The Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, did not rule out lockdown rules getting even tighter after three weeks. He told Sky News this morning: “In three weeks’ time we will be able to say whether or not the path that we’ve followed needs any further intensification, or whether there are one or two of the existing restrictions that may be capable of being lifted.” Ministers came under pressure to clarify what guidelines mean following some confusion over guidance including as to whether major construction work should go ahead and whether construction workers are considered essential workers and should continue to go to work on building sites. The government continued to face pressure over the lack of routine testing for Covid-19, the plight of Britons stranded abroad and delays to urgent help for the self-employed. The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, said the delay in announcing help for the self-employed was down to it being “incredibly complicated” finding a way of designing a scheme that would help those in need, while not giving money to people who did not need it. The death toll in the UK rose by 87 to 422 – the largest day-on-day increase in the number of deaths since the outbreak began. Broken down: a further 83 people died in England, bringing the total to 386; a further two people died in Scotland, bringing the total to 16; a further patient died in Wales, bringing the total to 17; and a fourth patient died in Northern Ireland. The figure for England includes the first patient to die after contracting coronavirus in hospital. The UK is heading for deep recession as the economy is contracting at its fastest rate in at least two decades, as the service sector is hit extremely hard by the Covid-19 outbreak. Almost 12,000 recently retired NHS staff had responded to the call to return to the service. They included 2,660 doctors, more than 2,500 pharmacists and other staff and 6,147 nurses, he said. And some 5,500 final-year medics and 18,700 final-year student nurses will “move to the frontline” next week. A temporary 4,000-bed hospital – the “NHS Nightingale Hospital” – will be opening at London’s ExCel centre next week. People face fines starting at £30 for breaking the rule about holding gatherings in public. Supermarkets introduced tougher measures to police in-store physical distancing between shoppers. Prisons in England and Wales were put in immediate lockdown. To continue following our worldwide coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, head over to our global live blog.