Figures for coronavirus cases by district have been released for the first time by Public Health England, and they show that Shepton Mallet's district, Mendip, has had 49 confirmed cases so far.

As of 5pm last night (May 7), Mendip's 49 cases meant it had one of the lowest levels of coronavirus cases at a district level in the country.

As of the same time, the total number of lab-confirmed UK cases was 206,715, and the total number of Covid-19 related deaths in the UK was 30,615.

In his press briefing yesterday, Foreign Secretary Dominc Raab said: "Three weeks ago, before the Easter bank holiday weekend, I set out five tests for the UK to move on to the next phase in this pandemic.

"Then, just as now, there were calls to ease up on the restrictions. But as the science made clear, we couldn't responsibly do that.

"In fact, the advice from the group of scientific experts, SAGE, who advise the government made it very clear that there weren't any changes at all that we could confidently take, without risking a second peak of the virus.

"That's why we asked the public to keep going. We weren't done yet.

"We said 'stick to the plan', and the British public kept going. People stuck to the rules.

"That meant working from home, it meant worries about money it meant adjusting to home schooling, time apart from family and friends, and just not doing many of the things which we all enjoy in life.

"So, we've kept the current measures in place for this long, precisely so that we can bounce back with vigour and energy as soon as possible, as soon as it is responsible to start looking at the second phase.

"And because of that, our next steps will be surefooted and sustainable. Any changes we make will be carefully monitored."