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

Uber mask requirement extended indefinitely

Uber has extended its 'No Mask, No Ride' policy for drivers and riders indefinitely.

The company began requiring masks on 18 May and initially said the policy would run out at the end of June.

"Extending our 'No Mask, No Ride' policy is the right thing to do. We want to send a clear message to everyone using Uber that we all have a role to play to keep each other safe," Uber said in a statement.

A spokesman said not setting an expiration date for the policy was intentional as the company continued to monitor the situation and the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Woman attacked by male colleague 'after telling him to wear a mask'

A local government employee in India has been arrested after footage showed him brutally attacking a female colleague, reportedly after she reminded him to wear his coronavirus face mask.

No10 to hold coronavirus briefing tomorrow

Downing Street will hold a coronavirus press conference for the first time in more than a week on Thursday.

Members of the public have been invited to submit questions on education.

The briefing is expected to involve an announcement on the return of schools, possibly involving 'mega bubbles' which cover whole class and year groups.

Ten 'Nightingale courts' to tackle case backlog

At least 10 buildings are to be repurposed as courtrooms as authorities battle a backlog of more than half a million cases, the government has announced.

Officials are scoping out further premises, including university lecture theatres, conference centres and sports facilities, that are large enough to enable social distancing at hearings.

Coronavirus 'is going to just disappear', says Trump (again)

California shuts down bars as cases rise

Indoor activities at restaurants, movie theaters and other facilities will be banned in most of California for at least three weeks as COVID-19 infections surge, Governor Gavin Newsom has announced.

All bars and brew pubs, whether indoor or out, must also close in 19 counties where 70 percent of the population live, Newsom said.

Hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 have been soaring in the most populous U.S. state, starting around the Memorial Day weekend and continuing to rise. Over the past 24 hours, 110 people have died in California, the governor said.

The order covers some of the state's most heavily populated areas, including Los Angeles and Orange Counties, as well as the state capital, Sacramento.

It comes as Florida, Texas and other states are also seeing a surge in cases and hospitalizations from COVID-19.

Louisiana reports more than 2,000 cases in a day

Louisiana saw its largest daily coronavirus case spike since the peak of its outbreak in April, with nearly 2,100 cases confirmed over the last 24 hour period.

Hospitalizations also continued to increase.

Baton Rouge mayor Sharon Weston Broome said she would sign an executive order that requires people to wear face coverings when they are inside businesses.

"My message is simple. Save a life, save our economy and wear a face covering," the mayor wrote on Twitter.

New Orleans already has a mask requirement for nearly all activities in the city.

Indoor bar seating too close in Michigan

Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday said she was closing indoor seating in bars in parts of the state following recent outbreaks.

Whitmer also signed a bill allowing bars and restaurants to sell to-go cocktails in an effort to help those businesses.

However bars won't have to close down completely and the Upper Peninsula and much of northern Michigan are not subject to the order due to low numbers of reported COVID-19 virus cases. All bars may still keep open their outdoor patios. The order takes effect at 11 pm.

"Following recent outbreaks tied to bars, I am taking this action today to slow the spread of the virus and keep people safe," the governor said in a news release. "If we want to be in a strong position to reopen schools for in-person classroom instruction this fall, then we need to take aggressive action right now to ensure we don't wipe out all the progress we have made."

Prague throws party to celebrate 'end of crisis'

Prague has celebrated a self-proclaimed end to its coronavirus epidemic – by throwing a massive party attended by thousands of people all sharing food and without any social distancing.

The Czech capital held the unorthodox gathering to say a “symbolic farewell” to the infection and to show residents should no longer be scared to meet with friends or visit local businesses.

Israel security service given coronavirus surveillance powers

Israel's parliament has approved a law granting the country's internal security agency limited authority to use phone surveillance to track coronavirus cases.

The Israeli government had authorized the Shin Bet to use the technology in March during the peak of the country's coronavirus outbreak, despite public outcry over privacy concerns.

But the country's Supreme Court ordered the surveillance halted until the security agency's permission was granted by law.

The Knesset, Israel's parliament, voted 51-38 in favor of granting the Shin Bet power to use phone surveillance to retrace the steps of people infected with COVID-19 and identify others who came in contact with them in the previous two weeks. Those determined to have been in close proximity with an infected person will be ordered to self-quarantine for two weeks from the date of contact.

The law grants the Shin Bet permission to track cell phones for a three-week period on a case-by-case basis and only in instances in which other epidemiological tracking methods are insufficient in determining contact between a patient and other potentially infected persons.

AP