Coronavirus news you may have missed overnight: Death rates twice as high in more deprived areas, as Ireland unveils lockdown exit strategy

Covid-19 has now infected more than 3.3 million people worldwide, with an estimated 240,000 deaths recorded

The global coronavirus pandemic has now infected more than 3.3 million people worldwide and an estimated 240,000 deaths have been recorded.

In the UK, 177,454 people have been confirmed to have caught the disease, while the country’s death toll has reached 27,510.

Here is your morning briefing of everything you may have missed overnight.

Coronavirus death rates twice as high in more deprived areas

The death rate from the coronavirus in deprived areas of England is more than double that found in richer locations – with the poorest parts of London by far the worst affected, according to new figures.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the mortality rate for the most deprived areas in March and early April was 55.1 deaths per 100,000 people, compared with 25.3 deaths per 100,000 in the least deprived areas.

The local authorities with the highest Covid-19 death rates were all London boroughs struggling with poverty, with Newham the single worst-affected area in the country, followed closely by Brent and Hackney.

Government could drop two-metre distancing rule in lockdown exit plan

A potential exit strategy from the UK’s coronavirus lockdown could see the two-metre social distancing rule relaxed, as ministers have asked the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) to further probe the need for such a measure.

Questions over the two-metre rule have been raised by numerous ministers, The Daily Telegraph reported, amid discussions about whether such distancing is an effective tool in fighting the spread of coronavirus, and how and when to safely bring the country out of the lockdown.

Following his absence from Downing Street in order to recover from Covid-19, Boris Johnson, the prime minister, said on his return to work that the government would be setting out a “roadmap” next week with plans on how schools and businesses could safely reopen.

Experts warn hospitals lack enough intensive care nurses to restart operations

Experts have warned the NHS lacks enough essential critical-care nurses for hospitals to restart some services while thousands of Covid-19 patients remain in hospital.

The head of NHS England, Sir Simon Stevens, wrote to hospitals earlier this week asking NHS trusts to begin non-coronavirus-related activities again now that the health service had come through the worst of the Covid-19 surge.

However, the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM) and the British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN) warned in a joint statement that there are not enough staff to safely cope with additional work.

Migrants told to rely on ‘investments and cash savings’ to meet visa requirements during lockdown

The Home Office has prompted outrage after claiming migrant workers in the UK can rely on their “investments and cash savings” to meet income requirements if they have lost their jobs during the coronavirus lockdown.

Charities have warned job losses during the pandemic could risk thousands of families being torn apart because they no longer meet the minimum income requirement for spouse visas, which stipulates that the applicant and their partner must have joint earnings of £18,600 per annum.

When asked in a written parliamentary question whether the department had considered suspending the policy during the Covid-19 outbreak, immigration minister Kevin Foster said couples who had lost their jobs could still meet the income requirement in “a number of ways”.