The Labour Party has urged Downing Street to provide a “very swift explanation” after reports suggested the prime minister’s chief political aide Dominic Cummings was spoken to by police about a trip he made to Durham during the coronavirus lockdown.
 

Police officers will not be conducting spot checks on those undergoing quarantine under the measures announced by the home secretary Priti Patel earlier today, the National Police Chiefs’ Council chair has said.

Martin Hewitt added: “The overwhelming majority of people will do the right thing and follow the rules, which are helping to protect the NHS and save lives.

“As the Government has made clear, it will not be the role of police to conduct spot checks on those who should be isolating. Only if public health authorities suspect someone is not following the restrictions will police become involved.  Our approach will be proportionate to the circumstances and we will continue to engage, explain, encourage and, only as last resort, enforce.

“We will continue to work with the Government on the detail as the legislation is drawn up and will provide officers with clear guidance on their role.”

The number of new coronavirus cases per day in New York state is at the lowest they have been since the outbreak began, New York governor Andrew Cuomo has said.

“The number of new cases per day is down. This is a level now that is lower than when we first began, so that’s good” Gov Cuomo said in his daily coronavirus briefing on Friday.

A daily case tracker by The New York Times recorded 2,078 new cases of the coronavirus in the state on Thursday. According to the same tracker 18 May was recorded as the day with the lowest number of cases since the outbreak began, sitting at 1,241.

Fire officials are warning that leaving hand sanitiser in vehicle on a hot day could lead to “disaster”.

In a Facebook post showing a melted car door, the Western Lakes Fire District in Texas warned residents that the alcohol content of hand sanitisers makes them flammable.

“Keeping it in your car during hot weather, exposing it to sun causing magnification of light through the bottle, and particularly being next to open flame while smoking in vehicles or grilling while enjoying this weekend, can lead to disaster,” the department said.

The reproductive rate of coronavirus has remained steady for the second week in a row, scientific advisers have said.

The so-called R-number – the average number of people that will contract coronavirus from an infected person – was between 0.7 and 1 across the UK.

More below:
 

Donald Trump announced he is designating all places of worship – including churches, synagogues and mosques – “essential,” saying he wants them to “open right now.”

The president panned state leaders for keeping “liquor stores and abortion centres” open during the coronavirus lock down while keeping places of worship shuttered. “It’s not right,” he said, declaring his move is aimed at “correcting this injustice.”

“If there’s any question, they’re going to have to call me,” Mr Trump said in the White House briefing room. “But they are not going to be successful in that call.”

“In America, we need more prayer,” Mr Trump said before leaving the briefing room. “Not less.”

Children could be half as likely to catch coronavirus as adults and teachers do not appear to be at greater risk than other professions, according to new evidence.

The research emerged on Friday in papers assessing the impact of relaxing school closures from the Goverment’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).

Teaching unions and some councils have spoken out against the Government’s plans to begin a phased reopening of schools in England on 1 June.

A review of global studies led by University College London found those aged under 20 had 56% less chance of being infected.

Thankfully our own Simon Calder has the answer to some of the most pressing questions when it comes to travel across the border.

The antimalarial drug touted by Donald Trump as a treatment for the coronavirus has been linked to an increased risk of death in patients, according to the first major study into its use.

The president called hydroxychloroquine a “game changer” in the fight against the virus in March, and has promoted its use ever since, despite no evidence that it had any positive effect for patients infected with Covid-19.

Earlier this week he claimed that he had been taking the drug himself. “I get a lot of tremendously positive news on the hydroxy,” Mr Trump said, adding: “What do you have to lose?”

“You start to test positive maybe at around five days, maybe a bit sooner, and you may be shedding a lot of virus for a couple of days then and for a few days afterwards.

“And then you gradually recover and you may not shed.

“So, clearly, it depends on the time at which you caught the infection as to when you expect a positive test.

“That means just testing somebody and saying, ‘You’re negative’, doesn’t tell you if somebody is about to get it in a week’s time.”

“This is all conditional. You can enjoy being outdoors in the sun providing you are following the advice and we continue to stop and contain the spread of the infection.”

“They are at low risk but not zero risk and there have been some serious cases of children, of course, but very few compared to adults and older age groups.

“The broader risk in terms of opening schools is that as soon as you introduce any contact, you put pressure on the R and you put pressure on numbers, and that’s true of anything we are going to do in terms of changes to contact.”

“Any obvious errors will trigger a requirement for the passenger to complete another form or potentially be refused entry into the UK.”

He said the Border Force expected most people to comply with the measures but the agency was ready to act in cases where the rules were not followed.

“Given the high levels of compliance to date, we expect the vast majority of people will take this seriously and do the right thing,” Mr Lincoln added.

“We will, however, take enforcement action against a small minority of people who may disregard these actions and therefore further endanger people’s lives.”

Travel trade organisation Abta said more than 64,000 bookings have been cancelled and more than 2,500 jobs lost.

It added that the vast majority were coach package holidays which are financially protected, so customers with these bookings will receive a full refund.

“So, across Government, we will continue to work with them and support what is an incredibly dynamic sector to find new ways to reopen international travel and tourism in a safe and responsible way.”

Ms Patel also confirmed the plan will be reviewed every three weeks.

“As we are taking this action, we are taking it at a time that it will be the most effective.”
 

She said that passenger arrivals have been down 99% compared to the previous year but now the peak has passed, steps to “guard against imported cases” must be imposed.

Two-week quarantines will be imposed on new arrivals to the UK from 8 June, with fines for anyone who breaches the measure to prevent new waves of coronavirus from overseas – saying they are necessary to ‘stop a second wave’

Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that mandatory self-isolation would not apply to people coming from Ireland, medics tackling Covid-19 and seasonal agricultural workers.

Passengers will have to fill in a form providing their contact and travel information so they can be traced if infections arise, and they could be contacted regularly during the 14 days and face random checks from public health authorities to ensure their compliance.

Breaches will be punishable with a £1,000 fixed penalty notice in England, or prosecution with an unlimited fine, while devolved nations can set out their own enforcement approaches.