this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. in around half an hour, the prime minister will host the last of the daily downing street coronavirus briefings. but first the headlines. "our long hibernation is coming to an end." the words of borisjohnson, as he eases lockdown in england. pu bs, restau ra nts a nd cafes will be allowed to reopen, with restrictions, from the 4th ofjuly with restrictions, from the 4th. ofjuly. we can now go further and safely ease lockdown in england. at every stage, caution will remain our watchword. we will, of course, scrutinise the details of this announcement. we will study the guidance, and there are obviously a number of questions that need

to be answered. but overall, i welcome this statement. but a former chief scientific adviser is among those warning that it's premature to reduce the two—metre rule to one metre. in scotland, pupils will be able to return to schools full—time from the 11th of august as long as the virus continues to be suppressed. and world number one novak djokovic says he's tested positive for covid—19, after facing a volley of criticism for organising tour events in serbia and croatia. hello and welcome to this bbc news special.

we'll shortly be going live to downing street for what we've been told will be the last daily coronavirus briefing, and it will today be led by the prime minister, borisjohnson. exactly three months after announcing the lockdown in england, the prime minister has announced a major easing of restrictions, but warned that all the steps were reversible. he said people should remain two metres apart where possible, but a "one metre plus" rule will be introduced in england on the lithjuly. from then, cinemas, museums and galleries will be able to welcome visitors again. pubs, restaurants, hotels and hairdressers can also open. and two households in england will also be able to meet indoors and stay overnight — with social distancing. the scottish government say they are planning to reopen schools in august with no physical distancing if coronavirus is suppressed. but both the scottish and welsh

governments say the two—metre rule there will remain in place for the time being. in northern ireland, the distance has already been cut for schoolchildren. downing street is ending the daily press briefings from today, though press conferences will be called for any "significant announcements". a further 171 people have died from the virus in all settings. the government also announced 109 deaths that occurred in april, may and june, taking the total number of deaths across the to 10,927. we'll be building up to today's briefing from the government, today led by the prime minister, but first on the easing of restrictions in england, here's our political correspondent jonathan blake. reporter: are you taking a gamble with public safety, prime minister? a big decision, a big day. is it safe to go to the pub? three months since strict measures were imposed to limit the spread of coronavirus, the prime minister prepared

to announce the most significant changes yet, for businesses, for the economy, for daily life in england. borisjohnson told mps that due to a significant fall in the prevalence of the virus, it was now safe to relax the two—metre rule. where it is possible to keep two metres apart, people should. but where it is not, we will advise people to keep a social distance of one metre plus, meaning they should remain one metre apart while taking mitigations to reduce the risk of transmission. and we are today publishing guidance on how business can reduce the risk by taking certain steps to protect workers and customers. and from the 4th ofjuly, meetings of any two households will be allowed. two households of any size should be able to meet in any

setting, inside or out. that does not mean they must always be the same two households. it will be possible, for instance, to meet one set of grandparents one weekend, the others the following weekend. but we are not recommending meetings of multiple households indoors because of the risk of creating greater chains of transmission. the prime minister said the more things were opened up, the more vigilant people needed to be. labour offered a cautious welcome. we will, of course, scrutinise the details of this announcement and we will study the guidance. there are obviously a number of questions that need to be answered, but overall, i welcome this statement. i believe the government is trying to do the right thing. and in that we will support them. to recap, cinemas, hairsalons and pubs will be able to reopen

in england on the 4th ofjuly, providing safety measures are in place. the current two—metre social distancing requirement has is being reduced to one metre, allowing venues to reopen. there are currently no plans for similar changes in scotland and wales. while in northern ireland, the distance has already been cut for schoolchildren. cheers! while it might be welcome news, things won't be back to normal. many of the distancing measures that shops have had to take will be required and pubs, bars and restaurants. numbers will be limited in galleries, museums and cinemas. venues are preparing to digest detailed guidance from the government. this loosening of the lockdown offers the government a chance to gain control when at times it has struggled to keep a grip on its response to coronavirus. but there is a calculated risk with every decision that ministers make. jonathan blake, news, westminster. our health corespondent

nick triggle is with me. first of all, on the latest death figures from covid—19 in the 290, which seemed like quite a streak steep rise, just break it down for us? yes, so, the total numbers have gone up by 280 today to nearly 43,000. but among those 280 were 109 deaths that happened in april, may andjune deaths that happened in april, may and june that weren't initially recorded as coronavirus deaths, but 110w recorded as coronavirus deaths, but now they have gone back, checked the records and they have been put down as coronavirus deaths. this has happened before, it does happen in other countries so it is not entirely unusual. in the last 24 hours, 171 new deaths have been recorded. now, that is much louder than yesterday, when 15 was announced, but we often see this around the weekend. if we look back to last tuesday, there was 233 dots,

the tuesday before that, 286. so, the tuesday before that, 286. so, the 171 deaths is still a downward trend. the seven—day rolling average we are seeing just over 100 deaths at the peak, there were over 900 deaths, so it is still continuing to come down. but i must say, they are still somewhat higher than other european are seeing. and that is the backdrop to the easing of restrictions announced by boris johnson today, which was welcomed by many businesses, not welcomed by all the scientists? there is indeed some concern, these steps are happening in england, whether they are being taken too quickly. if you look at the numbers of new infections per day, we are seeing an average of over 1000 per day, it was under 1000 today, it was 874, but generally over 1000 per day on average. in germany and france we are seeing half that number, in italy, a quarter of that number. that's why

scientists and public health experts are concerned that the number of infections is too high, and therefore, it will be harder to contain local outbreaks as restrictions continue easing as the prime minister has announced today sir david king saying it is premature? yes, he and some others have said it is premature. there are also plenty of people, though, who point to the progress that has been made. when you think two or three months ago we were struggling to do 10,000 tests a day, we are now regularly seeing over 100,000 tests being provided, the capacity to do 200,000. we have got a tracing system in place, albeit one that doesn't have an app, but contact tracing is happening. so there is hope that we can contain outbreaks, keep it at this level. but these are fine politicaljudgements, the science can only give you so many a nswe i’s , science can only give you so many answers, and the prime minister has taken this judgment, and answers, and the prime minister has taken thisjudgment, and we answers, and the prime minister has taken this judgment, and we will see

in the coming weeks and months if it is the right one. let's get a political perspective on that statement from borisjohnson on the further easing of coronavirus restrictions. let's talk to our political correspondent chris mason. as nick wasn't saying, these are fine politicaljudgements to be balanced against the science, and it has been very difficult for the prime minister, who is under enormous pressure, especially on this two—metre rule, people saying that it was doing such damage to the economy, it had to be cut? yes, it is such a fine politicaljudgements, no doubt about it. you have scientific advice that is being poured into the ear of borisjohnson and the cabinet, at the same time you have many people in the economy saying the pain being inflicted upon them with every passing day is great. and plenty of those in government who are offering medical

and scientific advice do make the point, we have heard it regularly at the downing street news conferences, that economic pain has health consequences as well in the medium and long—term. so there is no easy judgements. the prime minister says that he is sticking like glue to the roadmap that was set out over a month ago when they hoped they would get to this point in the summer, at the turn ofjuly, and i think this is the biggest single leap back towards normality that we have seen. it is perhaps worth looking at some of the sectors that are going to reopen one week on saturday in england, and some of those that are not. those that will be rio able to open — hotels, b&bs, caravan parks, campsites, boarding houses, places of worship, but not singing in those places of worship, singing is a dangerous activity because of the potential propulsion of the virus. libraries, work canteens, bars, pubs, cinemas, museums, outdoor playgrounds, fu nfairs, amusement

arcades and model villages. some sectors however are not reopening at the beginning ofjuly. .. sectors however are not reopening at the beginning ofjuly... night clu bs, the beginning ofjuly... night clubs, bowling alleys, indoor play areas, spas, nail bars, tattoo pa rlours, areas, spas, nail bars, tattoo parlours, indoor gyms, swimming pulls, water parks and conference centres. i think the first rule of television is, don't read out lists on television. the second one is probably worthwhile — what can reopen and what can't? it is a very important list and people want to know that information! chris mason, our political correspondent. we've been speaking to people in ilkeston in derbyshire this afternoon, where there were mixed reactions to the prime minister's announcement of the easing of restrictions in england. it's certainly safe to ease it a bit. i think lockdown should not be changed and we should carry on with it, because people are still passing away and dying. i don't think they should ease it at all, because it is far too soon. i think hairdressers can, because they can wear visors, gloves. i think that would work,

and i think we're in more need of hairdressers than we are of pubs! i mean, pub—wise, it'd be nice just to be able to go somewhere other than home. to be honest, a lot of people aren't taking a lot of notice of it any more. but if they say it's all right, i'm quite happy with it. joining me now is professor anthony costello, a member of independent sage, a former director at the world health organization and professor of global health at university college london. thank you so much for talking to us, professor. what do you make of what the government has announced today for england in terms of cutting the two—metre rule and easing the lockdown in generalfrom two—metre rule and easing the lockdown in general from the 4th of july? well, i should point out, i am on the independent sage, not on the... the milk of example obviously concerned about the risks of keeping

our economy closed, and that resents health risks because of the threat to livelihoods and infections, hospitalisations and deaths are falling, although today, 171 is more deaths than the rest of europe i think put together. so, we accept that there has to be moves to open the economy a bit, but we do have some concerns. the first, on the two—metre to one metre rule, where possible, we would want to keep two metres indoors and one metre outdoors, and the reason for that is the japan study showed that there is 19 times the risk indoors compared to outdoors. and if you look at sage's own environmental group, they show very clearly that there is ten times the risk of one metre, compared to two metres. and so, we quite understand that for people who wa nt to

quite understand that for people who want to worship, or weddings or restau ra nts want to worship, or weddings or restaurants or pubs or hairdressers and all the other on the long list that your correspondent gave, they need to strictly follow the rules, and if they don't know we're worried that social distancing rules will go out the window. the other thing is the number of infections. we've heard i think today around 1000, was it, reported? heard i think today around 1000, was it, reported ? the heard i think today around 1000, was it, reported? the medical research council in cambridge yesterday said an average of about 4300 infections per day, which is nine times what it was when we stopped testing and tracing on the 12th of march. so, it is still high and many people wanted it to be well below 1000 before we thought about lifting. the third issue is the test, trace and isolate support scheme which we still don't think it's fit for purpose. the government has not given clear indication on how long it takes testing to happen after someone develop symptoms. most of

the tracing, 87,000 are traced, and 77,000 being done by the public health teams not being invested in, not by call centres. and we don't know how people are actually isolating when they are asked to self—isolate. so we don't know how effective the protective shield is andi effective the protective shield is and i think we need to know that before we can really let the economy ripped, so to speak. finally, on children, children are not in school and we have to get them back to school. saying they will all go back in september, nearly three months away. children need the social contact with their teachers. in the open air there is virtually no risk. there is a long tradition in this country of open—air schools for children who have been unwell, 50 or 60 years ago, so why not get children back into open spaces, open classes, games, sport and socialising? it's very important to

get children back to what they should be doing. to sum up what you are saying about what the government announced today, are you saying it's premature? no, we understand the need to start showing we can move on because it's now 12 weeks since we had lockdown and even china in wuhan let things be released after 11 weeks, so we understand that. i think we would have preferred for two metres indoors and one metre out. if they are going for this one metre plus with restrictions, protective coverings and masks, limiting the number of people, hand sanitiser is and the rest, then let's see how that works, but we have to keep an eagle eye around the country looking for outbreaks and seeing what we can do about it quickly. very good to talk to you, professor anthony costello.

today's announcements will be welcomed by the millions of people who work in the hospitality industry in england. so, what might it be like visiting pubs, cafes and restaurants when they reopen? our consumer affairs correspondent sarah corker has been finding out. coming out of hibernation takes a lot of planning. at the withy arms in leyland, landlord lee is working out how much stock he will need. he'll reopen next month and the reduction of the two—metre rule to one will make a huge difference. we can run within a one—metre rule. cos if you look around the venue now, near enough every table is a metre away. and if you're in your bubble, then you're already with people that you have been bubbling with. so your bubble is on a table that's a metre away from any other table. the uk beer and pub industry is worth £23 billion. lee says his small chain of four pubs in lancashire is in some ways ahead of the curve. instead of going to the bar, customers are being encouraged

to use apps to order their drinks. all you need is a phone, you tell it which table you are at, what you want, and then you pay for it. jingle plays. and the order is then passed to the team. the government is likely to encourage more pubs to operate in this way. it not only avoids queues inside, its also helping businesses to trade safely. thank you! and one things for sure — technology is likely to play a big role in kick—starting the hospitality sector. the prime minister. and at westminster today, the confirmation that the three million people working in hospitality have been waiting for. mr speaker, i can tell the house that we will also reopen restaurants and pubs. hallelujah! all hospitality indoors will be

limited to table service and our guidance will encourage minimal staff and customer contact. so the uk holiday season will start in less than a fortnight. at this glamping and caravanning park in shropshire, they are hoping for a staycation boom. we are desperate to open, so we will open with whatever we can. ultimately, it comes down to the level of income we can bring into the business and that has got a direct reflection on the number of people we bring back off furlough. the challenge going forward is enforcing the new rules, something this restaurant chain owner in liverpool says is vital. if we get a second spike, it will be the end of the majority of restaurants. it is that serious, and the end of those jobs that i protect so, so fiercely. it's so important that we do actually shepherd the way that people are behaving, because they do forget themselves. and if we do it in a gentle and courteous way, what we do is we secure our very lifeline.

in a world where crowds are the new enemy, some question whether the restrictions will take the fun out of going to the pub or a restaurant, or if the pull of the pint will win over. sarah corker, bbc news, in leyland. hairdressers and barbers in england will be allowed to reopen onjuly 4th. the prime minister laid out the plans during today's announcement about the easing of some lockdown measures in england. hairdressers have been told they must take ‘appropriate precautions‘ to make sure they can practice safely. we can speak now to the international hair colourist and stylist, nicola clarke. no relation to the other famous hairdresser, nicky clark. thank you for being with us, nicola. you have been waiting a while so you must have a huge waiting list. we have pages and pages of people waiting.

text send direct messages, it's going crazy. white how will you prioritise who you see first? we have to do look after the people who we re have to do look after the people who were cancelled through the lockdown in the beginning, then regular clients and new clients. everybody will get the chance to come. and we will get the chance to come. and we will work longer hours so everyone will work longer hours so everyone will get their chance to come in. what preparations have you made to make sure it is safe? i have been talking to the nhbf and also millie kendall at the british beauty council. and also all my colleagues working around the area in the west end. we are pretty stringent with cleanliness anyway but we will be doubling that. we will be wearing masks and visors and gloves where we have to do and if we can shampoo

hair then we don't need to wear gloves. but we are taking all the precautions we need to take. gloves. but we are taking all the precautions we need to takem gloves. but we are taking all the precautions we need to take. it will bea precautions we need to take. it will be a very different experience having your hair done with someone wearing a shield, visor or mask. the thing is, our business itself is a really social place. obviously having face coverings will be really tricky. it's a really tactile industry. we are passionate about ourjobs. so that will be really difficult. some of my clients i have been doing for 20 years, so not embracing them after not seeing them in three months will be really difficult but we are a luxury salon so we will try to keep it as luxury as people expect it to be, but still the caring and the emotional and social tactile element side of things will change a lot. how many fewer people will you see and does it still makes business sense for you, how hard will it hit

economically? sometimes i have four or five clients economically? sometimes i have four orfive clients in economically? sometimes i have four or five clients in at once. and economically? sometimes i have four orfive clients in at once. and i go between them. that will be difficult. i would say in the first month at least that our business will at least if not half of what it would normally take, so that will be really difficult. what has it been like watching people on tv and everywhere else around the country with their awful overgrown hair? you must want to take out a pair of scissors. it has been an eye-opener and fantastic. my husband makes me laugh. he asks me, why is that woman wearing a headband. i say, that's her roots. some of the haircuts i have seen the men do, it's quite funny. i'm glad we are needed. do you think the prime minister might come to see you? if he wants he can come. there is an invitation to borisjohnson. nicola come. there is an invitation to boris johnson. nicola clark, come. there is an invitation to borisjohnson. nicola clark, thank you forjoining us.

the scottish education secretary has announced that pupils in scotland will be able to return to schools full time if coronavirus continues to be surpressed. speaking in the scottish parliament, john swinney said all schools would be able to reopen from august providing the virus remained under control. now, thankfully, the picture looks more positive. since may, because of the efforts of our fellow citizens to stay at home, we have seen scotland to make significant progress. there are now only 2000 infectious people in scotland, a reduction of around 90% since may. there has been a sustained downward trend in covid—19 deaths. intensive care cases now stand at a fraction of what they were. if we stay on this trajectory, which cannot be taken for granted, by august, the position will be even better. that is good news. that means we are now able to update our planning assumptions.

if we stay on track, if we all continue to do what is right, and if we can further suppress this terrible virus, the government believes that we should prepare for children to be able to return to school full—time in august. i must stress this is the aim that the government is now working towards, however, because it has to be achieved safely, it inevitably remains conditional and dependant upon ongoing scientific and health advice. but jamie greene from the scottish conservatives accused the government of lacking leadership. parents have been scunnered by all of this. why up until today were councils still working on plans to deliver just one or two days of schooling a week? why did it take such an outburst of anger from parents and demands for statements from these benches and others to get clarity from this government? the sad truth, presiding officer,

is that up to now recent events have exposed nothing but a complete vacuum of leadership in the handling of this issue. the reality is that today's u—turn, and it is that, has been forced upon the government after relentless campaigning from all quarters — political, academic, charitable and most importantly by parents themselves, to whom we owe the most credit in all of this. an earthquake has occurred in mexico, in the south, the epicentre in the state of oaxaca. in mexico city we are hearing that it shook buildings with hundreds of people fleeing their homes, out into the streets after alarms were alerted and residents ran out into the streets. no initial signs of too

much damage in exco city but of the epicentre in oaxaca, we will bring you more as it comes to us. we are a couple of minutes away from the final downing street coronavirus briefing being led by the prime minister. our political correspondent chris mason will talk us correspondent chris mason will talk us into it. a certain symmetry, three months exactly since boris johnson announced the lockdown in england and he has at least eased large parts of it. that's right, a return for the final daily news conference from the westminster government of the trio that started the tradition, the prime minister leading the government's presentation with professor chris whitty, the england chief medical officer and patrick vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser. it will be interesting to hear their tone, tenor and language around what is happening in england from a week on saturday, july four, and no doubt a pressing from them of the necessity we stick to the rules

between now and then and then the new rules in england as they kick in on the 4th ofjuly. this is the end of the tradition of the 5pm daily news conference. i of the tradition of the 5pm daily news conference. i guess pointless or whatever else is on will return at this time pretty soon. the government says it will continue to do these news conferences but not daily and they will happen when they have something significant to announce. but they will still produce the data that has been the sta ple produce the data that has been the staple of the first few minutes of these events. the next slide please moments as they go through the data file as far as the death toll is concerned and the number of tests conducted on that kind of thing. we will still have that and hopefully still have regular access to government ministers to scrutinise their decisions as they head out more ina their decisions as they head out more in a conventional way and escape scrutiny through zoom which has been the tradition in the last couple of months. i will interrupt you if they come in which they should be in the next few seconds.

it was interesting in the house of commons when boris johnson it was interesting in the house of commons when borisjohnson announced that using of the lockdown when sir keir starmer of labour was generally pretty supportive of the announcement. i thought it was a notably different tone from the labour leader today. he has cranked up labour leader today. he has cranked up his scrutiny and questioning and scepticism of government policy in the last couple of weeks, perhaps tying into the public mood of the greater scepticism of how the government has handled things but today he went back to the mantra that he said he would be as he put ita that he said he would be as he put it a constructive leader of the opposition, that would be his approach to the job particularly at approach to the job particularly at a time of national emergency and crisis. pretty there was a recognition from lots of mps as they sold their constituencies with greater frequency than they've been able to in recent months. there's been a huge, a vast amount of pressure plus on so many sectors of the economy.

that was real nervousness that u nless that was real nervousness that unless the two metre route was eased they anticipated loosening of the guidance as far as what sectors could reopen at the beginning of next month we really would not up to much. if you went to a pub or cafe or read two metres remain the rule, lots of places it simply would not have been viable to turn a profit with so few people being able to it be at any venue at anyone time. so i think that that reason, the governments move today has been pretty widely welcomed in the house of commons. with that caveat there isa of commons. with that caveat there is a nervousness about what might happen as far as any particular case is concerns are also in uncertainty about human behavior. there is a lwa ys about human behavior. there is always uncertainty of cores around human behaviour particularly when you are trying to model or predict an unprecedented situation. never before as a whole society in the context of the uk or in england, been asked to change its behaviour ona been asked to change its behaviour on a particular day and then see how that might happen and might play out. in the past the behavioural

scientists were called out and surprised about how we collectively behave. there's been potential that that that could happen again with consequence as “— that that could happen again with consequence as —— that is difficult to tell at this stage. gosh, that was a loud motorbike. the prime minister also under pressure of political pressure from business but also political pressure from his own backbenchers and quite a few of his own cabinet ministers as well. yeah, they has been real skepticism it's been expressed privately and publicly around two elements firstly that two metre rule soon to be an historical footnote and the second thing around quarantine, that two week period that people arriving. here we go. we've got the prime minister. for the last time. good evening. could i have the first

slide love kest thank you. on the 16th of april, we set out our five tests for adjusting the lockdown, and since then, they have guided our path. at every stage, we've diligently assessed our progress against these five tests before making changes and it has meant that we have so far avoided the catastrophe of a second peak of infection that could have overwhelmed the nhs and meant so many more lives lost. next slide, please. so, our first many more lives lost. next slide, please. so, ourfirst test is many more lives lost. next slide, please. so, our first test is to protect the nhs's ability to cope, so, we're confident that we are able to provide sufficient critical care and specialist treatment right across the uk. well, the nhs coped fa ntastically across the uk. well, the nhs coped fantastically under the extraordinary pressure of this pandemic. on the 20th ofjune, 283

people were admitted to hospital with coronavirus in england, wales and northern ireland are down from 438 two weeks earlier and down from a peak of 3432 on the 1st of april. and on the 22nd ofjune, 340 patients with coronavirus were in mechanical ventilation beds in the uk, down from 513 two weeks earlier and down from a peak of 3301 on the 12th of april. these numbers provide confidence that we are still meeting the first test. so, the next slide, please. our second test is to see a sustained and consistent fall in the daily death rates from covid—19, so that where confident that we've moved beyond the peak. of those who've tested positive for

coronavirus across all settings, it saddens me to report that 42,000 927 have now died. 171 fatalities were reported in the 24 hours till 5pm yesterday. a further 109 deaths which occurred in april, may and june have been identified and added to the total. as measured by a seven—day rolling average, the uk daily death rate now stands at 121, down from 216 two weeks ago, and down from 216 two weeks ago, and down from 216 two weeks ago, and down from a peak of 943 on the 14th of april. the second test therefore is still being met. next slide, please. our third test is to receive reliable data from sage showing that the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels across the board. in total, 306,000 210 people

have now tested positive for coronavirus, which is an increase of 874 cases since yesterday. the seven—day rolling average of new positive cases is now 1147, down from 1540 32 weeks ago, and down from 1540 32 weeks ago, and down from a peak of 5195 on the 14th of april. approximately one in 1700 people in the community in england are now estimated to have the virus, which is down from one in 404 weeks ago. sage believes infections across the uk are shrinking at a steady rate of between four and 2% every day. based on all the various data available, the government is confident that the third test is

being met. next slide, please. our fourth test is that we must be confident that the range of operational challenges including on testing capacity and ppe are in hand, with supply able to meet future demand. yesterday, the number of tests carried out compared to around 12,000 at the start of april. the new nhs test and trace service has already advised over 87,000 people to self—isolate who might otherwise have unwittingly transmitted the virus. we have contracted with over 107 to five new suppliers able to deliver ppe at the scale and pace the uk requires, and this progress means we are satisfied that the fourth test is being met. next slide, please. ourfifth that the fourth test is being met. next slide, please. our fifth and final test is that we must be

confident that any adjustments to the current measures will not risk a second peak of infections that might overwhelm the nhs. i'm once again grateful to the chief scientific adviser and the chief medical officerfor adviser and the chief medical officer for their advice on the measures that i'm about to set out. ican measures that i'm about to set out. i can confirm that the government judges that we have met the fifth test, and we are therefore satisfied that all five tests are still being met. so, on the 11th of may, we set out our plan to recover, and that plan set out three steps for adjusting the lockdown. step one was implemented as we set out on the 13th of may, enabling people to spend more time outdoors. step two was implemented as planned in phases on the 1st ofjune and the 15th of june. shops have opened, children have started to return to school and people have been able to see more of

their loved ones. now, step three can be implemented as planned on the 4th ofjuly. can be implemented as planned on the 4th of july. all the can be implemented as planned on the 4th ofjuly. all the measures i am about to set out apply to england. the devolved administrations are responsible for adjusting lockdown in scotland, wales and northern ireland, moving at the pace that they believe is right for them. after a period of asking you, the british public, to follow very strict and complex rules to bring coronavirus under control, we can now make life easier for people to see more of their friends and family and to help businesses get back on their feet and people and to help businesses get back on theirfeet and people back and to help businesses get back on their feet and people back into jobs. critically, we can make a change to the guidance on two metres which kept us safe while transmission of the virus was high, which can now be modified. having considered all the evidence while staying at two metres is preferable,

we can now move to one metre—plus where it is not possible for us to stay two metres apart. that means staying one metre apart plus mitigations which reduce the risk of transmission. and these precautions could include installing screens, making sure people face away from each other, providing hand washing facilities, minimising the amount of time you spend with people outside your household and of course being outdoors. on public transport, it already means, one metre—plus means wearing a face covering for mitigation, as everybody i think now understands. we are setting out covid—secure understands. we are setting out covid—secu re guidance to understands. we are setting out covid—secure guidance to help businesses to take the measures that are right for them. we can also allow more sectors to reopen on the 4th ofjuly as planned. so, from the

4th ofjuly as planned. so, from the 4th ofjuly as planned. so, from the 4th ofjuly, the following premises will be allowed to reopen provided they are covid—secure — hotels, bed—and—brea kfast driver and a self—contained holiday accommodation, caravan parks, campsites, places of worship, libraries, restaurants and cafes, bars, pubs, social clubs, cinemas and bingo halls, museums and galleries, hair salons and barbers, outdoor playgrounds and outdoor gyms. this has been an incredibly tough time for these establishments, but i hope that everyone working in them can take confidence in knowing they will be able to open their doors once again injust they will be able to open their doors once again in just a couple of weeks' time. and of course it goes without saying they should do so in a way that is covid—secure, keeping customers and staff safe. but i'm

afraid to say that as things stand, some premises such as nightclubs, swimming pools, indoor gyms, must remain closed for the time being, given the particular risks of transmission in those settings. however, we are establishing task forces now for those sectors to establish how they, too, can open in a covert secure way as fast as possible. at the same time, we can give people more freedom to see their friends give people more freedom to see theirfriends and give people more freedom to see their friends and family. from the 4th ofjuly, your household will be able to meet with one other household at a time, including staying over. this can be indoors or outside, at your home, in a restau ra nt outside, at your home, in a restaurant or pub or in paid accommodation. i want to stress, you

should remain socially distant from anyone outside your household. for meeting outdoors, you can continue to meet in a park or a garden in a group of up to six people drawn from six different households. again, at all times, you should maintain social distancing from anyone outside your household. as we give people back more control over their lives, we will be asking them to follow guidance on limiting their social contact rather than forcing them to do so through legislation. and this obviously requires everyone to act responsibly, which i have no doubt they will do. it will still be possible for the police to break up large and irresponsible gatherings, but neither the police themselves or the public that they serve want

virtually every aspect of our behaviour to be subject to the criminal law. yesterday, the deputy chief medical officer and the health secretary set out updated advice for those who are shielding in england so that they can soon start to return to leading more normal lives. opening up more of britain in this covid—secure way is only possible if eve ryo ne covid—secure way is only possible if everyone continues to stay alert to the risks of coronavirus for that means you should stay two metres apart, if you can't do that, then keep one metre apart with mitigations. wash your hands regularly. wear face covering mitigations. wash your hands regularly. wearface covering on public transport or, where you are indoors in a crowded environment, where distancing is not possible. follow the rules when visiting

businesses. crucially, get a test done immediately if you develop symptoms. and self—isolate if you're asked to do so by nhs test and trace. we are only able to make these changes because we have persevered together and stuck to our path. we had five tests and we met them, we had a plan, and we stuck to it. the government has asked a huge amount of all of you, and you've met that challenge, the people of this country have met that challenge, with good humour and common sense. of course, the fight is far from over. this is a nasty virus still, that wants to take advantage of our callousness. there will be, i'm afraid, there will be local

outbreaks —— carelessness —— and i must tell you that if the virus were to bring into get out of control, i will not hesitate to put on the handbrake and reverse some of these changes at local or indeed national level as required. but we can avoid that if we all continue to stay alert and do our bit to the british public have shown again and again, not that it was ever in doubt, but they can be trusted to do the right thing and do it with common sense. there is no doubt we are beating back this virus. and with your continued cooperation and good judgment we will beat it once and for all. i will now hand over to chris. no, to patrick. sorry. first slide, please. to go over some of

the numbers and remind you, the latest r value for the uk is between 0.7 and 0.9 and appears to be below one across the uk. everything looks like the numbers are continuing to go down and the epidemic continues to shrink, albeit slowly at a rate of somewhere between two and 4% per day. this indicates from the office for national statistics survey what the estimate of the number of people with covered market is in the uk. you can see it runs from the 25th april to 13thjune you can see it runs from the 25th april to 13th june and there you can see it runs from the 25th april to 13thjune and there is a steady decrease in the number of people with covid from somewhere above 0.3% to 0.6% of the population. but it's important to remember the virus is still here. an

estimated 33,000 people with covid infection in the community over the period of the study, the most recent period, that's 0.06% of the population still present. and something of the order of 5% of people now have antibodies to the disease, suggesting the number of people that has been infected is still limited across the uk and most of us have not had the disease and therefore remain fully susceptible to it. unfortunately, many people have died and this shows the figures for deaths against the average over the past five years. the top curve, the past five years. the top curve, the green curve, that's the deaths for this year with the peak that is due to covid. the dotted line shows the average for the five years previously. you can see we are

coming back down to average levels of death for the uk now and that is due, in the purple line common to the decrease in covid deaths and it is coming back down towards the baseline, towards normal, but don't be fooled that this means it has gone away. the disease is growing across the world, it's coming down in the uk, but it hasn't gone away. we need to be absolutely sure that with the new relaxation that we stay rigorously to the things that need to happen in order to stop the spread, contact to contact, to stop the networks of spread developing and to make sure that covid secured really m ea ns and to make sure that covid secured really means covid secured by the way we all adhere to it. thank you, patrick. chris? to add

some comments to what you said from a medical point of view. all of us, in every country, are having to find a sustainable balance because we have to live alongside this virus for the foreseeable future and find a way, no decision will be risk—free. it's about finding the balance of risks that allows us to operate in a reasonably normal way for a prolonged period. operate in a reasonably normal way fora prolonged period. ithink operate in a reasonably normal way for a prolonged period. ithink it's worth stipulating that the decisions taken in terms of the multilayered defence that all of us have to be pa rt of defence that all of us have to be part of the stop this coming back in large numbers. the first thing is, we all need to take part in isolating the virus. if we have the symptoms, coughing, fever, losing the senses of smell or taste, we must self—isolate immediately and ask for a test. we must get our households to self—isolate, and that's because if we have the virus, ifi that's because if we have the virus, if i ever get the virus, the rest of

the household have a very high chance of having caught the virus and then if the test is positive, nhs test and trace will try to find close contacts over the previous few days so they can be isolated so anyone with a virus who hasn't developed symptoms can be taken out of the general population, remain at home and reduce transmission. isolating the virus, we all have to be part of that. secondly, we all have to do things that individually make it harder for the virus to be passed on. washing hands is absolutely critical. one way to pass it on is by touching services that have been contented or become contaminated. covering mouth for coughing and wearing face coverings in situations where you can't keep a distance, such as public transport and many shops. the third group of things we have to do our thing is that link households together. a lot

of the changes today are around the way in which we reduce the risk of transmitting between one householder and another household. some of that is trying to encourage people only to have two households at any given time indoors with a bit more flexibility outdoors because the risk is much lower. it is not zero outdoors though. in venues like shops, restaurants and pubs, to make sure we can meet together in a safer, not a completely safe, but a safer, not a completely safe, but a safer way, and a lot of the changes are about emphasising things we can do and it's really critical that individuals and firms take these really seriously because if we don't ta ke really seriously because if we don't take them seriously then chains of transmission between households will be re—established. they include staying at two metres if people can. if that is not possible in a particular environment then there are several things as the prime ministersaid, to are several things as the prime minister said, to reduce the risk so it is broadly similar to what it

would be out two metres. these include things like orientation, making sure people are not face—to—face. it might include physical barriers. it might include things like ventilation. it might include face coverings and in all situations it certainly includes regularly cleaning areas people frequently touch. there is a long list of them, the 39 steps of different things that people can do to improve the chances people will not pass on the virus even if they haveit not pass on the virus even if they have it without knowing about it. the final two, the shielding programme for the most vulnerable people, which we have had modifications to that were talked about yesterday, and the very final aspect, which is more widely the effort of science to come up with cures, with a vaccine, with diagnostic things to help us. the paper from the uk that looked at the dexamethasone, showing it reduced

mortality, was published online today as one first step to get on top of this from a science point of view. but to be really clear, it's absolutely critical that every individual, every household and every firm takes these precautions seriously because if that doesn't happen then we will go back to a situation where transmission starts to rise again. thank you. thank you to rise again. thank you. thank you to chris and patrick. we can go to questions. actually, before we do, i should tell everybody that we will be winding down the rhythm of these press co nfe re nces . be winding down the rhythm of these press conferences. i know they have become a great point of focus. that's basically because we are continuing to make great progress in controlling the virus and we want to make sure we have something really important to say. i want to thank chris and patrick for their really heroic work in presenting the information to the public so clearly and so powerfully. i want to stress

also that we will keep you informed. asi also that we will keep you informed. as i said, i'm afraid there probably will be more outbreaks, certainly local outbreaks, and i don't think therefore that you have seen the last of us by any means. but they will not be happening as often as they have been, but we will make sure all the information that you want, that you normally get in the slide packs will be available on the website, the government website. we will go to questions from the public. we can go to suzanne in chesterfield. when will primary care and dental practices be encouraged to work normally again now the threat level is at three? we are seeing large numbers of patients referred to the emergency department

because their gp or dentist are refusing face to face consultations. how soon will they be getting back to normal? thank you to suzanne. as far as to normal? thank you to suzanne. as farasi to normal? thank you to suzanne. as far as i know, with dental care certainly, and primary care, dental ca re we certainly, and primary care, dental care we got back a few weeks ago. in the nhs. and primary care should be functioning as normally as possible. we do want people to be taking advantage of this moment, if they do have conditions that need to be attended to, go to your doctor, go to a&e. one of the most important su ccesses to a&e. one of the most important successes that we have had is protecting the nhs capacity. we don't want to see people suffer through not now using the nhs. but i should probably ask the chief medical officer to give further comment. the general practitioners, gps, have been working throughout this and done an absolutely

fantasticjob, if this and done an absolutely fantastic job, if i this and done an absolutely fantasticjob, if i may say so to my colleagues, inevitably to reduce the risk of transmission and reduce the risk of transmission and reduce the risk people come into contact in waiting rooms and between clinical staff and patients. they have change the way they have worked and many of those changes are things that make sense for the longer term even if it wasn't for coronavirus. but of course they are having to go step— by—step back to course they are having to go step—by—step back to a more normal way of providing the care that they always have and they always will. but there is a steady movement in that direction and gps are working the whole time to try to improve that. dental care was slight the diff —— slightly different situation. emergency care continued throughout the situation but it is a different and higher risk because you are potentially generating aerosols, droplets around peoples mouths, where if they are infected then you are getting very close. people had to be very cautious

around this but dental work has started up again, carefully at first but gradually people are finding ways of operating which actually going to work in this new environment. we will be in for quite a prolonged period. brilliant, thank you. we can go to christine in lincoln. christine asks... a very good question that has come up a very good question that has come up several times with me today. we are aware of this particular issue with meat processing factories. i think both patrick and chris might have something to say.|j think both patrick and chris might have something to say. i can say something about meat and the food standards agency which has looked carefully at where the meat is a vector for transmission. carefully at where the meat is a vectorfortransmission. i carefully at where the meat is a vector for transmission. i think the risk there is thought to be very low

soi risk there is thought to be very low so i think the meat itself is not theissue so i think the meat itself is not the issue but the environment in which the processing takes place is. there are several features, and perhaps chris can say more, about meat processing factories. they are cold and we know the virus prefers the cold. there is often difficulty in keeping people physically separated so there is a problem of proximity. they are often loud, so people often have to speak loudly, and there are places where people huddle to have their breaks and so on so there are places where people can end up infecting each other. so the environment itself is quite a difficult one in terms of the risk and behaviours that need to be in place to reduce that risk. i don't know if chris wants to add anything. the only thing i would add is that in many environments it looks like things like meat packing will be included in this, but also places like health care settings, actually, very often the area of maximum risk is social areas, communal areas

where people have food and breaks. it's important to think about the work environment and the social environment around that work. meat—packing factories, abattoirs and food processing and packing areas have led to several outbreaks around the world and therefore they are an area where we will have to ta ke are an area where we will have to take the mitigation is particularly seriously. we can go to laura kuenssberg of the bbc. thank you, mr johnson. the scientists are sounding notably cautious this afternoon. opening up opens up more risks to our health so will you take responsibility for whatever happens next? professor chris whitty, you previously said clearly you would like to see the two metre rule state of the end of the pandemic. have you changed your mind? can i say, laura, that i think it's absolutely right for everybody to be cautious right now. i hope everybody listening to

what we have set out can understand the balance in this package and have the balance in this package and have the need for a gradual opening up combined with continued measures to prevent the spread of the virus and restrict social contact. it is very clear that that is precisely how and why we are able to move forward with the opening up, the reopening on the way we are. yes, of course, i take a responsibility, the government takes responsibility, the government takes responsibility, for these decisions. we are indebted to our scientific collea g u es we are indebted to our scientific colleagues for their advice continually but it is our responsibility to choose.

there are environments where that isn't possible. what the scientific and environment groups have looked at, and they have a look at this very carefully, is, if people take this very seriously, if they apply it properly, it is possible to reduce the risk in a very structured way down to something which is broadly equivalent to two metres. but that is not something in ordinary environments you are going to be wanting to do, so advice on two metres remains, and the one metre, is a one metre—plus, mitigations which bring it into line with other areas, that's why people must take it incredibly seriously. can we go to robert peston of itv now? good afternoon, gentlemen. can i ask all three of you whether we can expect any further relaxation of social distancing until we've got a

workable vaccine or you're confident that a majority of us are immune, which you've said in the past could be many, many months away? and secondly, specifically for the prime minister, the prime minister, what assessment have you made of the damage to the economy and the potential impact on unemployment of asking business to follow these rules? well, can ijust have a quick go at both and then perhaps the scientific and medical colleagues can comment on the changes in social distancing themselves. but from my own perspective, and obviously we have to look at all these things, but the thing that is really changing at the moment is notjust that we have got the r down, which is very important, we're also seeing a reduction in the incidence throughout the population, robert, so that when weeks ago it was one in

400, it is now one in 1700. so, is that number goes down, or up, if you prefer, your chances of coming into physical proximity, physical contact, with somebody else who has the virus, those chances go down, and of course, there will be further opportunities as that happens to va ry opportunities as that happens to vary what our guidance is and to try to get back to normal as fast as possible for as many people as possible. that will be the approach that we take. and our assessment of the impact of the changes that we are making today is that we hope that there will be —— they will be positive and allow businesses to reopen in a way that... if i think back even six weeks ago, when we first, on the 10th of may, when we first, on the 10th of may, when we first set out this plan, i think a lot of people were saying to me at the time that we would be hard

pushed to get to opening up hospitality on the 4th ofjuly. so, i'm pleased that we're in the situation that we are in, in that sense, i think that it's good that we're sticking to the plan. there will be serious economic consequences, robert, from the whole pandemic, there's absolutely no doubt about that. and we will manage those as well as we can, and i've no doubt that the uk will show enormous resilience and get through it very well. but this package i believe should be positive for business, in the important sense that it combines reopening with the right degree of caution. on the issue about relaxation, obviously, the final decision is for democratically elected ministers, but in terms of what is going to change things over the next while, we are going to be living with this virus for a very

long time. if we have to wait until natural immunity finally gets on top of this, we're talking about a very long period, obviously we all hope the vaccine will come earlier. so, what might change over time, it will include the epidemiology, and what goes down can go up. winterfor example might change that and mean that we have to increase some of the measures. equally it might mean that the aberdeen me or she gets better over time, continues the downward trend, and we can go downwards. —— the epidemiology gets better. secondly, the recent treatment advance we hope will be only one of many scientific advances which will change our countermeasures and therefore our understanding of the risk. and finally, when we started off this pandemic we really had very limited understanding about what countermeasures would work. we still have a long way to go in terms of learning all the details. every few weeks, we have a different

understanding of this virus, and therefore, as our understanding changes, the pity ology changes, the countermeasures changed mother and of course there may be opportunities to relax some things, and possibly even increase others. —— the epidemiology. but this is going to bea epidemiology. but this is going to be a long haul, and everybody standing here fully appreciates, this is going to be a long hall. yes, i think this leaves us in some way ina yes, i think this leaves us in some way in a limited number of options. somehow it burns itself out and disappears full that seems extremely unlikely, and there is no evidence it is going to do that, and there is no particular pressure on it to disappear in that way. so, i think it circulates in the way that chris has said, and we may expect to get more of this in the winter. secondly, if we do get a vaccine, and there are many vaccine projects across the world, some of them in the uk, the most advanced probably is the one in the uk, the oxford one, those vaccine projects of course, one, those vaccine projects of course , we cannot one, those vaccine projects of course, we cannot bet on only one of

them winning but there are lots of them winning but there are lots of them out there so i think you would be moderately optimistic that one of them will give something. but you don't know. and the third is chris's point, to build on the successes so far, which is one drug which has antiviral effects of some sort, remdesivir, and seems to shorten the stay in hospital, another, dexamethasone, which reduces death in those patients who require oxygen in hospital. those are building blocks which have come quite quickly and we would expect to get more of those which can gradually help. those are things which allow you to then limit the sort of distance and we have, and as chris has said, to build upa we have, and as chris has said, to build up a natural immunity is going to take a very long time. sol build up a natural immunity is going to take a very long time. so i think we will be with this for a very long time. we hope that the vaccines and therapeutics, long soon, but there are no guarantees. and therapeutics, we've got a building block, a first step, let's hope that that progresses more quickly to make this a manageable disease, which again

would change some of the restrictions that we might need to apply. some coats of sky. minister, the changes that announced today, particularly ending the two—metre rule, only apply in england. why do you think that is? are the leaders of the devolved governments making a political point orjust being scaremongers or do theyjust think that the science, which hasn't really been published behind this decision, doesn't support the conclusions you've made today? and to patrick vallance and chris whitty, you have been absolutely crystal—clear that the risks from coronavirus haven't gone away, and your tone is noticeably more cautious than the prime minister — firstly, how worried are you that the public reaction to this overall package might cause an uptick in transmission? and could you just put on record, do you both personally support the whole package including the two—metre rule change? and did

sage officially fully approve the whole package of changes? sam, i think i am respectfully going to dissent from your characterisation of my tone today. i think i've been absolutely ruthlessly evenhanded in the way that i've set this out. there is progress that we are making, important changes that we are able to make to begin the opening up of the economy but i think i could not have been clearer that we must be cautious. and you will have heard all of the things that we've said about maintaining social distancing, all the mitigations for getting down to one metre, where you can't do two metres. i think people will get the necessity for progressing with caution, which is what i am recommending. on the four nations, look, all for chief medical officer is across all four nations came together to agree the change in the

alert level from four to three, and there is far more harmony, believe me, between our approach is that you might sometimes pick up from some of the way it is presented across the scene, and i've no doubt that the uk will continue to advance in the same direction and at more or less the same pace. although obviously as i said earlier, it is up to the devolved administrations to make their own dispensation driver and their own dispensation driver and their own dispensation driver and their own cases. maybe i will start on the two—metre rule, because i have stood here before and said this, and the evidence is published, actually, which is, as chris said earlier on, two metres is safer than one metre, if it is all unmitigated. but if you add the mitigations, and this is all in the papers that we published, so if you start looking at things like orientation, are you side by side or back—to—back? is

ventilation good? are face coverings being worn? are screens in place? the number of people in an enclosed environment is an important thing, you don't want to pack lots of people in, irrespective of how far apart they are. the time which people spend in certain environments, and the environment itself, those are all features which are important. and what we've said in the work which has been done by the modelling group is that one metre with mitigations in place can be equivalent risk to two metres, and that is the basis for how you can make decisions on the back of that. in terms of sage, sage is clearly not a decision—making body, it is an advisory body, the advice goes to all four nations and is used in the four nations and is consistent across all of them. on an uptick, if people don't take the

mitigations seriously, if people hear a distorted version of what's being said, that says this is all fine now, it's gone away, and start behaving in ways that they normally would have before this virus happened, yes, we will get an uptick, for sure. so it is absolutely critical that people stick to the guidance that's been given. it is a changed guidance but there are still various and reductions businesses of different sorts. it is really critical that we do that. there may well be uptick driver anyway, there certainly will be local outbreaks, as the prime minister has said, that is to be expected. personally, am i comfortable with it? this is a balance risk, like many things in medicine. you don't go for an operation unless you absolutely have to. it is a balanced risk. ithink this is a reasonable balance of risk, it is not risk—free, absolutely not. nobody it is. and we may at some point say, that particular bit of the decisions that we re particular bit of the decisions that were ta ken particular bit of the decisions that were taken is too much of a risk

with the benefit of hindsight and we have to go back on it. but it is a balance of risk informed by reasonable professional judgements. as patrick has said the job of advisers is not to sign things off, it is to give advice. finally i would just like to make a point because i really want to praise the work of my fellow chief medical officer is across the uk. we have worked absolutely in lockstep. my first meeting this morning before nine o'clock was with the chief medical officer is of the four nations and my last meeting this evening will be a teleconference with them and many other senior clinicians. we really work together, we share the science, we share intelligence, and we share opinions. so, ido intelligence, and we share opinions. so, i do not want anyone to get the impression, it is perfectly reasonable for different nations to ta ke reasonable for different nations to take slightly different approaches but the idea that there isn't a technical underpinning and a shared understanding i would like to quash, that would be an incorrect impression. great, thanks very much, sam. let's go to george parker of

the financial times. to follow up on sam's question and asked patrick vallance directly, do you support the decision the government has announced today to loosen the restrictions on july four, including the two metre rule? and to the prime minister, i was speaking to a conservative mp today who said britain is going bust and people are scared to go out of their homes and go back to the shops and pubs. i'm unclear about whether you think it's a good idea for people to go out and about now. if you do think it's a good idea, what can the government to to give people confidence they need to get the economy going again? on the two metre rule, i repeat what i have said, ithink metre rule, i repeat what i have said, i think you can get to one metre with mitigations which gives you the same risk as two metres, and therefore its a perfectly reasonable approach to take, provided, as chris said, the mitigation measures are properly

applied and people adhere to them. there is a way to do that and that's what the new rules say. in terms of the package that has been announced, it's not risk—free, it cannot be risk—free. every time you take a step to open up there is some associated risk with that. the right way to deal with that is then to monitor, measure and be prepared to ta ke ste ps monitor, measure and be prepared to take steps to reverse things as they need to be, so in terms of, is this package one that is reasonable and one that actually would allow you to do that and measure, yes, you can do this and measure. and you need to be prepared, where there are local outbreaks, to deal with them locally and if they go beyond local then you need to deal with them at regional and national levels which would mean rehearsal of some measures, which is the only way you can keep on top of this. measuring and monitoring becomes an incredibly important part of this. george, let mejust becomes an incredibly important part of this. george, let me just say i think it is great to see people out shopping again and frankly i can't

wait to go to a pub or restaurant, evenif wait to go to a pub or restaurant, even if it may not be wholly compatible with the new dire i'm on. and i hope that people will. —— the new diet i'm on. i think people need to go out and enjoy themselves. i wa nt to to go out and enjoy themselves. i want to see bustle and activity but let's be absolutely clear that i also want to see everybody being careful, staying alert, and following the guidance. so far, i think everybody has shown a massive common sense. they have worked together, they have stuck to the plan. we got the thing under control so let's keep it under control. we have set out a way of doing it, the guidance is there, so let's follow it and then make even more progress together. we can go to the daily express. good afternoon. to the scientists, you have both said we are in this for the long haul with many restrictions still are. as this is the last of these daily

briefings, what's your best guess at the moment of how long it's going to ta ke the moment of how long it's going to take before we finally see the back of the hand sanitiser is and face coverings? will it be years if we don't find a vaccine? prime minister, to follow up on george's question, the economic data suggests many household who have been fortunate enough to stay in work have built up savings from the lockdown. do you want to encourage those people to get out and spend and get down the pubs and supermarkets and hairdressers and make july the 4th a bit of a day of national celebration to kick off the recovery? and prime minister, what one restored freedom are you most looking forward to enjoying again on july four? i will let patrick and chris go first. i can't put a time on how long this will take. the ways in which we get out of this i have described, either it goes away, which i don't think it will, or we wait for a vaccine and therapeutics

to allow us to do it. we are on the way with therapeutics so that does create an opportunity. vaccines, there are projects in the clinic and we need to wait to see whether any of those have the right profile to work. i think those are the key ways in which we think about exiting this. i am optimistic that somewhere in there, and i can't tell you exactly where, there will be progress. and i think most likely in therapeutics to start off with, but fingers crossed one of these vaccines will come good. i think it's highly likely that one of them will do something and i'm afraid we just need to wait. it's a game of patients. i would be surprised and delighted if we weren't in this current situation through the winter and into next spring. i think then we regroup and find out where we are but i expect there to be a significant amount of current virus circulating at least until that time

andl circulating at least until that time and i think it's quite optimistic for science to fully come to the rescue in that kind of timeframe. but i have an absolute confidence in the capacity of science to overcome infectious diseases. it has done that repeatedly and it will do that for this virus, whether by drugs, vaccines or any other thing that may come into play. for the medium to long term i am optimistic but for the short to medium term, until this time next year, certainly i think we should be planning for what i consider to be the long haul out into 2021. as of the things i am looking forward to, there is a long list. i would love to go to the theatre again. i would like to go to theatre again. i would like to go to the globe. i would like to go to a restau ra nt. the globe. i would like to go to a restaurant. i would love to get my haircut. i want to make one thing clear, i would love to play village cricket again. i want to stress that we are working on all of these things. we are working on all the

industries, the performing arts, with theatres, with everybody, jim's, all the bits we can't quite do at the moment, sports such as cricket, we are trying to make it work as fast as we possibly can. —— gyms. so don't think this package represents the summit of our ambitions for stop its as far as we can go for now but i want to stress again, we will not be able to make further progress unless we continue to work together to keep this virus under control. as forjuly four, i hope it will be a great day, but obviously people have got to make sure they don't overdo it. we can't have great... i know chris is particularly worried about this, we can't have great rising scenes in beer gardens when the virus could be passed on. it has to be done in a sensible way, people should be giving their names to the pubs and

restau ra nts, giving their names to the pubs and restaurants, doing things in a way that allows us, if something does happen, to track back and test and trace and stamp out any outbreak. that's the absolutely crucial thing. people should of course enjoy themselves but as chris and patrick have said, this will be with us for a while and we have just got to adjust and make it work. hugo guy of the i. prime minister, you have said that one of the new freedoms from the 4th ofjuly is that people can go on holiday within the uk. can people now also go on foreign holidays if they are willing to observe the 14 day quarantine when they return? and can i also ask sir patrick and professor chris whitty, are you both confidently existing test and trace scheme is working properly and is efficient enough to

crack down on any future localised outbreaks? very briefly, as you know, the current advice is still that people should avoid nonessential travel. we will be reviewing the situation on the 29th when we look at the quarantine rules and what we can do to create air bridges. i acutely understand peoples desire to do this and need to know. we will get on with it as fast as we can. i think it's very important for every country that has really successfully cracked down on this, that we do have a arrangements to stop the virus being reimported into the country and that's why it's necessary to have quarantine arrangements. but i would also say to people, this is a fantastic country to go on holiday in and i wouldn't hesitate to recommend staycation as well. test and trace

is already doing a lot and we'll be having an impact on reducing infection. the biggest thing i worry about if i'm honest is that people don't report that they have got symptoms, so get a test, and then if someone is contacted by nhs test and trace, that they don't engage properly with that process. by reporting when people have symptoms, getting a test, and if it is positive then isolating, that's a huge service to the rest of society because that's the way we ensure the people who have the virus or might have the virus get out of circulation temporarily and that reduces the risk to absolutely everybody. i really want to stress the importance of people engaging seriously with this. baroness harding, who is leading this, made clear right from the beginning that it would take to reach cruising altitude with this. it is improving every day. i see the day to day to day on this. it will continue to improve over the summer and it's

already making a contribution and it will make more of a contribute and in due course be a great defence against the return in a big way of the virus. but it depends on people really engaging with it and engaging with nhs test and trace from the symptoms all the way through to the isolation. thank you to chris and hugo. finally we can go tojessica of the eastern daily press. at the eastern daily press in norfolk i have written a series of reports into a generation of our most vulnerable children and young people being failed and forgotten during the crisis. experts say the scale of the crisis. experts say the scale of the fallout on those most at risk is being underplayed, as we see many trapped in abusive homes or those most vulnerable facing widening attainments. you have applauded foot ball attainments. you have applauded football and marcus rashford's personal campaign to ensure no child goes hungry this summer but this is

problems existed before the coronavirus crisis hit. i know the cove nt ha s coronavirus crisis hit. i know the cove nt has launched coronavirus crisis hit. i know the covent has launched a catch—up scheme but what will you personally do and what long—term initiatives will you bring forward to tackle those ingrained inequality and ensure no trial this forgotten? thank you jessica. —— make no child is forgotten. i totally agree with you that one of the most unfair aspects of the crisis, the disease has been discriminatory in the way it has hit certain communities certain groups of people but are not studio: if you want to continue watching the final coronavirus briefing you can do so on the news channel. but now on bbc one we can look at the weather with susan powell. hello. this week our weather story is all about building heat and just how high can our temperature is before things go bang? and we see thunderstorms breaking out? for some of us it's going to be the low 30s.

pulling warm air in all the way from spain as high pressure builds its way north across the uk. the peak of the temperatures anticipated to be on thursday before we finally start to see a more atlantic shift to our weather, low pressure areas starting to arrive and from friday into saturday it all goes bang and we release cooler air across the uk. but here we are for the remainder of today with plenty of warm air sitting across england and wales, a warm evening with late sunshine. more stubborn cloud across scotland and northern ireland with outbreaks of rain on and off. these are the overnight lows, 12 and 13 degrees to the north, no lower than perhaps 16 in central london. starting to feel increasingly humid here as well. here is the weather front on wednesday, still bothering scotland and northern ireland. here is the high to the east. all the while trying to erode that weather front. so if anything on wednesday i think we will probably see a little less

in the way of rain than today but still some rather stubborn cloud for northern ireland and western scotland. east scotland becoming drier and brighter as the hours go by and all the while that heat working its way further north across the uk up to 22 in aberdeen on wednesday afternoon. a little cooler where we have more cloud across western scotland and northern ireland. i really think that's very important, not just for kids i really think that's very important, notjust for kids who are falling behind, but for all kids. important, notjust for kids who are falling behind, but forall kids. i think would make a huge difference to their lives. those are some of the things that we're doing. are you very much, jessica. we should probably conclude. i just want to say a couple of quick things and finally, all kinds of things have changed its virus. some important things have also changed in our ability to fight it. i would mention the huge efforts of the public to

control it but also the effects of dexamethasone, remdesivir, more drugs in the uk playing a lead role in dexamethasone. also test and trace. this can be a real game changerfor us. the trace. this can be a real game changer for us. the activities of thejoint by a changer for us. the activities of the joint by a security centre also make a big difference. although the virus is the same and it's just as dangerous as it was, we're now better at dealing with it. i think that should be giving people much more confidence now as we go forward , more confidence now as we go forward, but as i said throughout this conference, this virus is still out there. the only way to beat it is to stay alert, follow the guidance and save lives. thank you very much.

england's long hibernation is almost over says the prime minister as lockdown is significantly eased. from next month, pubs, hotels, hairdressers and cinemas can all reopen as the 2 metre social distancing rule is being cut to just one metre. people are going to have a couple of pints and it will go out the window, that's my gut feeling. but you don't know, do you, until it happens, i guess. as long as people keep their social distance it's fine. it's all about being sensible. two households of any size can meet up outside — and indoors — as long as you stay one metre apart. life is returning to our streets and to our shops. the bustle is starting to come back

and a new but cautious