UK coronavirus live: government says counting of tests unchanged amid claims tally is inflated

Q. The daily testing figure is a massive increase in a short period of time. How many of those are home testing kits that were mailed out yesterday but haven’t actually been yet returned and analysed by labs?

Newton says the NHS and PHE labs across the four nations have done 39,753 tests between them. A partnership with Roche undertook 13,723 tests.

The tests undertaken by the new Lighthouse labs total 79,522, he says. These include drive-through, mobile units and research nurses for the ONS.

There were 27,497 home kits delivered, and 12,782 delivered through the satellite process. Under the surveillance tests (antibody testing) there were 3,072 undertaken.

That makes up the breakdown of today’s testing figure, he says.

Q. How much weight do you put on a South Korean study that suggests you cannot get the virus a second time?

Newton says the science on immunity is still emerging and not precise.

You would never make a decision based on a single study, he says. These results would need to be replicated elsewhere, but it is surely promising and encouraging, he adds.

Q. Was a Public Health England official wrong to suggest that children don’t seem able to transmit the disease?

Powis says if a child is symptomatic, there’s no reason to think they won’t transmit like anyone else.

The question is for children who don’t have any symptoms who get the virus, he says.

How transmissible the virus is in these cases is a key question we’re still learning about, the evidence is still emerging, he says.

Newton says this is his understanding also.