Coronavirus UK live: key workers and their families can get tests from Friday, Hancock says | Politics

From our colleague Lisa O’Carroll

Q: Why has the UK government been unable to produce a plan like the Scottish government’s?

Hancock says the UK has set out its own five tests. Having the four nations of the UK work together on this has been important. The country has “essentially moved together”, he says. The UK-wide approach “is the best way to go”, he says.

Vallance says the scientists from the four nations all work together. It is a unified approach, he says.

And that’s it. The press conference is over.

Q: Many people are coming to Brighton beach, flouting lockdown rules. What can be done about that?

Hancock says the police have done a good job. They have been stopping people on the beach.

The measures being taken are working. Everyone should follow the rules. That is how we come through this, he says.

Q: If London is ahead of other parts of the UK, wouldn’t it make sense for London to come out of lockdown first?

Vallance says there are more similarities than differences between different parts of the country. He says he said there might be differences of up to two weeks.

He says relaxing measures is something you want to do when you are absolutely on top of the virus.

Q: Isn’t it the case that death certificates do not always mention coronavirus in the case of coronavirus deaths, because people in care homes have not been tested. Shouldn’t all people dying in care homes get tested?

Newton says one reason for having more testing is so as to get better statistics.

He says even if the doctor does not write coronavirus on a death certificate, if someone has tested positive for coronavirus, that will be picked up.

Vallance says there is no evidence that support for the lockdown measures is tailing off.

Hancock says it is not just clap for the NHS tonight. It is Clap for Carers.

He says he is looking into what more can be done to support the families of NHS workers who have lost their lives. He hopes to be able to announce something soon.

Hancock says it has been “phenomenal” to see how the public have risen to the challenge of following social distancing.

Q: How many of the 18,000 contact tracing staff are in place? What level does the new case number need to get to for this to be effective?

Hancock says they are recruiting now. He says that process is ongoing.

They should be ready in a matter of weeks, he says.

And for this to be effective, the case numbers have to come down.

Q: What is the position on face masks?

Hancock says the position is unchanged. But ministers will consider new advice, if that is what they get, as and when they need to.

(Downing Street said earlier new advice had gone to ministers.)

Vallance says the evidence on face masks is weak. He says the scientists have given their advice to ministers.

Q: Does a proper contact tracing system have to be in place before you can ease any lockdown measures? And are you willing to accept a certain level of community transmission?

Hancock says these are both ultimately political decisions.

Hancock says there is no automatic link between the two.

But test, track and trace can help to suppress transmission in a way that allows for fewer social distancing rules.

And test, track and trace works better when transmission rates are lower.

He says it appears they have got the R number (rate of transmission) down. But they need to see the number of cases come down too, he says.

Both these questions are connected.

Vallance says the scientists advised on what had to happen to keep the numbers below critical care capacity.

Now they are advising on what needs to be done to get transmission numbers lower, and to get the numbers down to a level where test, track and trace can work.

Q: Are overweight people more at risk?

Newton says Public Health England is looking at this, as well as at whether other factors contribute to people’s susceptibility.

Q: How many people do you know are expected to die?

Vallance says there are still a lot of things we don’t know about this virus.

It is difficult to speculate, he says.

There have been large numbers across the world.

The overall excess deaths is the key statistic, he says. He won’t try and put a number on that. Clearly every death is regrettable.

Q: Nicola Sturgeon and some of your MPs think you should be more open about what comes next. Are they right?

Hancock says the government has set out critical tests for what needs to happen before the rules can be lifted. He says they want to maintain clarity on the message: stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.

Q: Are different parts of the country peaking at different times?

Vallance says it is an artificial peak. It is the product of the lockdown. London is ahead of the rest of the UK, but generally all parts of the country are within two or three weeks of each other.

Newton is now talking about testing.

He is introducing his own slides. This one covers capacity.

He says different types of test are available. He says two laboratories are doing tests that do not require reagents, which is helpful because they are in short supply around the world.

He shows a slide illustrating where the testing centres are.

And he says there will be 48 pop-up testing centres (ie, mobile test centres).

(Earlier No 10 said 50, but that might just have been a rounding up.)