actually, let's go to downing street now. jonathan van tam and oliver dowden.ood afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the afternoon downing street briefing. let me begin as usual with the latest figures. 4,000,170 tests for coronavirus have now been carried out in the uk. that includes 127,722 tests carried out yesterday. 272,826 people have tested positive. that is an increase of 2445 cases since yesterday. sadly, of those tested positive for coronavirus across all settings, 38,376 have now died. that is an increase of 215 fatalities since yesterday. this new figure includes deaths in all settings, not just in hospitals. and of course, each one of those deaths is a tragedy for the family involved and oui’ tragedy for the family involved and our thoughts are with all of them. as the chancellor outlined yesterday, those numbers show that we are now passed the peak and as we continue to flatten the curve, we are able to start reopening parts of the economy. we are also looking at how to begin relaxing other measures so how to begin relaxing other measures so that

as we wait for the daily government news briefing which today is led by oliver dowden the culture, media sport secretary and jonathan van—tam, the deputy chief medical officerfor england. some scientific advisers to the government have warned of the risk of lifting the lockdown in england and wales, with rules set to change next week. several scientists on the advisory committee, sage, have raised concerns that restrictions are being relaxed too soon. from monday, up to six people in england can meet outside. but police forces are reminding people they must still only meet on a one—to—one basis this weekend. here's our political correspondent, jonathan blake. allowing groups to gather outside, a significant step out of lockdown, already taken in scotland and northern ireland. england and wales will follow on monday. with the number of coronavirus cases falling, ministers say the time is right, but some of those advising the government have concerns. if we make multiple releases of the lockdown at the same time, we won't know what is causing the inevitablejump in cases. and we don't have

as we wait for the daily government news briefing which today is led by oliver dowden the culture, mediahe deputy chief medical officerfor england.

i think the press conference with oliver dowden is now beginning.ed by professor steve pallas. first of all, i would like to update you on the latest data in respect of the coronavirus response. first of all, 2,000,960 tests of coronavirus have now been carried out in the united kingdom. that includes 177,216 united kingdom. that includes 177 , 216 tests united kingdom. that includes 177,216 tests which were carried out yesterday. 248,293 people have tested positive. that is an increase of 2472 cases since yesterday. 9953 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus, that is down 13% from 11,443 this time last week. and sadly, of those who have tested positive for coronavirus across all settings, 35,704 have now sadly died. that is an increase of 363 fatalities since yesterday. of course, my thoughts are with every one of the families of those people who have been affected by this. before we begin questions from the public and media, i want to remind people of the details of the next phase of our fight against coronavirus. slide one, please. as

in the past hour, we heard from the culture secretary oliver dowden at the daily downing street briefingt the key developments. he began by saying over 177 thousand coronavirus tests were carried out in the uk in the past 2a hours. that's the biggest daily total to date. this, however, does not correspond to the number of people actually tested as some individuals are tested more than once. mr dowden also announced the latest death toll of 35,701; — a rise of 363 on yesterday. the culture secretary also pledged £150 million from dormant bank accounts to help charities respond to the pandemic. and a new taskforce to help sport and the creative industries prepare to get back on their feet will be introduced. among those who will be involved include former footballer alex scott, ex—itv boss michael grade and the english national ballet's tamara rojo. the culture secretary was also asked to respond to claims that the government had ‘glossed over‘ past mistakes in the spread of the virus in care homes. it is categorically not the case that we have lost over this. the prime minister has been v

the announcement was made by the minister for culture, media and sport oliver dowden.hted to announce today that the government has published guidance which allows competitive sport to resume behind closed doors from monday at the earliest. and crucially only when it is safe to do so. crucially only when it is safe to do so. it's up to each individual sport to decide exactly when to resume competition. they know they are sports best. but football, tennis, horse racing, formula i, sports best. but football, tennis, horse racing, formula 1, cricket, golf, rugby, snicker and others are all set to return to our screens shortly with horse racing first out the gate in the north—east next week. —— snicker. our political correspondent,chris mason is here. the lifting in the uk of the restrictions, country by country within the united kingdom. the difficulty of that being felt by countries around the world and how to proceed with the right caution. yes, because there is no unimpeachable that of wisdom we're just waiting for the right person to open to see this as the plan, nece

you will have been watching the interview with oliver dowden. it. there was also no direct a nswer to see it. there was also no direct answer to your question about when the government will make a definitive decision. we have been told throughout that the reopening plan for the 1st ofjune, as limited as it is, is conditional on the data, the science, on how things look near the time. obviously we are trundling towards that date and at some point prior to that date a decision one way or the other definitively has to be taken. we learned nothing new about when that moment will come. meanwhile, real concern from the teaching trade unions, some more than others, but real concerns that they would like to see addressed and obviously some concern from some parents as well. so the debate continues. we have not yet got to definitive answers. and neither side, either those most vociferous amongst the trade unions all the government, yet in public, at least, willing to concede and compromise. thank you, chris. the republic of ireland is today beginning the

let's speak now to the culture secretary oliver dowden.me minister making a statement on sunday, speculation this week about certain parts of the lockdown restrictions being eased. it is mixed at the moment. can you make it clear? the situation remains exactly as it has been several weeks. that is people should be staying at home in order to protect the nhs and save lives. that has not changed and once again we have that temptingly sunny bank holiday weekend coming up, but people should please not be home except for the limited reasons we have already set out, and it is ve day to day so they will be plenty of good stuff going on that we have been working to organise. now on sunday, watch the prime minister will do, is set out the road map ahead. it now appears that we are past the worst of this virus, the peak so far. so we are seeing... whilst death rates remain sadly high they are falling on a rolling basis. the number of hospital admissions are falling, as well. so we can start to look to the future but we will have to do so in a very t

the culture secretary oliver dowden has tweeted.d to plan for a safe return of elite sport behind closed doors when and only when, it is safe to do so on the basis of expert medical advice. it's the biggest dilemma facing the premier league in its history and it could look very different if it does kick off again, asjoe lynskey reports. when football comes back it will not look the same. right now experts say we cannot have massive crowds until we have a vaccine, so if the premier league resumes it will not be in front of my spirit. for this man is meant his home debut had no one watching. it was surreal. it was something i guess we could get used to more not having that to the same level as going to be difficult. any fixtures that go—ahead will still have 22 players in close contact. to stop the virus spreading between them, and option is to put teams under strict quarantine measures but that puts a huge mental health burden potentially on players. regular testing, perhaps every two days is also being considered. but even if just o

oliver dowden talking at a press conference talked about how he was a champion of the great british breakathedral. family, friends and carers of anyone who has died can submita and carers of anyone who has died can submit a name, photograph and a message to pay tribute. wilkinson reports. the names, the faces, the lives of some of the thousands of people who have died with covid—19. mary was 81. herfamily have died with covid—19. mary was 81. her family wants have died with covid—19. mary was 81. herfamily wants people have died with covid—19. mary was 81. her family wants people to remember her spirit, vitality and love. when you think of war graves, their impact is astonishing. and they are places of beauty. and they carry their message through generations. i hope remember me can do that. from today, thousands of others like oliver can submit the name, a photograph of their loved one and a short message. the dean at st paul's cathedral hopes it will be a comfort to so many. all of us need to know that we matter and are remembered and we wa nt matter and are remembered and we want our lo