Corona Virus Information:

Tributes to Captain Tom in tonight's clap

Tributes to Captain Tom Moore, who captured people's hearts after
he started a fundraiser for the NHS, also featured in tonight's clap.

People held up posters with messages to him, while elderly people

at a residential home in Wolverhampton banged pots and pans and
sang happy birthday to Capt Moore, who celebrated his 100th
birthday today. 

World War Two veteran Capt Tom has raised £32m for the NHS, a
campaign which started with him walking laps of his garden.

Amendment to total UK coronavirus deaths

The Department of Health has clarified the total number of
coronavirus deaths in the United Kingdom.

The correct figure is 26,771 and not 26,711 as Prime Minister Boris
Johnson said in the government briefing earlier on.

The increase of 674 deaths in the past 24 hours that Johnson

mentioned is correct.

An attempt to offer hope

It had all the hallmarks of a "big moment".

Boris Johnson back at the lectern after five weeks, flanked by his top two scientific and
medical advisers.
But despite the cast list, the indications were that big revelations would not be given on, for
example, an exit strategy.
And that proved to be true, with the prime minister promising a “comprehensive plan” next
week on how the government might look to get the country moving again.
However the headline grabber today will be the prime minister declaring that we are “past
the peak” of the outbreak.
Along with that statement, he attempted to explain more about the government’s thinking.
There was, for example, a bespoke NHS video detailing what’s meant by the ‘R-rate’ of
infection, a key measure of how fast the virus is spreading.
Perhaps ministers might be conscious that even if people are largely obeying the lockdown
rules, they want to know that there is an exit plan - as well as the parameters that will frame
that slow and cautious journey.
So today was an attempt to offer some hope and a sense that we're not stuck in an
indefinite holding pattern.