Coronavirus news: More schools abandon plans to reopen next week as rising UK infection rates spark fears of second wave

Alastair Campbell: Albania’s empathetic handling of the coronavirus crisis beats Boris Johnson’s catastrophic response hands down - just ask my barber

OK, I have been very negative of late. Hard not to be with Boris Johnson’s shower of clowns and charlatans delivering a national catastrophe. But today, a story with a happy ending, to warm your heart, and show that prime ministers are not all the same, and politicians can make a difference. The happy ending landed just after midnight in the early hours of Thursday morning with a text from my barber: “We made it!” When I wrote mid-April about 20 things I was missing in lockdown, Burnley FC games came top, and “abroad” was not far behind, with trips to France, Albania, Singapore, Australia and Nashville (sorry Greta) all postponed or cancelled due to Covid-19.

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BREAKING NEWS

There have been 204 confirmed deaths of coronavirus over the last 24 hours, the Department of Health has said. 

Denial, entitlement, or a desperation for physical intimacy? Why people are breaking lockdown for sex

As new lockdown laws in England make it illegal for couples living apart to have sex, The Independent's Olivia Petter examines why people are putting themselves and others at risk by flouting the rules.

Relaxation of Sunday trading laws 'misguided', union leaders say

Any effort to relax Sunday trading laws have been condemned as “misguided” and “grossly unfair” to key workers by union leaders.

Any change would ignore the childcare challenges that many shopworkers face while also stopping them from having a much-needed break on Sundays during the highly-pressurised coronavirus crisis, they said.

In contrast, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) argues that “businesses need to be given every possible opportunity to start to generate sales again”.

Paddy Lillis, general secretary of Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers), said: “The last thing the retail industry needs is longer trading hours, there is no economic case for this and it will put extra pressure on the retail workers who have worked so hard throughout this crisis.”

His comments come after reports of Government plans to suspend Sunday trading laws for a year to try and stimulate the economy amid the coronavirus crisis.

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John Rentoul: No more bipartisan politics – this is the end of Keir Starmer’s ‘constructive opposition’

Keir Starmer took over as leader of the Labour Party on 4 April, when the coronavirus outbreak in Britain was at its worst. The number of deaths peaked four days later. So his acceptance speech was a sombre affair, promising to “engage constructively with the government”.

He wouldn’t offer “opposition for opposition’s sake”, he said, “but we will test the arguments that are put forward”; he would “challenge” the government if it made mistakes or if things were “not happening as quickly as they should”.

It was a fine example of the adage that you should ignore everything before the “but”. When Boris Johnson returned to the House of Commons to face the new leader of the opposition on 6 May I think he was taken by surprise by Starmer’s partisan approach. The Labour leader’s first question contrasted the prime minister’s talk of “apparent success” with the highest death toll in Europe and asked: “How on earth did it come to this?”

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Here are the latest updates from a selection of countries across the world, provided by Reuters:

SPAIN

Masterpieces by Velazquez, Goya, and Picasso can be enjoyed once again now that the most important art museums in Spain's capital have reopened for the first time in almost three months.

Madrid's Museo del Prado opened its doors for 1,800 visitors who had to wear face masks and have their temperature taken before viewing what the museum called its “most iconic works”.

The special exhibition, entitled “Reunited”, includes more than 190 works that were relocated inside the huge museum to streamline the flow of visitors, who must stay on a fixed route past Velazquez's “Las Meninas”, Fra Angelico's “The Annunciation”, and Rubens' “Saturn Devouring a Son”.

INDIA

India surpassed Italy as the sixth worst-hit by the coronavirus pandemic after another biggest single-day spike in confirmed infections.

The Health Ministry reported 9,887 new cases on Saturday, bringing the total to 236,657.

Most of the new cases are in rural areas following the return of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who left cities and towns after the lockdown in late March.

SOUTH KOREA

South Korea reported 51 new cases of Covid-19 on Saturday, mostly in the densely populated capital region as authorities scramble to stem transmissions among low-income workers who cannot afford to stay home.

The figures announced by South Korea's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention brought national totals to 11,719 cases and 273 deaths.

At least 42 cases were linked to door-to-door sellers hired by Richway, a Seoul-based health product provider.

Vice health minister Kim Gang-lip said the spread of the virus among Richway sellers was particularly alarming as most of them are in their 60s and 70s.

Downing Street has tweeted a video urging the public to wear face masks when shopping, using public transport, or when you are in an enclosed space.

Kate Garraway says husband could remain permanently in coma

Kate Garraway has revealed that her husband Derek Draper could be in a coma forever due to coronavirus.

Draper, 52, was admitted to hospital in March with symptoms of Covid-19. He has now been in an intensive care unit for 10 weeks and is currently in a coma.

Speaking to The Sun, Garraway explained that she had been told by doctors to prepare for a “second worst case scenario” on a phone call two weeks ago.

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‘He was carrying two knives looking for me’: Women cooped up with violent partners during lockdown recount horror

“I was at my local pub and we heard commotion and shouting outside,” Jemima* tells The Independent. “The landlords bolted the doors as they knew about my situation. He had been walking through town carrying two knives looking for me. When I went home, he had smashed all my windows in. He’d been up to my bedroom and smashed it up. He trashed my car as well, to the point that it was written off. Police detained him that night.”

Domestic abuse has soared since the government imposed lockdown restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus, with a report recently released by MPs revealing domestic abuse killings doubled over 21 days during the public health crisis, writes The Independent's Maya Oppenheim. 

Calls to the UK’s national domestic abuse helpline have risen by 66 per cent, and visits to its website have surged by 950 per cent since the start of the lockdown.

Jemima was forced to escape her violent ex-partner during the lockdown after his abuse began to spiral out of control. The alleged knife incident occurred days after Jemima reported her ex to the police for domestic abuse and kicked him out of her house.

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Professor calls for inquiry into UK government's handling of coronavirus

An inquiry identifying failures around the UK Government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic must be delivered within months to prepare for a second wave of the disease, Scotland's former chief scientific adviser has said.

Professor Dame Anne Glover said it would be “inexcusable” for ministers to repeat “mistakes that have already been made” should there be a second spike of coronavirus cases this winter.

Her comments come as 27 medical and scientific experts signed a letter to The Guardian warning many more Britons may die if the UK Government is without solutions to “some of the structural problems that have made implementing an effective response so difficult”.

Prof Glover, who is now president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, told the PA news agency: “Given that second wave is likely to come at a time that is likely to coincide with seasonal influenza, and that would give us serious problems, we really need to understand what the failings have been in our apparent inability to be able to deal with this pandemic appropriately.”

She said the UK could be faced with “very many more needless deaths” during the winter without a “rapid and transparent” inquiry, looking at areas such as personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement and track and trace systems.

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