British workers need to 'lend a hand' with harvest, says George Eustice

• The British Medical Association has said schools can reopen on June 1, or earlier, as long as it is “safe to do so”, rowing back on its support for teachers' unions
• Captain Tom Moore, the 100-year-old who raised almost £33 million for health service charities by walking laps of his Bedfordshire garden, is to be knighted
• Britons could enjoy an extra bank holiday this year as the Government considers plans for another day to help domestic tourism
• Deaths from coronavirus in Britain could stop by the end of June if current trends continue, scientists have said
• Britain faces “a severe recession the likes of which we haven’t seen” as the coronavirus and the lockdown ravage the economy, Rishi Sunak has warned

Follow the latest news in Wednesday's live blog

Leading non-governmental organisations have attacked the UN Security Council's "shameful" inaction towards the coronavirus crisis.

Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General called for ceasefires in fighting around the world two months ago. But the Security Council - debilitated by a confrontation between China and the United States - has failed to agree on a resolution supporting the initiative in the conflicts which fall under its mandate, the NGOs said in a statement.

David Miliband, the former Foreign Secretary and Chief Executive of the International Rescue Committee, said: "The paralysis of the Security Council in the face of Covid is shameful. To millions of people, it is also incomprehensible."

Here's a sneak peek at the Telegraph's front page on Wednesday:

Britons could enjoy an extra bank holiday this year as the Government considers plans for another day to help domestic tourism, Hayley Dixon reports. 

The plan for an October bank holiday was put forward by the UK's tourism agency Visit Britain amid warnings about the billions that will be lost because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

It comes as self-accommodation owners said holiday homes should be allowed to open for people sooner than July as they will be able to social distance in an "identical" way they do at home.  

Tourism industry leaders appeared before MPs to warn of the losses from the sharp decline in national and international travel amid fears that even when restrictions are lifted people will be too afraid to travel.  

Patricia Yates, acting chief executive at Visit Britain, proposed an October bank holiday to extend the season and make up for the two spent on lockdown in May.

Second World War veteran and NHS fundraiser Captain Tom Moore is to be knighted, Downing Street has announced.

The 100-year-old raised almost £33 million for health service charities by walking laps of his Bedfordshire garden.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson described Sir Tom as a "true national treasure" and praised his "fantastic fundraising" which he said "provided us all with a beacon of light through the fog of coronavirus".

Mr Johnson recommend Sir Tom be exceptionally honoured by the Queen, who has approved the honour, Number 10 said.

His knighthood comes just weeks after he was made an honorary colonel to mark his centenary and fundraising efforts.

We have all the details on this here.

It looks like the Government's launch of a website to connect potential workers with picking vacancies is already facing trouble.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has said it is aware of an issue with the 'Pick For Britain' website and is looking at increasing server capacity to get it back online.

The website showed it was "unavailable" following a surge in demand when it was announced during the daily briefing earlier today. 

Helena Horton has this pretty remarkable tale. Twelve RSPB conservationists, including three Britons, faced an  18-day journey to reach the UK after being stranded on Gough Island, one of the most remote locations in the world, around 1,700 miles off the southern tip of Africa.

Here's an extract of the story, which you can read in full here, and a map of the route:

Gough Island, a British Overseas Territory home to 24 species of rare bird, is overrun with giant mice, which eat the eggs and kill young birds, wiping out as many as two million a year. The rangers had been laying pest poison, and monitoring the unusual animals on Gough.

When the crisis broke, the volunteers contacted the Foreign Office, and officials worked out an 18-day route, the quickest available, involving first abseiling down the steep cliffs of Gough, then a 12-day sea voyage of nearly 2,000 nautical miles before a five-day layover on Ascension Island waiting to be airlifted back to Brize Norton – via Cape Verde.

Kate Lawrence, one of the group, said: “Sailing in that boat for 12 days, looking at the endless blue ocean around me, made the world feel quite big, in contrast to the previous ease of air travel, and the rapid spread of Covid-19, which makes the world seem so small.”

A registry of death certificates in Mexico City suggests there were 4,577 cases where doctors mentioned coronavirus or Covid-19 as a possible or probable cause of death - more than three times the official death toll in the city.

The federal government acknowledges only 1,332 confirmed deaths in Mexico City since the pandemic began.

But the group Mexicans Against Corruption has said in  a report that it got access to a database of death certificates issued in Mexico City between March 18 and May 12.

It showed that in explanatory notes attached to 4,577 death certificates, doctors included the words "SARS," "COV2," "COV," "Covid 19," or "new coronavirus."

The notes the group counted included terms like "suspected," "probable", or "possible" role of the virus in the deaths. In 3,209 of the certificates, it was listed as a suspected contributing factor along with other causes of death, like pneumonia, respiratory failure, septic shock or multiple organ failure.

Only 323 certificates list confirmed coronavirus as a cause of death; 1,045 other death certificates listed Covid-19 but didn't specify if it was suspected or confirmed.

The group did not say how it accessed the database, which was kept by local courts. But it noted that official counts showed only 1,060 coronavirus deaths during that March 18-May 12 period.

The British Medical Association has said schools can reopen on June 1, or earlier, as long as it is “safe to do so”.

In an apparent softening of its stance regarding pupils returning to the classroom, the doctors’ union admitted there was “growing evidence that the risk to individual children from Covid-19 is extremely small”.

However, it cautioned that there was still no consensus on how easily children could spread the disease to vulnerable adults.

Tensions between the Government and teaching unions over plans for classes to return were raised further tonight as the National Education Union said that, as things stood, no school was safe to reopen on June 1.

The BMA was dragged into the row when Chaand Nagpaul, the chairman of the BMA Council, wrote a letter of support to the NEU after it advised teachers “not to engage” with the Government’s plans to reopen schools after next week’s half term break.

However, writing for The Telegraph to clarify the body’s position, Dr Peter English, the chairman of the BMA’s Public Health Medicine Committee, said:

“The BMA wants schools to reopen as soon as it is safe to do so and the evidence allows – this could be before June 1 or after. A zero-risk approach is not possible. This is about ‘safe’ being an acceptable level of risk.”

Camilla Tominey and Camilla Turner have all the details on this here.

At least 15 Indonesians have reportedly been infected with Covid-19 in East Java after opening the coffin of a virus victim to perform a traditional bathing ritual. 

"The relatives and neighbours of the deceased opened the plastic wrap on the deceased body and even bathed the body. That is so careless," said local official Nur Ahmad Syaifudin, according to the Jakarta Post. 

He said the victim had died two weeks previously in a hospital and that the family had requested the body be sent home to their home village of Dati. The new cluster has triggered a lockdown and urgent contact-tracing operation. 

"We have strictly limited access from and to the village. We have also ordered the mosque there not to conduct mass prayers," said Mr Nur. 

Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous nation, is struggling to prevent the spread of Covid-19 due to the government’s slow and at times chaotic response to the pandemic. 

Nicola Smith has more on this story here.

Britain’s care sector has accused Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, of "making this chaos worse" by offering coronavirus tests to anybody over the age of five with symptoms.

In a withering attack, the National Care Forum (NCF) said Mr Hancock's latest manoeuvre to ensure his target of 100,000 tests a day was met was depriving care sector staff and residents of much-needed tests. The industry group said the social care sector needed 200,000 tests a day of its own. 

In a statement on Tuesday night, the body, which represents 120 care sector organisations, said testing "remains chaotic", complained that there were too few tests for social care and called for a shorter turnaround time for results.

Its concerns will raise serious questions over the Health Secretary's decision to expand testing in an announcement made earlier today. The NCF said:

"The announcement that everyone aged over five in the UK with symptoms can now be tested for coronavirus will only make this testing chaos worse.

"We need 200,000 routine and regular tests per day across the care sector to get on top of this health pandemic."

The NCF said it had carried out a survey of members which showed the "testing process is chaotic". Robert Mendick has more on this story here. 

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing federal agencies to cut regulations, a move he said would help the economy recover from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Trump, who signed the order at a Cabinet meeting, said it instructed agencies to eliminate "unnecessary regulations that impede economic recovery."

"I'm directing agencies to review the hundreds of regulations we've already suspended in response to the virus and make these suspensions permanent where possible," he said.

As ever, the US President has dominated the headlines today. Ben Riley-Smith has filed this report which helps explain Trump's decision to start taking hydroxychloroquine. Here's an extract:

The US president said on Monday he started taking a daily pill of the anti-malarial drug around 10 days ago, which was roughly when a valet of his and the press secretary to vice president Mike Pence were announced as testing positive. 

The president's doctor Sean Conley also mentioned a member of Mr Trump's support staff getting coronavirus - a possible reference to the valet - in the first line of a letter released to explain why the president is taking hydroxychloroquine. 

The timings offer insight into why Mr Trump decided to start taking the drug after weeks of publicly touting its potential benefits against the virus, a move which prompted a speedy backlash from medical professionals and political opponents. 

Coronavirus has brought “catastrophe” to one of Russia’s most populated regions, forcing President Vladimir Putin to pledge unprecedented aid.

The outbreak in the mountainous region of Dagestan, where Covid-19 has reportedly claimed up to several hundred lives, has shed light on the chronic under-funding of Russian provincial hospitals where intensive care units were overrun in a matter of days. Health care workers are said to be dying in thier droves because of a lack of personal protective equipment.

One week after he announced the end to nationwide coronavirus lockdown, Mr Putin acknowledged that the outbreak in Dagestan is so dire that it needs “an emergency response”. He pledged funds and aid from the military.

Dagestan, a region of three million people, turned out to be the perfect breeding ground for an epidemic. Its health care is one of the country’s worst-funded, and people typically live in large, close knit communities.

Nataliya Vasilyeva has more on this story.

The University of Cambridge has announced there will be no "face-to-face lectures" in the 2020/21 academic year.

Lectures will continue virtually while it may be possible for smaller teaching groups to take place in person if it "conforms to social distancing requirements". A spokesman for the university said:

"The university is constantly adapting to changing advice as it emerges during this pandemic.

"Given that it is likely that social distancing will continue to be required, the university has decided there will be no face-to-face lectures during the next academic year.

"Lectures will continue to be made available online and it may be possible to host smaller teaching groups in person, as long as this conforms to social distancing requirements.

"This decision has been taken now to facilitate planning but, as ever, will be reviewed should there be changes to official advice on coronavirus."

France has adjusted downwards its death toll for the coronavirus as a result of revisions to how fatalities are registered in care homes.

The health ministry put the latest toll at 28,022, compared with a figure of 28,239 published the previous day.

Officials said this was due to a revision in the data for nursing homes, where 342 fewer people are now recorded to have died from Covid-19.

Over the last 24 hours, 125 more people were registered to have died of the coronavirus in hospital, it added.

With France now over a week into the easing of its hard lockdown, the numbers of people in intensive care continued to fall by 104 to a total of 1,894. At the peak of the crisis, this figure reached over 7,000.

Boris Johnson discussed the UK's contribution to the global coronavirus effort in a call with Bill and Melinda Gates today, a Downing Street spokeswoman said:

"The Prime Minister spoke to Bill and Melinda Gates today via video call. He was joined by Kate Bingham, chair of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce.

"They discussed the UK's contribution to helping countries around the world tackle coronavirus and the important work of the Gates Foundation in this area.

"Both parties expressed their hope that a viable vaccine will be found as soon as possible.

"They also shared their commitment to the vital work of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and looked forward to the upcoming UK-hosted global vaccine summit on June 4th."

Here's a pictorial look at events around the world today.

London, UK:

 Ajmer, India:

 Wuhan, China:

Uganda:

Belfast, Northern Ireland:

In the latest of a series of in-depth analytical interviews our Global Health Security team spoke to Devi Sridhar, Chair of Global Public Health at Edinburgh University and advisor to the Scottish government on Covid-19.

Dr Sridhar explained strategy differences in Scotland and England, the gulf between World Health Organization advice and the UK’s response and the problem with 'following the science'. Here's an extract:

"We’re now eight weeks into a very costly lockdown - a lockdown that was always a last resort.

"To still be talking about how we reached 100,000 tests, the fact we still need to recruit contact tracers and to have no mention of isolation and support, to have no good surveillance in place. It's really quite a shame. 

"People say it's a capacity issue and I say, well, Kerala in India has done it, Vietnam has done it, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan. There are a range of countries that have done it and it's been less about capacity and more about your political will at the start and following a clear strategy." 

You can read the full conversation here. Or dip into the other interviews in the series:

• Prof Adam Kucharski, one of Britain’s leading epidemiologists, on immunity, contact-tracing and Britain’s exit strategy.
• SAGE member Prof Charlotte Watts on vaccines and the impact of Covid on development.
• Dr Hans Kluge, head of WHO Europe, on life post-lockdown and the potential for asecond wave of coronavirus infections.

Earlier today Rishi Sunak, the UK’s chancellor, said the country is facing “a severe recession the likes of which we haven’t seen” - and a similarly bleak warning has emerged from the US.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said that the economy risks suffering "permanent damage" the longer the lockdown to contain the Covid-19 pandemic drags on.

American families and businesses are feeling the pain amid the nationwide shutdowns, Mnuchin told a virtual Senate committee, but reopening the economy will need to be done with caution.

With the US death tally now over 90,000, some states have begun to reopen after two months of widespread closures, but the fear is many businesses may not survive.

Government data show more than 30 million jobs have been destroyed by the lockdowns, at least temporarily, even though Congress rushed to approve nearly $3 trillion in relief, including expanded unemployment benefits.

"If a lockdown and shutdown continues indefinitely ... there is the risk of permanent damage," Mnuchin said, adding that "we're conscious of the health issues" involved with reopening "and we want to do this in a balanced and safe way."

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell added that the pandemic has erased all the jobs created in the previous 10 years, making "the scope and speed of this downturn ... without modern precedent."

Sefton Council has been the latest authority to announce that it won’t follow the Government’s plans to reopen primary schools on June 1, with a spokesperson instead suggesting schools will open from June 15.

The spokesman from the Merseyside local authority said the later date would allow time for “appropriate risk assessment” to take place.

He said: "The priority of the council and school leaders is the safety of the children and the staff.

"Currently, school leaders, including governing bodies, are working through the Government guidance that has been published to consider how best to reopen their schools safely.

"We therefore do not expect childcare providers or schools to adhere to Government guidance in terms of timescales, or the suggested year groups, if they judge this not to be in the best interest of children."

Read more: When will schools reopen in the UK, and is it safe to send my child back?

Just joining us? Here's a summary of the key coronavirus developments to be aware of today.

In the UK:

• Deaths in the UK have risen by 545 to a total of 35,341 as of 9am today. This is a different figure to the ONS data, which has reported 42,856 deaths, because the latter figure includes all fatalities where Covid-19 was listed on death certificates.

• Fewer than 90,000 tests were completed yesterday - well below the 100,000 target.

• Rishi Sunak, the UK’s chancellor, said the country is facing “a severe recession the likes of which we haven’t seen”. Giving evidence to the Lords economic affairs committee, he said he expects the unemployment rate to be in double figures by the end of the year.

• During a series of testy exchanges at the daily press briefing Angela McLean, chief scientific advisor at the Ministry of Defence, appeared to suggest that a lockdown in the UK should not be lifted without a "test, track, isolate" strategy in place. She pointed to South Korea and Germany as countries the UK should learn from.

• George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, urged furloughed workers to start second jobs as fruit and vegetable pickers to help farmers amid a shortage of migrant workers. 

• Greece could open an “air bridge” with the UK, which negates the need for a two-week quarantine on arrival. The Greek tourism minister Haris Theoharis said the measure could be dropped should the UK offer the same.

• Coronavirus test results for staff and residents in care homes have been lost or taken so long to arrive that there are worries the results aren’t current, according to the Chief Executive of Care England.

• Labour has cancelled the party’s 2020 conference due to the pandemic. 

Globally:

• A resolution on the need to investigate the global response to the coronavirus pandemic has won endorsement at the World Health Organisation’s annual ministerial meeting today. WHO Chief Dr Tedros said he welcomed the adoption of the EU resolution calling for an independent evaluation of the response, “including but not limited to WHO’s performance”.

• President Donald Trump has revealed that he is taking the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which has prompted experts to brand the advice as “irresponsible” and “amounting to self-harm”. He also sent a four page letter to Dr Tedros rebuking WHO's response to the pandemic and threatening to review funding - the letter has been widely criticised by public health experts.

• The Chinese city of Shulan has been put into a Wuhan-style lockdown as a growing outbreak of Covid-19 threatens to undo the country’s efforts against the virus.

• The border between Canada and the US will remain closed to non-essential travel until 21 June, Justin Trudeau announced. 

• Spain’s government has said it will extend the compulsory use of face masks, from buses and trains to all enclosed spaces and even outdoors in cases where a 2 meter distance from others cannot be guaranteed. The country reported fewer than 100 deaths for the third consecutive day.

• Afghanistan has recorded its biggest one-day rise in new infections, with 581 confirmed new cases out of 1,200 tests, with concerns raised over how the war-torn country would cope with a serious outbreak of the virus.

• The head of the World Bank, David Malpass, warned that the pandemic could push 60 million people into poverty. He said the Bank had already loaned money to roughly 100 countries. 

There has just been an extremely short Donald Trump press conference on Capitol Hill.

The President started by talking about the coronavirus pandemic and repeating his criticism of China: 

"To loose lives over this, that could have been stopped by China, that should have been stopped by China... it's a terrible thing, a terrible terrible thing."

He's also addressed his decision to take hydroxychloroquine - the malaria drug that was once tipped as a potential treatment for Covid-19.

(More here on why you should not take it unless you're in hospital and under supervision of doctors.)

But Trump is still insisting that taking the drug is a good idea - "if it was someone else other than me people would say, gee isn't that smart". 

President Donald Trump has just started a delayed press conference. You can watch live here:

World Health Organization chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called for solidarity as US president Donald Trump repeated his attack on the global health body.

On Monday Mr Trump accused the WHO of being "China's puppet" and too “China-centric” before sending a four-page letter to director general Dr Tedros, threatening to withdraw from the body unless it made “substantive improvements” within 30 days.

The WHO did not respond to Mr Trump’s attack but in his closing statement to the World Health Assembly - the decision making body of the WHO, which has been held virtually over the last two days - Dr Tedros said the pandemic “threatened to tear at the fabric of international cooperation”.

"Dark and difficult days may lie ahead but guided by science, together we will overcome. Let hope be the antidote to fear, let solidarity be the antidote to division, let our shared humanity be the antidote to our shared threat."

In another signal of America's less cooperative approach to the pandemic, it also distanced itself from a call for equal access to vaccines and treatments.

Trump's administration said it wanted to "disassociate" itself from the references in a resolution to intellectual property under the so-called "TRIPS" agreement that allows for compulsory licensing of medicines and vaccines during a health emergency.

The US mission to the UN in Geneva said such language would "send the wrong message to innovators who will be essential to the solutions the whole world needs".

The resolution called for the "universal, timely and equitable access" to and fair distribution of vaccines, treatments and diagnostics. It said that immunisation against Covid-19 was a "global public good".

Anne Gulland, Rozina Sabur and Jordan Kelly-Linden have a roundup of events at the WHA here. 

In case you missed it earlier today, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak has warned that the country is facing "a severe recession, the likes of which we haven't seen", Chancellor Rishi Sunak has warned.

He told the Lords economic affairs committee that the "jury is out" on the "degree of long-term scarring", caused by the Government's response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Here's a recap of some of Sunak's key comments?

Nicola Sturgeon is under siege over her decision to keep Scotland's coronavirus 'Ground Zero' secret after close contacts of those infected complained they were kept in the dark.

Delegates at a Nike conference in February, linked to 25 cases, booked an Edinburgh walking tour but their guides said they were unaware of the outbreak until a TV documentary made it public last week.

Sky News reported the delegates performed a 'Nike haka' in the lobby of the city's Hilton Carlton Hotel before embarking on the tour and one guide joked that anyone with the virus should "stand at the back."

It also emerged that 20 Lloyds Banking Group employees shared facilities with the Nike staff at the hotel, but were also not contacted or tested.

The disclosure mean that workers at four firms have now complained they were not contacted about the outbreak, which is now thought to have included Scotland's first cases of the virus.

Simon Johnson has more on this story here. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has suggested that world leaders send video statements for the world body's annual September meeting because it is "highly unlikely" they will be able to travel to New York during the coronavirus pandemic.

New York is an epicenter for Covid-19, which has now infected more than 4.8 million people and killed over 319,000 globally. The US death toll has surpassed 90,000, of which almost a third are in New York state.

In a letter to the president of the 193-member UN General Assembly, Guterres suggested a different format be considered for the 75th annual gathering "such as using pre-recorded messages provided by heads of state and government or ministers, with physical presence in the General Assembly Hall limited to one delegate per delegation based in New York."

Guterres said that while another option would be to postpone the high-level gathering until 2021, he believed it would be better for world leaders to be able to make their statements in September.

A day after Italy allowed bars and restaurants to reopen following a two-month shutdown, the governor of one region has threatened to reimpose restrictions after large groups of young people gathered for rowdy night-time partying, reports Nick Squires in Rome.

Luca Zaia, the governor of Veneto in the north, said dozens of photos and videos of drinking and socialising had been posted to social media, showing gatherings in Venice, Padua, Treviso and Belluno.

He said he would reimpose lockdown restrictions if people were seen gathering without wearing face masks and in defiance of social distancing rules.

"I have nothing against partying but the ban on gatherings and the compulsory  use of face masks are essential, they are lifesavers," Mr Zaia said.

The regional government will keep a close eye on the number of new infections and will close down restaurants, bars and beaches if necessary, he said.

The national government in Rome has also said that if infections suddenly start to increase, it will reimpose restrictions. 

The Labour Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) has agreed to cancel the party’s 2020 conference due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Today's press conference was largely dominated by three areas: testing, schools and the UK's upcoming harvest.

And moments felt slightly more combative that we've seen of late - particularly around the UK's strategy and whether scientific advice given to the Government should be transparent.

Here's a summary of the key points to be aware of:

• Deaths in the UK have risen by 545 to a total of 35,341 as of 9am today. This is a different figure to the ONS data, which has reported 42,856 deaths, because the latter figure includes all fatalities where Covid-19 was listed on death certificates. 
• Only around a third of fruit and vegetable pickers who come from Europe to work at farms during the harvest are likely to be here this year.
• George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, urged Brits - especially those on furlough - to "lend a hand" and take up these jobs. He said the Government has launched a website called 'Pick for Britain' where vacancies will be listed.
• There were testy exchanges around testing. Angela McLean, chief scientific advisor at the Ministry of Defence, said it was the "right thing" to scale back testing and contact tracing in March due to limited capacity. 
• But she also flagged South Korea and Germany as models that the UK should follow on testing and contact tracing. She added that experiences in other countries suggested there is "no reason" why  people should not be able to get test results within 48 hours. 
• Significantly, Prof McLean also seemed to suggest that the Government should not ease the lockdown until an effective test, trace, isolate system was in place. That's unlikely to be a popular comment among her colleagues in Government, but McLean said scientific advisers were due to be told on Thursday when the Government would be able to roll out these measures.
• And asked about transparency of scientific advice, Prof McLean said that issues of secrecy are "not the most interesting conversation".
• Finally - asked about schools George Eustice said there are challenges but that the Government is working with teachers and unions. He pointed to Denmark as an example where schools can open in a socially distanced, staggered way and says it is important to learn from other countries.

There have been quite a few testy exchanges on testing today - it has emerged that the Government has once again fallen short of the  100,000 target. 

In the latest back and forth, Angela McLean was asked about delays in people getting the results of tests back. She says that "running a rapid and reliable testing system is an operational issue".

"And so the scientific advice would be, we need a rapid and reliable testing system."

As a follow up, she was asked if she is confident that the UK has both a rapid and reliable system:

"I think we're getting better," Prof McLean says. "One of the things we've been looking at today is other countries. And I think it certainly is possible to set up a system to have results back within  48 hours."

And with that, the UK's daily press conference concludes.

Asked about the decision to step back from testing on 12 March, a slightly cross-sounding Angela McLean says it was the best thing we could do with the tests available.

We could not have people in hospital, not knowing if they had Covid, she adds. 

George Eustice says as we emerge from lockdown, the new track and trace approach will be increasingly important. When there was an issue about capacity, we needed to prioritise that where it was needed and it was the NHS. 

Asked about transparency, the Environment Secretary said that the Government has been "very candid at sharing with people at every step of the way". 

"I don't really accept that criticism at all," he added.

Prof Angela McLean gave quite a forthright response to the question. She said that the experts have been challenging every piece of advice to make sure it is well rooted.

She hasn't been worrying about how secretive it is, but "I don't think that is the most interesting conversation", she says. 

"I think the most interesting question is are we able to give good advice," Prof McLean adds.

The latest question was about why symptomatic patients were discharged into care homes.

George Eustice said that there may have been "some small number of instances" where symptomatic patients were discharged if they could be isolated, and some who were asymptomatic. 

But the systems have been made more rigorous, he adds. He also points to the falling numbers. 

Donald Trump is due to give a press conference on Capitol Hill shortly. You can watch the live stream at the top of the blog.

To continue watching the UK media briefing, head over to our politics liveblog. (We'll still post the key updates here). 

George Eustice says of course there have been challenges, but the Government has grapple with that and made timely decisions. He points to the Nightingale Hospitals, and other steps that meant they were able to flatten the curve. 

On schools, he says Government is working very closely with teachers and unions to get them reopened. 

He points to Denmark as an example where schools can open in a socially distanced, staggered way and says it is important to learn from other countries. 

He says he understands there is apprehension about returning to work or school, but there have been some sectors that have continued to work. 

There are challenges but we believe it is right to embark on this as other countries have done. 

Angela McLean says the scientists have been clear that an effective track and trace programme need to be in place, rather than being held to  a specific date. She says there will be a full update on Thursday of what will be in place and when. 

Mr Eustice says Government is following the science on reopening schools, but says all of us will have to live with this virus for some time to come and we will need to put in social distancing measures to do that. 

The BBC asked: Do you regret the decision that the Government made in March to abandon tracing in the community?

George Eustice responded that  "we've been expanding and ramping up testing capacity over the last few months". He says the Government got it to 100,000 by the end of April and "are continuing to expand" (Although today that figure was less than 90,000). 

The Environment Secretary also pointed to the more than 20,000 contact tracers that the Government say they have hired.

Early on their was a priority for people with symptoms and in  he NHS to have those tests, "but we are now in the position where we can offer anyone over five with symptoms tests".

Prof McLean added that at the time, with  the resources we had, it was "the right thing to do" to focus resources on those who were sickest in hospital. 

Eustice largely dodged a question about whether the Government's capability drove strategy, rather than strategy driving capability. And he never addressed whether he does "regret" that original decision.

Prof McLean said that the UK should look to and learn from other countries who have adopted successful strategies to fight the coronavirus. 

She picked out two countries in particular:

• Prof McLean said South Korea had an "inspiring use" of all different forms of contact tracing to control infection. "That is an experience we are aiming to emulate".
• She also pointed to Germany - "where the importance of testing was also clear" - and said that their approach had informed the UK decision to expand testing capabilities. 

Prof McLean said that there was "some sense of relief" that the daily fatalities are falling across all sectors of the UK - though she adds that every death is tragic. 

"Deaths in hospitals falling, deaths in care homes falling, as are deaths at home and elsewhere," she said, 

Professor Dame Angela McLean, chief scientific adviser at the Ministry of Defence, is now providing the in-depth look at the figures we've come to expect. 

She said that cases peaked on April 2 - "that's exactly the date we would have expected" given the lockdown date, she added. 

But while cases initially dropped significantly, Prof McLean said the fall in new cases is now not falling so quickly. She says that the  reasons behind this are "a cause of debate".

She added that the three day rolling average on new fatalities showed a "substantial decline".

George Eustice is now talking about availability of labour for this years agricultural harvest. 

"Every year large numbers of people come from countries like Romania and Bulgaria to harvest crops.

"We estimate that only about one third of people who would normally come are already here.

"One thing is clear, this year we will need to rely on British workers to lend a hand." 

He also stressed that those who are furloughed can supplement their income by "lending a hand" and supplement their incomes.

He said the Government has launched a website - Pick for Britain - to help people find employment opportunities. 

Environment Secretary George Eustice has started today's coronavirus briefing with an update on UK numbers.

Of particular note - on testing we're well below the 100,000 target, and deaths increased by 545 in official numbers in the last 24 hours. That compares to 160 yesterday - though it’s important to note that we have consistently been seeing lower totals both at the weekend and at the start of the week.

• 2,772,552 tests have been carried out in the UK - 89,784 tests yesterday.
• 248,818 - increase of 2,412 
• 10,025 in hospital - down 17 per cent compared to this time last week
• 35,341 deaths - increase of 545 since yesterday

Six positive cases for coronavirus have been detected at three Premier League clubs after players and staff were tested ahead of a return to training, England's top flight said Tuesday.

No details were released over which individuals or clubs are affected, but the league said in a statement:

"The Premier League can today confirm that, on Sunday 17 May and Monday 18 May, 748 players and club staff were tested for Covid-19.

"Of these, six have tested positive from three clubs. Players or club staff who have tested positive will now self-isolate for a period of seven days.

Premier League clubs began returning to training in small groups on Tuesday after protocols on safety measures were signed off on Monday.

The number of positive cases represents just 0.8 percent of those tested and is consistent with similar widespread testing conducted by other major leagues in Germany and Spain hoping to complete the season.

Across the pond Donald Trump is speaking to the media at a virtual event about how to support America's farmers during the pandemic.

In his opening remarks the President has one again hinted that China is to blame for the current crisis:

“We’re here this morning to announce dramatic action to support our nation’s farmers, ranchers and growers as we work to safely reopen America - and it’s happening very fast.

“It’s tough, but we’re gonna win and we’re gonna win very big. It should never have happened. You know that, I know that, and the people that caused the problem, they know that too. It’s too bad.”

Trump went on to announce a $19 billion support package, called the "Coronavirus Food Assistance Programme", that he said will provide support to agricultural producers and provide food assistance to American families.

He said:  “No other president has done this. You can go back to Abraham Lincoln - no president has treated the American farmers like Trump.” 

Trump added that there will be $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranches, to compensate farmers for “losses relating to the global pandemic caused by China”.

Today's daily Government press briefing is due to go ahead at around 5pm and will be led by Environment Secretary George Eustice.

Joining him will be Professor Dame Angela McLean, chief scientific adviser at the Ministry of Defence.

As usual, we'll have a stream at the top of the blog so you can watch live. And we'll be bringing you the key updates. 

But in the meantime, here's  your daily compendium of positive coronavirus news stories from Thom Gibbs and Harriet Barber:

• A drone company in Ireland has started delivering medication and essential supplies to isolated older people - you can see some pictures below

• Summer holidays to some traditional European locations could still be a-go after it was announced there are proposed plans for “air bridges” between countries with similar levels of Covid outbreak to ours

• Portable sinks are being installed across the United States by a non-profit called Love Beyond Walls, with the aim to help homeless people in the US wash their hands during the pandemic

• The BBC has launched a new tool which will allow small groups of friends and family to watch shows together from separate households, and will allow a host to play, pause or rewind a show for all those watching at the same time

Life in lockdown could lead to “long-term” mental health consequences for children, charities have warned, in an open letter to the Prime Minister calling for the Government to take urgent steps to reduce the impact of the crisis on young people’s mental health.

The letter, signed by over thirty mental health organisations including the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, calls for an expansion of mental health services to cope with increases in demand for care. The authors wrote:

"The fear of becoming ill or seeing a loved one become ill, the loss of routines, the difficulties of social connection, the impact of loneliness, the disruption to education and the challenges of living in difficult or dangerous situations are creating additional pressure for young people across the country."

Meanwhile others will be affected by bereavement, domestic violence or abuse - but the authors warned that young people have also lost coping mechanisms that could help young people manage these situations. 

The letter comes as four in five (83 per cent) of young people with mental health needs believe their mental health has deteriorated as a result of the pandemic.

Canada and the United States have agreed to extend a ban on non-essential travel between the two nations by another 30 days as part of the fight against the coronavirus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced.

Trudeau made the announcement in remarks to reporters. Officials from both nations said last week it was likely that the measure would be rolled over until June 21.

This afternoon the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has been answering questions at the Lords economic affairs committee.

Our politics liveblog has been following proceedings blow by blow, but here are some of the updates you should be aware of:

• He said that the "jury is out" on the extent of the "scarring" caused by the coronavirus outbreak and lockdon. But Sunak added that the UK was facing "a severe recession, the likes of which we haven't seen". 
• Asked about the Telegraph's recent scoop suggesting the cost of coronavirus could top £330bn, Rishi Sunak admits it will be "significant and significant by historic standards". He added that the tax bill at the moment is unknowable.
• The Chancellor said that the most important focus for recovery is reopening sectors that are closed - 1 June for retail and 4 July for leisure and hospitality. 
• Sunak said that the current advice given to Ministers is not to reopen London ahead of other parts of the country, despite its relatively low R-rate. 

Overnight President Donald Trump published a letter he'd written to the World Health Organization in which he accused the agency of  "repeated missteps" in its response to the pandemic have proven "very costly for the world". (More on that here).

In the letter, Trump also cited "credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019 or even earlier, including reports from the Lancet medical journal."

But editor of the Lancet, Dr Richard Horton, has poured cold water on the claim.

In a letter that he tweeted publicly Dr Horton rebuked the President- claiming that Trump's reference was inaccurate.

"The allegations levelled against (the) WHO in President Trump's letter are serious and damaging to efforts to strengthen international cooperation to control this pandemic," the letter said.

Trump is due to speak in a press conference within the next 20 minutes or so - we'll bring you all the latest. 

Here are the latest international developments in the coronavirus crisis:

• The pandemic has killed at least 318,517 people worldwide since it surfaced in China.

• The United States has recorded the most deaths at 90,369. It is followed by Britain with 42,856, Italy with 32,007, France with 28,239 and Spain with 27,709.

• The total number of cases in India has crossed 100,000 with 4,970 new infections.

• World Health Organization member states have agreed to an independent probe into the WHO's response.
• President Donald Trump has revealed he is taking hydroxychloroquine, the drug he touts as treatment.

• Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin returned to his duties after recovering from the virus, as officials claimed new cases in the country are dropping off.

• Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site, is set to reopen to worshippers after the three-day Eid holiday expected to begin this weekend.

• French citizens and residents travelling home from outside the European Union will be asked to observe a two-week "voluntary" quarantine, France's foreign minister said about a measure that will start Wednesday.

• Poland's national carrier PLL LOT has said it is extending its ban on international flights for two more weeks until June 14, but is resuming some domestic flights June 1.

Venezuela's displaced indigenous communities are "dangerously exposed" to the coronavirus pandemic, the United Nations warned Tuesday.

Indigenous people displaced across the border in neighbouring Brazil and Colombia are "at risk" as the novel coronavirus sweeps through South America, said the UN refugee agency.

The UNHCR said the number of suspected and confirmed Covid-19 cases was increasing, while the first deaths had been reported among indigenous communities.

The agency said there were almost 5,000 indigenous Venezuelans displaced in Brazil, mainly from the Warao ethnic group, but also from the Enapa, Karina, Pemon and Ye'kwana communities.

"With Covid-19 hitting this Amazon region hard and Brazil emerging as an epicentre of the pandemic, UNHCR is worried that many may struggle without adequate health and sanitation conditions," said spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo.

Meanwhile, a number of indigenous groups live around the Venezuelan border with Colombia.

"While their ancestral homes straddle both countries, many have not been able to regularise their stay in Colombia and are undocumented. Some now also face threats from irregular armed groups who control the areas where they live," said Mantoo.

She said many were in isolated areas, lacking access to health services and clean water, while others were in cramped dwellings.

Poland's national carrier PLL LOT has said it is extending its ban on international flights for two more weeks until June 14, but is resuming some domestic flights June 1.

The airline said on Twitter that the "current pandemic situation and the continuing lockdown of borders in many countries" was behind the decision to ground international flights for 14 more days.

Domestic daily flights will resume June 1 between cities with a "stable epidemiology situation," and will link Warsaw with Gdansk, Krakow, Wroclaw, Poznan, Szczecin Rzeszow and Zielona Gora. There will also be a daily flight between Krakow and Gdansk.

The World Health Organisation wants "more than anyone" to be held accountable, chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said as he addressed the World Health Assembly in Geneva.

Dr Tedros added that he welcomes the adoption of the EU resolution calling for an independent evaluation of the international response to the coronavirus pandemic, “including but not limited to WHO’s performance”.

He said WHO “wants accountability more than anyone” and that his organisation would continue “providing strategic leadership” around the world on the issue.

It comes after Donald Trump attacked WHO, calling for it to make unspecified reforms or risk losing out on US funding within 30 days.

Here is some of what Dr Tedros had to say:

A resolution on the need to investigate the global response to the coronavirus pandemic has won endorsement at the World Health Organisation’s annual ministerial meeting today.

None of WHO’s 194 member states - which includes the United States - raised objections to the resolution brought by the European Union on behalf of more than 100 countries including Australia, China and Japan.

 You can read more about the resolution, which calls for an “impartial evaluation” of how the outbreak happened, here.

Although the Government continues to warn British nationals to avoid all but essential travel, and most countries still have restrictions on international arrivals, recent easing of lockdowns across Europe are a promising sign of the global return to normality.

As such, our writer Emma Cooke has put together a calendar with the confirmed dates of when countries around the world will be reopening. 

You can read the calendar here.

Public Health Wales said a further 17 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths in Wales to 1,224.

Another 166 people tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 12,570.

Meanwhile, the toll in Northern Ireland has risen to 489 after seven more deaths were reported by the Department of Health.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India has crossed 100,000 with 4,970 new infections on Monday, reports Joe Wallen. 

Cases have risen by 28 per cent over the last week, but despite this lockdown restrictions were eased across much of the country yesterday. In New Delhi, public transport has resumed while shops have once again opened their doors.

Public health experts have warned Indians not to confuse an apparent end to lockdown - scrapped to kickstart India's collapsed economy - with the end to the pandemic. In particular, there are fears the virus could surge over the next two months when temperatures will exceed 40°C across much of the country.  

Only five per cent of India has air conditioning - compared to 60 per cent of China - and experts fear citizens will gather in large groups outside to escape the stuffy heat in their homes.

Mr Hancock acknowledged that a more coordinated policy approach between health and social care is "long overdue", following questioning from Labour’s shadow social care minister Liz Kendall.

Ms Kendall told MPs: "The Government has said the NHS will get whatever resources it takes to deal with this virus. Will (Mr Hancock) now make the same commitment to social care and guarantee no provider will collapse because of this virus?”

The Health Secretary responded: "Of course if there are more resources needed, we are open to those discussions. 

"But we've also learnt some really big things about social care, confirming some of the things many of us thought before. For instance, it is true that we need to have a more coordinated policy and we need to have more coordinated policy between health and social care.”

Matt Hancock once again faced urgent questions related to the coronavirus in the House of Commons.

The Health Secretary suggested the UK could bring in “virus drills” in care homes, following a suggestion by Conservative MP Dr Luke Evans. 

Dr Evans asked the Health Secretary if he considered mandating yearly “virus drills” in care to help deal with the impact of possible second waves. The idea has been successful in countries such as Hong Kong.

Mr Hancock replied that he would “absolutely take the idea forward” and “run with it”. 

Medical experts and politicians have expressed their concern after Donald Trump revealed he started taking hydroxychloroquine despite the risk of dangerous side-effects and lack of data to support its use as a Covid-19 treatment.

The US president, who has touted the anti-malarial drug as a possible coronavirus treatment, said he had been taking a pill daily for around 10 days and discussed it with the White House doctor before doing so.

Scientists have dismissed "very misleading" social media reports that so-called "mega doses" of vitamin D can protect against coronavirus.

Some articles have claimed that the vitamin can act as a protective measure - which scientists say is "not true" and prompted an urgent need to inform the public.

Professor Colin Smith, the University of Brighton's professor of functional genomics, said: "There are currently some very misleading articles doing the rounds on social media about mega doses of vitamin D as a Covid-19 protective measure - which are not true - and hence the urgent need to inform the public."

However, they have emphasised the importance of maintaining a healthy level of vitamin D in the body.

The Chinese city of Shulan has been placed under lockdown as a growing outbreak of the coronavirus threatened to undo the country's efforts against the virus.

The north-eastern city, home to about 700,000 people, now in a Wuhan-style lockdown 

All residential compounds in the city are now closed off, with one person from each household allowed out for two hours every other day for essentials.

It is feared that cases were initially brought into the city from nearby Russia, before spreading locally.

In other parts of the country, restrictions have been gradually lifted. Many people in Beijing, where no cases have been reported in weeks, have been going increasingly mask-less outdoors.

No new Covid-19 deaths have been reported in China in over a month, although some have been announced retroactively after further tests were performed. 

China has reported a total of 4,634 deaths among 82,954 cases of the virus since it was first detected in the central industrial city of Wuhan late last year.

The UK Government stressed that taking the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to ward off coronavirus - as Donald Trump said he was doing - was "not something we recommend doing".

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "It's not something which our own medical experts are recommending."

Asked whether Mr Trump was setting a bad example, the spokesman said: "I can only set out what the UK's advice is. It's not something that we recommend doing."

Whether commuting by bus, bike, car, or train, new social distancing rules mean your journey will not feel normal for a long time.

So, what are the new commuting rules?

Our writer, Luke Mintz, has all you need to know on how to navigate our new transport normal.

Shadow social care minister Liz Kendall has accused Government ministers of being "too slow" to tackle the spread of the coronavirus in care homes.

She told the Commons: "This virus is the biggest health challenge of our lives but ministers have been too slow to tackle the problem in care homes.

"Can (Mr Hancock) explain why guidance saying care homes were very unlikely to be infected wasn't withdrawn until March 12, when the chief medical officer (Chris Whitty) warned about community transmission and the risk to the elderly on March 4?"

Mr Hancock responded: "We have made social care a priority from the start. The first guidance went out to social care in February. She (Ms Kendall) refers to the March 13 guidance, that was only a matter of days immediately after the risk to the public was raised on medical advice.

"And the guidance that was in place until then, as she probably knows, explicitly stated that that guidance was in place whilst community transmission was low and said it would be updated as soon as community transmission went.”

Greece could be the first country to allow British holidaymakers to visit via an “air bridge” that negates the need for a two-week quarantine on arrival.

The popular European destination still requires all arrivals to isolate for 14 days but Greek tourism minister Haris Theoharis said the measure could be dropped should the UK offer the same.

On Monday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Britain could agree “air bridges" deals that work outside of travel restrictions with other countries that have low coronavirus infection rates. Greece has had fewer than 3,000 cases and just 165 deaths. 

Read more about the situation in Greece on our travel live blog here.

The Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that the Government is doing "whatever is humanly possible” to protect care homes from the virus and “to make sure residents and care colleagues have safety and security”.

Mr Hancock insisted that 62 per cent of care homes have had no reported cases of coronavirus and says that the number of deaths in care homes has fallen "by a third" from last week.

Brazil has the third-highest number of novel coronavirus cases in the world, according to official figures released Monday, a troubling surge for a country struggling to respond to the pandemic.

With 254,220 confirmed cases, Brazil has now surpassed Britain, Spain and Italy in the past 72 hours on the list of total infections, and is behind only the United States (1.5 million) and Russia (290,000).

Sophie* works in healthcare and is pregnant, which puts her in the Government's high risk category, but her employer is refusing to acknowledge this or be flexible.

Continuing a series in which we share the hidden stories of mums-to-be and new mothers being discriminated against at work during lockdown, here she tells her story:

“I am work in mental health services, and a currently in the first trimester of a long-awaited pregnancy,” she says.

“My job requires a great deal of face-to-face time with patients, so after some discussion my employer carried out a risk assessment. They stated that, due to the importance of my role, they expected me to carry on as normal.

"But I know that my role is not currently safe, let alone for a pregnant woman - they cannot guarantee social distancing and there’s little PPE available.”

You can read her full story here. 

Experts have condemned Donald Trump saying that he is taking hydroxychloroquine to ward off coronavirus, branding it “staggering” and “irresponsible”.

Dr Stephen Griffin, Associate Professor in the School of Medicine, University of Leeds, said: “The announcement from President Trump that he has been taking Hydroxychloroquine as a preventative measure against infection with SARS-CoV2 is a staggering, irresponsible act that could very well also amount to self-harm.  

“The President seems either unaware or unconcerned that his actions will have profound influence amongst his supporters and perhaps the wider US or world population.”

Professor Simon Gibbons, head of the University of East Anglia’s School of Pharmacy, said: “As there is a paucity of data for the use of hydroxychloroquine as an antiviral, it should not be taken by the general public. Even a GP would hesitate to prescribe it in the UK for that use.

"Finally, this drug in overdose can cause severe cardio-toxicity leading to death. My concern is that members of the general public may be tempted to take this drug in large doses, which is very dangerous. They must NOT do so."

The coronavirus outbreak around the world, in pictures:

John Edmunds, professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the study of other coronaviruses suggested "potentially bad news" for hopes that humans could develop a long-term immunity from Covid-19.

The professor told the House of Lords Science and Technology committee: "You can see that antibody decline over time from survivors of Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome, a form of coronavirus).

"So after a couple of years, their antibodies have declined quite significantly.

"We can also see from other coronaviruses, from ones that cause coughs and colds, that individuals again do seem to not have particularly long-term immunity to many of those viruses, allowing them to get reinfected later.

"So that's potentially bad news for us, that immunity may not last that long against this virus."

Professor Terry Lum, head of social work and social administration at Hong Kong University, has told MPs how positive Covid-19 cases were isolated for three months in Hong Kong.

 Speaking to the Health and Social Care Committee, he said: "We do a very good job in isolation. So once we have any person infected, we isolate that person in hospital for three months.

 "But at the same time we isolate all the close-contact people into separate isolation centres, quarantine centres, for 14 days for observation, and they did a test regularly within the 14 days to make sure they don't have the virus.”

 Asked about how important the issue of timing was in relation to care homes, Professor Lum said it was “hugely important”, adding that the process to control the virus began in mid-to-late January in Hong Kong, before a single case was detected. 

 He said: "By mid-February, 97 per cent of people are using face masks, and for the nursing home[s], they start require all staff wearing face masks by late January, and by early February they stop all outside visits."

 He added that since Mother’s Day, care homes allowed families into a designated area, but they had to take a temperature check, wear face masks and follow a strict protocol.

Coronavirus test results for staff and residents in care homes have been lost, according to the Chief Executive of Care England.

Professor Martin Green told the Health and Social Care Committee: "I think one of the challenges has been that people have had situations where their test results have been lost.

"They've also waited a long time for those test results, and then of course we're unclear whether or not those test results are current, so they might have to go back for other testing. So, that is a real challenge."

On planning for a pandemic, Prof Green said: "Our focus at the start of this pandemic was clearly the NHS, and there was not a recommendation in either the planning process that happened in 2016, or indeed in this current pandemic at the very start, that the most vulnerable people were in care homes.

"We should have prioritised care homes both in the planning that went on in 2016, but also in the planning that went on at the very start of this."

The number of Britons claiming unemployment benefits soared to the highest level since 1996 in April as the coronavirus lockdown devastated the UK labour market.

Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey today spoke as the ONS revealed the number of unemployed people had increased by 50,000 to 1.35 million in the first quarter.

A strict coronavirus lockdown in Somalia has led to a huge increase in female genital mutilation (FGM) cases, according to Plan International, reports Will Brown.

“We’ve seen a massive increase in recent weeks,” said Sadia Allin, Plan International’s head of mission in Somalia.

“The lockdown is being seen as an opportune time for the procedure to be carried out in the home with ample time for healing.”

Reportedly, circumcisers who have fallen on hard times because of the pandemic are going from house to house offering to cut girls stuck at home.

Ms Allin said nurses across the country had also reported a surge in requests from families wanting to carry out FGM on their daughters while they were off school. 

Somalia has the highest rate of FGM in the world — about 98 per cent of girls aged between 5 and 11 have been cut. The UN estimates that 290,000 girls will be cut in the East African nation this year. 

It would be "unreasonable" for pupils to start returning to schools in England while MPs stayed away from Parliament, commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has said. 

Mr Rees-Mogg  accused Labour of opposing the return of MPs to Westminster in order to "stymie" the Government. He claimed that Parliament was not able to do its job properly under the current arrangements.

Critics of Mr Rees-Mogg's approach have warned that returning to Westminster would put staff and MPs at risk of spreading coronavirus and fly in the face of the advice to work from home wherever possible.

The Government does not want to see the so-called "hybrid" arrangements - allowing MPs to participate remotely - extended beyond the Whitsun recess, which ends on June 2. That would mean MPs would have to attend in person to take part in proceedings at Westminster.

Speaking on his ConservativeHome podcast, Mr Rees-Mogg said:

"What has been done is remarkable but it simply isn't a proper Parliament doing its job.

 "Frankly, the opposition like having a hybrid Parliament because what is the opposition there to do? It's there to stop the Government getting things done.

"And it was willing to sacrifice a degree of scrutiny to stymie the Government's programme."

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is returning to work after fighting off the coronavirus, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree ordering Mishustin to resume his regular duties, which had been carried out by a deputy since April 30 while the 54-year-old prime minister was receiving medical treatment.

Mishustin, who was appointed by Putin in a surprise move earlier this year, stayed in hospital but still participated in government meetings, appearing behind a desk in a suit.

Several other senior officials were also infected with the coronavirus in Russia, including the ministers of culture, education and construction, as well as Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Russia as of Tuesday had the second-highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases after the United States, with 299,941 reported infections.

This year's Dublin marathon was cancelled on Tuesday, despite Ireland's move to lift lockdown measures, indicating potential long-term disruption caused by the outbreak.

The race had been due to take place on October 25 but organisers said the decision to cancel was made "in the best interest of the health and well-being" of everyone involved.

More than £22 billion has been lent to British companies under three coronavirus support schemes, the Treasury has said.

So far £14.2 billion has been lent in bounce back loans, £7.3 billion under the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) and £590 million as part of the CLBILS scheme, which is for larger businesses.

It comes as eight million jobs have been furloughed, with £11.1 billion claimed so far under the Government scheme that guarantees to pay 80% of an employee's salary.

A further two million have claimed self-employment income support for £6.1 billion.

The Office for National Statistics has published the latest weekly death figures for England and Wales. They cover the week up to Friday 8 May. Here are the key points, rounded up by our reporter Izzy Lyons:

• From the start of March to the first week of May, the number of excess deaths above the five year average across the UK now totals 53,101.
• In the first week of May, the number of deaths registered in England and Wales was 12,657, a decrease for the third week running.
• 3,930 of those deaths involved Covid-19, a decrease of 2,105 deaths compared with the previous week.
• All regions in the UK showed a decrease in the percentage of deaths involving Covid-19 for the second week running, while the North West had the highest number of Covid-19 deaths - 597 - for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
• Despite the decreasing community figures, Covid-19 deaths in care homes continued to increase. Fatalities involving Covid-19 as a percentage of all deaths in care homes was 39.2 per cent compared with 37.8 per cent the week before.
• While the number of deaths involving coronavirus decreased in most age groups, it increased for those aged under one year and those aged between 20 and 34 years.

For many Britons, the coronavirus lockdown represents a heart-wrenching separation from family, friends and loved ones along with financial instability and uncertainty as businesses close indefinitely. 

However, for some, the lockdown has inspired new ways of working, new hobbies and skills and a newfound appreciation for the simpler things in life. 

The Telegraph is looking to paint a picture of Britain in lockdown. We want to know how your life has changed during this time, from the positives of life in lockdown to what you have found challenging. Have things changed irreversibly or do you anticipate going back to ‘normal’ when the current measures are eased?

Click here to tell us about your experience of lockdown, and include any pictures you may have for a feature on the Telegraph’s website. 

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would have been "laughed at" if he had acted like the current Government during his tenure as Prime Minister.

The former Labour leader said the Government needed to be upfront with the public.

Speaking in an interview on Good Morning Britain, he said:  "In 2009 (during the global financial crisis), if I hadn't come on television and explained what was happening, I'd have been laughed at.

"If I had said in 2009 during the financial crisis, I was simply listening to the experts, people would have laughed at me and you've got to make your own decisions. You've got to get to the root of the problem."

Mr Brown also criticised the Government's current coronavirus slogan, saying it should be "Get Tested", instead of "Stay Alert".

"If we are to prevent a second wave, if we're to get this R figure down, if we're to give people reassurance, then hand washing and social distancing is not enough.

"What we've got to do is test on a routine and regular basis all those people who are at risk... other members of the public should be offered a test."

Spain’s government has said that it will extend the compulsory use of face masks, reports James Badcock in Madrid.

Compulsory use will be extended from buses and trains to all enclosed public spaces and even outdoors where the recommended safety distance of two metres cannot be guaranteed, as in busy streets.

The move signals the completion of a U-turn on masks by Madrid over the past month, from a measure originally considered necessary only for those who have symptoms of Covid-19.

Early in May Spain’s government ordered the obligatory use of face masks on public transport and in taxis as the country prepared to ease lockdown measures in some areas. Most of the country has now entered phase 1 of a three-part lockdown exit plan, but residents of Madrid, Barcelona and cities in Castilla y León are still unable to move freely around their home areas.

When the health ministry finalises the new order under the country’s state emergency in the next few days, Spain will join a growing number of European countries that have made face mask use compulsory in virtually all public spaces, including Germany, France, Poland and Austria.  

Spain recorded its lowest daily coronavirus death toll for more than two months on Monday, with 59 new fatalities to bring the country’s total to 27,709. Confirmed Covid-19 infections have reached 231,606 with only 285 new cases recorded on Monday.

UK unemployment claims soared by more than 69 per cent in April after the coronavirus lockdown gripped the labour market, official figures reveal.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that jobless claims under Universal Credit surged by a record 856,000 to 2.1 million in April, compared with the previous month.

Official statisticians also said early estimates for April 2020 indicate that the number of paid employees fell by 1.6 per cent compared with March, as firms began to feel a greater impact from the lockdown.

Job vacancies also significantly decreased, with the number of empty posts in the three months to April diving by 170,000 to 637,000, compared with the previous quarter.

The ONS also revealed that unemployment increased by 50,000 to 1.35 million in the three months to March, as the impact of the pandemic first started to be felt in the UK.

The rate of unemployment nudged marginally higher, to 3.9%, but remained markedly below economists' predictions of 4.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, the number of people in work increased by 210,000 to 33.14 million for the quarter to March.

Julie Penfold, a 53-year-old nurse, who passed away at Arrowe Park Hospital was given a guard of honour by friends, family and staff in Merseyside.

Janelle Holmes, chief executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital, said: "Words cannot express how saddened we all are to lose a member of our own team to Covid-19.

"This is truly devastating and my thoughts and sympathy are with Julie's family at this time. She was a valued member of staff who cared so much about others."

Former government chief scientific adviser Sir David King, asked about Donald Trump's admission that he was taking anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, told Good Morning Britain: "I think he speaks from the top of his head and every word he says should be ignored in terms of advice.

"I'm sorry but this is not the pronouncements of a person who is listening to the scientists. He is making it up as he goes along."

The mother of an eight-month-old baby who died of a rare illness being linked to Covid-19 has urged parents to be "vigilant" to the symptoms, and called for more research into the disease.

Alexander Parsons, from Plymouth, died at Bristol Children's Hospital last month after being diagnosed with Kawasaki disease, his family said.

Medical experts believe up to 100 children in the UK have been affected by a condition similar to the rare disease, symptoms of which include a high temperature, rashes and swelling.

Researchers have said the new syndrome could be caused by the immune system overreacting to coronavirus.

Alexander's mother, Kathryn Rowlands, 29, said that she hopes to raise awareness while calling for parents to "be really vigilant, be really aware of the symptoms and look out for them".

"I can't change anything about what happened to Alexander; we thought we were taking all of the precautions to protect ourselves and him from Covid-19, and it still happened to us," she said.

"We were in isolation, we weren't even risking going to a shop because we were concerned, and it still happened to us.

"It can happen to anyone and I can't change what has happened to him, but I can make other parents aware and potentially help other babies and children."

Ms Rowlands called 111 when Alexander began to show a high temperature, a pinprick rash that looked like sunburn and a swelling in his lymph nodes.

The Government has extended the size of loans available to large businesses who have been impacted by coronavirus.

The Treasury said that firms will now be able to receive up to £200 million from the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), which previously had a maximum pay-out of £50 million.

It said that loans under the expanded scheme will be made available to firms from next week.

John Glen, the economic secretary to the Treasury, said: "We're determined to support businesses of all sizes throughout this crisis and our loans and guarantees have already provided over £32 billion to thousands of firms.

"Today we're increasing the maximum loan to £200 million to make sure companies get the help they need."

Asked about reducing the social distancing guidelines from 2m to 1.5 or 1m he said the hospitality sector could benefit from changing the rule.

In three separate answers, he said: 

• "We do need to look at how they manage that  process and give them some flexibility."
• "More and more scientists are beginning to question the amount of coronavirus that can be transmitted through the air."
• "In certain conditions like you know in restaurants etc particularly where they are outside maybe they can look at that because that in itself will help encourage the economy."

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey defended the Government's coronavirus testing record as having improved from a "standing start".

Responding to the Commons Science and Technology Committee's criticism, she told BBC Breakfast: "We had a small amount of capacity at the very start, it was solely based on Public Health England's capability of being able to have about 2,000 tests a day.

"We had little capacity early on, I recognise that, we have got a lot of capacity now.

"I think from pretty much a standing start, roughly in about mid-February I think it was, to get to a capacity and actual tests being done of 100,000 within about six weeks, I think is pretty full-on and actually I think something we can look on with pride."

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said US President Donald Trump's admission he was controversially taking a malaria drug to protect against coronavirus was surprising.

She told BBC Breakfast: "I think it surprised a lot of people last night when President Trump announced this.

"However, that really is a matter between him and his clinician rather than the Government of the UK."

She declined to label Mr Trump's admission irresponsible when asked.

Here are the answers to your daily news quiz (see 7.43am post for questions).

1. Loss of smell and taste
2. Ford
3. Aldi
4. They Think It's All Over

Farmers in China are being offered cash to stop breeding exotic animals as pressure grows to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade that has been blamed for the coronavirus outbreak.

Authorities have for the first time pledged to buy out breeders in an attempt to curb the practice, animal rights activists say.

China has in recent months banned the sale of wild animals for food, citing the risk of diseases spreading to humans, but the trade remains legal for other purposes including research and traditional medicine.

The deadly coronavirus - first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan - is widely believed to have passed from bats to people before spreading worldwide.

How closely did you follow the news yesterday? Here is your daily news quiz - answers in 10 minutes. 

1. Anosmia has been included on the official list of coronavirus symptoms. What does it mean?

2. Which car firm has announced it is restarting production at its UK factories?

3. Which supermarket has teamed up with Deliveroo to trial a grocery delivery service?

4. Nick Hancock and Gary Lineker have apologised to former footballer Luke Chadwick for mocking his appearance on which BBC television show 20 years ago?

President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to pull the US out of the World Health Organization, accusing it of botching the global coronavirus response and of being a "puppet of China".

The American leader has been locked in a bitter spat with Beijing, alleging it covered up the initial outbreak in central China late last year before the disease unleashed death and economic devastation across the planet.

With more fatalities and cases in the United States than any other country by far, under-pressure Mr Trump has blamed the WHO for not doing enough to combat its initial spread.

"They're a puppet of China, they're China-centric to put it nicer," he said at the White House. "They gave us a lot of bad advice."

Mr Trump had already suspended US funding to the UN body, and after his White House comments, he tweeted a letter he had sent to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus threatening to make that freeze permanent.

"It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world," the letter said.

"The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China," it added, giving the body 30 days to show "substantive improvements".

Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has called on Boris Johnson to start getting the economy working again and to reconsider the two-metre social distancing rule.

The Tory MP told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that unemployment depends "first and foremost (on) how quickly are we able to get the economy moving"?

"We need to get that moving as quick as possible and I've certainly been arguing that for some weeks now," he said.

On social distancing, Sir Iain said "we're the only country certainly in Europe that I know of" that uses the two-metre rule.

"I think when it comes to the hospitality sector, I think we do need to look at it very carefully," he said.

"So we do need to look at how they manage that process and give them some flexibility."

Here is the US President's justification for taking hydroxychloroquine, tweeted by our journalist in America Harriet Alexander.

Economist Sir Christopher Pissarides warned hours of work figures "fell catastrophically" while vacancies figures showed the labour market "more or less stopped functioning".

The London School of Economic academic told BBC Radio 4's Today programme employment figures are "not as bad", but added: "Hours of work figures fell catastrophically.

"And also vacancies fell which shows the labour market more or less stopped functioning at the beginning of the lockdown."

Here's Matt's take on the day.

 See all of Matt's cartoons for May here. 

Hospitals discharging positive patients to care homes fuelled outbreaks, social care boss claims, as he says 20% of asymptomatic residents have virus.

Barchester Healthcare chief executive Dr Pete Calveley, who said around two thirds of his homes have had Covid-19 cases, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he blamed delayed advice and testing during a "critical" period for having spread coronavirus throughout homes.

He said: "We've had several weeks where their first reaction was to protect the NHS, where they wanted to discharge a lot of clients from hospital to make sure there was capacity for what they anticipated was a surcharge.

"And that meant a lot of people being discharged from care homes rather quickly who hadn't been tested and often we've seen where we've been doing large testing of care homes where asymptomatic staff, and particularly residents, are actually positive and therefore are freely moving through the home are infecting other residents and staff without anybody knowing about it until too late."

Dr Calveley said there was a "critical" period of up to four weeks before testing was available and advice was issued for staff to wear professional masks and isolation for new admissions.

"None of that advice came out until it was probably too late," he said.

The care home chief also hinted there was no real way of knowing how many people had been infected with coronavirus because 20 percent of asymptomatic staff and residents tested in his facilities came back positive.

Unemployment increased by 50,000 to 1.35 million in the three months to March, official figures showed.

Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician for economic statistics at the ONS, said of the latest unemployment figure: "While only covering the first weeks of restrictions, our figures show Covid-19 is having a major impact on the labour market.

"In March employment held up well, as furloughed workers still count as employed, but hours worked fell sharply in late March, especially in sectors such as hospitality and construction.

"Through April, though, there were signs of falling employment as real-time tax data show the number of employees on companies' payrolls fell noticeably, and vacancies were sharply down too, with hospitality again falling steepest."

Here is your Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, May 19.

Poland could reopen its borders on June 15, before lifting all remaining coronavirus curbs on July 1, Deputy Prime Minister Jadwiga Emilewicz told the Puls Biznesu daily in an interview published on Tuesday.

In a separate interview with state radio, Michal Dworczyk, the chief of staff to the prime minister, said he hoped the Polish presidential election would be held on June 28.

Lockdown measures are eased across Europe

France reported a small dip in the daily tally of new coronavirus deaths on Monday, though it also saw a slight uptick in confirmed cases, a week after authorities started easing lockdown restrictions.

France's death toll is the fourth highest worldwide, after the United States, Britain and Italy, and its health ministry, announcing the latest figures, urged people to remain cautious and to respect social distancing rules.

It reported 131 further fatalities over the past 24 hours, or a slowing increase of 0.5%, bringing the total death tally to 28,239.

A surge in fatalities in retirement homes pushed up France's daily death toll to 483 on Sunday. But over the last 24 hours, those homes only registered eight new deaths.

Singapore has apologised to 357 Covid-19 patients who received an erroneous text message saying they had again tested positive.

The tiny Southeast Asian nation has confirmed over 28,000 cases of the disease, one of the highest tallies in Asia, and is under lockdown until June 1. The death toll in Singapore stands at 22.

"The messages had been sent due to an IT system testing glitch as we sought to improve the efficiency of our system," the health ministry said in a statement issued late Monday.

It apologised "for any inconvenience and anxiety caused" and said recipients had been alerted to the error within hours.

Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam says the territory is ramping up testing, especially for workers at the busy international airport and caregivers at homes for the elderly and disabled.

Mrs Lam said on Tuesday that tests would be increased from 4,500 to 7,000 daily with both the government health department and university laboratories taking part.

Hong Kong has gone several days without new local infections, but a recent family cluster has increased concerns about those who show no symptoms passing the virus on to others, something the authorities hope can be remedied by increased testing.

A registry of death certificates in Mexico City suggests there were 4,577 cases where doctors mentioned coronavirus or Covid-19 as a possible or probable cause of death, more than three times the official death toll in the city.

The federal government acknowledges only 1,332 confirmed deaths in Mexico City since the pandemic began, less than a third as many as the investigation revealed.

The anti-corruption group Mexicans Against Corruption said in a report on Monday that it got access to a database of death certificates issued in Mexico City between March 18 and May 12. It showed that in explanatory notes attached to 4,577 death certificates, doctors included the words "SARS," "COV2," "COV," "Covid 19," or "new coronavirus."

The virus' technical name is SARS-CoV-2. The notes the group counted included terms like "suspected," "probable", or "possible" role of the virus in the deaths.

The additional 3,245 deaths in Mexico City, if they are confirmed or added to official counts, would push the national death toll from the 5,332 reported by federal officials Monday to 8,577.

The number of coronavirus cases in India surged past 100,000 on Tuesday, with the rate of growth of new infections showing little sign of slowing despite a strict weeks-long lockdown.

India's Health Ministry reported total cases stood at 101,139 and deaths at 3,163.

New cases have continued to rise by an average of over 4,000 each day over the past week. India officially extended its lockdown on Sunday to May 31, although several states indicated they would allow businesses to reopen. 

• China reported seven new cases on Tuesday, a day after President Xi Jinping announced his country would provide $2 billion to help respond to the outbreak and its economic fallout
• South Korea reported 13 newcases, a possible sign that a recent outbreak in the capital area is stabilising as officials prepare to reopen schools
• The governor of Egypt's Daqahlia province has contracted coronavirus, among the highest-ranking officials in the Arab world's most populous nation to be infected
• South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar says he has tested positive for the coronavirus.
• Italy has registered its lowest daily increases in both deaths and new cases since before the national lockdown began in early March
• Turkey's president has announced a new four-day curfew during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr to be applied across the country to stem the spread of Covid-19
• Morocco's prime minister announced on Monday an extension of the nationwide lockdown until June 10
• The US Health and Human Services secretary has demanded "change" at the World Health Organisation, accusing it of failing to obtain the information the world needed as the outbreak emerged
• El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said on Monday that he will propose to Congress that the economy should be gradually re-opened beginning on June 6

Democratic House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Donald Trump morbidly obese after the president revealed he was taking hydroxychloroquine - the anti-malarial drug which he has controversially touted as a potential treatment for coronavirus.

Asked on CNN about Mr Trump taking the drug, Ms Pelosi said: "He's our president. I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and his, shall we say weight group what is morbidly obese, they say."

According to the results of an annual presidential physical examination conducted in February 2019, Mr Trump had gained weight over the past year and was now in the obese range, although remaining in “very good health overall”. 

Australia on Tuesday welcomed international support for an independent coronavirus pandemic investigation as China ratcheted up a bilateral trade rift by placing tariffs on Australian barley.

The World Health Organisation bowed to calls Monday from most of its member states to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the coronavirus.

Australia is seen as a leader in rallying global support for an inquiry, attracting Chinese criticism that it is parroting the US and inviting a Chinese boycott of exports and services. Australian government critics have argued that Prime Minister Scott Morrison's conservative administration should have gathered allies before antagonising Australia's most important trading partner.

The trade dispute is the first time Beijing has used access to its huge markets as leverage in its campaign to deflect blame for the outbreak. But it has used the tactic regularly against governments from Norway to Canada in political disputes over the past decade.

The United States on Monday recorded 759 new deaths in the previous 24 hours, marking a second day of decline, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The figure, at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT), is one of the lowest in recent weeks and follows 820 deaths the day before, data from the Baltimore-based university showed. There have been 90,309 deaths linked to novel coronavirus in the US and more than 1.5 million cases of infection, the tracker showed.

Qantas Airways said on Tuesday it would introduce new measures on board such as providing masks and cleaning wipes to ensure safe travel and give passengers peace of mind during the pandemic but it would not leave middle seats empty.

Catering will be simplified, aircraft cleaning will be stepped up and passengers will be asked to limit movement around the cabin once seated as part of the new measures to be put in place from June 12, the airline said.

Masks will not be mandatory but Qantas will recommend that passengers wear them in the interest of everyone's peace of mind, it said.

'Air bridge' plan to avoid 14-day quarantine and save holidays abroad 

 Mexico issued guidelines for restarting operations in the automotive, mining and construction sectors on Monday, pushing ahead with reopening the economy despite a growing national toll and concerns about unsafe work sites.

With Mexico's coronavirus death toll having surged past 5,000, and  51,633 known cases, officials are wrestling with how to restart key industries without triggering greater spread of the virus.

Mexico's reopening plans have drawn criticism from some politicians worried that the still-rising pandemic tide in Latin America makes it unsafe to send more people to work.

Deaths in Latin America have surpassed 30,000, a Reuters tally showed on Monday.

Caitlyn Jenner and Stephen Fry are among the stars sharing messages of hope with members of the LGBTQ community struggling with life in lockdown.

The British LGBT Awards and It Gets Better UK have teamed up for the £InThisTogether campaign which launches on Tuesday.

The project will share charity resources for young LGBTQ people while also asking the public to film their own messages of support.

Jenner and Fry were joined by others including Queer Eye's Bobby Berk, I'm A Celebrity star Adele Roberts and Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black in sharing a message.

Director Lena Waithe, Westlife star Mark Feehily and members of the Coronation Street cast also shared videos.

The number of women killed in Argentina has reached a 10-year high under coronavirus lockdown, a leading rights group said on Monday, with more than 50 femicides in less than two months.

Three of those women were murdered in just the last four days, according to La Casa del Encuentro, a Buenos Aires-based feminist group that said not only the numbers but the severity of the violence was hugely concerning.

"We're very worried. It's the highest number in 10 years," said Ada Rico, the group's president and director of the organization’s Femicide Observatory watchdog project.

"(Women) are being beaten to death or strangled," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Twelve women are killed every day in Latin America because of their gender in a crime known as femicide, according to the United Nations, and the region is home to 14 of the 25 countries with the highest rates of femicide in the world. The vast majority of killings go unprosecuted.

Brazil recorded 674 new coronavirus deaths on Monday, the Health Ministry said, and announced a total of 254,220 confirmed cases, overtaking Britain to become the country with the third-highest number of infections behind the United States and Russia.

There are now 16,792 people in Brazil who have died from the outbreak, the ministry said.

According to data from the Health Ministry, São Paulo remains the worst hit by the outbreak, with 63,066 cases and 4,823 deaths. Rio de Janeiro is in second place, with 26,665 infections and 2,852 deaths.

• Holidaymakers could be able to travel abroad this summer after the Government announced plans to create “air bridges” with other nations

• The first coronavirus vaccine tested on humans appears safe and generated antibodies which stopped the virus replicating, according to early trial results

• A small number of so-called “superspreading” events appear to be responsible for the great majority of coronavirus cases, raising the prospect of the virus being controlled if those events can be reliably pinned down

• Tory MPs have a growing unease about the government's response to the crisis, with one former minister likening his party's approach to a Morecambe and Wise comedy sketch

• More than one in three private sector workers are having their wages paid by the Government amid the coronavirus crisis, the Chancellor has revealed