UK coronavirus: non-essential shops in England to open from Monday; UK death toll rises by 286

• Alok Sharma, the business secretary, has confirmed that non-essential shops in England can open from Monday, saying the move will “allow high streets up and down the country to spring back to life”.

• Hundreds more deaths from Covid-19 in the north-west of England and in care homes have driven up the number of excess fatalities since the UK went into lockdown to more than 63,000, a toll believed to be greater than anywhere else except the US.

• Only one in four children returned to schools in England last week, wrecking Boris Johnson’s ambitions for a phased reopening of schools to allow parents back to work to boost the economy. The Department for Education released the figures as Gavin Williamson, the education secretary for England, confirmed that primary schools will not have to take any more pupils before the end of the summer term. Williamson also told MPs that it would take a year or more to repair the damage done to pupils’ education by the time spent in lockdown. (See 2.30pm.)

• Ministers need to rebuild public trust in their handling of the coronavirus outbreak and compensate people for lost earnings when asked to self-isolate to prevent a resurgence of the epidemic, leading scientists have warned.

• The UK government’s testing and contact-tracing system is not fit for purpose and will not be able to keep coronavirus in check as other countries have done, according to an independent group of scientists.

That’s all from us for tonight.

But the coverage continues on our global coronavirus live blog.

This is from Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, on the announcement that non-essential shops in England can open next Monday. She said:

Retailers who are not yet open have been working hard to install perspex screens, hygiene systems and apply social distancing measures.

We hope the public will take the opportunity from next week to go out and support millions of stores up and down the country.

Nonetheless, the challenge for these stores is not over.

Many firms will continue to struggle as the 2-metre rule will limit sales while retailers continue to face the same rent and other fixed costs.

If the government is to limit retailers in this way, it must be prepared to provide an ongoing package of support to address the economic difficulties they will face.

Perhaps it’s a good thing that schools are not reopening fully before the summer holidays. According to some new research from academics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and elsewhere, “if schools reopen fully or in phases in June or July without a large-scale and effective [test-and-trace] strategy, a second wave would be around 2.2-2.5 times larger than the first Covid-19 wave in the UK.”

The paper defines an effective test-and-trace strategy as one in which at least 50% of those with symptomatic infections are tested, and at least 40% of their contacts are traced.

The government has not published any data yet on its new test-and-trace system, and so it is impossible to know whether or not it is working well enough to meet the LSHTM benchmark for efficiency.

Q: Are local R rates being calculated? Will they be published, and could they lead to local lockdowns?

Sharma says the government will take action to address local flare-ups. That has happened in Weston-super-Mare, he says.

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

Q: Will the national security and investment bill address concerns about China’s involvement in UK infrastructure?

Sharma says the government is committed to the bill. But he won’t say any more about what may or may not be in it.

Q: Prof Chris Whitty said last week the 2-metre rule would stay for the whole of the pandemic. Was he right?

Sharma says it will be kept under review.

Q: What factors will be taken into account before a decision to change it?

Sharma says government will look at factors like the infection rate.

Albon says science clearly shows that, at 2 metres, the risk of an infection is significantly lower than at 1 metre. So the prevalence of the illness becomes relevant, she says.

Sharma says factors like being side by side, not face to face, can help.

Q: Thousands of people submitted material to the BAME coronavirus review that was not published (relating to structural racism). Why was that not published?

Sharma says the report was published. He summarises what it said.

Q: But the communities engagement bit was missing.

Sharma says the report was published.

Q: You promised a review of the 2-metre rule ahead of the reopening of shops on 15 June. Has it been reviewed and will it be reduced?

Sharma repeats the point about this being under review. He says he understands why business wants it reduced. But the government will only change it when it is safe to do so.

Q: It is estimated that sticking with 2 metres could cost 1m jobs. Are you resigned to losing those jobs?

Sharma again says this is being kept under review.

Q: The PM promised a review by 15 June. Where is it?

Like a stuck record, Sharma is back to saying this is being kept under review.

Q: So when will the review be published?

Sharma says the rule will only be changed when it is safe to do so.

Q: Are you arguing to replace the 2-metre rule with a 1-metre rule?

Sharma says the 2-metre rule remains in place. But it is kept under review. Some countries use one metre. But they are further down the recovery.

Q: When might it be changed?

Sharma says he cannot say. He says it is vital not to sacrifice the gains made so far.

Another member of the public asks if the government will submit to supporting new innovative start-ups.

Sharma says the Treasury has announced a scheme already. More measures are planned.

Alison from London asks the first question. When can people book UK holidays and stay overnight?

Sharma says he understands why people want to know the answer. But the economy is being opened in a phased manner.

He sums up what has been announced already, but does not address Alison’s question.

Sharma says that after the crisis the government wants to rebuild an economy that is greener, fairer and more dynamic.

He will chair five roundtables looking at this project. They will feed into government policy making.

Sharma says his department has provided guidance that will allow shops to open safely.

If they can follow the Covid-19 secure guidelines, shops will be allowed to open.

But they will have to complete a coronavirus risk assessment.

They should display a notice saying they have done this.

If shops open without taking these measures, they could be subject to enforcement notices.

Some places will still have to remain closed, he says, and pubs, restaurants, barbers and hairdressers will get further guidance on when they can open in due course.

Sharma says the government is opening parts of the economy in a careful manner.

He says the government is still meeting its five tests, and the reproduction number, R, is below 1.

So, he says, he can confirm that non-essential shops will be allowed to open from Monday 15 June.

(He is talking about England, although he does not say so.)

Sharma is now going through the daily slides.

Here is the slide with the death figures.

View image in fullscreen

In fact, Sharma is here with an expert. I was misled. He is here with Sarah Albon, the chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive.

Alok Sharma, the business secretary, is taking the UK government’s daily press conference. It will be starting shortly. He will be appearing on his own.

(No 10 has in recent days stopped putting up scientists to appear alongside the ministers at this event. No 10 claims this is not because they have been banned for good. See 1.20pm. But the move has coincided with government policy increasingly diverging from the scientific advice. For example, Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, has refused to publicly back the quarantine policy, and Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical adviser, has refused to agree to lower the coronavirus threat level - which was supposed to be a precondition for lockdown measures being eased. Ministers are easing them anyway.)