UK coronavirus live: Matt Hancock defends easing lockdown as R number shown to be close to 1

Q. What does the government intend to do to ease the double pressures on businesses in Northern Ireland impacted by the lockdown and by pending Brexit border checks?

Hancock says the government intends to deliver on the referendum result.

Q. Given that the devolved regions are now leaving lockdown at different rates and with different R rates, will you be advising measures such as temperature checks at ports and airports for people travelling between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK?

Harries says there may be times when differential policies will have to apply, whether that’s within England or between the different countries of the UK. This will come as we gather more evidence on the different populations, she adds.

She adds that temperature checks for Covid-19 isn’t a very valid intervention because of the 14-day incubation period.

That’s the end of the press conference.

Q. Some care homes are not telling residents and their families how many infections and deaths with coronavirus they have had, should that be made publicly available?

Hancock says he didn’t know about this and would like to look into it.

Transparency is the best forward, he says.

Harries adds that some care homes are very small, so we need to be careful about disclosing clinical information.

She adds that it isn’t always easy to pinpoint the overriding cause of death.

Q. Do you think the prime minister should correct what he said in parliament, given that the only directive on a ban on care home visits came on 2 April, 10 ten days after the national lockdown?

Hancock says that on 13 March, extra guidance was introduced, after which many care home providers stopped visitors.

This guidance was strengthened “all along”, he adds. He then moved swiftly on.

The question referred to Boris Johnson’s claim during PMQs that it “wasn’t true” that as late as 12 March the care home sector had been advised that it was unlikely to face an outbreak. Labour has asked for the prime minister to return to the Commons to correct the record.

Q. What does the government consider an acceptable level of risk when it comes to reopening schools?

Q. What consequences would schools face if they refuse to reopen because the risk is too great?

Hancock says reopening schools has to be “a team effort” and accepts it’s a “huge challenge”.

Kanani says that risk is relative; the government wouldn’t send children back unless it was safe to do so, which is why it will be phased and careful.

Harries adds the risk should be kept in perspective. The likelihood of anyone having the disease by the time schools do reopen will be diminished.

There are longer term health risks of not getting a good education, she adds.

Q. Lots of very vulnerable people in care homes who are under the age of 65 with multiple health conditions and problems and also those with learning disabilities can’t apply for tests on the portal [it’s currently only only open to those over 65 and those with dementia] – why have they been left out?

Hancock acknowledges that those in care homes who are working age and are clinically vulnerable need support. We’re rolling that out, he says.

Harries adds there is a very stark variation in risk for the elderly, compared to all other variables.

Q. Are people with learning disabilities being put at the back of the queue?

Hancock says the government is following the clinical advice on individual risks in terms of applying testing capability.

Q. Why do you collectively appear quite relaxed that the R rate is up today, and the latest R rate suggests transmission of the disease might not be reducing?

Will you reconsider the timetable for lifting England’s lockdown?

Hancock says the R is based on data from several weeks ago so there is a lag, but it is still an important tool for policy makers. The R is still below 1, he adds.

Harries adds that R is a very standard way of comparing what’s happening and is an important measure, but the real outcome we need is a reduction in the number of cases.

It’s not just the R value, it’s the triangulation of all the evidence we have, she adds. It’s an important measure but not the only one.

Q. On a day when the R is up, are you absolutely confident that allowing an easing of measures ahead of a sunny, warm weekend is the right decision?

Hancock says R isn’t above 1, so it still meets the test.

People must observe physical distancing measures, he adds.

They are taking questions from the media now.

Q. Are the measures you set out today too little too late, given the high numbers of deaths of care home residents?

Hancock says throughout the crisis the government has supported those in care homes.

Kanani adds primary care support for care home residents has been “ramped up” in recent weeks.

Q. If the R rate has increased [see 16.51], are you re-thinking the easing of the lockdown?

Hancock says the R is being kept constantly under review.

It’s one of the government’s five tests to keep the R below 1, he says. Current estimates are that it’s between 0.7 and 1, which still meets the test, he adds.

Q. Anna from Worthing asks if the government recognises that nursing is a highly skilled profession that deserves better pay.

Hancock says it is a highly skilled profession that deserves decent pay.

He says pay for nurses went up last year. He adds that as health secretary he will “fight to have that fair reward” for nurses.

They are taking questions from members of the public now.

Q. Susanna from Oxford asks if the government’s alert level 1 – eradication of coronavirus in the UK – is a realistic target.

Harries says it’s an ambitious target.

In global terms, there isn’t an immediate easy outcome to achieve this, she says.

Smallpox is the only disease we have eradicated, but having the ambition is good, she says.

Understanding antibody response and immunity in the population, treatments and a vaccine are ongoing areas, she says. The immediate effort is to reduce the number of cases, she adds.

The number of deaths confirmed with a positive test across all settings is steadily decreasing, Harries says.

London had a severe and sharper rise in hospitalisations, this is coming down now, Harries says.

Across the UK, the numbers are flattening off, she says, but we need to continue adhering to physical distancing measures to make good progress.

Hospital admissions are falling but it is a “slow, careful” downward trend, so must continue to observe physical distancing, Harries says.

Testing is on the rise, with 3,560 positive cases recorded in the last 24 hours, Harries says.

Despite the rise in testing and increased likelihood of finding new cases, the number of new cases is continuing to come down, she says.