Watch LIVE: Housing Secretary set to lead government's daily coronavirus press conference

29 March 2020, 15:59

By Nick Hardinges

@NHardinges

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick is set to lead the government's daily press conference from Downing Street - you can watch it here once it begins.

It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson - who is currently in self-isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 - said the coronavirus battle "will get worse before it gets better" in a letter sent to all UK households.

Echoing that, the leading epidemiology adviser to the government, Professor Neil Ferguson, warned the UK must remain in quarantine until June to stand any chance of avoiding the worst effects of the disease.

However, a milestone has been reached in testing numbers, with 10,000 now being carried out each day.

Michael Gove confirmed the number this morning but added that there was still "more to do" to ensure frontline health workers treating the disease are checked for the virus.

The target is to increase that number to 25,000 a day.

Watch the updates live above within the next hour.