The Brighton Argus asks about coronavirus outbreaks in care homes and on how to stop people going to the beach during the restrictions.

Matt Hancock says there is a “huge effort under way to limit the spread in care homes”.

He says the government has expanded testing for anyone with symptoms and, as of yesterday, to anyone without symptoms in care homes so all residents have access.

In response to the Brighton beach question, he says the police have done a good job in making sure people follow the rules.

Image source, Getty Images

There's a question about whether lockdown measures could be eased in London first given it was hit hardest by the virus early in the UK outbreak.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, says he has previously said the virus in the capital is "up to two to three weeks" ahead of the rest of the country.

However, he says this does not necessarily mean the restrictions will be lifted earlier - but he adds this is a “matter for ministers to make a decision on”.

Image source, Reuters

Asked when his target for 18,000 contact tracers needs to be met, Health Secretary Matt Hancock says this group of volunteers will be ready in "a matter of weeks".

He says they will be needed to track cases "when we get the level of transmission down".

On whether the UK is behind the curve in advising people to wear face masks, Mr Hancock says the government advice is "unchanged" but the evidence is being reviewed.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, says the evidence for general mask-wearing is "variable" and "quite weak".

The Express newspaper asks about the endurance of the public on social distancing and whether it may be waning, and also whether there will be more support for relatives of those NHS staff who have lost their lives.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock says it is “absolutely phenomenal” how the public have risen to the challenge of social distancing measures.

On support for NHS relatives, he says he hopes to announce more “very soon”.

Sir Patrick Vallance adds that there is “no evidence” public backing for the measures is tailing off and says it is “important that we carry on with it”.

Sky News' Beth Rigby asks whether a "proper, scaled-up testing and tracing system" has to be up and running before the restrictions are eased - and whether this will be ready by the next review of measures on 7 May.

Matt Hancock replies that there is "no automatic link" between the scale of track and trace and any changes in social distancing measures - so he cannot set a deadline.

He says track and trace can “help to suppress transmission in a way that allows you to have lesser social distancing rules”.

And track and trace works effectively when the number of new cases is lower, he adds.

Image source, PA Media

Asked about what is known about whether obesity in a factor in how people are affected by the virus, Prof John Newton says that this - as well as ethnicity, age and gender - is being investigated.

He says it should be possible to get an answer to these questions "reasonably soon".

Sir Patrick Vallance is asked about a previous prediction of the number of UK deaths from the virus - he has previously said it would be a "good outcome" for the UK if this is below 20,000.

He says the important number is "excess deaths" that would not have occurred anyway - but says he's "not going to put a number on that".

Image source, AFP

The UK government briefing is continuing and Prof John Newton, coordinator of the UK coronavirus testing programme, says the number of mobile drive-through regional test centres will increase from 31 to 48, to help test at speed where needed.

"We are also currently working with the Army on a new pop-up mobile testing option, which was developed for us by the Army and is really working very well," he says.

"So we're going to have 48 of these pop-up facilities which can travel around the country to where they're needed most, for example in care homes."

In Italy, 464 coronavirus-related deaths have been recorded in the past 24 hours, officials say.

That brings the overall death toll to 25,549 - the second highest in the world behind the US.

The officials reported 2,646 new infections. But the overall number of current confirmed cases dropped to 106,848 - a decrease of nearly 900.

Another key indicator was the number of patients in intensive care, which fell by 117 to 2,267.

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

The announcement that there will be an 18,000-strong army of contact tracers is a significant move. When contact tracing was done at the start of the outbreak, it relied on staff working for Public Health England’s nine regional teams.

But when lockdown restrictions are eased the government will need a system of containing any local outbreaks that develop.

Testing for the general public will be needed, but so will manpower on the ground to trace the close contacts of people who have been infected.

This army will fulfil that role. They are likely to be drawn from a variety of sources, including council environmental health officers and public health staff.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg asks Matt Hancock about the government’s transparency on what comes next – it comes after the Scottish government today set out its lockdown exit strategy.

Matt Hancock says he understands the "thirst for knowledge", but the five tests the UK government has set out are “critical”.

He says the "message remains the same – that people need to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives".

"It is succeeding… but we are not through that yet and there is still a lot of work to be done."

Here our health correspondent looks at the UK government’s five tests.

Image source, Downing Street

Showing this slide above, Prof John Newton, coordinator of the UK coronavirus testing programme, says testing capacity has increased "exponentially".

The UK is "on track", he promises, to reach the government's target of 100,000 tests per day by the end of the month.

As Mr Hancock said at the start, only 23,560 tests took place yesterday - meaning there's a way to go.

But he adds the UK is "ahead of where we thought we'd be at this stage".

He says that 48 mobile testing facilities manned by military personnel will also help map outbreaks in areas "where they are needed most," such as care homes.

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

The move towards tests for all essential workers is another step forward in the expansion of the testing arrangements.

Hospital patients, NHS and care staff, emergency services, care home residents and now all essential workers should be able to get tested.

But the missing piece of the jigsaw is testing for the general public.

This will be essential when the lockdown restrictions are relaxed to help contain the outbreak.

That relies on quick testing for people with symptoms – and then rapid tracing and testing of people they have had close contact with.

Image source, Downing Street

Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, says it is clear transmission rates are down and social distancing measures are having a "very big" effect.

He says that the decline in people in hospital is "very clear" in London, with the UK overall "coming through the peak" and heading "in the right direction".

Referring to the slide above, he says, however, that death numbers are "not coming down fast" - adding he expects this trend to continue for a couple of weeks, before a quicker decline is seen thereafter.

Matt Hancock says they are "putting the infrastructure in place now so we can roll out contact tracing on a large scale".

He says they are testing the new NHS contact tracing app.

"If you become unwell, you'll be able to tell NHS with this app and then this will send an alert to other users," he says.

Test track and trace is "vital" to stop the virus, he says.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has thanked British Muslims for staying at home over Ramadan, which begins today.

"I know how important the daily iftar is, how important communal prayers are at night, and how important the Eid festival is," he says.

"Thank you for making major changes to these vital parts of your practice," he says, adding: "Ramadan Mubarak." (Happy Ramadan)

This week the "biggest antibody studies we have ever seen" begin, Hancock says - it is a joint project with the Office for National Statistics and the University of Oxford. Read more on our story here.

He says 25,000 people will take part in the first phase and there are plans to expand it further over the next 12 months.

"If you are asked to take part in vital research for this country... If you get a letter, please respond as soon as you can," he says.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock says 18,000 people will be hired to help trace coronavirus infections.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock says from today employers of essential workers and their families will be able to go on the government's website to get a coronavirus test for any of their staff who wants one.

"From tomorrow, any essential workers who need a test will be able to book an appointment on gov.uk themselves directly," he says.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock starts by saying: "We must retain our resolve and follow social distancing rules - they are working.

"To lift the measures too soon and to risk a second peak will be a mistake and undo all the hard work that has been done."

It would be bad "for nation’s health and economy", he says.

He goes on to say testing capacity has increased "ahead of our times" to 51,000 a day - but still short of the 100,000 a day target.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has emerged, and today’s Downing Street press conference is under way.

Stay with us and we’ll bring you all the latest updates.