"I welcome this announcement. Party political differences are suspended and I’m working closely with my counterparts on further support for business

"It has to deliver at maximum pace - but this announcement today will stop premature decisions being made by business and offer space for them to plan for hibernation through the coming weeks."

Let's recap the main points from the UK government news conference:

• Chancellor Rishi Sunak says the government will step in to help pay people's wages through a coronavirus job retention scheme.Read more here
• Businesses can apply for a grant of up to £2,500 a month to cover 80% of salary for those retained but not working
• He also says VAT for all businesses is being deferred until the end of June and the business loan scheme will now be interest free for 12 months
• Universal Credit allowance increases £1,000 a year and the next tax self assessments will be deferred until the start of next year
• He also announces the self-employed will get full Universal Credit at a rate equivalent to statutory sick pay, and a further £1bn to cover 30% of house rental costs
• Mr Sunak promises further measures next week to ensure larger and medium sized businesses will be able to access the credit they need
• Cafes, pubs, bars and restaurants across the UK have been told to close on Friday night and not reopen - although they can offer takeaway services.Read more here
• Nightclubs, theatres, cinemas and gyms have also been told to shut their doors
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson says people should not go out on Friday night to such venues. He says people should stay at home "to protect the NHS and save lives"
• He also rules out shutting down major transport networks, saying it's "too important for the delivery of crucial public services"

Image source, PA Media

The Friday night commute on the M4 motorway is normally a slog - but not in these unusual times. Traffic Wales cameras are showing Wales' usually busy artery are very, very quiet.

Image source, Getty Images

"If we don't get this right, we will see thousands of lives lost needlessly," says Mr Johnson. "We have the opportunity to get on top of this and turn the tide."

It is necessary and right for the government to stand behind businesses and workers, he adds.

Earlier Mr Johnson also said he is confident the UK economy can bounce back.

There is a "massive effort" going on to make sure there are enough ventilators and intensive care spaces for everyone who has the virus, the prime minister says.

He is also asked about Mothers' Day this Sunday, and says everyone should think carefully about the risk of transmission of the virus, where anyone has is elderly or in a vulnerable health group.

Asked if he would see his own mother, he said he would be working very hard on Sunday.

We now move to questions. The first question is about how the closure of pubs, clubs and theatres will be enforced.

Prime Minister Johnson says there are "licensing arrangements that will make it simple".

However he suggests it won't need to be enforced adding that "in reality everybody can see the imperative of what is necessary".

Image source, LDRS

The chancellor also said self-assessment income payments would be deferred and business interruption loans would be interest fee for 12 months, rather than the six months previously announced.

"In the face of a generation-defining moment, we want to remember that we stood together," the chancellor said.

Asked what has changed for the government to decide to bring these measures in, Mr Johnson says people had made a huge effort in the past four or five days. There has already been a huge reduction in the number of people going to pubs.

But he said unnecessary social gatherings have to decrease by 75% in order to "drive down the curve" of coronavirus cases.

Licensing arrangements will make it easy to enforce this, if it is indeed necessary to enforce, he adds.

Image source, Getty Images

A bit more on those grants. The government will pay 80% of wages for employees not working, up to £2,500 a month, the chancellor says.

Mr Sunak said he would defer the next quarter of VAT payments for firms, until the end of June.

It represents in a £30 billion injection into the economy.

The chancellor says he is also deferring VAT for all businesses until the end of June.

The death toll from the virus in Italy has risen by 627 to 4,032, officials say.

It is the largest daily rise in the country since the beginning of the outbreak.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak says the economic intervention he is announcing is unprecedented but necessary to save lives.

He says he knows people are worried and says it will require a collective effort.

The government is setting up a job retention scheme and employers can get a grant to cover most wages, he says.

Boris Johnson added that takeaways will be excluded from the new measures coming in from tonight.

The measures on closures will be reviewed on a monthly basis.

The measures will be considered as time goes on, Boris Johnson says. But he stresses people should not go out tonight to such venues.

"We want you to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives", he adds.

He adds it seems to go against the freedom-loving instincts of British people but "we will get through this - we will get through it together and beat this virus".

Mr Johnson says the government is strengething the measures announced earlier this week.

"We are telling cafes, pubs, bars and restaurants to close tonight as soon as they reasonably can and not reopen tomorrow."

Places like nightclubs, cinemas and gyms will also follow suit.

Actions like washing hands help take the strain off the NHS, says Boris Johnson.

"We will be able to save literally thousands of lives," he says, if we take actions together and "make sacrifices".

He tells businesses: "We will stand by you" and that everything is being done in the government's power.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has started today's briefing, saying "we are going to defeat" coronavirus with a huge effort to prevent the spread.

Image source, Getty Images

No council in Wales is in a position to offer a council tax holiday to struggling households during the coronavirus crisis, a leading Welsh councillor insists.

Cardiff coucil leader Huw Thomas says government ministers need to step in to offer relief.

Councillor Thomas also says there will be "inevitable" changes to refuse collection - and a focus on "essential services" with most public attractions closing.

Image source, Getty Images