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Speed is the "missing link in the chain" in England's Track and Trace system, former UK health secretary Jeremy Hunt says.

"I think the effectiveness of Test and Trace is all about speed - how quickly you can take people out of circulation," he told the BBC.

Baroness Harding refused to release data on how many tests are turned around within 24 hours, and on how people with Covid-19 are then contacted within a day - until it had been "validated" by the UK's statistics watchdog.

When asked why he though the details were not being released, Hunt said: "They've got all this data at their fingerprints. I suspect the reason is because the testing is still taking too long".

He also said evidence suggested 20% of negative results could be false.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said coronavirus tests would all be turned around within 24 hours by the end of June.

Image source, House of Commons

Earlier the head of England's Track and Trace system was quizzed over how it was working. Dido Harding told MPs somewhere between 25% and 33% of people diagnosed with Covid-19 in England have filled out the details of their contacts online themselves.

She said this was "more than we were expecting" - and was one of the reasons England's 25,000 contact tracers had not been busier.

It came after one contact tracer told the BBC that she had not been asked to speak to anyone in 38 hours of work since beginning work last week - and was using the time to catch up on her favourite Netflix programmes.

As the press conference was going on inside Downing Street, outside protests at the death of George Floyd were taking place:

Image source, AFP/ Getty Images

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA

Image source, Reuters

US President Donald Trump says Republicans have been "forced" to find another state to host the party's 2020 National Convention, after North Carolina refused to budge on possible coronavirus restrictions.

The president said on Twitter that North Carolina's governor would not guarantee Republicans could use the venue "as originally anticipated and promised".

Governor Roy Cooper tweeted that Republicans had resisted "changes to keep people safe".

The convention is set to take place from August 24 - 27. It was hoped more than 19,000 people would attend.

Several other states have volunteered to host the event instead.

By Tuesday, North Carolina had reported 29,900 total coronavirus cases and 900 deaths.

Read more here

Richard Moss
Political editor, North East & Cumbria

Council planners are investigating complaints that the Durham property which Dominic Cummings used during his lockdown trip doesn't have the correct planning permission.

The county council says it has received a number of complaints and is looking into them.

The Prime Minister's senior adviser stayed in what he described as a cottage on his parents' farm with his wife Mary Wakefield and four-year-old son during the start of April.

North Lodge, the Cummings family property, is on the outskirts of Durham.

The only planning applications listed on the council's website for the farm cover a pitched roof over a swimming pool in 2001, and the removal and trimming of various trees.

The City of Durham Labour MP Mary Foy, whose constituency includes North Lodge, says she has also raised questions with Durham County Council.

She says she received a number of complaints from constituents, and has asked the council whether the property Dominic Cummings stayed in had proper planning permission, and whether it was registered for council tax.

She has yet to receive a reply.

Downing Street declined to comment.

Read more here.

Image source, Reuters

The daily press conference was held by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser.

Here's what they told us:

• Boris Johnson said the new quarantine measures for travellers were tough but “necessary” to stop the risk of imported cases triggering a second peak. "Travel corridors" with countries with low infection rates will be considered, but "only when it is safe"

• The PM refused to be drawn on whether Britons should book a summer holiday to Europe

• The NHS test and trace strategy is a "vital" part of stopping the virus re-emerging

• There are global efforts to find a vaccine for the Covid-19, and the PM will chair a summit of the Gavi international vaccine alliance on Thursday

• Boris Johnson urged people not to move outdoor gatherings indoors in wet weather, saying the risk of transmission would be much higher and "undermine" the progress that has been made

• He said not being able to secure childcare was a reason to be let off returning to work by employers

• Asked why restrictions have been eased when the UK remains at level four on the alert system, Chris Whitty said people were conflating two different things - it was the five tests set by ministers which had to be met before restrictions were relaxed

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

Boris Johnson faced a lot of criticism from his own MPs earlier over the plans for a blanket quarantine of people coming into the UK.

It’s clear the PM is sticking by the idea, arguing now is the time to take measures to avoid new cases being brought into the country.

It’s not, however, totally clear from the answers we’ve heard at the briefing that the scientists advised taking this approach now.

It is clear that Mr Johnson is going to keep facing pressure on this, both in Westminster and from the aviation and tourism industries.

The questions come to an end, but before leaving Boris Johnson makes a few last points.

He says the UK is seeing continuing falls in deaths and "that is why we have been able to take cautious steps".

"We want to take more steps to unlock our society," he says but urges people to follow "basic rules".

"Wash your hands, self-isolate, take a test and observe social distancing.

"We are beating this disease - and we will beat it if everyone works together."

The last question is from a reporter for the Italian broadcaster RaiUno, who asks about the prospects for the hundreds of thousands of Italian people, and other Europeans, who worked in the UK but left the country once the pandemic struck and the service sector closed.

Given the tough new quarantine rules, are they welcome to return to the UK as the economy opens up again?

The PM says the new quarantine rules are "an imposition" on people's movements but they are needed to save lives.

But he says that he would love people to return to the UK to help its recovery, saying, in Italian, that everyone is welcome.

Reality Check

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was careful to say “carried out or posted out” when talking about test numbers at today’s UK daily briefing.

Yesterday the head of the UK Statistics Authority, Sir David Norgrove, criticised the way ministers spoke about figures – accusing them of simply talking about tests “carried out” when the daily statistics also included “posted out” numbers.

Norgrove accused the government of using data to "show the largest possible number of tests, even at the expense of understanding".

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said UK government data was as transparent as possible.

Why we don't know how many are being tested? Find out more here.

Josh Layton from the Coventry Telegraph asks what reassurance can be given to those parents who are worried about sending their children to school.

Chris Whitty says children not having their school education is "a huge disadvantage".

He also says children are at less risk of catching the disease than adults.

And he adds that rates of transmission are much lower than they were.

The Telegraph's Steve Swinford asks about the UK's relationship with China in light of its much-criticised handling of the virus and tensions over Hong Kong.

He specifically wants to know whether the PM plans to eventually exclude Chinese firm Huawei from involvement in the UK's 5G network.

The PM says there is a risk that a proposed new national security law will erode civic and political freedoms in the ex-British colony and the UK is going to "hold out the hand of friendship and loyalty" to British National Overseas Passport holders who want to come to the UK.

He insists that he is a Sinophile and that he believes that China is an incredible country and civilisation and condemns xenophobic attacks on Chinese people living in the UK.

The UK needs to have a good, friendly and clear-eyed relationship with China going forward while protecting its national security interests, particularly in relation to its 5G infrastructure, the PM says.

The Sun's Tom Newton-Dunn also asks what help those who have lost their job - because of the virus - will get.

"There will be many many job losses," replies the prime ministers. "That is inevitable."

He says there are few countries who have done "as much in terms of putting our arms around workers" and promises investment in the economy and infrastructure.

"For young people it is going to be vital that we guarantee apprenticeships," he adds.

The Sun's Tom Newton-Dunn asks what capacity the test and trace system is at and when further lockdown measures can be eased.

"We are not at cruising altitude yet," says Chris Whitty but adds that the number of tests is increasing.

Sir Patrick Vallance adds that testing is "not the single answer".

"We still need to carry on with social distancing," he says.

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

The prime minister used today's Downing Street briefing to urge people to come forward for tests, a plea then reiterated by Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.

The concern is that not everyone is asking for tests when they are showing symptoms.

Surveys suggest there are around 8,000 new infections a day, but at the moment the national testing system is just picking up less than 2,000.

If people are not tested, they may not be isolating and their contacts cannot be traced.

That could undermine the ability of the UK to keep on top of local outbreaks.

ITV's Robert Peston brings up comments by Boris Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May, who has warned that the 14-day quarantine plan for people arriving or returning to the UK would be damaging as it would "close off Britain to the rest of the world".

He asks whether the PM will, instead, back Mrs May's calls for the UK to lead the way in developing international standards for screening at airports.

The PM says the danger of routine testing at airports is of it producing many "false negatives".

But he repeats his earlier point that the UK will consider the case for "safe corridors" with other countries with similar or lower levels of the virus and these will be "developed as we go forward".

Peston also asks whether the easing of the lockdown restrictions is happening a month too early given that data from the test and trace system will not be available for weeks and won't be able to inform measures to tackle local outbreaks.

Whitty gives what he says is a "long answer", saying the UK needs a "multi-layered defence", easing some restrictions but tightening others if necessary, to address the fact there will be plenty of people without symptoms who can infect others.

He talks about hygiene, including "cough etiquette," the test and trace system, and shielding of the most vulnerable.

Beth Rigby also asks why restrictions have been relaxed when the UK is still at level 4 on the government's alert system.

Chris Whitty says the alert system is in place to help identify virus hotspots.

He says that is different from the five tests, set by ministers, which had to be met in order for restrictions to be eased.

Beth Rigby from Sky News references the protests that have been taking place in London following the death of George Floyd and asks what is the PM's message to US President Donald Trump.

Boris Johnson says he was "sickened" by what happened.

"I would urge people to protest in accordance with the rules on social distancing," he says adding "everybody's lives matter, Black lives matter."

Reality Check

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been talking about the series of measures the government is taking “to prevent a second wave of infections that could overwhelm the NHS".

A second wave is not inevitable, but the key is to ease the lockdown in ways that limit the spread of disease. Experts are worried about the virus re-emerging during winter months, when the health service is already under additional pressure because of seasonal flu.

We’ve looked at the likelihood of a second wave here:

Now we are onto questions from journalists, starting with the BBC's transport correspondent Tom Burridge.

He asks whether anyone should be booking a holiday this summer and what people should do if they have paid a deposit and want to cancel.

The PM says he does not want to advise people on their travel arrangements but points out that the Foreign Office is advising against all non-essential travel abroad at the moment and "we need to knock this virus on the head".

In response to another question on the scientific evidence behind the 14-day quarantine proposals for new arrivals, Vallance says such measures are most effective when rates of domestic transmission are low and they are targeted at countries with much higher levels.