Coronavirus live updates: lockdown exit could take months according to experts

NHS England cancer clinical director Professor Peter Johnson said "we're doing everything we can" to avoid a spike in cancer deaths.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "They should be in touch with their GP as they normally would.

"I completely understand that people are worried and frightened about leaving the house, about going to hospitals, about going to appointments, but we've taken a huge amount of trouble to make sure that cancer services can be delivered in a safe and protected way.

"Of course the numbers of people coming forward have gone down and we're very worried about that, we're very worried about people being at home with cancers that need to be looked at."

Asked about whether a spike in cancer deaths is coming, he said: "We're doing everything we can to avoid that.

"We anticipated this problem and we expected we would have to deal with this."

Clinical trials on potential Covid-19 treatments could start within weeks as part of a bid to fast-track new therapies to help tackle the disease.

Six drugs will initially enter the programme being set up under the Accelerating Covid-19 Research & Development (Accord) platform.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said its aim is to accelerate the development of drugs for patients admitted to hospital with coronavirus and reduce the time it takes to set up clinical studies from months to just weeks.

The DHSC said the first of the potential drugs is beginning phase 2 studies across the UK "imminently", the point at which a clinical trial focuses on testing a drug on patients to assess its effectiveness and any side effects.

Passengers travelling with P&O Cruises will be forced to pass "rigorous" medical checks before being allowed to board ships once sailings resume, the company said.

The UK's biggest cruise line told the PA news agency it is developing plans to introduce a series of "stringent measures" to ensure it obeys international health guidelines when it restarts operations once the coronavirus pandemic recedes.

Other changes being considered include reducing the capacity of ships, scrapping self-service buffets and implementing one-way systems on board.

Earlier this month, easyJet announced it expects to keep middle seats empty on its planes when it restarts flights to enable social distancing.

The full impact of Covid-19 on the UK is set to be revealed as the Government prepares to unveil the combined number of daily deaths in hospitals, care homes and the community linked to the virus.

There is currently an 11-day time lag for the Office of National Statistics' (ONS) data on the number of people who have died in care homes and their own homes after contracting coronavirus.

But Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the public would receive up-to-date figures to go alongside the number of hospital deaths as of Wednesday, while the Department of Health and Social Care said figures dating back from early March up to April 28 would also be declared.

Speaking at the Number 10 press briefing on Tuesday, Mr Hancock said that in an effort to "bring as much transparency as possible" to the death figures, "from tomorrow we will be publishing not just the number of deaths in hospital each day, but the number of deaths in care homes and the community too."

Essential workers can book for a test at one of more than 40 regional drive-through sites or request a home test kit.

Essential workers who are self-isolating can also be registered and referred for coronavirus testing by their employer.

The Government said it is planning to open 50 drive-through testing sites by the end of April, with the aim that most people will not have to drive for more than 45 minutes to get to a regional testing site.  Some 41 drive-through centres are currently in place .

The Army is currently running 17 mobile testing centres which are travelling around the country, but the plan is to increase this to 70 by the end of the week.

Packages of satellite test kits are being sent directly to care homes across England to enable testing of symptomatic residents.

The test involves taking a swab of the nose and the back of the throat, and can be done by the person themselves or by someone else.

Completed samples will be sent to a testing laboratory where they are analysed.

The Government said that it is aiming for tests from drive-through sites to be sent out by text within 48 hours and home testing kit results within 72 hours of collection.

Tests for coronavirus will be rolled out to residents and staff in care homes, regardless of whether they have symptoms.

In a bid to reach its target of 100,000 tests a day, the Government has dramatically expanded the list of people who are eligible for coronavirus tests in England.

Earlier this month, key workers and anyone in their household were able to access testing if they were showing symptoms.

The Government has said that the priority will still be to test patients, but in England essential workers with symptoms of coronavirus and the people who live with essential workers and have symptoms were able to get tested from Friday.

From Wednesday, testing will be available to all frontline workers in health and social care, even if they are not displaying symptoms.

Testing will also be expanded to NHS patients and residents in care homes regardless of whether they have symptoms.

All other essential workers, and the people they live with, can get tested if they have symptoms.

People aged over 65 and their households can get tested if they are showing symptoms, as well as anyone who goes into work because they cannot work from home and their households if they have symptoms.