'I hope, hope, hope' for a vaccine, but it is not guaranteed, says Johnson — as it happened

There is no guarantee of a Covid-19 vaccine, Boris Johnson said at this evening’s press conference, though he said the UK is at the heavily involved in the work to develop one.

I’m hearing some very encouraging things from what’s going on at Oxford to achieve a vaccine [but] this is by no means guaranteed. I believe I’m right in saying that, even after 18 years we still don’t have a vaccine for Sars. What I can tell you is that the UK is at the forefront of concerting international activity to try to deliver a vaccine.

He said the UK government is putting “huge sums” into finding a vaccine, but added:

If you ask me am I absolutely certain that we won’t be living with this for a long time to come, I can’t say that.

It may be that we have to become ever more flexible, ever more agile, ever smarter in the way that we tackle, not just this infection, but potentially future infections as well.

While he agreed the development of a vaccine cannot be guaranteed, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said:

I’d be surprised if we didn’t end up with something.

11 May 202015.12 EDT

Robert Booth

Two of the UK’s biggest care home operators have reported falling death rates from Covid-19, raising hopes that outbreaks which have devastated some of the most vulnerable and elderly people may finally be abating.

The number of residents who have recovered from the virus has now eclipsed the numbers of deaths from it across 220 care settings operated by MHA, the largest charitable provider of homes, which by Monday had recorded 359 deaths in total. It said fatalities peaked around 22 April and have fallen gradually since. Meanwhile HC-One, the largest commercial operator which has lost 829 residents to confirmed or suspected Covid-19, said deaths had fallen from a peak of 31 a day on 19 April to four on Monday.

A manager at a separate nursing home in Ealing that saw 27 residents killed in an outbreak last month told the Guardian she has recorded no new infections for a fortnight.

And that’s the end of the press conference.

Guardian political editor Heather Stewart said as low-skilled workers are four times more likely to die from the coronavirus, is the burden of the crisis falling on the most disadvantaged?

Johnson said we’ve got to look very carefully all the impact this virus has had on society. He added that workplaces must be “Covid-secure” and employers will not get away with forcing people to work in places that are not safe.

The government will have random spot checks and Johnson called on employees to report unsafe work environments.

“We have an ambition to get at least some hospitality going by July 4th,” Johnson said.

He added British people are an “ingenious bunch” and will find ways to keep the economy going if a vaccine isn’t found soon.

Johnson said the Common Travel Area will remain between Northern Ireland and the republic of Ireland.

Johnson said it is right that devolved nations are taking slightly different approaches to the lockdown as the virus is spreading at a different pace across the UK.

“You’ve got to respect local issues, local flare up, local problems,” he added.

When asked when will the public be allowed to see their family members, Johnson said: “There are new flexibility to ensure that people can see somebody who isn’t in their household, but you have to do it one by one, outdoors and obeying social distancing.”

“What we said to over-70s – who in my experience are often in rude, robust health – was they should take care. We didn’t say they should be shielded,” Johnson said.

People with serious underlying health condition must be still protected, he added.

Whitty said he is confident there will be a solution to the coronavirus, “but it will take time.”

Patrick Vallance, the government chief scientific adviser, said “there’s been great progress made” on vaccines across the world.

He said he would be surprised if there wasn’t either a vaccine or therapeutic drug.

When asked whether he approved of the change of guidance, professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer, said Professor Chris Whitty, said: “We’ve been involved in all stages of the process.

“Neither Sir Patrick and I would consider ourselves to be comms experts so we’re not going to get involved in actual details of actual comms strategies.”

Whitty could be responding to the Guardian’s story that they were both not asked to approve the controversial new “stay alert” message

I don’t think any of us expect that suddenly tomorrow there will be a flood of people back to work, Johnson said. “We’re taking baby steps.”

In response to a question on childcare arrangements for people who have been asked to return to work, but are not key workers and can therefore not send their children to schools, Johnson said it was an obvious barrier to work and employers should be understanding.

The Guardian’s political correspondent Kate Proctor tweeted what stay alert means.

First question asks if people can see friends and families in the park if they maintain social distancing.

Johnson said people can go to the park to exercise alone or with members of their own household, but if someone want to meet a person outside of your household, it must be them and another person - as a pair.

“If everyone stays alert and follows the rules, we can control the coronavirus by keeping the R down,” Johnson said.

The R, or the “effective reproduction number”, is a way of rating a disease’s ability to spread.

Johnson: “Yes, staying alert, for the vast majority of people still means staying at home as much as possible.”