this is bbc news, i'm reeta chakrabarti. the headlines... more than 33,000 new covid cases reported in the uk. we will pull away from the headlines and take you straight to downing street for the latest press briefing. good afternoon. i am joined today by professor stephen powis, national medical director of nhs england pulled that the average number of new cases each day is now 22,524, compared to 22,398 a week ago. there are now 14,196 covid patients in hospitals across the uk compared to

12,406a hospitals across the uk compared to 12,406 a week ago. 1219 patients are 110w 12,406 a week ago. 1219 patients are now in mechanical ventilation beds compared to 1142 a week ago. sadly, another 595 deaths within 28 days of another 595 deaths within 28 days of a positive test work reported yesterday. the seven day average daily number of deaths each day in the uk within 28 days of a positive test by date reported is now 375, up from 295 a week ago. our thoughts are very much with the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives. which is a reminder to us as their lives. which is a reminder to us as to why we are taking the action we are to stop the spread of this virus and ultimately save lives. today we are also reminded about the vital importance of fighting this pie was to protect our

economy. whilst the economy grew by 1596 economy. whilst the economy grew by 15% in the third quarter, it slowed in september and remained 8.2% below where we were in february. in government we understand acutely the human impact this statistic represents. it isjobs, livelihoods and families affected. we will continue to support businesses now and as they recover. the government has provided unprecedented levels of support for businesses over the past eight months. to date, that represent over £200 billion in support. this is one of the most generous and comprehensive packages of financial support provided in the world. which the international monetary fund has praised. just this month we have announced an extension of the self—employed grant scheme to march next year, an extension of the furlough scheme of 80% until the

spring, cash grants of up to £3000 per month for businesses in england which are required to be closed due to the national restrictions this month. these will benefit 600,000 business premises. i can confirm today that we will be distributing £2.2 billion to local authorities tomorrow to allow them to make these vital grant payments to the businesses which have been effected. all of these measures are designed to preserve jobs and all of these measures are designed to preservejobs and help businesses stay afloat. today we have also announced that more than 19,000 jobs have been created so far through our kick—start scheme. these jobs are spread across the country and in a variety of sectors. i know how hard thisjob market is, particularly for young job—seekers hoping to enter the workplace for the first time. the kick—start scheme is a ray of hope for young people and i want to

thank all the businesses which have stepped up to participate in it. i speak to businesses every day and i can see that despite the tough times, they are determined to soldier through this. through sheer ha rd soldier through this. through sheer hard work, innovation, resilience and invoking a real community spirit across the united kingdom. for example, in aberdeenshire, hand sanitiser as being made by temple nacker to protect front line nhs staff, in belfast, axel 3d has helped develop thousands of new ventilators and in celery, carrots like to have adapted man processes to produce sneeze screens for gp surgeries and pharmacies and care homes —— carousel lights. in tripoli, they are predicted —— converted production lines to create ppe. -- in converted production lines to create ppe. —— in caerphilly. despite government support and when it comes down to it, it is you who are keeping the country going. you who

are powering our economic recovery. just as our brilliant scientists and researchers are powering ahead in the race to discover a safe and effective vaccine. a little over six months ago i stood here and announced the creation of the vaccines task force, a team of industry experts, scientists and civil servants with one mission, to secure a vaccine, civil servants with one mission, to secure a vaccine, to beat down this virus. since then, we have secured access to 350 million doses through agreements on six of the leading vaccine candidates in the world. task force has demonstrated how we can work together at the pace. business and science, the nhs and local communities together forging a path out of this predicament. but although the announcement this week on the pfizer biontech vaccine is potentially very good news, we still have a lot of hurdles to overcome before we can be certain of its safety a nd before we can be certain of its safety and efficacy so we must

ensure that we continue to follow the guidance, to protect our loved ones, ourfamilies, the guidance, to protect our loved ones, our families, our friends, the guidance, to protect our loved ones, ourfamilies, ourfriends, our communities. because the virus is still there, it is still a danger. so we must not lose our resolve now, we must keep focused to protect the health of the nation and the health of the economy. working together, supporting each other, we will get through this, we will come out the other side stronger, more resilient and more united. i will pass over to professor stephen powers to take us through the slides. thank you. -- professor powis. i would like to start by thanking all of you who are following the restrictions, i know how difficult it is especially second time round but sadly the numberof second time round but sadly the number of patients in hospital with coronavirus is still rising as is shown in the single slide i will be

showing. we have updated this to yesterday and it shows covid—19 hospital inpatients in england. as you can see, over the summer, the numbers were low but as we have moved into the autumn through septemberand moved into the autumn through september and october and into november, numbers have been rising. indeed, when i appeared here at a press conference a month ago on the 12th of october, that number stood at 3827 but, as you can see, a month later, yesterday it was just above 12,700. we know, that number will unfortunately continue to rise if infection rates continue to increase in communities. sadly, while treatments and therapies have indeed improved, more infections inevitably also mean more deaths and more people suffering from the debilitating effects of long covid. this week we have had the extremely encouraging news concerning a

potential covid vaccine and in the nhs we are preparing to deliver that vaccine. it might feel like the cavalry is coming and we can relax about restrictions but it is vital that we continue to do two things that we continue to do two things that will reduce the spread of the virus and help save lives. firstly, we can all personally limit transmission by washing hands, wearing masks and keeping an appropriate distance from each other, that is what the restrictions are designed to do. we know these measures work so are designed to do. we know these measures work so don't stop now. keep going because frankly every time you wash your hands, you keep your distance, you wear a mask, you could be preventing passing the virus to a loved one, a neighbour or to someone you work with. secondly, i would urge everybody with symptoms to come forward to get tested, to self—isolate when they come into contact with anyone who has tested positive. both these measures will

slow the growth in infections that will inevitably lead to increased hospital admissions and sadly increased deaths. there is hope on the horizon with a vaccine and of course that is welcome news but that vaccine is not here yet and it will not help us in this second wave if infections continue to rise. that is why it is vital we all continue to follow all of the guidelines. getting back vaccine so rapidly to this point is a major scientific achievement and it is an unprecedented achievement and personally, i applaud all those scientists, everybody who has been involved in the development and continuing development of the many vaccines that are being developed. but today i would like to end by especially thanking everybody who has taken part in the trials that have been ongoing, whether the recovery trial here in the uk which

has helped the nhs show the world that dexamethasone is a successful treatment for covid, or those who have ta ken part treatment for covid, or those who have taken part in the clinical vaccine trials for covid and indeed continue to do so. all of you who have done this have selflessly put yourselves forward for the greater good of all of us, and your actions lam good of all of us, and your actions i am absolutely convinced will ultimately help save lives so a big thank you from me and everybody working in the nhs. thank you. we will now go to question from the public and first we have video from chris from reading. that evening. in light of the pfizer biontech announcement of development of a vaccine that is 90% effective, can the government inform the public how this and other vaccines will be rolled out across the uk in 2021? thank you. thank you, chris, incredibly pertinent question at

this point as we have heard about the developments on the pfizer biontech vaccine. we have the independent joint biontech vaccine. we have the independentjoint committee on vaccinations and immunisations which decides in terms of tiering and who will have access to vaccine first andi will have access to vaccine first and i will ask professor powis to perhaps talk about how we deploy this but i think the key issue is making sure those most at risk and most vulnerable who get access to the vaccine burst, very many people across the country will absolutely understand that. it is about protecting the vulnerable and people to loved ones but did you want to add anything? as i have said, chris, add anything? as i have said, chris, a huge achievement to get to the point this week so quickly in this pandemic that a potential vaccine is available. clearly, we need to see the data from the clinical trials, the data from the clinical trials, the usual regulatory mechanisms that are gone through for any new drug or

treatment will be gone through when they are available and then it will be the task to deploy the vaccine. in the nhs of course we have been working incredibly hard to prepare ourselves for this. we are very good at vaccine programmes, ourselves for this. we are very good at vaccine programmes, we ourselves for this. we are very good at vaccine programmes, we undertake flu vaccination every winter and indeed we are well into flu vaccination time of year and our gps and community pharmacies have been doing a tremendous job and community pharmacies have been doing a tremendousjob ensuring that those who need the flu vaccine get it this year. we have the systems in place already to build on and deliver so the general practitioners and community pharmacies but also we are looking at other channels and ways of getting a vaccine to people. that might be vaccination centres for example. we will be saying more about this in the weeks to come when we know a bit more about the vaccine, about the way it needs to be handled, once the regulatory approvals have been gone through. we

will set all that out, but we are working incredibly hard and i am confident the nhs will be up to what will be a huge logistical challenge but we have done this with flu every year and we will be able to do it with covid. thank you and we now have a question from laura from sheffield. she asks, "if the current restrictions end on the 2nd of december, do we go back into the area tier we are currently in or will it be reassessed?" thank you for the question. we made it very clear that the national restrictions will come to an end on the 2nd of december and then we will move back into the tiering system. what is important right now is exactly as professor powis said, we observe the rules and the guidance and do the basics to protect ourselves, wash our hands, cover your face,

basics to protect ourselves, wash our hands, coveryourface, maintain social distance. and of course, as we get to the 2nd of december, the prime minister will set out more details but the restrictions, the national restrictions will come to an end on the 2nd of december. thank you for that question, laura and we can now go to questions from the media with the first from sophie hutchinson from the bbc? questions for both of you professor powis, how concerned are you about this dramatic jump concerned are you about this dramaticjump in the number of covid—19 cases we have seen in the figures today? do you think these people were infected just before the lockdown and do you think it was a mistake to allow a number of days between the announcement of the lockdown and its actual start? and a question for the business secretary, can you be sure that the disruption from brexit will not interfere with the supply chain for the vaccine?|j

will the supply chain for the vaccine?” will take the first point. i think the first point i would make is, as you know, it is important to look at the numberof you know, it is important to look at the number of cases reported over a numberof the number of cases reported over a number of days and not just one day in isolation. as you have heard earlier, the seven day rolling average isjust earlier, the seven day rolling average is just above earlier, the seven day rolling average isjust above 22,000 so it is important not to focus just on a single day because of the way test and trace works. the second thing of course is there is other data to look at, the office for national statistics has been looking at covid infections in a segment of the population every week and it will report again tomorrow i'm sure. the react study which is a similar study from imperial college has been doing the same. again, don't look at a single day or single data set, those data set in particular will be important because they are not affected by some of the things around test and trace and who comes forward ,

around test and trace and who comes forward, although the react dataset looks at people randomly selected throughout the population but it's clear infection rates have been going up and what is important is to get them down and that is what will reduce deaths and reduce the pressure on hospitals. and it is what will prevent the long—term effects of covid such as long covid. the real key thing about the data is to emphasise the importance of all of us complying with the restrictions, driving the r below one and getting infection rates down again. to your question on our future relationship with the eu, as you know, those talks are continuing and as the prime minister said, there is a deal to be done but it is also important to emphasise that whatever form of deal we end also important to emphasise that whateverform of deal we end up also important to emphasise that whatever form of deal we end up with with the european union, there are going to be changes for businesses. and i have been writing, my department has been writing on a

weekly basis to hundreds of thousands of businesses, making them aware of individual areas where they will have to have a look and see if they are ready for the end of transition so that might be in terms of customs clearances, how they are looking to employ people currently working in the eu, issues surrounding work permits, if they are going to work in the eu, all of theseissues are going to work in the eu, all of these issues i think businesses will have to address. and we have been holding webinars on a sector basis with businesses with thousands of businesses signing up for them and working with business representatives from organisations so they can cascade information to the millions of members they have and also proactively as a department and also proactively as a department and across government contacting and talking to businesses who need to get ready. and i want to thank all the businesses, the very many across the businesses, the very many across the country you are making every effort to make sure they are ready for transition and of course we will continue to work with you and to

support you to make sure that post—transition we are also ready for the opportunities that will come. thank you for that question. we can move to dan hewitt at itv.. question firstly to the business secretary, on the day we learned the scale of the economic cost caused by the pandemic, a number of your own conservative mps are very concerned about what is going on inside number 10 following the resignation of lee ken, the director of two medications. sir roger gale said it was extra ordinary and unacceptable that downing street should allow itself to be distracted by internal squabbles so what is your message to him and other concerned mps? —— lee cain. and professor powis, do you regret stopping routine surgery too early in the first wave and resuming it too late and when you apologise to the hundreds of thousands of people who are still waiting for treatment? thank you for that question, i will take the first one. ican question, i will take the first one.

i can tell you that all of us in government are focused on one thing which is protecting lives and livelihoods and i have set out some of the measures we have taken in terms of extending the furlough scheme, protecting millions ofjobs, extending the self—employment scheme and that again protecting so far 2.6 millionjobs through and that again protecting so far 2.6 million jobs through that and indeed, all the grants and other support we have provided. and we will continue to do that, that is what people are watching this press conference, your viewers, would expect the government to do, to make sure we provide support for them and continue to put our arms around them at what is a very difficult time for lots of businesses where people will be concerned and worried about their jobs and livelihoods and families and it is right and proper that, as and it is right and proper that, as a government, we stepped forward and provide that support and we will continue to do so. thank you, of course back in march we were at the start of this pandemic, we could see

infection rates and hospitalisations rising incredibly rapidly, much more so than they are in the autumn even and we could see around europe as well health system is coming under tremendous pressure. northern italy was a good example from those high infection rates. testing was more limited so we had less information about exactly where the virus was and for all those reasons it was absolutely critical that we were able to create the capacity in the nhs to deal with that wave of infections, not knowing how large it was going to be and not knowing how the public would respond to the measures that were being put in place by the government. of course they responded magnificently, we know that. it was right we ensured the nhs was ready for that, we had the nhs was ready for that, we had the capacity and of course we have the capacity and of course we have the nightingale is on top but of course we do not want to step down

elective surgery where at all possible and that is why in the second wave this autumn we have not done that. we are keeping elective ca re done that. we are keeping elective care going, our clinicians have done a fantasticjob care going, our clinicians have done a fantastic job over the care going, our clinicians have done a fantasticjob over the summer and are catching up, cancer work is back where it was last year. there is more work to do and of course the key thing is, as infection rates rise and hospitals come under pressure, we rise and hospitals come under pressure , we have rise and hospitals come under pressure, we have seen that in areas of the country with high community rates, once again there is a possibility that elective care gets affected and our staff do not want that to happen. our staff want to get on and treat people who are on waiting list and make sure those lists come down. and of course we are all sorry that people had been effected in this way, none of us as clinicians or managers want this to happen, we want to get on and treat people. the public can help us with this task, it is the same message again and absolutely true that if we

collectively as a public once again, as in the spring, keep to the guidance, drive down infection rates, that is the best way to ensure the nhs can do what it always does, which is to treat everybody with covid people who do not have covid, ensure that waiting times do not increase and we can get on and manage the backlog. there is not a clinician in the land that does not wa nt clinician in the land that does not want to do that. we will absolutely do our best for our patients and the public can help us by doing their best as well. thank you for the question. sammie coates at sky. hello. we have seen turbulence in downing street this week, things seem fluid. who should president electjoe biden's seem fluid. who should president elect joe biden's chief of staff call in downing street if he has an urgent issue to discuss? and professor powis, with the uk's

failure to strike a trade deal with the eu make any difference at all to our ability to source coronavirus vaccine —— our ability to source coronavirus vaccine — — would our ability to source coronavirus vaccine —— would the failure? our ability to source coronavirus vaccine -- would the failure? let me ta ke vaccine -- would the failure? let me take that question. the first thing i would say, the prime minister has had a very positive call with president elect biden and he has congratulated him of course and congratulated him of course and congratulated the vice president—elect who, with her background and the fact that she will be the first female vice president of america, has achieved something quite historic. and the prime minister has talked about the range of areas where we are able to work with the us where we have our spatial relationships and of course one of those is climate where the biden team has said they will rejoin the paris agreement. in terms of the focus of this government, as i have

said to dan hewitt, ourfocus is singular, ourfocus is on protecting lives and livelihoods and we will continue to do that because that is what your viewers expect of us. on the eu exit question, of course the nhs has been preparing for that for some time and we will continue to make sure we are prepared for various changes. on the issue of procurement of vaccine, the secretary of state and the government have been handling that issue so i might pass that back on the procurement issue but as i said earlier, ourjob in the nhs is to be ready to deploy the vaccine and get it into peoples arms, frankly, and to do that as quickly as we can and thatis to do that as quickly as we can and that is what our focus is on at the moment. i think on procurement, just to say i think in really very fast pace, the vaccines task force has

secured 350 million vaccines across six of the most promising vaccine candidates. you have seen the news that has come out about pfizer biontech and of course let's see what happens with the rest of the vaccine portfolio. we have astrazeneca, the oxford astrazeneca vaccine which is in phase three trials. but we have some cautious hope now but as professor powis said, we all still need to do the basics which is observe the rules and guidance. thank you for your question. jane merrick at the i. to the secretary of state, a new study by the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine shows increasing public concern about a vaccine partly due to misinformation campaigns by anti—vaxxer is, 54% of people say they would definitely have won and that has fallen from

60%. do you accept the government has a problem with its pandemic communication strategy which is perhaps exam provided by the disarray inside downing street? professor powis, the react study shows the prevalence is still very high in the north—west at the start of novemberand of high in the north—west at the start of november and of course the north we st of november and of course the north west is one of the places that had tf three from the middle of october so do you think this shows the hearing system was not enough to press down on those infections —— had tier 3. thank you. can i say to that of course it has been a long eight months since the start of the pandemic and it is a global pandemic, one that has faced everything the government across the world and of course, as i said, our focus has been to get support to individuals and businesses and we have done that and you have seen as a result of the work we have done in communicating this, we have made sure that lots and lots of

businesses across the country have taken up that support. in terms of vaccines, of course it is very good news we have around 300,000 people are now participating in these trials and we will continue to communicate with people on the issue of vaccines and as professor powis said, in due course we will set out the plan for deployment itself. i think it is of course important that we continue to get the messages out but i do think to this point we have managed to do that. on the question of tiering, i'm confident that the tier system had an effect on the transmission of the virus and a numberof transmission of the virus and a number of infections in the community and i am sure that tier 3 had a greater effect than tier 1. of course it is important to remember that tier 3 had a number of different ways in which they could

be applied but if you look in liverpool, for example, i can certainly say from the nhs point of view that we are beginning to see some of the effects of tier 3 and beginning to see the number of patients, for instance, in liverpool university hospitals with covid is now less than it was a way to see the numberof now less than it was a way to see the number of patients, for instance, in liverpool university hospitals with covid is now less thanit hospitals with covid is now less than it was a week ago. we will not see the benefit to the nhs in terms of patients in hospital of the national restrictions put in place la st national restrictions put in place last thursday until into next week because there is a two week lag between people getting infected, developing symptoms and getting admitted to hospital but some of the effects we are seeing in merseyside at the moment will have been the result of tier 3. but it is important we do notjust plateau at a high level, it is important that infection rates go down so stabilising the r around one is helpful but it really needs to get below one and that is what the current national restrictions are designed to do. we will see over the

course of the next weeks how that plays through, but as i said, in the north—west i think we are seeing some of the effects of the tier 3 measures that will put in place on merseyside. thank you so much for your question. now to the daily express ? your question. now to the daily express? thank you. a question to you both about the hopeful vaccine. have there been any discussions within the government about the possibility of compulsory vaccination as was used in this country against smallpox for many years and what work has been done if any on creating a certification syste m any on creating a certification system to ensure people can prove they have had the jab? thank you for that question. the first issue of course is to make sure that we have vaccine doses which are safe and available, and we are absolutely clear that whilst they work on vaccines has gone out quite someplace, these vaccines will only be deployed if they are safe

and the efficacy is there. as i said, the independentjc di has actually set out the tiering of who should get this vaccine first, and thatis should get this vaccine first, and that is the process that we are going to follow going forward, so i don't sorta want to jump ahead here. i think the key thing first is that we need to get a vaccine, we need to make sure that it has the efficacy thatis make sure that it has the efficacy that is required, it is safe, and then of course we will follow the advice that we get from the scientists and the experts. so, yes, i think as i said earlier, we are good at vaccination in this country, in fact we have some of the highest vaccination rates in the world. our flu vaccination programme each winter vaccine eats a large proportion of the at—risk population, and this year, for instance, we are further ahead, in terms of the proportion for at—risk people who have been vaccinated for flu than we were last year, so that

gives me confidence that the public does have confidence in the vaccination programme and will come forward for a vaccine to protect their health and protect others, as they are doing with flu this year. flu vaccines, covid vaccines, any vaccine goes through regulatory processes. it will not be deployed unless the relevant regulatory bodies are sure that it is effective and it is safe. that will occur this time round, as it does every time round, but i'm confident that the british people will want to be vaccinated, that they will understand the benefits, notjust for themselves, but for everybody, because it is by vaccinating, by getting high rates of vaccination that we all protect each other. great, thank you very much for your question. the final question from the media comes from emily ashton at bloomberg. hello. my first question is to professor powis. alok sharma

hasjust confirmed that is to professor powis. alok sharma has just confirmed that lockdown will end when the restrictions come to an end on december two. do you think that is the right thing to do, given the rise in cases, or do we need longer to get out of, to get on top of this? and a question for the secretary of state, it wasn't clear from your earlier answers, can you categorically say that the supply of the vaccine won't be affected by brexit disruption? so on the first point, clearly when we come out of lockdown in december, and of course thatis lockdown in december, and of course that is quite rightly a matter for our elected representatives, we will not be going back completely to normal. there will need to be other measures in place, because while this virus is still here, we need to ensure that infection rates stay as low as possible and that we reduce the chance of transmission. exactly what those measures are i think it is too early to say yet. we are only one week into this four—week

lockdown. we need to see what transpires over the next few weeks, and i'm sure as it comes up to early december, government, as will scientists, be looking at the data over the weeks in november, and then considering what the best menu of measures will be, going into december. but ultimately of course that quite rightly is a decision for government. emily, thank you for that. let me take your question on supply chains. of course this is an issue, you have talked about brexit, but supply chains obviously is an issue across many sectors, but that issue across many sectors, but that is precisely why we have been investing hundreds of millions of pounds, in terms of border infrastructure, we have been investing in grants for customs intermediaries, it is why we are making a very big effort to communicate with businesses to make sure they are ready so they can get customs clearing is done. all of that work is ongoing. if we all get prepared, we will be in absolutely the right place post—transition but

the right place post—transition but the key message i want to leave for businesses is that whatever deal we end up, in terms of ourfuture relationship with the eu, there will be changes for business, and businesses do need to be prepared, so please have a look, go the websites, please have a look at the information that the business department and indeed other departments and the government are setting out to you, and we are there to help. so people need to get in contact with us, they absolutely do so. thank you very much, emily. i think that brings us to the end of this press conference was top could i end by thanking everyone who is watching this press conference for absolutely everything they are doing to keep their families, absolutely everything they are doing to keep theirfamilies, their loved ones and themselves safe throughout this process, and please observe the rules and guidance, hands, face, space, and i hope that if people do that, then we will beat this thing down and we will be coming out of the national restrictions on the 2nd of december. thank you.

that is the business secretary alok sharma bringing to an end that later downing street briefing. i think we can go over to westminster and speak to our political correspondent jessica parker, who of course was watching and listening to all of that. what did you make of it, jess, what struck you? i don't think we we re what struck you? i don't think we were expecting any major announcements from the business secretary alok sharma this afternoon, and indeed there weren't any huge revelations. he outlined the support packages available for businesses at the moment, and of course they talked again about the vaccine, and hopes for that vaccine, but again trying to just i think keep people following the rules, trying to suggest that people shouldn't let up, in terms of following those regulations, because of hopes that a vaccine could come in the coming months. of course, almost inevitably, alok sharma was asked about the stormy 24 hours or so that downing street has had with the announced departure of lee kane, a very close aide of borisjohnson

—— lee cain. after what appeared to be something of a power struggle in number ten. unsurprisingly alok sharma did in particular want to be drawn on that subject. he kept saying ministers were very focused singularly on trying to protect lives, protect livelihoods. he was asked of course by one journalist if joe biden's chief of staff, because joe biden's chief of staff, because joe biden's chief of staff has been appointed, wanted to call his counterpart in downing street, who would he call, because there is no chief of staff in downing street at the moment, that is thejob lee cain was apparently offered and met some resistance, alok sharma not really wanting to engage with that question either, simply suggesting joe biden and boris johnson had either, simply suggesting joe biden and borisjohnson had already talked before and that they had shared aims and interest, such as climate change. i think ministers really trying to calm this row down but it isa trying to calm this row down but it is a row that has been taking place within the walls of downing street and ultimately up to those people as to whether they can find a way forward. and the business secretary

was asked i think four times about whether brexit and the trade negotiations with the eu might affect britain's ability to access the vaccine, or the vaccines. i'm not sure we got a very clear answer. no, i'm not sure that we did. you are absolutely right, the bbc‘s sophie hutchinson asking if there we re sophie hutchinson asking if there were concerns, they could be as you say disruption to the vaccine supply chain if some sort of deal can't be reached with the european union. of course, talks have been going on in london today between the eu and the uk, the negotiating teams. sticking points remain and i think those talks will continue in brussels next week. in response to that, alok sharma said talks are continuing, he thinks there is a deal to be done, but whatever deal they end up with, there will be changes for business down the line, and they have been holding a series of webinars to talk about things like customs and work permits, so i think as you suggest no direct answer there as to what the implications could be for the vaccine supply chain. that will be

one to watch. with these downing street briefings, jess, we were having them on a daily basis during the first lockdown, but they are going to become more regular again now, are they? yeah, the impression we are getting is that we are going to get may be up to a couple of weeks, not necessarily clearly held by the prime minister. today we have had from the business secretary, and of course this all comes after downing street has been criticised. this takes in the story of lee cain and what has been going on in downing street over its communication strategy, not least of all by conservative mps. so i think they will try and use those downing street press conferences to relay any key messages, try and take control of the narrative sometimes, and perhaps cool down those arguments that they may have lost control of, and that was clearly an effort by alok sharma today. we will leave it there, many thanks. jessica parker reporting from westminster. i wa nt to parker reporting from westminster. i want to bring in nick trickle, our

health correspondent, who is with me, as you can see. asjess was saying, no big announcements there. but a press conference on the day that there has been this big rise in daily cases, a really spiking rise. yes, just over 33,000 new cases, 10,000 higher than it was yesterday and 10,000 higher than the rolling average. we have not seen a jump like that before. it is the highest number of confirmed cases reported ina single number of confirmed cases reported in a single day. the nhs medical director professor stephen powis was quick to try and play down and say we shouldn't read too much into a single day's figures. and they can fluctuate but it is unclear why they have jumped so much. fluctuate but it is unclear why they havejumped so much. the government havejumped so much. the government have said there is no particular backlog, sometimes there is a backlog, sometimes there is a backlog of cases that get processed, thatis backlog of cases that get processed, that is not the case, the mass testing pilot that has happened in liverpool, those figures are not yet playing into our national figures.

0ne playing into our national figures. one suggestion is a week ago people we re one suggestion is a week ago people were perhaps socialising morejust before lockdown came in, and because infections take a little while, that could be having an impact but i think what is clear is the coming days will be crucial to see what happens with that, because lockdown, with lockdown, we are expecting or hoping those figures would start coming down, and the fact we have had this jump is coming down, and the fact we have had thisjump is concerning. so you think if the figures are to come down, it would be next week, not the week after? yes, because of the incubation period for the virus. it will take about ten days after the start of lockdown to really see an impact on cases, and then in terms of the numbers of patients being admitted to hospital, we will see that more towards the end of the month, if there is any reduction there, and then deaths a week or so after that. so it is clear lockdown isa after that. so it is clear lockdown is a delayed impact and we will have to see what that has, but that rise in the number of cases today is a

little worrying. indeed. many thanks. 0ur health correspondent nick triggle there. i have some breaking news to bring you from northern ireland, where the executive at stormont has agreed to extend covid restrictions by one week. this is after, as we were reporting before, a delay in trying to work out exactly when restrictions were going to be lifted, so we are told it will be extended for one week, with a partial reopening of some sectors next friday. it means that close contact services, such as hairdressers and some businesses in the hospitality sector can reopen on friday, november 20, and that comes from our ireland correspondent chris page. so we will of course bring you more when we have more on that here on bbc news. 0ne more when we have more on that here on bbc news. one more update i wa nted on bbc news. one more update i wanted to bring you, the transport secretary grant shapps has done his weekly update of the travel

corridor, and he says that now all of greece, apart from corfu, crete, rhodes, zach and thos and kos are removed from the travel corridor, so apart from those areas i have just outlined, all the other areas will be subject to quarantine for people returning. the travel ban on denmark will be extended for another 14 days, and other countries that have been added to the travel corridor list, so these are countries where you don't need to self—isolate when you don't need to self—isolate when you return, they are bahrain, chile, iceland, cambodia, lagos, qatarand the turks & caicos islands. so that is the latest weekly update from grant shapps. now, around 100,000 new covid cases were occurring in england at the start of the lockdown, new research suggests. the study by university college london showed one in 80 people were

infected between october 16 and november second. double that reported in early october. paul elliott is professor of epidemiology and public health medicine at imperial college london and director of the react programme. good afternoon to you. i wonder if just to start you could remind people what distinguishes this particular piece of research, because people will have been noting that today the daily figures suggest 33,000 new cases, and yet you are suggesting 100,000 new cases. why the disparity? so what we are doing is contacting random samples of the population and asking them to take pa rt population and asking them to take part in our study, which involves doing a nose and throat swab, which is then analysed in the laboratory using the pcr test. so we are not going to symptomatic people, as is being reported today, we are going

to members of the general population, which will include some symptomatic people, but also a lot of people who don't report any symptoms, either on the day of the swa b symptoms, either on the day of the swab or in the previous week. so we include everyone who in our sample is testing positive for the virus on any particular day. and it should be said that over 50% of the population, as we test them, do not report symptoms. i see. so you are picking up many more cases than people who report because of symptoms, and then have positive tests. so, looking at yourfigures, they are double that reported in early october. why do you think that is? well, we know how the virus is transmitted, and that is through contact and social interactions, and we have been detecting an increase in the rate of increase of the virus actually since the late summer,

going through into early september, so our latest survey, which ended on fifth october, we were detecting an r value above one, so it is entirely expected when you have an r value above one that there is a rate of increase in the virus, and we detect that now in our next survey, which started mid october and went through to november monday second. —— went through to monday november the 2nd. would your expectation be, one week into lockdown in england now, would your expectation then be to see the transmission rate come down in the next survey? well, what we have seen actually even in the current round isa actually even in the current round is a slowing of the rate of infection, although we saw a bit of a dip and a bit of a rise, but as infection, although we saw a bit of a dip and a bit ofa rise, but as i say, we only went up to the 2nd of november, and clearly it is very important to see what happens in

this next period, and we would hope that the national lockdown would not only reduce the rate of the rise of the virus that actually lead to a downturn, because where we got to very high levels of the virus in the population, particularly in the north but it has climbed also in the south, and this is now translating into more hospital admissions, more intensive care admissions and sadly into more deaths, so it is really important that from these high levels we get off the rate of the virus turning down below one, the r value, and actually see a decrease in the prevalence of the virus in the population. ok, thank you very much for your time, the population. ok, thank you very much foryourtime, professor the population. ok, thank you very much for your time, professor paul elliott from imperial college london. thank you. rapid coronavirus testing for care homes could be a game changer for vulnerable people and their families, according to researchers. four care homes in england are taking part in a trial where their staff are trained to carry out and analyse the tests, providing results in under an hour and a half.

it's hoped the pilot, along with another starting next week involving 30 homes, could pave the way for closer contact between care home residents and their visitors. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt reports. glimpses through windows and closed doors, barriers that keep the virus out of care homes, like this one in nottingham, but here they hope rapid testing could be the key to allowing more visits. i think its three or four. i think it's number four. at the moment, 96—year—old janet can only see her family through the glass of a specially built pod. they cannot touch but it is a step forward from lockdown, which she found difficult. it felt as if you'd done something wrong and you had to be kept in prison. and you knew you hadn't. and not to be able to see your family is dreadful.

this is one of four homes trialling vast tests which could be a game this is one of four homes trialling fast tests, which could be a game changerfor visiting. in outbuilding, kelly, one of the nurses, prepares to check if i have covid. rapid testing is being trialled on staff here at the moment but the hope is eventually it will be rolled out for relatives as well. rather than having to send swabs off to a laboratory, kelly has been trained to prepare the solution then run checks on it in the machine provided. the care home staff have found the technology relatively easy—to—use, we have seen a very low error rate and the specificity of the tests, its ability to correctly identify a negative case, is 99% so that means it gets it right in 99 cases out of every hundred tests that are done. 85 minutes after my test, i have a result. it is negative. many of the residents here have dementia and the home believes this technology is vital to balance people's safety with their need to see family.

we have built pods at the minute, which are great, it means we are one step further on, but we are still putting people behind a barrier to see their relatives. if we could have testing whereby people could actually come in and be with someone, obviously taking precautions as need be, i think it would be a massive step forward. hi, mum! claire brown believes her mum helen, who has dementia, deteriorated in the weeks they were unable to visit so she wants testing available quickly. for my mum in particular, and for people like her, to have access to her family who know her and love her best is such an important part of her care. it can't really be ignored. the results of the trial are expected soon. it will then be for the government to decide whether rolling this out will give care home residents, like helen, and theirfamilies, the safe contact they crave. alison holt, bbc news, nottingham.

# what will be will be. the business secretary, alok sharma, has said the government will distribute £2.2 billion to councils to fund grants for firms forced to close as a result of lockdown measures. mr sharma said it will benefit 600,000 business premises. speaking at the downing street news conference, he said the government understood how people's jobs and livelihoods were being affected. whilst the economy grew by 15% in the third quarter, it slowed in september, and remains 8.2% below where we were in february. we in government understand acutely the human impact this statistic represents. it is jobs, livelihoods and families affected. so we will continue to support businesses now and as they recover. the government has provided unprecedented levels of support for businesses over the past eight months. to date, that represents over £200 billion in support. this is one of the most generous

and comprehensive packages of financial support provided in the world, which the international monetary fund has praised. just this month, we have announced an extension of the self—employed grant scheme to march next year, an extension of the furlough scheme at 80% until the spring, cash grants of up to £3,000 per month for businesses in england, which are required to be closed, due to the national restrictions this month. these will benefit 600,000 business premises. and i can confirm today that we will be distributing £2.2 billion to local authorities tomorrow to allow them to make these vital grant payments to the businesses which have been effected. all of these measures are designed to preservejobs and help businesses stay afloat. today, we have also announced that

more than 19,000 jobs have been created so far through our kick—start scheme. thesejobs are spread across the country and in a variety of sectors. i know how hard this job market is, particularly for young job—seekers hoping to enter the workplace for the first time. the kick—start scheme is a ray of hope for young people, and i want to thank all the businesses which have stepped up to participate in it. i speak to businesses every day, and i can see that, despite the tough times, they are determined to soldier through this. to soldier through this, through sheer hard work, innovation, resilience and invoking a real community spirit across the united kingdom. for example, in aberdeenshire, brewdog has made hand sanitiser to protect our front line nhs staff. in belfast, axial 3d has helped develop thousands of new ventilators. in surrey, carousel lights have adapted manufacturing processes to produce sneeze screens for gp

surgeries, pharmacies and care homes. in caerphilly, transcend packaging has converted production lines to create ppe, almost doubling their workforce in four months. because, despite the government's support, and when it comes down to it, it is you who are keeping the country going. alongside the business secretary was professor stephen powis, national medical director of nhs england, who said that, despite the promising news that a vaccine is coming, it is vital not to ignore the restrictions that are currently in place. this week, we have had the extremely encouraging news concerning a potential covid vaccine, and in the nhs, we are preparing to deliver that vaccine. it might feel like the cavalry is coming, and we can relax about the restrictions, but it is vital that we continue to do two things that will reduce

the spread of the virus and help save lives. firstly, we can all personally limit transmission by washing hands, wearing masks and keeping an appropriate distance from each other — that is what the restrictions are designed to do. we know these measures work, so don't stop now. keep going, because, frankly, every time you wash your hands, you keep your distance, you wear a mask, you could be preventing passing the virus to a loved one, to a neighbour or to someone you work with. secondly, i would urge everybody with symptoms to come forward to get tested, and to self—isolate when they come into contact with anyone who has tested positive. both these measures will slow the growth in infections that will inevitably lead to increased hospital admissions and, sadly, increased deaths. there is hope on the horizon, with a vaccine, and of course that is welcome news but the vaccine is not here yet and it will not help us in this second wave

if infections continue to rise. that is why it is vital we all continue to follow all of the guidelines. getting a vaccine so rapidly to this point is a major scientific achievement, and it is an unprecedented achievement, and personally, i applaud all those scientists, everybody who has been involved in the development and the continuing development of the many vaccines that are being developed. but today, i would like to end by especially thanking everybody who has taken part in the trials that have been ongoing, whether the recovery trial here in the uk, which has helped the nhs show the world that dexamethasone is a successful treatment for covid, or those who have taken part in the clinical vaccine trials for covid, and indeed continue to do so. all of you who have done this have selflessly put yourselves forward for the greater good of all of us,

and your actions, i am absolutely convinced, will ultimately help save lives. that was stephen powis from nhs england. up next, the bbc news at six pm with george alagiah but first time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. most of us saw some sunshine today but the clouds have been gathering more recently across the north—west of the country. this was how the weather looked around bassenthwaite in cumbria through the afternoon, and the cloud you can see spilling in here is associated with this area of low pressure. cold front set to move in as we go through the night and this front will have some strong winds on and just ahead of the front as well. so it is going to become quite gusty for all of us for a time as we go onto the next few hours, with the rain really quite heavy as well as it moves across from northern ireland into scotland, england and wales. there gusts of wind could reach 40, 50 mph

england and wales. there gusts of wind could reach 40,50 mph —— 40 to 45 mph in places, and the rain will be quite intense for a time, one of those weather fronts that might wake you up for those weather fronts that might wake you upfora those weather fronts that might wake you up for a time overnight. following that front, pressure air into northern ireland and as we head tomorrow morning, the colder front pushes eastwards, rain for a time across central and southern england, into east anglia in south—east england clearing, then some sunshine, the weather improving, brighter and drier for most of us, but there will be showers across northern and western areas, and the showers will be accompanied by blustery winds across the north—west of the uk, the wind is falling right across the south—east later in the afternoon. this weekend sees low pressure in charge, a whole tangle of weather fronts crossing the uk. in each of these bringing zones of heavy rain, so yes, they will be heavy rain, so yes, they will be heavy rain, so yes, they will be heavy rain both saturday and sunday, and strong winds at times as well. 0n and strong winds at times as well. on saturday, the strongest winds will be blowing through the irish sea, so wales, western areas of england picking up the strongest gusts, 40, may be 50 mph, outbreaks

of rain driving northwards through the day, start off right across the north of scotland. we will all see a soaking at some point. maybe some brighter spells at times across to eat in england but these are quite unreliable. it will be mild however, temperatures 11 in edinburgh and glasgow to about 16 in london. —— across to eastern england. rain at times for scotland and northern ireland, still quite heavy, this time the strongest winds working through the english channel and those gusts could reach around 50 or even 60 mph, so particularly blustery here. pressure air eventually working on for most of us as we had three sunday afternoon. that is your latest weather. goodbye for now.

today at six, the number of people in england waiting more than a year for hospital treatment hits a 12—year high. as nhs staff battle the second wave of the pandemic, some hospitals are once again cancelling non—urgent treatments. i'm in quite a lot of pain, some days are worse than others, sometimes i go into a spasm. you are just left in a sort of wasteland with sort of not knowing what's going on. also tonight, from covid's impact on health care to what it's doing to our economy. the uk's roller—coaster ride — a big rebound over the summer, but signs of another dip as the second lockdown bites. baby deaths at the countess of chester hospital — a maternity ward nurse is charged with murdering eight children.