The government has axed its coronavirus press conference on weekends after claiming too few people tuned in to watch it on TV.
The daily briefings were introduced in March as a vital chance to quiz ministers and scientific experts on the pandemic.
But the Downing Street evening broadcasts will now be cut from seven days to five days a week, effective immediately.
No10 claimed Boris Johnson - who has appeared only rarely at the briefings - will present one of the press conferences himself at least once a week.
The PM's spokesman today said: "We are moving into a different phase of the response".
He added: "The numbers of people who are viewing at weekends do tend to be significantly lower."
The spokesman insisted “regular updates to parliament” and a “wide range of media interviews” would continue.
But Shadow Health Minister Justin Madders fumed: "Government isn’t a TV station - ratings shouldn’t come into it.
"Given just last weekend they announced 2.2million people could leave their homes I would say there is still a need for weekend press conferences."
So far, the Prime Minister has given one formal ministerial statement to Parliament on coronavirus during the entire pandemic, outside of PMQs.
His spokesman said: "We’re absolutely committed to keeping people updated and we’ll be continuing to do this through regular press conferences, also through information campaigns, media interviews and parliamentary updates."
The press conferences will continue to be in a virtual format and continue to take questions from both journalists and members of the public.
He added: "The PM will take a press conference every week alongside... the scientific and medical experts.
"Others will be led by secretaries of state, alongside scientific and medical experts where relevant."
