Lockdown changes, Prime Minister's 'roadmap' and under 100,000 tests – what we learned from the latest Downing Street coronavirus briefing

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was joined by deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries and Sir Ian Diamond, chief statistician at the Office for National Statistics.

Latest figures

The latest figures from the Department of Health show that a total of 30,615 people have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Wednesday, up by 539 from 30,076 the day before.

But the number of deaths involving Covid-19 that have been registered across the UK currently stands at 32,898.

This includes 29,710 deaths that occurred in England and Wales up to April 24 and which had been registered up to May 2.

The latest provisional figures from NHS England show that 3,154 hospital patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 died between April 25 and May 6 - which, together with the total figure of 32,898 registered deaths, suggests the overall death toll for the UK has now passed 36,000.

Dominic Raab also announced that a further 5,614 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, bringing the country’s total number of cases to 206,715.

Number of tests below 100,000 for fifth consecutive day

The number of daily coronavirus tests has fallen below 100,000 for the fifth day in a row since reaching Health Secretary Matt Hancock's target by the end of April.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said 86,583 were conducted in the 24 hours to 9am on Thursday, up from 69,463 the day before.

No change to lockdown restrictions as Prime Minister to deliver an address to the nation on Sunday

Boris Johnson is set to unveil his ‘road map’ regarding lockdown restrictions to the nation at 7pm on Sunday, May 10.

Mr Raab said during the briefing: “There is no change today in the guidance or the rules, but the Prime Minister will set out a road map on Sunday.

“The Prime Minister spoke to First ministers today and reiterated our commitment to a UK-wide approach even if different parts move at slightly different speeds.

“Those decisions are made based on the science and the speed of each nation.”

Any future changes to lockdown would be 'modest’

Mr Raab said any short-term changes in the restrictions announced by the Prime Minister on Sunday would be limited.

"Any changes in the short term will be modest, small, incremental and very carefully monitored," he told the No 10 press conference.

"If we find in the future the R level goes back up or that people aren't following the rules, we must have the ability then to put back measures in place."

He said the existing rules would still apply over the coming bank holiday weekend.

"For the moment it is really important, particularly as people look towards a warm bank holiday weekend, that we continue to follow the guidance in place at this time."

R-rate falling between 0.5 and 0.9

The Foreign Secretary stated the rate of infection in the UK is between 0.5 and 0.9 with regional rates varying.

UK national statistician Ian Diamond told the press conference: "The consensus is it's below one everywhere, lowest probably in London but certainly some variation across the different regions."

Care homes remain a significant concern

The Foreign Secretary admitted the two biggest concerns regarding the rate of transmission remained in care homes and hospitals.

He told the Downing Street press conference: “We’ve definitely got a challenge in care homes.

“The CQC data that came out, I think yesterday, showed that overall in care homes the number of deaths was down by over 300 on the last week, so that’s positive, but there’s still a very significant issue in care homes.”

He added: “Overall the R is down, there is clearly a challenge in care homes.

“The single biggest challenge we've got in care homes is the ebb and flow people in and out of them.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you.