Boris Johnson has suggested the two-metre distancing rule could be reduced if infection rates continue to fall in the community, even if transmission in care homes and hospitals keeps the crucial R figure high.
He spoke before transport secretary Grant Shapps warned commuters that “remembering your face covering should be the same as picking up your phone, your wallet or your purse whenever you’re leaving your house”.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the UK economy plunged by 20.4 per cent in April as the country endured its first full month in coronaviruslockdown, marking the biggest fall since records began, .
Meanwhile, the three biggest airlines serving the UK have launched legal action against what they call the “government’s flawed quarantine”. British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair say the obligation for all arrivals to self-isolate “will destroy thousands of jobs”.
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One in three of those testing positive for Covid-19 either could not be contacted by the NHS Test and Trace system or, if they were contacted, did not provide details of people they had been in close proximity to. In case you missed it earlier, here is Shaun Lintern's analysis of the system:
US scientists are testing whether blood plasma from Covid-19 survivors might prevent infection in other people.
Thousands of coronavirus patients in hospitals around the world have been treated with so-called convalescent plasma, but there is little solid evidence that it makes a difference.
But the treatment is now undergoing more rigorous testing, and a nationwide study will examine whether the receiving the plasma immediately after a high-risk exposure to the virus could stave off the illness.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and other sites will recruit health workers, spouses of the sick and nursing home residents where someone has fallen ill.
Because it takes a few weeks for antibodies to form, the hope is that transfusing someone else's antibodies could help patients fight the virus before their own immune system kicks in.
One reason other nations had lower rates of coronavirus infection than the UK could be that they had yet to reach a peak, the transport minister has suggested.
“Clearly there are countries that have lower levels of infection but that may be because they've yet to go into this, rather than they've come out of it," Grant Shapps said during the Downing Street daily briefing.
“So we need to be very careful and cautious we won't throw away the good work that's been done.”
He stressed the need to avoid a second spike in infections by wearing face coverings on public transport and avoiding gatherings of more than six people, including at protests.
The NHS England medical director and the transport secretary have sought to allay concerns that the R value - the transmission rate - could be above one in the southwest of England.
The number there is thought to be between 0.8 and 1.1, meaning cases could rise rather than fall.
Professor Stephen Powis said: "R is of course a very important way of looking at this, but there are other things that we look at."
But he said the ONS surveillance study showed a "steady reduction" in the number of infections in the community.
"And really that evidence also suggests the R value is below 1 because it is only when the R value is below 1 that we would see that decrease in infections," he added.
Asked about a local lockdown, Mr Shapps told the Downing Street briefing: "I wouldn't want to rule anything out but I think probably that southwest figure today isn't quite as being reported.
"I think not to be overly alarmed, because as Professor Steve Powis said, it was actually the top of a range which had a number of others that showed it was below 1."
Grant Shapps has played down reports that the chief nursing officer for England has been unable or unwilling to take part in the No 10 press briefings because she would not defend Dominic Cummings.
The transport secretary said he expected Ruth May would be appearing again at future briefings.
"I don't think it is true. She has attended them many times before. I notice that at the top of the No 10 Twitter feed I see one of her tweets pinned," he said. "I am absolutely sure she has been a regular contributor before and I am sure she will be back here again."
He was questioned about The Independent's report that Ms May had been dropped.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps has said remembering face coverings should become part of people's daily routine as they become mandatory on public transport in England from next week.
Anybody taking a bus, train or Tube from Monday can be refused travel if they are not covering their nose and mouth.
But authorities will take a "gentle approach" to enforcement of the new rule on compulsory face coverings over the "first couple of days", Mr Shapps said.
He told the Downing Street briefing: "Remembering your face covering should be the same as picking up your phone, your wallet or your purse whenever you're leaving your house."
Anyone without a face covering could be fined after the first two days.
British Transport Police, Network Rail staff, Transport for London, transport operators and newly employed special “journey makers” will be at stations and bus stops to remind people of the new rule, Mr Shapps said.
"Please read the guidance, ensure you have a face covering and protect your fellow commuters," he added.
NHS England's national cancer director has warned numbers of patients waiting over 62 days to start treatment is growing, Shaun Lintern reports:
Two-metre rule could be reduced if Covid infection rates stay low outside of care home and hospitals, Boris Johnson hints
'Around 80 per cent of the epidemic is now in health and social care settings'Al-Shabab announced that the unit, which includes a round-the-clock hotline, had been set up in Jilib, a major stronghold of the extremist group in southern Somalia. The country has more than 2,500 confirmed virus cases.
For months, Somali health officials have warned that areas controlled by al-Shabab in central and southern Somalia could be at high risk of the virus spreading but the extremist group has resisted assistance from the government and international health organisations.
Another 202 people in the UK have died, bringing the total to 41,481, the government has announced.
One further coronavirus linked death has been reported in Northern Ireland, taking the total there reported by the Department of Health to 539.
There have been 16 new confirmed cases of the virus there, bringing the total to 4,838 since the pandemic began.
Risk of more lockdowns in Europe 'moderate to high'
The risk of further lockdowns across Europe is moderate to high, health experts have warned.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said the risk to the UK and countries across Europe was moderate if restrictions were "phased out gradually, when only sporadic or cluster transmission is reported, and when appropriate monitoring systems and capacities for extensive testing and contact tracing are in place".
However, it said the risk of lockdown moves to high if restrictions are phased out when there is still community transmission "and no appropriate monitoring systems and capacities for extensive testing and contact tracing are in place".
ECDC director Andrea Ammon said: "The pandemic is not over. It is important to comply with recommendations regarding physical distancing and maintain high standards of hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette.
When taken together, the drops seen in March and April are 10 times larger than the biggest plunge seen pre-coronavirus.
Ministers now find themselves under increasing pressure to immediately publish the advice, while questions have been raised about equalities minister Kemi Badenoch's assertion to the Commons that the government had not been able to make any recommendations, citing a lack of data.
As Donald Trump prepares to hold his first in-person rally since the coronavirus pandemic exploded in March, his campaign is taking steps to insulate itself from liability should the virus spread among the crowd, Andrew Naughtie reports.
While the president himself is publicly confident the outbreak is receding, and refuses to be seen wearing a mask, the online registration form for the 19 June rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma comes with an unusual set of terms and conditions.
By clicking register below,” reads the disclaimer, “you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to Covid-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending the Rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to Covid-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.; BOK Center; ASM Global; or any of their affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, or volunteers liable for any illness or injury.”
All risks of coronavirus spread aside, the Tulsa rally has already attracted opprobrium because of its location and scheduling. The city was the site of one of the worst incidents of mass racial violence in modern American history: the Tulsa Massacre of 1921, in which white mobs killed as many as 300 of Black people and destroyed more than 1,200 Black homes.
The rally is also scheduled for 19 June, or Juneteenth, which marks the emancipation of the last people enslaved by the Confederacy.
In a letter to Boris Johnson, Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford said "fundamental issues" still remain between the UK and EU negotiators after the most recent round of talks on a deal.
The Scottish Government has repeatedly called for the transition period to be extended beyond the 31 December deadline, which can only be done if a request is made before the end of this month. Westminster has previously rejected any calls for an extension.
Ms Sturgeon and Mr Drakeford warned in their letter that exiting the transition period at the end of this year, when the UK economy will just be beginning its recovery from coronavirus, would be "extraordinarily reckless".
"No-one could reproach the UK Government for changing its position in the light of the wholly unforeseeable Covid-19 crisis, particularly as the EU has made it clear it is open to an extension request," they wrote.
"We therefore call on you to take the final opportunity the next few weeks provide to ask for an extension to the transition period in order to provide a breathing space to complete the negotiations, to implement the outcome, and the opportunity for our businesses to find their feet after the enormous disruption of recent months.
"At the time the Withdrawal Agreement was signed, no-one could have imagined the enormous economic dislocation which the Covid 19 pandemic has caused - in Wales, Scotland, the whole of the UK, in the EU and across the world."
A woman whose 88-year-old father died in a care home, with Covid-19 as a probable cause of death, is launching High Court proceedings to seek a judicial review over whether the government's care home policies exposed residents to unnecessary harm.
Lawyer Paul Conrathe of Sinclairslaw will lodge legal papers on Friday on behalf of Cathy Gardner, chair of East Devon District Council, whose father, Michael Gibson, died in an Oxfordshire care home on 3 April after it accepted the return of a resident from hospital who previously had Covid-19 symptoms and had tested positive.
The legal action hinges on allegations that guidance issued to care homes during February and March saw the government breach its legal duty to protect care home residents and workers.
Ms Gardner said she was left "appalled" by comments from Matt Hancock in May in which he said a "protective ring" had been placed around care homes during the crisis.
"The truth is that there has been, at best, a casual approach to protecting the residents of care homes; at worst, the government have adopted a policy that has caused the death of the most vulnerable in our society," she said. "It is completely unacceptable that this happened and that responsibility has been avoided."
A letter sent to Mr Hancock earlier this month by her lawyer said Ms Gardner believed policies adopted by Mr Hancock, NHS England and PHE had "manifestly failed to protect the health, wellbeing and right to life of those residing and working in care homes".
It claimed: "Their failings have led to large numbers of unnecessary deaths and serious illnesses. In addition, the failings of government have been aggravated by the making of wholly disingenuous, misleading and - in some cases - plainly false statements suggesting that everything necessary has been done to protect care homes during the pandemic."
Giuseppe Conte is being questioned by prosecutors investigating the lack of a coronavirus lockdown of two towns in Lombardy's Bergamo province that turned into some of the hardest-hit areas of the country's outbreak.
Doctors and virologists have said the two-week delay in quarantining Alzano and Nembro allowed the virus to spread in Bergamo, which saw a 571 per cent increase in excess deaths in March compared with the average of the previous five years.
Lead prosecutor Maria Cristina Rota is also expected to question the health and interior ministers. In previous days, she has interviewed the head of the Superior Institute of Health.
No one has yet been placed under investigation and it is unclear what, if any, criminal blame will be assigned to public officials for decisions taken or not in the former epicentre of Europe's outbreak.
AP
The group, Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, say lessons need to be learned quickly to prevent further deaths, amid fears of a second peak later this year.
