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Coronavirus UK live: Oliver Dowden leads daily briefing; No 10 unable to say when contact-tracing app will be ready Coronavirus UK live: Oliver Dowden says return of Premier League is an 'important milestone'
(32 minutes later)
Labour leader accuses PM of failing to tackle child poverty; UK’s official death toll rises by 184 to 42,153; excess deaths in Scotland at lowest level since April Culture secretary says he is also looking into how arts venues can reopen; UK’s official death toll rises by 184 to 42,153; excess deaths in Scotland at lowest level since April
An NHS nurse who spent 75 days in the hospital where he works with coronavirus has recovered. He walked out of the ward to applause from colleagues.
Felix Khor, 68, spent 45 days in the intensive care ward at Southend Hospital where he has worked for 15 years, and was on a ventilator. He then spent several weeks on a different ward.
Kor was admitted to hospital in early April at the height of lockdown and was discharged on Monday.
Up to 200 NHS staff lined the hospital’s main corridor to clap for him as he was wheeled out of intensive care last month.
Khor, who lives in Shoebury, joined Southend Hospital in 2005 as part of the resuscitation training team. He continued working at the hospital following his retirement as part of the staff bank in the emergency department.
Recalling the moment he was clapped out of intensive care, Khor told the PA news agency:
He plans to retire after recovering from Covid-19 and is looking forward to gardening.
Q: What do you say to people who have lost their jobs? I have spoken to people in the hospitality industry going on benefits for the first time?
Dowden says the government has spent tens of billions trying to protect jobs.
We need to reopen business, he says. People need to get their jobs back.
Q: What would you say to a person I spoke to who has joined a group that thinks the delayed lockdown cost 20,000 lives. What have been the goverment’s worst mistakes?
Dowden says ministers made the decision, informed by the scientific advice.
He says the UK acted at about the same time as other countries.
And he claims it is too early to make comparison about which countries did best.
Q: Will there be an inquiry?
Of course there will be lessons to be learnt, he says.
When meaningful comparisons can be made, lessons from them will be learnt, he says.
And that’s it. The press conference is over.
Q: Ministers did say we should not expect to have summer holidays abroad. Has that changed? Will people be able to go on holiday in August?
Dowden says the government is looking at air corridors. But it will be driven by the public health issues.
Q: When will Britain be open for tourism?
Dowden says the government has set out a roadmap. The next stage is 4 July. He says he very much hopes that we will be able to stick to that, and see tourism return to the UK.
He wants to be out there making the case for British tourism.
But it has to be safe, he says.
He says guidance will be published on this.
Q: Is £900,000 on repainting the RAF Voyager a good use of public money?
Dowden says he sees this as part of promoting Great Britain, which is a good use of money.
Dowden says his office has been in touch with the mayor of London’s office about the Churchill statue in Parliament Square. He says the mayor is in charge of that. But he hopes the mayor will allow it to be uncovered soon. He says he hopes that will happen before President Macron comes to London.
Dowden says a 1-metre rule would benefit cinemas. They can operate with smaller audiences. But theatres would still have problems.
He says he has been in touch with Andrew Lloyd Webber about what happens in Seoul.
He says it may take some time before theatres can operate sensibly. So they may need financial support, he says.
Q: What will the police do if people congregate outside football stadiums?
Dowden says the police have appropriate powers. He hopes they won’t be able to use them.
There is nothing to be gained from congregating outside a stadium, he says.
Q: Should Marcus Rashford get a knighthood?
Dowden says he has been very impressed by Rashford’s lobbying skills. But he says it is not for him to give out knighthoods.
Q: Are there security implications from the collision outside parliament?
Dowden says he is not aware of any security implications. But he can tell people the PM is unscathed.
Q: [From ITV’s Robert Peston] Is there any chance of people being back in stadiums and in theatres in a year? And if you cannot give an assurance that people will be able to return, what will you do about the many job losses that will hit soon?
Dowden says he wants people to be able to go back. But that can only happen when it is safe.
He says the government is looking at what can be done to help.
These are from my colleague Peter Walker on the press conference so far.
Dowden says football fans should not congregate outside stadiums.
Q: More than 1,500 paediatricians have written to the PM asking for a plan to get children back to school. (See 4.48pm.) What is your response?
Dowden says it is vitally important to get children back to school.
He says they need to reassure parents that it is safe for their children to go back.
(It sounds as if Dowden got the message from his boss at PMQs.)
Dowden goes on to say it is a shame that the unions, and the Labour party, are not so keen for children to go back.
(Labour and the unions both insist that they do want pupils to go back to school, but they say they want assurances it will be safe.)
Q: When will you let relatives visit people in care homes?Q: When will you let relatives visit people in care homes?
Dowden says he knows how difficult this has been for people. The health secretary is looking at this, he says.Dowden says he knows how difficult this has been for people. The health secretary is looking at this, he says.
Laura in Eastbourne asks how theatres can continue to employ staff.Laura in Eastbourne asks how theatres can continue to employ staff.
Dowden says the job retention scheme has meant people in theatres have been able to keep their jobs so far. He says other Treasury help has been available.Dowden says the job retention scheme has meant people in theatres have been able to keep their jobs so far. He says other Treasury help has been available.
It will be “exceptionally difficult” for theatres to open from July with social distancing. That is why he is still looking at what can be done.It will be “exceptionally difficult” for theatres to open from July with social distancing. That is why he is still looking at what can be done.
Dowden says he has been looking hard at how live arts venues can start operating again.Dowden says he has been looking hard at how live arts venues can start operating again.
He says the taskforce he set up has made a lot of progress.He says the taskforce he set up has made a lot of progress.
But now the taskforce is going to take evidence from experts on what might be done, he says.But now the taskforce is going to take evidence from experts on what might be done, he says.
Dowden says he wants to get community sport back up and running. It will begin from the start of July at earliest.Dowden says he wants to get community sport back up and running. It will begin from the start of July at earliest.
Dowden says Premier League matches are resuming tonight.Dowden says Premier League matches are resuming tonight.
He says this is an important moment.He says this is an important moment.
But he urges fans to do their part - by watching from home.But he urges fans to do their part - by watching from home.
Extended highlights of the matches will be available free to air, he says.Extended highlights of the matches will be available free to air, he says.
Dowden starts with the daily slides.Dowden starts with the daily slides.
Here are the figures for testing and new cases.Here are the figures for testing and new cases.
Here are the death figures.Here are the death figures.
Oliver Dowden, the culture secretary, is taking the UK government’s daily press conference.
And here is more on what the health minister Lord Bethell told the Commons science committee.
Lord Bethell, the health minister responsible for the coronavirus testing programme, told the Commons science committee today that the contact-tracing app being trialled in the Isle of Wight might not be rolled out nationwide until the winter, Sky’s Rowland Manthorpe reports.
From the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Road traffic levels have surged to more than two-thirds of pre-lockdown levels as people avoid non-essential public transport journeys, PA Media reports.
The amount of traffic on Britain’s roads on Monday was 70% of the equivalent day in early February, according to new figures from the Department for Transport (DfT).
That is an increase of seven percentage points from the previous Monday and coincides with non-essential shops in England being allowed to open.
The use of trains and London Underground services on Monday was only at 8% and 14% respectively of levels on the same date in 2019, while bus use outside London was at 21% of the equivalent day in the third week of January.
Meanwhile, cycling in England had rocketed to 171% of what it was in early March.
Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said the data showed people were starting to heed official advice to use cars and bikes rather than public transport. He added:
Boris Johnson’s £900,000 repainting of the RAF plane used by the prime minister on official business (see 2.57pm and 3.52pm) could end up costing more if it means it can no longer be used by the military as frequently as before.
The Voyager is used for military refuelling in combat zones such as Iraq and Syria as well to fly the prime minister, other senior ministers and members of the royal family - and like Johnson himself the RAF can’t get enough of it.
But if Johnson wants to increase the government’s access to the plane by buying more flying hours worth from the Ministry of Defence, it could increase the knock-on costs to the taxpayer because the military will be forced to charter aircraft for its own needs.
Andy Netherwood, a defence analyst, said: “The paint scheme gives away the fact that No 10 is re-purposing an aircraft acquired to provide defence. If Johnson wants a VIP jet fine, but make the argument and pay for it.”
The Voyager is one of a fleet of transport planes leased to the Ministry of Defence by a consortium of aerospace firms called Air Tanker, and was refitted with a VIP section when David Cameron was prime minister at a cost of £10m.
Another concern is that by repainting from grey it is that it will lose its military camouflage.
However, in an attempt at compromise, one source said that the body of the plane would be painted white with a blue stripe - while the tailfin would be painted in a union flag design.
This would make it look similar to a British Airways plane, but will present something of a headache for air force commanders who know that the Voyager would be more visible to enemy air forces as well as being identifiable as the UK’s principal VIP plane.
Close to 100 of the UK’s leading creative figures have signed a letter calling for an urgent government intervention to save Britain’s performing arts sector from imminent ruin.
Our colleagues Mark Brown and Lanre Bakare report that Phoebe Waller-Bridge, James McAvoy, Sharon D Clarke, Tom Stoppard, Wendell Pierce, Emma Rice and Andrew Scott are among the names backing the letter warning of the threat facing theatre, opera and dance amid the coronavirus crisis.
An extract reads:
The industry is asking the government to continue the job retention scheme, establish an emergency relief fund and come up with a new package of support for the army of freelancers who help create so much of the sector’s work.
Most UK theatres have been closed since mid-March as the country began to lock down to curb the spread of coronavirus, with at least four saying they will not reopen. Others are beginning to make redundancies. As they burn through cash reserves, about three-quarters of venues say they will have run out of money by Christmas.
The full story is here.
In the latest instalment of the Politics Weekly podcast, Jonathan Freedland and Frances Perraudin look at the latest in a series of government U-turns. Why did Boris Johnson decide to drag his feet on the issue of making sure children in England are fed? And does this signal the end of embarrassing U-turns? Listen to the episode here:
In a statement about the collision outside parliament involving the prime minister’s car (see 3.11pm), the Metropolitan police say a man was “arrested at the scene for offences under section 5 of the Public Order Act and for obstructing the highway”.
The DHSC said 42,153 people have now died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Tuesday. That is a rise of 184 from 41,969 the day before.
The government figures don’t include all deaths involving Covid-19 across the UK, which is thought to have passed 53,000.
The DHSC also said in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Wednesday, 140,359 tests were carried out or dispatched, with 1,115 positive results. Overall, a total of 7,121,976 tests have been carried out and 299,251 cases have been confirmed positive.
The figure for the number of people tested has been “temporarily paused to ensure consistent reporting” across all methods of testing.