The next question comes from Toni from Manchester who asks what help there is for parents who are going back to work but have no childcare options as their children aren't yet back at school.

Boris Johnson says he sympathises and expresses the hope more primary school children will be able to go back to school soon.

"The best we can do is to keep supporting you through the furlough scheme and the job retention scheme," he says.

He also urges employers "to be reasonable" in such situations.

The first question is from Amy from Brighton, who asks what the UK can learn from Spain, which recently saw days without any deaths and as yet has not seen a resurgence - despite easing restrictions.

Vallance says the news from Spain is encouraging but we "are not out of this yet" and there have been fresh spikes in Germany and South Korea.

The PM claims the virus is a "kinetic force" and there is the risk of a "second pulse" and that is why the UK must remain vigilant.

Whitty points out that a second wave is "common" in most new diseases.

Sir Patrick Vallance now talks through today's data slides.

He says there is a steady downward detection of new cases, however he notes the true number could be higher - up to 8,000 a day - as the data only counts those who get tested.

He says that is why it is important to make sure more people get tested.

On the infection rate he notes, "it is not coming down fast".

"That means we have to tread very carefully," he warns.

Image source, Cabinet Office

Image source, Cabinet Office

Image source, Cabinet Office

Image source, Cabinet Office

The PM now talks about global efforts to find a vaccine for the Covid-19, pointing out that he is chairing a summit of the Gavi interntional vaccine alliance on Thursday alongside Bill Gates.

He again describes the virus as an invisible enemy and "frankly none of us is safe until we are all safe" and says "humanity must unite" over the hunt for a vaccine.

He says he is sure the British public will continue to show the resolve it has had done up to now by minimising infection rates through social distancing and hygiene measures.

And he urges people, with a spell of wet weather expected, not to move outdoor gathering indoors.

He says the risk of transmission indoors is much higher and people must not "undermine and reverse" the progress that has been made.

Johnson moves on to talk about the controversial plans to ask anyone arriving in the UK to self-isolate for 14 days - plans outlined by the home secretary earlier.

He says there was screening of passengers arriving from China and other countries early in the outbreak but this was halted due to high levels of community transmission.

Now that these levels have decreased, he says there is a need to impose strict controls to stop the risk of imported cases.

He says the measures are tough and necessary and will be reviewed.

He also says that "air bridges" or international air corridors will be considered with countries with low transmission rates but "only when it is safe to do so".

The PM moves on to talk about what the government is doing to control the virus now the pandemic is past its peak.

He says the test and trace system is "vital" to these efforts and everyone "must play their part" in that.

He says thousands of people are newly self-isolating as a result and encourages everyone with symptoms to take a test, saying there is "capacity for everyone who is eligible".

Boris Johnson starts by running through the latest figures, confirming that a further 359 deaths have been recorded in the past 24 hours.

We are with the families of those who have lost loved ones, he says.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now opening today's coronavirus press conference.

He is accompanied by Professor Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer and Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK government's chief scientific adviser.

Confirming plans to force almost all arrivals to the UK to self-isolate for 14 days to limit the spread of coronavirus, Home Secretary Priti Patel said that as the rate of transmission within the UK has declined, imported infections now pose a more significant threat to the country's recovery.

We expect the UK government’s press conference to start in the next five minutes.

One subject that may come up is the government's new test and trace system. You can read up on what testing is being done across the country here.

Image source, Reuters

Tottenham Hotspur say one person at the club has tested positive for coronavirus after England's Premier League announced 1,197 players and club staff were checked on Monday and Tuesday in the latest round of testing.

The league said the person will self-isolate for seven days.

There have now been five rounds of testing for Covid-19, and the total number of positive results has increased to 13 from 5,079 tests.

Premier League players and staff are currently tested twice a week, with the league set to resume on 17 June.

Read more here.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to begin today's press briefing in about 15 minutes.

In the meantime, why not enjoy this video about how four-year-old Zachary has flourished during the lockdown?

Image source, House of Commons

The head of England's Test and Trace programme has said she will only release details on the scheme's performance after the data had been "validated" by the UK's statistics watchdog.

Appearing at the Commons' health and social care committee, Dame Dido Harding was asked by MPs to reveal the overall proportion of:

• confirmed Covid-19 cases who were contacted within 24 hours
• test results returned to people during the same period

But Harding said the programme - launched on 28 May - was "very new" and that there was "work to do" to ensure data about it was accurate.

She said the UK government was working with the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) to agree a weekly dashboard of data, following criticism by the watchdog's head earlier this week.

"This is a service that is only six days old, and building trust in NHS Test and Trace is going to be absolutely critical," she said."So, we need to make sure that any data that we share is accurate and validated."

She added that more than 90% of all tests "come back within 48 hours".

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

Today’s UK coronavirus press briefing is due to begin in about 30 minutes.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be joined by Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, and Sir Patrick Vallance, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK government.

While we're waiting for that, here's a round-up of the coronavirus-related stories coming out of the UK today:

• Home Secretary Priti Patel has confirmed plans to force almost all arrivals to the UK to isolate for 14 days – with fines of up to £1,000 for those who don’t comply
• All schools in Wales will reopen on 29 June, but with staggered class times to ensure only a third of pupils are in school at any one time
• The PM has promised all coronavirus tests will be turned around within 24 hours by the end of June
• Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer clashed over the government’s handling of coronavirus at Prime Minister’s Questions
• In Scotland more people have now died with coronavirus in care homes than in the country's hospitals
• A contact tracer working on the NHS Test and Trace coronavirus scheme says she has not been asked to speak to anyone since beginning work last week

Image source, Getty Images

Italy's president has announced a list of people who will receive honours for their service during the coronavirus outbreak.

Those being awarded the Order of Merit include medical staff, researchers and virologists.

But it also includes a number of volunteers who stepped up to help the country when it was hit by large numbers of cases.

Italian international rugby player Maxime Mbanda is on the list of honours.

He had been scheduled to face England in the Six Nations in March when all sport was suspended. Instead, he volunteered as an ambulance driver with a volunteer medical group in the region of Emilia-Romagna, one of the areas most affected by coronavirus.

The list also includes a taxi-driver who took a three-year-old girl on a free 1,300km journey to Rome for a cancer check-up.

A student who cooked free meals for medics in a hospital that was under intense pressure, and a volunteer who set up a phone service to provide company for lonely people during the lockdown, will also be recognised.

Image source, Reuters

A football ground in Israel has installed a tunnel which sprays players arriving for matches with a disinfectant mist, which it hopes will help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv is home to Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Yehuda, who all play in the Israeli Premier League, which has recently restarted behind closed doors after being suspended due to the pandemic.

The tunnel uses electrolysed water - produced by the electrolysis of water and salt - which has been approved for use as a disinfectant.

A water pump machine senses when someone enters the tunnel and spray nozzles automatically open for 15 seconds, bathing players and their belongings in a sanitising mist.

"We are not a cure for the coronavirus, we are fighting against its spread,” said Eran Druker, president for business development at RD Pack, an Israeli company which installed the disinfectant dispersal system into the tunnel.

In April, US President Donald Trump was lambasted by the medical community after suggesting research into whether coronavirus might be treated by injecting disinfectant into the body.

Coronavirus spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes small droplets - packed with the virus - into the air. These can be breathed in, or cause an infection if you touch a surface they have landed on, then your eyes, nose or mouth.

Ryanair has described plans to force arrivals to the UK to isolate for 14 days as "ineffective and useless".

A spokesman said passengers could potentially spread infection on public transport from the airport, while most visitors from Europe were arriving from countries with lower infection rates.

EasyJet called for a “risk based approach” to be adopted, with “air bridges” in place to remove quarantine for travellers from countries where Covid-19 is under control.

British Airway's parent company IAG reiterated earlier comments from chief executive Willie Walsh, who said that the move has "seriously set back recovery plans" for the airline sector.

The Confederation of British Industry called for more detail on how the policy would be reviewed, and the creation of international travel corridors with key trading partners.

The British Chambers of Commerce said: “Co-ordinated checks at departure and arrival airports, together with other internationally-agreed safety measures, would alleviate the need for a blanket quarantine."

Image source, PA Media

Boris Johnson will chair this afternoon's UK daily press briefing at Downing Street, expected to start at 17.00 BST.

The prime minister will be joined in No 10 by Professor Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer and Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK government's chief scientific adviser.

Mr Johnson has faced criticism for the number of times he has appeared to take questions from journalists in recent weeks, with other senior ministers often fronting the events.

No 10 said earlier this week that the PM was committed to appearing at least once a week from now on.

A further 359 deaths of people who tested positive for coronavirus have been confirmed in the UK, across all settings, taking the total number to 39,728.

The Department of Health's latest figures also showed 171,829 tests had taken place over the most recent 24-hour period, with 1,871 positive results.

Image source, Reuters

It was one of the enduring images of the lockdown, when two border fences were erected between interconnected towns on the Swiss-German border.

The barriers finally came down last month between Constance in Switzerland and the German town of Kreuzlingen, although border controls will only be lifted on 15 June.

Now the mayors of the two towns say fences must never appear again between them. Switzerland is part of the EU's border-free Schengen zone and Constance Mayor Uli Burchardt has told Neue Zürcher Zeitung that they are one, indivisible town. "You might just as well have built a fence between two parts of Zürich or Stuttgart," he says.

Kreuzlingen Mayor Thomas Niederberger says if there is a second surge or another virus in future "we have to solve our problems differently".

Read more about the Swiss-German border fence here

Image source, EPA