this is bbc news. the headlines at a50: teaching unions and government scientific advisers are continuing to meet this afternoon to seek assurances over safety — amid plans to re—open schools in england next month. wales‘ first minister says he's sticking with the stay at home message, and can't give a timetable for easing the lockdown. new research finds the coronavirus infection rate in london is now far lower than in other parts of england, particularly the north east and yorkshire. as people in england are now able to travel to enjoy the open air this weekend, the rnli urges extra care by the coast — as lifeboat services remain very limited. and back in the pub — people are socialising again in sydney, as lockdown are eased

in australia's most populus state. good afternoon and welcome to viewers on bbc one and the bbc news channel ahead of the daily downing street coronavirus update, led today by health secretary matt hancock. a reminder of the latest developments in the uk and around the world today: the government says there have been 3,560 more confirmed cases of coronavirus in the uk, and 384 more people have died with coronavirus in hospitals or in the community. teachers‘ unions have been meeting the government's scientific advisers this afternoon to seek reassurance that it will be safe to open schools in england. the education secretary gavin

williamson wants primary schools to begin opening in a limited way from the first ofjune. prime minister borisjohnson says lockdown could be eased at different rates in different areas of england. it comes after public health england and cambridge university research suggested that rates of transmission varied significantly across the english regions. first minister of wales mark drakeford unveiled a plan for easing lockdown in the country by following a traffic light system of risk. the mayor of london announced that the congestion charge in the capital would be coming back on the 1st ofjune — increasing to £15 a day and to be expanded to apply seven days a week. the financial impact of coronavirus is beginning to be seen in germany, as its economy shrinks by 2.2% — the worst since 2009 and the financial crisis. and in the past hour the government scientific advisors says the so—called r number — the infection rate number in the uk — has increased and is close to the point where coronavirus

cases could increase. 0ur chief political correspondent, vicki young, is at westminster. yes, that meeting today between some of the teaching unions and the government's scientific and medical advisers was all about them having a dialogue, trying to work out how it might be possible to reopen some schools with some of the children in them. the plan is for reception, yet one and six to go back from the beginning ofjune if everybody feels they can do it in those circumstances, and it is safe enough. lots of questions from the union. there has been a little guidance from department for education as to what teachers have to do to prepare for this. they are talking about smaller class sizes of about 15, trying to keep children further apart and about 15, trying to keep children furtherapartand in about 15, trying to keep children further apart and in separate groups, may be staggering the time that school starts and ends, staggering breaks so they don't overla p staggering breaks so they don't overlap so much. but there is a

recognition that social distancing, particularly amongst the very youngest children, will not be possible in all circumstances. they will be relying on more hand washing and cleaning of schools. an awful lot to get prepared, if this will happen from june the 1st. remember, some schools have been open for the children of key workers, and some vulnerable children. the education secretary, gavin williamson, has put out a statement. he says he wants to reassure pa rents out a statement. he says he wants to reassure parents and families that we are giving schools, nurseries and other providers all the guidance and support that they need to welcome children back in a phased way. he goes on to say that getting children back to school is vital for their educational development, and many schools are already taking steps to welcome back their pupils. 0ne schools are already taking steps to welcome back their pupils. one of the unions that was at the meeting says they still have lots of questions. they want to know more about the transmission rate, particularly, whether children do spread it to adults. the truth is,

that the scientists don't know everything at this point. we are very much at the beginning of our understanding of the coronavirus. not all of these questions will be asked. they are looking for reassurance, but the department for education is saying this is about mitigating and reducing risk as much as possible. and, of course, it applies to primary schools in england only. many thanks, our chief political correspondent vicki young. andy prendergast is from the gmb union which represents teaching support staff. your union, you have a union representative in one of these meetings that is going on with the department for education. has anything emerged from it yet? there was an earlier meeting today and there is another one going on. effectively, looking at the various scientific arguments for a return and whether we can be convinced it can be handled safely, both for the children that go to school, their families and staff. why you are particularly concerned about your

staff, you represent and support staff, you represent and support staff, rather than teachers? we represent caretakers, cooks and clea ners represent caretakers, cooks and cleaners who work in the school, and they often work very closely with they often work very closely with the children. that is why we are so concerned about it. we are not concerned about it. we are not concerned about it. we are not concerned about the schools reopening, but only when it is safe to do so. when we heard the news prior to coming on air, the r number is increasing, which suggests it is far too early to be looking for a return to schools, certainly across the board. we have heard from the nations, they are not pressing ahead with it, and a number of local authorities in britain are not going forward with it. we have to ask if this is the best idea, especially when they are talking about putting children as young as five back to school. these are bizarrely the kind of kids that can't be expected to understand social distancing. we also heard that the r number, the rate of transmission, varies across the country and is currently quite low in london. would you support

schools being opened in some areas and not others? we need to be guided by the science. we are seeing that the science is almost being looked at and re—evaluated as time goes on. when the r number is falling, this is something that can be locked up. but even then we have to look at the amount of cleaning going on in school, the amount of ppe available, the amount of testing that is available. as a nation, this is falling short in all areas at the moment. until we get it right in ca re moment. until we get it right in care homes on the nhs, we think it is premature to talk about schools. what would you want to see in schools to reassure you that the environment would be safe for your members? well, some of the things they are talking about in terms of smaller class sizes, staggered entry, that is certainly the kind of step we would need to see for schools to reopen. i think it's

u nfortu nate schools to reopen. i think it's unfortunate that the government decided to announce this on sunday, with no prior announcements to the unions or talking to as before hand. but if we need to see the r number come down, access to testing improved, access to ppe and the various other things improved. 0nce we get to that point, we can look seriously at bringing schools back in gradually, and probably starting with the older children. we have to leave it there. thank you for your time. new analysis suggests the rate of coronavirus transmission in london has dropped dramatically. the data, from public health england and cambridge university from the 12th of may, suggests the infection rate in the capital is far lower than other parts of england, particularly the north east. also, there has been encouraging news from the oxford team which is searching for a vaccine. our health correspondent richard galpin reports. for weeks, london, with its population of more than nine million people,

was at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in this country. hospitals here filling up with patients and, later, field hospitals built to provide extra capacity. but by then, barely needed. this one in east london, mothballed — a sign the tide was turning. now, new analysis is indicating the situation in the capital is improving significantly. and this, very different from other parts of england. according to the modelling by public health england and cambridge university, the so—called r number in london, the number of people one person in the city carrying the virus infects, is just 0.4. that means the number of cases is plummeting. but in the north—east and yorkshire, it's 0.8, a much slower decrease and not far away from the level at which cases would start to increase.

other parts of northern england such as liverpool, also have slower decreases in covid cases, according to the modelling. and that impacts the push to lift some of the key lockdown measures. before levels of coronavirus infections are higher than anywhere else, but i am not about to take risks with children's lives or with staff and teaching professionals‘ lives and we will make sure, as far as i am concerned, it is safe for the children to return to school and only when we are convinced it is safe children can return to school, will we allow them. meanwhile, it has been announced there has been a potentially good step forward in oxford university‘s work to develop a vaccine. a small study of monkeys showed the experimental vaccine appeared to offer protection against coronavirus — the monkeys developed antibodies. it is a small and important step, but it does not show whether the coronavirus vaccine will work in humans. richard galpin, bbc news.

we have had two stories about the so—called r number today. the transmission rate. can we start with the news that broke an hour ago that the news that broke an hour ago that the number has gone up? of course, let‘s remind people about what the r number actually is. the r number, or the r rate, is how infectious a virus can be. at the height of the outbreak, it was about three. and what that meant was, anybody who is infected pass it on to three people, and so on, and so forth. restrictions were brought in that meant that the number went right down. there have always been fears that if we eased restrictions too much, or too quickly, that the r number could go back up again. now,

government scientific advisers sage are now saying the infection rate has increased. they say it has increased to a range of between 0.7 and 1.0 in the uk. the previous range was between 0.5 and 0.9. that 1is range was between 0.5 and 0.9. that 1 is critical, because if you go above that, it means the virus is increasing, if you go below, it is shrinking. the new numbers give us a sense of the r numberfrom shrinking. the new numbers give us a sense of the r number from about three weeks ago, so when boris johnson announced about using the lock down a bit on sunday, this does not influence the numbers. it also ta kes not influence the numbers. it also takes into not influence the numbers. it also ta kes into accou nt not influence the numbers. it also takes into account the spread of coronavirus in care homes, hospitals and more widely in society. we have had that news this afternoon. earlier in the day, we were hearing about research done by cambridge university and public health england. suggesting that the r number is very variable around england. just talk us through that? that‘s exactly it. previously, london has been the epicentre for

the coronavirus crisis. this new analysis suggests the r rate in london has dropped dramatically and is far lower than in other parts of england, particularly in the north—east. now, there is some caution with the study. while we can be confident that there will be variations across the country, this particular study is more extreme than others. and one scientist has said that when it comes to this type of modelling, it is very complicated. he said it‘s extremely fragile, because of the type of data we are getting. it‘s still early days, basically. but the labour leader of gateshead council told the bbc earlier he is extremely concerned by the r rate in the north—east, particularly when you combine it with the significant number of deaths and high pressure in hospital, and he has urged people in the north—east to ignore the government advice of easing the lockdown and stay at home, like is happening in scotland, wales and northern ireland. very interesting. thank you.

the north east has some of the highest coronavirus infection rates in the country, with the worst—hit areas including gateshead, sunderland, and south tyneside. david rhodes is the political correspondent for bbc look north. yes, what we are seeing in the north—east, which is england‘s smallest region in terms of population size, but also the country‘s poorest region, we are seeing a spread of the coronavirus. the number of people who have this virus is going up and that is because we have a high r value of 0.8, the highest in england. the leader of gateshead council has come out today and said that people should stay at home and they should not be following the government advice, which is to go to work. we've got evidence that in gateshead that figure could be as high as 1.1, so we're actually over one, so national advice telling us that the lockdown is over is, frankly, madness to gateshead. and even within gateshead itself

there will be sections of the community where the r rate is well below one, and areas where it's not. and in terms of what the government are saying, they are saying they are doing this in a staged approach and that people should only go back to work if they feel safe. are the other council leaders in the north—eastern agreement that the restructure —— looks —— lockdown should remain in place? yes, the leader of sunderland council said that he believes that lifting the restrictions would result in more people dying. however, there are more people in the north—east, like richard holden, a newly elected conservative mp for north west durham, who has told me today that the government is taking a staged approach, and that in the north—east we have the poorest economy of any region in england. lockdown

restrictions needed to be lifted gradually to get the economy going again, because the threat of high unemployment is of particular danger toa unemployment is of particular danger to a region like the north—east, and therefore richard holden sees it as important that people should go back to work, if they are safe to do so, and at all times the government will be relying on scientific advice to guide the lockdown restrictions. many thanks, david. wales‘s first minister, mark drakeford, has set out plans for easing the lockdown there. mr drakeford announced what he called a "traffic light" system — but warned he couldn‘t give a clear timetable for when restrictions would be lifted. hywell griffith reports. set on its own route, wales‘ way out of lockdown will be deliberately slow and based on these — a traffic light system. the first stage is red, with little changing but people will be allowed to receive care

and support from one person from outside their home. in the amber phase, some school pupils will return, more people are allowed to travel to work and meet in small groups. the green light for all pupils to go back to school and unrestricted travel will only come when it‘s certain there is little risk of cases rising and another lockdown. nothing could be worse for our economy, nothing could be a greater ask of our people than to go through this all again. we don‘t want that to happen, that‘s why we are taking this very step—by—step and cautious approach and the traffic light system is there to explain to people in wales how that will work out. unlike england‘s road map there are no dates, just destinations, reached only when the virus‘ reproduction rate falls. that caution is based on concern in welsh hospitals that they couldn‘t cope with an increase in cases, especially in rural areas where a surge of visitors could bring a second way.

—— could bring a second wave. i am fearful of outbreaks that will crop up here and there. so there might be family outbreaks, caravan park outbreaks, nursing home outbreaks or indeed hospital ward outbreaks that we‘ve got to be very vigilant towards and be on the lookout for all the time. but those same rural areas are already suffering financially. tourism along the welsh coast should be in full flow by now. instead, the police are carrying out spot checks for day—trippers and fining people found to be making nonessentialjourneys. the spring shutdown may roll into the summer. we will definitely welcome you back when the time is right and when we can all be sure that we will be safer than we are at present from this virus. when you think that might be? who knows? a little bit of a finger in the airat knows? a little bit of a finger in the air at the moment. this year?

possibly, possibly not. let‘s get reaction now from the welsh conservative mp stephen crabb. good afternoon, mr crabb. what do you make of mark drakeford‘s road to recovery for wales ? you make of mark drakeford‘s road to recovery for wales? we didn't really learn an awful lot new today from the first minister's statement. the welsh government said previously they would use a traffic light syste m they would use a traffic light system so we knew that was going to be their approach, but the key point, and this afternoon i have beenin point, and this afternoon i have been ina point, and this afternoon i have been in a conference call 230 tourism and hospitality businesses in my constituency, and almost all said exactly the same thing, what they were expecting from the first minister today was a bit of a clear plan. they know they can't possibly expect fixed dates because we are living with uncertainty but they thought they would get something that provided a bit of a clear road way forward. the irish government are managing to some tentative dates for their road map, and the

are managing to some tentative dates fortheir road map, and the uk government for england have done the same. ithink government for england have done the same. i think there is a feeling of frustration, most tourist businesses in that really there is not much light at the end of the tunnel. what have they said to you about the present situation, what do they want? many of them are steering catastrophe in the face. they are incredibly grateful for the support packages that have come from the uk and welsh governments, the furlough scheme and the tourism and hospitality grants, but what they we re hospitality grants, but what they were saying this afternoon, look, if were saying this afternoon, look, if we just knew there were some part of the season, late on, late july, august, that they would have, that would make the difference for them in being able to survive, keep going through next winter and into next spring, or whether they through next winter and into next spring, orwhethertheyjust through next winter and into next spring, or whether theyjust take the decision to shut down their business altogether. they have to know the furloughing scheme is going

to come to an end at the end of august in its current form and they have huge decisions to make about whether to make staff redundant and what to do about the future of their owi'i what to do about the future of their own companies. the message had also gone out that people shouldn‘t visit second homes, should they be lucky enough to have one. in wales, the beauty spots, and at the same time the industry wanting to know how things might recover. you can understand the public would be confused by that. totally, and it is a difficult balancing act that all of the politicians making these decisions... in wales and boris johnson's team in london. who i have been speaking to, there are businesses that make the businesses i have been speaking to, the last thing they want to do is heighten the risk for the local community of the risk for the local community of the r numbergoing the risk for the local community of the r number going up, they have families themselves. but what they we re families themselves. but what they were looking for and what i think

they had been given an expectation of getting today from the first minister of wales was some kind of clear a route forward to give them at least a sense of hope and something they can plan with to make something they can plan with to make some very serious and severe business decisions. 0k. thank you very much for talking to us. stephen crabb, np, thank you. —— stephen crabb, np, thank you. —— stephen crabb, mp. the congestion charge in central london is being reintroduced from monday, after being suspended during lockdown. it follows a deal in which transport for london secured emergency funding to keep tube and bus services going until september. the congestion charge is currenlty £11.50 a day, but will rise to £15 a day injune. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, said the measure is designed to avoid a build up of traffic, after the government urged people to go back to work if they can‘t work from home, but avoid public transport.

police in england and wales have issued more than 111,000 fines for alleged breaches of the lockdown laws. latest figures, which cover most of the lockdown period, show the metropolitan police handed out more than 900 fines, the most of any force. the national police chiefs‘ council said the numbers demonstrated officers were taking a "proportionate" approach. but in the last few minutes, the crown prosecution service has said dozens of people have been wrongly charged by police under new coronavirus laws. a mental health nurse and a midwife from birmingham have died after contracting coronavirus. lillian mudzivare and safaa alam both worked at birmingham women‘s and children‘s nhs trust. three members of staff at the trust have now died with covid—19. a paediatric consultant dr vishna rasiah died in april. two months ago kings college london launched an app enabling people to report symptoms of covid—19 so that the progression of the disease can be tracked in real time. more than 3 million people have downloaded it and are using it

to regularly log their health status, making it the largest public science project of its kind anywhere in the world. joining me now is tim spector, professor of genetic epidemiology and head of the department of twin research & genetic epidemiology at king‘s college london. thank you very much, professor tim spector for joining thank you very much, professor tim spectorforjoining us. this is a big study with more than 3 million people downloading the app. have you had any initial findings? yes, people downloading the app. have you had any initialfindings? yes, it is the largest collection of this in the largest collection of this in the world and we have had some amazing results on responses from the public. it is from picking up hotspots initially in the early stages of the epidemic... this is the main source of working out what the main source of working out what the different symptoms are the nhs is still saying there are only three symptoms. we are tracking regularly

about 14 different symptoms, which we know are related to the virus and related to testing positive. we are also looking at how differences between some people getting it... with some people getting it for longer than three weeks. 14 different symptoms. can you run through some of the main ones? well, one without even more important than the fever the persistent cough, a lack of smell, sudden loss of the sense of smell and taste. suddenly going off your food, another one. skin rashes are coming up very commonly, very strange ones, particularly in young people. and severe muscle pains as well as chest pains and even, in older people,

more diarrhoea and confusion. there isa more diarrhoea and confusion. there is a whole range of them that when you put them together, as we are doing in this giant exercise, and putting them into algorithms, you can predict with about 80% confidence the likelihood of having a positive test. it is like a cheap way of getting a test for large numbers of the population. can you extrapolate from that how many people you think have had covid—19? we can, very roughly. we estimate at its peak in the week of the beginning of april there were about 2.1 million people with it and we think a rough estimate is somewhere between 3.5 to 4.5 million people have had it, and our estimates, currently it has come right down across the country, somewhere between 150,000 and 250,000 people, which unlike some of these other reports doesn't vary much by region.

an interesting detail as well that from your study you found there was a big difference between the regions, but not so much now. there is another study out today you will be very aware of that suggests there isa be very aware of that suggests there is a big difference between the regions. yes. there is a big difference between these studies, andl difference between these studies, and i think you have to look at the overall picture. i don't think there is any study you should only believe. you have to look at all the data. we did show big differences between the regions as you said initially, and with the beginning of april, places like london, manchester, liverpool, glasgow and the midlands having most of the problems, and that was followed eight days later by hospital admissions and deaths. the study that was out yesterday, which was based on about 20,000 people's deaths, was quite different, and they actually calculated backwards from those deaths what the r value

was and then got an estimate of how many cases. it is very much based on a small number of obvious hard cases, but actually although it might be realistic for the overall country, by the time you get to regions those numbers are very inaccurate. i wouldn't place too much on those big regional differences, although what is true is there are deaths differences, differences in the deaths between the regions, and you can't dispute that, but extrapolating back to infection in the community is much harderand infection in the community is much harder and therefore you need massive datasets like ours where we have over a million people every day telling us what is going on in their region as opposed to just a few hundred people, you know, who are very sick in hospital. so those differences tell us that there were big differences, things are flattening out, but we are definitely not seeing those big changes. and that is also reflected in the calls to nhs helplines. they

are not dramatically different between the regions either. so there are cause for concerns with the debts, but i don't think an actual infection rates. we have to leave it there, thank you so much, professor tim spector, from king‘s couege professor tim spector, from king‘s college london. well, as we wait for the daily government briefing on the coronavirus which today is led by the health secretary matt hancock let‘s stock to achieve political correspondent vicki young at westminster. what are we expecting today? we were expecting to hear from matt hancock about social care and a package of measures for ca re about social care and a package of measures for care homes. extra money has previously been announced, so how that might be used. the government has been under real pressure about care homes because of course the high number of deaths that have taken place and also some criticism of the government, the fa ct criticism of the government, the fact people were being discharged from hospital and they were not in the beginning necessarily tested for covid, then were sent back into an environment of course where it was easily spreading around. that

particular problem with staff of course having to have close contact with people living there, with residents, as that is the whole nature of social care of course, and moving between different establishments. so that has been a huge problem, of course, leading to a large number of deaths in that setting. but a lot of focus today, too, on education and plans for primary schools to open in a phased way from the 1st ofjune. there has been a meeting between notjust unions, actually, but other organisations representing the church of england, the catholic church of england, the catholic church and others, with sir patrick valla nce church and others, with sir patrick vallance and chris whitty, the scientific and medical advisors in england, really to ask questions and get some reassurance that it is safe to resume this kind of thing in schools, and of course questioning how the government intends to do it, and do it safely, to ensure that pupils and teachers are not at too higha pupils and teachers are not at too high a risk of catching coronavirus,

and ideas to reduce class sizes, one of the main ideas, with groups of 15. it follows the model in denmark where you have bubbles, if you like, of pupils, with one teacher only, and they don‘t mix with other children within the school. of course that takes an awful lot of planning. that was the point of the government giving notice, really, to schools, to start preparing for all of this, giving them three weeks in england to do so, and as we know it is not the plan in scotland and elsewhere. let‘s now listen to matt hancock. good afternoon, welcome to downing street for the daily coronavirus briefing. i am joined street for the daily coronavirus briefing. iamjoined by street for the daily coronavirus briefing. i am joined by the street for the daily coronavirus briefing. lam joined by the deputy chief medical officer, jenny herries, and by nhs england's medical director for primary care. first, iwant medical director for primary care. first, i want to take this chance to update you on the latest data. 2,350,078 tests for coronavirus have

now been carried out in the uk. including 133,000, 784 tests yesterday. —— including 133,000, 784 tests yesterday. — — 133,774. including 133,000, 784 tests yesterday. —— 133,774. 236,000 people have tested positive for the virus, an increase of 3500 since yesterday. 10,024 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus. this is a 13% fall from the same time last week. sadly, of those who have tested positive, across all settings, 33,998 people have now died. that is an increase of 384 since yesterday. we mourn each one. the number of deaths is falling each day, in all settings, thankfully. and we are past the peak of this virus. ijust want to take a

moment to remind everyone about our plans for this second phase. if we have slide one, please? we have set up have slide one, please? we have set up the new covid alert level system, the five levels of threat, based on the five levels of threat, based on the r level, and the number of new cases. that, in turn, guides the social distancing rules, which are vital in our efforts to control the virus. a higher alert level means stricter rules. throughout the lockdown we have been at level 4, meaning that covid—19 is a general circulation and transmission is high or rising exponentially. but, thanks to your shared sacrifice, we have brought r down, cautiously, carefully and responsibly, we are in a position to start moving to level 3. we have set out the first of the three steps that we will take, to

carefully modify the social distancing rules and is not to provide freedom to this country. all the while, avoiding a disastrous second peak that could overwhelm the nhs. at each step, we will closely monitor the impact on r, the number of new infections and, of course, on all available data. we will only move to the next step when we judge it is safe to do so. in the first step, as of this week, if you work, but can't work from home, you should speak to your employer about going back in. people can now spend time outdoors and exercise as often as you like. and you can meet one other person from outside your household in an outdoor, public place, but please keep two metres apart. this weekend, with the good weather and the new rules, i hope that people can enjoy being outside. but, please, stick with the rules, keep an eye on your family, and don't ta ke an eye on your family, and don't

take risks. next slide, please. we have also updated what we are asking people to do, which is to stay alert, control the virus, and stay lives. alert, control the virus, and stay “ save alert, control the virus, and stay — — save lives. alert, control the virus, and stay —— save lives. for the vast majority of people, staying alert means staying at home as much as possible, working from home when you can, limiting contact with people, keeping your distance when you go out, two metres whenever possible. washing your hands regularly, this is still the single most effective thing you can do to keep yourself safe. and, of course, self isolating if you or anyone in your household has coronavirus symptoms. by staying alert and following the rules, you can play a part in the national effort, getting r down, and keeping r down. controlling the virus, so that we can save lives. rebuild livelihoods. and started to recover our freedom as a nation. from the

start of this crisis, across the world, because this disease has a bigger impact on the elderly, there has been a huge need to protect people in care homes. we have worked to do this in this country, right from the start of this crisis. this morning's information from the ons once again reminds us that care homes do so much to look after our most vulnerable people, in their frailty, towards the end of their life. many of you watching this will have a loved one in a care home, as i do. and i know how worrying it has been. so, i want to tell you what we have been doing to protect people in care homes throughout the crisis. if we start with the data, in april, 31,203 people died in care homes. of whom, 11,560 31,203 people died in care homes. of whom,11,560 died with 31,203 people died in care homes. of whom, 11,560 died with coronavirus. lam whom, 11,560 died with coronavirus. i am grateful to the ons for having

responded to the request to put extra resources into understanding and measuring all of this. right from the start, it has been clear that this horrible virus affects older people most. so, right from the start, we have tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes. we set out our first advice in february, and as the virus grew, we strengthened it throughout. we made sure that care homes have the resources they need to control the spread of infection. social care is a devolved matter, of course. this week, we have made a further £600 million available to care homes in england. this comes on top of the {3.2 england. this comes on top of the £3.2 billion we made available in march and april, and the £712 million we made available to the devolved authorities, that is 369 million extra for scotland, 223 million extra for scotland, 223 million extra for wales, and 120

million extra for wales, and 120 million for northern ireland. we have put extra infection control procedures in place, and prioritised testing and care homes. we test any resident returning to a care home from hospital, and all residents with symptoms, and all social care colleagues and members of the households if they have symptoms. together, these measures have saved lives and protected 64% of care homes, almost two thirds, from having any coronavirus cases at all. and where there are cases, we have taken and where there are cases, we have ta ken extra and where there are cases, we have taken extra measures to protect residents and staff, with local public health officials are playing such a critical role. now we have capacity for well over 100,000 tests a day, we are extending testing cove rage a day, we are extending testing coverage still further. all care home residents and staff in england, both of those with symptoms and those without, are now being tested. and, in fact, we will test every resident and every member of staff

in our elderly care homes in england between now and earlyjune. to get those tests to where they need to be, we have set up an easy—to—use digital service on gov.uk, allowing ca re digital service on gov.uk, allowing care home manager is to apply online for the testing kits. we have strengthened nhs support available to colleagues and social care. that is what nikki is here to talk about today. throughout, the nhs has been supporting care homes with infection—control training, and advice and support on, for instance, ppe usage. we are putting in place a name to clinical lead for every care home in england. these leads are already connected, and we'll check in regularly to assess residence and support care home staff with clinical advice. this is the most intense support and scrutiny that ca re intense support and scrutiny that care homes have ever received. in some cases, for residents who need to see a gp, a video consultation may be safer and just as effective. so, the nhs is also supporting care

homes to introduce the right technology. this same technology can, and is, being used to be able to help residents stay connected to their loved ones, something that i know it is important, both for their well— being and four know it is important, both for their well—being and four hours. third, we are making sure that local authorities play their part. we are now requiring councils to conduct daily reviews of the situation on the ground in local care homes. these reviews ensure that every care home gets the support they need every single day. and we are requiring care homes to ensure the flow of timely and accurate care home data, so local and national government can support, and where necessary, challenge and asked if thatis necessary, challenge and asked if that is what is needed. as a result of all this, and the result of so many people across the social care system, and across the nhs, and across local government, two thirds of england's care homes have had no outbreak at all. the number of care homes reporting their first case

each day has fallen from a peak of 219, 259. i each day has fallen from a peak of 219,259. i am glad to report that since the peak, the number of deaths from covid—19 in care homes has halved. —— from a peak of 219, down to 59. this crisis has also demonstrated the imperative of reform. it's shown the importance of long—standing calls for closer working between health and social care. it has acted as a catalyst for integration and shown the benefits of it on the ground. information, support and mutual understanding between health and social care are flowing better than ever before, helping to break down some historic barriers. despite the system, not because of it. my view is that health and social care have a common mission to care for people. but too often in the past, bureaucracy has held them apart. from the start, we

have worked incredibly hard to throw that protective ring around our care homes. yes, it has been difficult. these viruses reserved their full cruelty for those who are physically weakest. the elderly, the frail and the already sick. all of those who most rely on human contact. people who live in care homes are amongst our most vulnerable citizens. we will do everything humanly possible to protect them for as long as they are threatened by this virus. and, thanks to the collective efforts of everyone watching, we have passed through the peak. but there is still a long road ahead. so, stay alert, control the virus, and save lives. ifjenny control the virus, and save lives. if jenny can now control the virus, and save lives. ifjenny can now take us through the re st of ifjenny can now take us through the rest of the daily data. next slide, please. so, today we are hearing a lot about the r number. it‘s important that the public can see that. for the first time this

afternoon, we are publishing the r number. we want to keep this below one. as you can number. we want to keep this below one. as you can see, number. we want to keep this below one. as you can see, that is the average number of additional people infected. so, while it is 1, the epidemic will stay flat. if it goes above that number, we will start to see an increasing number of cases, and we may experience a second peak. it is really important that we keep monitoring it. having said that, you can see that there is quite a range. 0.7 two1.0, in can see that there is quite a range. 0.7 two 1.0, in the estimate of r. that is due to a number of reasons. a number of different models are used to model the data, and it is important they challenge each other and we get the consistency of that. partly, the data comes from historic data. we obviously can‘t predict precisely, so we are estimating from different sources of information. things like hospital admissions that have happened, historically. thirdly, importantly, we know that

we have slightly different r values relating to some areas of risk. obviously in recent weeks, care homes have been of heightened interest. hospitals, also. and we keep an eye on those. this is very much a national average. it is quite likely in the community, across the country, that where people have been working really hard on the social distancing measures, that r value will be lower. this is the average across the country. on the left—hand side, you can see it is important that we take the r value in the context of the case numbers that we are seeing context of the case numbers that we are seeing across context of the case numbers that we are seeing across the country, and from the ons survey, a community survey, conducted in people‘s homes on the longitudinal basis, sequentially, the average proportion of the community in england that had covid was 0.27%. the upper limit of that was about 0.4. a maximum of one

in 400 people. right across the country, in england, a broad estimate of 148,000 of people with covid at any time. so that is coming down. next slide, please. the data on the left is from google mobility data. we can‘t control exactly who is uploading that, but it gives a pretty good indication of people‘s movements. you can see that early in march people were moving as normal. we have seen a significant drop—off, asa we have seen a significant drop—off, as a social distancing measures have come in. that has continued to be maintained. so people are only going out in the main four permitted activities. so, some people going to work as permitted. but many staying at home. going out for grocery and pharmacy, which is essential, and a rise in the use of parks, coming forward now. and we anticipate that,

within social distancing measures, that will increase. on the right—hand side, you can see the ons opinions and lifestyle survey. that shows that 44% of employed adults are actually working at home, compared to 12% last year. this is a change in habits, and we are expecting the people will maintain that, in advising that they should. and it will probably be a successful way forward to control many social distancing measures over the next few months. 80% of adults only left home for those permitted reasons that we can see on the left. and 91% of adults have avoided contact with vulnerable people, so everyone is trying to keep each other and the vulnerable people say. —— safe. here we can see the current situation with testing, so 133,784 tests were completed up to nine o‘clock on the 15th of may, which includes lab tests, those posted out

and the satellite testing, and you can see the rise there going forward on the top chart on the right. we are heading towards 2.5 million tests in total now. and we have had 3560 cases confirmed over the last 24 hours, which brings the you uk total to 236,711 -- 24 hours, which brings the you uk total to 236,711 —— brings the uk total. the graph on the bottom left, despite that increase in testing and therefore the likelihood of finding new cases continuing to come down. next slide. this shows data from hospitals, so the estimated admissions with covid in hospital is now down to 910, on the 13thth of may, down from over a thousand on the week before. and the graph on the week before. and the graph on the right is showing —— the 13th of me. the downward trend on the graph, down but slow and careful, and

therefore we need to maintain our social distancing measures, but the biggest concern or one of the big concerns right at the start of the epidemic in the country was about critical care, bed capacity, and in fa ct critical care, bed capacity, and in fact only 19% of our critical care beds are occupied now with covid—19 patients, and that pattern is replicated across all critical care usage in the uk. next slide, please. here we can see people in hospital, and the geographical distribution. and i think on the bottom right hand side, where london has had a severe and sharper rise in the number of cases in a highly densely populated area, that has come down now. other parts of the country are seeing a slightly different shape to their epidemic curve but nevertheless right across the uk they are broadly, you can see, arise on the epidemic curve, then a

flattening. but even in london and among all regions in the uk we need to maintaina among all regions in the uk we need to maintain a really close guard of our social distancing measures. nevertheless you can see at the top we have 10,731 people in hospital now, down nearly 2000 from this time last week, so continuing to make good progress. next slide, please. finally, these are the deaths. as the secretary of state said, 384 deaths have sadly been confirmed in the last 24 hours. these are across all error settings, not just the these are across all error settings, notjust the hospital these are across all error settings, not just the hospital settings. these are across all error settings, notjust the hospital settings. but, again, you can see the rolling average, which is a better measure, as the debts are reported at different times, showing that those deaths are steadily decreasing, which is obviously welcome news and we need to keep our social distancing going. thank you very much indeed. the question firstly from the public. we have susanna from the public. we have susanna from oxford. the government's covid

alert level one is... is it a realistic policy target? eradication. the scientist and epidemiologist is best placed to answer this one. it is an ambitious target, i think, answer this one. it is an ambitious target, ithink, but answer this one. it is an ambitious target, i think, but if we are dealing with something as serious as covid we want to be ambitious. you may be referring to the who announcement over the last few days where i think the reality of covid, in global terms, notjust in the uk, was put forward. i think it is fair to say there isn‘t an immediate easy outcome to this to get us to level one. smallpox is the only infectious disease where we have actually eradicated a disease, but of course there is an example they are, so i think having that ambition is good. the key thing is obviously —— key

thing is we need to drive us forward in the long term, understanding the immunity, not just understanding in the long term, understanding the immunity, notjust understanding our antibody response but what that means in terms of maintaining immunity ina means in terms of maintaining immunity in a population over time, and obviously treatments — in the short term for treating people, but to eradicate it we really need the vaccine as well. all of those programmes are ongoing, but clearly the immediate effort is to reduce the immediate effort is to reduce the number of cases we have and to ensure that we dampen down the epidemic in the uk, and that is what we are doing at the moment. thank you very much indeed. the next question has been sent in by anna from worthing. she asks, after many years of waiting for a pay rise, nurses are frustrated and feel very devalued due to the never—ending unrecognised financial pay they deserve. with this crisis be strong evidence for the government to finally recognise nursing as a highly skilled profession and deserves decent pay? i think i'm

best placed to answer this one, ana, andl best placed to answer this one, ana, and i agree very strongly that nursing is a highly skilled profession and deserves decent pay. we put up nurse pay last month, and in fact last year we had the fastest rise, the biggest rise, intake, especially for nurses starting their career, the lowest paid nurses, who got a pay rise very significant, over 15%. so there has been a significant pay rise for nurses, and i think one of the things the crisis has shown isjust how much the nation values our staff across the health and care system, including nurses, and when it comes to how we reward people for their efforts in this crisis what i can tell you is, as the health secretary, i will be

making sure we fight to have that fair reward. but i think it is worth noting the changes, the increases, that have been put through in the la st that have been put through in the last couple of years, and it is worth all of us coming together to show the value with which we hold nurses, and everybody else who works across health and social care. thank you for your question, ana. next question is from alison holt of the bbc. secretary of state, today's official figures show the very high numberof official figures show the very high number of deaths in care homes, and also in hospitals for care home residents. the measures you have introduced today, ardently too little too late ? introduced today, ardently too little too late? what i set out today are the things we have been doing throughout this crisis to support people in care homes ——

aren't they too little, too late? in the last couple of weeks we have, as you say, added further measures and i have set them all out today. they have in fact been put in place over the period of the crisis. and making sure we get that support thatis and making sure we get that support that is needed, the extra money, building on the money we put in right at the start, the infection control processes, building on them, the infection control processes we put on right at the start and have built throughout, it is all part of doing everything we can to support people in care homes. you know, the good news is that the number of cases, the number of new cases, it's coming right down. but there is clearly a long way to go. and also going to ask nikki to comment on the strengthening of the link between the nhs and in particular gps in ca re the nhs and in particular gps in care homes to make sure we get that support, that clinical support, in

every ca re support, that clinical support, in every care home. thank you. as a gp i know it is really important to offer ca re i know it is really important to offer care to all of our residents, whether in a care home, you live at home, ina whether in a care home, you live at home, in a big house, small house, whatever it is. that is what your gp practice is there to do it, and around the country the vast majority of practices look after their care homes in a way that you would want yourfamily homes in a way that you would want your family member to be homes in a way that you would want yourfamily member to be looked after. as a gp, if i talk a little about what happens in practice, so often gp practices, working with other gp practices together, coming together to build what is called a multidisciplinary team, so members from the practice, from pharmacies, allied health professionals, social ca re allied health professionals, social care colleagues, community services colleagues, they come together to offer support in care homes and this is really important we recognise it is really important we recognise it isa is really important we recognise it is a multidisciplinary team that actually is needed to make sure our ca re actually is needed to make sure our care home residents stay safe. importantly care home residents stay safe. importa ntly though we care home residents stay safe. importantly though we have really ramped up that support over the last few weeks and months to make sure

ca re few weeks and months to make sure care home residents get the care they need, making sure that care home managers are able to have a regular check—in, whether with the gp orthe regular check—in, whether with the gp or the lead professional in the team, and that might be an advanced nurse practitioner, a geriatrician. it has to be the right person for thejob, and it has to be the right person for the job, and we it has to be the right person for thejob, and we got some incredible exa m ples thejob, and we got some incredible examples in dorset and frimley where this is happening really, really well. we are doing a range of other members to make sure care home residents are well supported. that is working with our clinical commissioning groups, to make sure their medications provision is really optimised into care homes, and we have a suite of digital innovation is there to back our care homes as well. you mention a few of them, secretary of state, but making sure ca re them, secretary of state, but making sure care homes have nhs intranet access, good intranet access, and the digital tablets are absolutely revolutionary because it means we can keep residents and staff safe while we look after our care home residents through remote monitoring, and we can use these portals for

residents to connect with their family and their loved ones as well. i think it is worth mentioning as well that we have asked every part of the country to offer infection prevention control training to care homes, so that is how to use ppe, how to don and doff safely, how to manage social distancing in what can be quite busy areas, and we have 100% coverage around the country of these super trainers going out to our care homes. you know, it will ta ke our care homes. you know, it will take the whole system to look after our care home residents but absolutely something the nhs is committed to doing. thanks very much. some skye. sorry, can i do a follow—up? much. some skye. sorry, can i do a follow-up? yes. if the thing that number has increased, are you rethinking an easing of the lockdown? well, we are constantly keeping the r under review, and it is one of our five tests, for r to be below one. the latest evidence

doctor harries has presented is that the r is between 0.7 and one, so we don't think it is above one. we think it is in a range between 0.7 and one, so that still meet that test but of course we are still consta ntly test but of course we are still constantly looking at and updating all of the information we see. sam from skye. secretary of state, thank you. given our lives are determined by the —— from sky. why do you appear to be quite relaxed that the r rate is up today, and that the latest one suggests transmission of the disease might not be reducing in the disease might not be reducing in the community? is it because despite its presentation by the prime minister it is actually not the best measure to use for making decisions for the whole country because it is skewed by hospitals and care homes dot—macro should reconsider

england's lifting of the lockdown timetable? does it help the data is two or three weeks out of date? really good questions, sam, and if i answer a couple then hand over to doctor harries. the first thing i would say is on the timing. this is based on data from a couple of weeks ago because of the weight is measured, but also from the survey data the ons have published, and as that survey grows the measure of r will become more timely but even in countries that have had large—scale survey testing for some time, like germany, there is still something of it is an incredibly important figure for policymakers, but it is one data point to look at alongside also the level of new cases, as well as the r which is the rate at which they are

changing. but i think, you know, a change in the range of r that still encompasses most of the values we think r would be is very important to look at, but overall this report from the scientists says the r is not likely to be above one. and just reinforcing those comments, r is a very standard way of looking and comparing what is happening and it isa comparing what is happening and it is a really important measure, but the real outcome we are looking for isa the real outcome we are looking for is a reduction in the number of cases and getting rid of the epidemic in the uk. so that is our focus, not r. r is a representation of what is happening in that fight. so it is very important, but i think picking up some of the statistics around this, the thing that you see presented has confidence intervals around it, how confident we are in it. as the secretary of state said,

as we go forward the ons survey will give a us key points of infection across the country, which will become increasingly important. the more points we have, the narrower our confidence concerns are, and the clear we are that we know exactly how many cases there are in the uk. so it is notjust the r value —— r value, but the triangulation of all of the evidence that we have, and i think the final point about the r value, when it is created it is really important that different models and different estimates are put together, and so you will find published on the web now slightly different variations, and that is really important because it challenges, if there are different outlets from different models, it is an opportunity for us to look and say, why is it different, either across the country, in a locality, or because the make of this model, the data stream is going in, a slightly different? well they match it is an important measure but it definitely isn‘t the only one. is

there some acknowledgement that it does look strange that on the day that the r rate is published and is going up, that we are about to head into a weekend where, in england at least, lots of people are going to go out on long journeys and enjoy the countryside. are you confident thatis the countryside. are you confident that is the right decision? we set out the five tests in advance. one of those is that r isn't above 1.0. the data that has been published actually confirms that, rather than the opposite. but everybody can play their part in keeping r below 1.0, and pushing r down. you can do that by following the social distancing rules. so if you do go out, outdoors, do it only with members of your household and keep two metres away from others who are not in your

household, and those social distancing rules are incredibly clear, and they will help to keep us safe. i there have been concerns raised about care homes that can't apply for these tests. they say it only applies for people with dementia, and the over 65 is. but it leaves out a very vulnerable group of people over 65, with multiple health conditions and problems, and also those with learning disabilities. why have these people be left out? well, those in care homes for working age people, as opposed to the elderly care homes, need support and are often clinically vulnerable. it is true that age is the biggest factor in terms of your risk towards coronavirus. but absolutely we need

to make sure that care homes for people of working age also have access to tests, and we are rolling that out, too. ifi could access to tests, and we are rolling that out, too. if i could add to that... shall i answer first? that out, too. if i could add to that... shall i answerfirst? i can see you are trying to offer another question. i wasjust see you are trying to offer another question. i was just going to add to that. as the secretary of state has said, prioritisation is clearly to manage risk, that is how we approach all clinical risk. and different elements of risk, so care homes, and particularly the very, very stark variation in risk for the elderly, particularly 70, 80 and 90. it is really quite stark, in comparison to all other variables. i actually had an e—mail yesterday from somebody with a unit in nottinghamshire, trying to implement some very careful, really good work with his residents and staff. i have actually

put them in touch with the director of public health. i wouldn‘t suggest everybody does that immediately. but the point i wanted to raise is, if there are concerns about particular practices or prioritisation that is needed, there are local oversights of that, and directors of public health are working with the local nhs and local authority directors of aduu nhs and local authority directors of adult social care to make sure that, where there are priorities, particularly if there is an outbreak or something like that in a known elderly care home, that they can access tests. you had a follow-up? i did, a lot of people i have spoken to feel like they had been forgotten. i wonder if you are putting people with learning disabilities at the back of the queue? no, i don't think that is the case. throughout this, we have been ensuring that the guidance that goes out is to all care homes, of course. and one of the things i have been

very worried about, as secretary of state throughout my time in this job, is to ensure that we get support to people in care homes, for those of working age, as well as elderly care homes. it is so important that we do that. we have done that through the crisis, too. but we have also got to make sure that we follow the clinical advice in terms of the different risks that people face. so, if there is an individual care home that thinks they are not getting what is clinically needed, then of course they should get in contact and they should start with a local director of public health, but ultimately they should raise that. but we have got to follow the clinical advice, in terms of how we apply the testing capability that we have. just to add to that, there are some very good resources in terms of specific

advice and guidance written for the learning disabled as well. it‘s not just about carers, parents and guardians, or care managers, it is very much for individuals themselves. michael smith, from the daily mirror? good afternoon. i've got to matter questions. firstly to the scientists, with the government hoping to reopen schools in the next couple of weeks, you have no doubt carried out some quite complex modelling of the risks of taking that action. could you give me an idea of what the government considers to be an acceptable level of risk to teachers and parents, in terms of increased infections, and potentially deaths? and also, to the secretary of state, for years, schools have been telling the daily mirror that they struggle to afford basic equipment like pens and pencils for children to use in the

classroom. social distancing is going to be hard work in schools. it is hard to get kids to wash their hands at the best of times. before the lockdown, teachers were saying they didn't have enough soap and hand sanitiser to go around. if a teacher looks at all of this, looks at their own school, and decides that the risk to their staff and their community is too great to reopen their school, what consequences would they face? well, on the second point, and then if i ask nikki and jenny to comment on the first question, we think it is really important that this is a team effort. it is an incredible challenge that we face with the reopening of schools. i think everybody understands that trying to get schools open in a way that is safe, and only in a way that is safe, and only in a way that is safe, that is really important for children's education. but we've got

to do it ina children's education. but we've got to do it in a way that keeps control of the virus. the good news is, in the same way that it is terrible news that this virus impacts on the elderly so much, the good news is that it seems to spare children in almost every case. not quite every case, but almost every case. so the risk to children is much, much lower than to anybody else in society, any other age group. certainly if you don't have underlying health conditions. that means that we are able to propose going down this route of reopening schools. you know, i wouldn't support a proposal to start to reopen schools unless it is safe to do so. and as you say, there is an awful lot of work to do

in each individual school to make sure that is done in a way that is safe. i am a mum of two school age children. can i just safe. i am a mum of two school age children. can ijust thank safe. i am a mum of two school age children. can i just thank the teaching staff, actually, for responding so quickly, in such an unusual situation. it is not something would have ever had to deal with before, and they have been phenomenal. but risk is relative, and we have to think of the wider risk to children and families as well. as you said, we would not send children back if it wasn‘t safe to do so, but we are doing that in a careful, phased way and monitoring the whole time to make sure that children and families are well. but some of our children who are more vulnerable, need more support, need to be back in school, to get the benefit of the social environment, but also the physical space as well. so it‘s really important that we carefully get our children back to school. because that is what is going to be good for them in the long run. should i add to that?

trying to cut the risk in perspective, if, currently, we have two or three in 1000 of our population with an infection, in the proposed time frame in the next couple of weeks, that is likely to halve. there is a lot of anxiety around this, but people need to think through, in an average school, with 100 children the likelihood of anyone having this disease is very small, and diminishing with time. so i think we need to keep that in perspective. the other thing is, picking up nicky‘s point, on a public health perspective there are all sorts of risks. children who have been invited back to school are at key points of their education. and there longer term health risks of not getting good basic education, which then takes them into work, employment in adult life, and gives them the prevention opportunity from long—term conditions, is really very important. but i think the concerns that you are particularly referring to are around teachers and children

in enclosed environments, if you like. and there is very good advice that has come out from public health england, lots of input from paediatricians as well, in a hierarchy of controls that manage this risk. it‘s not simply about a bit of kit. it is actually about how you manage groups. in many ways, managing them more as if you are a family, when you would not think about putting on ppe, handling it in different ways. but you keep in those groups. you can distance within the school. and school environments, for the reasons that nicky had said, that teachers are brilliant, as a parent they are much more productive than i was trying to get my children to wash their hands consistently and practice good hygiene. there is really good guidance out there to try to support this. the background risk of disease is the diminishing all the time. this is a question for the secretary

of state. the prime minister said in parliament this week that the government ordered a lockdown of ca re government ordered a lockdown of care homes before the national lockdown on march the 23rd. but the guidance to care homes before them was issued on march the 13th, and suggested a restriction only on people infected with covid and those feeling sick. your own department told us that the only directive on a ban in care homes came on april the 2nd, ten days after providers, for instance care uk, at that point, stop visitors.

responsibility of local government. we did bring in that guidance on the 13th. as a result of that, many care homes did stop visitors. as i said in my opening remarks, we strengthened that guidance all along. the point that i tried to articulate in my opening comments is that we have tried to build infection control and the support and protective ring around care homes right from the start. alison morris, from the irish news? just on another point of transparency, a lot of relatives said that care homes we re of relatives said that care homes were resisting telling them the numberof were resisting telling them the number of infections or even the number of infections or even the numberof number of infections or even the number of deaths from coronavirus in ca re number of deaths from coronavirus in care homes. i'm just

number of deaths from coronavirus in care homes. i'mjust wondering if that information should be made public? yes, i didn't know about that. it's certainly something i would like to look into. you know, our overall approach in this is that transparency is the best way forward. you know, we have asked the cqc and now the ons to come in and do more to be transparent about the impact of coronavirus. you know, unlike many countries, deaths of people, whether they die in a care home, or in the wider community, or in hospital, are put in our figures. we have ta ken in hospital, are put in our figures. we have taken an approach of maximum transparency. i can understand why people have been in contact with you about that. it is certainly something we will take away. jenny? i was just something we will take away. jenny? i wasjust going something we will take away. jenny? i was just going to add that i think we need to think really carefully about what a care home is. as we heard earlier, it might be a learning disabled care home, they are not all big care homes. some of them are really quite small. we need

to be careful about individual clinical information and families as well. i was just going to support this, so there is an ons survey that you may have seen out today, there are reports coming through from the cqc. there is a lot of work trying to make the death information much more understandable, i think. it‘s clearly quite difficult, with individuals who have multiple diseases, for example, when a death is registered, it is not always easy to pinpoint as a doctor, actually, what the overriding cause of death is. i think it is quite likely that there are more deaths associated with covid—19 in older people, because we know that the age is a very significant risk. but they will have many other illnesses as well. so it doesn‘t necessarily mean that is what they have died from. it is quite right that there is interest in this, and there is additional work currently ongoing to look to

see how older people and individuals from care homes have been using hospital services, for example, along with how the rest of the population have. some of that usage has dropped and it is important we understand that was appropriate in those individuals. thanks. andy, was that... i didn't realise you wanted to come in again, i hope that answers your question. thank you. finally, we will go to allison morris from the irish muse. secretary of state, as you will be aware, businesses impacted by the lockdown measures — — aware, businesses impacted by the lockdown measures —— the irish news. they are expecting a slow recovery. in northern ireland, goods to the market... we were told the czechs would be necessary after the prime minister said they were not. businesses in northern ireland have both the disease might lockdown and

pending brexit border checks to contend with. can i ask what the deputy chief medical officer... given the varying r rates, will she be advising covid risk assessments, advice to self—isolate etc, at ports for those travelling in and out of northern ireland and to other parts of the uk? thank you very much indeed. on the first subject, i know the prime minister spoke to the taoiseach this afternoon, a very positive discussion, and we fully intend to meet all the commitments we have made in terms of delivering on the result of the referendum. they might, do you want to... yes, clearly it will be for the secretary of state and political colleagues to decide on the border policy but i think from a scientific perspective, as scientists in the teams, we work

very closely in understanding the science and it may be there will be times in england or across the uk countries where potentially differential policies will apply as we look in more detail and get more granular insight as we dampen down the epidemic right across the uk. so i think that is all entirely appropriate. i don‘t think actually, although you are hearing slight differences in timing or announcements, actually the science underlying it i‘m sure the public can see coming through just the same, so things like the risk of being outside, it is minimal in managing that potential change in an r value, for example, and i think all the uk countries are recognising that. there are slightly different epidemic curves, as we showed in the slides earlier. so i think those conversations will keep going. the science underpinning it is the same, and we do need to respond to our different populations, taking

account of all the things like density of population and travel patterns as well. on temperature, i have spoken about this before. the evidence around temperature checks, whether on borders are going into work, and particularly for covid, is not a very valid intervention in terms of scientific prevention. if you have an incubation period up to 14 days, the chances of you finding somebody with that temperature on the minute they walk through a border or the doorway to work is very small, and in fact we know quite a large proportion of people who have symptoms for covid actually do not have a temperature at least in the early symptomatic phase. much more important, i think, that we focus on people taking themselves out of their work and social environments as soon as they feel they have any symptoms at all. fantastic. thank you very much indeed, and that ends today's coronavirus daily briefing. studio: that was matthew hancock, the health secretary, ending today‘s

daily briefing. we can recap now on some of the main points made there, which focus mainly on the situation in care homes in england. he said out of 31,000 deaths in care homes overall, 11,560 where down to residents who had died with coronavirus in april. on testing he said extra testing was now in place and said every member of staff and all residents would be tested by earlyjune. and he announced there would be a specific clinical lead for every care home in england, and that councils would be required to carry out daily reviews of the situation in care homes. let‘s get more on that briefing from our health correspondent, anna collinson. what stood out for you this afternoon? i think there were two big issues in that briefing, and, as you said, let's start with

ca re and, as you said, let's start with care homes. well we are seeing a decline in a lot of those graphs being shown, care homes is the area we are still seeing problems —— whilst we are seeing. ministers accused this week of completely abandoning the sector. matt hancock said the numberof abandoning the sector. matt hancock said the number of new cases in care homes are coming down and in that briefing he said they now need the help of councils to help with the situation. he announced a new infection control fund where £600 million, and he says as part of that local authorities must conduct a daily review of care homes, keep in touch with those in their area, see how they are doing in regards to ppe, personal protective equipment, things like aprons, masks, all that type of equipment, and also to see how they are doing with staffing. he also said he wants all staff and residents with and without symptoms to be tested, and that will be happening very soon. when he was askedif happening very soon. when he was asked if all of this was too little, too late, he denied it. he said they we re too late, he denied it. he said they were doing the right thing from the start and this isjust

were doing the right thing from the start and this is just another step ina very long start and this is just another step in a very long journey. the r rate, that number that shows how the virus is being transmitted, we knew this afternoon that this had gone up slightly and is now somewhere between 0.7 and one, and the secretary was asked whether he was reconsidering the easing of lockdown measures? yes, he was. as you said, the government reiterated their point that it is important to keep the thing that number below one, and as you said that reflects how infectious the virus is. it was three, which meant if a person had the virus they would pass it on to three people. that was brought right down with a lockdown measures brought in, but there are a lot of concerns that if we restrict the —— lift the restrictions to early it could shoot up again. the evidence today says it has increased, that it is from 0.72 one, and that is critical because if the r rate goes above one it means the virus is increasing —— it has gone from 0.7

to one. they said despite the lag in reporting that comes with these figures this is an important number in policy— making and figures this is an important number in policy—making and the government are keeping this number under consta nt are keeping this number under constant review and that the uk hasn't actually reached one yet. that is the suggestion that we are just below, because we are between 0.7 and one. anna collinson, our health correspondent, thank you. we can now speak to vicki young at westminster, our chief political correspondent. talks all afternoon between the education secretary gavin williamson and unions about getting young people, children, back to school in england. matthew hancock was asked about that and asked what are acceptable levels of risk for teachers, staff and children? not surprisingly he didn't wa nt to a nswer children? not surprisingly he didn't want to answer that it directly, yeah. what they are trying to do is make sure it is as safe as possible andi make sure it is as safe as possible and i think it was interesting that the response from the medical side on all of that was to talk about the

fa ct on all of that was to talk about the fact that there is a lot of anxiety, but wanting to give it some perspective, saying that the number of cases is dropping in england and that in two weeks‘ time when the schools are due to welcome more pupils they expect the number of cases to have dropped even more, so actually in most schools there won‘t be any people with coronavirus, nevertheless there are some real anxieties in the unions for teachers to make sure they keep them safe. i am told the model they are working on following is what is being done in denmark, so you create small bubbles of children, a protective bubble, they call it, with small groups of 15, may be less, if teachers want to do it lower than that, and those pupils only mixed with one teacher, they don‘t mix with one teacher, they don‘t mix with other pupils. that is going to require an awful lot of organisation, and that was the point about giving three weeks‘ notice to schools to try to prepare for all of this. which is what they are doing with a possible return for some people is on the 1st ofjune.

0k, people is on the 1st ofjune. ok, many thanks, our chief political correspondent, vicki young, at westminster. clive myrie will be here next for the bbc news at six. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with louise lear. hello there. it has been a week of contrasts. we started off here with that north—eastern having a hold on the feel of the weather. then clear skies at night time frost. in northern ireland it was the lowest may minimum for nearly 40 years. however, slowly but surely the temperatures have recovered a little and we close out the week with one or two of us seeing potentially 20 degrees. high—pressure will dominate across england and wales but into the weekend that front will bring more significant rain, particularly to the extreme north—west. we start saturday with some showers across north—west scotland, a few into northern ireland, one or two may be north—west england as well and still pretty windy, gusts in excess of 40

mph. sunny spells across england and wales and in the sunshine it will still feel pleasantly warm, 17 or 18 degrees not out of the question. the most significant rain arrives as we go into sunday. for some, for the highlands and islands, we could see 50 millimetres, a couple of inches of rain, and windy as well. northern ireland, east of scotland, the rain light and patchy but for england and wales a degree or so warmer, temperatures peaking at 21 degrees. that front will continue to drift north and east and as we head into monday it means the northern isles may well see a pretty disappointing day. but a slow improvement for all. some showers across north—west scotla nd some showers across north—west scotland but some sunny spell starting to come through into the afternoon, pleasant and a degree or so warmer. hiking is quite widely across england and wales, 22 the highest value here, but not quite as warm in the northern isles under that cloud and rain. tuesday, drier

and warmer still pretty much across the country, a pleasant day. through the country, a pleasant day. through the middle part of the week, that is when we are likely to see potentially the warmest weather. the high pressure really building itself, drifting slowly eastwards, but this week whether front may well trigger off a few sharp showers into the north yet again. the wind direction is driving up this warm airfrom the direction is driving up this warm air from the south and it is going to stay with us. it means widely we will see those temperatures perhaps peaking at 21 degrees for glasgow, 24 for peaking at 21 degrees for glasgow, 24for birmingham, peaking at 21 degrees for glasgow, 24 for birmingham, but highest values possible of 25. take care.

if new details of the shocking toll of coronavirus in care homes, with more than 12,500 people dying between march and may. so, what will the government do to support care homes and stop the spread of coronavirus in them? any decision comes too late for 101—year—old thomas port, who lived through dunkirk and died of coronavirus. his family say they feel let down. they were more concerned in making sure the nhs could cope rather than saving lives in nursing homes. as the infection rate rises due to the situation in care homes,