Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

For the past few weeks it has looked like the number of deaths may be slowing, but it has been hard to call with deaths going down one day, then up the next.

But a new analysis now suggests the peak may have been passed nearly two weeks ago.

The daily figures released by government represent when deaths are recorded, not when they happened.

On Monday the figure announced was less than 500, but on Tuesday it jumped to over 800.

But some of those deaths relate to fatalities that happened weeks ago. NHS England has started compiling deaths by date they happened.

A clear trend emerges – at least in England - the peak seemed to have happened on 8 April.

Dr Van-Tam is speaking about key trends in the statistical data relating to social distancing, new infections, hospital admissions, weekly death rates and global comparisons.

In terms of new recorded cases, the deputy chief medical officer says there are clearly day-to-day variations.

But he points out that the numbers “remain high” and there has not been an “enormous downturn” in the rate – suggesting that the UK is still facing a “situation of danger”.

He goes on to suggest that the number of people in hospital with the virus in London peaked on 10 April and has since continued to fall.

But he says there is not similar evidence that this is happening elsewhere in the UK, adding that there is currently a plateau and while he expects the curve to fall, this is not yet taking place.

He talks about the difference between the number of people recorded as having died with the virus in hospitals and the number of fatalities in all settings, including care homes - a gap illustrated by figures from the Office for National Statistics earlier.

He says people need to be “very careful” about comparing the two figures – saying “We are not comparing apples with apples, we are comparing apples with pears.”

On a vaccine for Covid-19, Health Secretary Matt Hancock says: "I am certain we will throw everything we've got at developing a vaccine."

He says the UK has "put more money than any other country on a vaccine search".

He mentions trials at Oxford and Imperial College London universities, saying they are "both promising projects" making "rapid progress".

He says the government will be giving £20m to the Oxford team to fund their clinical trials - and they will be trialing a vaccine on people starting on Thursday.

Hancock says PPE delivery is happening on an "unprecedented scale" and the government has delivered more than a billion items.

The supply of PPE is something that the UK government has been criticised on in recent days.

Hancock says they are "working to improve the delivery system" and they have a "diverse range of suppliers".

He says the government has had 8,331 offers of PPE and they are "investigating every one" but the "reality is not everyone who approaches us can deliver on their offers in scale".

He says they are also working with 159 UK manufacturers.

"I am determined to get people the PPE they need."

Here our health team look at whether the NHS has enough PPE – amid concern over supply of protective equipment.

The UK's Health Secretary Matt Hancock has begun today's daily coronavirus briefing by saying: "At the heart of our plan is ensuring NHS capacity is always ahead of need.

"If you or someone you love needs hospital care with covid-19, then you will always get that care."

He says the plan to slow the spread of the virus is working - but there is still some way to go.

The UK government press conference has started, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock giving the opening statement.

Stay with us for all the updates you need.

We should be hearing from the UK government in the next few minutes.

But that gives you time to read our explainer on face masks, amid growing discussion about the potential benefits of the public wearing masks.

The World Health Organization, external has said there is no evidence to support the use of face masks by the general population.

Read more: Should we all be wearing masks now?

Image source, Getty Images

While we wait to hear more about the consignment of PPE that is expected to leave Turkey for the UK, there's news that another consignment of personal protective equipment from Shanghai, China, is expected at Heathrow Airport shortly.

The cargo-only Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 flight contains 19 tonnes of medical equipment and PPE and 28,000 individual items including approximately 6,000 protective gowns and more than 20,000 ventilators.

The airline says it is operating eight cargo-only flights this month, in partnership with the NHS and Department of Health and Social Care. Since 3 April five flights have already arrived, carrying more than 80 tonnes of PPE, including 3.5 million individual items.

Virgin Atlantic says the consignments have included 50 ventilators, 1.8 million face masks, 600,000 face shields and visors, a million disposable gloves, 38,000 items for eye protection, and 75,000 protective coveralls and isolation gowns.

Yesterday, Virgin Group boss Sir Richard Branson said in an open letter to staff , externalhe was asking for a commercial loan, believed to be £500m, from the UK government to save the airline from collapse.

Virgin Australia has also entered voluntary administration - making it Australia's first big corporate casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.

We will be hearing from the UK government shortly with its daily briefing on coronavirus.

But, while we wait, our health team have answered some of the big questions about vaccines and how long one for coronavirus could take.

Have a read of their piece here

Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent

The BBC has been told the first batch of Turkish personal protective equipment (PPE) destined for the UK has arrived at Istanbul Airport and is now in the process of clearing customs.

An RAF aircraft which flew out to Istanbul last night is expected to be loaded with the protective equipment for the NHS later this afternoon.

Quality control checks on the equipment would normally be carried out before the aircraft is loaded.

Once the checks have been made and the equipment has been loaded, the RAF plane will return to Brize Norton. The Ministry of Defence is not confirming details or timings.

We should be hearing from the UK government in the next 30 minutes, but let’s take a look at the latest from the country first.

• The Office for National Statistics has said there were 18,500 deaths in the week up to 10 April in England and Wales - about 8,000 more than is normal at this time of year
• An organisation representing UK dentists has said dentists in England are facing “critical shortages” in personal protective equipment (PPE)
• The UK government says it has had more than 8,000 offers from suppliers of PPE – after criticism that it had not responded to some firms who had offered to supply protective equipment
• And hospital bosses have warned that NHS supplies of face masks could be put at risk if the government starts advising the public to wear them

Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour party, says that there is a gap between the government’s words and reality in relation to the delivery of protective equipment (PPE) to health and care workers treating patients with coronavirus.

In an interview with the BBC's political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, Sir Keir said: “It would be a struggle for any government to get exactly the right kit to the right place at the right time.

"But what we’re seeing here is an increasing gap between what the government says or thinks is happening and what the front line are telling us."

He added: "And this gap has to be closed as soon as possible because people are putting their lives literally on the line when they’re going to work – they need the proper equipment in the right place.”

The government has been under increasing pressure on the issue, as health workers continue to report PPE shortages. It has repeatedly said it is doing all it can to ensure supplies.

A further 823 people have died in hospitals across the UK in a day, taking the total to 17,337 - latest government figures show., external

The number of cases has also increased by 4,301 in 24 hours, bringing the total of 129,044.

Meanwhile, 18,206 tests were carried out on Monday, the government said. Ministers have set a target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of April.

The latest death figures do not include those in the community, in places such as care homes. There is a longer time lag in that data but you can find the latest here.

Health officials have previously warned against over-interpreting daily figures of people dying, with many hard-pressed hospitals understandably not reporting deaths over a weekend until the middle of the following week.

Bethany Bell
News Correspondent

Thousands of Austrian shops reopened last week - albeit with strict rules on social distancing and face masks made mandatory nationwide - as the country eased its lockdown.

Now Chancellor Sebastian Kurz says that if the number of coronavirus infections stays low, restaurants and cafes will be able to re-open from 15 May.

Social distancing rules about the size of groups and the number of guests permitted will be announced next week. It’s expected that serving staff will have to wear masks.

Religious services will also resume, while schools will slowly reopen in a step-by-step process from the start of May.

The chancellor said Austria was moving faster than other countries towards something like a new normality. But he warned that the government was ready to slam on the brakes if infections start to rise again.

Image source, Reuters

We have just had it confirmed that the UK government will give its daily briefing at 17:00 BST (16:00 GMT).

The briefing will be led by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

He will be joined by England’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, and Professor John Newton, national co-ordinator of the UK coronavirus testing programme.

It comes after weekly deaths in England and Wales hit a 20-year high.

Image source, Reuters

Nurses from the National Nurses United union are holding a protest outside the White House, calling on governors and federal officials to provide safety gear for medical staff fighting the pandemic.

Wearing a surgical mask, one woman read a letter to officials:

“We demand that you immediately get PPE to nurses, doctors and healthcare workers on the front lines of this pandemic.

"If you don’t protect us, we can’t protect our patients.”

Protesters held photos of nurses and doctors who have died from Covid-19, and signs saying: "20 seconds won't scrub 'hero' blood off your hands."

The union includes 150,000 nurses, and is the largest association of registered nurses in the US.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, UK Parliament

UK MPs have returned to the House of Commons after an extended Easter recess amid the coronavirus crisis.

But there is a difference - MPs must maintain a 2m (6ft) distance from each other, helped by tape markings on the floor, and there are also markings on the famous green benches.

Their first move is to discuss a motion allowing a "hybrid" Parliament, with some MPs in the chamber and others connected via video link. We have more on this in our story here.

Meanwhile, peers in the House of Lords have already approved new measures and the House's first virtual sitting has begun.

Marianna Spring
Disinformation and social media reporter

Twitter says it does not currently see evidence that the UK government has tried to manipulate coronavirus conversations using fake accounts.

It comes after claims began circulating on social media implying the Department of Health and Social Care was behind a network of Twitter accounts pretending to be NHS staff.

These accounts, which were allegedly posting in support of the government, appear to have been deleted.

The Department of Health tweeted that the claims were “categorically false”.

Twitter adds that it “will remove any pockets of smaller coordinated attempts to distort or inorganically influence the conversation”.

The BBC also currently has no evidence to support the suggestion these allegedly fake accounts had anything to do with the UK government.

Our teams are fact-checking some of the most popular fake and misleading coronavirus stories on social media. Take a look at some of that work here. And read our top tips for tackling misleading information here.

A further 25 people have died with coronavirus in hospitals in Wales, taking the total number to 609, according to the latest daily figures.

Public Health Wales (PHW) said there were an extra 304 new cases since the last count, taking the total to 7,850.

The true number is likely to be higher as most people with symptoms are not tested. Find the latest on deaths outside of hospitals here.

Daily updates for Northern Ireland and across the whole UK are expected shortly.

There are currently 2,494,915 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide and 171,152 recorded deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University on 21 April at 12:00 BST.

The virus, which causes the respiratory infection Covid-19, was first detected in the city of Wuhan, China, in late 2019.

Below are some of the latest graphics and you can see more statistics by clicking here.