Professor Neil Ferguson has said there are “some signs” that the current lockdown measures in force across the UK has slowed down the coronavirus epidemic.
Ferguson, a key epidemiologist in advising the government, told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show that he thinks the crisis will “plateau in the next week to 10 days”.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s new deputy leader, said the party would work with the government to battle the coronavirus pandemic but would hold it to account.
Speaking to Sky New’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Rayner said the government’s was failing on testing, and on protecting frontline NHS staff.
Former health secretary Alan Johnson has condemned the government’s response to Covid-19.
The former Labour MP told Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “I am absolutely amazed at how badly prepared the government is for this.”
He added that during his tenure as health secretary, in which the swine flu pandemic took place in 2009, the government had a risk register.
“Top of our risk register was a pandemic,” he said, saying that second on the list was a terror attack.
He added that the basic arrangements that government’s should be prepared for in the event of a pandemic was protective equipment for NHS staff, alongside testing.
Dr Rinesh Parmar, chair of The Doctors’ Association UK, has raised concerns about the “severe lack” of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline NHS workers.
He told Sky News that some doctors had told the association that they were having to reuse single-use surgical masks, while others were holding their breath during procedures on coronavirus patients because they didn’t know if their equipment would offer enough protection.
He added that some doctors, many of whom did not have symptoms in line with Covid-19 but who lived with people who did, had been sent to a NHS testing centre only to be told their name doesn’t appear on a list and they couldn’t be tested.
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The prime minister Boris Johnson is in “good spirits” but still has a temperature over a week after he was diagnosed with Covid-19, according to Hancock.
“The prime minister is working away inside downing street but he’s making sure he protects others by following public health advice,” he added.
Hancock, who also contracted the virus, said he did not know if Johnson had been visited by doctors at Downing Street.
Hancock said that 8% of NHS frontline staff were currently off work self-isolating amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Within that group, 5.7% of doctors are currently off work. “Those figures are stable but we want to get them down obviously, and one of the ways we do that is make sure testing goes up,” said Hancock.
Hancock: sunbathing is against the rules
Health secretary Matt Hancock is first up on Sophy Ridge on Sky News this morning, emphasising that people should not flout the coronavirus lockdown rules despite the warm weather.
“Sunbathing is against the rules that have been set out for important public health reasons,” he said, adding that it was “unbelievable frankly to see some people are not following that advice”.
“I say this to the very small minority of people who are choosing to flout the guidance you are putting other’s lives at risk and you are putting yourself in harm’s way.”
He added that the “vast majority of the public” were following guidance to stay at home unless they are going to buy essentials such as food or medicine, seeking medical care, going to work, or exercising.
Hancock’s call for the public to adhere to public health guidance comes as Lambeth Council closed Brockwell Park in south-west London on Saturday, after it claimed that more than 3,000 people had spent the day in the park, sunbathing or hanging out in large groups.
I’m Amy Walker, covering the liveblog for the next two hours, you can follow me on Twitter at @amyrwalker.
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Starmer to give first major interview since victory in Labour leadership race
Good morning, and welcome to Sunday’s UK-focused coronavirus live blog. We’ll bring you all the news as it happens, with Matt Hancock due to appear on Sophy Ridge’s Sky News programme this morning along with new Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn’s successor Keir Starmer gives his first big interview after yesterday’s victory to the BBC’s Andrew Marr. We’re also expecting the first names in his shadow cabinet to be announced.
Starmer has a daunting to-do list as he begins his first full day as Labour leader. The Observer’s Michael Savage has summarised the challenge ahead of him, from Covid-19 and the economy to antisemitism:
Elsewhere, London mayor Sadiq Khan has described his “devastation” that five London bus workers have died after testing positive for coronavirus and urged people to stay home on another sunny day. And there are troubling signs in the midlands, where the death toll has now accelerated past the capital.