Coronavirus news – live: Shoppers risk fines as face masks become mandatory in England on 24 July

PM says government will make face coverings announcement ‘in the next few days’

Boris Johnson has said the government will make an announcement “in the next few days” on whether face coverings should be mandatory in shops.

“They have a great deal of value in confined spaces where you're coming into contact with people you don't normally meet,” Mr Johnson told reporters during a visit to the London Ambulance Service.

“The scientific evaluation of face coverings and their importance on stopping aerosol droplets, that's been growing, so I do think that in shops it is very important to wear a face covering if you're going to be in a confined space and you want to protect other people and receive protection in turn.”

He added: “Yes, face coverings, I think people should be wearing in shops, and in terms of how we do that - whether we will be making that mandatory or not - we will be looking at the guidance, we will be saying a little bit more in the next few days.”

The prime minister said he wanted to be “absolutely clear” that he thought face coverings had “real value in confined spaces”.

Leicester coronavirus rate decreasing but city is still ‘an outlier’

Leicester’s rate of new coronavirus cases has fallen from its recent peak but is not declining steadily, new data has suggested.

The equivalent of 115.4 cases per 100,000 people were detected in the seven days to 9 July, according to the latest figures from NHS England.

This is down slightly on 119.9 cases per 100,000 people in the previous seven days to 2 July.

However, the rate has fluctuated over the past seven days - although these changes may be due to increased levels of testing picking up more cases.

Rolling data for the seven-day rate of new cases in the city showed a peak of 159.1 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to 25 June.

It came as Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, one of the government’s deputy chief medical officers, warned any decision to lift the local lockdown “could not be rushed”.

Professor Van-Tam told BBC Radio Leicester that data published on Saturday showed the city was “really quite an outlier” compared with the rest of the country.

“The situation has improved but it needs to go further,” he added.

For example, Leicestershire as a whole has recorded a seven-day rate of 17.8 cases per 100,000 people, while Derby’s figure is at 9.3 and Nottingham’s is at 5.4.

People 'should start to think about getting back to work' if coronavirus safe, Boris Johnson says

Boris Johnson said people "should start to think about getting back to work" if their employers have made their workplaces safe against coronavirus.

"What I want to see is people, who have been working from home for a long time, now talking to their employers, talking to their places of work, about the steps that have been taken and looking to come back to work in a safe way," the prime minister told reporters during a visit to the London Ambulance Service.

"I think that's got to be the key thing. Where businesses have made a huge effort to make the workplace safe I do think people should start to think about getting back to work but provided we all continue to follow the precautions."

Formal review under way into whether masks should be made mandatory in public places in England

The prime minister's official spokesman said a formal review is under way into whether masks should be made mandatory in public places in England.

At a briefing with reporters on Monday, he said there is further evidence about the "benefits of face coverings in some environments indoors".

The Number 10 official added: "A formal review is taking place and we will be discussing it with scientific advisers this week and setting out a final position in the next few days."

Asked whether there is new evidence behind Boris Johnson's thinking, the spokesman said: "I've always said we would keep this under review and so have the experts who advise the government."

Work is being undertaken to make face masks domestically, the PM's spokesman said.

"The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has spoken about this in the past and said that we are investing in significantly increasing our capacity to manufacture face masks in the UK.

"Lord (Theodore) Agnew is leading a drive to ensure we have face masks manufacturing ability and to increase production of PPE (personal protective equipment).

"In terms of further details, they will be provided in due course."

The spokesman added that Mr Johnson has been "setting out that there is increasing evidence of the benefits of using face coverings in confined spaces and they can have real value".

Work from home guidance under review

Number 10 said the current work from home guidance is under review after Boris Johnson encouraged employees last week to go back to work where they could.

The prime minister's official spokesman said: "What the advice says is that employers should decide in consultation with their workers whether it is viable for them to continue working from home.

"Where it is decided that workers should come in to their place of work, then this will need to be reflected in the risk assessment and actions taken to manage to risk of transmission.

"The PM set out on Friday that if you're obeying the guidelines, and provided it is safe, then you should look to go back to work."

Asked whether the guidelines would be updated, the spokesman said: "The guidance we have is under review but it does say employers and employees should discuss and agree working arrangements to best suit the needs of the business."

Asked whether the prime minister was concerned about a surge of people using public transport following his latest calls for people to return to work, his official spokesman said: "I think the transport operators have been taking steps in recent weeks to increase the number of services that they are providing for their customers and to ensure they can do this in a Covid-secure way.

"Obviously one of the things that has happened is we have introduced the mandatory wearing of face coverings on public transport."

Labour demands clarity from health secretary on face coverings in shops 

Labour has written to health secretary Matt Hancock calling for urgent clarity to address the confusion over the use of face coverings in shops in England.

Shadow health secretary Johnathan Ashworth wrote: "The confusion around the use of face coverings and whether they will become mandatory needs to be addressed through a statement from ministers as a matter of priority.

"Conflicting advice and conflicting statements from the government only hinder our fight against the virus. Clear communication is vital in combating the spread of Covid-19.

"For the public to know that they are doing the right thing in shops, restaurants and other crowded places, I am asking that you urgently set out the position on face coverings.

"As lockdown rules are further relaxed this week, it is vital that updated guidance on this issue is published by the government without delay."

Scotland sees no new coronavirus deaths for fifth day in a row

No new coronavirus deaths have been reported in Scotland for the fifth day in a row, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

The first minister told the Scottish government's coronavirus briefing 2,490 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for Covid-19, no change on Wednesday's figure.

She said 18,365 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by six from 18,359 on Sunday.

This follows 19 new cases on Sunday, of which 12 were in Glasgow.

Seven of these cases were asymptomatic and relate to one care home, which Ms Sturgeon said is now being further looked into, with testing and precautions in place.

A total of 550 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, she added.

Of these six were in intensive care, no change in the past 24 hours.

Millionaires urge governments to tax them more to help fund coronavirus recovery

Dozens of millionaires and billionaires have called for higher taxes on wealth to help fund the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

“Today, we, the undersigned millionaires and billionaires, ask our governments to raise taxes on people like us. Immediately. Substantially. Permanently,” the group, including screenwriter Richard Curtis and Disney heiress Abigail Disney, wrote in an open letter.

“We are not restocking grocery store shelves or delivering food door to door. But we do have money, lots of it. Money that is desperately needed now."

Our business reporter, Ben Chapman, has the full story below:

Children playing sport in Scotland to be exempt from social distancing rules

An exemption from social distancing guidelines has been put in place for young people playing sport in Scotland, the country’s national clinical director has said.

Professor Jason Leitch said changes to the rules on Monday would allow those under the age of 18 to take part in organised contact sports again.

“This includes full-contact with no physical distancing required, only on the field of play,” Professor Leitch said.

“Clubs, schools and community groups will be able to organise sports for these ages of young people.”

He stressed that the exemption only applied on the field of play and would end “once you cross the white line”.

Sport Scotland will be providing guidance on how the sporting activities should be carried out, including the appointment of a Covid officer, registration of those who are in attendance and hygiene measures.