Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

The clear message from the prime minister and both his most senior health and science advisers throughout the briefing was that we may need to get used to living with the virus.

There was an acceptance that a vaccine may never be developed and as we gradually emerge from lockdown, while we can minimise risks, we can never eradicate them altogether.

In short, we have to adapt and move forward.

Here's a bit more from what we just heard at the end of the briefing.

Heather Stewart of the Guardian asked if the PM understands why people feel the burden of the virus is falling unfairly on the poor.

"We have got to look very carefully at the end of this at the impact this has had on society and which people have been particularity badly hit," he replied.

"There is no question it has fallen hardest on certain groups."

He added that the government has supported working people through the job retention scheme.

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.

And that concludes the news conference from the UK government.

Stay with us as we bring you more analysis from our correspondents and all the latest news.

Boris Johnson's talked about reducing the restrictions on everyday life in England in stages.

Here's a graphic showing how the government thinks it might happen.

Image source, UK government

Prof Whitty says the "great majority" of people who get coronavirus will not suffer severe symptoms. Deaths are coming down because of the work "the whole country is doing", he adds.

Asked if daily recovery rates can be published, Sir Patrick Vallance, chief scientific adviser to the UK government, says there is "absolutely no reason" why not, as the data is openly available.

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.

"No," replies the prime minister adding: "There will be no checks between Ireland and Northern Ireland and similarly you wouldn't expect anything between Great Britain and Northern Ireland."

"What we really want people to do in this country is to look at our social distancing measures and apply them with common sense," he adds.

The PM 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".

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

Natasha from Richmond asks when she can see her family again and questions if it is logical that, as a teacher, she can mix with children returning to schools but still cannot see her relatives.

The prime minister replies that she can see one other member of her family somewhere outdoors.

"It may not sound like much but I hope you understand the constraints we are under," he says.

Chris Whitty adds that the risk of infection from children is "very very low" and reopening schools, done carefully, is unlikely to lead to a rise in virus infections.

Asked if restrictions for the vulnerable have eased, the prime minister says he did not tell all over-70s in the first place that they should be shielded but that they should "take care".

Prof Whitty says those in the "very vulnerable group" should continue shielding.

"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.

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".

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.

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, 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.

Boris Johnson is now asked how people can go back to work 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."