The education secretary has said he cannot give a date for when schools will reopen, four weeks after they were shut to curb the spread of coronavirus.

At the government's daily briefing on Sunday, Gavin Williamson said there were "no plans" to open schools over summer.

He said: "People are anxious to know when we're going to relax restrictions, when schools are likely to be fully back and open again.

"Of course, I want nothing more than to see schools back, get them back to normal, make sure the children are sat around, learning, and experiencing the joy of being at school. But I can't give you a date."

His comments came after rumours were circulating, which said schools could reopen as early as May 11.

However, he said five “tests” must be met before schools could reopen.

Mr Williamson, said these include making sure the NHS could cope, there is a fall in the daily death rate from coronavirus, reliable data showing the rate of infection was decreasing to “manageable levels” and being confident that any adjustments would not risk a second peak.

Addressing children directly, he said: "I wanted to say to you how sorry I am that you've had your education disrupted in this way.

"I want you to know you are such an important part of this fight too, and I cannot thank you enough for all that you are doing."

The education secretary also said he recognised how care leavers, and those about to leave care, were "really vulnerable", adding he had asked local authorities "to ensure no-one has to leave care during this difficult time".

Mr Williamson said a further £1.6m had been given to charities Childline and the NSPCC to help children and adults needing advice.

Dr Jenny Harries declined to say whether the UK had "passed the peak" of the virus.

She said: "I would be very tempted to offer a comment on that today but I'm not going to be, for a number of reasons."

She identified that the low number of deaths recorded today was "positive" but cautioned against reading too much into the figures, which are often retrospectively revised.

She said: "We could jump to all sorts of positive conclusions about that, but we shouldn't.

"I do think it is fair to say that we do know from the hospital data that we are starting to plateau across."

But she added: "If we don't keep doing the social distancing, we will create a second peak and we definitely won't be past it, so this is no reason to consider that we have managed this.

"But I do think things look to be heading in the right direction."