BORIS Johnson fielded questions from Daily Echo Local Democracy Reporter Maria Zaccaro during this evening's Downing Street coronavirus briefing.

The Prime Minister was asked to provide a message to the Southampton residents who had signed up for a coronavirus vaccine trial and also about what support would be given to the city's cruise industry, which is really struggling as a result of the pandemic.

Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty and the government's Chief Scientific Officer Sir Patrick Vallance joined the Prime Minister in responding to Maria's questions.

Watch the questions and answers from the press conference, which was broadcast on national television and Downing Street's Youtube page, below.

As reported, researchers at University Hospital Southampton and the University of Southampton have been recruiting volunteers for human trials of a vaccine pioneered in the UK which could protect against COVID-19.

Work on the vaccine, developed by clinical teams at the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group, began in January.

Meanwhile, last month cruise giant Carnival announced a “large number of redundancies” in a major blow to the city.

One source told the Daily Echo staff had been told 450 positions were at risk as the industry attempted to survive the pandemic.