Coronavirus news – live: England and Wales death toll passes 40,000 as WHO warns countries lifting lockdowns risk ‘immediate second peak’
All the latest developments on coronavirus pandemic as they happened.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The number of deaths linked to coronavirus in England and Wales has passed 40,000, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The death toll was announced after the World Health Organisation warned countries which lift their coronavirus lockdowns too early risk facing an “immediate second peak” of infections. Dr Mike Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies head, said the virus could “jump up at any time” even in countries where infections have been falling.
Meanwhile, the a clinical trial into a malaria drug touted by Donald Trump as a Covid-19 preventative has been halted over safety fears. The WHO said testings involving hydroxychloroquine had been suspended while “data is reviewed by the data safety monitoring board”.
Around 90 5G masts attacked during lockdown
The number of attacks on mobile phone masts has climbed to around 90 since the coronavirus lockdown began, the UK's network trade body has revealed.
MobileUK said it has currently recorded 87 arson incidents against network towers across the country, but warned there might be a delay on information from over the bank holiday weekend.
Attacks against mobile masts have surged since March amid conspiracy theories linking 5G technology to the spread of Covid-19, a claim experts and scientists have called unproven, "baseless" and "utter rubbish".
One attack reported in April was on a mast serving the Nightingale hospital in Birmingham.
"Theories being spread about 5G are baseless and are not grounded in credible scientific theory," Mobile UK has repeatedly argued.
"Mobile operators are dedicated to keeping the UK connected, and careless talk could cause untold damage.
"Continuing attacks on mobile infrastructure risks lives and at this challenging time the UK's critical sectors must be able to focus all their efforts fighting this pandemic."
Spanish death toll reaches 27,000
Spain's Health Ministry reported that a total of 27,119 people had died from the coronavirus since the beginning of the outbreak.
Confirmed cases of the virus reached 236,259, the ministry said.
Today, the government revised down the country's cumulative death toll by nearly 2,000 after checking data provided by regions, a move which drew sharp criticism from political opponents.
Department of Health refuses to comment on why it cannot provide testing figures
The Department of Health has declined to say why it cannot provide figures for how many people are being tested for coronavirus.
A daily tally of coronavirus tests is still being provided, but not the breakdown of how many people this includes.
A spokesman said "technical difficulties" meant the number of people being tested cannot be reported but declined to say what these issues were.
The most recent data shows there were 109,979 tests carried out on 25 May.
Hydroxychloroquine results expected next month, WHO says
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said a safety team would review data on hydroxychloroquine by next month, a day after officials cited safety concerns that prompted them to suspend use of the malaria drug in a global trial in Covid-19 patients.
The WHO called time on using the drug in its multi-country trial, called Solidarity, after a study published in British medical journal The Lancet found patients randomised to get hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) had increased mortality rates and higher frequency of irregular heartbeats.
Donald Trump and others have pushed HCQ as a possible treatment for the disease.
"A final decision on the harm, benefit or lack of benefit of hydroxychloroquine will be made once the evidence has been reviewed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board," the WHO said.
"This review will include data from the Solidarity Trial and other ongoing trials, as well as any evidence published so far. It is expected by mid-June."
Americas becomes new pandemic epicentre, WHO says
The World Health Organisation (WHO) considers the Americas the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, and now is not the time for countries to ease restrictions, officials said in a briefing.
Carissa Etienne, WHO director for the Americas and head of the Pan American Health Organisation, said via videoconference that outbreaks were accelerating in countries such as Brazil, where the number of deaths reported in the last week was the highest in the world for a 7-day period since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Italy's Red Cross calls for citizens to test blood for coronavirus antibodies
Italy's health minister is appealing to citizens to answer the Red Cross call for a blood test to determine if they have antibodies to COVID-19.
Red Cross volunteers began making phone calls today to a representative sample of people throughout Italy.
Roberto Speranza told Sky TG24 TV the goal is to better understand how many people have developed antibodies.
Experts say many people without COVID-19 symptoms in the country where Europe's outbreak began were likely infected but were never tested. Mr Speranza said the blood test results of 150,000 people can be applied to the entire country.
Mr Speranza said people with antibodies will quickly receive a test for Covid-19 to see if they have an active infection. Italy is considering a tentative lifting of restrictions of travel between regions in the country on 3 June.
Scientists have cautioned they don't know if antibodies guarantee immunity, and if they do, how long such immunity lasts.
Venezuela's health system 'grossly unprepared' to deal with coronavirus, report says
A report says Venezuela's broken health system is "grossly unprepared" to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, warning overcrowding and limited access to water in hospitals and homes make it likely the coronavirus illness will rapidly spread.
The report by Human Right Watch and Johns Hopkins University's Centers for Public Health and Human Rights and for Humanitarian Health says the massive exodus of Venezuelans and crossing of the country's borders due to the pandemic is increasing the risk of spread.
The report says, Venezuela had 1,121 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 10 deaths on Monday.
But "the real number is almost certainly much higher, given the limited availability of reliable testing, limited transparency, and the persecution of medical professionals and journalists who report on this issue."
Human Rights Watch and Johns Hopkins urged UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres and UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock to lead efforts to address this "humanitarian emergency."
They called on the Lima Group of mostly conservative-run regional countries seeking to defuse the crisis in Venezuela as well as the United States and the European Union to press Maduro to "immediately open doors to a full-scale, UN-led humanitarian response to prevent catastrophic spread of Covid-19."
Boris Johnson invites Vladimir Putin to summit on vaccine development
Boris Johnson has invited Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, to attend an online summit on the development of a coronavirus vaccine.
The British Embassy said Mr Johnson had officially invited Mr Putin to attend the Global Vaccine Summit 2020 hosted by Britain on 4 June.
The embassy statement indicates the summit will focus on securing the critical support required for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to "continue its vital work and to help ensure that any vaccine developed for Covid-19 is available for the whole world."
Several Russian labs have been developing anti-coronavirus vaccines and testing on humans was expected to start next month.
Spain's death toll reaches 27,117
Spain's Health Ministry said a total of 27,117 people had died from the coronavirus since the beginning of the outbreak.
Confirmed cases of the virus reached 236,259, the ministry said.
Yesterday, the government revised down the country's cumulative death toll by nearly 2,000 after checking data provided by regions, a move that drew sharp criticism from political opponents.
UK can begin to replenish PPE stockpiles, health secretary says
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said the UK can now begin to replenish its personal protective equipment (PPE) stockpiles after brokering new deals and increasing manufacture.
He told the daily Downing Street press conference: "I can announce that we have now signed contracts to manufacture two billion items of PPE here in the UK.
"Around the world, we've signed deals with over 100 new suppliers including agreeing contracts for a further 3.7 billion gloves.
"While we continue to improve the logistics and work hard to get everyone the PPE they need, these new supplies mean we're not simply keeping up with demand, we're now able to begin to replenish our stockpiles."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments