Groups of up to six people in England will be allowed to meet in outdoor spaces from Monday, Boris Johnson has announced. The prime minister confirmed all five tests required for the next phase of lockdown easing in England to begin have been met.
It comes as UK’s test and trace system was plunged into chaos on its first day, with many NHS staff unable to access the system. An army of 25,000 contact tracers had been due to be begin work on Thursday, but the programme’s launch has been beset by problems and the government has admitted it will not be “fully operational” until the end of June.
Meanwhile, groups of up to eight from two different households are to be allowed to meet outdoors in Scotland after Nicola Sturgeon announce the country’s first step out of lockdown.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic.
UK launches test and trace programme
The UK's test and trace strategy - seen as vital for the country's lockdown to be further eased - is to be launched from 9am today.
Under the strategy, people will be asked to isolate for 14 days if they come into contact with someone infected with coronavirus – even if they do not have symptoms.
The new NHS test and trace programme will involve an army of 25,000 contact tracers and an additional 25,000 people working to process tests.
Tracers will hunt down anyone who has been within two metres of an infected person for more than 15 minutes without protective equipment. These people will be contacted and asked to isolate at home for a fortnight. The government does not plan to fine those who refuse to obey the isolation order but ministers do have the power to sanction people if necessary.
However, an NHS app – currently being trialled on the Isle of Wight – that aims to alert individuals after they have come in contact with an infected person will be launched at an undetermined date.
Ashley Cowburn and Lizzy Buchan have all the details:
'Very key bits' of test and trace system not yet working
There is "still a long way to go" before the UK has the "fit for purpose" test and trace system it needs, an NHS leader has warned.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said the country is "many weeks behind where we need to be and where other countries are".
In a statement issued by membership organisation for NHS trust, he identified three "key gaps to fill".
Hopson said there "still far too many places" where tests were taking longer than the international standard of 24 hours, with the average turnaround time between three and seven days for many UK health providers.
He added work to develop local test and trace plans to manage to risk of Covid-19 spreading at hotspots such as rail stations and places of worship only began last week and "will take several more weeks to complete".
And NHS trusts cannot resume ordinary services such as elective surgery until they can rapidly test all patients who need to visit an NHS site. "There are still no clear plans to do this consistently across the country," Hopkins said.
He added: "“So whilst today’s announcement represents good progress, and an important milestone, there is still a huge amount to do."
Speaking on Newsnight last night, Hopson said he pleased Boris Johnson had watered down claims it had a "world class" test and trace system ready to start from 1 June, "because we clearly don't".
We're in the process of building test and trace," he added. "There will be a group of contact tracers who will be ready [Thursday] morning but there are still very key bits of test and trace that still need to be built."
Hancock refuses to say if Cummings 'did the right thing'
The launch of the UK's test and trace system comes at an awkward time for the government, with ministers asking the public to isolate if necessary while defending Dominic Cummings for not doing the same.
Matt Hancock has been doing the broadcast rounds this morning, and faced repeated questions on the issue which Downing Street would like to go away.
Speaking to the Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4's Today, health secretary repeatedly refused to say whether the prime minister's chief adviser “did the right thing” by driving from London to Durham despite strict coronavirus restrictions in March.
He claimed Cummings “was acting within the guidelines” but said he understood why some members of the public disagreed with him. However, asked by Robinson six times whether the PM's aide had done the "right thing", he sidestepped the question each time.
Appearing earlier on Sky News, Hancock was asked what people should do if they are told to self-isolate but have childcare issues - the excuse which Cummings has given for driving to Durham.
The health secretary said: "Well, of course, it is very important that childcare is taken into account. I understand that as well as anybody, so yes it is very important that people deal with childcare and do that in a reasonable way."
Pushed on whether parents would still need to stay at home, he added: "That is what you will be instructed to do, yes, and you should follow those instructions because that is in the best interest of everybody."
EasyJet, the UK’s biggest budget airline, is to follow British Airways in cutting up to 30 per cent of its workforce.
As many as 3,600 of easyJet‘s estimated 12,000 staff could lose their jobs.
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, EasyJet says it does not expect passenger demand to return to 2019 levels until 2023.
The Luton-based airline plans to cut one-seventh of its planned fleet of Airbus jets, to 302 aircraft by the end of 2021.
But job cuts will be much deeper, reports The Independent's travel correspondent Simon Calder:
People may have to self-isolate multiple times, warns Hancock
People will have to self-isolate for 14 days on a number of occasions if told to do so by NHS tracers, the health secretary has stressed.
"If they are repeatedly in contact with positive cases then they repeatedly may have to self-isolate," Matt Hancock told BBC Radio 4's Today.
He told Sky News: "Employment law covers this and we changed the law a couple of months ago so that if you are instructed by the NHS for public health reasons to stay at home, then that is the equivalent in employment law to being ill, and it is very important that employers are flexible around this."
And people who are confirmed as having had coronavirus will also have to self-isolate, Hancock told LBC: "Unfortunately, yes. It is very frustrating but the reason for that is we don't yet know whether people like me who have had it still transmit it if they come into contact with it a second time."
But people will not be penalised for failing to abide by test and trace instructions "in the first instance", Hancock added. He said he believed "the vast majority" of people who self-isolate voluntarily and it would be "far better if we didn't have to make it mandatory", although he noted there were powers in the Coroanvirus Act which the government would be able to use if necessary.
South Korea toughens social distancing rules as spike in cases raises fears of second wave
South Korea has reported 79 new coronavirus cases, its highest spike in nearly eight weeks, triggering the return of tougher social distancing curbs.
The increase has raised fears of a second wave of infections a country which has been closely watched by the UK and others for its success in containing the first outbreak.
At least 82 cases so far this week have been linked to a cluster of infections at a logistics facility operated by Coupang Corp, one of the country's largest online shopping firms, in Bucheon, west of Seoul, according to the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
Some 4,100 workers, including 603 delivery staff, are believed to have not been following social distancing and protective measures properly, including wearing masks, KCDC deputy director Kwon Jun-wook told a briefing.
Unlike many countries, South Korea did not impose a strict lockdown to counter Covid-19. A robust programme of testing earlier this year was credited with helping to keep deaths low,
But the new spike in cases has prompted health officials to order major cities to return to social distancing, with some public spaces closed and employers told to implement flexible working plans.
The new cases, the third straight day of rising infections, bring the country's total as of midnight on Wednesday to 11,344 cases and 269 deaths.
Sturgeon set to announce easing of Scotland's lockdown
Nicola Sturgeon is set to announce "cautious" steps out of lockdown for Scotland today.
The first minister will hold a virtual briefing at 12.30pm alongside her health secretary Jeane Freeman and Scotland's interim chief
medical officer Gregor Smith.
The first stage of the lockdown exit plan, announced by Sturgeon last week, will allow people to meet up with friends or relatives from one other household at a time and take part in some outdoor non-contact sports such as golf, angling and outdoor swimming.
Garden centres, drive-through restaurants and recycling centres could also get the green light to reopen.
The changes could come into effect from Friday but Sturgeon has warned not all the measures in phase one of her plan will necessarily be introduced immediately.
The number of people dying with Covid-19 has fallen for the fourth week in a row, in Scotland, with 230 deaths linked to the virus registered between 18 and 24 May.
UK 'has highest Covid-19 death rate'
The UK has the highest coronavirus death rate in the world, according to Financial Times analysis of excess mortality figures.
The UK has registered 59,537 more deaths than usual since the week ending 20 March, indicating the virus has directly or indirectly killed 891 people per million, the FT reports.
The absolute number of excess deaths in the UK is also the highest in Europe, and is second only to the US in global terms, the FT noted.
Natalie Dean, assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida, told the newspaper it was "reasonable to think earlier intervention would have saved lives" in the UK, given that Boris Johnson's government had more time to act than other countries such as Italy which were hit by the outbreak earlier.
'No evidence' reopening schools in Finland has spread virus faster
Finland has seen no signs that coronavirus is spreading faster since schools started to reopen in the middle of May, the country's top health official has said.
"The time has been short, but so far we have seen no evidence," Mika Salminen, director of health security at the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare, told a press conference this morning.
Finland started to reopen schools and daycare centres from 14 May following an almost two-month shutdown.
Some primary schools in the UK are due to reopen for some pupils from 1 June, but it remains unclear when the rest of children will be back in the classroom.
GlaxoSmithKline plans to make 1 billion vaccine boosters
GlaxoSmithKline has announced plans to produce 1 billion doses of vaccine efficacy boosters, known as adjuvants, next year.
The British pharmaceutical firm, which is the world's largest vaccine maker, said it was in talks with governments to back a manufacturing expansion that would help to scale up production of future vaccines for Covid-19.
The announcement this morning gave no indication of the programme's costs, saying only that production would take place at sites in Europe and North America. The firm said it would reinvest any profit into coronavirus research and preparation for future pandemics.
GSK is working on its own Covdi-19 vaccine with French drugmaker Sanofi, and teams of researchers around the world are working on other similar projects.
Adjuvants have been shown to create a stronger and longer-lasting immunity against infections and allow for lower dosing of the protein in a vaccine, making way for higher-volume production.
"We believe that more than one vaccine will be needed to address this global pandemic and we are working with partners around the world to do so," said GSK global vaccines president Roger Connor.
Scientists have predicted that a successful vaccine will take more than a year to develop. Companies and governments are pouring money into dozens of programmes as their best hope of allowing a lasting escape from lockdowns.
Russian death toll passes 4,000
Russia has reported 174 deaths from coronavirus in the last 24 hours, matching its record daily rise for fatalities and taking the overall death toll to 4,142.
The country's coronavirus crisis response centre said the overall number of infections had risen by 8,371 to 379,051.
Coronavirus in the UK mapped
Here's a graphic showing the spread of coronavirus across the UK by region, based on the latest government figures.
London, the initial epicentre of the outbreak, still has the highest number of confirmed cases, but the North West now follows closely behind.
The government is facing calls to fund a living wage for key workers after a carer claimed she had to rely on food donations when she got coronavirus.
A petition calling for higher salaries for care workers and social care staff has been launched by a woman who said she struggled financially when she fell ill with the virus.
The woman suffered Covid-19 for for nearly a month, and turned to food donations as her low-paid, zero-hour contract job left little support, according to a charity leading the campaign for better pay.
Citizens UK is demanding a real living wage – £9.30 an hour, or £10.75 in London – for all key workers, and is starting the campaign by calling for the social care sector to get an immediate £1.4bn cash boost to increase staff pay.
Read the full story by Zoe Tidman:
Travel leaders call for quarantine scheme to be crapped
Leaders of high-profile travel companies have called for the UK to scrap its plan to quarantine overseas arrivals for 14 days, calling the strategy “poorly thought-out, wholly detrimental to industry recovery and more or less unworkable”.
More than 70 travel industry chairs, chief executives and general managers have written to home secretary Priti Patel urging the immediate withdrawal of the plan, due to come in force on 8 June, reports Simon Calder:
Hancock laughs off suggestion test and trace brought forward to distract from Cummings row
Matt Hancock has laughed off the suggestion the government’s new test and trace system was brought forward to distract from the controversy over Dominic Cummings's lockdown-breaching drive to Durham.
The health secretary began chuckling during an interview on Sky News when host Kay Burley asked whether he had “rushed” today's launch to help push the saga surrounding Boris Johnson's key aide down the news agenda.
“It’s priceless Kay – I’m normally accused of delaying these things, of bringing them in too slowly,” said Hancock, grinning and shaking his head.
“You can’t accuse me both of rushing and of there being a delay,” he added, laughing vigorously and shaking his head again.
Burley responded: “I suppose many of my viewers will think it’s not a laughing matter."
Hancock, turning more serious, then replied: “Yes, well I can’t quite work out whether you’re telling me I’ve gone too fast or too slow. I think we’ve got it just right.”
Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan, the shadow cabinet member for mental health and an NHS doctor, called Hancock's reaction "an insult".
"This is not a joke. This has been painful for so many families," she tweeted.
Test and trace 'won't be fully operational until end of June'
The UK's test and trace programme "won't be fully operational on a local level" until the end of the June, the scheme's leader is reported to have told MPs.
Labour MP Ben Bradshaw said Dido Harding's comment came during a conference call this morning.
"Not sure where that leaves Johnson’s promise of a fully operational 'world beating' system by Monday," he tweeted
NHS Providers warned yesterday that "key bits" of test and trace were not yet ready and the UK had "a long way to go" before it the system was "fit for purpose".
Not safe to begin reopening schools next week, Independent Sage warns
A group of independent scientists has warned it is not safe to begin reopening schools next week and claimed the government is ignoring its own advisers as it pushes for classes to resume on 1 June.
In a new report, the Independent Sage group said the proposals risk “a new surge of cases of Covid-19 in some communities”.
They added the government’s scientific advisory committee, Sage, has modelled the impact of seven different ways schools could reopen, which all result in the ‘R’ rate – or the rate of transmission – increasing.
Read Zoe Tidman's story here:
Scots urged to remain cautious during first step out of lockdown
Scotland's deputy first minister has stressed the need for personal responsibility as the country is prepares to enter the first phase of a "route map" out of lockdown.
John Swinney addressed Holyrood's Covid-19 Committee this morning ahead of the expected announcement Nicola Sturgeon that coronavirus has been sufficiently suppressed to start easing restrictions.
Swinney told MSPs that Scottish government messaging should push the public into thinking about the implications of their actions, with the possibility of lockdown measures being reimposed if the virus beings to take hold again.
While he refused to pre-empt Sturgeon's announcement, her deputy said "some very strong elements of constraint" will remain as the first phase is entered.
Last week, Sturgeon announced plans for a four-phase emergence from lockdown and earmarked Thursday as the possible first step - provided the suppression of the virus continued.
In the first phase, it is expected people will be able to meet one other household while outside, as long as social distancing is adhered to, as well as taking part in some outdoor, non-team sports and resuming open-air jobs.
Some personal responsibility will also have to be taken by the public, Swinney said, adding: "I accept that if the message in lockdown is 'only leave home if you have one of a very, very small number of very good reasons to do so', that is an easier message to secure public compliance and adherence with to a message which enables a bit more freedom for individuals.
"What we have to encourage people to do, as part of the government's messaging, is to think about the implications for themselves of not complying with the direction of travel which we are setting out.
"If we don't comply, we'll be back here ... reapplying new constraints and we will be dealing with a deeper health crisis within our society than we have already dealt with over the last 10 weeks or so."
Scotland to begin relaxation of lockdown
Scotland is ready to enter its the first stage of its relaxation of lockdown, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
The first minister said the country's 'R' number - the rate of transmission - remained between 0.7 to 1 and deaths, intensive care admissions and infections all showed a sustained downward trend.
The launch of test and trace today has also bolstered confidence that Scotland is ready to loosen restrictions, she added.
The first phase of the relaxation will focus on outdoor activities and businesses, where the risk of infection is lower.
