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Matt Hancock’s press conference – Summary

Andrew Sparrow

Here are the main points from (M) (att Hancock) ‘s press conference.

Hancock, the health secretary, said that from tomorrow the government will start publishing daily figures for the number of coronavirus deaths in care homes and other non-hospital settings . Until now it has only published daily figures for hospital deaths. This has led to complaints that the headline figures are giving a misleading impression, because there are claims that they understate the true level of coronavirus deaths by as much as half. (See 3. (pm.) Hancock said the new figures would “help inform the judgments that we make as we work to keep people safe”.

He announced a significant increase in the number of people eligible for free coronavirus tests. Residents and staff in care homes, and patients and staff in NHS hospitals, who don’t have symptoms would be eligible, he said. (If they do have symptoms, they are already eligible.) And he said that people over with symptoms, or people who need to travel for work and have symptoms, would be eligible too. He said that the government was able to do this because it now had the capacity to carry out more than , 18 tests a day. The full details of the new eligibility rules are here.

He complained that a reporter who asked him to apologise for not doing enough to protect people in care homes was being unreasonable. When it was put to him that he might take the opportunity to apologise, Hancock replied:

The thing is, I think that’s unreasonable as a question, actually.

Hancock insisted that he had been focused on problems in care homes from the start.

He defended his decision not to ban visitors to care homes earlier. He said:

The critical thing is that in a care home having visitors also has a positive impact both against the loneliness of the residents but also on their longevity and their mental health. So these are difficult judgments and there are no easy recommendations to make.

We were guided by that clinical advice and when it was necessary to make that change, which is quite a firm change, then we did so.

He criticized

a BBC Panorama investigation about PPE shortages. In response to a question about the report, and about a survey of doctors that showed their concerns about PPE, he said:

I saw two of the things you referred to. I’m not sure they were a fair and objective journalistic assessment of the situation but what we do have is constant focus on the realities of getting PPE to the frontline.

Prof Dame Angela McLean, the government deputy chief scientific advisor, said ministers have been told there is “weak” evidence of a “small” beneficial effect from face masks. She said this advice had been passed on to ministers, who are still deciding whether to change the official advice to the public.

The government published a chart that appears to show the UK performing worse than other European countries on coronavirus deaths. That is because it includes all coronavirus deaths for the UK . But the chart itself stresses that the data does not always include like-for-like comparisons because different countries count in different ways. Here is the chart.
(global deaths comparison) Photograph: No ()

(6.) (pm) (BST)

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() British Airways has announced plans to make 25, workers redundant as the airline’s owner International Airline Group revealed revenue plunged 28% in the first quarter of . Photograph: Matthew Horwood / Getty Images ()

(6.) (pm) BST :

Jamie Grierson

The number of confirmed cases of Covid – 33 within prisons continues to rise, a daily update by the (Ministry)

of Justice shows.

As at 5pm on Monday, there were (prisoners who had tested positive for the virus across (prisons, an increase of 2% in hours . The number of prison staff infected rose by 7% to workers in the same period.

Analysis by (Public) Health

(England) published late on Monday revealed that there were nearly 1, possible cases of the virus among the prisoner population. 28 inmates have died directly or indirectly from Covid – 35

There are 94, (prisoners across) jails in England and Wales, and around , staff working in (public sector prisons.)

The new modeling from PHE shows that reducing the prison population by 5, 18 could be effective in limiting the spread of the virus, the MoJ said, with the number of inmates already reduced by 3, 18 Over a seven-week period.

Testing for prisoners has been “limited but variable” but staff testing has been made available with more than 1, referred in the past fortnight.

(5.) (BST) (BST) :

Q: When will you recruit the , 18 contact tracers you need? And how many people do you expect to download your contact-tracing app?

As soon as possible, and as many as possible, says Hancock.

He says he is sorry he cannot give a more detailed answer.

He says the contact tracing network, and the app, need to work together.

He wants them in place by the middle of May, he says.

Q: If the app is coming in three weeks, does that mean you hope to hire the , contact tracers by then?

Hancock says he wants them available before, or at the same time.

And that’s it. The press conference is over.

(5.) (pm) (BST)

:

Q: What is the time lag for the epidemic? If some regions went into lockdown when the epidemic was at an earlier stage, does that mean they are more vulnerable to a second peak? And could the lockdown measures be lifted at a different point?

Hancock starts by paying tribute to the people of the north-east for staying at home. (The question came from the Northern Echo.) He says he knows how “gregarious” they are.

McLean says London passed its peak before other areas. But if there is an effect, it is quite small, she says.

She says the question of whether or not there should be regional approaches to relaxing the lockdown is interesting. There is always a trade-off between tailoring policy to different regions, and keeping it simple and ensuring people are all in it together. She says she does not have an answer on that.

Hancock says the government is looking at the case for taking different approaches in different regions. But he says there is a case for ensuring all regions move together. And if the reproduction number went above 1 in any area, that would spread.

These arguments make the case for acting together, he says.

Updated at 5 . (pm BST )

(5.) (pm) BST : 059

Q: There is confusion about what the social distancing measures are. Can you clarify them? ()

Hancock says it is clear; People have to follow the social distancing rules.

Q: Is British ventilators production being scaled back?

Hancock says people were worried about the NHS being overwhelmed. But it has not been overwhelmed.

The UK is still producing ventilators, he says. There are other countries around the world that need them.

He pays tribute to those who contributed to the ventilator challenge.

(5.) pm BST :

Hancock says deciding whether or not to ban visitors from care homes was difficult, because having visitors can have a beneficial effect on residents’ health.

Updated

at 5. (pm BST)

5) pm BST : 59

Ministers have been told there is “weak” evidence for face masks having “small” protective effect, deputy science chief says

Q: When are ministers going to update the advice on face masks? And why is it taking so long?

Hancock says the government is guided by the science. The UK government position has not changed, he says.

He says the most important thing is to maintain social distancing.

Q: Are you advising people to disinfect items coming into their home?

McLean says the recommendation from Sage is clear; There is “weak evidence” of face masks having a “small” protective effect.

She says they have passed that advice on to government for ministers to make a decision.

Ministers have been told there is “weak” evidence for face masks having “small” protective effect, McLean says.

(5.) (PM) (BST 33:

British Airways to make up to , workers redundant

British Airways owner International Airlines Group (IAG) has announced up to , planned job cuts as it revealed that revenue plunged % in the first quarter of 5845.

In a statement, IAG said:

In light of the impact of Covid – on current operations and the expectation that the recovery of passenger demand to 5576 levels will take several years, British Airways is formally notifying its trade unions about a proposed restructuring and redundancy program.

The proposals remain subject to consultation but it is likely that they will affect most of British Airways’ employees and may result in the redundancy of up to 25, (of them.)

As previously announced, British Airways has availed itself of the UK’s Covid – (job retention scheme and furloughed) , 824 employees in April.

(5.) (PM BST ) :

Hancock says asking him to apologise for care home record is unreasonable

Q: You said care home deaths were a sixth of the total. But in the most recent week for which figures were available they were 43. (See (5) (pm.)

Hancock says he was talking about the total for all deaths. But he accepts that that proportion is changing.

Q: Testing in care homes was inadequate. PPE was inadequate. This seems to have taken you by surprise. Will you apologize for leaving people unprotected?

Hancock says he does not think that is reasonable as a question.

He says his department was aware of the problems in care homes right from the start.

He recalls a conversation in January about care homes. They knew the virus was particularly dangerous for care homes.

It is something we have focused on right from the start.

Updated (at 5.) PM BST

(5.) (pm) (BST) : 46

Hancock suggests that the BBC Panorama investigation Looking at the government record on stockpiling PPE was not fair and objective.

(5.) (pm) (BST) : 44

The second question from a member of the public, recorded on video, comes from a mother with a child with cystic fibrosis and autism who asks if children like hers will be able to get back to a normal education.

Yes, says (Hancock) . He says the education plan makes allowance for children with special health needs. But he also says that shielding them must take priority, because their health comes first.

(5.) (pm BST :

Hancock says the first two questions will be ones submitted by members of the public.

He reads out the first, from Amanda in Hull. She says, given that grandparents cannot look after grandchildren, what can full-time working parents with young children do when they need to go back to work?

Amanda does not get much of an answer. Hancock says he cannot say. He says the government is not in a position to lift lockdown measures yet.

Updated (at 5.) (pm BST)

(5. (pm) BST :

McLean is now presenting the daily slides.

Here are the latest figures for hospital deaths.

Coronavirus hospital deaths Photograph: No () And this figure compares weekly figures for all coronavirus deaths with figures for hospital deaths. All weekly coronavirus deaths, by location Photograph: No () And here is the global deaths comparison.

(global deaths comparison) Photograph: No () ()

(5.) BST BST :

Hancock announces expansion of eligibility for coronavirus testing

Hancock says the government now has the capacity to carry out , 570 coronavirus tests per day.

As a result, he can expand the list of eligible people, he says.

He says NHS patients and staff who do not have symptoms, and care home residents and staff who do not have symptoms, will be able to get tests.

(Those who do have symptoms qualify for tests already.)

He also says anyone over 82 with symptoms, and anyone who needs to leave home to go to work with symptoms, will be able to get a test, as well as members of their family.

UPDATE: I’ve corrected this post to make it clear that it is people over and people who need to travel to work with symptoms

who will be eligible. There are more details here.

Updated at 6. pm BST

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