That's all for today.

Here are the key developments from Monday:

• Nicola Sturgeon says the "stay at home" message remains in place in Scotland
• She adds that from today people north of the border can exercise more than once daily - but this does not mean trips to the beach or picnics in the park
• Ms Sturgeon's message comes after PM Boris Johnson began lifting lockdown restrictions, urging people to "stay alert, control the virus and save lives"
• The number of patients in hospital who have Covid-19 stands at 1,453 (down 31); there are 80 (down two) currently in ICU and five people died overnight
• Boris Johnson says the epidemic is at different stages in different parts of the UK, and it is right for different administrations to take "slightly different approaches".

We will be back first thing tomorrow with the latest on the coronavirus situation as it affects Scotland. Good night.

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

The briefing has just finished.

In it, we heard from chief scientific advisor Patrick Valance, who says there may be 130,000 people currently infected - this is from the Office for National Statistics surveillance, which produced its first findings on Monday.

But he says that number should be coming down in the next couple of weeks.

What it does show is, even with the extra testing capacity available, we are just picking up a fraction of the infections

Boris Johnson says the UK has been "unique in the world" in keeping people in so many sectors "in funds" through furlough.

But the government will have to think "differently" about the economy in future and that it's important that sectors restart.

If there's no quick restart, the "ingenious" Brits will have to look at ways of making businesses "Covid-secure", Mr Johnson says

Image source, boris johnson

Asked about the different approaches being taken across the UK, the PM says the epidemic is at different stages in the different nations, and it is right for different administrations to take "slightly different approaches".

He adds that "unity" between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland outweighs "differences".

"We want people to be able to use the outdoors but they have got to obey social distancing," the prime minister says, in response to a further question.

"There can't be any question of people going off and on holidays and staying in the Lake District.

"If they do exercise, it has got to be done with social distancing."

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

UK chief medical advisor Prof Chris Witty says it is important to monitor the impact these gradual changes have in terms of the number of infections.

That is because they are committed to ensuring the reproduction rate of the virus - the R number - does not rise above one. That is to say the average person who is infected does not pass it on to more than one person.

With the current R number between 0.5 and 0.9 it leaves the government with very little wriggle room.

More on the efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine.

Sir Patrick Vallance, chief scientific adviser to the UK government, says there has been "great progress" in the search for a vaccine and the chance of creating one that works is getting "higher".

But he reiterates the PM's comment that this is not "guaranteed".

Prof Whitty says he is "very confident" a solution will be found.

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

The prime minister has now been explicit about what was clear to those who have examined every document and news conference from the UK government.

Some of the key messages being promoted now were part of measures prior to this loosening of the rules.

But they are now being emphasised.

Take, for example, people going to their place of work if working from home is not possible.

That was always the rule - but is now being stressed.

"We need to make progress if we possibly can," Boris Johnson said, and that some of the measures would be relaxed "very very cautiously"

The prime minister added that now was the time to "re-emphasise" some of their original messages.

Asked if it is possible there will not be a coronavirus vaccine, Boris Johnson says he hopes one will be developed.

But this is "by no means guaranteed". He adds that there is not one for Sars "after 18 years".

Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor

The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg asks what the PM can say to those who are perplexed by the government's message.

She also asks the two advisers if they approved the change in message from "stay at home" to "stay alert".

Boris Johnson says the initial message was incredibly clear and incredibly stark but adds "stay alert is absolutely the right message for our country now".

Prof Chris Whitty says both he and Sir Patrick Vallance have been involved "with all stages of the process".

"Neither Patrick or I would consider ourselves comms experts," he adds

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

This is the essence of the challenge for the government now.

As the prime minister has acknowledged, his message seven weeks ago when the lockdown was announced was "simple" and "stark".

Welcome now to what he called "a finer, more complicated" message which critics - including his interrogator just now, member of the public Pooja - see as vague.

The communication challenge has got a whole lot harder.

Asked why he is being "vague" about who can start work and which businesses can reopen in England, the prime minister says people have received the previous "stay at home" message with "clarity". It's a "simple" request, he adds.

But taking steps back to normality means the message becomes "finer, more complicated". The new slogan tells people to "stay alert".

Most things are "pretty much as they have been", Johnson says, and that there will not be a "sudden flood of people back to work" this week.

Nicola Sturgeon has said the law and guidance in Scotland has not changed, and said: "I would hope all employers would respect that."

Boris Johnson is asked how people can go back to work in England if schools are shut and there is no childcare available.

"We're hoping to begin to open primary schools at the earliest by 1 June," the prime minister says.

"If people don't have access to childcare, then I think it's only fair to regard that as an obvious barrier to their ability to go back to work.

"I'm sure employers will agree with that."

There are no plans for schools to return yet in Scotland.

Again, only addressing the situation in England, Boris Johnson says people can go to the park to exercise on their own and with members of their household. If they meet anyone else, it should be "one-on-one but with social distancing".

Prof Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, says the government is taking "very small steps" and wants to keep infections down. The risk of transmission is lower outdoors "but is not zero", he adds.

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

England's Chief Medical Officer Prof Chris Whitty is now setting out the rationale behind the UK government's decision making.

He says there is now room for manoeuvre given the transmission rate of the virus has been suppressed.

The hope is that a liberalisation of the rules makes putting up with those that remain more tolerable.

And it is much harder for the virus to spread outside than it is inside - hence the focus on being able to do more outside.

The PM explains that the new measures announced for England today mean that "those who can't work from home should now speak to their employer about going back to work."

"You can work and exercise as long as you like," he says adding "you can meet one person outside your household - provided you stay two metres apart".

He says the government is also updating the messaging.

"We are asking people to stay alert, control the virus and save lives.

"Staying alert for the vast majority of people still means staying at home as much as possible."

Boris Johnson is talking through the Covid alert level system that currently applies in England but may be adopted in Scotland.

"The level will be primarily be determined by the R level," he says, adding the lower the level on the system, the fewer the restrictions.

"Throughout the period of lockdown we have been at level 4 - meaning a Covid-19 epidemic is in general circulation," he says.

"Thanks to the hard work, the sacrifices of the British people we have helped to bring the R level down.

"We are now in a position to begin moving to level three in steps."

Here's a visual guide to what the government's new Covid alert levels mean, which Boris Johnson has just been discussing.

Image source, UK government

Boris Johnson begins by giving the latest statistics.

He says on Sunday, 100,490 tests were carried out - the first time the government has hit its target in over a week.

Since Sunday, 210 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths recorded in the UK to 32,065.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson now begins the government's news conference from Downing Street.

He is accompanied by Prof Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England and chief medical adviser to the UK government, and Sir Patrick Vallance, chief scientific adviser to the UK government.