Daily coronavirus briefing: Communities secretary announces victims of domestic violence to get priority housing

Announcing that victims of domestic violence will get priority access to local housing, Mr Jenrick said: "For some in our society these measures involve sacrifices that none of us would wish anyone to bear.

"For victims of domestic abuse it means being trapped in a nightmare.

"The true evil of domestic abuse is that it leaves vulnerable people including children living in fear in the very place where they should feel most safe and secure: inside their own home."

Addressing the issue of domestic violence, Mr Jenrick added: "As a father of three girls I cannot even imagine women and young children being put in this situation.

"But they are.

"We must be alive to the reality of what is happening in all too many homes across the country.

"I want us to defend the rights of those women and those children wherever we can and that is what we're going to do."

Mr Jenrick said the Government's Domestic Abuse Bill, which had its second reading in Parliament last week, would create "the first ever legal definition of domestic abuse".

He said that through the Bill, the Government would "be ensuring that the victims of domestic violence get the priority need status that they need to access to local housing services much more easily".

He added: "This is a fully-funded commitment which will mean that no victim of domestic violence has to make the unbearable choice between staying somewhere that they know is unsafe or becoming homeless."

He said the Government had already announced an extra £15 million to strengthen its support, with an extra £16 million going directly to refuge services.

Mr Jenrick announced a package of more than £76 million in new funding "to support the most vulnerable in society", including survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, vulnerable children, and victims of modern slavery.

The Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary said: "This additional support will ensure more safe spaces and accommodation for survivors of domestic abuse and their children, and the recruitment of additional councillors for victims of sexual violence."

He added that the funding will also help frontline charities to offer virtual ways to assist those in need, including phone-based services.

Mr Jenrick said: "We know that some refuges have had to reduce, or even to cancel the services that they would want to provide during the pandemic.

"This funding will help them to meet the challenges posed in this national emergency, and to continue to help those that desperately need support."

Addressing victims of domestic violence directly, Mr Jenrick said: "You are not alone, you do not have to stay at home, you can and should leave the home if you're in danger."

He added: "Our outstanding police will be there for you, they will help you."

Mr Jenrick said more than 5,400 rough sleepers known to councils have been offered safe accommodation in the past month, "ensuring that some of the most vulnerable people can stay safe during the pandemic".

He said Dame Louise Casey, who is already spearheading the Government's response on rough sleeping, has been appointed to oversee the national effort on helping the homeless.

Mr Jenrick added: "She will work hand-in-hand with councils and with other groups across the country to plan how we can ensure that as many people as possible can move into the long-term sustainable and safe accommodation that they deserve once the pandemic is over."

Deputy chief medical officer for England Dr Jenny Harries answered a question from Ashley in Yorkshire on whether people can catch Covid-19 twice.

Dr Harries said: "The WHO (World Health Organisation) position is very similar to the one we would have, which basically says we actually don't have enough information yet to be very clear on the immune status.

"We know that some people will have different status.

"We would normally expect to see some sign of immunity about 10-12 days after an infection, and then a very consistent pattern about 28 days."

She added: "There's sometimes a delay in different individuals and we need to study this really carefully as we go forward. Our testing policy and the development of new antibody tests will help us do that."

Mr Jenrick said some groups of society were affected "particularly seriously" by the coronavirus outbreak.

In response to a question from a member of the public, which highlighted the increase in food parcel provision for those in need, Mr Jenrick said those being shielded had access to parcels delivered by Government.

He said local councils, community groups, faith groups and volunteers were working to ensure that other vulnerable people, such as the elderly, can get food and medicine and essential supplies - even if they are not technically in the shielded category.

Mr Jenrick encouraged people to volunteer by contacting their local council or using the "good samaritan" app.

He also highlighted the Government's "economic response" to help people, including the job retention scheme and changes to welfare provision.

Mr Jenrick said the Government is considering long-term plans to support people who are shielding at home due to underlying medical conditions which could make them particularly vulnerable to the virus.

At the start of lockdown, 1.8 million people in England were asked to stay indoors for 12 weeks for medical reasons.

Mr Jenrick acknowledged the "huge emotional impact" of lockdown on shielded people, adding the Government has been providing 300,000 food box deliveries a week.

He added local councils have been sent lists of shielded people so they can provide "more tailored support", and a "check in and chat" service is being developed.

"We are thinking about what further steps we can provide to people if they're asked to stay at home for an even longer period than they already have," he added.

Dr Harries said they will continue to try to review the risk to those who are shielding as more evidence emerges.

She said: "In brief what we are doing is trying to review that because we do recognise that asking somebody to stay shielded for their own health protection for a very long period of time, and it may be several months, is quite a difficult thing for them to do. So we're doing two things. One is actually looking at those risks again now we have more information, and try and build a better, more stratified picture.

"And then the second one is that working with NHS England, looking at what clinical needs these people might have and how services could be adapted for them over a much longer period and that includes things like mental health services to people who are at home or how one can safely and consistently provide virtual services to this group and at which point you shouldn't do that and you should actually ask them to come in to a clinical setting.

"So both the longer term clinical management and the risk going forward."

On how the new track and trace system for coronavirus will work, Dr Harries said: "If somebody has symptoms they take themselves out of society as they would now, but anybody who has been in contact with them - in a very anonymised and safe data-managed way using a phone app - will be alerted."

She added: "To get this up and running at scale and effectively is another significant task but lots of preparation under way."

On how long the system will take to be up and running, Dr Harries said: "We need the whole population to work with us on this, it's quite an exciting adventure it's a bit like social distancing, everybody has to do it together to get it to work."

She added: "We need to be trialling it and we will be doing that very soon."

Asked about support for the aviation industry, Mr Jenrick said it was a sector the Government wanted to support "in any way we can".

"We are very conscious of the challenges it faces," he added.

Mr Jenrick said the industry was "grappling with what the longer term demand for its services might be in an age in which social distancing will be important and in which business travel, for example, might be different".

He said it was benefiting from Government support, such as the job retention scheme.

Mr Jenrick said ministers were "particularly focused" on the aviation sector, with his focus on parts of the country that rely on local airports - for example, Manchester.

"If there is more that we can do to help support them through a very difficult period, we will do so," he said.

Asked what constituted being in close contact with someone, Dr Harries said: "The primary ones usually are people who are living in the same household, and that is of course why we have self-isolation and family isolation rules if you're symptomatic.

"But it may be... if you've been in an environment, so for example, in close face-to-face proximity with somebody who is known to be symptomatic or be positive, that also would be a close contact and the individual would be at heightened risk of disease.

"The other issue about it is, about the time that you have spent with them and how far away your contact with the individual was."