this is bbc news, as we build up to today's downing street briefing on the coronavirus. the headlines... boris johnson's special adviser dominic cummings faces calls to resign after travelling hundreds of miles to state near family during travelling hundreds of miles to state nearfamily during lockdown. he insists he behaved reasonably and legally. reporter: it's not a good look, is it, mrcummings? who cares about good looks? it's a question of doing the right thing. it's not about what you guys think. the french government announces that people arriving in france from the uk will have two self—isolate for m days from the 8th ofjune.

uk businesses will be expected to pay a quarter of the wages of furloughed workers from the start of august. hello and welcome. ahead of the daily downing street news conference which is today led by transport secretary grant schapps. boris johnson's top aide dominic cummings is facing calls to resign after it emerged he had travelled more than 250 miles with his sick wife to be near relatives during the long term. downing street says mr cummings drove from london to county durham to ensure his young son would be properly cared for if he too became unwell. his actions were in line with the coronavirus guidelines. he told reporters he behaved reasonably

and legally. helen kat reports. you're supposed to be more than two metres apart. dominic cummings at his london home, insisting he did not break lockdown rules. i behaved reasonably and legally. that's not a good look so is it, mr cummings? who cares about good looks. it was about doing the right thing. it's not about what you guys think. when he self—isolated with coronavirus symptoms in march, it wasn't here but more than 250 miles away at a family property in durham. dominic cummings should have done the right thing, he should have resigned but now that he hasn't, boris johnson must show leadership and he must remove him from office immediately. but we now know, from what's been said on the bbc this morning, that the government in london have

been aware of this for weeks, so why have we not been told about this? why has borisjohnson not recognised that this is something that would be seen by millions of people as been unacceptable? mr cummings is understood to have left london, with his wife, who had developed coronavirus symptoms and their young son, after lockdown rules were put in place on the 23rd of march. under government guidance, anyone who lives with someone who has developed symptoms is told to stay at home for m days. durham constabulary says that: in a statement, downing street said that...

downing street has also denied that mrcummings or his downing street has also denied that mr cummings or his family were spoken to about this by police. earlier this month professor neil ferguson quit his role in ligament‘s scientific advisory body, sage, after the telegraph reported he had broken lockdown rules by letting his married lover visit him at home. catherine calderwood resigned as scottish health adviser after visiting her second home twice. some conservative mps have come out in support of mr cummings. labour has said the country d ese rves a nswe i’s . either way, more questions are likely to be asked. iamjoined by i am joined by nick eardley. as helen says, lots of questions still to be answered ? helen says, lots of questions still to be answered? yeah, absolutely. i

think there are big questions to be asked of the government on exactly what rules mr cummings was expected to follow and whether the government considers that he followed them completely. we have had that statement from downing street in which they are clear they think he acted within the rules. we have heard from mrcummings acted within the rules. we have heard from mr cummings himself saying exactly that. but the question is this. the guidance for people who are showing symptoms of coronavirus is to stay at home in all circumstances. now we do know that downing street is pointing towards some guidance that came from the deputy chief officer for england saying there may be circumstances where you need help with childcare. there are still those questions about whether that 260 mile journey from london to durham was completely necessary. there is also the broader question of what this does to the government message. i suspect there will be many people at home looking at this thinking, i followed the rules, i stayed at home, i would

love to have done something similar at some point, and didn't. that is the question of the government has to a nswer the question of the government has to answer in the next few days. whether this undermines its very own messaging, which it's praised the public for sticking so strongly to. that is the heart of the question, the statement from downing street which says that dominic cummings behaved legally and reasonably. this may not be so much about the letter of the guidelines as the spirit? absolutely. it is about both. it is about whether the government was following its own rules in a way that the rest of us were. helen spokein that the rest of us were. helen spoke in her piece there about the chief medical officer in scotland, catherine calderwood, who was forced to resign. the scottish government initially defended her. but when nicola sturgeon had to face a barrage of questions from journalists, saying, hold on, this person stayed at home, this person missed a funeral, this person may stay wedding, all the while this was

going on. in this case the prime minister past cheese —— in this case the prime minister's chief adviser was interpreting the rules in their way. it is about how the public react to this. senior ministers have been tweeting all afternoon saying he was right to do what he did. i suspect the big question now that is the public perception of that, whether it damages the government messaging, which is still that we should all stay at home whenever possible, and is still, if you have four owner virus symptoms, do not good. —— coronavirus. nick, we will come back to before the briefing. the british comedy is facing more questions over its plans to introduce a 14 day quarantine for people arriving in the uk. from june the 8th travellers will have to self—isolate for two weeks and could face fines of £1000 if they break the rules. france has said that

visitors arriving from the uk will also have to self—isolate for 1h days from the same date. airlines and travel companies are worried it could damage their businesses even further. the uk government says the measures were designed to stop a second wave of coronavirus. simon jones is at heathrow airport and he sent us this update. to give you an idea of how heathrow is currently affected, they will be dealing with around 250,000 passengers each day. today they are likely to see 5000 to 6000 passing through. the boss of heathrow has this morning called for clarity about what happens next. he is questioning this blanket imposition of quarantine. he understands public safety needs to be the number one priority. but he feels there should be deals between the uk and other countries that have

lower rates of coronavirus infections to allow the travel industry to open up. the call for clarity is being echoed by passengers. they are wondering if there's any chance they can get away for a break abroad this summer. the reality is even if are allowed to travel to say spain for a couple of weeks of sun and sangria, when you get back you will have that in two weeks of quarantine to do. the way it is going to work is you are going to have to declare before entering the uk where exactly you have spent those two weeks. if you don't you could face a fine of £100. if you don't respect the quarantine, if there is a spot check, you could face a fine of £1000 in england. we are waiting to hear if the other nations are likely to believe that. the reasoning by the government is that coronavirus cases are coming down here in the uk and what they don't want to do is risk a second deadly wave by importing coronavirus cases from abroad. but here at

heathrow things are likely to be very different when flights to resume in big numbers. for example, it is possible you are going to have to have your temperature taken in the airport, you are likely to have to wear face masks and gloves on the plane. travel is likely to be very different for some time to come. that was our correspondent simon jones. uk businesses will be expected to pay a quarter of the wages of furloughed workers in the coming months. the chancellor said the scheme will be in place until the scheme will be in place until the end of october. companies will start sharing the cost from the start sharing the cost from the start of august. the scheme currently supports around 7.5 millionjobs. in the uk there is expected to be a big rise in the number of businesses unable to pay their rent when the next payments are due at the end of next payments are due at the end of next month. according to an accountancy firm, the economic shutdown has led to non—payment of a

commercial rent. many landlords were struggling even before the virus took hold, so it's a difficult time for them and their tenants. katie prescott reports. this cafe has been in the family for a0 years, in the heart of the city of london. it shut up heart of the city of london. it shut up shop but the rent is still due. heart of the city of london. it shut up shop but the rent is still duel am left in a position where i am so vulnerable as a business, how can i pay? i don't have a bank account full of money to bankroll this. that's why it's closing with no revenue. all of the tenants here are in the same boat. the costs don't stop but the revenue dries up. that makes things pretty difficult pretty quickly and also pretty scary. there is no guarantee that we are able to reopen a store like this. there is i'io reopen a store like this. there is no footfall here. these offices are not returning any time soon and of those are the people we sell to. the city of london corporation, their landlord, were unavailable for comment but said...

what's going on with rent at the moment is a real mexican stand—off. many businesses like these say they can't or won't tie. landlords argue they have got costs and also have stuff to pay. a lot of properties are owned by investment funds, so the rental income plays a really important part in paying people's pensions. it's an impossible situation. ideas have been put forward , situation. ideas have been put forward, such as asking the government to underwrite rents for closed shops or a nine month rent holiday. but so far nothing has changed. in some cases landlords may be much smaller businesses than the te na nts be much smaller businesses than the tenants that occupy their premises, and so the landlords may be left in and so the landlords may be left in an even more severe position than the tenants are. i think landlords

need to be talking to their tenants, finding out what is going on with their tenants and their businesses, and seeing what arrangements can be made. because ultimately landlords don't want to find that at the end of this i have suddenly got a loss of this i have suddenly got a loss of their tenants and they simply no longer exist and haven't survived, because they will be left with a glut of empty properties, which is not going to have anybody. the government says it has put unprecedented support in place for businesses, including loans and rates relief. and it urges landlords and tenants to find solutions that work for both parties. so it's up to man “— work for both parties. so it's up to man —— so it's up to then. well, while we wait for the daily downing street news conference, which today is headed by the transport secretary, grant shapps, let's speak again to nick eardley.

as you mentioned earlier, there have been lots of supportive messages from cabinet ministers for dominic cummings, but one imagine that grant schapps is probably bracing himself a little bit for the question is to come? yes, i suspect so because i have been calls from political opponents, the snp, the lib dems, for dominic cummings to resign. labour have not gone that far yet but they say there are crucial questions that need to be ironed out of his actions. to briefly tell you a couple of what they are. it's not just whether he followed the letter of the rules, it's whether he followed the spirit of them as well. remember, that message for people who had symptoms was not to leave the house. dominic cummings said he needed childcare and this was a way to ensure it by driving 260 miles to durham. there are questions about when he did that, whether someone he had travelled with had shown no symptoms, which suggests they weren't following the message as quickly as they could have been. the

fundamental question for the government is, do they feel that this undermines their own message? does it make it harderfor them this undermines their own message? does it make it harder for them to persuade us all to follow it? nick, thank you very much. don't go away. you are watching bbc news. i'd like to welcome viewers joining us on bbc world. we are talking at the moment to nick eardley. we are waiting for the daily downing street news conference. fundamentally, it's about whether he followed the rules on whether he followed the rules on whether he followed the rules on whether he followed the spirit of the rules. because we have seen over the last few weeks the prime minister urging eve ryo ne few weeks the prime minister urging everyone to use their common sense and the question that has to be asked of downing street now is whether driving 260 miles to ensure that childcare was necessary. i'm going to stop you, nick. good afternoon and welcome to today's

downing street press conference. i'm pleased today to be joined by doctor jenny harris. let me start by updating you on the latest information from the government's cobra data file. as of today, 3,000,3a0 tests for coronavirus have now been carried out in the uk, including 116,585 yesterday. 257,15a people have tested positive. that's an increase of 2959 cases since yesterday. 9331 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus, down 1196 in hospital with coronavirus, down 11% since last week. and tragically 36,675 people have now died. that's an increase of 282 fatalities since yesterday and that's across all

settings. this is notjust a list of statistics of course but a devastating reminder of the cruelty of coronavirus. our thoughts are with the friends and the families of the victims. as we start to relax the victims. as we start to relax the restrictions, we must plan our route to recovery. allowing people to resume their lives where possible, getting businesses up and running again and building beyond coronavirus. in the short term, we will need to bring back more public transport to keep family safe. that process has already begun. rail and tube services increased at the beginning of this week and the ramp up beginning of this week and the ramp up more next week. and to ensure that more buses, trams and light rail networks return to service, today i can announce new investment of £283 million to start moving back toa of £283 million to start moving back to a full timetable. however, i do

wa nt to to a full timetable. however, i do want to stress this funding does not mean we can go back to using public transport whenever we like. remember, those who can should still work from home. those who can should still avoid all public transport. even a fully restored service will only be capable of carrying at best one fifth of the normal capacity. on social distancing is ta ken one fifth of the normal capacity. on social distancing is taken into account. so only if you need to travel and you can't cycle or walk or drive should you take a bus, tram or drive should you take a bus, tram or train. but please, avoid the rush hour. we are managing the transport network to make it as safe as possible. this week, we saw the deployment of nearly 3.5 thousand british transport police and network rail. these marshals worked with the

public to prevent services from becoming overcrowded. from june the 1st at the earliest as we move to phase two of the unlock we will start to deploy twice as many marshals with the assistance of groups like the charity eye volunteering matters. these journey makers will help provide friendly assistance to commuters. the last time we did this at the 2012 olympics it was a great success. and while these are altogether more serious times, if we show the same public spirited concern for one another, we will go a long way towards helping transport and passengers cope. as i've said, it's essential we stagger ourjourneys and avoid the rush hour. that's why ata and avoid the rush hour. that's why at a recent roundtable we asked the tech sector to come up with innovative proposals to help passengers avoid congestion. one good example is passenger connect from birmingham start—up zip about.

a personalised service that helps rail users how crowding may affect their journey rail users how crowding may affect theirjourney while providing alternatives in helping people to maintain social distancing. the service has been successfully piloted over the past 12 months and it will be rolled out soon. we are not just dealing it will be rolled out soon. we are notjust dealing with the immense challenges of the present, we are building for the future too. transport is not just building for the future too. transport is notjust about how you get from place to place but also shapes the places for good or bad. towns, cities and whole nations. we now have an opportunity to use the power of transport to improve long—standing national weaknesses and create something better. the uk's unbalanced economy is one such weakness. our mission is to level up britain. the covid—19 outbreak must be the catalyst to get it done,

levelling up and speeding up. so while roads and railways are less busy, we are accelerating vital projects. take the north for example, this bank holiday weekend we are carrying out vital work to fix leeds station. continuing to build a new platform, installing new points and switches and improving the track to wake field. just part of a90 separate engineering projects happening around the country this bank holiday weekend. work that would normally take months of weekend closures are much quicker on these quieter railways. and we are getting on with plans to reverse some of the so—called beeching rail cuts too. doctor beeching wrote a report back in the 1960s which led to the closure of one third of our railway network. 2363 stations, 5000 miles of track identified for closure. many of the places removed

from the map never recovered. that report was perhaps the origin of the left behind town but we are working to reverse beeching. the process has already started in blyth in the northeast and fleetwood in the north west. i visited injanuary and also took the opportunity to visit peterlee to see the station building work. they used to be a train station 200 yards away but it was closed on the town cut off by the beeching cuts. this new station will connect a community of over 50,000 people, improving their quality of life. and today, the next ten schemes to benefit are announced. its development funding but if they stack up then we are going to build them fast. amongst the many schemes is the reinstatement of the ivanhoe line in the east midlands, from leicester to burton via coalville and ashby. and branch lines on the isle of wight and a new station at wellington in somerset. but no

matter how great we make the ra i lwa ys matter how great we make the railways in the future, millions will still rely on the car. that's why today i'm publishing the preferred route to complete the dual carriageway of the a66 from scotch corner to penrith. the first new or dual carriageway across the pennines in 50 years. this is a £1 billion programme that will transform the capacity by upgrading junctions and widening the road. these road and rail schemes will be the first of many, binding our country together, connecting people with jobs. many, binding our country together, connecting people withjobs. but many, binding our country together, connecting people with jobs. but it isn't just the balance connecting people with jobs. but it isn'tjust the balance between regions that we need to reshape, it's hard to see millions who, until a few weeks ago, commuted by train into manchester, london, birmingham every day will immediately go back to the same old ways. so we have to reshape our towns and cities too.

the prime minister once said, cities are where inspiration and innovation happens because people can bump into one another, spark off one another, compete, collaborate, inventand innovate. that's when we get the explosion orflash of innovate. that's when we get the explosion or flash of creativity and innovation. and yet, with social distancing, it makes all that rather difficult. so we have to find new ways of making it happen. therefore, as conditions allow and not until july, we will be looking to support creative ways for businesses to reopen while maintaining social distancing. we know restaurants and bars we want to start trading again and you will work with them so they can enjoy an outdoor summer in a safe and responsible environment. for those who live too far to cycle and walk and must drive to major conurbations, we will re—purpose parking in places just conurbations, we will re—purpose parking in placesjust outside conurbations, we will re—purpose parking in places just outside town centres. so people can park on the outskirts and finish theirjourneys

on foot or bike or even the scooter. ouraim with on foot or bike or even the scooter. our aim with these measures is not merely to get through the lifting of restrictions and then return to how things were but to come out of this recovery stronger by permanently changing the way we use transport. take the bike for example. previously, we announced the introduction of a scheme to help bring bicycles back into roadworthy condition. relieving the pressure on public transport and improving the nation's health. today, i can provide the detail of the new £50 bicycle maintenance voucher. available from next month, the scheme will help up to half a million people drag bikes out of retirement, speeding up the cycling revolution, helping individuals become fitter and healthier and reducing air pollution, which remains a hidden killer. clean air should be as big a priority for us in the 21st century as clean water

was to the victorians in the 19th. the measures discussed today will help more passengers use trains, buses and trams safely. more commuters to take up active travel and more people to benefit from infrastructure improvements in the northern powerhouse and across the country. they give us all an opportunity to harness the power of transport, not just to opportunity to harness the power of transport, notjust to help us return to the lives in the post covid—19 world but to make our economy more resilient, our relation healthier and change our nation for the better. i'd like to turn now to doctorjenny harris who will take us through the site for today. thank you, first lie please. so we are going to have our usual look through some of the data that we are collating going forward through the pandemic and get some insights as to

how the population is behaving but most importantly what is happening to the disease. so on the first slide, on the left you can see the insights which are gathered from google mobility data. it won't cover everybody and all user groups but it gives a good indication of what the population is doing and how they are moving around. and what we can see isa moving around. and what we can see is a very significant drop in usage to workplaces to transit stations and retail and recreation, which has been largely maintained through the pandemic. clearly in the middle we can see grocery and pharmacy people needing to use that and then the blue line in the middle with people starting to use parks more in line with the national guidance. the only thing i would say there is a people are using parks, it is good for mental health and physical activity, please do remember to maintain social distancing while using the so staying two metres away from people

outside your household and just meeting with one of the person. on the right—hand side, you can see an ons opinions of lifestyle survey data so both of these sets of data go back to about a week ago and we can see that a significantly larger number of people, a1% of employed adults are working from home and that's compared to just around 12% last year. and we know that 86% of adults have left their home. we know that 80% of those are four basic necessities and around 71% for exercise, for a run, walk or cycle. again, all in accordance with national guidance which we would encourage. next slide please. so this is the slide showing the current situation with testing and new cases. so on the left hand side you can see the data in relation to testing and the top number there,

116,585, represents all the tests in all the different systems that have been completed or ta ken all the different systems that have been completed or taken or sent out, whether it be through lapse, in hospitals, wherever it maybe, up until nine o'clock on the 23rd of may. which brings the national total now to well over 3,3a8,000. and from that testing we can see that we've got 2959 new confirmed cases as of this morning and that brings our uk total to 257,15a. and the graphs on the right clearly show that. i think the right clearly show that. i think the important thing is that there is an important trend upwards in our daily testing, which we expect to continue as track and trace comes in. it varies a little bit over weekends but generally the trend is up. but very encouragingly, despite the increased upward trend in testing, we are maintaining a

downward trend in new confirmed cases. next slide please. so this slide gives a picture of both the activity in our hospitals and also of some of the important life—saving equipment, which was one of the issues we were very equipment, which was one of the issues we were very concerned about at the start of the pandemic. so on the rights we can see that there's been a steady but continuing slow downward trend in new daily admissions to hospital in england from covid—19, right down from a peak which reached over 3000 around the first week of april. and that tra nslates the first week of april. and that translates in numbers to 675 estimated admissions on the 21st of may, again down from 736 on the 1ath of may. and then on the bottom part of may. and then on the bottom part of the slide, on the right—hand graph, right across all the uk countries we can see that the demand for mechanical ventilator beds was

high againjust for mechanical ventilator beds was high again just after that peak, as people went through significant illness. about the middle of april. and that has now come down in all countries. and when we look over at the statistics on the left—hand side we can see that 12% of the mechanical ventilator beds are occupied with covid—19 patients, so significant capacity which was never breached and is fact down by 5% on the week before. next slide. so when we look at the number of people in hospital with covid—19, 9331 people in hospital now and that's down by over 1000 from this time last week. and we can see in slides, despite the varying shapes across the different uk countries and regions, that this is a downward trend in all areas. it varies, different places have had different peaks and at very

slightly different times but generally right across the uk the number of cases is coming down. next slide please. and then finally and sadly, over the last 2a hours we have had 282 reported deaths, which have had 282 reported deaths, which have been confirmed with a positive test, which brings our total to 36,000 675. however, on the only positive note from the is that we can see that the deaths are starting come down. the bar chart here always depicts a little bit of a reporting change over the weekend period but the rolling average, so we are looking to see on average what's happening, that is continuing to come down and we will be looking to expect that come down further. jenny, thank you very much indeed.

we are going to turn out questions, we are going to start with questions from the public. it is worth mentioning, we don't know the questions are going to be asked. they are picked by an independent polling company and we will turn first of all to gordon from gosport. how is the government going to prevent travellers staying in the irish republic after the holidays to bypass the uk's ia day quarantine? bypass the uk's 1a day quarantine? thank you very much, gordon. well, i think the point that people may not be aware of is ireland has a travel ban effectively as well. so they also at the moment have quarantine in place. so it is the case that that may change in the future, of course we will keep our system under review in the future but the time being whether somebody travels to dublin or somebody travels london, the same essential quarantine would apply. can i turn to sarah from

newbury and i think this is a text for me to read. you currently test people with symptoms from the age of five and over, will there be some guarantee that this will be extended to under fives once early years settings open? if not, how are we supposed to justify to our staff members and wider community that it is safe to open? and probably one for you, jenny. thank you. yes, it is very important that when we are doing tests we are doing test with that we know will give true answers, have high sensitivity and high specificity. and so always looking to find new tests going forward. for the time being, this is for over fives and most of the children going back will be around this age. clearly, often we have slightly different ways of approaching medicines for example or testing with young children because it's very important that the tests, the results of the medicines of the

treatments are calibrated to grown children, if it's medicine, or are interpreted correctly for a small child. and of course you are right in the sense we are still learning about some of the disease in children but what we do know is that children but what we do know is that children rarely become very ill with this and there is a suggestion and lots of data i think in the public domain now where we are getting a signal that the transmission from children is also potentially reduced. so for children over five, it will be ready for schools to use and for their families as well and for the teachers stop for children under fives obviously we will progress at going forward. jenny, thanks very much indeed. we will turn out to journalists and ian watson of the bbc. i suppose it's quite appropriate you've got the transport secretary with you today because i was hoping you and doctor harris could clarify some guidance

and travelling. it seems the it is pretty clear actually, if you have symptoms you self—isolate for seven days and the rest of your household stays at home for 1a days. but is the advice now parents that if you don't have your own extended family nearby, even when you are ill with covid—19 symptoms, you are allowed to live at home, travel many miles across the country and i slid closer to your extended family? and a specific question to you mr sharp's, did the prime minster know that his —— grant shapps, did the prime minster know that dominic cummings going to travel during the lockdown and did he consent to this? i value jenny's advice specifically on whether parents who are ill can leave their home to go closer to their extended families isolate. so their extended families isolate. so the scientific and medical advice

behind the self isolation is odyssey to ta ke behind the self isolation is odyssey to take people who are symptomatic out of the public domain and anybody who maybe likely to develop that and households tend to have the same exposure so we know there is a greater risk. so as you say the advice is you self—isolate at home, yourfamily advice is you self—isolate at home, your family self—isolate with you and that's very clear. i think built into that guidance, along with all of our other guidance, so for example for elderly people or those who are clinically extremely vulnerable and are advised set home and they have accepted and wanted to ta ke forward and they have accepted and wanted to take forward that advice, there is a lwa ys take forward that advice, there is always an element which says safeguarding. so we don't want an elderly person sitting at home without their medication because they feel they can't come out if there is a safeguarding issue and there is a safeguarding issue and the child for example is significantly ill and has no support thatis significantly ill and has no support that is equally another issue. but those, the interpretation, that is the clinical advice around that. there is always a safeguarding

clause in all of the advice, whether it is this offer clinically extremely vulnerable. the interpretation of that advice is probably for others. and you asking for the prime minister knew. the important thing is that everyone remains in the same place whilst they are lockdown which is exactly what happened in i think the case you are referring to with mr cummings. so the premise will have known he was staying put and he didn't come out again until he was feeling better. i'lljust come back to you. but he did travel 250 miles from his london home where did he not? and again to you and doctor harris, you seem to be very clear about when people can go, doctor harris. that is for example if they are seeking food, medical supplies, caring for the vulnerable. let me give you one specific example, if someone is ill and the other parent is not at that time showing symptoms and they have a young child, should they leave their home when ill to go

to another home 250 miles away? is that in line with guidance? i'll go first. in the guidance says if you are living with children, keep following this advice to the best of your ability. however, we are aware that not all these measures will be possible, depending therefore on circumstances. i'm adding those last few words. in other words, if you're ina few words. in other words, if you're in a position where you have got a young child, in this case four years old, and you are worried about the welfare of that child and your ability to throw around the wider network of support, and you are clearly being somewhere where other members of the family can assist, by which i mean in this case younger other members of the family. that might be the best place for you to settle and stay throughout the time that you are ill. and i think that that's all that is happening this case. and you asking part of the question forjenny so i will throw back to her. i was simplyjust going

to repeat what i said before. i think we have always said in the guidance what we don't want to do and it relates to people being treated in hospital and staying out of hospital as well, we don't want to cause harm through advice which keeps people at home when they are at risk. that doesn't, that's not directly referring to any current issues, it's the clinical and technical advice which is, we want people to come out of circulation. we wa nt people to come out of circulation. we want them to self—isolate the minute they have symptoms and to stay out of circulation if there is a critical issue, a safeguarding issue, regardless of whether it is child, an elderly person or anyone else. then there is, there needs to be some sort of safeguarding place. thanks very much, ian. we will turn out to sky. so to stay, how can you personally be sure that by driving halfway across england and it cummings didn't infect anyone else on the way or while he was there or, frankly do not think it would have

mattered? and frankly do not think it would have mattered ? and what frankly do not think it would have mattered? and what you say today is all those people who are unable to say goodbye to their loved ones or go to the funerals because they were observing the letter of the rules, seemingly unlike the pm's top eight. and tojenny seemingly unlike the pm's top eight. and to jenny harris, seemingly unlike the pm's top eight. and tojenny harris, you said if adults were unable to look after small children they might resort to other family members. small children they might resort to otherfamily members. numberten small children they might resort to other family members. number ten say that this is analogous to the situation involving dominic cummings. but is it really is one of the two parents doesn't have coronavirus as the number ten statement does seem to suggest, how can you pre—empt the situation by travelling halfway across the country in order to seek further protection? where did you say that was within the rules in previous press conferences or in guidance? sam, thanks very much. i think for everybody who has lost loved ones, eve ryo ne everybody who has lost loved ones, everyone has been impacted by this crisis and everyone has done their best to try to do the right thing.

asi best to try to do the right thing. as i read out before, i won't repeat guidance again but it does essentially interpret it as taking practical steps to ensure that you follow the measures as best as possible in order to prevent for example in this case for your child from ending up without having the necessary support that a four—year—old would point odyssey require. so that was the decision taken in at situate. and i understand what you're saying, mr cummings is in the public but the reality of the matter that for your child's welfare is the important thing, parents would ask themselves what they would do if they have no other support around. and eventually would either have to turn to external support, not from the family, or try and external support, not from the family, ortry and be external support, not from the family, or try and be close enough to family to provide that care, which is what happened in this case here and i understand that his sister and i think in these, the

younger generation, were able to provide food and bring things to the property they were staying in, which was not inside is parent's house. so i think it was a straightforward arrangement that meant he stayed in the same place and prevented the possibility of the child in this case from not having support around him. and your second point was to jenny. i will reiterate probably what hedger said which is the public health‘s advice is take yourself out of society, if you like, as soon as you have symptoms, stay at home, stay at home with your family. i don't know the details of this specific case and i'm commenting on the technical and medical advice. i think the point, i haven't got the detail of the comment from a previous press briefing but i think the question i was asked was if two adults were ill and unable to cope or care for a small child who was

totally dependent on them, was that a reason to seek external support. and i would just go back to say all of the guidance has a common—sense element to it, which includes safeguarding around adults or children. so i think that would account for that answer. sam i just wa nt to account for that answer. sam i just want to give you chance to come back. secretary of state, could you just clear up factually what went on? so mrcummings just clear up factually what went on? so mr cummings went to a durham property and he stayed inside that with his wife and child all at the same property and members of their family delivered food to their doorstep? why did not necessitate that journey 260 miles? doorstep? why did not necessitate thatjourney 260 miles? why doorstep? why did not necessitate that journey 260 miles? why couldn't he have done that in london? that is where his family was. that is the simple answer. that is where his sister was and the knees. as we all do in moments of crisis, we a lwa ys all do in moments of crisis, we always seek to have our family, those who can assist us around us.

that is what has happened in this case. i'm afraid i don't know the personal circumstances, the extent to which a support network could have helped. he only came back to london for work, which is obviously allowed as one of the four reasons when fully better and after the required period of time. thank you sam. dave wood of itv. thank you, secretary of state. throughout this lockdown, particularly phase one, people have been making some very difficult choices about how close they get to their family, who they see and where they stay. sometimes in the most heartbreaking of circumstances. should those people have been using their own interpretation of the stay at home message? thanks, david. look, i think the reality is that people should of course follow the guidance. i won't bore you by reading it again, but it very clearly says that you should follow the guidance to the best of your

ability. and follow the measures as much as possible. and then it is for an individual to make the decision, how do i make sure i've got enough support around? how do i make sure i've got enough support around ? particularly how do i make sure i've got enough support around? particularly in the case that you are referring to. with the potential of both parents ending up the potential of both parents ending up being illand the potential of both parents ending up being ill and having a young child to look after. how do you have that support network around them? the decision he was to go to that location and stay in that location. they didn't then move around from there. and so it would be for each individual to work out the best way to do that. which is what has happened here. can ijust check then,is happened here. can ijust check then, is the message you are giving us this evening that anyone who becomes ill with this, if they can go close to family, no matter how close —— go close to family, no matter how close — — for that go close to family, no matter how close —— for that is, they can do and family members can provide food and family members can provide food and not friends who live locally? dr harries, what are the risks of travelling if you have the virus and would you recommend it? on the first

point of the rules have subsequently changed anyway. you can now travel if you are not symptomatic any distance in order to, for example, exercise. that is something which people are aware of. if you had of these symptoms, could you travel as faras these symptoms, could you travel as far as possible to stay closer to relatives? as i thinki far as possible to stay closer to relatives? as i think i already explained, you have to get yourself locked down and do that in the best and most practical way. i think that will be different for different people under whatever circumstances, their particularfamily people under whatever circumstances, their particular family differences happen to dictate. that is all that has happened in this case. he was he stayed there and it is the same a nswer stayed there and it is the same answer each time. the second point tojenny. the key public health message from a pub —— professional perspective is a people have symptoms they should self—isolate immediately and stay in their homes.

the only exception around this is around risk. that is the issue of safeguarding for children and adults. i think i have said that. in relation to the risk of travel, clearly in travel advice that we are giving, if you are in a private car, transmission within a vehicle, because it is an enclosed space and you're relatively closer together, it's probably higher risk, but if you are within a household group the exposure is usually the same. and if you travel from a to b and not meeting anybody else, there is no possibility of the risk of passing on, which is why in the guidance we say if you are travelling, travelling in your own car. if people are going to have a test taken, they people are going to have a test ta ken, they can't people are going to have a test taken, they can't go on public transport, they go in a car. that is the simple answer. david, thank you. let's turn to chris hope from the daily telegraph. may i ask quickly,

you said that there that the pm knew mrcummings was you said that there that the pm knew mr cummings was staying put. when did the pm now he had gone to durham? and can i ask dr harries, did you know he had gone to durham and does the fact he went this far during lockdown undermine the stay at home message which you have done so much to publicise?l at home message which you have done so much to publicise? i am sorry to disappoint you, chris, i don't know exactly the answer to when the pm knew. i know the pm knew that he was u nwell knew. i know the pm knew that he was unwell and that he was locked down. the pm of course was also unwell during the same period. i can tell you the pm provides mr cummings with his full support. and mr cummings has provided a full statement. i think it is perfectly right that questions are asked, whether asking the same questions or not. there we re the same questions or not. there were some significant transport state m e nts were some significant transport statements made to make peoples lives better. i appreciate that. but

ido lives better. i appreciate that. but i do think it is important to note that questions were asked, quite rightly, and the questions have been a nswered rightly, and the questions have been answered because mr cummings has produced a statement which you will no doubt have read. i think the second point was to jenny. yes, so in the same way that as a doctor i wouldn't comment on the clinical position of an individual, i have no detail in this particular case and i am not going to comment on that. but in relation to the advice to the public, absolutely clear that the public, absolutely clear that the public health guidance is that if you are symptomatic you stay at home, take yourself out of society as quickly as you can with your family and stay there. unless there is an extreme risk to life. and that is an extreme risk to life. and that isa is an extreme risk to life. and that is a really important message. people have been really good at doing that. but it's vital we continue to do that going forward because that also underlies the track and trace system as well, and we are going to be asking people to do that. chris? one final question.

can you clarify whether anybody from durham constabulary spoke to any memberof mrcummings durham constabulary spoke to any member of mr cummings family? literally reading from his statement, no stage was he or his family spoken to by the police about this matter. does that mean the police are not telling you what happened straightforwardly? i'm not sure where the confusion comes in but we have got it in black and white in this statement. chris, thank you very much indeed. can i turn to david wooding? secretary of state, we have already had two resignations from senior aides who have broken the rules in niall ferguson and north of the border catherine calderwood. so the public could be forgiven for thinking there is one rule for us and one rule for the rest of them, and even aides may be thinking there is one rule for us but one for the downing street

aides. what is different about dominic cummings and other people who have resigned in senior positions over their movements? david, thank you. look, ithink positions over their movements? david, thank you. look, i think what most people would probably be thinking what if this is, what would idoin thinking what if this is, what would i do in this situation? i have got a young child, my wife is unwell, i am worried about the ability to support the child as a father. do you then end up saying, we will take the best possible option in order to provide the ongoing care for that child, and therefore go to where there is a network but not go inside the house? that is obviously the question they have to ask. i would draw this distinction. it wasn't visiting a holiday home or go to visit someone. this was to stay put for 1a days, to remain in isolation, to get over what i understand was quite a significant bout of illness from

coronavirus. and then to be able to return to london only went well and properly doing a job that couldn't be done from elsewhere. there is a difference, to answer your question directly. i know you are not being evasive on the question of when and whether the prime minister knew about this, but i think that's an important question that needs answering. if you are unable to answering. if you are unable to answer that, then i think the public to have a right to know what the prime minister knew about the visit by mrcummings and prime minister knew about the visit by mr cummings and when he was told about it? as i say, i think the prime minister was, at least for pa rt prime minister was, at least for part of this, in hospital. i haven't matched the exact dates but i do know the prime minister knew that he was quite properly staying put in one place with his family, which is the right thing to do, not leaving after doing that. all the right things to do. as i said, the prime minister gives mr cummings his full

support. can i turn ge own use? secretary of state, my question is what measures are being taken to protect the front line workers? some communities have suffered quite a lot and there in the nhs and other essential services. great question because i'm very concerned to make sure that the right equipment is with everybody under the right circumstances. so on the transport network if you are, for example, a train driver and you are in a cab, then quite clearly, you are not in co nsta nt then quite clearly, you are not in constant contact with other people. on the other hand, in other forms of transport, buses and so forth, you

could be in close contact. what we absolutely have to do is make sure we have the right level of protection for people in different circumstances. on the subject what i have done is to write to the transport operators, hand—in—hand with public health england, to make sure that they are aware of all the correct equipment that should be in place, procedures, processes, things like cordoning off and also thinking about the flow of passengers and that type of thing, in order to protect their transport workers. i should say that very sadly 53 transport workers have died during coronavirus. we don't know all of the circumstances or if it was necessarily connected to their work, but it is of great concern. and it's worth saying that we have asked professor fenton worth saying that we have asked professor fe nton to worth saying that we have asked professor fenton to carry out research because, i am very concerned that people from bame communities seem to be affected

more. men are affected more. obesity seems to play a part. and professor fenton's initial report on this from public health england will be available at the end of this month. cani available at the end of this month. can i invite you to come back in? do you want to come back in again? i think we may have lost the line. can you hear us? yes, yes. did you want to come back in again? yes. people are very concerned within these communities, within the national service. a lot of people have died and there are real tragic stories. people who get in touch with us, indians, pakistanis, bangladeshis, have suffered a lot. my question is, this government are preparing or thinking of probably maybe be

announcing some compensation or some other support for these families who have suffered, you know, the people who have lost their lives and left their families. they find this situation very difficult to make ends meet. absolutely. it's heartbreaking to see how this virus developed. many of the people, as you mention, on the front line may come from ethnic minorities. we don't know whether that is because of the propensity for people to be on the front line from bame backgrounds or if there is something else happening, and that is what professor fenton will help to get to the bottom of. it's certainly the case that in the nhs, the care world, there is a package that the health secretary announced previously of support, where there isa previously of support, where there is a deceased member of the family. there is also in work service pay—outs in other circumstances as

well, though not quite the same way. and so we are very, very concerned about people from all sorts of different backgrounds and you will have heard in the last couple of days that we have also changed the rules to make sure that people can have rights to stay if a member of the family was working particularly in the nhs, and then sadly died through coronavirus. so that's a means of residence for those individuals. a range of different measures. absolutely at the forefront of what the government wa nts to forefront of what the government wants to do to get to the bottom of this and make sure that all the right lessons are learned. there are some unusual groups, including people from ethnic minorities, but also the way this has tended to impact on men, people with obesity and other categories as well. we will absolutely get to the bottom of all of those things. thank you very much. i wanted to conclude by saying

that we have come a very long way through this disease and we are taking a whole range of different steps which i was describing from a transport point of view. to try to make sure that transport can be safe and secure for people to travel on going forward. but it's absolutely crucial to remember that the transport system will not be able to ta ke transport system will not be able to take the normal numbers of people. so please look for alternatives, please consider not travelling at peak and ideally travel by walking, cycling or indeed driving instead. finally, it's a bank holiday weekend. i'm so pleased to look after everybody and stay alert. that is the transport secretary grant shapps, bringing to an end a fairly turbulent briefing this afternoon. all the questions really come apart from one, to do with the prime minister's adviser dominic cummings. let's talk to nick ea rdley. cummings. let's talk to nick eardley. nick, why do you think that got us in terms of quite what happened with dominic cummings?

got us in terms of quite what happened with dominic cummings7l suspect those who have questions will still have them about mr cummings and his specific case, whether or not he followed both the rules and the spirit of those rules. i thought it was interesting to hear the deputy cmo for england, drjenny harries, saying that anybody showing symptoms should take themselves out of society completely, stay at home. that doesn't seem to have happened in this case. we know mr cummings travelled to durham, he says, because his wife was showing symptoms and he was worried he was about to get the same thing too. it doesn't seem like he met that criteria. she did however add that the guidance has an element of common sense issue about it, safeguarding and making sure that anyone at risk can be protected from that risk. she mentioned for example an extreme risk to life. that is at the very least open to interpretation. she didn't talk about whether she thought mr cummings had broken the rules. she

has been quoted on a number of occasions as somebody who suggested this might be within the rules in some sort of permissible sense. grant schapps, the transport secretary, making clear that in his view the government view, ministers are backing mrcummings. view the government view, ministers are backing mr cummings. saying that he travelled because he wanted to make sure that his kids weren't left without a care and saying, you know, most people do the exact same. most interesting from mr sharps was him saying it is up to individuals now to make sure that they are safeguarding people within their household or themselves for that matter. and i suspect some people will wonder how that matches up with what the health secretary, matt hancock, said when he told everybody this isn't a request, it's an instruction that you follow the guidelines. clearly the government believes that this can be explained within the rules. i suspect those who have suggested to the contrary

won't be won over by that. it's interesting because the cabinet has really rallied around dominic cummings. iwas really rallied around dominic cummings. i was looking at a tweet by the foreign secretary saying the issue has been politicised, it is just about two parents with coronavirus, although as you say, in the downing street statement, it appears mrcummings did the downing street statement, it appears mr cummings did not have coronavirus at the time, anxiously taking care of the young child. the question put a couple of times to grant schapps was, what did the prime minister now and when did he know it? did we get anywhere with that? no is the short answer. grant schapps telling us that the prime minister knew that mr cummings was ill and that he was locked down, but not answering the question of whether he knew that his chief adviser travelled 260 miles from london to durham. not completely clear what boris johnson london to durham. not completely clear what borisjohnson knew london to durham. not completely clear what boris johnson knew and when. that question certainly is not going to go away. forgive me for looking at my phone. i'm doing it for a reason. something has come

through from the labour party. they have said consistently they want questions answered. i'm not sure they feel they have got those a nswe rs they feel they have got those answers from the press conference. labour writing to the cabinet secretary in the last few minutes calling for what they say would be an urgent enquiry into these allegations. the snp have done the same thing. clearly the pressure is not going away on this. standing back from those —— that press conference, not sure where that further forward in understanding exactly what went on here beyond the fa ct exactly what went on here beyond the fact that ministers are clearly backing mrcummings fact that ministers are clearly backing mr cummings without necessarily getting into the details of what happened and exactly how this moves forward. what's so difficult here is that inevitably there are politics involved. the labour party writing to the cabinet secretary, as you said. the snp has said mrcummings secretary, as you said. the snp has said mr cummings should resign. but we are in the middle of a public health crisis and the fear it must

be that the public health messages area bit be that the public health messages are a bit muddied by what has happened? yeah, you're absolutely right. cummings spoke briefly to journalists this afternoon and he said it was a question of doing the right thing, it is what —— not what journalists think. mr cummings and number 10 have had a combative relationship with the media. in many ways it is not about what we are saying. it is what is the right thing. and what the public perceive it to be as well. one of the questions that all —— always comes up questions that all —— always comes up when there are these questions about how you interpret the rules about how you interpret the rules about whether someone has interpreted them in a difficult —— different way, is does it undermine public confidence in the message? jenny harries was not quite getting into that when she was asked about it at the press conference. but i suppose that is the fundamental question. does this story, does dominic cummings travelling from london to durham, 260 miles, when it seems that his wife was showing

symptoms of coronavirus, does that undermine the message that we have all been hearing, that stay—at—home message at the time? but also, crucially, that message which stays in place if you have coronavirus symptoms, you are supposed to stay at home and take yourself out of society unless there are extreme cases where there is a risk to individuals and people need to be safeguarded. nick, many thanks. nick ea rdley. safeguarded. nick, many thanks. nick eardley. thank you. we are joined now by the snp's westminster leader ian blackford. thank you forjoining us. you will no doubt listening to all of that. what did you make of it? well, it is quite shocking. we've had no real defence as to why dominic cummings travelled all the way to durham, no acceptance that what he did was wrong. you know, when you hear dr harries, she made it very clear, if you have got

covid—19, you should be staying at home. it's obvious that this was a journey which was not necessary. this has put at risk the whole public messaging that the uk government has had over the last few weeks. we are talking about an individual who is the closest adviser to the prime minister that ona adviser to the prime minister that on a prima facie basis seems to have broken the rules that the government has put in place. he ought to have resigned by now. but it's quite clear after that performance today by the transport secretary that there is no real defence and that dominic cummings should now be sacked by the prime minister. you seem very sacked by the prime minister. you seem very clear about whatjenny harries, the deputy medical officer, was saying, but she did also say that people need to use their common sense, and if it is about looking after a four—year—old child there has to be, she may not quite have put it this way, but there has to be some room for interpretation? well, if it comes to looking after a four—year—old child, let's not forget the prime minister was also very clear about this that

grandparents should not be brought into that situation. grandparents should be protected. i'm sorry to cut in but we don't know there was any cut in but we don't know there was a ny co nta ct cut in but we don't know there was any contact with the grandparents. we are told that they stayed self isolated in the house? in the house on the estate of the grandparents, whatever that is supposed to mean. the fact is there is no explanation as to why dominic cummings wrote more than 250 miles when the evidence, the basis of the evidence, is that people should be remaining at home. people have raised the issue of catherine calderwood. there issue of catherine calderwood. there isa issue of catherine calderwood. there is a difference. catherine calderwood, when she appeared at the daily press conference after the user had broken about her visiting her second home, apologised. and very quickly thereafter resigned. we should have been hearing from the prime minister today. i wrote to the cabinet secretary several hours ago with a cabinet secretary several hours ago witha numberof cabinet secretary several hours ago with a number of questions that need to be answered. the prime minister needs to come clean about when he knew about this. whether or not he authorised at this and why he has

not ta ken authorised at this and why he has not taken his responsibilities in asking dominic cummings to resign. he should sack him. this man has undermined public messaging that the uk government has sought to deliver. ifi uk government has sought to deliver. if i may say so, if you think of the millions of people that have had to make sacrifices, that have lost loved ones, they have not been able to grieve in the correct manner, people can't visit their grandparents, grandchildren are losing out on that, grandparents can't visit their grandchildren, family events have not happened. and yet here we have an individual that has driven from london up to durham, almost the length of england, to the estate of his parents, it simply is not right and he should accept responsibility. you are talking about the prime minister there. it has been pointed out that nicola sturgeon also took some time before calling on catherine calderwood to resign when this similar sort of situation arose. i wonder what you

think about the public health message? you are calling on dominic cummings to resign. it would be a big political scalp for you. but what's more important, surely, is what's more important, surely, is what this does to the public health message in the middle of a crisis like this. the public health messages undermined by dominic cummings staying in office. we face the difficult challenge in scotland of the loss of a chief medical officer. that was done within 2a hours of the information coming to life. we had the writings of dominic cummings wife mary wakefield talking about the two of them being in isolation in london. we need to get to the truth of what has happened. where were they and when? quite simply, dominic cummings has to acce pt simply, dominic cummings has to accept that what he has done is undermine what the government is seeking to do, and borisjohnson should not be waiting to get that resignation. he should be sacking dominic cummings and doing it right now. ok. good to talk to you. thank you so much, ian blackford, the snp

leader in westminster. we can speak now to our health correspondent, anna collinson. anna, thinking about this trip that was taken, 260 miles from london to durham, what risks, if any, from london to durham, what risks, ifany, did from london to durham, what risks, if any, did they risk posed in terms of the spread of the virus? it's a really important question. i think we got a real sense of the anger and the need for answers in that briefing. so yes, dominic cummings, as we know now, drove from london to durham at the end of march and at that time, if we go back to that time, government advice was pretty clear about what they wanted people to do, particularly if they had symptoms. they appeal to the public to stay at home if they had symptoms for at least seven days. i've had a look through the guidelines published then. the government did say if you had symptoms you could move so—called vulnerable individuals to stay with friends or family, but children one specifically mentioned in that category. at a similar time the

government medical adviser, drjenny harries, said ifan government medical adviser, drjenny harries, said if an adult is unwell and unable to care for a child, that child would also be vulnerable. dominic cummings obviously claims that his trip was essential and that is why he had a life drove 260 miles across the country so he could be with his family in durham, so their young child could have childcare if needed. it is not clear if he stopped at any service stations along the way, for example. when asked about it in the briefing, grant schapps confirmed dominic cummings self isolated in a property away with his wife and his son, and the only interaction with his relatives was them leaving food on his doorstep. he is encouraging people to follow the rules as best as possible but says when people are critical of the dominic cummings situation, this involved the welfare ofa situation, this involved the welfare of a four—year—old child. drjenny harries, who had talked about this previously, said she wouldn't comment on an individual case but she said all this guidance has to be used with common sense. that may be true but there is going to be a lot

of people, and i know there is because i have spoken to them, who have adjusted their behaviour, have not had a child care, who have struggled with coronavirus, because that's what they thought the rules we re that's what they thought the rules were and they thought it was the right thing to do. we have heard of heartbreaking stories over the months of people doing their bit, including not seeing loved ones when they are dying, because they think thatis they are dying, because they think that is the best thing to be doing during lockdown. to try to tell them that common sense is needed, i think, it will be very hard for them to swallow. really interesting. anna, that briefing was dominated by the dominic cummings story but we did learn some more details about where we are in terms of the epidemic? absolutely. we have actually got some slides. during that briefing we got the latest figures of the uk death toll. tragically, 282 more corona deaths we re tragically, 282 more corona deaths were recorded, bringing the total now to more than 36,600. this total figure includes some deaths in care homes and the community. but this

data is still criticised by some because it does not include the overall death toll because our testing has not reached that capacity yet. the government would argue that testing is improving. grant schapps called these figures a devastating reminder of the cruelty of coronavirus, however, there is hope if you look back. three weeks ago, the death toll was 621. today it is under 300. so they do suggest we are very it is under 300. so they do suggest we are very much beyond the peak. we also have a second slide, if we have time. this is google mobility data from the beginning of march to the 16th of may. as you can see there has been a drop in activities when the lockdown was brought in, particularly retail and workplaces. most people don't need to be told they've spent the last two months in their homes. one thing that was really interesting was the concern about parks. there is a growing increase there. in england, for example, you are allowed now to be in the park sunbathing or picnicking, but you are supposed to be keeping social distancing in place. only meeting with one other person outside your household. there

are concerns that as more people going to the park, though social distancing measures are going to be harder to abide by. it would be tempting to hang out in big groups and the concern is always, we need to keep the spike down. so yes, that isa to keep the spike down. so yes, that is a concern for the scientists going forward. thank you so much. anna collinson, our health expert. i am joined now by sonia souder, a columnist for the guardian and the observer, and former adviser to ed miliband is leader of the opposition. and also by dan hodges, a political commentator at the mail on sunday. thank you forjoining us. news. you will have been watching that briefing. with very close attention i am sure. grant shapps was at pains to describe this as a personal story of a father who is trying to do his best for his family and his child. what did you make of it?

iand i'm i and i'm sure lots of other people watching felt extremely confused. the governors had a choice today. it could either admit that dominic cummings has broken government guidance. i think it is clear he has, and sack him, as they have done other advisers who have done the same thing. why the government could try and protect dominic cummings and tell us he didn't break the guidance. that is what it has chosen to do and in doing so it has undermined its own public health advice. jenny harries was really clear in the press conference. if you develop symptoms, you and your household must stay at home unless there is an extreme risk to life. grant shapps seems to say, well, it isa grant shapps seems to say, well, it is a decision for individuals, whether you have enough support around you. really what the government is doing, what cabinet ministers have been doing all day and coming out and defending dominic cummings. the health secretary has said what he did was right. what they are doing is undermining their own guidance and by doing that they are putting lives at risk. i think it is really quite shocking. i think

people will be quite confused. is it 0k people will be quite confused. is it ok now to travel across the country when you are in a couple, one of you is sick, one isn't, you might have worries about childcare? is it ok to travel 260 miles, to travel to see your extended family? it really wasn't clear from that press conference. huge confusion. i think it is incredibly damaging and i think it shows that the government have chosen to prioritise one of their colleagues and saving the career of one of their colleagues over being clear about the guidance. does it muddy the message, dan? no, actually i took completely the opposite from that. i think in a way to some extent it draws a line under the issue. ithinkjenny to some extent it draws a line under the issue. i thinkjenny harries and grant shapps were very clear and jenny harries specifically, it is clear that the government's advice is in these circumstances, if there are other vulnerable individuals involved and i don't think anyone

would argue that a four—year—old child whose parents are not in a fit state to care for them would not qualify as a vulnerable individual thenit qualify as a vulnerable individual then it is perfectly legitimate to use discretion and what jenny harries termed common sense. i thought it was interesting in the introduction to this, your own correspondent pointed to that very specific advice in the official government guidance. i think it is this common sense element that is the key to all this. i think anybody dispassionately looking at this in this scenario you did have a situation which they and their partner were unable to look after a four—year—old child because they have an onset of this illness would do whatever it took to ensure the child was put in a safe place. i would do that, i assume you would come and most people watching this programme would. from what has been said, that dominic cummings did not have symptoms when he got on the

road to go up to durham will stop i think that is where the question comes. if everybody in a family with children, as soon as one person in the family fell ill with covid—19, decided it was ok to travel across the country just in decided it was ok to travel across the countryjust in case they required childcare, that would really pull the rug from underneath government guidance. indeed we know that dominic cummings... a source close to him in number 10 has said that dominic cummings and his immediate family were socially distance. they didn't actually require that childcare. that is not the extreme risk to lifejenny harries is talking about. i think up and down the country people have had to make incredibly difficult decisions and lots of people will have said, right, we must abide by the government guidance, even if that means we can't be with loved ones, we can't say goodbye to them for the last time. they are going to be really angry that a top government adviser seemingly flouted the advice in that way. itjust does

not hold up. dan, can i put another potential difficulty for the government, which is that dominic cummings' wife, a seniorfigure on the spectator magazine, herself put out an account of what happened when they had coronavirus. in that account she suggested that she became ill and then he became ill the day after and that both of them we re the day after and that both of them were really quite stricken by this. one wonders how that squares with the statement now given out by downing street. well, to be perfectly honest, i have heard a lot about... dominic cummings, i am perfectly honest, i have heard a lot about... dominic cummings, lam not interested in what his wife writes. that is a matter for her. i am interested in what dominic cummings say. it is about them both, what happened to them then. but... as i said, the important thing is what dominic cummings says and what the government said. to reiterate, just pick up on the point, in those

circumstances in which a partner is sick and another may feel they were becoming sick or had a fear they we re becoming sick or had a fear they were becoming sick and didn't have alternative childcare arrangements, what are they supposed to do? wait until they are both sick and incapacitated and then try to sort out childcare? jenny harries was very clear, your correspondence was very clear, your correspondence was very clear, your correspondence was very clear at the start of this piece on what the advice was. in those circumstances, a young child would be classified self—evidently asa would be classified self—evidently as a vulnerable individual and it would be perfectly legitimate for individuals in those circumstances to secure assistance. frankly... i mean, i cannot believe we are actually sitting here passing the details of official government advice. remember, we are not talking about any laws being broken. we are talking about advice. we are talking about the public‘s understanding of the guidance. it is clear government guidance. this is notjust minor

advice. it is instructions that the government issued to us in order to protect the nhs and save lives. i am afraid that dominic cummings, in breaking that guidance, which i think it is very clear he has done, it reeks of breathtaking arrogance and likely has a disregard for health care workers' lives. it is not likejenny harries was very clear, she said stay in unless there is an extreme risk to life. i think it will come as a huge surprise to pa rents it will come as a huge surprise to parents up and down the country, particularly if you are a single pa rent particularly if you are a single parent and you might be worried about how you will care for your child if you get seriously sick. the idea that in those circumstances you could take up across the country, drive for hundreds of miles to be with your extended family, that's

just does not sit with the guidance and the instruction. with respect... that ligaments have given us four weeks. with respect, this is the complete lunacy we have got to. dominic cummings quite clearly did this. whether he was right or wrong, people can form a view. he clearly did this because his primary concern was the welfare of his four—year—old child. we now have sonia coming on saint, actually, this is an example that he doesn't care for the health of care workers. implying he wants health care workers to die. of care workers. implying he wants health care workers to diel of care workers. implying he wants health care workers to die. i don't think she was implying that. health care workers to die. i don't think she was implying thatm health care workers to die. i don't think she was implying that. it is precisely this sort of dialogue that has got us in the absolutely disgusting situation where, as you pointed out, we as a society have set out to protect ourselves for this disease, we will have a situation where children are allowed to die alone or people cannot attend other people is a. dan... we weir saying a man should be sacked for looking after his child. we are going mad! can ijust comment? it doesn't matter who dominic cummings is, doesn't it? he is at the heart of government, one of the architects of government, one of the architects of this message that a lot of people have interpreted much more strictly than he appears to have. with

respect, you are now saying he is the architect of this message. remember what the criticism of dominic cummings has been entirely up dominic cummings has been entirely up until this point. he was a buzz to be the guy he wasn't the architect of this, didn't want lockdown and wanted herd immunity through the country. that was not a criticism directed at him until this. the reality is that dominic cummings is an adviser. i and other cummings is an adviser. land other people have spent months if not years attacking and criticising and condemning the status that dominic cummings has in government. rightly so. he is an adviser, not a politician, not an elected politician. this is not... other advisers have had to resign for breaking guidance and rules and i would argue far less serious breaking of the rules. but do you think... really... people on the government payroll

need to be adhering to the advice or it isa need to be adhering to the advice or it is a message to people in the country that they do not need to comply. i think if everyone had done what dominic cummings chose to do, more lives would have been put at risk. it sends the message that if you have a four—year—old child and you have a four—year—old child and you are concerned for the child's welfare , you are concerned for the child's welfare, you have to put the welfare of the child first before government advice, and that is common sense and thatis advice, and that is common sense and that is absolutely right! if you are not doing that then frankly you need your head examining! he stayed socially distant. how do you know what the circumstances where? what was he doing? why was he doing it, why was he driving 250 miles? to taking the view, he wanted a bit of scenery? he wanted get out for a bit? of course that is what he was

doing! why else? can ijust ask bit? of course that is what he was doing! why else? can i just ask you both briefly one question? we have members of the cabinet rushing in to be supportive and protective of dominic cummings. do you think he will survive this? no. ithink dominic cummings. do you think he will survive this? no. i think he will survive this? no. i think he will be strung out —— it will be strung out but eventually he will have to resign. dan. yes, he will stay. thank you very much indeed.

thank you both. let's look at some other elements of the coronavirus crisis. the worldwide tourism industry has been badly affected by coronavirus, and many popular destinations are now trying to find ways to welcome visitors back. italy is planning to reopen its airports from the 3rd ofjune, and international charter flights to popular locations in greece are due to resume injuly. our correspondent in athens, quentin somerville, explains. greeks have been able to come to the beaches for a couple of weekends now. but what about the rest of us? well, from the 15th ofjune, the greek authorities are going to welcome tourists back from all over the world without a quarantine. there will be some exclusions, though — countries with high infection rates, and at the moment that looks like britain, russia and the united states. greece has been very successful in controlling the pandemic, fewer than 170 deaths. so it wants to tread very carefully. it needs to reopen its beaches, and as of monday, the greek islands will reopen again, too. but it has to take a very cautious approach to this. it realises business won't be the same as before, but just these small, incremental changes, letting people get back to the beach, get in the sea, is very important to regaining that life we once had. for those of us still holding out hope for some form of holiday this summer, our options are of course looking very different. yesterday the government announced that all those travelling to the uk will need to self—quarantine for two weeks. so what will travel look like once that quarantine comes into effect? joining me to discuss that is the traveljournalist alison rice.

where do you think this leaves us? hello, there. oh, it is hugely disappointing news for everyone who went into lockdown thinking, well, at least in the summer we can have our normalforeign at least in the summer we can have our normal foreign holiday and at least in the summer we can have our normalforeign holiday and it at least in the summer we can have our normal foreign holiday and it is catastrophic for the travel industry. not just the catastrophic for the travel industry. notjust the airlines, who have been very vocal about this, but the tour operators, travel agents, hotels, museums, attractions, and all the little people, the small businesses who make their money from tourism. notjust in our favourite holiday destinations abroad but also here in britain. who is going to girl? who is going to be able to go with their holiday injuly, august, and then come home and self—isolate for two weeks? may be people who work from home and the young, who a lwa ys work from home and the young, who always think they are immortal anyway. maybe they will engage in revenge tourism, they have been locked up so long they are going on

holiday regardless. there is a pent—up desire for holidays, but there is a very large proportion of there is a very large proportion of the country that is newly risk averse and will not have two weeks to spend after their holiday, you know, to self—isolate. to spend after their holiday, you know, to self-isolate. i wonder what you think people should do psychologically. should theyjust decide, right, that's it, we are staying in the uk this summer? that isa staying in the uk this summer? that is a good question. i think a lot of people will do that, certainly ones who are worried about what the airports, the air flight will be like. you know, will it be a four hour check—in? what the situation will be in the hotels and on the beaches, how will you self distance? i think the newly risk averse will definitely be worried and will stay at. there is talk of what they call health corridors and air bridges, which is where two country is happy with each other‘s position on

covid—19 agreed to drop the quarantine and these quarantine free pacts have been talked about. i don't know if our government will have them. we are going the other way, we have introduced a 1a day quarantine and so has france. you would need to spend six weeks taking a two—week holiday! would need to spend six weeks taking a two-week holiday! unless you are retired and... i don't see how you can do it! four of those weeks of course will be in your own home or where you choose to self—isolate, or two of those weeks will. indeed. it isa two of those weeks will. indeed. it is a very difficult situation and the second largest tour operator in this country, jet2, is determined to open its programme of flights in july. ryanair has said it will open a0% of its schedule, although that

could just be that if the flight ta kes could just be that if the flight takes off they don't have to pay money back to anyone not on it! so those who are booked may well get their holiday if they still want to ta ke their holiday if they still want to take it abroad. but you heard last night that shearings, part of a big group, the company that is over 100 yea rs old group, the company that is over 100 years old and has 2500 staff, went into administration last night. i sadly don't think it will be the first and i think we all go hopefully on holiday easily next year, it will be a very different market. the tourism industry will be different industry. we will have to see. very good to talk to you. thank you. the channel island of guernsey has become the first part of the british isles to remove virtually all its lockdown restrictions. guernsey has had no new cases of covid—19 for over three weeks and all schools will be going back to normal there with distancing measures from the 8th ofjune. but their bank holiday beaches have no visitors, and the islands must now weigh up

whether to reopen their borders. robert hall reports. in a guernsey garden eight—week—old charlie flood is meeting his widerfamily. until now his grandparents have only had glimpses of him at a distance. today the family can hold charlie and hug each other for the first time since lockdown began. we are so fortunate because in england they can't do that and it must be so difficult for them. we are just really, really lucky. it feels absolutely amazing, it has been a long time coming, and it feels so nice. lcan't put him down. on the 16th of may guernsey moved into phase three of the lockdown exit plan. guernsey families and friends can meet up under what is called a bubble system, gradually widening their contacts. guernsey's success against covid—9 is down to a community effort. guernsey's success against covid—19 is down to a community effort. social distancing combined with testing and tracing has brought

new cases down to zero. in a week's time most lockdown measures will disappear completely. at the peak of when we were seeing most of our cases we were regularly doing up to 100, 126, some days up to 180 tests a day. in uk terms that is over 100,000 tests per day. injersey to the curve of new cases has flattened close to zero and life injersey too the curve of new cases has flattened close to zero and life looks almost normal. shops, businesses and outside eateries have reopened, but social distancing measures remain in place and islanders have been advised to use masks if they can. beaches, though, remain mostly deserted, and that sums up the dilemma now facing island governments. getting covid—19 figures down to or close to zero is a cause for celebration, but the celebration might be short lived. the channel islands know that they cannot remain within a sealed bubble indefinitely, they must open their borders if they are to slow the decline

in their economies. latest figures from jersey show the island losing £120 million a month from its economy. increases in testing and tracing might replace quarantine, but even a gradual return of sea and air links could reverse the progress made. to keep it in a bubble and to keep cases low, but at the same time if you don't have immunity, you don't really know what is going to happen as things open up. i think we should sit it out, but then you've got to test people coming in and that is going to be the problem now. as politicians and health experts debate their next moves, islanders are savouring their freedom. robert hall, bbc news, in the channel islands. thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of madrid in cars and motorbikes to protest against the spanish government's handling of the coronavirus crisis. they're calling for the prime minister pedro sanchez and his deputy to resign over the country's strict lockdowns

and the damage they've inflicted on the economy. tough restrictions remain in place in madrid and barcelona, though they've been relaxed elsewhere. our correspondent in madrid is guy hedgecoe. these demonstrations today have been called by the far—right vox party, which has called on people notjust in madrid but in cities across spain to take to the streets in their cars so that they can maintain social distancing, and vox and its supporters are protesting against the leftist coalition government of pedro sanchez, which they say has handled the coronavirus crisis in an incompetent way. they say that it has also abused its use of a state of emergency which has been in place since the middle of march. now the government of pedro sanchez rejects those accusations, and it

points to the statistics which show that daily deaths, for example, from coronavirus are well below 100 and have been below 100 for the last few days. new infections have also stabilised, and the government is now embarking on what is a very gradual lifting of the lockdown. as countries around the world try to come to terms with the number of lives lost to the coronavirus, attention is already focused on the best ways to avoid second or even third waves of infections. what are the prospects for doing that? our reality check correspondent chris morris reports. well, history certainly warns us to be on our guide. will there be a second wave of covid—19 infections? well, history certainly warns us to be on our guide. as far back as the middle ages, the black death came in waves. so too did later outbreaks of bubonic plague. a century ago, it was spanish flu that devastated populations. and while exact numbers are hard to come by, it's generally agreed that the second wave of the pandemic killed substantially more

people than the first. health care systems were of course not nearly as good as they are now. nor was medical or information technology. more recently, second outbreaks of dangerous viruses like sars or mers have, by and large, been avoided, partly because they were less infectious than covid—19. but other big flu pandemics like the swine flu have had second waves. so what does that mean for us now? for starters, no two viruses are exactly the same, and no epidemics or infectious diseases behave in precisely the same way. but we know infectious diseases spread when people who have the infection come into contact with people who don't. an outbreak will continue to grow as long as the average number of people infected by a person with the virus is greater than one. that's what's known as the reproductive — or r — number, and keeping it below one is critically important,

which is why measures such as social distancing and contact tracing will be part of all our lives for some time to come. we also need to know more about how long any immunity for covid—19 might last amongst people who have already had it once, and we need to find out whether there's any significant seasonal variation in the way the virus spreads. experts have warned of the danger of coronavirus re—emerging during the winter flu season in europe and the united states when health systems are already under huge pressure. they're also watching closely to see if the virus mutates to become more or less lethal. so there are a host of factors to take into account when trying to plan for a potential second wave. it's not certain that one will happen, and the early development of a reliable vaccine would be a game—changing moment. but until then, if mistakes are made when changing control measures, the virus could spread rapidly all over again.

that was chris morris. uk businesses will be expected to pay a quarter of the wages of furloughed workers in the coming months. the chancellor's said the furlough scheme will be in place until the end of october with companies to be asked to "start sharing" the cost from the start of august. the scheme currently supports around 7.5 million jobs. the french government has said it will mirror the 1a—day quarantine that britain is introducing for people arriving from abroad. the measures will apply in the uk from 8thjune. the government in paris said it would take reciprocal action against any european country that required its citizens to self—isolate. let's take a look at some of the key points from today's coronavirus briefing from the government, today led by the transport secretary grant shapps. questioned about whether the pm's top aide, dominic cummings, had been breaking lockdown rules when travelling from his london home to self—isolate nearfamily in county durham, the transport secretary said it's

important "everyone remains in the same place whilst they are in lockdown", and re—iterated that mr cummings has the full support of borisjohnson. the deputy chief medical officerfor england, drjenny harries, said that when someone develops symptoms, it's extremely important to "take yourself out of society", but there should be a "common sense" element surrounding safeguarding. the death toll in the uk has risen to 36,675 — an increase of 282 deaths in all settings in the past day. and grant shapps announced a series of measures to improve transport infrastructrure across the uk, saying the coronavirus outbreak must be a "catalyst" for better transport. coming up in a few minutes, i'll be back with the weekend news bulletin on bbc one, but we'll leave this coronavirus special with questioning from the bbc‘s political correspondent iain watson at the briefing, who asked transport secretary grant shapps and drjenny harries, england's deputy chief medical officer,

to clarify the rules around lockdown and travel as the pm's chief adviser has faced criticism for travelling to durham from london. it seemed to be that the guidance was pretty clear — if you have symptoms you self—isolate for seven days and the rest of your household stays at home for 1a days. but is the advice now to parents that if you do not have your own extended family nearby, even when you are ill with covid—19 symptoms, you are allowed to leave your home, travel many miles across the country and isolate closer to your extended family? a specific question to you, did the prime minister know that his adviser dominic cummings had travelled 250 miles away during lockdown? did he approve this? thanks very much. did you mean the first question tojenny? for both of you, actually, but i would value jenny's advice specifically on whether parents

who are ill can leave their home to go closer to their extended family to isolate. the scientific and medical advice behind the self—isolation is to take people who are symptomatic out of the public domain and anybody who may be likely to develop that in the household and who have the same exposures, so we know there is a greater risk. as you say, the advice is isolate yourself at home, your family self—isolates with you and that is very clear. built into that guidance, along with all of our other guidance, so for example along with elderly people or those who are clinically vulnerable and who are advised to stay at home and want to take forward that advice, there is always an element which says safeguarding, so we do not want an elderly person sitting at home without their medication cos they feel they cannot come out if there is a safeguarding issue

and a child is significantly unwell and has no support, that is equally another issue. but the interpretation, the clinical advice around that, there is always a safeguarding clause in all of the advice, whether it is this or for clinically extremely vulnerable people. the interpretation of that advice is probably for others. you are asking if the prime minister knew. look, the important thing is that everyone remains in the same place whilst they are locked down, which is what happened in the case you are referring to with mrcummings, so the prime minister will have known he was staying put and he did not come out again until he was feeling better. but he did travel 250 miles from his london home, did he not? again to you, jenny harries, you seem to be very clear when people can leave their home, for example if they are seeking food, medical supplies and caring for the vulnerable. let me give you one

specific example. if someone is ill and the other parent is not at that time showing symptoms and they have a young child, should they leave their home when ill to go to another home 250 miles away? is that in line with the guidance? i can go first. in the guidance it says if you are living with children, keep following this advice to the best of your ability, however we are aware that not all of these measures will be possible depending on circumstances. in other words, if you are in a position where you have got a young child, in this case four years old, and you are worried about the welfare of the child and the wider network of support, then you are clearly going somewhere where other members of the family can assist, in this case younger other members of the family, then that might be the best place for you to settle and stay

throughout the time that you are ill. i think that is all that has happened in this case.

boris johnson's most senior adviser, dominic cummings, faces calls to resign after he travelled hundreds of miles — with his wife who was sick with coronavirus syptoms — during the lockdown. mr cummings insists he's done nothing wrong and that he behaved " reasonably and legally". who cares about how it looks? it's a question of doing the right thing. it's not about what you guys think. the government defended him — saying he wanted to stay with family to ensure he had childcare if he got symptoms of coronavirus. mr cummings is, you know, in the public eye but the reality of the matter is a four—year—old child's welfare i think is the important thing. businesses will be expected to pay a quarter of the wages of furloughed workers —

from the start of august.