THE government repeats its warnings to follow social distancing restrictions as droves of people turned out in parks to sunbathe this weekend.

  • In his daily live Covid-19 media briefing on Saturday April 4, which was hosted by The Health Secretary Mr Hancock, he said that those breaking lockdown rules were risking people's lives, but confirmed there were no 'imminent' plans to stop people exercising outdoors.
  • The warning came as the number of people who have died after contracting coronavirus in the UK jumped by 621 in one day, bringing the total number of cases to 47,806.
  • The total number of deaths is now 4,934.
  • 223 people who had tested positive for coronavirus have died in the North East.
  • Dr Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer for England, who spoke at the briefing confirmed that there has been a "surge" in the number of new cases in the UK over the past 24 hours.
  • The Health Secretary said Boris Johnson is "OK" and that the Prime Minister has "very much got his hand on the tiller - but he's still got a temperature".
  • It was confirmed that the NHS now has more than 9,000 ventilators, and that the figure is expected to move to 18,000 over the next week to keep the number of critical care beds above the demand. On NHS capacity - he said there were currently more than 2,336 spare critical care beds for hospitals in the UK.
  • Dr Harris is confirmed that whilst hospitals will remain the priority for testing, care homes and prisons will also considered important.
  • Lifting the lid on social restrictions too early 'will waste the effort that we’ve put in', said Dr Harries at the government briefing. She said that to help with preventing the spread of the virus, establishing who has had it - and where immunity has been developed - will be key.
  • Scotland's chief medical officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood, has apologised for visiting her second home during the coronavirus outbreak.
  • Police have sent people away from North Yorkshire beauty spot, Malham Cove, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, after they ignored coronavirus restrictions and drove more than 50 miles away from area for a walk.
  • A joint statement has been published from Richard Flinton, chair of the multi-agency North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum and Mike Walker, North Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable and Gold commander leading the response to Covid-19, urging people to stay at home.