Coronavirus news: Boris Johnson ‘blind’ to risk of lifting lockdown as more cities being monitored for spikes ahead of ‘Super Saturday’

NYC delays return to indoor dining

Indoor dining at New York City restaurants will be delayed out of fear it would cause a spike in coronavirus infections, the mayor has announced.

Bill De Blasio, a Democrat, said he was concerned that if the city welcomed diners back into the enclosed spaces of its restaurants, it might experience the same surge in illness now being seen in other states.

"Honestly, even a week ago, honestly, I was hopeful we could. But the news we have gotten from around the country gets worse and worse all the time."

State governor Andrew Cuomo said the ban on indoor dining would be confined to New York City.

"Everything else is going to continue, everything else is continuing all across the state," the governor, also a Democrat, said. "This is a New York City-only modification because frankly it is a problem that is most pronounced in New York City."

   center no-repeat #999999;cursor:pointer;top:-1px; border-radius: 0px 0px 2px 2px;">↵Walkers confirms 28 staff at Leicester factory tested positive this month

As the city became the UK’s first to be subject to a localised lockdown due to a surge in new Covid-19 cases, the firm said it would “continue to maintain the highest level of vigilance” in its operations.

Around 1,400 people work at the Beaumont Leys site.

Manchester 'going in opposite direction to Leicester'

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has said the region is in a "reasonably good place" compared to locked-down Leicester.

Mr Burnham, holding a press conference with Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, announced a management plan to control a local outbreak as new data revealed some boroughs, Rochdale and Oldham, had high infection rates.

Overall though, the number of confirmed cases per 100,000 of population in Greater Manchester stood at 13.3, compared to 135 in Leicester. In Rochdale, the figure was 28.8 and in Oldham 27.8.

Mr Burnham said: "The gap between what's happening here and what appears to be happening in Leicester is pretty wide.

"But of course I'm not complacent, the picture can change quite quickly so we are not ruling out we won't be in a similar situation but as I said in at least nine of the 10 boroughs, probably in 10 out of 10, the number of new cases has been coming down so we are going in the right direction, which is the opposite direction to Leicester.

"The only caveat I would put on it is we don't yet know what the Government's thresholds are for intervention. What is the tests, what is the trigger points for the Government to say we need to intervene.

"I would say this to the public of all our boroughs, it's in your hands, listen to the public health advice, follow it closely and we should avoid any risk of a local lockdown."

Press Associaton

Turkey cases pass 200,000

A further 1,192 cases have been confirmed in Turkey today, as the total passed 200,000.

The death toll in the country from Covid-19 now stands at 5,150.

Health ministry data showed more than 87 per cent of the cases have recovered.

Police 'considering all options' to enforce Leicester lockdown

The head of Leicester’s police force has said officers are considering “all options” to enforce the UK’s first local coronavirus lockdown.

Asked whether roadblocks would be imposed to prevent people from leaving the city, chief constable Simon Cole said: “We’re thinking about all of our options but we hope that common sense will prevail. Most people have complied here through the previous iterations of the lockdown.”

Full list of coronavirus rates across England

The latest figures on coronavirus rates across England confirm that Leicester tops the list, with double the rate of the next highest area, Bradford.

Public Health England published the following data based on tests carried out in laboratories and the wider community.

France update

The number of deaths in France from the new coronavirus has risen by 18 from the previous day to stand at 29,861, the country's health department said.

That figure is in line with the daily average from last week, and much lower than the 143 deaths on average every day in May.

This decrease has allowed the government to gradually re-open businesses, restaurants and some schools since 11 May.

The total number of cases rose by 918 to 165,719.

Reuters

Children with Covid-19 may develop different symptoms, say experts

Children infected with coronavirus may exhibit neurological symptoms instead of the respiratory symptoms Covid-19 patients normally have, according to a new study.

US deaths rise by 560 to 127,299

A further 43,644 cases of coronavirus have been reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It takes the total, as of 4pm ET yesterday, to 2,624,873. Deaths rose by 560 to 127,299.

No kissing or heavy breathing, as Dutch sex workers return from lockdown

Dutch sex workers welcomed customers back on Wednesday as the Netherlands further eased coronavirus measures, but they were advised to avoid heavy breathing and kissing to help reduce the risk of transmitting Covid-19.

Erotic dancers and prostitutes lost their main source of income for three-and-a-half months and generally did not have access to state support during lockdown.