FOREIGN Secretary Dominc Raab was back at the helm of the government’s daily coronavirus briefing today.


Mr Raab was joined by Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance.
He began by paying tribute to all those who adhered to the government's guidelines during the bank holiday Easter weekend.
"Thank you, your efforts are making all the difference," he said.
"We've lost too many loved ones to give up now."
The most recent figures show that 11,329 have now died in the UK from coronavirus.
"Every one is a tragedy," said Mr Raab.
However, when he was asked why Home Secretary Priti Patel had not apologised for any shortcomings in the government’s handling of the crisis, Mr Raab chose instead to mention that "more than 16million PPE items were delivered over the bank holiday weekend”.
Ms Patel had, on Saturday, said “I’m sorry if people feel like there have been failings” when quizzed on a link between a lack of PPE and deaths from the disease.
The social distancing measures which remain in place across the country are to be reviewed this week according to Mr Raab. However, he added that no changes to the lockdown situation were expected in the near future.
"If we let up now the virus will take advantage and kill more people," said Mr Raab.
"Our plan is working so please stick with it."
Asked if, on top of the current advice, people should also be wearing masks while out of the house, Sir Patrick Vallance said: “We would give new advice if we saw new evidence.
"The evidence for masks is more persuasive for stopping you giving the disease to somebody rather than catching it yourself.
"Policy may change, we're looking at evidence all the time.
Mr Raab reiterated the government’s plan to ride out the peak of the pandemic before thinking about lifting any lockdown measures.

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"The evidence suggests we're still going through the peak of this crisis," he said.
"We can't take our eye off the ball.
"We're absolutely keen to keep the focus on saving lives."
However, Mr Raab was not of the opinion that the UK should have followed the example of other European countries in enforcing distancing measures earlier on in the pandemic.
He said: "I don't think it is clear.
"The comparison with other countries is not like-for-like."