this is bbc news — i'm reeta chakrabarti, building up to today's coronavirus briefing from the government. the headlines... borisjohnson says there's "growing confidence" the uk will have a virus—tracing system in place by the start of next month. we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world—beating and, yes, it will be in place, it will be in place by the 1st ofjune. the engineering giant rolls—royce announces 9,000 job cuts because of the impact of coronavirus. local councils urge the government to reconsider proposals to reopen primary schools in england next month, because of concerns about safety. more nhs help for people with diabetes, as a study finds the disease is linked to a third of coronavirus hospital deaths in england.

and arise captain sir tom moore — the world war two veteran who's raised more than £30 million for the nhs is awarded a knighthood. hello and welcome to viewers on bbc one, as we build up today's coronavirus briefing from the government, today led by culture secretary, 0liver dowden. we start today with comments from the prime minister, who said that there is a growing confidence that the uk will have a test, track and trace operation in place by next month. borisjohnson said during prime minister's questions that the system would be "world—beating" and there will be 25,000 trackers. he said this will help stop the disease from spreading and added that 2a,000 tracers had

already been recruited. let's look at the government's approach to testing and tracing so far. 0n the 12th march, the government moved away from community tests and contact tracing because of capacity problems, as ministers focused testing on patients with suspected coronavirus in hospitals. the health secretary matt hancock announced on the 2nd of may that an initial team of 18,000 contact tracers would be recruited by the middle of the month, as part of the government's virus response. 0n the 8th of may, piloting of a contact tracing app started on the isle of wight. it's understood that more than 60,000 people have downloaded and used the app so far. the health secretary said that the app is due to be rolled out nationally within the next few weeks. but, yesterday, there was criticism from the commons science and technology committee over the government's decision to reduce community testing early on in its handling of the pandemic. the committee chair,

conservative mp greg clark, said the government "didn't get ahead of testing early enough". the announcement from boris johnson followed questioning from the labour leader sir keir starmer about the lack of track and trace since the middle of march. the prime minister insisted that the new system would be effective. we have a growing confidence that we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world—beating and, yes, it will be in place, it will be in place byjune 1st. just to repeat the figures, since he's invited me to do so, there will be 25,000 trackers, they will be able to cope with 10,000 new cases a day and that's very, very important because currently, new cases are running at about 2500 a day. they will be able to trace the contacts of those new cases and to stop the disease spreading. and what i hope very much is that notwithstanding the occasional difficulty of these exchanges, and i totally appreciate the role that he has to fulfil, that he will support us

as we go forward. that he will be positive about this test, track and trace operation and that we can work together to use it to take our country forward, because that is what i think the people of this country want to see. with me now is our political correspondentjessica parker. jessica, the prime minister promising a world beating system but there has been some comment that it hasn't been quite that up till now? yes, the labour leader sir keir starmer at prime minister's questions today saying the lack of a proper test, track and trace system over previous weeks and months had left a huge hole, as he said and described it, in the uk's defences in the fight against coronavirus. you can get a sense from the clip you just made it was a slightly spiky exchange at times between the prime minister and the labour leader. the prime minister accused

sir keir starmer of being negative. so keir starmer referred to the death toll saying it was in many senses a negative situation. but the importance of this test, track and trace importance of this test, track and tra ce syste m importance of this test, track and trace system being discussed at the moment because it is seen as a key element of the route out of lockdown. 0f element of the route out of lockdown. of course, the idea being that when used to somebody and they might test positive for coronavirus, not only do they then self i say but those they have come into contact with will be made aware they have come into contact with someone with coronavirus and they can potentially self—isolate themselves as well. locating the virus and making sure that their cuts down the transmission, cuts down the spread of coronavirus and it is a strategy that's been deployed successfully in other countries, such as south korea. borisjohnson setting this target today at 25,000 contact tracers to be in place by early june, no coincidence perhaps that thatis june, no coincidence perhaps that that is the date the government wa nts to that is the date the government wants to see schools in england,

some years of primary schools, start to see a staggered return of the conditions are right. 0ne to see a staggered return of the conditions are right. one of the things that unions have been saying, the labour party has been saying, is they really want to see a proper strategy, testing strategy in place before they feel it is safe for those schools to come back. some news today about the commons leader jason rees mogg wanting mps back in parliament in person next month? after the recess on the 2nd ofjune, he is saying mp should be returning to parliament. this has been a bit ofa to parliament. this has been a bit of a long—running debate over recent weeks because parliament went a little bit virtual. you saw mps contributing over video link from their homes, from their constituencies. you saw as well recently the use of online voting but there were concerns, particularly among some senior conservatives that this really wasn't good enough, in terms of holding the government to account, in terms of having a proper debate in parliament. some describing it as stilted. in terms of the sorts of

things you see whereby mps and corner ministers in the corridor to try and exact some promises out of them in relation to their constituency. that it wasn't good enoughin constituency. that it wasn't good enough in holding the government to account. jacob rees mogg saying he wa nts to account. jacob rees mogg saying he wants to see mps back but social distancing rules will still be observed. lots of mps staff were not be encouraged to come back to the house of commons, they can work from home. you will have a limit of 50 mps in the chamber at any one time, so mps in the chamber at any one time, so they can stay two metres apart. but some people in parliament think this is not a good idea at all. ian blackford, the snp leader in westminster described it as insane as some people feel you cannot maintain good social distancing measures over the road and it sets a bad example for mps to travel potentially via public transport to westminster and it disadvantages those mps whose constituencies are further from westminster.

those mps whose constituencies are furtherfrom westminster. much easierfor them to drive furtherfrom westminster. much easier for them to drive from their constituencies back to parliament. but it is up to the government, essentially, as to whether they want to extend this arrangement of a virtual parliament. as things stand, they are saying they won't. jessica, many thanks. back to you a little later in the programme. i'm joined now by a health correspondent nick triggle. just talk us through this system of contract tracing and tracking, why is it so important? as we ease out of lockdown, this will be crucial for we ease out of lockdown, this will be crucialfor keeping we ease out of lockdown, this will be crucial for keeping on top of those local outbreaks and to stop the virus spreading. so when someone has a confirmed infection, this system is meant to identify the people that they have had close contact with and that they also might need to self—isolate. there are two systems, two parts to the system being developed in the uk. there is the app which is being piloted on the isle of wight and a team, an army of manual contract

tracers, both are really important. the app is very good at identifying those people you have had close contact with that you might not necessarily know, someone who sat next to on the train. but not eve ryo ne next to on the train. but not everyone will download it, so you do need there is a manual contract tracers to hit the phones and identify positive cases. so the prime minister has said the system will be in place by the ist ofjune. how comprehensive is it likely to be? that is the catch. i think what we will see is a prototype, essentially, of this system. the app is unlikely to be ready. that is still being piloted and there is still being piloted and there is still some bits to iron out with that. but over 20,000 contact tracers have been recruited and they have been trained. i think we will see something that evolves as it goes on. the pm has said it will have capacity to deal with 10,000 cases a day. that sounds a lot because we are getting daily reports that suggest under 3000 positive

cases but we have to remember, until this week, we won't testing everyone. it was by ella —— maiga limited. a week ago we were seeing perhaps 10,000 cases a day, so it may be enough to keep on top of that but i think it is something that will evolve quickly after it goes live. many thanks, nick triggle there. let's pick up on the issue of contact tracing. with me is professor sir chris ham, who is a health policy academic. he is the non—executive chair of the coventry and warwirckshire health and care partnership and also the non—executive director of royal free hospitals. professor, thank you so much for joining us on bbc news. first of all, what is your opinion of the government's approach up until now to testing and tracing? it has been a very troubled approach up until now. many legitimate criticisms of the testing system, why it was

suspended so early, the difficulty in getting tests analysed and the results returned quickly to people so they could then be acted upon. the problem of having to send some tests overseas to be analysed because of a lack of capacity in this country. so there is a huge amount to do just on testing. contact tracing has been developed more recently and the big issue there is not just more recently and the big issue there is notjust the people who will sit in the call centres who have been announced today by the prime minister, it's essential, at a local level, using the expertise that our councils having public health and environmental health and their local knowledge, because the way to respond to any further outbreaks, and we expect there will be further outbreaks, is to bring that the local knowledge to bear with the training and the expertise of our councils and the government has been very, very late indeed and recognising the need to do that. exactly how they will be involved alongside these call centres is not

yet clear. so i would like to see a much more detailed plan. the problem is, the government's approach has been driven by setting one off targets like 100,000 tests from matt hancock are now 25,000 contact tracers by the prime minister. what we actually need is not targets, we need a coherent strategy linked to a credible implementation plan with some clear milestones on how all of this is going to work in practice. as you have said already, this really matters because as the lockdown is relaxed, unless we have a watertight system of testing, of tracing and isolating people who need to be isolated, we will be back to square one and possibly face a second peak, a second surge of demand on our hospitals. second peak, a second surge of demand on our hospitalslj second peak, a second surge of demand on our hospitals. i suppose the government has defended setting based targets by saying it galvanises the system, gives a system something to work towards. i suppose if we had a minister here, they would reply look, the tracking and tracing system is precisely

being developed in order to enable an easing of the lockdown? well, it is, but the government has had several weeks now since the lockdown was introduced to get this right. here we are, not yet being confident there is such a system. 0riginally, there is such a system. 0riginally, the expectation was that this system would be launched on may the 18th. it has been pushed back quite rightly until the 1st of june because much more work needs to be done. it's important that dido harding was brought in by the prime minister only ten days ago in recognition of the difficulties there have been up until that point in getting testing and tracing in place. she has brought in some valuable expertise now from the nhs locally and from local government to work alongside her. so there is more confidence we are moving in the right direction but this is a huge operation. don't underestimate how much needs to be done and we'll need to be confident because the government owes all of us a duty of

ca re government owes all of us a duty of care that we have a watertight system in place. you have talked about the contact tracing done by human beings, by people in call centres, what about the nhs app? it's being tried out at the moment. the person who heads up nhs digital, which is responsible in the nhs hierarchy for the app and the tests going on in the isle of wight, has actually been very cautious in the last few days about whether the app will work as we hope it will and what role it might play. frankly, if you look at all the experience we've got among the people, as i say, particularly in local government, in public health, in trading standards and social health services, the environment to health, it is these people who will be at the heart of what happens on contact tracing. they are the ones we need to focus on. the app, to be honest, is a bit ofa on. the app, to be honest, is a bit of a sideshow. 0k, we have to leave it there, professor chris ham, thank you for speaking to us.

the engineering giant rolls—royce is to cut 9,000 jobs — almost a fifth of its workforce — because of the impact of coronavirus on the aviation industry. the firm says it's consulting with unions about where the jobs will go and whether factories need to close, but many of the job cuts are expected to be in the uk. our business correspondent simon gompertz reports. engines powering airbus and boeing planes. a pinnacle of british manufacturing, now in crisis because the planes themselves are not flying. thejobs, many in derby, are some of the most skilled and highly prized. though this is an international company, the heaviest blow will fall here. here in derby, we understand this is a very difficult day. it's a very difficult day for our employees, actually, all round the world. but we need to get on and do this now because it's about creating a sustainable business for the future, so that, ultimately, we can protect the jobs that we will have left as a result of this.

derby has most of the civil aviation jobs which are in peril, including hundreds of apprenticeships and graduate trainees. unions expect nearly 31100 uk jobs to be cut this year, with thousands more to be cut later. the rolls—royce workshops of derby have been producing record—breaking engines for almost 20 years... britain was a pioneer in building planes and engines. ever since, rolls—royce has been a linchpin of engineering here. the company says it's been through lean times before, lostjobs, and won them back again. but there's never been anything like this — thousands of planes parked up across the world because of coronavirus and no need for replacements. you can't make money if you can't sell the engines, and the crucial after—sales service is badly affected. even so, unions say the surgery is too much. they have been very happy to take the government's money to furlough thousands of workers at rolls—royce. and we're not going to allow them

just simply to walk away when the going gets tough. we now need to stand together as a nation and think about what sort of economy do we want and what role companies like rolls—royce can play in that economy. and that requires the government to step up, i understand that, of course, with long—term support for this industry, long—term support for aviation. there is a big defence business which has been doing well, and the company says some affected staff might be able to move across. but this huge retrenchment by rolls—royce is a warning that the impact of the virus on jobs could be even deeper and longer lasting than feared. simon gompertz, bbc news. the uk's inflation rate fell in april to its lowest since august 2016 as the economic fallout of the first month of the lockdown hit prices. figures from the office for national statistics show the consumer prices index fell to 0.8% from 1.5% in march. falling petrol and diesel prices, plus lower energy bills, were the main drivers

pushing inflation lower. but the prices of games and toys rose, which the 0ns said may be due to people spending more time at home. marks & spencer has reported a 21% fall in its annual profits. m&s saw an improvement in its food business but profits dropped by more than a third in its clothing and home sectors. the retailer told investors that it had taken a £52 million hit to profits because of coronavirus. a number of english councils are expressing safety concerns about the government plans to reopen primary schools at the start of next month. ministers are coming under pressure to reconsider proposals to reopen schools to some pupils from the 1st ofjune. 0ur education correspondent elaine dunkley reports. the government says partially reopening schools in england is about taking small steps in lifting the coronavirus lockdown, but there is growing opposition from some councils across england over safety concerns.

there are a lot of practical problems for schools in getting ready for this and the time scale is very tight. but our main concerns and the reason why we've given the advice we have to our schools, is that we're not yet convinced that the government's five tests are met. firstly, particularly in terms the falling in the rate of the falling in the rate of infections in the community, and you'll be aware there has been discussions that suggest the infection rate is higher in the north than it is, say, london. the plan to re—open schools to children in reception, year1 and year 6 on the 1stjune only applies to england. the government says it is scientifically safe for schools to reopen and has issued guidance. other parts of the uk will continue to keep schools closed. it really depends upon the view of employers, a lot of councils are direct employers of teaching staff. their views are clearly very important and i'm not going to sit here and pretend suddenly on 1st june, everything will be uniform.

i don't know. it's my hope, but these conversations need to continue and we need to listen carefully to the concerns of employers and staff. liverpool, bury and hartlepool are some of the councils that will not direct schools to re—open from 1stjune. others have written to parents saying it might not be possible for all primary schools to open. if, for some reason, the school did want to continue to open, when the local authority was advising not to, it would need to be very clear about its reasons for that decision — why had they come to a different decision from the local authority? schools have become a sticking point for the government. it was meant to be a national plan to get children in england back in the classrooms, but the decision on whether to re—open is likely to be taken at a local level. elaine dunkley, bbc news. as lockdown restrictions

are eased, and people start going back to work, it's even more important to keep hygenic in the home. lucy yardley is a professor of health psychology at the university of southampton and the university of bristol, and a member of sage — the government scientific advisory group. she's been working on best practices to keep coronavirus at bay at home. thank you so much forjoining us here on bbc news. you do see whole families going down badly with coronavirus, don't you? so is it inevitable that this transmission is going to happen in the home if somebody gets it? well, it is certainly a high risk situation and people need to be very aware of that, but it's not absolutely inevitable and, in fact, we have been doing research since the last pandemic, we developed an interactive website to help people doa interactive website to help people do a whole lot of things that can

help reduce transmission of infection in the home, and we trialled it in 20,000 people and we found the people that followed the website advice, they had fewer infections and got less ill when they were infected, so there is something people can do about it but a lot of people don't realise, that's the problem. so, tell us, what can they do? first of all, go and find our website, which is germdefence.org. and follow the advice on it. it helps you go through the situation if you are more at risk, if someone in the family is ill, whether you are dealing with ventilation, whether you have the room that you can put aside for the person at risk or who is ill, and all sorts of procedures for not sharing kettles so you are not touching the same surfaces and so on, and we have a quiz so you can test yourself and see if you are doing everything you can and if there are any areas to improve. that

really is what was the magic ingredient, we think, in the trial. and by taking these precautions, you can reduce your risk of catching an infection? absolutely, and not only did we find that people had fewer infections, they made fewer visits to theirgp, infections, they made fewer visits to their gp, they needed less antibiotics, so pretty good, hard evidence that it really was helping with pandemic flu and then seasonal flu, so we are fairly certain it would help with coronavirus as well. why is it that people living in close quarters with each other are at higher risk of getting infected? is it the fact that they are living close to someone or the fact that they are exposed to higher levels of they are exposed to higher levels of the virus? well, it is the same thing, really. if there is somebody in your home who has the virus, even if they are not showing symptoms, then everything they do is spreading it around, breathing, then everything they do is spreading itaround, breathing, coughing, of

course, everything they touch, and the virus is collecting everywhere and unless you take measures to reduce the level of virus in the home, then it is a little bit like being ina home, then it is a little bit like being in a hospital that has coronavirus patients in it, and we know that the health professionals have become quite seriously ill when they don't use ppe, and people living in the same home as somebody who is ill is in a similar risky situation. so you have to protect yourself, you don't have ppe necessarily but you have to do effectively the same thing. absolutely, whatever is practical in your home. i wonder, absolutely, whatever is practical in your home. iwonder, professor yardley, you are a member of the government's advisory committee stage and there has been a lot of discussion in recent days about whether sage's advice should be made public. where do you stand on that? well, most scientists, we believe in as much openness as possible so, yes, certainly, scientists are very

much in favour of sharing and being as open as possible. do you think thatis as open as possible. do you think that is an opinion shared by other members? as far as i know, yes, i haven't met anybody who didn't share that opinion. that is interesting. we will leave it there, thank you so much, professor yardley. the nhs is to offer more help to people living with diabetes, after a study found the disease was linked to a third of coronavirus deaths in english hospitals. there will be video consultations with medics, a new helpline and weight loss programmes, after clinicians found that higher blood sugar levels and obesity increase the risk of dying from covid—19. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes reports. living with diabetes is hard at the best of times. but forjanet caroll, who has type 2 diabetes, coping with the fear of covid—19 is adding an extra level of stress. not sleeping on a night. restless, and just dare not go out. it's like being in a stephen king

novel at the moment. it's frightening. it really, really is. janet's concerns are reflected in a new study indicating diabetics are at increased risk of death from covid—19. this applies to type 1, which most often develops in childhood, and type 2, which affects mostly older people, and is associated with weight gain, a poor diet, and a lack of exercise. but while high blood sugar levels and obesity add to the risk, age is far and away the biggest risk factor. older people are more likely to die of the infection. age is the dominant, dominant factor here. so, actually, people with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes below the age of a0 are at very low risk. and over the period of time that we studied, we didn't see any recorded deaths in people with type 1 diabetes or indeed type 2 diabetes below the age of 20. the charity diabetes uk says that, as we begin

to cautiously resume our lives, people living with the condition want to know how they can protect themselves. as lockdown eases, more people moving back to work, it's important that government looks at this data and continues to use this evidence to drive its guidance and to drive its policies around how people with diabetes can stay safe, whether that's at work or whether that's at home. and equally what's important is that people continue to get all the advice and support they need. the nhs in england is encouraging diabetics to stay on top of their condition, using video consultations with medics, a new nhs helpline and weight loss programmes. meanwhile, medical experts are looking at whether the risks for those who have diabetes are so great they should consider shielding themselves like other vulnerable groups. but the isolation that would cause could lead to more harm than good. dominic hughes, bbc news. in the next few minutes, we are expecting the daily downing street briefing, led today by the culture

secretary 0liver dowden. with me now is our political correspondentjessica parker. she is at westminster. jessica, what do you expect to come up this afternoon? i think often the issues of the day, if you like, do get raised at these press conferences. 0ne raised at these press conferences. one of the things that has been discussed over the last few days, in fa ct, discussed over the last few days, in fact, is a round of the return of schools and this picture where you see some councils in england saying that, actually, thejune the 1st date that has been suggested by the government as a starting point for the staggered return for some years of primary school, reception, year one, year six, unions of primary school, reception, year one, yearsix, unions have of primary school, reception, year one, year six, unions have voiced concerns and some council saying in england that they think that data could be too soon, so you could potentially be looking at a bit of a patchwork return for schools because, of course, you have a local authority run schools but you also have academy chains, independent of local authorities, and some of those have said they would be ready to return in earlyjune, so that is a

possible topic. i also think test, track and trace, after the prime minister has said a system will be in place from the 1st ofjune, tying into that potential return for schools, saying there will be 25,000 contact tracers, a small army as it is sometimes described, in place for that early june date, is sometimes described, in place for that earlyjune date, but i think questions will be potentially asked about exactly how that system will work, what it will look like and how it will tie into the nhs app that, of course, is being trialled on the isle of wight and, today, the labour shadow health secretaryjohn as hworth shadow health secretaryjohn ashworth has written to his counterpart, the health secretary matt hancock, asking for reassu ra nces over matt hancock, asking for reassurances over the system and also to address any concerns around privacy concerns, so i think that is a possible topic that will come up. and, of course, 0liver dowden is the culture, media & sport secretary, so perhaps we might hear a question or theissue perhaps we might hear a question or the issue addressed on football, the potential return of top—flight football from some point injune.

training has been allowed to resume for top—flight clubs today but a socially distance to training. we have heard before the government talk about how it could be a potential morale boost if we could see the return of some top—flight football behind closed doors, not with crowds attending stadiums, is a bit of a morale booster for the nation. there will be lots of people eagerly waiting to see if he says anything about that. going back to schools, was there any concession made by the government today that it would be up to schools or local authorities to decide what to do? robert buckland was talking about this... i think the press conference with oliver dowden is now beginning. hello, good afternoon and welcome to today's briefing. i'm pleased to be joined by professor steve pallas. first of all, i would like to update you on the latest data in respect of the coronavirus response. first of

all, 2,000,960 tests of coronavirus have now been carried out in the united kingdom. that includes 177,216 united kingdom. that includes 177 , 216 tests united kingdom. that includes 177,216 tests which were carried out yesterday. 248,293 people have tested positive. that is an increase of 2472 cases since yesterday. 9953 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus, that is down 13% from 11,443 this time last week. and sadly, of those who have tested positive for coronavirus across all settings, 35,704 have now sadly died. that is an increase of 363 fatalities since yesterday. of course, my thoughts are with every one of the families of those people

who have been affected by this. before we begin questions from the public and media, i want to remind people of the details of the next phase of our fight against coronavirus. slide one, please. as you will see, first, in order to monitor our process, we are establishing a new covid alert system, with five levels. the alert system, with five levels. the alert system will be based primarily on the number of coronavirus cases and the number of coronavirus cases and the r value. in turn, that alert level will determine the level of social distancing measures in place. the lower the level, the fewer the measures. the higher the level, the stricter the measures. throughout the period of lockdown, which started march 23, we have been at level four. but thanks to the hard work and sacrifices of the british people in this lockdown, we have helped bring down the r level and are ina helped bring down the r level and are in a position to begin moving towards a level three in careful

steps. slide two, please. as you will see from this slide, we have set out the first of three steps we will take to carefully modify the measures. gradually ease the lockdown and begin to allow people to return to their normal way of life. but, crucially, avoiding what would be a disastrous second peak which overwhelms the nhs. after each step, we will closely monitor the impact of that step on r and the number of infections and all the available data and we will only take the next step when we are satisfied that it the next step when we are satisfied thatitis the next step when we are satisfied that it is safe to do so. so, step one, as the prime minister announced this week. those who cannot work from home should now speak to their employer about going back to work. you can spend time outdoors and exercise as often as you like and you can meet one person outside your household in an outdoor public place, provided that you stay two metres apart. slide three, please.

so, as you will see, having taken the first step in carefully adjusting some of the measures and our advice on what people can do, we have also updated what we are asking people to do, which is to stay alert, control the virus and save lives. yes, staying alert for the vast majority of people still means staying at home as much as possible. but there are a range of other actions we are advising people to take. people should stay alert by working from home if you can. limiting contact with other people, keeping distance if you go out, two metres apart where possible, and washing your hands regularly. wearing a face covering when you are in enclosed places, where it is difficult to be socially distant, for instance on public transport and in some shops. and if you or anyone in your household has symptoms, you all need to self—isolate. because if eve ryo ne all need to self—isolate. because if everyone stays alert and follows the

rules, we can control coronavirus by keeping the r down and reducing the number of infections. this is how we can continue to save lives and livelihoods as we begin, as a nation, to recover from livelihoods as we begin, as a nation, to recoverfrom coronavirus. now, over the past months, we have all naturally been focused on the huge life or death health implications of this pandemic. but i would now like to provide an update on some of the crucial work taking place behind—the—scenes to support and protect the things that give our lives added meaning, such as sport, art, tourism and our charities, music and theatres. when we look back on the coronavirus, one of the things we will remember is the incredible contribution made by so many people. as a way of showing our national gratitude to these everyday covid heroes, we are announcing today that we are delaying her majesty the queen's birthday honours list until the autumn so they can be recognised and celebrated. and as

the prime minister said today, i'm delighted her majesty the queen has approved a knighthood for captain tom moore in recognition of his outstanding achievement in raising nearly £33 million for nhs charities. captain tom set a marker of generosity and the public matched it. remarkably, it looks like british people and businesses have contributed over £800 million and thatis contributed over £800 million and that is just through national fundraising campaigns alone and a great deal more has obviously been raised at local levels. as the british people have generously given their time on their money, the government has sought to back them every step of the way. so we promised to match every penny raised by the bbc‘s big night in campaign and after a fantastic public response, i'm delighted to announce today that over £70 million is now being distributed by comic relief, children in need and the national emergencies trust to charities on the front line. this comes on top of

the front line. this comes on top of the hundreds of millions of pounds we have already announced the charity is doing vital work to support those suffering from poor mental health, to help the victims of domestic abuse and make sure hospices can continue to care for families in these most difficult of circumstances. and today, i'm pleased to confirm that the government's dedicated support scheme for small and medium—sized charities that coronavirus community support fund will open for applications this week. initially, there will be a £200 million tranche of government funding and this will be administered by the national lottery community fund and will focus on those charities we may not know nationally but who are a lifeline to communities at a local level. on top of that, i can also announce today that we are releasing £150 million from dormant accounts to help social enterprises get affordable credit to people who are financially vulnerable and so support charities tackling youth unemployment. so our

charities both large and small have been at the forefront of this national effort and together all of this amounts to a multi—billion pound boost for britain's charities. i know that people are also eager for news of the return of live sports and the arts. i know that the last few months have felt rather odd without them and our calendars have been strangely bare. finding creative, crowd free ways to navigate coronavirus is the biggest challenge for our recreation and leisure sectors right now. so, this week i am setting up a renewal task force which will help them bounce back. it will be made up of the brightest and the best from creative tech and sporting world. these are experts in theirfield tech and sporting world. these are experts in their field and they will be advising me on how they find new and different ways to get industries back up and running. just to give you a few examples, it includes alex scott, a former lioness and 0lympian are now an award—winning broadcaster. she will help us think through how we can get sport back

safely in a way that works for both clu bs, safely in a way that works for both clubs, players and supporters alike. similarly, the former chairman of the bbc and itv will provide an insight as to how we get our creative and media industries back up creative and media industries back up and flourishing again. and the english national ballet's artistic director will give us ideas for how we start to get our arts scene back up we start to get our arts scene back up and running. martha lane fox, well known as founder of last—minute dot—com, will advise on how tech can power all this recovery across all the sectors, but particularly in tourism as part of the much wider role it will play in driving our economy forward as it has done already. meanwhile, bit by bit, we are developing guidance which is helping some of the lighter bits of our economy return to this new normal. so we had supported the safe return of tv production, meaning our broadcasters are able to keep some of our favourite shows back on the tv screens, whether it is coronation street or eastenders. we have helped

to reopen the country plasma tennis and basketball courts and guided elite athletes back into training safely because of that in turn will pave the way for the return of live sports behind closed doors in the are near future. sports behind closed doors in the are nearfuture. normal life as sports behind closed doors in the are near future. normal life as we have known it is still clearly a long way off. the path to get there isa long way off. the path to get there is a narrow one but these things will return, when it is safe for them to do so, and thanks to the same drive and creativity that makes a great performance or a great piece of art. i really think that when they do and when we have overcome this crisis together, we will appreciate them that much more. with that, i will hand over to professor stephen powis. thank you and good afternoon. if i could go through the data slides for today with which i'm sure you have become familiar. the first slide shows information on social distancing and how the british public have responded to the request that we will socially distance in order to reduce the rate

at which the virus, the coronavirus, is transmitted through our communities. as i've said before, it's only by doing that that we will keep this under control, that we will reduce the number of deaths that we have unfortunately seen in the number of admissions to the nhs and the pressure on the nhs. so this slide shows a number of graphs, data from both vehicle mobility, so transport in cars and light vehicles and heavy goods vehicles. you can see there has been a slow increase in vehicle movements, probably recently reflecting the desire for people who can return to work who can't work from home returning. but on public transport, national rail, transport for london and bus outside of london, you can see that the levels of usage are still very low and very much down on what they were before social distancing measures we re before social distancing measures were introduced. again, evidence that the british public has

responded to and complied with the instructions that we have all been given. 0n the next slide, we start to look at testing and a number of new cases that are test positive. as you had from the secretary of state, there has been an increase in recent weeks, both in the capacity of testing and a number of people who are being tested. you can see that in the graph at the start. we are now nearly up to 3 million tests that have been performed in total. in the lower graph, you can see the number of daily confirmed cases. as i've said recently, although the testing capacity has increased in the number of tests have increased, the number of tests have increased, the number of daily confirmed cases has not increased. in fact, it's sta ble has not increased. in fact, it's stable or perhaps even falling. i think that shows that the amount of transmission, the amount of virus in the community is falling and with a r rate less than one, that is exactly what we would expect. in the next slide, we see how that tra nslates in the next slide, we see how that

translates into the usage of hospitals. 0nce translates into the usage of hospitals. once again, the demir meat vast majority of people this is a mild illness that does not require hospital care but for a minority of people, unfortunately, hospital admission is needed and for the sickest it might require a period on our intensive care units. this shows the new daily admissions with covid—19 from march through to now. you can see that that is on a decline. we are seeing fewer and fewer daily admissions. again, showing the benefits of social distancing. in the bottom graph, you can see that group of individuals who are unfortunately are the sickest and require ventilation, so they need to be put on a ventilator, mechanically ventilated. that obviously occurs in our intensive ca re obviously occurs in our intensive care units in those areas we are using as part of our expanded capacity to do this. you can see again that that number is falling across all parts of the uk again, reflecting the benefits of social

distancing. next slide shows more data in hospital. i would next slide shows more data in hospital. iwould highlight next slide shows more data in hospital. i would highlight that the number of people in hospital is now below 10,000, so i think that is the first time since march we had seen a fall that has come down below 10,000, in terms of the people who are actively in hospital who tested positive for covid—19 the stuff you can see in the individual charts showing various parts of the uk that the fall has been steepest in london, that had the highest peak, but also you will see declines in other areas of the country at different rates but all heading, surely, in the right direction. so a fall in the number of people in hospital. in the next slide, finally, we show the number of deaths. you have had the number of deaths. you have had the numbers for today. clearly it is with great sadness that we report these deaths but you see on a daily basis that looking at the key

figure, the seven day rolling average which takes out the variation between days and the reporting variation at the weekend, you can see the trend is now consistently downwards. that will continue to fall as long as we all comply with the instructions that we've been given around social distancing. so this is not the time too, as i said before, to become complacent about this. yes, if you can't work at home, then talk to your employer about getting to work but we need to remain vigilant, we need to stay alert and we need to make sure that we keep that important r below one so that the rate of transmission is continually declining in the population first of thank you. thank you very much for that very clear presentation. we now turn to questions, we go first to thomas from the north—west and he is joining us video. good afternoon. please can you give an update on what the uk is doing to help the

poorer nations through this pandemic. thank you. well, thank you very much for that question, thomas, and it's a really important question. the first thing we have done to help poorer nations is we are standing by our commitment to the poorest nations by devoting 0.7% of our entire national income to go into aid, and all of the challenges we have faced during coronavirus and all the pressures on public spending, we are maintaining that commitment and i know there is a lot of concern about whether poorer nations are going to be able to access vaccines. nations are going to be able to access vaccines. that is why we will also make sure we get those vaccines atan also make sure we get those vaccines at an affordable level, working with ouraid at an affordable level, working with our aid budget, to those poorest nations, fulfilling what i think we have always done as a nation, we have always done as a nation, we have always done as a nation, we have always stood by the poorest nations in the times of need and thatis nations in the times of need and that is part of the moral responsibility we share as a nation. i think we have question number two from heather in devon. just to read

that ed, heather asks... well, first of all, i would like to pay tribute, heather, to all of the nurses and other front line staff in the nhs who have done so much during this crisis to help us tackle it and through that crisis, and thanks to their hard work, we have avoided the nhs being overwhelmed but, clearly, in moving that capacity to the front line to deal with coronavirus, it has had a knock—on consequences elsewhere. as we now move out of the peak and we are working to ensure we don't have a second peak where the nhs is overwhelmed, there is more capacity again so we can start delivering more capacity to deal with these challenges. professor

powis? i, too, would like to pay tribute to all of my colleagues in the nhs who have worked magnificently to deal with this surge in patients we have seen with covid—19, and it is the case that some of those staff have had to be redeployed, they've had to work in different areas and, sometimes, they've had to work with a set of skills that they have but haven't had to use in recent years, and i think it has been truly inspiring, the way people have stood up and taken that task and delivered for the public in this country. as i have said many times before, in the nhs, we have kept our emergency services going throughout this and so if you have symptoms you are worried about, may be symptoms, you are worried about a heart attack or are worried about a heart attack or a stroke or have a child with severe asthma, don't be afraid to use the nhs as you have always used it, it is still there for you. yes, we are managing and have been managing an increased number of people with

covid—19, but the nhs is therefore emergency conditions and it is really important you don't delay getting in touch with us, through 111 , getting in touch with us, through 111, calling your gp or, in extreme circumstances, dialling 999. we have also kept services such as cancer going throughout all this, but there has been some disruption and some patients, i know, have been advised by their clinicians not to have treatment immediately because, for instance, if their immune system is being treated as part of their cancer treatment, it is being depressed, then there may be a reason not to do that at a time when the virus is circulating. but now that we have come over the peak, we are ina that we have come over the peak, we are in a position, as the secretary of state says, to start to build up those nhs services, where we have had to redeploy staff and perhaps i've had to delay, so you will see, over the next weeks and months, a standing up of all those nhs services so that the routine reviews can services so that the routine reviews ca n start services so that the routine reviews can start to be done again. but i am

sure everybody understands that, at a time of public emergency, where we saw that surge in the virus over april, it was the right thing to do to make sure that our staff were focused on the response to that, but now we can start to get back towards normal, although a new normal, because we will have to do that in the context of still having some underlying covid—19 in the community. thank you. we come to the next question, from nick watt for the bbc. thank you, i have a question for you secretary of state under question four professor powis. in his televised address earlier this month, the prime minister talked about the awful epidemic in ca re talked about the awful epidemic in care homes and, this morning, your cabinet colleague robert buckland acknowledged that care homes were given less priority for testing than the nhs at the start of this crisis and then he said, sadly, there were far too many cases of infection and

deaths in care homes. and, yet, add prime minister's questions today, borisjohnson appeared prime minister's questions today, boris johnson appeared to brush aside concerns and questions about the level of testing in the early stages of this public emergency. so what is it? gloss over possible mistakes in the past or face up to the fact, as robert buckland said, that may be things could have been done differently? and, four professor powis, can i ask you, your scientific colleague dame angela maclean said yesterday in answer to a question about whether schools can open on the 1st ofjune, she said you need to have a highly effective track test and isolation system in place. today, the prime minister said there will be a test, track and trace system, he said it will be in place by the 1st ofjune. given there has been moving about on the dates on when this made happen by

ministers —— might happen by ministers, are you satisfied that conditions will be met, given there are concerns over the app, and whilst there will be 25,000 trackers who will be able to track 10,000 cases a day, and, yes, that is four times the number of confirmed cases, thatis times the number of confirmed cases, that is probably well below the numberof that is probably well below the number of actual cases in the uk. well, thank you for that question. perhaps if i deal with the first one about glossing over and then hand over to you, steve powis. it is categorically not the case that we have glossed over this and the prime minister has been very clear about the challenges we faced in care homes and every death in a care home is one too many, but that is precisely why we have introduced this care home action plan. that means there is more money going into ca re means there is more money going into care homes, an extra £600 million was announced very care homes, an extra £600 million was announced very recently. that is why we are ramping up the testing and care homes, that is why we are ramping up the protective equipment

for care homes and why we have introduced a dedicated hotline so they can get that protective equipment into care homes and, actually, as a result of those measures, whilst the numbers remain too high, the indicators suggest we are moving in the right direction, reducing the number of deaths or reducing the number of deaths or reducing the number of deaths or reducing the number of new infections. yes, so, may be going back to the first principle about the overall strategy, what is important is to keep the r number below one, as i said earlier, because it is only by keeping the r below one, the rate of transmission falls in the community. in other words, the amount that is passed on from person to person is less than one on average and therefore the infection rate is going down. and you achieve that in a variety of ways and track and trace is one component of the measures that will need to be kept in place, at least in the foreseeable future, to ensure the r is below one. so the first

point i would make, as angela said yesterday, track and trace, and effective track and trace strategy in place, is a very important component of keeping the infection under control, but it is not the only thing. it needs to be seen combined with other social distancing measures. but, overtime, as the strategy towards the virus in the community evolves, it may be relaxed but track and trace is not the only thing that needs to be in place. and i think, as the government has said, clearly timing is an issue for government. we can advise but it is a question for government. i know the government would want to see, and i think they have said, that they need to have the context that there will not be a rise of r above one in order to move in the subsequent steps of any release of lockdown measures. so track and trace, yes, very important but it is just one of the measures that we will need to keep in place going forward to ensure the

transmission rates stay below one. nick, would you like to ask any follow—up? nick, would you like to ask any follow-up? can i come back to you, 0liver dowden. you are saying you are not glossing over anything but there was a very different tone from robert buckland today when he was saying maybe things could have been done differently and it is well known that mistakes, honest mistakes, may well have been made, particularly in the beginning phase of this public emergency and wouldn't it do this government some good, wouldn't it do the government's scientists some good if you follow the example of emmanuel macron and acknowledged, admitted and were open about those. there is going to be a public inquiry, you are going to be called up before that public inquiry, so why not begin that conversation now? well, of course, in any public health crisis like this, there will be a time for lessons to be learned afterwards, but i think the public rightly want us now to be focusing on dealing with this. that is why we

have introduced the nhs care home action plan, having the consequences are described and on some of the points you raise, for example, in relation to people who have been discharged into care homes from hospitals. the numbers discharged in march and april were 40% lower than those in january and march and april were 40% lower than those injanuary and it has been the case that testing has been available to ca re case that testing has been available to care homes right from the very beginning, and it has been the case that we have issued guidance right from the very beginning. of course, there are always lessons to be learned but it is always worth reflecting on these things. now over to robert peston. good afternoon. remarkable data out of public health england in the last 24 hours, the latest 24—hour period, apparently there was zero cases of coronavirus or new cases in london, so presumably there will be a return to school in the capital at least for the youngest children and more stores opening, at least in the capital and a separate one for

professor powis, the prime minister today said in the house of commons that no older people will return to ca re that no older people will return to care homes without the approval of a clinician, which seems to many that the prime minister is in a sense passing the blame for coronavirus in ca re passing the blame for coronavirus in care homes to doctors and nurses. what you think of that? shall i start with your first question about the opening up process and you referenced some of the promising figures. i would also say it is worth reflecting again on those tense numbers, where we are now up to 177,216 tests, so it is notjust the numbers moving in the right direction, but we have to be cautious, but the government approach continues to ramp up. the prime minister set out a three stage process , prime minister set out a three stage process, the next stage, we said from the earliest will be from the

beginning ofjune. we will look at some of the measures you discussed around, for example, opening up non—essential retail. in respect to the question about schools, i really think we should try and open schools if we possibly can and a lot of work, i know my friend the education secretary has put a lot of work in, as indeed has the health secretary, about thinking how we can do that safely, whether that is staggering entry times, whether it is keeping children together in groups of 15, and the reason for doing all of that is because i think there is very strong evidence that, particularly for the most disadvantaged children in those early years, it is not cost free for them not going to school. there is a cost and if we can get them back safely, we should do so but it will only be guided by the evidence. that is moving in the right direction at the moment but we will be very cautious about that. thank you. i was a front—line doctor for many, many years and i wouldn't discharge a patient from a hospital

into whatever setting, a home, a ca re into whatever setting, a home, a care home, unless i was absolutely confident that their medical treatment was complete and they no longer required hospital treatment and, indeed, i think it is always worth making the point that, particularly for our elderly population, remaining in hospital when your medical treatment is complete, can be harmful to individuals, so i am absolutely sure that my medical colleagues would not be discharging patients under any circumstances unless they were sure that their medical treatment in hospital was complete, they were fit for discharge and it was safe to discharge them. robert, any follow—ups? discharge them. robert, any follow-ups? yes, just on the return of children to schools and nonessential stores, are you allowing the possibility that this could happen on a region by region basis? as i say, if there are literally no new cases in london, there is a very strong argument that evenif there is a very strong argument that even if other parts of the country are not ready for children to go back, london is ready. we want to

proceed as fast as we safely can do so, because, clearly, there are benefits in the way i described for children and clearly benefits for the wider economy and people's public utility of being able to access those nonessential retail. i think it is best, though, and the government has said this repeatedly, that we move as a whole nation and that we move as a whole nation and that would include of course the whole of england in doing so. it may be the case that, because of the track and trace, clearly within track and trace, clearly within track and trace, if we identify specific very micro hotspots, we would have different measures in respect of that, but the clear intention is we move as a whole country. thank you for your question. now over to then kentish from lbc. thank you, good afternoon. three weeks ago on the steps of downing street, the prime minister talked about maximum transparency and promised the government would share all its working and thinking with the british people and yet now

you are asking parents to send their children back to school without having published the scientific advice on whether it is safe for them to do so. in effect, asking them to do so. in effect, asking them to do so. in effect, asking them to take someone else's word for it. if you were a parent without the benefit of being a government minister, would you want to see that advice and when will the government fulfil that pledge by publishing it? just a second one if i may, under the government's bereavement scheme, families of front line doctors and nurses who lose their life fighting coronavirus will be given indefinite leave to remain in the uk but it was confirmed last night that the families of porters, carers and cleaners who die in similar circumstances will not. does the government think the lives of carers, porters and cleaners are worth less than those of doctors and nurses or is there another reason for that discrepancy? thank you. thank you for your questions. two questions wrapped up in there. in terms of the point

about parents sending their children back to school. i am a dad of two primary school—aged children. i do, of course, genuinely understand pa rents‘ of course, genuinely understand parents‘ concerns around this. they will whoop want to be sure if they send their children back to school, they do so in a safe environment. —— they do so in a safe environment. —— they will want to be sure if they send their children back to school. that's why the education secretary has worked so hard to see there is a safe return, whether it's washing hands, having children kept within group so they don't mix with others, all are driven by the evidence about how to do this in the most safe way possible. we won't proceed unless we can be sure of children's safety. of course, that goes without saying. in relation to your point about the publication of the evidence, sage advice is being published routinely and there was some further advice published on friday and that will continue to be the case. in respect of the points he rightly

raised about support for care workers and others. first of all, to restate what i said earlier in this press co nfe re nce , restate what i said earlier in this press conference, that we all of us owe a huge debt of gratitude to eve ryo ne owe a huge debt of gratitude to everyone working in the nhs. we all go out and clap at 8pm on thursday evenings to show their appreciation. 0ne evenings to show their appreciation. one of the measures we have taken to show that appreciation is the bereavement support, which is available to everyone, including porters and others who make such a huge contribution. in respect of your point about the indefinite leave to remain, we do keep that policy under review and we will look further into that case. now i think we will go to jason groves. can i follow u p we will go to jason groves. can i follow up on that? i wonder if professor powis had a view on whether the bereavement scheme should be extended to all nhs workers? 0n the schools point, will the contact tracing system be in place together with the app by the

start ofjune, place together with the app by the start of june, as place together with the app by the start ofjune, as angela mclean suggested yesterday was necessary? 0k, suggested yesterday was necessary? ok, i will suggested yesterday was necessary? 0k, iwill try suggested yesterday was necessary? ok, i will try and remember those further points. in respect of the contact tracing, the prime minister announced fantastic progress at lunchtime today. we have now recruited 25,000 contract racers. that will enable us to undertake a 10,000 traces. given that we are currently at the stage where there is 2400 cases, that is huge progress and that will be by the beginning of june. that is really important progress. in respect of the indefinite leave to remain, i know that we owe hospitals and others that huge debt of gratitude and that's why i said what i said about keeping the policy under review. is there anything else? i think it's a matter for government in keeping the policy under review. all i can say is a doctor who has worked on the front line for many years, how much i

value the entire multidisciplinary team. everybody from porter to to nurse who absolutely work together asa nurse who absolutely work together as a team in managing this sort of crisis, but also in the day—to—day ca re crisis, but also in the day—to—day care that the nhs provides. it is often the doctors and nurses who are at the front and get the praise, but, believe me, there are a huge number of people working behind—the—scenes. i was at the royal free hospital when we managed a bowler and i will always remember the photograph in the evening standard which showed a huge team of people, when we managed ebola, the huge team that kept the show on the road and allowed the patients to be treated successfully. that is the case now. there are many heroes in the nhs, not just case now. there are many heroes in the nhs, notjust doctors and nurses. thank you. now we go on to jason groves from the daily mail.

thank you. the tv has been a lifeline for lots of older people through this lockdown. i wonder if you are happy to see the over 75s lose their free tv licence in august and whether you might intervene or whether there is a job for the bbc. professor powis, i wonder if i could ask you about the two metre rule? we heard from a government adviser earlier, robert dingwall, that the scientific evidence for keeping us two metres apart is very fragile. has he got a point? you are on stage, given the importance of that sectors like education and hospitality, could you look at it ain? hospitality, could you look at it again? shalli dealwith hospitality, could you look at it again? shall i deal with the hospitality, could you look at it again? shalli dealwith the bbc hospitality, could you look at it again? shall i deal with the bbc tv licence first? we were clear and have been clear all along that we didn't want the bbc to take away the free tv licence from the over 75s. i think the bbc made absolutely the right decision in saying in the middle of this coronavirus crisis,

when particularly older people are being asked to self—isolate and are feeling lonely, often the tv is a for them, it wouldn't have been a cce pta ble for them, it wouldn't have been acceptable to for them, it wouldn't have been acce pta ble to ta ke for them, it wouldn't have been acceptable to take away that tv licence, which is why they rightly extended the proposal for removing it to the beginning of august. i very much hope that if we are in a similar situation come the beginning of august, the bbc will show similar flexibility again. stephen powis. on the two metre rule, i can assure you sage does keep things under review. not least because the science is co nsta ntly not least because the science is constantly evolving. as we learn more about this virus, is quite right as scientists we consider new evidence and keep things under review. the current guidance, the current advice is two metres. i am sure that along with a whole host of other things, that will constantly be kept under review, as new evidence emerges. any follow ups to

that? we don't get you very often, secretary of state! a follow-up, not a new question. a new question anyway, is there any chance of getting a holiday in britain next summerand if they getting a holiday in britain next summer and if they can would you encourage that? i would love to get the tourism sector up as quickly as we possibly can. we have set this very ambitious plan to try and get it up and running by the beginning ofjuly. we are working hard to be able to deliver on that, that is partly why i have set up this task force that i announced at the beginning of this conference, bringing together experts, notjust people i named at the beginning, when you see the full list there are other people from the tourism sector which will help advise on that. clearly, we can only do it if it is safe to do so because i think the worst thing for our tourism sector would be to start, then see the r rate go out of control, and then have a second peak which overwhelms the nhs and slam the brakes on again. but when we get to the point where we can have british tourism

that, apart from the prime minister you won't see a bigger champion for the british break than me! 0ver you won't see a bigger champion for the british break than me! over to jane kirby for pa. thank you and good afternoon. many football fans are hoping the premier league will return next month. well the government be asking that these matches are available on free to air terrestrial television or is it acceptable for existing rights holders like sky and bt to stream them on their online platforms customer isn't it vital these are shown on terrestrial so people are dear to the lockdown? and a question for professor powis on antibody testing. they are becoming more available on commercial websites, should people be buying these tests to use at home or is the intention that they will get them via the nhs for free at some stage and if so, when might that be? shall i take the premier league first? as i said several times before, i am really keen that if we

can get the premier league back behind closed doors, we should do that. the process for doing this is really threefold. first of all, we've already issued the guidance for carrying out training behind closed doors. that is noncontact training, those guidelines were published earlier this week. i hope, subjectively sign off by public health england and others, we will then later this week, very shortly, get the guidance about how we can have training in a contact environment, this is for elite sports, so they can build up. the final stage would then be the guidelines as to whether they can resume behind closed doors. in doing that, we've been guided by the health advice and i can update you again today for the fourth time there were meetings between elite sports and public health england to find out how we can do it safely. if we can do it safely, i'd like us to be able to get it up and running towards mid—june, if that's possible.

in respect of broadcasting rights, we have to respect the existing rights that the broadcasters have. but i do think we have some flexibility because if you look at... on saturday afternoons, it has been the case that premier league matches can't be broadcast on broadcasters, the idea would people would be able to watch them in the stadium so they didn't want to compete. clearly, that won't be possible if we compete behind closed doors. i think that provides an opportunity for us to get some sport, some premier league free to air. those discussions are ongoing. i'm having productive discussions. i had the latest one with premier league, the efl and with the fa. i hope we can can sort this out and i also hope we can get some more money going into the sport of football. i think we could find ourselves in a win— win situation. thank you for the question on antibody testing foster public

health england have been evaluating the new antibody tests, the commercial tests which are becoming available. i would have most confidence in that evaluation process because i think that gives it the stamp that we need in order to roll these tests out throughout the nhs. as those tests are evaluated and will become available, they will be rolled out through health and social care settings. initially, their use will be in those settings and also the surveillance within the community, so that we get some information on how many people in the population may have been infected by the virus. so that is where we will start from. i would caution against using any or using any test that might be made available without knowing quite how good those tests are. so public health england is evaluating for the nhs. i would caution people against being tempted to have those tests. i think one other point to make about

the antibody test. the antibody test shows you that you have had the virus. 0nce shows you that you have had the virus. once you have had the virus, the body's immune system develops antibodies against it and it is those antibodies that are detected, typically a number of weeks after you have had the virus. it tells you you have had the virus. it tells you you have had it. what we don't absolutely know at the moment is whether having antibodies and having the antibodies that are tested in those tests means that you won't get the virus again. we will only know that over time, through the science of understanding the type of antibody that is being produced, but also by following people over time to see that when you develop on antibody and you test positive for antibody and you test positive for an antibody, whether you get the virus again. so what i wouldn't want people to think it's just because you test positive for the antibody that it necessarily means that you can do something different in terms of social distancing all the way you behave because until we are absolutely sure about the

relationship between the positive antibody test and immunity, i think we as scientists would say we need to tread cautiously going further forward. that information will become available over time but it will take some time to get there. do you have any follow up? if i could ask professor powis, does he mean by that that we can get everyone in the country access to an antibody test for free and are there discussions at the moment going on for a timeline for that? would it be end of this year, next year? what i would say is exactly what i said as we are at an early phase of these tests and where we will use these tests and where we will use the first is in health and probably social care settings for patients, obviously, but also for staff in those settings where it is most important is that we understand about the infection. thank you. finally, mike browne from the teesside gazette. thank you, good afternoon. middlesbrough has

currently the fourth highest infection rates for coronavirus in the country by population. it has the country by population. it has the highest mortality rate in the north—eastern council leaders believe its current r rate is around 0.85. people in middlesbrough can't sit on a park bench in the local park because our mayor believes the risk from coronavirus there is still too high for step two questions. firstly for the secretary of state: previously, local micro—lock downs have been discussed to tackle areas where there is a significant spike in new cases. can you tell me what specific what the government has done to prepare vulnerable and hard—hit areas like middlesbrough? for future significant spike in cases when lockdown measures are eased? and how do you expect local authorities and public health teams to be able to enforce those? secondly, for professor powis, one councillor on teesside has said it will not reopen schools on the 1st

ofjune due will not reopen schools on the 1st of june due to will not reopen schools on the 1st ofjune due to our higher than average rate of infection in the north—east. does the uk's one size fits all policy for reopening schools on the 1st ofjune, will it work in places like middlesbrough and the rest of teesside and how confident is the government that our already high r rate won't go over one when schools reopen? thank you for your question and as the secretary of state responsible for media, it is great to hear the teesside gazette asking a question. first of all, you asked a question about how we would protect the most vulnerable. look, iam under about how we would protect the most vulnerable. look, i am under no illusions and the government is under no illusions about the challenges for the economy, the necessary measures we have had to ta ke to necessary measures we have had to take to protect the nhs and save lives, in terms of the measures we have taken, they have been very tough on the economy, social

distancing and so on. that is why the chancellor has announced an unprecedented package of measures to support people through these hard times. for example, the job retention scheme, meaning literally millions of people who otherwise would have been made redundant have been able to keep theirjobs, and thatis been able to keep theirjobs, and that is millions of families that still have earners in their households, so we are working hard through all of that. on the point about local authorities and enforcing and the point about schools, i really hope that, as we go through this, we can do so in a constructive spirit whereby we can move together as a whole country and get children back to school for the reasons that i set out. and i do genuinely understand, i really understand the concerns of teachers andi understand the concerns of teachers and i understand the concerns of pa rents and i understand the concerns of parents about whether this is safe to do so, that is why we are working so closely with them but i think the way to do this is to do so in a

constructive spirit of engagement. i think on your point about individual outbreaks, that is why we are working so hard on the track and trace. the fact that we have made this progress already means that we will be able to, if there are outbreaks, it is important to understand what track and trace means. if we find someone who has been affected by tracing, we can find out who alba they have been in contact with and get those people to self—isolate and in that way control the spread of the virus —— find out who they have been in contact with. steve. thank you for the question. the first point, on the r number, as long as it is below one, the amount of infection in the community is reducing. simply, the lower 80s, the faster it is reducing and the nearer it to one, the slower it is reducing but it is still reducing —— simply, the lower 80s, the faster it is reducing. so over time, you will a

lower number of infections in the community. as i said before, it is usual in infections in an epidemic to see variation by geography. so, for instance, in the flu season that we have every winter, we see an increase in the number of flu cases and it is very typical to see that flu picks up and falls in different parts of the country at different times during the winter, so it is a very natural pattern to an infectious disease. clearly, it is important that we have national measures in terms of lockdown measures in terms of lockdown measures and social distancing and i think that is the best way overall to approach this. but as we get to a point where we are talking about individual outbreaks, then there will be a need for interventions around those outbreaks and, in fact, thatis around those outbreaks and, in fact, that is no different from the public health response that occurs for any outbreak of an infectious disease. a set of measures will be taken by public health colleagues, either in local councils or with public health

england, to ensure that a particular ad break in a particular area is taken under control, so that is well tried and tested public health policy —— particular outbreak. track and trace as part of that policy and i think as we move forward in the months ahead, that is the sort of approach around outbreaks, specific outbreaks in defined communities, that the public health colleagues will increasingly be using. thank you. mike, any follow-ups? yes, for you, secretary of state. you mentioned the package that has been brought forward already to support local authorities through the pandemic. once we are through the other side of this, does the government need to make towns like middlesbrough and other disadvantaged areas in the north—east a priority, so we are not as hard hit as we have been in the

la st as hard hit as we have been in the last ten years of public spending cuts? there is a link between deprivation and mortality rates in coronavirus already established by the ons. it is a good question and i know the prime minister is passionate about this. this is why we are committing record investment, whether it is levelling up the funding for schools, so that areas of the country that have in the past been less well funded to their schools compared to, say, london, increasing their funding. it is why we are investing in transport infrastructure, the road on the rails and, in my own area, i am passionate that making sure that outside of london and the south—east, people get the same opportunity for cultural experiences and we invest in cultural experiences in a way that perhaps, we have focused too much in the past in london and that is an important pa rt in london and that is an important part of the work you're doing. thank you for your question. thank you, everyone, that now concludes the press co nfe re nce .

studio: that is the end of the daily press briefing from downing street, led today by the culture oliver dowden. let's take a look at the key developments. he began by saying over 177,000 coronavirus tests were carried out in the uk in the past 24 hours. that's the biggest daily total to date. this, however, does not correspond to the number of people actually (ani)mr tested as some individuals are tested more than once. mr dowden also announced the latest death toll of 35,704 — a rise of 363 on yesterday. the culture secretary also pledged £150 million from dormant bank accounts to help charities respond to the pandemic. and a new taskforce to help sport and the creative industries prepare to get back on their feet will be introduced. among those who will be involved include former footballer alex scott, ex—itv boss michael grade and the english national ballet's tamara rojo.

with me now is our political correspondentjessica parker. jessica, a record number of daily tests, how significant is that? yes, hugely, actually, from the day before. i think the day before, the testing figure was 89,784 tests carried out over a course of a 24—hour period, and this latest, 177,216, soa 24—hour period, and this latest, 177,216, so a big leap, but, as you say, it is not the number of people tested, some people are tested more than once and as we learned in brea kd owns than once and as we learned in breakdowns previously, those figures can also be made up of tests that are effectively posted out to individuals as well as tests carried out at, say, i mobile testing site ora out at, say, i mobile testing site or a drive—through centre. it plays into a couple of things. boris johnson has said he wants to get to 200,000 tests a day by the end of this month, so that figure suggests they might be able to reach that target, not too far away from that

but also what we were talking about today, this test, track and trace strategy, this system the prime minister said was going to be in place by the 1st ofjune. the labour leader sir kier starmer has said the lack of that kind of strategy has been a huge hole, he said, in the uk's defence so far in the fight against coronavirus, so i think the government is trying to show it is getting the capacity there in order to carry out large—scale testing, but oliver dowden didn't really go into much detail when he was asked a bit about how the system will work and how it works alongside the nhs app that is of course being trialled on the isle of wight. my understanding today is that while you might see this small army of contact tracers, as some describe it, in place, borisjohnson says by earlyjune, it, in place, borisjohnson says by early june, that after that it, in place, borisjohnson says by earlyjune, that after that people download on their smartphones, it notifies them if they come into contact with someone who may have

coronavirus, that may not be rolled out until after the 1st of june date, ministers haven't been pinned down on that, it is just in the coming weeks but, as things stand, it is being trialled on the isle of wight. the 1st of june is it is being trialled on the isle of wight. the 1st ofjune is important because that is the date schools can reopen. where did we get on schools reopening in that briefing?m reopen. where did we get on schools reopening in that briefing? it is quite interesting, today, there has been this discussion that some councils in england, we are talking about england, have said theyjust don't think they can be ready or it is not safe to reopen schools on the 1st ofjune. it is worth saying, the children of key workers have been able to go to school if they want to over recent weeks, so some schools have stayed open but the wider reopening, say, for children in reception, year one, year six, a staggered reopening from earlyjune and oliver dowden, the culture secretary was asked about that and said we should try and reopen schools if we possibly can and whether we could see some sort of

patchwork reopening. so, say, more primary schools reopening in london than in the north—east. he said it is best we can move as a whole nation or, because of track and trace, if we can identify specific micro—hotspots, we may have different measures. so not entirely clear but a suggestion from him that they would prefer england to move together, all councils to move together, all councils to move together but, as things stand, with not long to go, it is not exactly clear which schools will reopen on the 1st ofjune. clear which schools will reopen on the 1st of june. jessica, clear which schools will reopen on the 1st ofjune. jessica, many thanks, jessica parker at westminster. in a moment, sophie raworth will be here with the bbc news at six — but first, let's get a check on the weather with nick miller. hello, it is another warmest day of the year so far day out there. temperatures are boosted by the sunshine, here is a view from surrey earlier from an aptly named weather—watcher. how high were those temperatures? well, close to 29 celsius, sounds high, but not a record for may. and if you say, oh, that willjust be in the london area, temperatures that high could be recorded

in parts of yorkshire, the east midlands, east anglia, as well as southeast england. high pressure to the east, low—pressure to the west, we have a flow of warm air coming our way this afternoon and we are getting plenty of sunshine. a sunnier afternoon across northern england, northern ireland and scotland that we have had recently. some cloud may be hugging the eastern coast of northern ireland, south—west scotland, and it is grey and misty across shetland holding temperatures down here. further west in northern ireland, we could get into 22, 24 in scotland, higher temperatures still in england and wales. temperature is not the only thing that is high, the uv levels are also high, so that means take care in the strong may sunshine. so a fine, very warm evening out there, it will mostly be dry and clear overnight, but we do bring the weather systems through northern ireland into western scotland, parts of wales and western england, with a bit of patchy rain as that goes on into the morning. and if you look at that and go, oh, yes, please, i would like some of that rain on the garden, especially where it has been so dry for the south.

there is not much rain, looks like it moves east across the uk tomorrow, but a chance late morning lunchtime midlands, southeast england, east anglia for some heavy and thundery showers before that chance diminishes during the afternoon. and most of us end the day with some sunshine. it is a bit cooler, but it is very warm. there is a more active weather system coming in on thursday night through to friday, very mild night out there, and then we see the winds pick up, a deep area of low pressure and another band of rain pushing across the uk. but again, not much at all. following the rain, further heavy downpours are northern ireland into scotland, especially in the west, showers for wales and western parts of england are with some strong to gale force winds on friday. these are some of the gusts, and parts of northwest scotland will be close to 60 or 65 miles an hour, it is cooler on friday. make a mental note of friday, saturday is pretty much a repeat performance, and then on sunday we could still see a bit of rain into parts of scotland in particular, but some of us are turning dryer on sunday. and into next week, it looks to be turning

a bit warmer again.

rolls royce announces plans to axe a fifth of its workforce in the wake of coronavirus — most of the jobs will go in the uk. the aircraft engine maker is cutting 9,000 jobs — amid warnings it take years for the airline industry to recover — the unions are furious. nobody‘s trivialising the challenges we face here, but i think it's rash and it's premature for rolls—royce simply to resort to sacking and throwing under the bus thousands of uk workers, loyal workers. many of the jobs are expected to go from the main site at derby — rolls—royce is, you know, the heart of derbyshire. derby is one of the biggest sites, isn't it? if you look at the area it's in, it's huge. to lay off a lot of those people would be devastating for the area.