The UK will not have any dramatic lifting of coronavirus social restrictions, a minister has warned, after another 626 deaths were recorded in the UK, bringing the official toll to 31,241.
The country is “not out of the woods” and will live with the virus for some time to come, environment secretary George Eustice said.
Downing Street has been accused of sending “mixed messages” on lockdown measures following reports Boris Johnson will ease restrictions on Sunday.
"We have to be realistic that there isn't going to be any dramatic overnight change," Mr Eustice said.
In Wales, the rule requiring people to only exercise once a day will be lifted from Monday, and Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford said restrictions on garden centres would be eased.
The government has announced a new £16m fund to support frontline food charities to help them buy and distribute food to those most in need.
Former chancellor Sajid Javid has urged the government to open up the economy “as far and as quick” as possible. It comes as NHS England revealed a six-week-old baby has died after contracting coronavirus.
No 10 accused of 'mixed messages' over lockdown
Downing Street is sending “mixed messages” on lockdown measures to parts of the UK amid speculation they may be eased in England, the Welsh government has warned.
The statement followed reports that the prime minister is set to ease restrictions on Sunday.
Wales's first minister Mark Drakeford will announce the outcome of the Welsh cabinet's discussions on the lockdown today.
A Welsh government spokesman said: "It is crucially important that the people of Wales are informed clearly and accurately about what, if any, changes are made to the current stay-at-home restrictions.
"Some of the reporting in today's newspapers is confusing and risks sending mixed messages to people across the UK."
He said the message for the bank holiday weekend remained to "stay home, protect the NHS, save lives".
More than 3.86 million people have been reported to be infected by Covid-19 globally and 268,620 have died, according to a Reuters tally this morning.
Former chancellor Sajid Javid has said the government should open up the economy "as far and as quick" as possible to recover from the economic impact of coronavirus.
It follows warnings from the Bank of England that Covid-19 could lead to the economy plunging 14 per cent this year in the worst annual fall since records began.
Mr Javid, who left his post in Boris Johnson's government in February, said scientific advice needed to be acted upon, but the best course of action was "running the economy hot".
Official data suggests more than 36,000 people have died with coronavirus in the UK while the number of cases has topped 200,000.
PA
The driver tried to stop the freight train when he saw the workers on the tracks in the western state of Maharashtra, said the railway ministry, which has ordered an inquiry.
A further five people were also injured during the incident, a railway spokesman said.
Tens of thousands of people have been walking home from India's big cities after being laid off because of the lockdown to contain the spread of the Covid-19 since late March.
Under the lockdown, which has been extended until 17 May, all public transport has been suspended so migrant workers heading home often have to walk long distances to get there.
Reuters
Five Saracens players have apologised after they were pictured breaking social distancing rules on Monday.
Billy Vunipola, Alex Goode, Nick Isiekwe, Sean Maitland and Josh Ibuanokpe met up in St Albans, clearly flouting government rules during the current lockdown.
The players have accepted they were in the wrong and have been reminded of their responsibilities by the Gallagher Premiership club.
Spirit of ‘greatest generation of Britons who ever lived’ needed amid pandemic
The prime minister has said the spirit of the “greatest generation of Britons who ever lived” must be deployed against coronavirus as the country marks the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
As people across the UK prepare to remember the end of the Second World War in Europe at home this year, Boris Johnson has written to veterans thanking them for their “valour, fortitude and quiet yet invincible courage” during that conflict.
He said Britain must display the “same spirit of national endeavour” exemplified by those who fought against Hitler’s Nazi regime 75 years ago while it is “engaged in a new struggle against the coronavirus”.
Culture secretary Oliver Dowden confirmed he will have further meetings with football authorities next week to look at how games could be played behind closed doors.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Dowden said: "I met with the Premier League a couple of weeks ago. We've had two sessions, the first of which I chaired with the deputy chief medical officer, looking at how we could do this in a safe way.
"It is not just Premier League, it is the rest of football and indeed other sports that could potentially take place behind closed doors.
PA
Nine Chelsea Pensioners die from Covid-19
The Royal Hospital Chelsea has announced it has lost nine of its residents to the Covid-19 pandemic, Tess de la Mare reports.
The retirement home for British veterans, which has a population of 290, made the announcement ahead of VE day on Friday.
It revealed five of the deaths occurred in the hospital, while four died while receiving hospital treatment.
Sajid Javid warns PM not to pursue 'self-defeating' tax rises after crisis
Former Conservative chancellor Sajid Javid has warned Boris Johnson not to pursue “self-defeating” tax rises after the coronavirus pandemic, claiming it will “strangle” any economic recovery, political correspondent Ashley Cowburn reports.
Mr Javid also urged the government to re-open the economy “as far and as quick” as possible, suggesting the best course of action was “running the economy hot”.
The senior Tory’s intervention comes after the Bank of England’s stark warning that the UK economy could contract by close to 30 per cent this summer and cautioned against the greatest annual fall in GDP since 1706.
The number of new coronavirus cases in Russia have risen by 10,699 over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 187,859.
It is the sixth consecutive day that cases have risen by more than 10,000, but down on Thursday's record daily rise of 11,231.
The country's has also reported 98 new fatalities from Covid-19, bringing the total death toll in Russia to 1,723.
Reuters
Australia will lift its coronavirus lockdown restrictions in a three-step process, prime minister Scott Morrison has announced – as his government aims to remove all curbs by July, Adam Forrest reports.
The country imposed strict social distancing measures and closed its borders in March, credited with drastically slowing the number of new infections of Covid-19.
With fewer than 20 new infections each day, Mr Morrison said Australian states and territories on Friday agreed a road map to get almost one million people back to work.
The coronavirus pandemic keeps unleashing "a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scare-mongering", UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has said, as he appealed for "an all-out effort to end hate speech globally".
Mr Guterres said "anti-foreigner sentiment has surged online and in the streets, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories have spread, and Covid-19-related anti-Muslim attacks have occurred".
Mr Guterres called on political leaders to show solidarity with all people, on educational institutions to focus on "digital literacy" at a time when "extremists are seeking to prey on captive and potentially despairing audiences".
AP
The public should expect "limited" changes to be made to the lockdown on Sunday as the Government looks to temper expectations over the lifting of the coronavirus-related restrictions.
Culture secretary Oliver Dowden said the social-distancing rules currently in place have not been lifted for the bank holiday weekend.
He told BBC Breakfast: "The situation remains exactly as it has been for several weeks, that is people should be staying at home in order to protect the NHS and save lives. That hasn't changed.
"Once again we have that temptingly sunny bank holiday weekend coming up but, please, people should not be leaving home except for the limited reasons we've already set out."
PA
Now we are being asked to downplay tragically unnecessary deaths with a jolly singalong.
Facebook Inc has said it will allow its workers who are able to work remotely to do so until the end of the year as the coronavirus pandemic forces governments to extend stay-at-home orders to curb the spread of the disease.
The social media giant also expects most offices to stay closed until 6 July, according to a company spokesperson.
Reuters
Facebook, YouTube and other tech platforms are rushing to remove a viral video called "Plandemic" that promotes conspiracy theories about the coronavirus outbreak, Andrew Griffin reports.
Paris has proposed that the European Commission issues bonds to finance a recovery fund for the European Union worth one to two per cent of GNI per year, or some 150-300bn euros, in 2021-23, according to a French proposal seen by Reuters.
The proposal comes as the EU debates how to kickstart growth after the coronavirus slump.
The bloc's executive commission is due to make a formal proposal in the week starting 18 May of a new joint budget for all the 27 member states for 2021-27 and an accompanying recovery fund.
