Science

"That is going to mean a lot of elderly are going to die and those with heart conditions and diabetes and other risk factors and this for me is just unacceptable."

The Justice Secretary was speaking after Cabinet colleague Therese Coffey tried to deflect criticism about key decisions.

Sir David King said the US President is ‘making it up as he goes along’ following Mr Trump’s revelation he is using hydroxychloroquine.

The Royal Society professor for public engagement with science said the message is not always helpful as it risks undermining public trust.

Dr David Nabarro said a comprehensive testing, tracking and isolating system must be in place.

“There must be hundreds of millions of black holes out there, but we know about only very few. Knowing what to look for should put us in a better position to find them.”

What the US president says and does often flies in the face of mainstream science.

The White House is also pitching ’emerging’ research on the benefits of sunlight and humidity in diminishing the threat of coronavirus.

Faith in antibody blood tests to find those who have recovered from coronavirus might be misplaced, the World Health Organisation said.