Inside Politics – Coronavirus special: Dominic Raab set to make lockdown announcement

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World War II veteran Tom Moore has given us some big numbers to cheer. The 99-year-old zimmer frame user who is walking 100 lengths of his garden before his 100th birthday has raised over £10m for NHS charities. There will be less encouraging numbers for Dominic Raab to look over today. The prime minister’s acting deputy and his team are expected to assess all the latest data on the Covid-19 outbreak before taking a decision on how long lockdown restrictions should last. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics breifing during the coronavirus crisis.

Inside the bubble

Our political editor Andrew Woodock on what to look out for today:

Senior ministers are expected to agree to extend the coronavirus lockdown regime, probably until 7 May. With the PM recuperating at Chequers, foreign secretary Dominic Raab will chair the virtual meeting of Cobra – involving leaders of devolved administrations – which will hear recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage). Academic experts in infectious disease modelling will be quizzed virtually by MPs on the science and technology committee.

Daily briefing

BADGERED INTO ACTION: Matt Hancock tried to offer comfort to the care sector at the latest Downing Street press conference, saying all residents and staff with coronavirus symptoms will be tested. The health secretary said close family members would get to say goodbye to dying relatives, “wherever possible”. Hancock also announced the launch of a green “badge of honour” for care workers – allowing them to “proudly and publicly identify themselves”. The stunt was swiftly ridiculed. Labour’s Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, said he put a badge “close to the bottom of the list” of the things care workers need most. Hancock did have more substantial things to discuss. He promised a comprehensive online system for the delivery of personal protective equipment (PPE) to care homes. It can’t come too soon. The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass) has written to the government saying the supply of equipment to care homes has been “shambolic”.

DIG IN, STAY STRONG: Boris Johnson’s stand-in Dominic Raab is widely expected to announce later that lockdown rules will stay in place for a further three weeks. Are the measures working? Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty thinks so. Sounding cautiously optimistic at Wednesday’s press conference, Prof Whitty said we were was “probably reaching the peak overall” – but not past the peak quite yet. It comes as a further 761 UK hospital deaths were announced, the fourth day in a row the daily toll remained below 800. Northern Ireland’s leadership has already made its decision. First minister Arlene Foster said the lockdown in the province was extended until 9 May, following a lengthy meeting of the executive. The deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Fein’s vice president, said people had to “dig in to stay strong and save lives”.

TALKS ABOUT TALKS: Despite world-changing, economy-crashing events, Downing Street continues to insist the deadline for a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU will not be extended past December. The UK’s chief negotiator David Frost has been talking to his Brussels’ counterpart Michel Barnier, and they have agreed on arrangements for three weeks of talks starting on 20 April, 11 May and 1 June. The government is prepared to change its mind on some things, however. The cut-off date for the coronavirus job retention scheme (covering 80 per cent of employees’ pay) has been moved to include everyone on the payroll before 19 March. It is set to protect another 200,000 workers. Lib Dem MP and leadership candidate Layla Moran has urged the government to extend the whole scheme (operating until June) for a further three months.

COMEBACK KIDS: Donald Trump claimed the US has already “passed the peak” of new coronavirus cases and suggested some parts of the country could be opened back up this month. “We’ll be the comeback kids, all of us,” said the president, who is expected to announce new social distancing guidelines on Thursday after he speaks to state governors. His latest press conference had its usual odd moments. He accused other countries of lying about their statistics. “Does anybody really believe the numbers of some of these countries?” Trump said, before he singled out China. Commenting on unverified reports that the coronavirus emerged from a lab in Wuhan rather than a market, Trump said “we’re hearing more and more about” that version of events.

WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE WHY: There’s plenty of fall-out from Trump’s decision to pull funding from the World Health Organisation. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus struck a conciliatory tone. He said he regretted the move, but described the US as “a long standing and generous friend”. Bill Gates called it “as dangerous as it sounds”, while former PM Gordon Brown claimed it was an “act of self-harm”. The Chinese foreign ministry declared that it would “undermine international co-operation”. It comes as the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 passes two million, according to Johns Hopkins University. While the G20 have agreed to suspend debt repayments owed by a group of the world’s poorest countries, the IMF said Asia’s economic growth would stop for the first time in 60 years.

BUY SMALL, THINK BIG: Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced plans to ease lockdown restrictions in Germany, with small shops set to re-open next week. Nonessential stores will be allowed to open their doors for the first time in a month, so long as hygiene precautions are in place and they are up to 800 square metres in size. So will car showrooms, bike shops and bookshops, irrespective of their size. Yet a ban on gatherings of more than two people in public will remain in place. Although some schools will get back to normal in early May, there’s no sign of when bars, cafes and restaurants will be allowed reopen. “We are moving forward in small steps and must see what effect they have,” said Merkel on the strategy.

On the record

“Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organisation can replace them.”

Bill Gates on the withdrawal of WHO funding by the Trump administration.

From the Twitterati

“A badge? Really a badge??”

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth is not impressed by Matt Hancock’s ‘badge for carers’...

“Bet most would prefer a life-saving mask, gloves, gown and other PPE.”

…while The Mirror’s Kevin Maguire suggests carers won’t be particularly impressed either.

Essential reading

Emin Pasha, The Independent: He’s infantile, narcissistic and foolish to pull funding – but Trump isn’t entirely wrong about the WHO

Kuba Shand-Baptiste, The Independent: You clap for me now – but give it a few months and it’ll be racism as usual

Gaby Hinsliff, The Guardian: Has the coronavirus opened the door to mass electronic surveillance in the UK?

Matthew Lynn, The Spectator: Ursula von der Leyen’s ‘Marshall Plan’ is doomed

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