Coronavirus news you might have missed overnight: PM ‘failed to attend five meetings’ at start of outbreak as ministers ask London Olympics boss to lead PPE drive

Saturday night sees pop stars hold virtual concert viewed across the globe as Captain Tom Moore's viral fundraising effort surpasses £25m

The coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold across the globe. Here's a morning briefing with the developments you might have missed overnight.

PM criticised for failing to attend five Cobra meetings at start of outbreak

Boris Johnson was quick to adopt the wartime rhetoric currently popular with governments across the globe, declaring the country at "war" with the disease, which has now claimed the lives of more than 15,000 Britons.

He faces fresh criticism about his early handling of the crisis, however, having reportedly missed five Cobra meetings at the start of the outbreak, in January and February, leading one minister to say: “There’s no way you’re at war if your PM isn’t there”.

The prime minister, who is currently recovering from Covid-19, is reported by The Sunday Times to have only attended his first such meeting after more than 40 people were proven to be infected in the UK.

Ministers ask London Olympics boss to lead PPE drive as they scramble to solve shortfall

Amid concerns that supplies of personal protective equipment may not last the weekend, unions warned NHS staff could walk out rather than work on coronavirus wards without gowns, with Unite going as far as to suggest Matt Hancock should resign unless more PPE is found.

In a bid to rectify the dire situation, the health secretary has announced that the London Olympics boss has been drafted in to help.

Lord Paul Deighton, the chief executive of the 2012 Olympic games, will drive a push to make more PPE available in the UK, amid a global shortage.

Mr Hancock compared Lord Deighton to Lord Beaverbrook, who spearheaded Britain’s wartime aircraft production, and said he would “bring renewed drive and focus to this unprecedented peacetime challenge”.

Lord Deighton said his single goal would be to get NHS staff “the essential equipment they need”.

During Saturday’s Downing Street briefing, communities secretary Robert Jenrick revealed that a large consignment, including 400,000 gowns, was due to arrive in the UK from Turkey on Sunday – due to high demand, this may only last a few days.

‘There is never an excuse not to share information’: Dr Deborah Birx attacks China over coronavirus during Trump briefing

Amid rising scepticism of Beijing's reported mortality rate, the UK's Dominic Raab and France's Emmanuel Macron have joining the United States in questioning China's early handling of the crisis.

The coordinator of America’s coronavirus response on Saturday joined the president in hitting out at China for a lack of transparency in the early stages of the pandemic.

Dr Deborah Birx said the true horrors of the disease were not explained to the US by China but by countries in Europe like France and Italy, in a forthright intervention.

She told Saturday’s White House press briefing: “They said be very careful, there’s an extraordinarily high mortality rate amongst people with pre-existing conditions. And we used their information to bring that to the American people.

“That information came from our European colleagues who were in the midst of their own battle themselves. So there is never an excuse to not share information.

“When you are the first country to have an outbreak you really have a moral obligation to the world to not only talk about it but to provide information that’s critical to the rest of the world to really respond to this credibly.”

Lady Gaga and Andrea Bocelli hold virtual World at One concert

With a huge proportion of people across the world living under some form of lockdown, some of the biggest pop stars on the planet joined forces to provide an eight-hour stream of virtual performances last night.

Organised with Lady Gaga and charitable organisation Global Citizen, The One World: Together at Home global concert included a six-hour pre-show available to stream online, before the two-hour main event airing both online and on television.

Among the many artists to perform were Taylor Swift, Sir Paul McCartney, The Killers, The Rolling Stones, Jennifer Lopez, Sam Smith, Sir Elton John, Andrea Bocelli, The Killers, Kacey Musgraves and Jennifer Hudson.​

Captain Tom Moore raises 25m

Donations towards the 99-year-old war veteran's viral fundraising effort continue to flood in.

Captain Tom Moore has now raised more than £25m for NHS Charities Together by taking part in a “100th birthday walk”.

Earlier this month, the 99-year-old set out a goal of raising £1,000 for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday at the end of the month.

The nonagenarian has since surpassed his aim by more than 5,000 per cent, raising more than £25m

Frontline NHS staff deserve £29-per-day bonus, say Lib Dems

The government should introduce a £29-a-day “frontline service reward” recognising the dedication of NHS staff dealing with the coronavirus pandemic , the Liberal Democrats have said.

The party unveiled its "frontline support package" proposals, and said health and care staff should receive a financial bonus just as military personnel do when on active duty.

The initiative also includes calls to fast track the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Acting Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: “The fight against coronavirus is seeing several million key workers risking their lives to protect others. NHS and care staff are truly on the frontline in this national struggle – putting themselves in danger and working long shifts.

“We should never ask our military to risk their lives without the proper kit, and we shouldn’t be leaving health and care workers without sufficient protective kit either.