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The daily coronavirus briefing sees journalist and members of the public asking questions of the government about various aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak and the government's approach in dealing with it.

Tonight's Downing Street briefing will no doubt cover the news announced today that a test to find out whether people have been infected with coronavirus in the past has been approved by health officials and is likely to be rolled out to frontline workers first.

Among the journalists permitted to ask a question at tonight's briefing is William Telford, Business Editor at Plymouth Live.

Hoping to shed light on how 2020 was set to be a transformation year for Plymouth, William hopes to ask questions regarding the government's approach to protecting Plymouth's economy, after the coronavirus pandemic has put a lot of events and projects that were set to bring the city revenue on hold.

He will also query the government's plans to protect frontline healthcare workers, asking whether the government will consider measures to protect BAME frontline healthcare workers, since a new analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that black men and women are more than four times more likely to suffer a coronavirus-related death than white people.

So far in Plymouth, there have been 77 confirmed coronavirus-related hospital deaths.

Live updates will appear in the blog below.

Question two from PlymouthLive's William Telford: The French Prime Minister has said French domestic holidays can take place in July and August, and had given a £16billion rescue package for tourism. Can we expect a similarly clear announcement before July 4? And will there be a support package for this beleaguered sector?

Mr Shapps responded: "France is two to three weeks ahead of the UK into this virus so they have been making decisions ahead of us. It is unknown."

He added that 'we need to get through more phases before we know. We need to make sure the number of cases in society is at a certain level before we can do that'.

England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam added that 'the landmass of France is larger for a fairly similar population size and population density for France is much less outside of cities, so that is the kind of difference that needs to be considered very carefully before making any decisions'.

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Plymouth receiving £15.7m

"You will recall from other ministers that we are allocating £3.2b to local governments,” Mr Shapps continued. “Of which Plymouth has received £15.7m.”

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William Telford live on the BBC

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Grant Shapps' answer

Mr Shapps responded by saying Plymouth, like other areas in the UK, was bearing the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic and certain celebratory plans had been ‘decimated’. He pointed out that the Government’s support package had allocated £47m to the city and paid over 3200 grants totalling over £39m to organisations there.

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First question asked by PlymouthLive's William Telford

Williams says 2020 was set to be a ‘very big year for Plymouth’, not least because of the Mayflower 400 celebrations. Plymouth has lost £71m and counting from tourism during the pandemic, the university has lost £20m in student revenue and city council is set to lost £30m from lost income and costs. What are you planning to do for cities like Plymouth?

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Questions from the media

After some questions from members of the public, journalists are now quizzing Grant Shapps and Jonathan Van-Tam

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Other things William will ask about

He will also query the government's plans to protect frontline healthcare workers, asking whether the government will consider measures to protect BAME frontline healthcare workers

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A reminder that PlymouthLive's William Telford will be asking questions at today's briefing

William hopes to ask questions regarding the government's approach to protecting Plymouth's economy

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Also in the press briefing...

Grant Shapps is joined by is joined by England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam

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Latest coronavirus figures

In the UK, a further 428 people have died with COVID-19, bringing the total to 33,614

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CornwallLive asked questions last week

You can read about when CornwallLive's Keith Rossiter asked questions at the daily briefing here

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Transport minister Grant Shapps is hosting today's briefing

And it has just started

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PlymouthLive to ask questions at today's Downing Street press briefing

William Telford, business editor at PlymouthLive, will be asking the questions

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