Watch LIVE: the government's coronavirus press conference

15 May 2020, 16:54

WATCH LIVE: Coronavirus press conference (15 May 2020)

Nick Hardinges

By Nick Hardinges

Watch the government's coronavirus daily public briefing led by Health Secretary Matt Hancock - the feed will appear here once it begins.

Today's press conference comes as the UK's R rate - the number of people one person with coronavirus is likely to pass the disease on to - rose to between 0.7 and 1.

This is a change from 0.5 to 0.9 last week and follows the government's decision to gently relax some lockdown measures this week.

Meanwhile, the UK's Covid-19 death toll rose by 384 to 33,998 on Friday leaving it comfortably the worst-hit country in Europe so far, according to official figures.

Read more: Mayor increases congestion charge to pay for £1.6bn TfL bailout

Read more: Restaurant uses well-dressed mannequins as social distancing measure

Happening Now