Coronavirus news you may have missed overnight: Only half of people with missing positive tests reached for contacts

Total number of cases almost at 516,000 as death toll tops 42,000

Coronavirus cases in the UK have now reached almost 516,000, while the death toll has surpassed 42,000.  

The race is on to track down the contacts of the thousands of positive cases in England that went unreported for a week because of a technical glitch.  

Here is your daily roundup of coronavirus news you may have missed overnight.  

Only half of people with missing positive tests reached for contacts  

The chaos over the missing 16,000 positive Covid-19 test results continues in England as nearly half of the cases are yet to be reached to ask for their close contacts.

As anger grew over the blunder – caused by an extraordinary failure to create spreadsheets large enough to cope with all results – the health secretary was warned he was “putting lives at risk”.  

Answering questions in the Commons, Mr Hancock refused to discuss details of the error, but appeared to pin the blame on Public Health England, referring to its “legacy system”.  

Coronavirus has infected 10% of world population in 'best estimate'  

An expert has said only about 10 per cent of the global population has been infected with Covid-19 – leaving 90 per cent of the world “at risk” of catching the disease.  

Dr Michael Ryan, the World Health Organisation’s head of emergencies, said the figures vary from urban to rural settings, and between different groups, but that ultimately it means "the vast majority of the world remains at risk".  

He said the pandemic would continue to evolve, but that tools exist to suppress transmission and save lives.  

Trump rips off mask as he arrives back at White House

Donald Trump essentially checked himself out of a military hospital for his return to the White House, just hours after his doctor said he was improving but "may not entirely be out of the woods yet”.  

The US president landed on the White House’s South Lawn and headed for the Truman Balcony, where he removed his mask despite being contagious.  

After giving the thumbs-up to cameras, the president then turned and entered a room full of aides, still without his mask. 

Infection rates soar in English cities

The weekly rate of coronavirus cases in some English cities has soared after the thousands of missing positive tests were added to the official tally.  

Manchester now has the highest rate in England, with 2,740 cases recorded in the seven days to 1 October – the equivalent of 495.6 cases per 100,000 people.  

While Liverpool has the second highest rate, up from 287.1 to 456.4, with 2,273 new cases, and Knowsley in Merseyside is in third place, up from 300.3 to 452.1, with 682 new cases.  

PM wrongly claims people who self-isolate receive £500 a week

Boris Johnson has blundered over his own Coronavirus rules again, wrongly claiming that people who self-isolate will receive £500 each week.  

In fact, only a single £500 payment is made to people who are told to stay at home and who cannot work – and it is only paid to low-earners.  

The prime minister’s spokesman admitted his mistake, saying: “There is a one-off payment of £500 to cover the period of self-isolation.”