Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital with continuing coronavirus symptoms as the Queen told the UK that ‘better days will return’ despite the grief and suffering caused by the pandemic.
Downing Street confirmed the prime minister was undergoing tests ‘as a precautionary step’ on the advice of his doctor.
The announcement was made after Elizabeth II urged Britons to show their traditional “quiet, good-humoured resolve” and thanked NHS staff for their work.
Meanwhile health secretary Matt Hancock criticised members of the public for flocking to parks to sunbathe during the lockdown, though he said changes to exercise rules were not “imminent”.
The worldwide number of Covid-19 cases passed 1.25 million, with more than 68,000 dying with the disease, according to the Johns Hopkins University. In the UK the death toll rose by over 600 in a day to nearly 5,000.
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Sunbathing 'putting others' lives at risk', health secretary says
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has said sunbathing in public spaces is against the coronavirus social distancing rules, as he warned those flouting the advice that they were putting people's lives at risk.
He told Sky News's Sophy Ridge On Sunday: "The vast majority of people are following the public health advice, which is absolutely critical, and staying at home.
"But there are a small minority of people who are still not doing that - it's quite unbelievable frankly to see that there are some people who are not following the advice."
Asked whether sunbathing in public spaces was against the law, he said: "Sunbathing is against the rules that have been set out for important public health reasons."
He warned those who are flouting the guidance: "You are putting others' lives at risk and you are putting yourself in harm's way."
People seen flouting coronavirus lockdown by sunbathing and going for picnics
Police forces have urged the public to stay at home and follow the government’s coronavirus lockdown after people were pictured sunbathing and enjoying picnics outside yesterday, Conrad Duncan reports.
The British public have been given strict instructions to not leave their homes this weekend, despite warm weather across the country, to slow the spread of Covid-19.
People seen flouting coronavirus lockdown by sunbathing and going for picnics, prompting police warning
Police officers urge public to follow government measures to slow Covid-19 spreadMatt Hancock dismisses reports about disagreement with chancellor over when to lift lockdown measures
Mr Hancock refused to be drawn on how long the UK would remain in lockdown, but said if people follow the rules "we will be able to make some progress".
The health secretary dismissed reports that he and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, have different opinions about when to lift the measures.
"We're working very closely together," he said.
Health secretary admits it will be 'hard' to roll out 100,000 coronavirus tests a day
Mr Hancock admitted it would be "hard" and would require "an awful lot of people to put their shoulders to the wheel" to roll out 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of the month.
"We set a goal of 10,000 test a day by the end of March and we hit that goal. At the end of February we had under 2,000 tests a day, so we are on a very rapid ramp-up but we clearly need to see that go further."
Mr Hancock said 8 per cent of NHS staff overall are currently off work, while 5.7 per cent of doctors are off.
"Those figures are stable but we want to get them down, obviously, and one of the ways that we do that is by getting the amount of testing for NHS staff up."
Boris Johnson 'OK' after contracting coronavirus
Mr Hancock said Boris Johnson is "OK" and the prime minister has "very much got his hand on the tiller - but he's still got a temperature".
The Health Secretary said he did not know whether the PM had been visited by doctors, but said he was "in good spirits".
On protectionism - following allegations that face masks from a US-based firm bound for Berlin had been intercepted - Mr Hancock said the UK must be a "beacon" for the openness of supply chains across the world.
"It doesn't benefit anyone for all countries around the world to start putting up barriers."
NHS staff having 'hold their breath' and reuse eye masks due to lack of protective equipment
Dr Rinesh Parmar, of the Doctors' Association, told the Sophy Ridge On Sunday show there are still major issues with personal protective equipment (PPE).
NHS staff are having to reuse eye masks, he said, adding that some nurses doing high-risk procedures are "having to hold their breath".
He added that a survey conducted by his organisation has found that almost half of doctors say they have no eye protection at all.
Dr Parmar said that along with the safety of patients, the safety of the workforce "is our paramount concern".
"Given the severe lack of PPE getting through, we are all very concerned about potentially losing more colleagues", he said.
Dr Parmar said it was "sad to hear" of those who had already been lost "in the line of duty", adding "none of us wants to hear further stories of frontline staff losing their lives."
Dr Parmar also raised concerns about testing, saying: "We have heard in the last few weeks that testing is going to be ramped up. It would be welcome to see that in practice."
He claimed that there have been reports of doctors going to testing centres, only to be turned away.
Queen to tell nation to show typical British resolve in rare address
The Queen is to urge the nation to show its traditional “quiet, good-humoured resolve” in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, Peter Stubley reports.
In a rare televised message to be broadcast this evening, Elizabeth II will acknowledge the grief and financial hardship experienced by the public as the UK faces a third week on lockdown.
She will also personally thank healthcare workers on the front line and recognise the pain already suffered by some families.
Queen to tell nation to show typical British resolve in coronavirus message
‘Those who come after us will say that the Britons of this generation were as strong as any’Coronavirus stories you may have missed
The coronavirus pandemic continues to cause chaos across the UK and around the world. Here’s your morning briefing of everything you may have missed overnight, from Kate Ng.
Coronavirus stories you may have missed
Elizabeth II to urge British public to show 'good-natured' resolve'Some signs' lockdown helping slow spread of coronavirus in UK
Epidemiologist Professor Neil Ferguson said there are "some signs" the lockdown is helping to slow the spread of coronavirus in the UK.
Prof Ferguson, whose modelling of the pandemic helped prompt the government to impose the restrictions on movement, said: "We have just had the first day where new admittances to hospital for this virus have reduced day-on.
"It is early days yet but we do expect to see that slowing down accelerate over the next week."
Speaking on the Andrew Marr show on BBC One, he said that he expects the pandemic to plateau in the next week to 10 days.
"What is critically important then is how quickly case numbers go down - do we see a long, flat peak or do we, as we hope, see a much faster decline?
"That really depends on how effective the current measures are."
UK death toll could reach over 20,000
When asked about the potential final death toll, Prof Ferguson said: "It is very difficult to make predictions at the moment.
"What we have is an exponentially growing curve of infections which we interrupted at a certain time. We can't say in terms of the infections precisely where we are on that curve, we don't have the ability right now to measure how many people have been infected.
"That will come with antibody tests, so we are making statistical estimates and we think it (the death toll) could be anywhere between 7,000 or so up to a little over 20,000."
Unclear when lockdown will be lifted
Prof Ferguson said he could not predict exactly when the lockdown would be lifted.
"When the lockdown ends will depend on what happens with this epidemic - how quickly case numbers decline," he said.
"There is no point, having gone through this effort, in releasing a lockdown at a point where case numbers are still high and will resurge even faster than we have seen before.
"We want case numbers to get to a low point where we can start substituting other measures for the most intrusive and economically costly aspects of the current lockdown.
"Almost certainly those additional measures will involve massively ramped-up testing, going back to trying to identify contacts of cases and stopping chains of transmission.
"That can only feasibly be done when we have many few cases per day than we have at the moment."
Prof Ferguson said how countries can release a lockdown safely is "the most important question worldwide", adding "there is no absolute answer".
"There is very intense research going on as to how we actually get out of this," he said.
He added: "There are a number of ideas in play, they certainly will rely on scaled-up testing, so we have to get that in place.
"But the precise strategy has not yet been formulated.
"It will be in the next week or so. It is the highest priority of the whole scientific and medical community in this country and many countries, and of course the policy community."
Marianne Faithfull hospitalised with Covid-19 and pneumonia
Marianne Faithfull is being treated in a London hospital after contracting coronavirus, Ellie Harrison reports.
The singer, who also has pneumonia, is “stable and responding to treatment”, according to her agent.
Marianne Faithfull hospitalised with coronavirus and pneumonia
Singer is ‘stable and responding to treatment’Labour's deputy leader blasts health secretary for not isolating long enough
Labour's newly-elected deputy leader Angela Rayner said the health secretary, Matt Hancock, should have self-isolated for longer after contracting Covid-19.
Ms Rayner, who herself has been self-isolating with coronavirus symptoms, said she was in bed for six days and her symptoms were "very debilitating".
Speaking to Sky News's Sophie Ridge On Sunday show, Ms Rayner said: "I'm disappointed that Matt Hancock, after seven days of having the virus, went out when the World Health Organisation has said you should self-isolate for 14 days.
"I think it's right that we do that because I cannot stress enough the severity of the symptoms that I have suffered, as you can tell from how breathless I am still now, and I'm day nine, day 10.
"I think the government really need to give that clarity and continue to support people doing the right thing."
Asked whether she agreed with the Health Secretary who said people should not be allowed to go outside and sunbathe during the Covid-19 outbreak, Ms Rayner said: "It's all right for people who have got big houses and huge back gardens to say that.
"But actually if you're stuck in inadequate accommodation, you've got no back garden, you've got nowhere to go and you're all on top of each other, quite literally, then I think people should do social distancing and should keep their distance but also be reasonable and proportionate about that."
Government may restrict people's freedom to exercise outdoors
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has warned that the government may restrict people's freedom to exercise outdoors if it is clear that people are flouting the rules.
Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, he said: "We've said it's OK to go for exercise because both the physical and mental health benefits of getting some exercise are really important.
"I don't want to have to take away exercise as a reason to leave home... if too many people are not following the rules.
"At the moment the vast majority of people are (following the guidance) but people should not break the rules because that will mean that the virus spreads more and then we might have to take further action."
Mr Hancock added: "I think this example of exercise is a really important one, because we've said because of the positive benefits to your physical and your mental health that it's OK to exercise on your own or with members of your own household.
"But if the result of that is that too many people go out and flout the other rules because they say 'well if I can exercise then it's fine for me to do other things' then I'm afraid we will have to take action.
"I don't want to have to take that action, of course I don't, but we have already demonstrated that we are prepared to take the action that's necessary to get this virus under control.
"So my message is really clear. If you don't want us to have to take the step to ban exercise of all forms outside of your own home then you've got to follow the rules and the vast majority people are following the rules.
"Let's not have a minority spoiling it for everybody."
Pentonville prison staff members die after displaying coronavirus symptoms
Two staff members at Pentonville Prison in London died after displaying coronavirus symptoms, the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) has said, Rory Sullivan reports.
Bovil Peter and Patrick Beckford were both support workers at the north London prison and were thought to be in their 60s.
Two Pentonville Prison staff members die after displaying coronavirus symptoms
Colleagues pay tribute to them with minute's silenceIncreased testing 'may be doable'
Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, which represents NHS Trusts, said that over time, increasing testing "may be doable".
She told Sophy Ridge on Sky News that testing is important because "the more staff we test, the more staff we can get back to work".
Asked if there are concerns that some regions of the country are better prepared for the pandemic that others, Ms Cordery said that the stock of ventilators is being managed nationally.
She added: "I think that the nature of this pandemic is that it is spreading from region to region.
"London is probably best prepared because London has seen the surge in demand hitting first. It is important that every part of the country is supported."
Ventilator capacity may not be in place before expected peak of virus, health secretary admits
The health secretary said the government is on track to have ventilator capacity for 18,000 patients, however admitted that may not be in place before the expected peak of the virus.
Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Matt Hancock said: "We need to make sure we have more ventilators than there are people who need ventilation.
"At the moment we have between 9,000 and 10,000 ventilators within the NHS right now and we have the 2,000 spare that are critical care beds with ventilator capacity should people need to come into them and we're ramping that up.
"The answer is that our goal, instead of the 30,000, is that we need 18,000 ventilators over the coming two weeks."
Asked how many there will be in a week's time: "There should be another 1,500."
Asked if the country will be below the capacity it needs in a week's time when the virus is expected to peak, Mr Hancock said: "No, because thankfully we've got the demand down because the vast majority of people are following their social distancing guidelines."
Mr Hancock added: "If we manage to get this to peak within a week to 10 days then the (ventilator) demand will be even lower than the 18,000.
"But the 18,000 is our current goal because we want to be ready with belt and braces for a worst-case scenario rather than that central scenario.
"If I could just explain this, because communicating about these sort of trajectories is really tough, because I want to prepare the NHS for whatever might happen and to make sure that there is always that spare capacity.
"The modellers and the scientists might say what they think is their likely, central scenario, but that is no good for me because if that doesn't happen we can't just say 'well the model is wrong, we don't have the capacity'.
"It was an internal target, but I've just told you. So my goal on ventilators is to get to 18,000-ventilator capacity and we are on track to meet that goal."
Scotland's chief medical officer apologises after breaking coronavirus lockdown to visit second home
Scotland's chief medical officer has apologised for breaking coronavirus lockdown measures to visit her second home in FifeNewly-elected Labour leader says party will back government in tightening lockdown measures
Newly-elected Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said Labour will back the government if ministers toughen the coronavirus lockdown measures.
He told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show he would engage constructively with the Conservatives and vowed to not seek to score party political points - nor demand the impossible - during the crisis.
Asked if he would support further restrictions on exercise if people flout the rules, Sir Keir said: "Yes we would - we do have to take whatever steps are necessary, and social distancing, staying indoors is really difficult for people, it's particularly difficult if you don't have a garden, if you're in a flat; and I know there are many people in overcrowded accommodation.
"But we've got to get through this and every time people break the guidance from the Government they put other people at risk."
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