• The UK coronavirus death toll rose by 621, a slight fall on yesterday when 708 people were confirmed to have died from Covid over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of victims to 4,934

• The number of new people tested daily in the UK for coronavirus returned to above 10,000, according to Department of Health figures. A total of 12,334 new people were reported as being tested in the 24 hours up until 9am today.

• Health secretary Matt Hancock said he could not provide an exact figure on how many more ventilators the NHS could have in place over the next week in the daily press conference but earlier this morning he told Andrew Marr that “there should be another 1,500” in a week’s time.

• He implored people not to flout the coronavirus lockdown rules despite the warm weather and he confirmed that sunbathing was against the rules. He said that if people flout them “we might have to take further action”.

• Scotland’s chief medical officer is withdrawing from daily media briefings during the coronavirus pandemic, after it emerged she had twice visited her family’s second home in Fife – prompting a police warning. Scottish government adverts are being shown on television this weekend where Calderwood says: “To help save lives, stay at home.” These are being edited to remove her.

• Labour will ask the government “difficult questions” amid the coronavirus pandemic, newly-elected leader, Keir Starmer said, adding that the UK had been slow to begin testing and that equipment for health care workers on the frontline was lacking.

• However, Starmer said he would seek to engage with the government constructively and that he would support the government if they were to ban outdoor exercise due to some people flouting lockdown rules.

• Matt Hancock should have stayed home for longer than seven days after contracting Covid-19, Labour’s newly-elected deputy leader Angela Raynersaid. The government’s guidelines state that if you have symptoms of coronavirus, you need to self-isolate at home for seven days or for as long as you still have a high temperature, but the World Health Organisation has recommended people self-quarantine for a fortnight.

• Government minister Jacob Rees-Mogg’s investment firm was criticised for exploiting the coronavirus crisis after telling clients it provided a chance to make “super normal returns”.

• John Alagos, a 27-year-old nurse at Watford general hospital, died on Friday following a 12-hour night shift after complaining of suffering a headache and high temperature upon his return home. His mother, Gina Gustilo told the Mail on Sunday that her son had not been wearing full personal protective equipment despite treating coronavirus patients.

• The owner of London’s ExCel centre, the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company, has said it will no longer charge the NHS to use the site for the temporary Nightingale hospital. ExCel chief executive Jeremy Rees told the BBC an initial agreement with the NHS to had “included a contribution to some fixed costs”. But following reports, he said: “We have since decided to cover the fixed costs ourselves.”

National News from https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/apr/05/uk-coronavirus-covid-19-live-news-hancock-starmer