Government will not review lockdown fines for people travelling with children

• More than 35 Tory MPs including former Cabinet ministers have called for Dominic Cummings to resign, after claiming they have been contacted by hundreds of angry constituents over his alleged breaches of lockdown
• Durham police have started their investigation into Cummings’ alleged breach of lockdown rules as questions persist about his account of the trips
• MPs have accused Dominic Cummings of misleading the nation after he claimed that he wrote a blog warning about the danger of coronaviruses that social media users have suggested was edited after the outbreak started
• Churches may be closed amid the coronavirus lockdown, but one lucky couple were able to still to get married in the midst of the pandemic

• Nearly 13,000 more people than expected have died in England and Wales since mid-March from causes other than coronavirus amid fears that a lack of medical care is responsible

Follow the latest news in Wednesday's live blog

Venezuela's low case count and death toll from the coronavirus are likely false and could in fact be thousands of times higher than official figures, according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Johns Hopkins University.

President Nicolas Maduro's government has reported 10 Covid-19 deaths out of 1,121 cases in a country of 30 million people, numbers a report from the HRW and Johns Hopkins calls "absurd."

"We believe the data - the statistics that the Venezuelan government give, Maduro's statistics - are absolutely absurd and are not credible," HRW director for the Americas Jose Miguel Vivanco said.

The true number could be closer to "at least 30,000" coronavirus deaths, according to Johns Hopkins associate medicine professor Kathleen Page, who interviewed several Venezuelan doctors and nurses for the report.

Mr Vivanco said the idea of so few cases and deaths "in a country where doctors don't have water to even wash their hands" and "the health system is totally collapsing" strains credibility.

Here is the front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph.

Of all the surprises to come out of yesterday’s statement from Dominic Cummings, the discussion about eyesight has to be one of the most baffling.

Mr Cummings said the reason he decided to take a 60-mile round trip to Barnard Castle, while staying at his parents during lockdown, was to test that his eyesight was safe enough to make the long drive back home to London. This was after his wife became worried about his eyesight after he had suspected Covid-19 a fortnight before. 

"My wife was very worried, particularly because my eyesight seemed to have been affected by the disease," he said. "She didn't want to risk a nearly 300 mile drive with our child, given how ill I had been.

Poor eyesight isn't officially recognised by the NHS as a symptom of coronavirus. But Mr Cummings isn’t the only politician to suffer this ailment. Boris Johnson, who was hospitalised with coronavirus last month, said in yesterday’s press briefing that he’s having to wear glasses ‘for the first time in years’ after the illness.

So what do we know so far about coronavirus and eyesight? Alice Hall has the full analysis here. 

Union says 19 doctors have died and accuses Egyptian authorities of failing to give infected healthcare workers proper care, reports James Rothwell. 

Egyptian doctors have accused the country's government of failing to shield them against coronavirus and urged ministers to take “full responsibility” for the deaths of their colleagues as they warned the healthcare system was at risk of collapsing. 

In a rare case of public criticism of the Egyptian government, which has mounted a crackdown on media outlets and political dissent, the Egyptian Medical Syndicate accused the health ministry of “negligence.”

“The syndicate is warning that the health system could completely collapse, leading to a catastrophe affecting the entire country if the health ministry's negligence and lack of action towards medical staff is not rectified," said the doctors’ union in a statement seen by broadcaster Al-Jazeera. 

"The EMS holds the health ministry entirely responsible for the mounting deaths and infections among doctors due to its negligence... that is tantamount to death through a dereliction of duty,” it added. 

Egypt, which has the highest population in the Arab world, has recorded nearly 18,000 cases of coronavirus and around 780 deaths.

Disney will present its proposal for a phased reopening of its Orlando theme parks to a local task force on Wednesday, the company said in a statement.

The company started closing theme parks across the world in January to prevent the spread of Covid-19. 

Despite its removal from YouTube and Facebook, the conspiracy theory documentary Plandemic is being treated as gospel by the fringes. Cal Revely-Calder explores why…

Here’s an excerpt from the piece:

Early in 2011, Judy Mikovits was arrested in the city of Reno, Nevada. A scene in Plandemic, a new online documentary about Covid-19, shows a SWAT team descending on a suburban house at night. Mikovits, a research biologist, had recently published a “blockbuster paper” that, the documentary says, “sent shockwaves through the scientific community”. 

It “revealed that the common use of animal and human foetal tissues [in vaccines] were unleashing devastating plagues of chronic diseases”. Shortly after, Mikovits’s career lay in ruins.

Fast-forward nine years. Plandemic reached the internet on May 4, three weeks ago. According to its promotional material: “Humanity is imprisoned by a killer pandemic. People are being arrested for surfing in the ocean and meditating in nature. Nations are collapsing. Hungry citizens are rioting for food. 

“The media has generated so much confusion and fear that people are begging for salvation in a syringe. Billionaire patent owners are pushing for globally mandated vaccines. Anyone who refuses to be injected with experimental poisons will be prohibited from travel, education and work. No, this is not a synopsis for a new horror movie. This is our current reality.”  

In the documentary, Mikovits says that her research was blacklisted and her job taken away; that she was arrested and silenced; and that she knows that the spread of Covid-19 is deliberate. 

By May 11, Plandemic had garnered over eight million views; the spread was aided by a re-share from Christiane Northrup, a celebrity physician and regular Oprah guest, who posted it to nearly half a million Facebook followers on May 5. Later on May 11, Facebook and YouTube began to take Plandemic down, saying that it violated copyright and community guidelines. (“Going viral”, these days, is not the innocent joy it was.)

Click here to read the full story 

MPs will only have 20 minutes to question Boris Johnson on the actions of his senior aide Dominic Cummings when the Prime Minister is probed on Wednesday.

It is understood that MPs will have a maximum of 20 minutes in a 90-minute session to probe the situation when Mr Johnson appears before the Commons Liaison Committee.

Among those questioning the PM will be Labour chairwoman of the Home Affairs Committee Yvette Cooper, and Tory chairman of the Health Committee Jeremy Hunt.

Some senior Tory MPs will not be in attendance, including Tobias Ellwood, who earlier today tweeted a series of questions for the PM to answer. 

On Tuesday night it emerged Durham police have started their investigation into Dominic Cummings’ alleged breach of lockdown rules.

Officers interviewed a witness and have access to number plate recognition software which could track the movement of the aide’s car when he travelled to Durham, the Mirror and Guardian reported.

It came as questions emerged over the account Mr Cummings gave during his Downing Street press conference.

Read the full analysis from Anna Mikhailova and Jamie Johnson here. 

County Durham's three Conservative MPs have issued a joint statement over the controversy surrounding Dominic Cummings.

Richard Holden, who represents North West Durham, Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison, whose constituency includes Barnard Castle, and Paul Howell, who represents Sedgefield, said Mr Cummings' public statement had addressed "a number of concerns". They said:

"Overall, we believe his actions to be motivated out of his desire as a parent to do what he thought was necessary in protecting his family".

"However, in the same circumstances, none of us would have made the decisions he made - particularly over the visit to Barnard Castle. We also closely followed the statements from Durham Constabulary as they clarified what had happened.

"It is our collective view that, above all else, this continuing situation is creating a major distraction from the vital work of the Government as it leads our country in combating the global coronavirus pandemic.

"More locally, it has meant the three of us have had to devote substantial time and energy away from our most important tasks of being there for our constituents, promoting County Durham, and getting the investment and opportunities for our county that are long overdue."

Good evening, 

If you are just joining us, here's what you have missed:

• The first drug to treat Covid-19 has been approved in the UK, the Department of Health has said. Early data from around the world showed remdesivir could shorten the recovery of Covid-19 patients by four days. 

• Health Secretary, Matt Hancock has announced that the government has signed contracts  to manufacture 2 billion items of PPE in the UK

• A total of 3,681,295 coronavirus tests have now been carried out - including 109,979 tests as of May 26 

• Boris Johnson’s approval rating has dropped by 20 points after he backed Dominic Cummings over the weekend, according to coronavirus data tracker Savanta. 

• There are nearly 300 more confirmed cases of Covid-19 among prison staff than previously thought, the Ministry of Justice has revealed.

• Dentists in England will be reopened in phases in an attempt to reduce the backlog of dental issues that have arisen during the coronavirus lockdown

• Eye problems have been detected in coronavirus patients and should be recorded in order to better understand the connection, leading doctors at the Royal College of Ophthalmologists have said 

• Research by King's College London and Ipsos Mori carried out last week has revealed that the proportion of people who say they trust the Government to control the spread of Covid-19 has fallen from 69 per cent to 51 per cent

News from around the world:

• The World Health Organisation has temporarily suspended clinical trials of Donald Trump’s “miracle” drug hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for Covid-19 following a study that suggested it could increase the risk of death among patients.

• The G7 summit of world leaders is still scheduled to take place "towards the end of June" and will be held at The White House in Washington DC, the White House spokeswoman has confirmed. 

• The Spanish government have declared a 10-day official mourning period starting from tomorrow to honour the nearly 30,000 people who died from the coronavirus pandemic 

• The Americas have emerged as the new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a Tuesday briefing

Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke with the UN secretary-general and the head of the World Health Organisation on Tuesday regarding coronavirus, Downing Street have said.

A Number 10 spokesman said: "The Prime Minister had calls this evening with the UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, and with Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization.

"On both calls, the Prime Minister set out the UK's support for the international effort to defeat coronavirus and for the work of the UN and WHO in helping to co-ordinate the global response."

"The Prime Minister and Dr Tedros agreed on the importance of an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus outbreak, so we can learn lessons to prevent future pandemics."

"The Prime Minister also confirmed he will participate via video message in the UN's upcoming Financing For Development In The Era Of Covid-19 event to map out an equitable, green recovery from this crisis."

Dentists in England will be reopened in phases in an attempt to reduce the backlog of dental issues that have arisen during the coronavirus lockdown, The Telegraph has learned. 

The Government has not yet confirmed a date for the opening to begin, but MPs have called for dentists to be part of the second phase of the UK’s lockdown easing, alongside non-essential shops, which will open on June 15.

Sir Desmond Swayne, the Conservative MP, said patients had been left “high and dry” by dentists closing during the middle of courses of treatment.

“I can’t see why dentists were closed in the first place, and I can’t see why they can’t reopen straight away,” he said. 

“We are talking about highly trained, skilled physicians who know how to protect themselves and who are accustomed to wearing PPE anyway. 

Click here, to read the exclusive report by Tony Diver and Lizzie Roberts.

The Spanish government declared a 10-day official mourning period from Wednesday to honour the nearly 30,000 people who died from the coronavirus pandemic, government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero has said.

During the mourning period, flags will fly at half-mast all over the country’s public buildings and navy ships, she told a news briefing after a cabinet meeting.

Public Health England are now releasing a daily update on how many confirmed cases of coronavirus there are in each English local authority.

Click here to use our interactive tool to find out how many cases there have been in your local area.

Reverend Martin Poole, who at today's press briefing asked Matt Hancock whether the Government planned to review lockdown fines imposed on families with childcare issues, has argued that the reason the public are so angry about the Cummings lockdown breach is due to the perceived unfairness of the situation. 

He said: "People feel a very strong sense that it’s not right that certain people can behaviour in ways that the rest of us are not allowed to".

"There are lots of inequalities in society at the moment and this is just one of them that needs to be sorted out."

During today’s briefing, Matt Hancock said that he would "look" into the issue of lockdown fines, however the Government has since confirmed that it would  not be launching a “formal review” of the penalties issued. 

Bosses at a hospital which has temporarily stopped accepting new patients due to the high number already being treated there with coronavirus have said there is an "emerging picture of asymptomatic staff testing positive for the virus".

Weston General Hospital in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, stopped taking new admissions, from 8am on Monday in an admit "to maintain patient and staff safety".

Speaking on Tuesday evening, Dr William Oldfield, medical director at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, said:

"There are currently a high number of patients with coronavirus in the hospital. We have tested all inpatients and will undertake retesting in line with national guidance, and we have appropriate segregation in place for patient care.

"Testing for symptomatic staff and household contacts has been offered across the trust since the beginning of April.

"In addition, there is an emerging picture of asymptomatic staff testing positive for the virus. Any members of staff who have tested positive have self-isolated in line with national guidance. We are also in the process of testing all staff in clinical areas at the hospital who may have had some patient contact.”

A nurse and doctor who were forced to cancel their wedding due to the coronavirus outbreak have got married at the hospital where they work.

Jann Tipping, 34, and Annalan Navaratnam, 30, took time out from their frontline work to tie the knot in the Grade II listed chapel at London's St Thomas' Hospital.

Guests enjoyed their special day remotely, thanks to one of the witnesses who live-streamed the service so that friends and family could watch.

The couple, of Tulse Hill, south London, had cancelled their original plans to wed in August amid fears their families would not be able to travel safely from Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka for the big day.

Ms Tipping, an ambulatory emergency nurse, said: "We wanted to have the ceremony while everyone was still healthy, even if it meant our loved ones having to watch us on a screen. We wanted to make sure we could celebrate while we were all still able to.

"The chaplaincy team worked hard to get permission for us to be married, which we appreciated greatly at a time when so much was going on."

Around 200 people broke lockdown rules to party at an overnight illegal rave on a nature reserve.

Footage shows the revellers hugging, dancing together and drinking on Kirkstall Valley Nature Reserve, in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

The rave kicked off around 6pm shortly after Dominic Cummings defended his 260-mile trip to Durham from London against his own Government's advice.

Flouting coronavirus social distancing rules, the party-goers had to wade through the River Aire to access the nature reserve, which is on an island.

The disgraced British former doctor has been appearing at summits during the pandemic to claim vaccines 'will kill us’, reports Rozina Sabur.

Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced British former doctor, is using the coronavirus pandemic to promote his claims that vaccines are unsafe as he calls for widespread protests against their use in America.

Since being struck off the British medical register over a discredited study suggesting a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism, Mr Wakefield has become a prominent figure within America’s anti-vaccine movement.

Now, with the outbreak of Covid-19 in the US, Mr Wakefield has been appearing alongside other prominent vaccine sceptics who promote unfounded theories that call into doubt the severity of the virus and suggest its dangers have been exaggerated in order to force the public to receive mandatory vaccinations.

In one recent appearance, Mr Wakefield called on his followers to protest “in numbers that are sufficient to terrify the politicians into doing the right thing”. He went on to warn of a scenario in which vaccines will cause “one in two children” to have autism by 2032.

“Vaccines are going to kill us,” he added, “people need to wake up to that”

Read the full story from our Washington correspondent here. 

Across the world more than 5.5 million people have now been diagnosed with the coronavirus. The worldwide death toll now stands at 348,040.  

Here are some of the latest figures from around the world:

• France’s coronavirus cases have risen from 145,279 on Monday to 145,555 on Tuesday, the French health ministry has said

• The death toll in Spain now stands at 27,117, while 236,259 coronavirus cases have been confirmed  

• The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Canada has now risen to 85,998

• 32,955 people have now died from Covid-19 in Italy, an increase of 78 since Monday

The G7 summit of world leaders is still scheduled to take place "towards the end of June" and will be held at The White House in Washington DC, the White House spokeswoman has confirmed. 

Kayleigh McEnany told the press earlier today that US President Donald Trump  regarded the summit as an "example of reopening in his transition to greatness".

She said: "We will protect world leaders who come here just like we protect people at the White House".

Cummings said he wrote about the coronavirus threat last year, but online clues suggest the reference was added to his blog on April 14 2020, reports Bill Gardner.

Dominic Cummings replied indignantly when reporters suggested he had shown a cavalier attitude toward Covid-19 and lockdown.

"For years, I have warned of the dangers of pandemics," he insisted, during his appearance in Downing Street’s rose garden.

"Last year I wrote about the possible threat of coronaviruses and the urgent need for planning.”

However Mr Cummings’ claim to have predicted the pandemic was not strictly true, Downing Street admitted on Tuesday night.

In fact, a post on Mr Cummings’ personal blog was secretly edited by him last month to add a reference to coronaviruses, sources confirmed.

MPs immediately accused Mr Cummings of misleading the nation by falsely making it appear that he had long warned about coronaviruses, and had always taken Covid-19 seriously.

Click here to read the full story.

Any potential review of fines imposed on families travelling for childcare during lockdown would be a "scandalous waste of time and money", a former chief prosecutor has warned.

His statements come after Health Secretary Matt Hancock pledged to speak to the Treasury about whether penalty fines issued for that situation should be reviewed in the wake of the Dominic Cummings row.

Nazir Afzal, the former chief prosecutor for north-west England, said: "There is no process by which a review could take place, there would have to be a retrospective change in the law which would enable these penalty fines to be reviewed."

The Americas have emerged as the new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a Tuesday briefing, as a U.S. study forecast deaths surging in Brazil and other Latin American countries through August.

"Now is not the time for countries to ease restrictions," Carissa Etienne, WHO director for the Americas and head of the Pan American Health Organization, said via videoconference.

The Americas have registered more than 2.4 million cases of the new coronavirus and more than 143,000 deaths from the resulting COVID-19 respiratory disease. Latin America has passed Europe and the United States in daily infections, she said.

"Our region has become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic," Etienne said, as other PAHO directors warned there are "very tough" weeks ahead for the region and Brazil has a long way to go before it will see the pandemic end.

Eye problems have been detected in coronavirus patients and should be recorded in order to better understand the connection, leading doctors have said.

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists revealed that it was aware of a handful of cases of viral conjunctivitis in people with Covid-19.

Separately, experts said that ophthalmic complications from the virus can affect people's eyesight.

It comes after Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson's chief adviser, said his reason for conducting a 60-mile round-trip from his parents' home in Durham during the lockdown – on the face of it, a breach of the rules – was to test his vision before driving to London after recovering from suspected Covid-19.

"I'd been extremely ill. My vision had been a bit weird," he said on Monday.

Read the full story from our Health Correspondent, Henry Bodkin. 

Backbench Conservative MP Mark Garnier has called for Dominic Cummings to "do the decent thing and resign" over his alleged lockdown breaches.

The Wyre Forest MP, who said he has received more than 300 emails critical of Mr Cummings from constituents, told the Press Association that he was "hugely sympathetic" towards Mr Cummings' plight but felt that it was necessary for the aide to go. 

He told the PA: "The whole of coronavirus has now been taken over by him and his actions.

"I think at the end of the day people feel so strongly about this. This story isn't going to go away until he's gone and now I think it's time for him to do the decent thing and resign."

Go beyond the headlines with our new podcast, Coronavirus: The Latest. 

The Telegraph's leading journalists bring you expert analysis on the impact of the outbreak on health, politics, business and travel. 

Listen for everything you need to know in just ten minutes (or thirty hand washes).

In this episode: 

•  With Remdesivir now approved for UK use, Dr Stephen Griffin from the University of Leeds Medical School explains why it is such a tremendous breakthrough
• The number of deaths linked to coronavirus in the UK has fallen to its lowest level in six weeks, according to official figures. But Patrick Scott reports some areas of the UK recorded an increase in deaths, with the North-West now overtaking London as the virus ‘epicentre’
• After Brazil recorded a higher daily death toll than the US for the first time on Monday, Euan Marshall in Sao Paulo tells us how Bolsonaro has taken against both national and international media for reporting the facts

If you have a question you'd like our journalists to answer on the podcast, email coronaviruspodcast@ telegraph. co.uk.

Listen here.

Regional flare-ups of coronavirus cases in England will result in a "local lockdown", Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.

Mr Hancock said the ability to tighten restrictions in individual regions will be part of the NHS test, track and trace system - which is set to expand on June 1.

Speaking at today's press briefing, Mr Hancock said:

"We will have local lockdowns in future where there are flare-ups and we have a system we are putting in place with a combination of Public Health England and the new Joint Biosecurity Centre, along with the local directors of public health who play an absolutely crucial role in the decision-making in the system, to make sure if there is a local flare-up there is a local lockdown.

"And so local lockdowns will be part of the future system that we put in place as part of the NHS test-and-trace system."

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds has said that  Priti Patel, needs to answer the question of whether lockdown fines imposed on families will be reviewed. 

Remdesivir has been approved as the first drug to treat Covid-19 in the UK, the Department of Health has said.

Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, described the drug as "probably the biggest step forward in the treatment of coronavirus since the crisis begun". 

Early data from clinical trials around the world showed remdesivir could shorten the recovery time of Covid-19 patients by up to four days.

But what is it, how does it work and who will it be given to?

Our reporter Lizzie Roberts has the latest here. 

The incompetence of health officials, rather than the ministers, are to blame for a multitude of Covid-19 response failures write Laura Bierer-Nielsen and Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen. 

Here's an excerpt from their comment piece: 

NHS England and Public Health England (PHE) need to be held accountable for their extensive administrative ineffectiveness. 

Theories of why the government didn’t join the EU procurement for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in March have been numerous: from lost emails to extreme Brexit ideologues. However, the answer lies not with the failure of government, but with officialdom.   

On 17th March this year, Amanda Pritchard, the Chief Operating Officer of NHS England, supported by Sir Simon Stevens, the Chief Executive of NHS England, told the Health Select Committee that "we have been assured that there is sufficient supply available nationally."  

Mr Stevens echoed this in a letter to NHS bodies, writing that the Department of Health's "procurement team reports that nationally there is currently adequate national supply in line with PHE recommended usage."

This is not a party political point, I am no Conservative, in fact I understand the government’s reliance on experts. 

However, if our national response is driven by experts, such as Simon Stevens, then these experts must be held to account for the gross failure of PPE provision across the country.

Click here to read the full piece. 

Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said he believes that Dominic Cummings broke lockdown rules on multiple occasions, but added that he was not calling for the Prime Minister's adviser to resign.

In a letter sent to constituents, Mr Hunt wrote: "Having watched the broadcast yesterday, my own view is that what he did was a clear breach of the lockdown rules - coming back into work when he had been with his wife who was ill, driving to Durham instead of staying at home and visiting Barnard Castle.

"These were clearly mistakes - both in terms of the guidance which was crystal clear, and in terms of the signal it would potentially give out to others as someone who was at the centre of government."

"But as someone who has been at the centre of media storms with a young family I know you do make mistakes in these situations. I have made them myself. So I am afraid I am not going to add my voice to the list of those calling for him to resign.”

There are nearly 300 more confirmed cases of Covid-19 among prison staff than previously thought, the Ministry of Justice has revealed.

Due to a change in reporting of cases among prison staff, and an additional evaluation, there were 873 workers who had tested positive for the coronavirus as at 1pm on Tuesday, compared to 573 recorded as positive in the last update at 5pm Thursday.

There are now confirmed Covid-19 cases among staff at 104 prisons, nearly 90 per cent of the 117 jails in England and Wales. The previous update revealed cases in 77 jails.

The number of confirmed cases of the virus among prisoners is 445 across 77 prisons, a nearly 2 per cent rise in five days.

The number of cases and deaths in prisons have been much lower than expected in part due to the highly restrictive regime introduced in March, which means prisoners are spending less than an hour of their day out of their cells.

A couple who remained in lockdown for 10 weeks with two young children despite having severe coronavirus symptoms have criticised the Government’s “audacity” for implying that they are bad parents.

Lucy and Matthew Jenkins, who have a two-year-old son, Ozzie, and six-month-old son Ari, were both struck down with the coronavirus in the middle of March. 

Mrs Jenkins, 32, also required surgery during the lockdown to remove potentially cancerous cells from her cervix. 

However, despite the serious medical problems, she insisted on going to hospital alone in order to comply with the Government’s social distancing rules, despite “desperately” wanting her husband to go with her.

From a grieving daughter who was unable to see her dying father in his final days, to a woman who battled the coronavirus whilst staying in a separate room to her husband, Izzy Lyons and Rosa Silverman have their stories here.

The Downing Street press briefing has now concluded for the day. Here's a quick roundup of the key points you need to know.

• Matt Hancock has announced that the government has signed contracts  to manufacture 2 billion items of PPE in the UK
• The government has now signed deals with around 100 new suppliers, including agreeing contracts for a further 3.7 billion gloves.
• Matt Hancock has confirmed that the government will be trialing the antiviral drug, remdesivir on NHS patients. 
• A total of 3,681,295 coronavirus tests have now been carried out - including 109,979 tests as of May 26 
• Matt Hancock has hinted the Government will review penalty fines imposed on families travelling for childcare purposes during lockdown. 

The BBC have asked: "Nearly 14 of your colleagues believe Cummings let the country down and want him gone. Given that you stood at that lectern and said the guidelines weren’t advice, they were instructions, do you feel that way, or see why your colleagues do too?"

In response Matt Hancock replied: "On this question, Mr Cummings has set out all of the details, in quite extensive detail yesterday, and then invited questions on it."

"My view is that what he did was within the guidelines. I can understand why reasonable people can take a different view, but my judgement, which is the same as the Prime Minister's judgement, is that what Mr Cummings did was within the guidelines."

In response to a follow up question on whether the handling of the Cummings affair has damaged the Government's credibility, Matt Hancock argued that it was important for the public to 'keep their resolve'. 

"As we can see from the falling number of deaths, the falling number of hospital admissions, and as we stand up the increased test and trace capability, it’s incredibly important as a nation that we keep our resolve.

"Everybody needs to act in a way that’s responsible both for them, and for their community, and I do think that’s important."

Ellie from Kent has asked Matt Hancock why the Government feels comfortable allowing the public to shop for unessential items and allowing children to return to school, but is not comfortable allowing the public to visit grandparents and partners.

In response, Hancock said that he had sympathy with her concerns, adding that "one of the most natural instincts is to see people who you know and love". 

He continued: "We are on June 1 proposing to make a series of changes, including from the middle of June starting to open up non-essential retail, and from June 1 having some schools accept children in reception year, year one and year 6  - but as you say there is a yearning to see people from other households and we are looking at how we can make this happen."

Prof John Newton adds:  The highest risk of transmission is within households. The people you’re most likely to infect are the people in your own household. That’s why the advice has to be different for meeting people in households compared to other places."

"But the gradual increase in contact is what will get us all back to normal - but we do have to bear in mind that everything we do has risk attached to it and the objective is to reduce that risk as much as possible."

The Health Secretary is now taking questions from members of the public and journalists. A vicar has asked whether the Government plans to review all penalty fines imposed on families travelling for childcare purposes during lockdown. 

In response, Matt Hancock replied:  "We do understand the impact and the need for making sure that children get adequate childcare. That is one of the significant concerns that we’ve had all the way through this, and so I think especially coming from a man of the cloth, I think that’s perfectly reasonable to take away that question."

"I’ll have to talk to my Treasury colleagues before I answer in full, and we’ll look at it, and if we can get your details, we’ll make sure that we write to you with a full answer and make an announcement from this podium. I think we can make that commitment."

Prof Newton is now talking us through the hospital admission data. 

He explains: "The first slide shows the number of admissions to hospital with Covid-19. There we have a number of 471, which is down from 639, and that’s in fact the lowest number recorded since we started collecting this data on March 20, so that is good news. 

"And within the ICU wards, 11 per cent of beds with mechanical ventilators are now occupied with Covid-19 patients, and that again shows a steady downward trend in that proportion."

Prof Newton is now talking us through the latest data on testing and new cases of coronavirus. 

He explains: "The numbers of tests fluctuate, that’s partly because we are sending out large volumes of tests on certain days to begin large-scale population surveys."

"The graph below shows numbers of confirmed cases. The latest figure is 2,004, and that also fluctuates somewhat, but there’s a seven day rolling average trend which is clearly downward, which is encouraging."

"It’s important to understand that the number 2,004 is an underestimate of the total number of cases in the country, because of course not every case that develops is tested or presents for symptoms."

Prof John Newton has begun taking us through today's slides. The first slide shows changes in transport use in the country. 

He said: "We can see there’s a small trend upwards in all three [transport] which is more or less what we’d expect with the advice that’s been given to people to start a return to work."

Matt Hancock has confirmed that the government will be trialing the antiviral drug, remdesivir on NHS patients. 

He said:  "There’s already been some promising early results on coronavirus patients, with early data suggesting it can shorten recovery time by around four days. As you can understand, we’ll be prioritising the use of this treatment where it will provide the greatest benefit."

"This is probably the biggest step forward in the treatment of coronavirus since the crisis began."

"These are very early steps, but we’re determined to support the science and back the projects that show promise."

The government has now signed deals with around 100 new suppliers, including agreeing contracts for a further 3.7 billion gloves.

Matt Hancock said:  "While we continue to improve the logistics and work hard to get everyone the PPE that they need, these new supplies mean that we’re not simply keeping up with demand, we are now able to begin to replenish our stockpiles."

Matt Hancock has announced that the government has signed contracts  to manufacture 2 billion items of PPE in the UK. He said: 

"I have been completely open about the scale and the difficulties of this challenge." 

"Building a new supply chain from scratch, and of course the operational challenge of delivery."

"General Sir Nick Carter -chief of the defence staff - said himself, this is the single greatest logistical challenge that he’s faced in his 40 years of service, and in response to those challenges, thanks to the Armed Forces and so many others, including so many in the NHS, we’ve seen a mammoth effort and we've ramped up domestic production."

"I can announce we've now signed contracts to manufacture 2 billion items of PPE here in the UK"

"Even though we’re past the peak, there are still 8,802 people in hospital with coronavirus in the UK," Hancock said.

"There are still 98 NHS colleagues in hospital with coronavirus, including some who are seriously ill,", he added.

Matt Hancock has urged the public to continue following social distancing rules. 

He said: "This is a national endeavour and - whatever the headwinds are - as a country, we cannot let up on this."

"We are past the peak and are flattening the curve, we have protected the NHS - the number of deaths is falling but we must keep our resolve."

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has started today's coronavirus briefing with an update on UK numbers.

• As of today, 3,681,295  tests have now been carried out in the UK, including 109,979 tests yesterday. 

• In total, 265,227 people have tested positive – an increase of 2,004 cases since yesterday.

• Tragically 37,048 people have now died. 

For the first time since the 18th March, there were no deaths from Coronavirus recorded in Northern Ireland. 

We are expecting the Government press briefing to begin in a few minutes. We'll be posting all the latest updates, or you can watch live via the stream at the top of the blog.

Today the press conference will be led by the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock. 

Until then, here are some of the key stories to be aware of so far today:

1. The first drug to treat Covid-19 has been approved in the UK, the Department of Health has said. Early data from around the world showed remdesivir could shorten the recovery of Covid-19 patients by four days. 

2. Boris Johnson’s approval rating has dropped by 20 points after he backed Dominic Cummings over the weekend, according to coronavirus data tracker Savanta. 

3. According to The Department for Health, 37,048 people have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Monday, up by 134 from 36,914 the day before.

4. The Spanish government have declared a 10-day official mourning period starting from tomorrow to honour the nearly 30,000 people who died from the coronavirus pandemic 

5. The World Health Organisation has temporarily suspended clinical trials of Donald Trump’s “miracle” drug hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for Covid-19 following a study that suggested it could increase the risk of death among patients.

There has been a huge rise in deaths in private homes not linked to the coronavirus, of which around 1,700 are "unexplained", a statistician has suggested.

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, chairman of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, University of Cambridge, said more attention needs to be paid to private homes, which have seen soaring deaths, few of which have been linked to Covid-19.

He said around 8,800 fewer non Covid-19 deaths occurred in hospitals in the seven weeks up to May 15. It appears these contributed to the "huge rise" in deaths at home during this period - with 10,500 excess non-Covid-19 deaths taking place, he said.

This leaves 1,700 "unexplained" non-Covid deaths at home, while 1,800 deaths involving the coronavirus were recorded in homes over the same period. He said:

"These could be cases - and this is a big assumption, of people whose lives might have been prolonged had they gone to hospital, which is about equal to the number of Covid deaths.”

Prof Spiegelhalter said there was a "huge" and "immediate" spike in homes very soon into the epidemic, close to the time when hospitals started minimising the normal service they were providing.

Further study is needed to work out how many of these deaths may have occurred later down the line if normal healthcare had existed, he added.

The number of attacks on mobile phone masts has climbed to around 90 since the coronavirus lockdown began, the UK's network trade body has revealed.

Attacks against mobile masts have surged since March amid conspiracy theories linking 5G technology to the spread of Covid-19, a claim experts and scientists have called unproven, "baseless" and "utter rubbish".

MobileUK said it has currently recorded 87 arson incidents against network towers across the country, but warned there might be a delay on information from over the bank holiday weekend.

It comes as Derbyshire Police appealed for witnesses after firefighters were called to a mast blaze off Scarborough Drive in the Chaddesden area of Derby at 2am on Sunday, following a string of cases in recent months.

One attack reported in April was on a mast serving the Nightingale hospital in Birmingham.

Conservative backbencher and former attorney general Jeremy Wright, has added his name to the growing list of Tory MPs to call for Dominic Cummings to go.

In a post on his website, the Conservative MP for Kenilworth and Southam MP  argued that while Mr Cummings did not technically breach the lockdown laws, further explanation was needed. 

"However, in determining what should happen now, technical compliance cannot be the only consideration," he continued.

"Our continued success in combating the virus may well rely on more of that and Mr Cummings' actions and his justification of them will, in my judgment, make it less likely that others will continue to interpret those exceptional circumstances clauses restrictively.

"This is more important than the position of any individual in Downing Street and therefore, fairly or unfairly, I have concluded that it would be better for Mr Cummings to leave his position at Downing Street."

Trust in the Government to control the spread of coronavirus has plummeted and more than half of people feel lockdown measures are being relaxed too quickly, according to a survey.

The research by King's College London and Ipsos Mori was carried out last week, before news broke that Boris Johnson's top aide Dominic Cummings had driven more than 200 miles to isolate away from his London home during the lockdown.

Results showed the proportion of people who say they trust the Government to control the spread of Covid-19 has fallen from 69 per cent to 51 per cent, while the percentage who agreed that the Government's response to the crisis had been confused and inconsistent rose 17 points to 59 per cent.

The research also highlighted that: 

• Just over a third (38 per cent) of people surveyed support the easing of restrictions announced by Boris Johnson, but the same percentage opposed them.
• A little more than half (54 per cent) said they think the Government is relaxing the lockdown measures too quickly, twice as many as the 27 per cent who think they are being eased at about the right pace.
• When it comes to education, 56 per cent of parents said they are uncomfortable with their child returning to school, compared with 33 per cent who are comfortable with it.
• Almost half (47 per cent) of those surveyed disagreed that the Government has responded well to the outbreak compared with other countries, while just 29 per cent agreed the response compares favourably with other nations.

Spain’s coronavirus death toll has now reached 27,119, according to the country’s Health Ministry. 

The number of confirmed cases within the country now stands at 236,259. 

Keep up-to-date with the latest figures from across the world, using our interactive tracker. 

The number of patients with mental health needs who have been shipped miles away from their homes for care has declined during the Covid-19 crisis.

Speaking at a Royal Society of Medicine briefing, Professor Tim Kendall, national clinical director for mental health at NHS England, said that the vast majority of NHS trusts now had "no out-of-area admissions".

However, he stressed that the  pandemic was still having a huge impact on people's mental health, particularly in relation to anxiety disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD).

Large service disruptions in Cambodia have the potential to cause child mortality to increase by 35 per cent and maternal mortality to increase by 50 per cent over the next year, according to a report by the Global Financing Facility. 

As the pandemic threatens to disrupt the provision of essential services due to supply barriers and demand for services, mathematical models indicate that 313,900 children in Cambodia could go without oral antibiotics for pneumonia, 441,200 could go without DPT vaccinations and 559,900 fewer women may be receiving family planning services.

Greggs are planning to re-open around 800 stores from mid-June after re-opening trials proved successful, reports Reuters. 

The British bakery firm closed all of its 2,050 shops on March 24 when the country went into lockdown. 

Last month, the firm started a 20-store re-opening trial, initially behind closed doors.

Lacking funds for a call centre or refuge, Marie Lukasa set up Congo’s first domestic abuse hotline a year ago, where a small group of volunteers use their mobiles phones as informal hotlines to help families get medical, legal or psychological help.

During the coronavirus crisis, it’s a service that’s in rapidly increasing demand in a country ill-equipped to combat domestic abuse, reports Reuters.

The volume of calls to Lukasa's Forum of Women Citizens and Activists for Governance, Democracy and Development, has exploded more than ten-fold. They used to get five calls a week - now it’s ten a day.

Many women have low social status in Congo and domestic abuse is often seen as acceptable, even by women, according to Pierre Ferry, head of child protection at the UN children's fund UNICEF.

Ferry said that with only 2,082 social workers for 84 million people, Congolese authorities are poorly equipped to help survivors.

The Department of Health has declined to say why it cannot provide figures for how many people are being tested for coronavirus, after The Telegraph previously revealed some tests may be being double-counted.

A daily tally of coronavirus tests is still being provided, but not the breakdown of how many people this includes.

A spokesman said "technical difficulties" meant the number of people being tested cannot be reported but declined to say what these issues were.

The most recent data shows there were 109,979 tests carried out on May 25.

• Read more: Tens of thousands of coronavirus tests have been double-counted, officials admit

Ellen Manning spoke to the furloughed workers who have joined the army of seasonal pickers during lockdown:

“It’s pretty tiring, I don’t think I’ve stayed awake past 8.30pm since I’ve started this,” laughs Gemma Jacobs.

Jacobs, 36, is one of the recruits to what some have described as Britain’s new “Land Army”, signing up as a fruit picker to help one of the country’s many farms facing a shortfall of seasonal workers.

Last week Jacobs worked 30 hours at £8.72 per hour, starting at 8am each morning...

Hard graft it certainly is, says Jacobs, who took a job at Thompson’s Fresh Produce in Essex when she was furloughed from her role as manager at the Alma Inn & Dining Rooms in Harwich.

Read more about the professionals-turned-lockdown-fruit-pickers here.

Bavaria, one of the German states hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, will guarantee that people with symptoms can get a virus test within 24 hours, the Minister President of Bavaria, Markus Soeder said today.

This way people will know after 48 hours at the latest if they are infected, Soeder added at a news conference in Munich.

Those without symptoms would be guaranteed a test within 48 hours and could expect a result within a week, he said.

A Chinese city has proposed expanding the use of a health monitoring app prompting an outcry over privacy concerns, Lya Cai reports.

Apps already in use nationwide generate a green, yellow, or red “health code” for each individual, based on a variety of criteria, including travel history and whether they’ve been in contact with infected people. Only those with green codes are allowed access to public places across the country, such as parks and subways.  

The new programme, suggested by local authorities in Hangzhou, will collate even more personal information: individual medical history and lifestyle habits, such as how many hours of sleep people get, their daily step count, as well as how much alcohol the person drinks and how many cigarettes they smoke.

The collective health status of a housing compound or a company will also be scored, with the rating calculated on the average amount of sleep and physical activity of residents and employers.

Each person and company will receive a score on a scale of 0 to 100, along with a QR code on a spectrum from red to green, with a number close to 100 and a greener code considered the “healthiest.” Rankings will be made public.

Nearly 90 per cent of 7,000 poll respondents on Weibo - China’s Twitter - voted against a “single code for health,” as described by Hangzhou officials.

While previous pandemics pushed populations back into cities, this time round technology may end up cementing the mass exodus

History is repeating itself as city-dwellers flee to the countryside to escape the density of virus breeding grounds and lack of outdoor space, Abi Butcher reports.

Just as the miasma theories of the 1800s led to the creation of parks as a ‘vital lung’ in London and the well-to-do sought to escape the “Great Stink”; urbanites in the times of Covid want a slice of country life to improve their mental and physical health.

While previous pandemics have eventually pushed populations back into cities in search of better healthcare and connectivity, this time round technology may end up cementing the mass exodus.

Read the full story here. 

The Department for Health said 37,048 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Monday, up by 134 from 36,914 the day before.

In the 24-hour period up to 9am on Tuesday, 109,979 tests were carried out or dispatched, with 2,004 positive results.

The figure for the number of people tested in the same period was unavailable for the fourth day in a row because of "technical difficulties".

Overall a total of 3,681,295 tests have been carried out and 265,227 cases have been confirmed positive.

Tech companies are currently working on a patch, around the size of a small bandage, that could be worn to monitor elevated body temperatures that can signal the onset of Covid-19.

The patch would be powered by a specially-designed microchip and is intended to be worn on the skin, and would then connect wirelessly to a smartphone. 

The companies also hope to use artificial intelligence to analyse signals such as the sounds of coughs to identify unique patterns for Covid-19 symptoms, which could then be used to create sensor-based systems that screen for the virus and slow its spread. 

The tech is being developed in Minnesota by SkyWater Technology in collaboration with the Ohio-based chip design firm Linear ASICs, and the New York investment firm Asymmetric Return Capital, in partnership with SensiML and Upward Health.

• Read more: The tech helping businesses emerge from lockdown

Mr Dowie added that the RNLI "found out about the easing of lockdown restrictions in England" at the same time as the general public and without time to prepare.

The charity must work out how to perform in-water rescues and give first aid in a way that protects staff from risk of infection and find PPE that will work on a beach and in the water, he said.

He described how the RNLI faces an expected £45 million shortfall in funding by the end of the year because many of its fundraising activities have had to stop in the pandemic.

"So, we're asking for help to manage an impossible situation - we're asking the public to heed our safety advice and we're asking the Government to restrict access to the coast until we have lifeguard patrols back on beaches," Mr Dowie said.

"Only then can we keep the public safe from the sea and our lifeguards safe from the virus."

Read more on our Travel Live Blog.

The chief executive of the RNLI has called on the UK Government to restrict access to the coast until lifeguard patrols are back on beaches.

Mark Dowie issued an open letter following the deaths of two people - including a 17-year-old girl - in separate incidents along the Cornish coastline on Monday.

"With thousands flocking to English beaches now lockdown restrictions have been eased, we must choose between keeping the public or our lifeguards safe," Mr Dowie wrote.

"Safety advice and warnings will only go so far when people are desperate to enjoy some freedom after weeks of lockdown.

"As a lifesaving charity, the RNLI cannot stop people going to beaches - but the Government can - before more lives are lost around our coast this summer." 

NHS England has announced 116 new deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 25,866.

Of the 116 new deaths announced on Tuesday:

• 23 occurred on May 25
• 40 occurred on May 24
• 25 occurred on May 23

The figures also show 23 of the new deaths took place between May 3 and May 22, while the remaining five took place in April with the earliest on April 8.

Vladimir Putin has said Russia will hold its landmark military parade celebrating the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany in late June, declaring the country has “passed the peak” of Covid-19 infections, Nataliya Vasilyeva reports.

Victory Day is Russia’s most revered holiday as families across the country gather to commemorate the enormous war suffering endured by millions of people. But the traditional Victory Day parade held on Red Square every year on 9 May was scrapped this month due to coronavirus lockdown.

Scientists and doctors have cast doubt on Russia’s coronavirus death rates as well as the statistics coming out from at least several regions.

While the number of new infections has been steadily declining in Moscow, the numbers in the rest of Russia have been stable in recent days before hitting a record-high on Monday.

The Kremlin in recent years has turned Victory Day, once primarily an occasion to mourn the dead and commemorate the war effort, into a showcase of Russian military might and geopolitical clout.

Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland have all released their daily figures. We are still awaiting the daily release from NHS England, but here are the figures we know so far:

• Northern Ireland reported zero deaths from coronavirus today, the country's total remains at 514.
• Wales reported a further eight people have died after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths in Wales to 1,282.
• Scotland reported a rise of 18 deaths today, bringing the country's total to 2,291 

More criticism is being levied against Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister's chief advisor, from Tory MPs today, after he allegedly broke lockdown rules.

Mark Harper MP said Mr Cummings "should have offered to resign, and the Prime Minister should have accepted his resignation".

In a statement posted on Twitter, the Conservative Forest of Dean MP wrote: "In the round, an argument can be made for Mr Cummings' trip to Durham and his actions as a father.

"However, the conclusion he reached as to whether this was the right course of action is not the conclusion I believe many of my constituents and people across our country would have reached. It's certainly not the conclusion I would have reached, given the sacrifices many are having to make in the interests of the nation's health.

"As for Mr Cummings' trip to Barnard Castle on 12 April, an apology should have been made and a level of regret expressed. I was disappointed that Mr Cummings did neither."

While former minister Stephen Hammond told his constituents in Wimbledon that Mr Cummings' actions may have undermined efforts to protect people from coronavirus, and he should have quit.

He said: "It is clear to me that Mr Cummings has broken some of the guidelines which we all were instructed to follow."

Adding that "public adherence to the rules is achieved by consent in this country and that is made much harder if people feel it is one rule for them and another for senior Government advisers".

It is understood ministers may announce by the end of the week plans to allow greater social contact between friends and family.

The Government's road map for easing measures included the possibility of allowing households to create a social "bubble" with one other household.

Asked whether garden parties and barbecues would be allowed at the end of June, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said:

"All I can do is refer you to the road map. We will set out any further steps that we are able to take in relation to social contact or the use of outdoor spaces in due course and we will only move forward with proposals if it's safe to do so and we are satisfied that we won't be doing anything that could risk a second spike in infections that might overwhelm the NHS."

Sales of pregnancy tests in Belgium have soared by about a quarter since the beginning of the coronavirus lockdown in March, James Crisp, our Brussels Correspondent, reports.

There were predictions of a "Corona Baby Boom" in Belgium, after pharmacists and supermarkets reported the 25 percent surge.

“We were not surprised at the requests for vitamins, masks and hydroalcoholic gel”, one pharmacist told the Le Soir newspaper, “but we didn’t expect the pregnancy tests”.

The Office of Cooperative Pharmacies in Belgium, which represents nearly 600 chemists, confirmed the increase was around 25 percent. 

“We have indeed seen a kind of boom in sales of this product,” said Anne Santi, of the group. "I can confirm that the sales of pregnancy tests have increased in recent weeks," said a spokeswoman for the Carrefour supermarket group. 

Pregnancy test sales have soared alongside sugar, yeast, flour and toilet paper during the pandemic.

Robert Jenrick, the Housing Secretary, said his own postbag showed "many people still disagree" with the actions of Dominic Cummings.

He also told BBC Radio 2's Vanessa Feltz: "I think people can understand the interests he had at heart, which were to protect his sick wife and his young child - and can at least understand now why he made those decisions."

Pressed on whether further ministers would resign or whether Mr Cummings would survive in post, Mr Jenrick replied: "I don't know."

He went on to praise former Scottish minister Douglas Ross for his work in government.

He added: "I think what's important now is Dominic having made the statement, having answered all the questions put to him by the media, that we as a Government move on and continue to address the things that are most important in tackling the next phase of the virus."

The Prime Minister's official spokesman told a Westminster briefing: "From the Prime Minister's point of view, he has set out that he believes Dominic Cummings acted reasonably, legally and with integrity and with care for his family and for others."

As always, we have your daily compendium of positive coronavirus news stories from around the world, brought to you today by Thom Gibbs and Dominic Penna. Here are some highlights:

• It was a big day in Ireland on Monday, where for the first time since March 21 the country recorded no new deaths from the coronavirus.

• Garden parties and barbecues may be back on the short list of “things we’re allowed to do” in England by the end of the month. 

• An 11-year-old from Hampshire has raised £1,400 for the NHS by climbing the equivalent height of Mount Everest by going up and down her stairs. Sophie Auld reached the top of the ‘mountain’ by climbing 8,848 metres - 3,093 flights of stairs - having climbed for between two and three hours every day.

• A drive-in cinema in Seattle has been cleared to reopen after more than 80,000 people signed a petition in support. Films including Jurassic Park and The Flintstones will be among the first socially distanced screenings.

• One hundred-year-old Second World War veteran Lloyd Falk, one of the first coronavirus patients to be hospitalised in Virginia, has survived his battle with the disease following  58 days in hospital, and has now been discharged.

• Cafes and restaurants reopened in Greece on Monday following the news that the country hopes to welcome back foreign tourists as soon as next month, after it largely contained the virus.

• An army of volunteers in the Welsh town of Caerphilly are delivering thousands of free meals to children every single day.

• Care home staff at Sefton Hall in Devon have set up a restaurant style “drive through” to allow residents to see their loved ones. Carers have made use of PPE and a time slot system, where pensioners were able to sit on the front lawn and talk to their families from a safe social distance.

Read the full roundup here.

The Spanish government declared a 10-day official mourning period from tomorrow to honour the nearly 30,000 people who died from the coronavirus pandemic in one of the world's worst-hit countries, government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero said.

During the mourning period, flags will fly at half-mast all over the country's public buildings and navy ships, she told a news briefing after a cabinet meeting.

The period will end with an official ceremony led by the head of state in remembrance of the 26,834 fatalities recorded in the country. Spain has reported a total of 235,400 confirmed cases of the disease.

Dominic Cummings’ press conference yesterday has failed to win over the public, according to snap polling from YouGov, which reveals that more people now want him to resign than they did over the weekend.

A majority of voters across all major political parties, as well as Leavers and Remainers, believe that Cummings broke lockdown rules, with 71 per cent now agreeing compared to 68 per cent on Saturday.

A further 59 per cent now say he should resign, whereas 27 per cent say he should not and 14 per cent don’t know. 52 per cent of people said he should resign when asked on Saturday, meaning that the number of people who think Boris Johnson’s top aide should go has risen by seven per cent.

In news that may come as slightly ironic to Mr Cummings, 52 per cent of Leave voters believe he should resign while 38 per cent think he should not. 

In further bad news for the Government, Conservative voters are split both ways: 46 per cent think Cummings should resign, 46 per cent think he shouldn’t, and eight per cent don’t know.

It is one of the eurozone’s poorer countries, and has the fewest critical care beds – so how did Portugal fight back against coronavirus?

Portugal is not a rich country. It doesn’t have Germany’s advanced pharmaceutical and manufacturing system, South Korea’s prior experience with Mers, Denmark and Switzerland’s money or the UK’s elite higher education system. 

As the novel coronavirus ripped through Italy and neighbouring Spain there was genuine concern the Iberian nation with the fewest critical care beds in Europe would be next. So how does one of the eurozone’s poorer countries have a Covid-19 testing rate more than double almost every other nation in the world? 

The answer is complex. But some of Portugal’s most respected medical experts say immense efforts from the private and university sector and a government that allowed them to act tell a big part of the story.

Read the full story by Jorge Branco here.

Dominic Cummings defended his trip to Barnard Castle yesterday claiming he wanted to "test his eye sight", which he said had been affected by the coronavirus.

The Twittersphere was quick to react, querying if vision impairment is a lasting symptom of the virus.

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists has since said it was "unable to report on the association of vision impairment, as a result of a patient contracting Covid-19, due to a lack of evidence".

But it added there have been "a few cases" of viral conjunctivitis reported. A statement added: "A direct causal effect can only be established through the reporting of proven cases of Covid-19 patients and their symptoms."

Professor Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Oxford, said the virus can affect eyes is "several ways".

He said: "It was reported in approximately one third of patients in Wuhan (China) in a recent study. The ocular manifestations in the Wuhan patients included conjunctivitis, conjunctival hyperemia (red eye), chemosis (eye swelling), epiphora (watery eye) and increased secretions (sticky eye).

“Any of the above symptoms may affect vision and affected patients would be advised to drive with caution or not at all if there was significant blurring of vision or double vision.”

Good afternoon. If you’re just joining us, here’s what you’ve missed so far:

• The first drug to treat Covid-19 has been approved in the UK, the Department of Health has said. Early data from around the world showed remdesivir could shorten the recovery of Covid-19 patients by four days. 

• Boris Johnson’s approval rating has dropped by 20 points after he backed Dominic Cummings over the weekend, according to coronavirus data tracker Savanta. 

• The UK’s excess Covid-19 death toll has risen to more than 60,000, according to official statistics. This means that compared to the five-year average, 60,822 more people have died in the UK since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

• For the first time in nine weeks London does not have the highest proportion of Covid-19 deaths, as the epicentre of the outbreak has shifted to the North West.

• An NHS pediatrician who nearly died from Covid-19 has been identified as an antibody superdonor, having 40 times more antibodies than average, whose blood plasma can significantly boost other patients’ chances of survival.  

• The Government is drawing up plans to allow people to see their parents again, with barbeques and garden parties to be allowed next month. 

• Ryanair has confirmed its plan to ramp up flights to 40 per cent of its normal schedule from July 1, as Spain announces it will welcome tourists from the same date.

• The World Health Organisation has temporarily suspended clinical trials of Donald Trump’s “miracle” drug hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for Covid-19 following a study that suggested it could increase the risk of death among patients.

The news that remdesivir will now be available to patients in the UK is "welcome indeed", said Dr Stephen Griffin, Associate Professor in the School of Medicine, University of Leeds.

He added that the drug is "the most promising direct-acting antiviral drug in current trials targeting Covid-19".

Dr Griffin explained how the remdesivir works: "The drug mimics the building blocks used by both our own cells and SARS-CoV2 to build new genomic material, yet it is only recognised by the viral machinery concerned with this process, so causing profound disruption to this essential viral process.

"Unlike many similar available antiviral drugs, remdesivir is also relatively unaffected by one of the safeguarding proteins that the virus uses to prevent this from happening, further boosting its importance for Covid-19."

But he cautioned the drug will not immediately be a "magic bullet".

“Rolling out remdesivir via the EAMS will likely mean that the most severe Covid-19 patients will receive it first.

"Whilst this is clearly the most ethically sound approach, it also means that we ought not to expect the drug to immediately act as a magic bullet. We can instead hope for improved recovery rates and a reduction in patient mortality, which we hope will benefit as many patients as possible."

London's businesses should continue to allow staff to work from home where possible despite travel restrictions being eased, Transport for London (TfL) has said.

Employers can "play a part in controlling the coronavirus" by reducing the number of people who need to commute, the transport body said.

Firms have also been asked to limit the number of deliveries and servicing trips - or ensure they are carried out during off-peak periods - to cut congestion.

TfL is operating around 75 per cent of Tube services and 85 per cent of bus services.

But it warned that, even when frequencies return to normal, the number of passengers who can travel "safely" would be "constrained to around 13-15 per cent".

Entry to stations will be restricted "if necessary", with officers from British Transport Police deployed to help manage crowds, it added,

Vaughan Gething, Wales' health minister, has said he would have quit his position had he been caught in a similar row to that of Dominic Cummings.

Mr Gething told BBC Radio Wales: "If it was me, and say my mum lived in Barmouth and I had driven from just outside Cardiff to Barmouth, because I was worried about my son, and I'd stayed on the edge of her property to do so, I don't think I'd have lasted the end of the day once that story had broken."

Asked if he would have resigned, Mr Gething said: "I think I've have had to, or the First Minister would have told me that my time was up anyway, because I think for a minister, I don't see how I could possibly have stayed in office."

Dr Jennifer Dixon, chief executive of the charity Health Foundation, said the ONS figures "illustrate the huge loss of life in care homes and the need for sustained Government action to avoid a further spike in avoidable deaths".

She said: "New analysis from the Health Foundation, published today, shows that care homes in London and the North have been worse hit by Covid-19 than other regions in England.

"And social care staff - mostly women - are around twice as likely to die from Covid-19 as other adults.

"Government action on social care during the pandemic so far has been slow - the 'action plan' for social care was published nearly a month after the lockdown was introduced.

"Protecting vulnerable people needing social care should be given more obvious priority."

While Sarah Scobie, Nuffield Trust deputy director of research, said: 

"It is so important that we do not lose sight of the scale and devastating impact that the pandemic continues to inflict on people.

"The proportion of Covid-19 deaths within all registrations has fallen - to just over a quarter. We also see the number of deaths in care homes attributed to the virus now coming down slowly.

"Overall, while welcome progress is being made we will sadly continue to see above the average deaths registered weekly for some time yet."

More details about the drug which will be offered to some NHS patients to treat Covid-19:

The Department of Health and Social Care said the UK Government is working with manufacturer Gilead Sciences to supply remdesivir treatment to some NHS patients.

Earlier this month, a global clinical trial, which is continuing, found that remdesivir cut the length of time people suffered symptoms from 15 days to 11.

The trial involves around 1,000 patients from hospitals including the UK, US, France, Italy and China.

Remdesivir is an anti-viral medicine that was originally developed to fight Ebola.

Innovation Minister Lord Bethell said: "This shows fantastic progress. As we navigate this unprecedented period, we must be on the front foot of the latest medical advancements, while always ensuring patient safety remains a top priority.

"The latest expert scientific advice is at the heart of every decision we make, and we will continue to monitor remdesivir's success in clinical trials across the country to ensure the best results for UK patients."

The Respiratory Clinical Trials Unit in Hull is one of the centres which runs a trial of remdesivir.

Suicide attempts by elderly people have increased as much as six-fold during the coronavirus crisis because of depression and anxiety from their social isolation, says the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Dr Amanda Thompsell, chair of the College’s faculty of old age psychiatry, told The Telegraph she was concerned at the increasing number of “serious” suicide attempts by elderly people who could see no end to their isolation due to shielding during lockdown and potentially beyond.

Read the full report from Charles Hymas, our Home Affairs Editor, here. 

The first drug to treat Covid-19 has been approved in the UK, the Department of Health has said.

Early data from clinical trials around the world showed remdesivir could shorten the recovery time of Covid-19 patients by four days.

The Government said that the allocation of the drugs would be determined by where they would have the greatest benefit, but did not say how many patients would be treated under the arrangement.

"As we navigate this unprecedented period, we must be on the front foot of the latest medical advancements, while always ensuring patient safety remains a top priority,"James Bethell,  junior health minister, said.

"We will continue to monitor remdesivir’s success in clinical trials across the country to ensure the best results for UK patients."

The drugs regulator, the MHRA, has said it supports the use of remdesivir as the first medicine to treat coronavirus  in the UK.

Dr June Raine, MHRA Chief Executive, said: “We are committed to ensuring that patients can have fast access to promising new treatments for Covid-19.

"We will continue to work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and other healthcare partners on protecting public health in the UK by prioritising our essential work on clinical trials, access to medicines, and the development of vaccines.”

Following on from our post at 08:37, detailing the French study which showed promising results for coronavirus immunity, we bring you this from Nicola Smith, our Asia correspondent:

A new study by infectious disease experts in Singapore has found that Covid-19 patients are no longer infectious after 11 days of getting sick even though some may still test positive, reported the Straits Times.

The results may have implications for discharge policies in Singapore where patients are only allowed home based on two negative swab test results rather than infectiousness.

A positive test “does not equate to infectiousness or viable virus,” a joint research paper by Singapore’s National Centre for Infectious Diseases and the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, said. The virus “could not be isolated or cultured after day 11 of illness.”

Singapore’s ministry of health said it would “closely study the position statement and evaluate how we can incorporate the latest evidence on the period of infectivity for persons with Covid-19 into our patient clinical management plan."

Govia Thameslink Railway has released new photos of staff using "electrostatic spray guns" to kill coronavirus across it's trains and stations.

The companies entire fleet of Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express trains, plus stations and staff areas, have been treated with a viruscide which sticks to surfaces, killing the virus for up to 30 days.

All of GTR’s  2,700 of its train carriages are also sanitised every night, the rail company said.

GTR has also ordered 1,000 no-touch hand sanitisers for staff and passengers which are being distributed to stations. 

Now that the dust has settled on the events of the World Health Assembly last week, our Global Health Security Deputy Editor, Anne Gulland, takes a look at what the event signified. 

Here's an extract, you can read the full article here:

When US president Donald Trump fired off his angry letter to the World Health Organization last week, he probably expected it to have a greater impact than it did. In the four-page diatribe he excoriated the WHO’s genial director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebryesus for his handling of the pandemic, accusing him and the wider organisation of repeated and costly missteps and threatening to withdraw funding from the organisation.

But Dr Tedros betrayed no signs of being ruffled by Mr Trump’s outburst. During last week's WHA Dr Tedros only obliquely referring to it when he said the pandemic “threatened to tear at the fabric of international cooperation”.

And if anything, Mr Trump’s outburst served to make nations rally together - they gave their full weight to the one and only resolution, which called for an independent investigation in the pandemic and for equitable access to vaccines, treatments and diagnostics. 

The US, on the other hand, went it alone by distancing itself from the latter section, saying any surrendering of intellectual property rights would stifle innovation.

The Dominic Cummings alleged rule break saga continues to rumble on this morning, after a Government minister resigned over the debacle.

Senior Tory William Wragg said it was "humiliating and degrading" to see ministers put out agreed lines in defence of Dominic Cummings.

Mr Wragg, chairman of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee in the Commons, said: "We cannot throw away valuable public and political good will any longer.

"It's humiliating and degrading to their office to see ministers put out agreed lines in defence of an adviser.

"This is a time of national emergency and our focus must be unrelenting. We owe it to the nation."

While Veteran Tory Sir Roger Gale said the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee should make it clear to Boris Johnson that Dominic Cummings should go.

"The time I think has come for Mr Cummings to resign or for the PM to dispense of his services," Sir Roger said.

The Government has unveiled its full list of retailers that can reopen under new guidelines from June 15. 

The full list, although some are already allowed to be open, includes:

• Food retailers
• Chemists
• Hardware/homeware stores
• Fashion shops
• Charity shops
• Betting shops and arcades
• Tailors, dress fitters and fashion designers
• Car dealerships
• Auction houses
• Antique stores
• Retail art galleries
• Photography studios
• Gift shops and retail spaces in theatres, museums, libraries, heritage sites and tourism sites
• Mobile phone stores
• Indoor and outdoor markets
• Craft fairs

Ryanair has confirmed its plan to ramp up flights to 40 per cent of its normal schedule from July 1.

It comes after Spain announced it will welcome the return of tourists from the same date.

Ryanair said in a statement: "Ryanair will be offering daily flights from countries all over northern Europe including Ireland, the UK, Belgium, Holland and Germany to the key holiday airports of Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus from 1 July."

The number of excess deaths in care homes in England and Wales has now reached almost 25,000 during the pandemic.

While the proportion of Covid-19 deaths reached 44 per cent in the week ending May 15.

For the first time in nine weeks London did not have the highest proportion of Covid-19 deaths, as the epicentre has shifted to the North West, Dominic Gilbert writes.

In the week ending 15 May, the North West was the English region with the largest number of deaths involving Covid-19 for the second week running, with 620 deaths.

The North West also had the highest proportion of Covid-19 deaths, with 31.1 per cent of all deaths being Covid-19 related.

This was the first time, since Week 11, where London did not have the highest proportion of deaths involving Covid-19.

The total number of deaths linked to Covid-19 in the UK has reached 47,000, according to the ONS figures, Dominic Gilbert writes.

More than 42,000 deaths occurred in England and Wales where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate by the week ending May 15, and were registered by May 23.

When confirmed deaths linked to coronavirus in Scotland and Northern Ireland are accounted for, as well as more recent data from NHS England on deaths in hospitals, the Covid-19 death toll currently stands at 47,335.

The latest ONS figures reveal for the week ending May 15 (referred to as week 20) 14,753 deaths were registered in England and Wales, almost 2,000 higher than the previous week, Dominic Gilbert, reports.

But this rise can be attributed to the early May bank holiday suppressing numbers in the previous week.

The number of deaths registered on the early May Bank Holiday fell to 88 deaths compared with 2,950 deaths registered on the previous Friday (Friday 1 May 2020).

The number of death registrations involving Covid-19 continues to fall in England and Wales, decreasing from 3,930 in Week 19 to 3,810 in Week 20.

Of all deaths registered in Week 20, 26.1 per cent mentioned Covid-19, down from 31.1 per cent in Week 19.

Douglas Ross, parliamentary under-secretary of state for Scotland, has resigned from the Government over Dominic Cummings' alleged breach of lockdown rules.

Follow our politics live blog for all the latest updates.

Marg Randles, one of the founding members of the Busy Bees nurseries told BBC Radio 4’s The Today Programme that activities involving “water, sand and Play-Doh” will not be allowed when they reopen next month. 

She said children will be working in “small friendship groups” and that they will also be “rearranging some of the rooms so it limits some of the crossover into other areas”. 

There will also be “enhanced cleaning of resources, handwashing and temperature checks to be taken in the morning and throughout the day”. 

Ms Randles added that “workers will be wearing masks” when they meet parents and when they take children’s temperature. 

But she admitted that socially distancing for children will have to be different for adults. 

She said: “Social distancing in early years will be very different from how adults distance. Children haven’t seen their friends since lockdown and they won’t be able to keep away. That’s why we’re trying to limit the friendship groups."

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) will be releasing it's weekly figures of registered deaths in England and Wales this morning, in relation to the coronavirus,

Each week we have been bringing you the latest figures with expert analysis from our data journalists.

The figures reveal how many deaths have been registered in England and Wales, which are either a direct result of the virus, or linked to the pandemic - known as 'excess deaths'. 

We'll bring the latest here. 

Prof Reicher added the central Government message throughout the pandemic has been "thinking in terms of we', of what's good for the community".

He told Sky News: "Millions of people up and down the country have done precisely that in very difficult circumstances, agonising circumstances around their families and thought 'What is good for us as a community?'

"I think the real problem here is that not simply in what Mr Cummings did but in the messaging that the Prime Minister put out. The lesson was, forget about the 'we', it's about 'I'."

"The thing that really concerned me yesterday was everything was about 'I', everything was about what it means for me, there was no consideration at all of what it means to the community," he added.

Professor Stephen Reicher,  a member of the Government's advisory group on behavioural science, said he would want to see Dominic Cummings express regret but did not call for his resignation.

He told Sky News' Kay Burley: "Saying 'Je ne regrette rien, I've got no regrets, I didn't do anything wrong, I have no apologies to make' is not a helpful start. I think they need to be self-critical, all of us need to be self-critical about what we did, and it has to start at the top."

He added: "My understanding of public servants, whether they be advisers or whether they've been in government, is to do what is for the common good, to support the public.

"If they reflect on their actions and if they come to the conclusion what they've done is not for the public good, that it has undermined the message, then they should draw their own conclusions.

"I'm not going to make political statements.

"What I can say to you as a behavioural scientist is undermining the sense of connectivity is undermining the fight against coronavirus."

A plasma trial faces the same challenge as vaccine scientists say, as they appeal for more volunteers, Jessica Carpani writes. 

Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases and global health at Oxford University, said that his team was "very excited" about the use of convalescent plasma to treat Covid-19 patients. 

But he said that successful measures to slow the virus had meant it would take a while to recruit those who are unwell. 

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme about when the team might have a firmer answer on if convalescent plasma is successful he said: "Thankfully, the numbers of patients is very low at the moment due to the measures taken so the recruitment will be slow, so it will be some months." 

When asked if he was suffering from the same problem as those working on a vaccine in that they did not have "enough ill people", Prof Horby replied: "For the trials, I'm afraid it means it will be slower to get an answer." 

He added that it may mean that other countries get results ahead of the UK. He said: "We're going into this with our eyes open, others may get an answer first which will be great and if it's very clearly positive then we will be in a position, because we have been harvesting the plasma, to use it as a treatment." 

The testing of Convalescent plasma – blood from people who have recovered that contains antibodies against the virus  - is a part of the the Recovery trial, which is being led by Prof Horby. 

An earlier explanation of Dominic Cummings' trip to Durham would have led to less "confusion" about what happened, Michael Gove has said.

The Cabinet Office minister told Sky News: "I think it is probably right that, if Dominic had given a full explanation of these events earlier, then some of the confusion that has arisen might not have arisen.

"But, I think, fundamentally, that now he has given an account, all of us can make our minds up, whether we are bishops or broadcasters, about the appropriateness of his actions."

He said Mr Cummings had taken medical advice around issues with his eyesight and was able to "drive safely".

Asked if Mr Cummings needed to drive to Barnard Castle before going down to London, Mr Gove replied: "I think he was wise to make sure he was comfortable before driving back down to London on the A1, an inevitably busier road, and of course it is the case it was part of the National Police Chiefs' Council's guidance that you could drive at that time to take exercise as well."

The World Health Organisation has temporarily suspended clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for coronavirus.

The decision came after a study published in The Lancet medical journal last week suggested the drug could increase the risk of death among Covid-19 patients.

Watch the video below for more. 

Michael Gove said work is continuing to allow people to meet up with more members of their family outdoors.

He said the restrictions on visiting family and friends are "tough".

"You can see members of your family or friends out of doors, and we are looking at seeing how we can make it easier to see, in particular, more family members out of doors in a safe way," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Spain has urged its European Union partners to set up common rules to open borders and reestablish the freedom of travel in the Schengen Area.

"We have to work with our European partners to define the common rules that will allow us retake freedom of movement on European territory," Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez said on Cadena Ser radio station.

Even though EU countries have set different dates for reopening borders, there must be common principles and rules throughout the Schengen Area to open internal borders and set up rules for external borders, she said.

• Read more: Spain confirms tourists can visit from July 1

A further 174 people with the coronavirus have died in the past 24 hours in Russia, a record one-day amount that pushed the nationwide death toll to 3,807.

Officials reported 8,915 new cases, pushing its overall case tally to 362,342.

Michael Gove, Cabinet Office Minister, has been doing the rounds on breakfast media this morning in support of Dominic Cummings.

He said people will "make their own mind up" about the actions of the Prime Minister's chief aide, telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "What's clear is that he didn't break the law, he didn't break the rules, he sought to protect his family.

"And he also sought to ensure the risk of anyone in his family infecting anyone else was absolutely minimised."

Asked what was Mr Cummings' reasonable excuse under the law to drive to Barnard Castle, Mr Gove said the adviser was "preparing to return to work" and wanted to be "confident" in his ability to drive to London.

Told the reason "preparing to return to work" did not appear under the regulations, Mr Gove replied: "No, but the key thing is Dominic is a key worker and being in a position to return to work is a sensible thing.

"It'd have been entirely within his right to return to work that day on the basis of the advice he had been given, that's my understanding, so that drive was completely appropriate."

Asked if it was within the guidance, Mr Gove said: "I believe so."

This just in from Henry Samuel in Paris:

People who have caught Covid-19 even with only mild symptoms are immune from re-infection at least in the short term, France's Pasteur Institute has confirmed.

The results follow a study of 160 health workers at two Strasbourg University hospitals who had tested positive for Covid-19 with mild symptoms, none requiring hospitalisation.

A month after testing positive, some 159 of the workers had developed antibodies, tests in their laboratories show.

Professor Arnaud Fontanet, who led the study at the Pasteur Institute, said: "What's even more interesting is that we looked for neutralising antibodies that we know provide protection against, say reinfection."

"And here, a month later, we found them in 98 per cent of people who had been infected with SARS CoV-2 - results that are indeed good news," he told France Inter.

Until now it remained unclear what proportion of individuals who had caught the disease developed antibodies.

"The fact they have protective antibodies a month after the start of symptoms suggests that they are very likely protected from reinfection if they were exposed once again to the coronavirus," he said.

While there was no doubt about the immunity, he said there was a question mark over how long this would last, suggesting it could be "from a few weeks to a few months" in mild cases.

Shoppers will have to "exercise restraint" by not trying on clothing and testing goods when stores reopen next month, Michael Gove has said.

Speaking about plans to reopen non-essential shops in June, the Minister for the Cabinet Office said shopping habits will have to change.

He told BBC Breakfast on Tuesday: "It's also the case that we need to ensure that some of the shopping habits people may have grown used to in the pre-Covid days are habits that we exercise a degree of restraint on.

"So when it comes to touching and testing goods, when it comes to trying on clothing, when it comes to trying make-up and so on, that all of us exercise restraint in not doing that and recognising that as these stores reopen, it is a new normal, but it will allow us to ensure there are a wider range of goods and will also ensure the economy can return to a new normal, that is absolutely vital for people's jobs."

Andy Palmer is to leave his position as boss of Aston Martin amid a collapse in the luxury car-maker's share price.

The firm announced that he is to be replaced as chief executive by Tobias Moers, who currently runs Mercedes-AMG, which is the German manufacturer's high-performance division.

The number of vehicles sold by Aston Martin almost halved in the first three months of the year, as it was hit by the beginning of the coronavirus crisis.

The company said it had sold 578 vehicles in the first quarter, down from 1,057 in the same period last year.

It caused loss before tax to soar to £118.9 million, up from £17.3 million the year before.

The company had already been struggling before the crisis hit, and its share price is down 94 per cent compared with when it listed in October 2018.

Dominic Cummings has faced calls to resign since reports surfaced on Friday night that the Prime Minister's chief aide made a 260-mile trip to County Durham, despite lockdown restrictions and his wife suffering from coronavirus at the time.

He insists he acted legally and responsibly and that his trip was to ensure the safety of his four-year-old son.

At an extraordinary press conference at Downing Street on Monday, Mr Cummings refused to resign and insisted he had not broken the rules.

The Telegraph's Amy Jones asks the six questions that remain unanswered here. 

NHS Confederation chief executive Niall Dickson has raised concerns about the potential "damage" to public confidence in official Covid-19 guidance.

Asked about the impact of the case of Dominic Cummings, Mr Dickson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Because of the way this story has unfolded there is certainly concern among our members, health leaders, that it could damage staff and public confidence in official guidance.

"You can't say too often that the guidance has actually saved thousands of lives, and I think if we look forward over the next few weeks, following guidance is going to be as vital as ever and actually it's going to be more complex because as lockdown eases the advice is, frankly, less binary and people have to exercise more discretion.

"So I think there is concern that this has been a distraction and that it's not been helpful, and the fear is that it has made people on the front line frustrated and fearful."

Mr Dickson later clarified he expected staff would follow the guidance but the incident could "undermine more generally staff confidence in Government pronouncements".

The scientist leading the country's largest Covid-19 tracking project has said that two sporting events held in the UK in March "caused increased suffering and death". 

Professor Tim Spector of King’s College has analysed data gathered from three million volunteers and found coronavirus "hotspots" shortly after the Cheltenham Festival and Liverpool's Champions League match against Atletico Madrid.

Prof Spector heads the team which has developed the UK’s biggest symptom tracking app and told the BBC that rates of cases locally "increased several-fold".

Sports governing bodies in the UK allowed the events to go ahead following advice from Prime Minister Boris Johnson who in early March said that people should "as far as possible, go about business as usual".

Prof Spector said "people will have probably died prematurely" because of the decision.

The Government said many factors could influence cases in a particular area.

Ireland’s taoiseach has denied that a picnic with friends was a breach of Covid-19 lockdown rules. 

Leo Varadkar was photographed having a picnic with friends in Phoenix Park in Dublin on Sunday.

A spokesperson for Varadkar issued a statement on Monday night that said he “broke no laws, breached no regulations and observed public health guidance”.

The images had surfaced on social media showing Mr Varadkar with his partner, Matthew Barrett, and two friends. 

The outing came after Liz Canavan, assistant secretary of the Department of the Taoiseach, said at a media briefing last week: “If you’re visiting a public amenity try not to stay too long at the site or have picnics. Please do your exercise and then go home.”

But the statement from Varadkar’s office said phase one of Ireland’s lifting of lockdown restrictions allowed a group of four people to meet outdoors within five kilometres (three miles) of their home. 

It said: “Government guidelines allow people to spend time in the outdoors within 5km of their home while continuing to observe social distancing and good hygiene. There are no specific government guidelines on eating outdoors or picnics.”

Speaking at a media briefing on Monday, chief medical officer, Tony Holohan, said: “I didn’t see any pictures that are in violation of that involving the Taoiseach.”

Indonesia's military ordered the deployment of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and police on Monday to enforce rules on wearing masks and safe distancing after reports of people in the world's fourth-most populous nation flouting them.

Even as cases continued to spike in the Southeast Asian nation, now reaching nearly 23,000 infections and 1,391 deaths, people have often been seen ignoring measures to stop the spread of the pandemic.

From Monday, about 340,000 officers will be deployed across four provinces to ensure the country’s transition to the "new normal", Indonesian military chief Hadi Tjahjanto said on Monday.

The German government wants to end a travel warning for tourist trips to 31 European countries from June 15 if the coronavirus situation allows, magazine Focus on Tuesday cited dpa news agency as reporting.

It said a paper on European tourism that may be agreed by the cabinet on Wednesday showed the government wanted to allow travel to the 26 other European Union nations and Britain as well as the four non-EU countries in the Schengen passport-free zone - Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

On May 18, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Germany was hoping to ease a travel warning on all tourist trips abroad that is in place until June 15.

Hong Kong will partly resume transit services at its international airport next week, the city's leader announced on Tuesday, as the business hub gradually reopens.

Hong Kong's airport is one of the world's busiest but arrivals and flights have collapsed in the wake of the global pandemic.

"Transit services at the airport, which have been suspended since March 25, will partly resume on June 1," Chief Executive Carrie Lam said.

Further details on lifting transit flight restrictions were expected to be unveiled at a press conference by health officials later in the afternoon.

A South Korean man was jailed for four months on Tuesday for breaking quarantine rules, authorities said, in the country's first such prison sentence.

The jailed man, 27, was arrested in April after breaking the quarantines rules twice.

He left his residence while under 14-day self-isolation and was then moved to a quarantine facility, where he was again caught leaving without permission.

The man was "convicted of violating the Infectious Diseases Control and Prevention Act, and was given four months in jail", an official at the Uijeongbu District Court said.

Prosecutors had requested a one-year prison sentence.

The Red Cross called for an end to cyberattacks on healthcare and medical research facilities during the coronavirus pandemic, in a letter published on Tuesday and signed by a group of political and business figures.

Such attacks endanger human lives and governments must take "immediate and decisive action" to stop them, the letter stated.

"We are hoping that the world's governments will step up to affirm their commitments to the international rules that prohibit such actions," said Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, in the letter.

Microsoft Corp President Brad Smith and former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright are among the 42 co-signers of the letter initiated by the non-government CyberPeace Institute whose mission is to prevent the internet from becoming "weaponised".

Saudi Arabia will begin easing restrictions on movement and travel this week, more than two months after stringent measures were introduced.

Restrictions will be lifted in three phases, culminating in the curfew completely ending - with the exception of the holy city of Mecca - from June 21, the state news agency reported in a statement early on Tuesday.

The Hajj and Umrah pilgrimmages - which attract millions of travelers from around the world - will remain suspended until further notice.

The kingdom has so far recorded 74,795 cases of Covid-19 with 399 deaths. More than 2,000 cases are still being reported daily.

South Korea has reported 19 new cases , most from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where officials have been actively tracing transmissions linked to nightclubs and other entertainment venues.

South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday also reported two more deaths, bringing national totals to 11,225 and 269 fatalities. Officials linked three of the new cases to international arrivals. 

China has also reported seven new virus cases, all tied to Chinese returning from abroad. 

China has recorded 4,634 deaths from the disease among 82,992 cases. With the decline in numbers, students have gradually returned to class and some international schools in the capital Beijing are preparing to reopen on June 1.

Children under the age of two shouldn't wear masks because they can make breathing difficult and increase the risk of choking, a Japan medical group said, launching an urgent appeal to parents as the country reopens.

To prevent the virus spread, health experts worldwide are recommending people wear masks when it is difficult to maintain social distancing as countries loosen restrictions following shutdowns.

But the Japan Pediatric Association has warned parents that masks are too risky for infants.

"Masks can make breathing difficult because infants have narrow air passages," which increases the burden on their hearts, the association said, adding that masks also raise the risk of heat stroke for them.

Face masks for kids: what to buy, and how to persuade your children to keep one on

Three dozen inmates in Salvadoran prisons have tested positive, health authorities said on Monday, adding that strict health and isolation protocols would be implemented to halt the virus's spread in the facilities.

Twenty-five inmate cases were diagnosed in a prison holding more than 1,200 inmates in the department of San Vicente, Osiris Luna, director of the country's prison system, told a news conference . The Quezaltepeque prison near the capital, which holds 1,980 prisoners, registered 11 cases, he added.

"We have begun treating and isolating these people," he said. "There is an area for isolation in every prison."

Conditions in Salvadoran prisons have come under greater scrutiny after the government in April released startling photos of hundreds of jailed gang members stripped to underwear and pressed together in formation, drawing strong criticism from human rights groups.

Japan's government has given up on approving Fujifilm Holdings Corp's Avigan drug for the treatment of Covid-19 by the end of May, Kyodo News reported late on Monday citing a government official.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said earlier this month he hoped the drug would be approved some time in May if its efficacy and safety could be confirmed.

Fujifilm shares slumped last week after Kyodo reported that an interim study showed no clear evidence of efficacy for Avigan in Covid-19 cases.

Researchers at Fujita Health University, which is conducting a clinical trial on the drug, said in a statement the interim study was done to ensure the scientific validity of the trial, not to determine the efficacy of the drug.

Australian paceman Mitchell Starc warned on Tuesday that cricket risks becoming "pretty boring" if ball-tampering rules are not relaxed in response to a coronavirus-linked ban on using saliva to shine the ball.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to implement the ban in June after receiving medical advice that spit poses a Covid-19 transmission risk.

Bowlers traditionally get the ball to move in the air, deceiving the batsman, by shining one side using sweat or saliva.

Starc said swinging the ball in such a manner was a crucial part of the contest between bowler and batsman.

"We don't want to lose that or make it less even, so there needs to be something in place to keep that ball swinging," he said in an online press conference.

"Otherwise people aren't going to be watching it and kids aren't going to want to be bowlers."

Anil Kumble, chairman of the ICC cricket committee, said this week that the saliva ban was only intended to be a temporary measure during the crisis.

A couple who remained in lockdown for 10 weeks with two young children despite having severe coronavirus symptoms have criticised the Government’s “audacity” for implying that they are bad parents.

Lucy and Matthew Jenkins, who have a two-year-old son, Ozzie, and six-month-old son Ari, were both struck down with coronavirus in the middle of March. 

Mrs Jenkins, 32, also required surgery during the lockdown to remove potentially cancerous cells from her cervix. 

However, despite the serious medical problems, she insisted on going to hospital alone in order to comply with the Government’s social distancing rules, despite “desperately” wanting her husband to go with her.

The couple, who remained in London and did not ask family to help with childcare, found themselves infuriated by the actions of the Prime Minister's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, who took his wife and young child 260 miles away from their London home to self-isolate on his parents’ farm. 

Read the full story

An NHS paediatrician who nearly died from coronavirus has been identified as an antibody superdonor whose blood plasma can significantly boost other patients’ chances of survival.

Dr Alessandro Giardini, who spent seven days on a ventilator after contracting the virus, has been found to have antibody levels 40 times higher than the normal convalescent patient.

The 46-year-old father of two is now leading the campaign for other recovered patients to donate their blood plasma.

Read the full story

• Countries where infections are declining could still face an "immediate second peak" if they let up too soon on measures to halt the outbreak, the World Health Organization said on Monday. 
• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lifted a state of emergency for Tokyo and four remaining areas on Monday after the number of infections fell across the country, but warned that it could be reimposed if the virus started spreading again.
• Brazil daily deaths were higher than fatalities in the US for the first time over the last 24 hours, according to the country's Health Ministry. Brazil registered 807 deaths over the last 24 hours, whereas 620 died in the US.
• Cuban artist Yulier Rodriguez has created Welcome to "Ciudad Corona" (Corona Town), a collection of murals by in the backyard of a friend's home in southern Havana.
• New York is struggling with the city's 16,000 dead resorting to cardboard coffins and drive-thru funerals. While the US as a whole is fast approaching the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths.
• In France, the government has pledged pay rises for health workers after coronavirus crisis.
• The Dutch PM Mark Rutte has revealed he didn't see mother before her death because he followed virus lockdown rules.

A US biotechnology company announced on Tuesday the start of human trials in Australia of a vaccine for the coronarvirus with hopes of releasing a proven vaccine this year.

Novavax has begun the first phase of the trial in which 131 volunteers in the cities of Melbourne and Brisbane will test the safety of the vaccine and look for early signs of the vaccine's effectiveness, the company's research chief Dr. Gregory Glenn said.

Animal testing suggested the vaccine is effective in low doses. Novavax could manufacture at least 100 million doses this year and 1.5 billion in 2021, he said.

The results of the first phase of clinical trials in Australia are expected to be known in July, Novavax said. 

Demonstrators defied restrictions to march in cities across Ecuador on Monday in protest against President Lenin Moreno's drastic economic measures to tackle the crisis.

Mr Moreno last week announced public spending cuts including the closure of state companies and embassies around the world, but trade unions on Monday said workers were paying a disproportionate price compared to Ecuador's elite.

Around 2,000 people marched in the capital, waving flags and banners and shouting anti-government slogans.

Coronavirus has caused at least 3,200 deaths in the country, making it South America's worst hit nation per capita. Authorities say more than 2,000 further deaths are likely linked to the virus.

The White House on Monday issued a statement amending the timing of the start of new restrictions on travel from Brazil to the United States to 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday, May 26.

The White House announced on Sunday that it was restricting travel from Brazil to the United States, two days after the South American nation became the world's No. 2 hotspot for coronavirus cases.

In its original announcement, it said the restrictions would come into force on May 28.

The announcement came as Brazil registered a  daily deaths toll higher than fatalities in the US for the first time over the last 24 hours, according to the country's Health Ministry.

Brazil registered 807 deaths over the last 24 hours, whereas 620 died in the US.

Brazil has 374,898 cases, behind the US with 1.637 million cases. Total deaths in the US has reached 97,971, according to Reuters tally compared with Brazil at 23,473. 

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