Socially distanced gatherings of up to six people will be allowed in outdoor spaces in England from Monday, Boris Johnson has announced as part of plans to gradually ease the country’s lockdown.
The prime minister confirmed all five tests required to move to the next stage had been met, schools to begin reopening and greater contact to be permitted from next week.
It comes as Bank of England rate maker Michael Saunders warned Britain’s economy is unlikely to recover in the next two to three years, in the gloomiest medium-term assessment from a UK policymaker so far.
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South Africa says it has a backlog of nearly 100,000 unprocessed tests for the coronavirus, a striking example of the painful shortage of testing kits and reagents across Africa as cases steadily rise.
"This challenge is caused by the limited availability of test kits globally," the health ministry said in a statement overnight, putting the backlog at 96,480 as of Monday. Priority is given to processing tests from patients admitted to hospitals and health workers, it said.
South Africa has conducted more tests for the virus than any other country in Africa — more than 655,000 — and has the most confirmed cases with 27,403.
One of the latest to die of COVID-19 in South Africa was a National Health Laboratory Services employee.
"We understand this tragedy will certainly test you," the ministry said in a message to her colleagues, adding that the government is committed to providing proper protective gear.
That, too, faces shortages across Africa. More than 3,400 health workers on the continent had been infected as of a week ago, according to the World Health Organization.
The Chancellor said the lockdown restrictions were not being eased in a "reckless or big bang way".
Asked whether the Government is no longer following the science by relaxing the restrictions before the coronavirus threat level is lowered, Mr Sunak said: "We set out the five tests very clearly and because we are now meeting the five tests because of the heroic efforts of everyone at home, the NHS, everyone, we are in a position to carefully and deliberately start to release the restrictions.
"I wouldn't say that that's happening in a reckless or big bang way, as the Prime Minister set out, it's been done in quite a measured and phased way progressively to make sure that we can keep an eye on things and we're not running before we should."
Boris Johnson's decision to relax lockdown measures carries "some risk" as the daily toll of coronavirus cases remains "relatively high", a top scientist advising ministers has said.
Professor John Edmunds, who attends meetings of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said many experts would prefer to see Covid-19 infection rate at a lower level before easing restrictions, as there is little room for manoeuvre if the new test and trace system fails to keep cases down.
The latest Office for National Statistics data suggests there are around 54,000 new coronavirus infections per week in England outside of hospital and care settings, equating to nearly 8,000 per day.
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Relaxing lockdown while infection rate still high carries 'some risk'
Professor John Edmunds, who attends meetings of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), says many experts would prefer to see infection rate at a lower levelEmployers will have to start paying 10 per cent of furloughed workers' wages in September and 20 per cent in October, the chancellor has announced, as he laid out how the government will unwind its Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
People on furlough will be able to come back to work part-time from 1 July, a month earlier than had previously been announced - a move that was welcomed by unions and business groups.
Self-employed workers will be able to claim a second and final grant from 1 August of up to £6,570, Rishi Sunak said on Friday.
Furloughed workers can go back to work part-time from July
Flexible furlough brought forward in bid to get country back to work, with employers to contribute 10 per cent of wages from SeptemberAsked if environmental concerns will be central in rebuilding the economy, Mr Sunak said he hoped more people would continue to cycle and avoid other forms of transport as they had during lockdown.
Rishi Sunak has said employers will have to make a "modest contribution" to the furlough payment policy towards the end of the scheme.
Self employment income scheme will be extended "for a second and final grant" - covering a total of a six month period.
In the 24-hour period up to 9am on Friday, 131,458 tests were carried out or dispatched with 2,095 positive results.
Overall a total of 4,043,686 tests have been carried out and 271,222 cases have been confirmed positive.
The new coronavirus is sweeping through some of the mountain villages of Russia's far-flung Dagestan region and they are struggling to treat patients properly, protect medics or even count the dead, five local officials said.
President Vladimir Putin has devoted a coronavirus crisis meeting to Dagestan, the only one of Russia's dozens of regions discussed in this way, and on Wednesday ordered medical brigades from the capital to reinforce local healthcare services.
The mainly Muslim region lies over a thousand miles (1,650 km) south of Moscow, where recorded Covid-19 case numbers are falling. It is home to Russia's main Caspian Sea naval base and a simmering Islamist insurgency has flared on and off for years.
In the village of Gubden, around 50 people have died since the start of the outbreak in April, the same number as usually die during a whole year, Osman Dzhalilov, the village head said.
David Jamieson said there has been "a large increase in gun discharges" and a rise in street violence in recent days.
He was speaking after a series of street shootings in Birmingham, with at least three incidents in two days.
Addressing a meeting of regional health and local government leaders on Friday, he said: "We're now seeing the increase of violence on the streets.
"The gangs - they too are now coming out of lockdown. We've seen quite a large increase in gun discharges across the West Midlands, mainly in and around the centre of Birmingham, but really in all areas.
"The gangs are fighting for territory, (they're) getting really quite bold. So that violence that we've known before is there now manifesting itself."
Only around half of people with coronavirus symptoms self-isolate for a week, scientists advising the Government suggested, raising concerns over the ability to prevent future outbreaks.
The revelation comes in a paper from the independent scientific pandemic influenza group on behaviours (SPI-B), which advises Sage, as the key test and trace programme gets under way.
In what is likely to become the major talking point for the rest of the day if not longer, the scientists advising on the coronavirus response have published research papers and records of their meetings to show their thinking behind the lockdown.
Minutes of the 34 discussions between members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) were released earlier today, along with research documents.
The meetings, attended by experts such as chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, start with the first Covid-19 meeting on January 22.
Typically Sage publishes the minutes at the end of an emergency, but the exceptional nature of the pandemic has prompted the unprecedented drive for transparency.
Louvre museum to open in July
The Louvre museum in Paris said on Friday it was planning to re-open its doors on July 6 following new steps announced Thursday by the prime minister, Edouard Philippe, to ease the country's coronavirus lockdown.
In a statement, the France's most visited museum says a booking system and a "new signage" will allow to offer visitors, asked to wear a mask and keep social distancing, "maximal security conditions" when coming to the premises.
No further action to be taken after railway worker died from coronavirus after being spat at, British transport police say
British Transport Police (BTP) have confirmed that no further action will be taken in relation to the death of Belly Mujinga, a railway worker who died of coronavirus after being spat at in London Victoria station.
Following a “full and thorough investigation”, BTP detectives concluded there “is no evidence to substantiate any criminal offences” took place and Ms Mujinga’s death was “not a consequence of this incident”.
No further action will be taken against a 57-year-old man who was interviewed in relation to the incident.
A 111-year-old woman has become the oldest Covid-19 patient in Chile to recover from the infection, officials have said, Matt Mathers reports.
Juana Zúñiga tested positive for the disease amid an outbreak of cases at the Santiago care home where she lives.
She had already been suffering from respiratory problems when she caught the infection in April, staff said.
Staff at the care home also said Ms Zúñiga, who is known as Juanita, was only mildly affected by the disease.
“Taking her out of her habitat was the most difficult thing,” the director of the care home, María Paz Sordo said.
New Zealand down to just one active coronavirus case
With just one active case of coronavirus left in the country, New Zealand has all but eradicated the highly-contagious virus in the country, Kate Ng reports.
The Ministry of Health announced that the last active Covid-19 case is a patient in their fifties from the Auckland region.
There have been no other new cases of coronavirus reported in the country for seven consecutive days. The total number of confirmed cases since the start of the outbreak there remains at 1,154.
The last case will be classified as recovered once the patient has not exhibited any symptoms for two full days.
It comes as the country gradually relaxes its lockdown restrictions to allow people to return to life as normal. On Friday, the government increased the limit on gatherings to 100 people, which means events like religious services, parties, weddings, and funerals can now take place.
Tourism will be 'devastated' by quarantine plan
Tourism to the UK will be “devastated” by the government’s quarantine plan, according to Clive Jacobs – chairman of the parent company of the trade journal, Travel Weekly, travel correspondent Simon Calder reports.
The home secretary has announced that from 8 June, almost all arrivals at UK airports, ferry ports and international rail terminals will be required to self-isolate at home, out of direct contact with family and friends, for two weeks.
It applies to returning holidaymakers as well as inbound tourists.
Mr Jacobs said: “The government's quarantine plans are the final straw for the travel and hospitality sectors that are already reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It is imperative that the prime minister and government recognise the crippling effect that such measures will have.”
The government says the quarantine arrangements will be reviewed every three weeks.
The requirement for 14 days of self-isolation is widely expected to be a “three-week wonder,” with a series of bilateral “air bridges” allowing travel to and from the UK’s most popular destination countries.
Nearly 17,000 fines issued for alleged lockdown breaches in England and Wales
Police in England and Wales have issued nearly 17,000 fines for alleged breaches of the coronavirus lockdown, data from the National Police Chiefs' Council reveals.
15,552 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) were recorded by forces in England up until 25 May, while 1,395 were issued in Wales.
After lockdown measures were eased on 13 May, a total of 841 fines were handed out in England.
Professor warns against barbecues
Professor Sally Bloomfield, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has warned people against having barbecues yet.
Professor Bloomfield told BBC Radio 4's The World At One: "The thing that really worries me is people are starting to say to me, oh, can I have a barbecue?
"That is the really dangerous thing because then we are really starting handling things backwards and forwards to each other - plates, glasses, cups and so forth.
"So if you really want to have a social gathering and a meal, and the more time we spend outdoors the better, then it should be a picnic where we each bring our own food and knives and forks and plates and everything and keep them to ourselves and take them away with us.
"Then we can have a really nice social gathering. But barbecues, please no, at the moment."
