Health Secretary Matt Hancock will lead a press conference from Downing Street later, Number 10 has confirmed.

Mr Hancock is expected to provide an update on the coronavirus crisis, with the latest figures regarding new cases, vaccinations and deaths.

He is also likely to face questions about the new Brazilian strain of coronavirus, which was detected in the UK over the weekend.

So here are four things likely to be on the agenda for this evening's briefing.

Brazilian Covid strain

This has inevitably dominated headlines in the last 24 hours, amid concerns it is more transmissible and could even be resistant to vaccines.

Officials say three cases have been detected in Scotland, and another three in England.

Experts say two of the three cases in England have been identified in Gloucstershire.

But they admit they have no idea where the third case was recorded, after the infected individual failed to complete their test registration card – meaning they’re address and location is unknown.

Anyone who was tested for coronavirus on February 12 or 13 and did not receive their results is now being urged to get retested in a bid to trace the infected person and stop the strain spreading.

Mr Hancock is likely to reinforce that message during tonight’s briefing.

Vaccination update

The Health Secretary will also provide an update on the vaccination programme in the UK.

Yesterday, he hailed its success after 20 million people were confirmed to have had at least their first jab.

In a video on his Twitter, Mr Hancock said: “I’m absolutely delighted that over 20 million people have now been vaccinated across the UK – it’s absolutely fantastic.

“I want to thank every single person who’s come forward to get the jab because we know with increasing confidence that the jab protects you, it protects your community and it also is the route out of this for all of us.”

Mr Hancock urged everyone eligible for the vaccine to come forward and is likely to repeat that plea tonight.

READ MORE:

Plea to follow lockdown rules

Friday’s briefing saw Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer, issue a timely reminder to people to follow the rules.

And Mr Hancock is likely to echo that plea again tonight, amid concerns people are starting to relax and ignore some restrictions.

The number of cases in England is down to one in 145 people but the rate of decline is said to be slowing.

One in five local authorities has actually seen a rise in case rates in the last week, according to health officials, with the Health Secretary previously stating: “This stark picture shows that this isn’t over yet, the stay at home rules are still in place for a reason.

“This is on all of us to keep this under control, this is still a deadly virus. We will get through this but we have to stick at it.”

Schools reopening after lockdown

Mr Hancock is also likely to address plans to reopen all schools in England in seven days time.

Primary school pupils will all return on Monday, while secondary and higher education students will undertake a phased return.

This will allow mass testing of all pupils to be carried out, before they return to the classroom.

Anyone in secondary or higher education is being urged to get tested this week – a message that will no doubt be emphasised at tonight’s briefing.

Mr Hancock may also be keen to highlight a survey by the Office for National Statistics which suggests school staff are not at a higher risk of Covid-19 infection than other working-age adults.

The survey shows around 14.99 per cent of school staff tested positive for coronavirus antibodies in December, which indicate a past infection, lower than the estimate of 18.22 per cent for working-age adults.