PM urged UK to "contain your impatience" Said it is too soon to "go easy" and relax the lockdown Described virus as "invisble mugger" as he drew on own treatment

The UK may no longer be an EU member but, as the current health crisis shows, cooperation continues to be essential

• Coronavirus shows British–EU solidarity vital, say ambassadors

On Saturday, for the first time in almost 50 years, we observe Europe Day without the United Kingdom as a member state of the European Union. As ambassadors and high commissioners representing the EU and its 27 countries in the UK, we are nonetheless very keen to mark the date with all the citizens of this great country and with the millions of EU nationals who live and work in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

We celebrate Europe on 9 May because on this same day in 1950, exactly 70 years ago, in the aftermath of the devastating second world war, Robert Schuman, the Luxembourg-born foreign minister of France, laid the foundations of our collective endeavour. He said then: “Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity.”

At Heathrow, after arriving from Singapore on January 30th, I put my passport in the entry gate and was admitted to the UK. No questions, no medical checks. Within an hour I was home.

MATTHEW GOODWIN: To many hard-working and patriotic Brits, Cameron epitomises a smug, wealthy and distant liberal caste.