The government said it passed its 100,000 tests per day target, amid claims the tally has been artificially boosted. At the daily press briefing Matt Hancock said as of 9am today there were 122,347 tests in the UK, a significant rise on Thursday’s figure of 81,611. However, the HSJ reported that the government was including home-testing kits sent out by post in the tally of tests to reach the target, even if the recipient has not yet provided and returned their sample. It was claimed that, until recently, tests were only recorded in the daily count once they had been sent to a laboratory for analysis. The government, however, denied there had been a change. Deprived areas have double the death rate of affluent ones, new figures from the ONS revealed. The most deprived areas registered 55.1 coronavirus-related deaths per 100,000 people, 118% times that in the least deprived areas where the rate was 25.3 per 100,000. London had the highest mortality rate, with the highest age-standardised mortality rates in the borough of Newham (144.3 deaths per 100,000), followed by Brent (141.5) and Hackney (127.4). Nicola Sturgeon adopted a cautious tone warning that it was “not safe” to lift lockdown restrictions for some time yet. This was in striking contrast with Boris Johnson’s optimistic tone yesterday that the UK is “past the peak”. The first minister of Scotland appeared concerned at the suggestion that the worst is over, later saying, “Progress is fragile and if we ease up it will be reversed. So we need to encourage maximum compliance with current restrictions”. Face coverings have a “weak but positive effect” in slowing the spread of the virus, the PM’s spokesman told the lobby briefing. Ministers have not yet made a final decision on whether the public will be advised to wear face coverings or not, but the advice suggests they have a weak but also positive effect in reducing transmission from asymptomatic people where physical distancing isn’t possible. The housing secretary Robert Jenrick also said this morning wearing one was a “personal choice”. Ryanair announced plans for 3,000 job cuts as a direct result of the pandemic. The airline said it expects to operate under 1% of its schedule between April and June, and expects the recovery of passenger demand and pricing to 2019 levels to take at least two years. That’s it from us on the UK side. Thanks to everybody who got in touch throughout the day with tips and suggestions, and to all of you for reading along. If you would like to continue following the Guardian’s coronavirus coverage, head over to our global live blog for the worldwide picture.