reported at all. however, it certainly is the case and we have seen these figures from the who, who say many deaths have taken place in care homes across europe, but the figure has been 25% overall in uk care homes but it is essential they are provided with every provision. i want to give you an example of that. care homes often privately owned were always buying their own ppe, that is how it has worked but the government stepped in quickly too, although as you know well covered, massive global shortage helped to provide ppe to ca re shortage helped to provide ppe to care homes with millions of pieces delivered. so, there has been a sort

of become a national effort to assist them. and i know the health secretary will be saying more about that soon. but i don't want to underestimate the extraordinary work that has gone into care homes to make sure most of them have remained covid free in the meantime. i will go to jonathan van—tam. covid free in the meantime. i will go to jonathan van-tam. thank you, secretary. 0n football. as you know, the overall approach with easing social distancing has been one that has been tentative, measured, slow, and step wise. and that's exactly the plan that is under way for all of the elite sport, notjust football, that there will be small, carefully measured, stepwise approaches to seeing what can be achieved safely. the first of those isa achieved safely. the first of those is a really, to return to safe

training, still observing social distancing. and measures are taking place, plans are taking place at quite some depth to be ready to do that. and that will be a stepwise thing. we will have to see how that goes before it is time to move on or even think about moving on to thinking about returning to competitive football matches, as you've outlined in your question. so, ithink you've outlined in your question. so, i think we have to be slow. we have to be measured. so, i think we have to be slow. we have to be measuredlj so, i think we have to be slow. we have to be measured. i will give the opportunity to come back and either of those. yes, if i could, opportunity to come back and either of those. yes, if! could, one more question on care homes. in scotland ca re question on care homes. in scotland care home residents that have tested covid positive will now have to have two negative tests before they can return to that care home. is it something that'll be introduced in england? it is probably more a question the medical expert in

public health england than me. i wa nted public health england than me. i wanted to mention in regard to testing, though, it is important to know that everybody in a care home, doesn't matter whether that is the ca re doesn't matter whether that is the care home worker or resident, doesn't matter whether they are symptomatic or asymptomatic, can now be tested, and there are different routes to testing, one of which is there are 116, is the latest figure, 116 mobile testing units which can be physically go to a care home as well, which is helpful to know. on the detailed what medical advice would be, iwill turn the detailed what medical advice would be, i will turn to the professor. i would just say, there is an absolutely enormous effort now to increase the amount of daily tests performed in care homes. and testing as part of the discharge process before patients are discharged from nhs facilities to ca re discharged from nhs facilities to care homes. jonathan, thank you very much indeed and i will turn out to tom clarke of itv. thank you. my

question relates to antibody tests that have been in the headlines today. the prime minister described them as game changing. is that still them as game changing. is that still the government's position? if so, when can we expect to see their game changing potential actually deployed in this epidemic? and how will you prioritise those? will they go straight to front line care workers? thank you. first of all i will hand over to jonathan for the medical side of this but i think it's very exciting there is a very reliable, possibly 100% reliable, antibody test. that is the test which shows whether you have not had coronavirus in the past rather than currently, and therefore developed the antibodies. it is very good news, particularly if it transpires that this makes you immune at least for a period from getting coronavirus again. i think they're in is the

question about your question. i will ask professorjonathan question about your question. i will ask professor jonathan van—tam question about your question. i will ask professorjonathan van—tam to address that point. thank you for the question. you are absolutely right, we have been waiting for a really good antibody test to be ready. there are now at least two available. one of those has received its ce mark in april, the roche test. it has been validated by public health england on the 7th of may and i anticipate it will be rapidly rolled out in the days and weeks to come as soon as it is practical to do so. i also anticipate that the focus will be on the national health service and on ca re rs the national health service and on carers in the first instance. it has taken time. what we required was a test that was highly specific. to explain to people what that means,

it means that the chances of a false positive are extremely low with this test. i'm sure you can understand that if we had used a test where it was possible of giving a false positive result, and therefore saying to people you have antibodies to covid—19 when in fact you don't, that would have been very undesirable indeed. so absolutely, this is a good test that will stand us in good stead moving forwards. i think it will be incredibly important as the days, weeks and months go by. now, there are some science pieces that need to go along with that and please remember that this is a virus that emerged in december. so the totality of human learning on this virus has been in the last five months. that's not long to get to know all the ins and outs of a virus. and one of the

things that we've needed to know is after infection and recovery, whether there is an antibody response and it's clear that, in most cases, there is. but you can't just apply this test, you have to wait at least 14 days, preferably 28 days after the infection in order to be sure to pick up the antibodies if they are there. the next thing to say is it's going to ta ke the next thing to say is it's going to take us time to understand whether the antibodies in all cases protect against infection. and you can't speed up the answer to that. you have to carefully study people who have recovered, people who you know have got antibodies and follow them and track them and see if they become reinfected. and over time, hopefully, you get the answer that they are not but that is data that

has to be gathered over time. then finally, if you understand that antibodies do protect you against reinfection from this disease, the final science question is how long into the future do the antibodies last fall? it is not automatic that, by any means, these are going to be lifelong. we just don't know. we will have to take people with antibodies and measure them over time to understand how long the antibodies stay in the body. and thatis antibodies stay in the body. and that is something that, i'm afraid, scientists all around the world have to be patient about and have to wait for the answers. now, those answers may come from other parts of the world. they may come from the uk, where there is enormous efforts being put into what we call long—term serology surveys to understand all of this. but it's not

something that you can compress through time in a side sense, no matter how hard you try. we just have to learn as we go along but the good news is we do now have antibody tests that we absolutely can rely on. thank you very much, jonathan. if all those things end up being s&m provides that kind of immunity, for sure, it would be game changing because it would enable us to do things, in terms of lifting lockdown is. i think the second part of your question was about quantity. i don't know the exact answer. hundreds of thousandsif know the exact answer. hundreds of thousands if not millions will be the answer, i'm sure, but it's a very positive development and we are delighted it has happened. did you wa nt to delighted it has happened. did you want to come back at all? may i be permitted one follow—up? as i understand it, there are other tests and professor van—tam alluded to that, notjust and professor van—tam alluded to that, not just roche and professor van—tam alluded to that, notjust roche but other laboratories have an effective test. getting the impression the

government is doing a deal with roche, i'll be having an exclusive relationship here or are we going to try and spread our bets, given the uncertainties that still remain in terms of the science? have these tests been validated against people with very low levels of antibodies, the asymptomatic? how many people have had covid—19, we won't know that if we can't spot the asymptomatic? i know the tests were carried out at porton down by phd. 0n the first point, we will want to get as much as many tests as possible. we have never restricted ourselves without regard. we have looked at other antibody tests before this pitch actually didn't stack up once we had tested them, including some very very early on. u nless including some very very early on. unless you have 100% accuracy, they are not helpful in individual cases. though i think it is true to say you can have less than 100% accuracy and come up with a useful survey of a

wider percentage and come up with statistically useful information. it's not the same as having what appears to be there now. so, to these questions, we will have to wait and see the answer. i don't know if you wanted to add anything on the testing side of things? on the contracting point, doctors aren't told that kind of thing and i'm sure! aren't told that kind of thing and i'm sure i couldn't talk about it a nyway i'm sure i couldn't talk about it anyway because it is undoubtedly commercially sensitive. i am an epidemiologist just commercially sensitive. i am an epidemiologistjust not a laboratory scientist so i think the question you are asking is is there a kind of threshold below which the tests cannot pick up a very faint signal? i don't know the answer to that. i think the secretary of state is right. that does not change their value in understanding what is going on in the british population and how many of us have now been exposed to this disease, been infected, even if we may not have known it at the time and now have antibodies. that is

going to be a critical piece of understanding as we go forwards, because we are going to have to live with this virus for quite some time. certainly until a vaccine comes along. tom, thank you very much, fascinating, important and significant area given the news today. now, talk radio. nhs england we re today. now, talk radio. nhs england were due to publish some data today on the numberof were due to publish some data today on the number of urgent operations cancelled in march 2020. that data release has itself been cancelled andl release has itself been cancelled and i am quoting from the guv dot co dot uk website. it said the statistics will not be collected and published for the period due to the coronavirus illness and due to the need for capacity to release capacity across the nhs. so can we be absolutely clear here, does the

government know how many urgent operations were cancelled in march 2020? thank you, charlotte. the simple answer, i don't know the answer to that. it is the case that in all the situations we are trying to get data out as much as possible, both as a government, we have found that to be a useful process to put data out there so people can analyse it but also people like the office of national statistics and the nhs who have a very big statistics function. i guess from your description, it's the first i've heard about it, but i guess from your description it's just a prioritisation issue. actually, with your permission, i will ask the health secretary when i speak to him and make sure we specifically get you an answer to your question. unless jonathan specifically get you an answer to your question. unlessjonathan knows anything off the top of his head?” don't know the answer.” anything off the top of his head?” don't know the answer. i don't know enough about how statistics are

delivered in the nhs buster but i will give you a chance to follow up? yes, from what is on the government website, it seems to be a case of prioritisation. but these are urgent operations and therefore i am surprised if cb government hasn't taken it as a priority to assess how many have been cancelled. —— surprised to see the government.” will check in with the health secretary immediately after this and we will find out what we know about it. as you rightly say, it will possibly be a question of prioritisation or as in other cases, during coronavirus, the nhs having to put its resources elsewhere in order to get things going. that said, i would order to get things going. that said, iwould be order to get things going. that said, i would be surprised if we haven't got a pretty firm knowledge on the number of operations. i do see statistics mentioned, mostly by the media, on this all the time. let's find out the answer for you and you can rebroadcast it. thank youindeed

and you can rebroadcast it. thank you indeed for the question. jim picard from the ft. secretary of state, back in march you bailed out almost the entire rail industry. transport for london is running out of money fast and the mayor of london has said they are hours away from a major cash crunch. i understand you are close to a rescue deal for them but they say they need money not just for the spring, summerand autumn they need money not just for the spring, summer and autumn but possibly for several years if social distancing is to remain on the tube and on london buses. is that something you can commit to? my second question for professor van—tam, the government has drawn up plans to introduce quarantine for people coming into the uk from anywhere in the world of two weeks but under one proposal, france would be excluded. as a scientist, do you think there is any scientific rationale for that idea of excluding the french? thank you very much. 0n tfl, and this applies wider across our entire

network, as you pointed out at the beginning of this crisis, we had a rescue package for all of the railways. we subsequently also helped the bus companies, trams, ferries and many others to work through this crisis, not least to ensure the critical workers were able to get to places like the nhs, social care and all the other important work that has been going on. we are now in a situation where iam on. we are now in a situation where i am optimistic of having a solution with tfl and the mayor of london. we don't know, the answer to the second pa rt don't know, the answer to the second part of your question there, which is what would happen if this lasted for very much longer and it went on for very much longer and it went on for more than a few months? of course, we are all working to make sure we get rid of the virus will get rid of it as much as possible, which is why i think the data that professorjonathan which is why i think the data that professor jonathan van—tam was showing was so good to see, that the

number of infection seem to be coming down. but we don't know what the long—term will be. however, i'm confident that in the short term tfl, london underground, the buses and trains and buses throughout the rest of the country will continue to run. i'm encouraging the mayor to make sure we get that back to 100% very quickly as people are starting to travel more and it's very important, as i said in my comments earlier, that we do not have overcrowding. i think there was a question on the epidemiology of 14 days isolation? so, thank you for the question about quarantine. as i understand it, discussions are still ongoing about what the final shape of measures that the uk borders will take a look like. that is not for me to comment on whilst those discussions are still going on. you asked a question about the science and about quarantine making sense. given that the incubation period of this

illness is up to 14 days, then asking people who cross the uk border to stay at home for 14 days to self—isolate means that they can't develop symptoms or become infectious just before the development of symptoms and be out there at large in our community. so thatis there at large in our community. so that is scientifically very important. and where quarantine and when quarantine makes no sense, scientifically, is when the incidents, the level of disease, the level of new cases, in the receiving country, in this case the uk, is low and it makes no sense in terms of travellers coming from areas where the incidence is high. do you want to come back on either of those points? 0n the tfl point, are you expecting the mayor to introduce higher fares as part of the tfl rescue package?

and do i understand professor van—tam, you are saying this because we have a higher infection rate in france then that is not really a problem? in which case, why don't we apply the same rule to other countries with lower infection rates? on the first point, on higher fa res, rates? on the first point, on higher fares, it's very important i think in providing a rescue package the tfl that the london mayor can work with that we don't end up in a situation where people from outside the capital are unfairly carrying the capital are unfairly carrying the burden. by which i mean, sadly, i have to stand up and do them each year, i have to stand up and do them each yea r, fa res i have to stand up and do them each year, fares end up having to rise with inflation otherwise everyone knows there is less money going into the system. if you have a consistent fair phrases it means that more money isn't going into the system and you can't then have an unfair settle m e nt and you can't then have an unfair settlement where other british taxpayers are effectively bailing out the system. albeit, the system in this case is in trouble because

clearly because of coronavirus. so there is the right balance to be made to answer your question head on. in terms of picking up on your last point which is better aimed at me, we are working on the detail of the so let's wait until we've seen it. as principal, it seems fair and right if we are asking the british people to stay at home and make such huge sacrifices in their own lives, we would expect everybody coming back to this country you're visiting this country to do the same thing with some limited exceptions. for the reasons jonathan with some limited exceptions. for the reasonsjonathan was explaining, it makes sense to do that as our own level of infections come under control not to, effectively, reimport them. we have things like the testing tracking capacity to do that. it is worth mentioning, actually, that in terms of the testing tracking app, and at the health secretary will say more about

it shortly but there are now more than half the residents of the isle of wight who have downloaded the tracking up for the first time or in total. the actual number 72,300. which means that over half of isle of wight have downloaded. 0ne which means that over half of isle of wight have downloaded. one of the things we all asked people to do at the border is to download the app and provide us with contact details so we know where people are. these are very so we know where people are. these are very sensible and proportionate to make sure we don't reimport a problem once we got the numbers under control, especially now we have the testing tracking capability which wouldn't have existed some time ago. thank you. i will turn to john stevens of the daily mail. thank you, transport secretary. you're asking people to use cars instead of public transport. aside from road upgrades which will take some time, what would you do to help motorists now? can local councils be asked to scrap parking charges will

get rid of parking restrictions? can people get help to buy a car? thanks, john. first of all, it is an unusual situation for a transport secretary to be in to ask people to avoid particularly at busy times or at busy times public transport. it is very important we get this right otherwise that will become a major way to spread the disease if people can't maintain social distancing. so, yes, the car, if you can't use other forms of transport, like cycling or walking, the car is certainly the option that comes about. one of the things i mentioned in my opening comments, that we have enjoyed, if you things, that have been better is the air quality, which has been going up dramatically and we want to maintain that so incentives for people to switch to electric vehicles, the money i announced both on saturday when i spoke from here but also today for upgrading electric charging is

really important because it helps people feel comfortable and not experience range anxiety if they get an electric car, which helps. in terms of cars, the pothole work has been going on throughout but they will be an expansion of that to fix our roads to make it better for drivers. of course, fuel charges have come down, the cost of petrol has come down quite a lot during this crisis. you are right about the balance of parking charges and different zones. there are times now where we are literally encouraging people to drive perhaps close to but maybe not right into perhaps a town or city that they work in and find a place to park, so we are working not only with local authorities but also with some large entertainment venue to have car parts which are not being used at the moment, and looking at all of those possibilities. it is a very good point. i will come back to you, john. ijust wanted point. i will come back to you, john. i just wanted to point. i will come back to you, john. ijust wanted to ask point. i will come back to you,

john. i just wanted to ask a point. i will come back to you, john. ijust wanted to ask a quick question about holidays. when the hospitality industry is allowed to open up again, do you think holidays outside, such as camping or caravanning, could be seen as carrying less risk than staying in hotels? could they be allowed to open sooner? i will ask jonathan to a nswer open sooner? i will ask jonathan to answer part of that but to be clear where we are today and where we are hoping to be headed, today, although you can travel any distance, for example to go and exercise, you must stay in your own home at night, so you can't at the moment book holiday accommodation or bed and breakfast or stay anywhere but over a period of time, and i set out phases one, two and three, we are saying that we will look to unlock, if the data says it is possible. if not, we'll have to stop. but, if we can, we will unlock and at that point my impression that outdoors actually is a lesser risk than indoors but right now i'm going to stop and defer to

the expert. thank you. the two epidemiological concepts that are important in keeping the infection rate down is staying within household groups and minimising the contact between households. that's one point. it is absolutely an error biological tourism that outdoor environments are less risk than indoor environments. —— biological truism. that'll need some careful thinking about because sharing a tent is a small, enclosed space or can be with generally poor conditions of ventilation and i guess it depends who you are sharing it with. same for caravans. it isn't as straightforward as it sounds, indoors, outdoors, hotels, campsites, and it'll take some

careful thought, and we have to give it some careful thought. thank you, john. and your readers for their tremendous work on ppe and the campaign you've been running which has been greatly appreciated. can i turn to william telford from plymouth life. good afternoon. i'd like to ask the secretary of state a couple of questions, specific to plymouth and following up with a la st plymouth and following up with a last question on the hospitality industry. i don't know how much you know about plymouth but 2020 was set to bea know about plymouth but 2020 was set to be a very big year for us with the mayflower 400 celebrations which have now been postponed. the city has suffered a £71 million loss in tourism injust the time of the pandemic. it has lost £20 million from loss of student revenue. and the city council is saying now it is

set to lose £50 million from lost income and costs. this puts the economy of this city in somewhat a state of jeopardy. it economy of this city in somewhat a state ofjeopardy. it is a city that had some of the worst deprivation areas in the south—west, if not the whole country, and a history of underfunding. i wonder if the secretary of state can tell us is there anything you are planning to do to specifically help cities, such as plymouth, that have unique problems, and, secondly, in light of what the french prime minister said today about restarting domestic holidays in france from july and august, and bearing in mind the problems we have got with the hospitality sector here, can we expect a similarly clear announcement before july the 4th, and will there be any sort of support package expressly for hospitality? thank you very much indeed for those questions, william. i think plymouth is actually, like many areas, experiencing the worst

of the coronavirus. it has decimated planned celebrations. i was aware of the one plan for this year. i did check before seeing you are coming on, and! check before seeing you are coming on, and i know the government's business support package has allocated £47 million to plymouth, and has also paid over 3200 grants, totalling over £39 million, to organisations there. also, you will recall from other ministers saying it, we are allocating £3.2 billion of additionalfunding it, we are allocating £3.2 billion of additional funding to local government and i made that point to address your wider issue of towns and places like plymouth. and to respond to the coronavirus. 0f and places like plymouth. and to respond to the coronavirus. of which plymouth has received £15.7 million of that money to date. 0n plymouth has received £15.7 million of that money to date. on your second point, look, france, as i was talking to my opposite number last

night, we were having this discussion, france is probably two or three weeks ahead of where the uk was, let's check this withjonathan, in to this virus come into the crisis, so they've been making decisions at every stage ahead of us. it is unknown because we will wa nt to us. it is unknown because we will want to get through those faces that i described on the slide before. we know these things can't come before july know these things can't come before july the 4th, phase three, which opens a much wider potential, but we do need to make sure that the r rate and the number of cases in society is ata and the number of cases in society is at a level where we can unlock before we do that. just because it is an epidemiological question, i will pass it on tojonathan. is an epidemiological question, i will pass it on to jonathan.” is an epidemiological question, i will pass it on to jonathan. i don't think i have much to add other than the land mass in france is clearly

largerfor the land mass in france is clearly larger for a the land mass in france is clearly largerfor a fairly the land mass in france is clearly larger for a fairly similar population size, and population density is going to be much less in france, as a whole, outside of the cities, and that undoubtedly is the kind of difference that will need to be thought about very carefully before making too many international comparisons. thank you. william, thank you very much indeed. we will leave the daily government briefing now. if you wish to continue watching go over to our bbc news channel. next on bbc one, it is time for the six o'clock news but, first, as the weekend approaches, time for the weather. hello, it may have turned into a pleasa nt hello, it may have turned into a pleasant afternoon out there but it was a chilly start for the time of year this morning and here is one of our weather watchers in derbyshire making a statement about the frost, ice and the date. and there will be a touch of frost again tonight in places but things are changing.

gradual change with the air beginning to edge in from the south and temperature is heading

today at six... from heart conditions to cancer — nhs bosses are alarmed by the number of people staying away from hospital. in england, a&e visits have fallen by more than half since the coronavirus outbreak. in other areas, patients face treatment delays. there are an awful lot of people who have various conditions that are being put at, you know, great risk of further damage due to these precautions being taken. we'll be asking what these delays could mean for the nhs in the months ahead. also tonight... a test that can tell whether you've had the virus in the past has been approved in england. who will be first in the queue to get it? the care home crisis — the national association says staff feel completely abandoned.