Coronavirus news – live: WHO says everyone must wear face masks in public as Matt Hancock urges people not to attend George Floyd protests
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Your support makes all the difference.The World Health Organisation has updated its coronavirus guidance in response to recent research to say everyone should wear face coverings in public where there is a risk of virus transmission.
The change came as Matt Hancock, the health secretary, announced all hospital visitors would have to wear face coverings from 15 June and urged the public to not attend upcoming George Floyd protests due to concerns about the potential for large gatherings to spread Covid-19.
Meanwhile, as the official UK death toll passed 40,000, scientists halted a trial of the anti-malaria drug touted by Donald Trump after researchers at the University of Oxford found hydroxychloroquine was ineffective as a treatment for coronavirus.
Follow the latest developments in the liveblog below:
Iraq records more than 1,000 cases in a day
Iraq reported more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases in a single day for the first time today, bringing the total to 9,846.
At least 285 people have died of COVID-19 in Iraq, according to the health ministry.
Isis and al-Qaeda set to profit from Covid-19
Lockdowns and aid shortages makes north African communities 'an easy target' for jihadis, reports Borzou Daragahi.
Trump calls for shift in strategy to protecting ‘high-risk populations’ as part of push to reopen
Donald Trump has called for a shift in strategy against the coronavirus pandemic to focus resources on protecting “high-risk populations” as part of a push for a total end to stay-at-home orders in states throughout the US.
In remarks at the White House Rose Garden, Mr Trump said:
“The best strategy to ensure the health of our people moving forward is to focus our resources on protecting high-risk populations, like the elderly and those in nursing homes, while allowing younger and healthy Americans to get back to work immediately.”
More than 108,000 Americans have died and more than 1.8 million have been sickened in the country so far during the pandemic.
An end to boxing as we know it?
A world champion, world title challenger, English champion, regional champion, rising star and promoter talk to Luke Brown about the significant impact the pandemic has had on their sport
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Opinion: 'Disabled people are being ignored by the government'
Our columnist, James Moore, has written about the experiences of disabled people during the coronavirus pandemic.
James writes:
"Boris Johnson’s government seems more interested in disenfranchising Britain’s elderly and disabled MPs by demanding they attend the House of Commons to vote rather than doing it remotely when they are supposed to be shielding themselves and/or family members from the pandemic, than it is in paying attention to the plight of the nation’s disabled people."
You can read his full article below:
WHO updates guidance to say everyone should wear face masks in public
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has updated its guidance to recommend governments ask everyone to wear face masks in public areas where there is a risk of transmission of Covid-19.
In its new guidance, which was prompted by evidence from studies conducted in recent weeks, WHO stressed that face masks were only one of a range of tools to reduce the risk of viral transmission, and should not give a false sense of protection.
“We are advising governments to encourage that the general public wear a mask. And we specify a fabric mask - that is, a non-medical mask,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead expert on Covid-19, told Reuters in an interview.
You can read more on this breaking story below:
New York City reports no new Covid-19 deaths for first day since mid-March
New York City may have seen its first day with no confirmed coronavirus deaths since fatalities started rising in mid-March.
According to preliminary data from the city’s health department, there were zero confirmed additional deaths from Covid-19 on Wednesday 3 June.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the development was “great news” for the city.
Our reporter, Louise Hall, has the full story below:
Elon Musk attacks Amazon over coronavirus book
Elon Musk has called out fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos over Amazon's decision to ban a controversial book about the coronavirus.
The SpaceX and Tesla boss tweeted in response to a screenshot posted by the author of the self-published e-book, titled 'Unreported truths about Covid-19 and lockdowns', which showed a message from Amazon's content review department.
Health secretary Matt Hancock has begun the daily coronavirus briefing, citing an Office for National Statistics (ONS) study which suggested the number of new infections a day has fallen.
The ONS figures showed the number of people with Covid-19 in England had fallen to about 5,600 new infections a day from about 8,000 reported last week.
Mr Hancock said the figures were "encouraging".
Mr Hancock has said all hospital visitors and outpatients will need to wear face coverings to slow the spread of Covid-19 within hospitals from 15 June.
The health secretary has also updated guidance to say all hospital staff will need to wear masks at all times to protect against the virus.
"As we get this virus under control, it is so important that we stamp out new infections and outbreaks," Mr Hancock said.
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