Coronavirus news you may have missed overnight: Boris Johnson returns to Downing Street, as Italy announces phased lifting of lockdown

Covid-19 has now infected more than 2.97 million people worldwide, with more than 200,000 deaths recorded

The global coronavirus pandemic has now infected more than 2.97 million people worldwide and an estimated 205,948 deaths have been recorded.

In the UK, 152,840 people have been confirmed to have caught the disease, while the country’s hospital death toll has reached 20,732.

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

Boris Johnson returns to Downing Street

Boris Johnson is set to retake charge of the government's coronavirus response this morning after returning to Downing Street on Sunday evening.

The prime minister is resuming full time duties three weeks after he was admitted to hospital with the disease, and faces growing pressure to begin lifting lockdown measures.

He will chair the regular morning meeting of the government's Covid-19 "war cabinet" before heading into a series of meetings with senior ministers and officials.

Protective equipment shortages worsening, doctors warn

The Royal College of Physicians revealed one in three physicians working in high-risk settings have reported running short of long-sleeved gowns or full-face visors – a situation that has “worsened over the past three weeks”.

Of those working in other hospital areas, 40 per cent are not always equipped with eye protection, while 15.5 per cent are sometimes left without fluid-repellent face masks.

The grim survey results were disclosed as foreign secretary Dominic Raab, who has been deputising for the prime minister, admitted the government has fallen short on protecting frontline NHS and care staff – but refused to say when shortages would finally end.

Italy to begin phased lifting of lockdown

Italy will allow businesses such as factories and construction firms to reopen from next week as it prepares to gradually lift Europe’s longest coronavirus lockdown.

Prime minister Giuseppe Conte set out the staged removal of restrictions in a televised address to the nation on Sunday night, nearly two months after the first case of Covid-19 was reported in a small town outside Milan.

“We expect a very complex challenge,” Mr Conte said, before urging the public to maintain social distancing. “We will live with the virus and we will have to adopt every precaution possible.”

Furloughed workers urged to pick fruit and vegetables to save harvest

Millions of furloughed workers will be urged to pick fruit and vegetables this summer amid fears crops will be left to rot in the fields.

Environment secretary George Eustice said plans were being put in place to fill the shortage of migrant labour due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The scheme would see large numbers of people - including those who are effectively being paid by the government not to work - sent to help out with the harvest in June.

Public must accept tough lockdown restrictions as ‘new normal’ for many months

Dominic Raab warned the public must accept “the new normal” of tough restrictions lasting for many months as he played down an early easing of the lockdown.

“Social distancing measures are going to be with us for some time,” he said, a day after the death toll in hospitals topped the grim milestone of 20,000.

For the first time, the stand-in prime minister revealed some of the options being considered for when a partial relaxation would be possible.