Seven more field hospitals are being built in UK cities as part of a move to step up measures against the coronavirus, cabinet minister Michael Gove has revealed.

During Saturday's briefing, the MP said the new Nightingale Hospital at London's ExCel centre can treat 500 patients on ventilators.

He said more field hospitals are being built in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Belfast, Glasgow, Harrogate and Manchester.

Mr Gove said the NHS and the military are "accelerating their existing work" to turn Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre into a field hospital due to the rise in infections in the region.

Mr Gove added: "Our thoughts today are also with the family of the five-year-old child with underlying health conditions who's tragically died."

He reiterated the instruction for people to stay at home, and added: "Whatever the temptations this weekend, please don't go outside to visit the lakes, the beaches, the countryside.

"Take pride instead in keeping your own families and communities safe.

"The more we restrict contact, the more we slow the spread of the infection, the more time we have to build capacity in the NHS."

Mr Gove said 10,984 people were tested on Friday, and a strategy is in place to increase the number to 100,000 a day.

"Testing is a critical part of the clinical path we will follow in seeking to reduce the impact of Covid-19, but the next vital step is appropriate medical treatment," he said.

Mr Gove also outlined how clinical trials are taking place to see if antiviral drugs used to treat HIV and anti-malarial medicine hydroxychloroquine could treat the virus.

He revealed a team from University College London, working with Mercedes Benz, has produced a new clinically approved and non-invasive respirator.

He said the device is vital in reducing the number of patients who eventually need to be intubated.

"They produced 250 yesterday, they will produce the same number today and tomorrow, rising to 1,000 a day next week," he said.

"We are also increasing the capacity of the NHS to deploy invasive ventilation, we have been buying invasive ventilators from partners abroad including Germany and Switzerland.

"And today 300 new ventilators arrived from China."

Public Health England confirmed 50 new cases of coronavirus in Essex as of 9am on Satuday, with 756 confirmed cases in the county.

Of these, 597 cases fall within the Essex County Council authority, with 76 and 83 in the unitary authorities of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock respectively.