UK coronavirus live: Raab says it would not be safe to reopen all schools; official death toll rises to 29,427

Testing falls below 100,000-a-day target for third day in a row as UK deaths rise by 693 and trial begins for new contact-tracing app

• UK coronavirus death toll rises to highest in Europe
• Too early to reopen schools in Scotland, Scottish government says
• Boris Johnson boasted of shaking hands on day Sage warned not to
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7.10pm BST

I don't think you can make the international comparisons you're suggesting at this stage, at least I don't think you can make them reliably.

In the early phases, if we had managed to ramp testing capacity quicker, it would have been beneficial.

For all sorts of reasons that did not happen. And I think it's clear you need lots of testing for this.

Full reopening [of schools] would cause a resurgence in the virus such that hospital capacity in Scotland would be overwhelmed in less than two months ...

We are considering a phased approach to returning pupils to school, when it is safe to do so. We do not consider it likely that schools will reopen fully in the foreseeable future. Indeed, we are not yet certain that they can re-open at all in the near future.

Related: Coronavirus live news: WHO urges countries to investigate suspicious early cases after French find

6.50pm BST

As the UK's official death toll from Covid-19 passed Italy's for the first time, it is worth noting that one month ago, government sources were privately sceptical of a study by world-leading disease data analysts that projected the UK would be the worst-affected country in Europe. The study anticipated 66,000 deaths by August. The total figure on Tuesday, which is certain to be an underestimate, was already more than 32,000.

With Britain's relative position appearing to worsen, the government's attempt to shape the narrative at its daily Downing Street press briefing has become more important - and the slideshow of charts presented by advisers have been at the heart of the story.

Related: Why No 10's Covid-19 death toll slides don't tell the whole story