What did Environment Secretary George Eustice say in today’s coronavirus press briefing?

George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, hosted the briefing alongside Professor Stephen Powis, and spoke about the UK's food supply chain.

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What was said in today's press conference?

• George Eustice said panic buying has stopped

The Environment Secretary said that Brits have stopped panic buying in supermarkets.

Mr Eustice explained that while "at the beginning of the outbreak of this virus we saw significant problems in panic buying", food availability is now "back to normal levels".

• George Eustice said 500,000 food parcels have been delivered

Mr Eustice also said that half a million food parcels have been delivered to the most vulnerable Brits.

The Environment Secretary said: "So far, 500,000 parcels have been delivered to the shielded group, that is those who cannot leave home at all due to a clinical condition they have.

"And in addition, the major supermarkets have agreed to prioritise delivery slots for those in this shielded group. So far, over 300,000 such deliveries have been made, enabling people to shop normally and choose the goods they want to buy."

• George Eustice said food delivery slots have increased

Finally, the Environment Secretary said that the number of food delivery slots has increased by 500,000 since the pandemic started.

Mr Eustice said that there were 2.1 million slots at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, and that there were now 2.6 million.

He added that supermarkets were looking to increase their capacity to 2.9 million in the coming weeks.

Mr Eustice cautioned, however, that "it will still not be enough to meet all of the demand that is out there."

• Stephen Powis said there had been an increase in car use

The NHS England Medical Director said that while the use of public transport had fallen consistently since the start of the pandemic, there has recently been a slight increase in the use of motor vehicles.

Mr Powis said: "There is maybe a hint of maybe a little bit of an increase in the use of motor vehicles, and, as I said yesterday, we need to ensure that this does not mean that we are not continuing to comply with the government instructions on social distancing."

What was said at Saturday’s press conference?

Home Secretary Priti Patel chaired yesterday’s press conference, and was joined by Professor Powis and Lynne Owens, director general of the National Crime Agency.

The Home Secretary focused on how Covid-19 had impacted crime levels in the UK.

She said that despite crime being down overall, the “most sophisticated” criminals are seeking to “exploit and capitalise” on the coronavirus pandemic.

Ms Patel said: “Our world class law enforcement is also adapting and they are on to you.”

The Home Secretary also said that Border Force had seized £1million of cocaine concealed in a shipment of face masks, that websites were carrying out phishing scams and selling bogus test kits, and that police have received 1,300 reports of child sexual exploitation.

The NCA’s Ms Owens said: “serious and organised criminals are looking to take advantage of these unprecedented times.”