Beijing has reported 36 new Covid-19 cases for the second consecutive day, as China recorded the highest number of daily infections in two months.

On Monday, Chinese authorities announced that in total there had been 49 new coronavirus cases in the country.

The recent outbreak in the capital is linked to a large wholesale food market that sources much of the city’s meat and vegetables. The complex, whose size is equivalent to almost 160 soccer pitches, has been shut as a precaution and tens of thousands of nearby residents are undergoing tests for the virus.

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Ghana’s president says Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang-Manu is being treated for Covid-19 at a hospital.

In a state broadcast Sunday night, President Nana Akufo-Addo said the health minister had “contracted the virus in his line of duty” leading the West African nation’s fight against Covid-19.

Ghana has one of highest number of confirmed cases in Africa because of its robust testing, with more than 11,400 cases. Health authorities have reported 51 deaths.

News of the health minister’s illness further fueled worries as Ghana’s universities prepared to reopen Monday so students in their final year of study can take exams.

“If the health minister is contracting the disease, what is the guarantee that my son will be safe?” said Peter Owusu, whose son studies at the University of Cape Coast.

AP

A new drug which could prevent the formation of deadly blood clots in Covid-19 patients is set to be trialled in the UK, as scientists continue the search for an effective treatment against the virus.

Some 60 patients are to take part in the trial for TRV027, a molecule which targets specific immune responses that are thought to drive severe illness in those suffering from coronavirus.

A third of people hospitalised with Covid-19 develop dangerous blood clots, which can prove fatal.

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The Spanish prime minister has declared his country will reopen to European visitors from next Sunday, reports Simon Calder, The Independent‘s travel correspondent.

Starting from 21 June, travellers from the European Union, the wider Schengen area and the UK will be permitted to visit.

Pedro Sanchez made the announcement on the eve of Spain’s reopening to international tourism with a pilot programme of holidays to Mallorca for German citizens.

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A 20-year-old man has died from a suspected drug overdose following a rave in Greater Manchester, while a woman was raped and three men were stabbed at a similar event on the other side of the city, police say.

The man had attended a gathering of reportedly 4,000 people in Oldham which was being billed as a “Quarantine Rave”, with a large sign greeting revellers at Daisy Nook Country Park.

Assistant chief constable of Greater Manchester Police Chris Sykes said: “We are aware of two large raves that took place in Carrington and Oldham last night.

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“There has been a lot of talk about fear of a second wave, and one of the ways to hopefully prevent that is for testing and tracing to be working effectively,” he said.
 

“If it does, then, as people start to report infection, we can rapidly detect those individuals, trace their contacts and hopefully put in local isolation measures so that we isolate these clusters and prevent larger scale spread.
 

“If that works effectively, then I would hope that we can relax a whole host of measures, which may hopefully include a reduction in that distance.
 

What are the latest rules? When and where do you need to put on face masks? Who needs to wear one? 

A US ban on British travellers entering the country will last for months more, Dr Anthony Fauci has said.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, the US government’s chief expert on infectious diseases warned the travel ban imposed on the UK would last for “more likely months than weeks”.

The ban could even last until a vaccine is ready, but it is possible that it could be lifted before then, Dr Fauci said.

US bans on travellers from the European Union, Brazil, China and Iran follow a similar logic and may also last for months more, based on the rate of infection.

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Pressure is growing on the government to explain a decision to drop the chief nurse from a coronavirus press conference after she refused to publicly back Dominic Cummings’s lockdown breaking.

Ministers were accused of “trying to gag” experts after The Independent reported that Ruth May was dropped after declining to toe the government line in practice questions.

The Liberal Democrats on Sunday wrote to health secretary Matt Hancock demanding answers, and accused the government of potentially “threatening the confidence the public has in the government’s approach to lifting lockdown”.

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Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Monday, Dr Tildesley said: “The evidence is still slightly unclear – depending upon the studies it could be anything from about twice the risk to 10 times the risk.
 

“So there is an increase in risk with going down to one metre.
 

Of the new cases, 36 were reported Monday in Beijing, traced to a wholesale market that supplies much of the city’s meat and vegetables.
 

Ten of the other cases were brought from outside the country and three were found in Hebei province just outside Beijing. The National Health Commission reported 177 people in treatment for COVID-19, while 115 were in isolation and under monitoring for showing signs of the illness or having tested positive without giving off symptoms.
 

The government could overrule its scientific and medical advisers to relax the two-metre coronavirus social distancing rule, the chancellor has said – as Boris Johnson urged Britons to head back to the shops.

Rishi Sunak pronounced on Sunday that “advisers advise ministers, who are elected to make decisions” after he was asked whether it would be politicians or senior experts like Sir Patrick Vallance and Chris Whitty who would have the final say on what was safe.

Senior figures within the Conservative Party and business lobby groups have been urging the government to relax the rule for fear it could make reopening their premises unprofitable, but Labour warned that the government should follow the science and ensure that workplaces are safe before people return.

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England’s coronavirus lockdown should not be further lifted until the government’s test and trace system has proven to be “robust and effective”, a senior World Health Organisation (WHO) official has warned.

Speaking ahead of the reopening of non-essential shops on Monday, the WHO’s regional European director Hans Kluge cautioned against rushing into restarting the economy while the country remains in a ”very active phase of the pandemic”.

“We know that early lockdowns saved lives and bought some time for the health system to be ready,” he told The Guardian. “The question of lifting the lockdown is as important as going to the lockdown. The key words here are to do it gradually. Do it carefully.

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In England, thousands of high street shops are scheduled to reopen today as the government eases the coronavirus lockdown.

This follows the business secretary Alok Sharma’s announcement last week that all non-essential shops could return to business from 15 June, three months after they were closed to stem the spread of the virus.

The measures are part of the second phase of the government’s plan to ease lockdown restrictions, the roadmap for which was first announced on 10 May.

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