Coronavirus news you may have missed overnight: Defiant Dominic Cummings ‘does not regret’ lockdown trip to Durham, as non-essential shops to reopen next month

Global pandemic has now infected more than 5.5 million people worldwide, with over 345,000 deaths

The global search for treatments and vaccines to bring the coronavirus pandemic to an end is an ongoing challenge, as the outbreak has now infected more than 5.5 million people worldwide, with over 345,000 deaths.

In the UK, 36,914 people have died from Covid-19. The government is forging ahead with its gradual easing of lockdown measures.

Here is your daily briefing of coronavirus news you may have missed overnight.

Defiant Dominic Cummings ‘does not regret’ lockdown trip to Durham amid public and Tory anger

A defiant Dominic Cummings said he did not regret driving 260 miles during lockdown and that he still believed his journey was “reasonable” as he broke his silence to fight for his political career.

During an extraordinary press conference in the rose garden of Downing Street, Mr Cummings also admitted what appeared to be second clear breach of the rules when he said he had taken a 30 mile trip to a beauty spot while in County Durham.

Despite calls from more than a dozen Tory MPs for his head, Boris Johnson’s most senior adviser said he had not considered standing down over the controversy.

Non-essential shops to reopen next month as Boris Johnson urges Britons to spend and revive economy

Boris Johnson has urged shoppers to go out and spend next month to help revive the economy, as he announced outdoor markets and car showrooms across England can reopen from 1 June and all other non-essential retail – including high street shops, department stores and shopping centres – from 15 June.

Speaking at the daily 10 Downing Street coronavirus briefing, the prime minister said the moves were “careful and deliberate steps on the road to rebuilding our country” and would be dependent on meeting the government’s five tests for gaining control over the disease.

Poorer areas miss out as £100m of emergency cash diverted to richer Tory councils with lower infection rates

Poorer parts of England, many of them Covid-19 hotspots, have lost out on more than £100m of emergency cash, after ministers diverted it to richer – mostly Tory-run – areas, new analysis suggests.

The government stripped deprivation out of its calculations, despite announcing plans for that switch had been shelved – and despite saying the money was to “fight the pandemic”.

The biggest losses in percentage terms were suffered by Knowsley (38.8 per cent), Blackpool (37.4 per cent), South Tyneside (32.8 per cent) and Liverpool (32 per cent), according to the Labour analysis seen by The Independent.

WHO suspends clinical trial of drug touted by Trump as ‘coronavirus cure’ over safety fears

A clinical trial of malaria drug hydroxychloroquine has been suspended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) amid safety concerns, the body’s chief has confirmed.

The drug has been repeatedly endorsed by world leaders including Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and US president Donald Trump — who yesterday said he had just finished a course of the medicine, which he claimed to have been taking as a preventative measure.