Coronavirus news - live: Burnham accuses Johnson of ‘exaggerating’ Covid situation amid warning Christmas will be ‘tough’

Tony Blair denies he broke quarantine rules with US visit to White House

Former prime minister Tony Blair has denied breaking coronavirus restrictions after a trip to the US last month.

Daisy Lester has the details:

Saudi Arabia allows citizens to pray in one of Islam’s most holy sites

Saudi Arabia allowed its citizens and residents to perform prayers in one of the most holy religious sites in Islam, the Al-Haram mosque in Mecca, for the first time in seven months, state television reported.

Earlier this month Saudi Arabia allowed citizens and residents to perform the Umrah pilgrimage at Islam’s holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, after a seven-month pause due to coronavirus concerns.

Thailand reports three more cases after first infections in more than a month

Thailand has reported three more locally transmitted coronavirus cases, a day after reporting its first local infections in more than a month.

The three new patients are family members of two Myanmar nationals who previously tested positive for the virus this week in the country’s northern province bordering Myanmar, the government’s coronavirus taskforce said.

Before this week’s five cases, Thailand last reported a confirmed local transmission on 11 September. In total, Thailand has reported 3,686 cases of the virus and 59 deaths.

Virus re-emerges in New Zealand

New Zealand has reported one new case of coronavirus in the community, as the virus re-emerged in the country after many days of no transmission within its borders.

The country’s health chief, Ashley Bloomfield, said in a news conference that the infected person was identified early, and risk of transmission was contained.

Australia’s Covid-19 hotspot partially eases lockdown 

Australia's state of Victoria, the epicentre of the country's coronavirus outbreak, will see more freedom of movement tomorrow after months-long restrictions, but retailers and restaurants must wait longer, making some of the owners unhappy.

After more than 100 days in a strict lockdown that allowed only for two hours of outdoor activity a day, the 5 million people living in Melbourne, Victoria's capital, will be able to spend as much time exercising outdoors as they wish.

However, they must stay within 15 miles of their homes, Premier Daniel Andrews said.

Public gatherings will remain tightly limited, and retailers and restaurants must operate only on take-away or delivery orders, with the state government eyeing their reopening by 1 November.

Haste to mechanically ventilate Covid-19 patients may have contributed to higher death rate, senior medic says

Doctors' haste to mechanically ventilate Covid-19 patients at the start of the pandemic might have contributed to the higher rate of death in spring compared to now, a senior medic has said.

Dr Alison Pittard, dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine in London, said doctors' evolving understanding of the virus had dramatically upped the survival rate.

At the start of the pandemic, just 66 per cent of people in hospital with coronavirus survived, compared to 84 per cent in August.

Dr Pittard told Sky News: "Initially we used to put patients straight onto mechanical ventilation - so we would bring them to intensive care, sedate them and put them on ventilators.

"But we have slowly started to realise that perhaps we could manage some patients without doing that."

She said intensive care teams now use a variety of interventions to help patients breathe, and full mechanical ventilation is a last resort.

Coronavirus will make Christmas 'tough' this year, Sage adviser warns

Christmas will be “tough” in the wake of the global pandemic and will not have its usual celebratory atmosphere of families coming together, Sage member Professor Jeremy Farrar has said.

Professor Farrar said he did not believe a vaccine for coronavirus would be rolled out ahead of Christmas this year.

Maya Oppenheim has more details:

Officers given Test and Trace data acting in a ‘very proportionate way’, Michael Gove says

Michael Gove defended police being given data from NHS Test and Trace, saying that officers are operating in a "very proportionate way".

He said: "I think that actually the behavioural effects show that the majority of people, the overwhelming majority of people, want to be part of a national effort to fight the virus.

"And of course there will be some, a very, very small minority, who will be, you know, heedless of the consequences of their actions.

"But the other thing is, the police to be fair to them, are operating things so far as I can see, in a very proportionate way.

"They engage and they explain well before they enforce. We all know that people make innocent errors and an appropriate word can mean that that innocent error can be corrected by any of us.

"But where you do get persistent, flagrant and deliberate breaching of the rules, then it is appropriate for action to be taken."

Andy Burnham accuses PM of ‘exaggerating’ Covid situation in Manchester

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has accused Boris Johnson of “exaggerating” the coronavirus situation in the region as he called for an end to the “war of words” between local leaders and ministers.

Meanwhile, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove accused Mr Burnham of "posturing" and called for action "to save people's lives".

He told Sky's Sophy Ridge On Sunday: "I want to reach an agreement with the political leadership in Greater Manchester. I want them to put aside for a moment some of the political positioning that they've indulged in and I want them to work with us in order to ensure that we save lives and protect the NHS.

"Instead of press conferences and posturing what we need is action to save people's lives."

Political correspondent Ashley Cowburn has the story:

Michael Gove rejects calls for immediate ‘circuit-breaker’ national lockdown

Michael Gove has rejected calls from opposition parties and government scientists for an immediate “circuit breaker” national lockdown in England to tackle a resurgence of coronavirus cases.

Political correspondent Ashley Cowburn has the full story: