Here is some comment on the Rishi Sunak package for business from thinktanks and journalists.

From the Resolution Foundation, a thinktank focusing on work, poverty and inequality

From the Telegraph’s Jeremy Warner

From the BBC’s Andrew Neil

From my colleague Aditya Chakrabortty

From the BBC’s Faisal Islam

And this is from Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary.

Johnson is winding up now.

He says the more thoroughly people can follow the advice they have been given, the more they will be able to save lives and protect the NHS, and the more quickly they will get through this.

And that’s it. The press conference is over.

I will be posting a summary and reaction shortly.

Q: Will you level with people about how bad this will be for the economy? Is a recession inevitable?

Sunak says this will have a significant impact on the economy.

But it will be temporary, he says.

Q: If you close schools, what will you do to help people reliant on free school meals?

Johnson says, as the government comes to this decision, it will have a plan to address this. They want to ensure parents and children get the help they need.

(It sounds from this very much as if it is more a matter of when, not if, schools are closed.)

Q: People are confused what the rules are about staying at home. Can you explain?

Johnson says people are being told to avoid all unnecessary contact where they might get the disease, and to avoid groups, large and small.

Q: You made a joke about a “last gasp” attempt to get ventilators. Is that appropriate?

Johnson says he was referring to the fact that manufacturers only have a few weeks to build more manufacturers.

This question refers to a joke revealed in the London Playbook briefing. Here is the story, which describes the PM’s conference call with manufacturers yesterday.

Some participants came away from the conference call less than impressed with Johnson’s own performance. “He couldn’t help but act the clown, even though he was a on call with serious CEOs from goodness knows how many companies,” one participant told my POLITICO colleague Charlie Cooper. This individual said the PM “joked” that the enterprise to build more life-saving ventilators could be known as “Operation Last Gasp.” Ugh.

Q: What will you do to ensure this £330bn is allocated properly?

Sunak says he is confident this can be delivered properly. There will be a retail compaign, so they hear about the coronavirus business interruption loan.

Q: What will you do about shops? People are still panic buying.

There is no need for that, Johnson says.

Q: What inputs to the model changed that led you to change strategy?

Vallance says the aim is to save the maximum number of lives. He says the proportion of people who make require ventilation looks higher.

But it was not so much the model that changed as the place the UK was judged to be in the epidemic.

Q: What sort of employment support are you looking at? Will the state pay wages?

Sunak says he wants to find a way of helping businesses meet the fixed cost of paying their staff without having to let them go. There are international models available. But he wants something that will work quickly.

Q: People are being laid off today. Would you urge firms to look at these measures first?

Sunak says he hopes this announcement will tell business that help is on its way. He does not want them to lay people off.

Q: People are confused by the advice about schools. You tell people not to mix, but you tell them to take their kids to schools where they will mix. When will you close schools?

Johnson says the position with schools is “under continuous review”.

Q: Many firms facing falling demand. Why is your help in the form of lending when these firms have no way of knowing what the future holds. They may not want to take on more debt? And why not announce today what you will do to ensure people are not penalised for staying away from work?

Johnson says this is an extraordinary package of measures.

One day the economy will bounce back, he says.

Sunak says businesses have fixed costs, on rent and staff. For rent, the government is making cash grants available.

On employees, Sunak says there have been improvements to SSP (statutory sick pay) and ESA (employment and support allowance).

But he wants to develop a bold and ambitious employment support package, he says.

There are options for this. He is working urgently on them with business and the unions.

Q: The Imperial College paper yesterday said these measures could be in place for 18 months, while we look for a vaccine. Is that right?

Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, says Imperial College have been working with the government all along. He says the suppression techniques need to be done in such a way that they can be released at some point. But he says no one in the world yet knows how to do this.

He says vaccines are the answer. It used to take 20 years to develop one. Now work on one is starting already. But he says he does not think it will be ready within a year.

Q: You are offering loans. How will people pay them back?

Sunak says the loans are just one aspect of the policy.

He says fiscal policy and monetary policy both play a part. There has been a significant monetary policy response already.

He says this is a very comprehensive and sizeable package of direct fiscal support for businesses, in addition to the loans.

And he says he plans to go further in terms of employment support. He will work with businesses and unions on this.

Q: Do you take responsibility for the advice? And will you take responsibility for your dad?

Johnson says of course he takes responsibility. The more people follow the advice, the more people will be saved.

They are now taking questions.

Q: Can you guarantee that firms who need to pay wages now, and people who need to pay rent now, will not lose out?

Johnson says the state is asking people to make considerable changes to their lives. And so it is only right that the state should stand behind them, he says.

Sunak says people need this support as quickly as possible. With all these interventions, he has born in mind the need to operationalise them as soon as possible.

Anyone who urgently needs help should speak to the local authority. They have got emergency funds, he says.

And he says they could talk to the banks. He says the banks have assured him that they will be supportive.

Sunak says these are only the first steps.

He is willing to do whatever it takes, he says.

Sunak says mortgage lenders will give a three-month mortgage holiday to people who need help.

And he says he will be working on more measures to help people in employment.

Sunak says he announced last week that some firms would have to pay no business rates this year.

Those business will now get grants of up to £25,000, he says.

And he says the business rates holiday will apply to all firms in the hospitality or retail sector.

He says he is also making grants worth £10,000 available to the smallest firms.

• Sunak says the total package of help being given to businesses worth £20bn.

Johnson says we have the resolve and the resources to win this fight.

The government will do “whatever it takes”, he says.

Johnson says a combination of measures will be needed to beat this disease.

While we need national unity, we also need international cooperation.

Yes, this enemy can be deadly. But it is also beatable. But we know how to beat it.

Johnson says the government must boost the NHS, and research the disease.

But it also has to take a wartime approach and boost the economy, he says. He says Rishi Sunak will say more in a moment.

And the government has to protect public services too, he says.

Boris Johnson is speaking now.

He says the government’s plan starts with fighting coronavirus.

The measures announced yesterday will have an effect on the spread of the disease, he says.

• Johnson says the government may have to “go further” in terms of announcing measures to fight the disease, even though yesterday’s proposals were extreme.

In the US President Trump has just been announcing details of his own stimulus package. “We’re going big,” he said.

There is more on our US politics live blog.

These are from my colleague Heather Stewart on what to expect from the Boris Johnson/Rishi Sunak press conference.

Peter Foster, the Telegraph’s Europe editor, says that, despite No 10 claiming the Brexit transition has to end on 31 December (see 4.22pm), there is now an acceptance at the top of government that the UK will have to agree to an extension. He has explained why in a Twitter thread. It starts here.

And here is one of his conclusions.

According to Dawn Butler, a candidate for Labour’s deputy leadership, the government’s decision to announce an abrupt escalation of its anti-coronavirus strategy yesterday was prompted by Labour demanding to see the modelling used to justify the original strategy.

Schools across England are struggling to stay open, with some forced to partially or fully close as staff and students stay at home, while the UK remains one of only two European countries – alongside Belarus – with a policy of keeping them open, my colleagues Richard Adams, Sally Weale and Caroline Bannock report.

Here is an extract from the letter sent to hospitals telling them to cancel non-urgent elective surgery by 15 April. Simon Stevens mentioned it in his evidence to the committee earlier. (See 3.06pm.)

This is from the Health Service Journal’s James Illman.

Q: Will the four-hour A&E target still apply during this crisis?

Stevens says he would expect NHS trusts to do the right thing. That normally involves seeing patients promptly anyway, he says. But he says coronavirus will be the priority.

Stevens says, as there is a slow down in elective surgery, more anaesthetists will be available to help with patients on ventilators.

Q: How many ventilators are in use now?

Stevens says it is not just a question of using the machine. It involves a complicated procedure, with someone being being monitored all the time for 10 days. Staff have to be trained.

Powis says the number of people on ventilators changes hour by hour.

Q: Will you give guidance to intensive care doctors if they have to prioritise between particular patients?

Powis says he understands the issue. He will be working with colleagues to address this point.

Q: But doctors want guidance?

Powis says he wants to work with colleagues on this.

But he stresses that he hopes the NHS will not have to get to the point where people make these choices.

Q: But if you do, will that guidance be available?

Powis says he would work on that guidance.

Q: Should all staff be wearing masks, in case they come into contact with a coronavirus patient?

Stevens says staff have a right to expect proper protection.

Prof Steve Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, says guidance on this has been evolving as the coronavirus outbreak has developed.

Stevens says the NHS has 28m masks.

Hunt says there is a story about masks having a use-by date of 2016, with a sticker on top giving an alternative 2020 use-by date.

Prof Keith Willett, NHS England’s director of acute care, says he knows about that case. The masks were tested, he says, and so the new use-by date was accurate.

Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary who chairs the committee, reads out a letter from an A&E doctor. He says it is “absolute carnage”. Doctors do not have the protective equipment, the doctors says. The doctor says the only protection he has had has been a piece of paper (ie, a mask) over his face. The doctor says he thinks medical staff will die as a result.

Hunt says he would like a date for when these localised distribution problems will be sorted out.

Pritchard says these problems are being sorted out right now.

Q: Do we have enough protective equipment?

Amanda Pritchard, NHS England’s chief operating officer, says nationally the NHS has the supply it needs. But there are some distributional problems. It is not all in the right place, she says.

Stevens says the NHS will need more equipment. This problem will not be resolved quickly, so there will be a need to “ramp up domestic production” of this equipment, he says. More stock will be needed in the coming months.

Q: Does the modelling show that, if all goes according to plan, we will have enough ventilators?

Stevens says it will be easier to say once we have seen what impact the changes announced yesterday will have.

He says, less than 24 hours after those measures was announced, there is still a degree of uncertainty.

Q: How many ventilators do you have?

Stevens says there are 6,699 adult mechanical ventilators, 750 paediatric ones, 691 in private hospitals and 35 in the Ministry of Defence. That makes 8,175, he says.

But he says another 3,799 are due soon, and that will take the total to around 12,000.

He says the PM has also launched an initiative to get manufacturers to make more.

The hearing with Sir Patrick Vallance has now finished.

The health committee is now going to take evidence from NHS England.

Q: Does the concept of herd immunity play any role in the advice for the over-70s?

Vallance says the advice for the over-70s and the under-70s is the same. But the point is that the over-70s should follow it more stringently, he says.

He also says that, for the over-70s, the advice is primarily about what they need to do to protect themselves. For others, it is as much about protecting others from infection, he says.

Here are the latest coronavirus figures for the UK from the government.

From my colleague Jennifer Rankin

Layla Moran, the Lib Dem MP, asks if the government will subsidise airline companies.

Raab says the government will work with the industry to see what support it can provide.

Airlines UK, an industry body, has said that the Foreign Office’s decision to advise against all non-essential travel abroad will bring “more devastation” to airline companies. Commenting on the announcement, Tim Alderslade, its chief executive, said:

This is of no surprise given recent developments but clearly it will bring more devastation to the airline and wider travel industry, which were already dealing with a truly critical situation and now face an uncertain future, with international passenger aviation from the EU and UK effectively suspended until further notice.

Labour’s Ben Bradshaw asks if the government will now agree to extend the Brexit transition in the light of the coronavirus crisis. Raab avoids the question, but he says the engagement that the Foreign Office has had with Cuba, over the Braemar cruise ship, shows that the government is working with other countries post-Brexit.

Raab says freight lorry drivers who are involved in supplying shops count as people engaged in essential travel.

Back in the Commons Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, says there are not just tens of thousands of Britons abroad, but hundreds of thousands. That is why people must be “realistic” about what the government can do to help them all, he says.

There have been 12 new coronavirus cases in Wales, according to Public Health Wales.

Richard Drax, a Conservative, says schools that have have to cancel trips will not get their money back unless the Foreign Office specifically advises against travel to a particular country.

Raab says the Foreign Office is advising against all but essential travel globally. He suggests that should be clear enough for the insurance companies.

In her response to Dominic Raab a few minutes ago Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, cited the experience of a constituent called Tom, one of 65 Britons stuck in Peru, as evidence that consular staff were not doing enough to help people. She said:

Tom’s flight today to Britain is cancelled and his calls to our embassy in Lima have not been answered. And why is that? Because the embassy itself has decided to close down for 15 days just when its services were needed most.

The secretary of state said in his statement that our consular teams are working around the clock to provide the best information to UK nationals, well I’m afraid that simply isn’t the case in Tom’s experience.

Across the world there are tens of thousands of British nationals in the same position as Thomas and all with the same message for the British government - help bring us home, as far as we’re concerned, our travel is essential.

She also said the government could not “pass the buck” on repatriation.

Yes it’s difficult, yes it’s expensive, but that is the nature of the crisis that we face.

In the Commons Labour’s Hilary Benn asks in what circumstances the government would be willing to bring people home.

Raab says people should read the Foreign Office travel advice.

But he says the Foreign Office is also aware of the vulnerability of some people, like those on the Braemar cruise ship.

From the BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg

In the Commons Labour’s Chris Bryant asks why Dominic Raab is warning that people may not be able to return to the UK in the future, but also not advising people who are abroad to come back home now.

Raab says these decisions are individual judgment calls that people will have to make for themselves.

As the Times’ Steven Swinford points out, Dominic Raab’s announcement makes the prospect of a bail-out for the aviation industry even more likely.

Here is more from the Foreign Office press notice about this announcement.

Whether travel is essential or not is a personal decision and circumstances differ from person to person. It is for individuals themselves to make an informed decision based on the risks and FCO advice. Anyone still planning to travel should check the validity of their travel insurance.

UK inward and outward travel has already fallen by a significant amount since the outbreak of coronavirus. Ryanair, Virgin and EasyJet have cut flights by 80% this month and IAG has decreased capacity by 75%.

The UK’s extensive diplomatic network is continuing to work around the world to support British people at the greatest risk of exposure to the virus.

In the last week 430 changes have been made to FCO Travel Advice – more than in the entirety of 2019.

We will continue to do everything in our power to get those British nationals affected the care, support and advice they need. We are also working urgently to ensure international governments have sensible plans to enable the return of British and other travellers and, crucially, that they keep borders open for enough time to allow people to return home on commercial flights.

British people who become ill overseas should, in the first instance, seek care and support from the country they are in.

In the Commons Dominic Raab is now responding to questions posed by Emily Thornberry, his Labour shadow.

She asked what non-essential travel means. Raab says the Foreign Office leaves it up to individuals to decide. But he says the Foreign Office’s wish is for people not to travel.

He says the Foreign Office has a hotline for MPs who need more detailed information.

Raab says it would not be possible for the UK to be able to repatriate all Britons abroad, because there are so many of them.

He says the UK advice has been to follow the best expert advice.

I have amended the post at 11.50am above to reflect the fact that the list of underlying health conditions that should lead to people effectively self-isolating, according to government advice, includes asthma and diabetes.

The government says its advice (pdf) to people to avoid large gatherings and to work from home where possible applies in particular to the over-70s. Jeremy Corbyn is 70. But he is due at PMQs tomorrow, and he is not planning to stay away from work. This is what he said about this when asked in an interview yesterday.

I raised this very specific issue, not for myself but for other people. It’s more important that those who have underlying health problems, be it diabetes, be it heart conditions, be it lung conditions, be it people with emphysema, or industrial injuries that they’ve suffered, they’re likely to be more vulnerable than those that are healthy. So it is not just an age thing.

Personally speaking, I will carry on with my work, I will carry on accepting the responsibilities that I have in this position.

The Conservative party’s spring conference, which was due to start on Friday 3 April in Harrogate, has been cancelled, ConservativeHome’s Paul Goodman reports.

Robert Peston, ITV’s political editor, has written an interesting blog on the challenge facing Rishi Sunak as he draws up his coronavirus financial rescue packaged. Peston says the scale of the challenge is likely to take the Conservatives into unlikely ideological territory. He says:

As one Tory minister put it to me, these principles imply that Boris Johnson will almost certainly have to oversee a government that for a good year or maybe longer will look quite socialist.

“We’ll find ourselves implementing most of Jeremy Corbyn’s programme” is how he put it.

As I mentioned, the Treasury and Bank of England will find themselves having to play God in respect of deciding which businesses to save.

And the simplest way to make sure no one goes to work and spreads the virus when they should be self-isolating is to introduce that most debated of modern welfare concepts, the universal basic income - which gives an entitlement to everyone to a minimum income.

Even Tories are talking to me about the probable need for a temporary universal basic income, to get round all that confusion of which welfare payments kick in to whom, and to save many younger people in particular falling through the existing state safety net.

Airports may shut down “within weeks without government intervention”, according to the Airport Operators Association. Karen Dee, the association’s chief executive, said:

Governments across the world are supporting their national aviation industries, as many parts of the global travel industry have come to a halt.

As some airlines call on the UK government to act similarly, we are clear that airports will shut down in weeks unless urgent action is taken to support the industry.

The association is urging the government to implement a series of measures to support the aviation industry, including possible emergency financing, requiring banks to temporarily not enforce financial performance-based banking covenants and the suspension of business rates and other taxes.

The government’s coronavirus press conference, featuring Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, is now scheduled for around 4pm, we’re told.

There are two statements in the Commons today.

The Dominic Raab statement is due at 12.30pm, after Foreign Office questions. But Rishi Sunak is not due to make his statement until 7pm, presumably after the government’s coronavirus press conference (although the timing of that has not been confirmed yet).

The National Association of Funeral Directors is due to meet with Whitehall officials later today. Ahead of the meeting, chief executive Jon Levett said:

Funeral directors across the UK have been working to develop contingency plans and are ready to step up to support the government and the nation in these unprecedented and worrying times.

However, consistency of advice is key and this is what we are aiming to achieve from our meeting with the Cabinet Office today.

Funeral directors need a very clear national policy to work to and we are concerned by inconsistencies of guidance appearing across the UK which is making it impossible for funeral directors to give accurate advice.

For example, if there are restrictions on numbers of people gathering, bereaved people need to know exactly what this means for funeral services and how funeral directors can support them.

In the Commons the business committee has just started taking evidence from business and union figures about coronavirus.

The witnesses are: Rain Newton-Smith, chief economist, at the CBI; Martin McTague, policy and advocacy chair at the Federation of Small Businesses; Alasdair Hutchison, policy development manager at the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-employed; and Paul Nowak, deputy general secretary at the TUC.

Newton-Smith says the chancellor needs to offer loans today, so firms can stay in business.

Rupert Harrison, who was chief of staff to George Osborne when Osborne was chancellor, has posted a thread on Twitter explaining what sort of help he thinks business will need to survive coronavirus. He says there will have to be a colossal bailout, worth at least 10% of GDP - or perhaps twice that.

It starts here.

And here are his conclusions.

Faisal Islam, the BBC’s economics editor, says that means Harrison is proposing a package that could be worth up to £450bn.

This is a mind-boggling sum. Total government spending this year will be around £928bn. The danger for Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, is that having figures like this in the public domain could make any less ambitious announcement this afternoon look disappointing.

Cabinet is starting today at 10.30am, not 9.30am as usual, we’ve been told.

Robert Chote, the chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, has just started giving evidence to the Commons Treasury committee. He is appearing alongside two colleagues, Andy King and Prof Sir Charles Bean, who are both members of the OBR’s budget responsibility committee.

There is a live feed here.

Asked about the package of measures in the budget to help counter the economic effects of coronavirus, Bean said the proposals were fine as far as they went, but that something on a larger scale was now needed.

He said that, with businesses facing the loss of cash flow, there was a “very good argument that the state should be, essentially, the insurer here”.

He also said that “big early action” would be best.

Asked the same question, Chote says the OBR is not supposed to offer policy advice to the government. But he says circumstances are different, and he says there is a range of options on the tax front. He also speculates about whether there is a need to put the economy on the equivalent of a wartime footing.

This is what George Osborne, the former Conservative chancellor, posted on Twitter last night explaining what he thought the government had to do about coronavirus.