Coronavirus news: Lockdown changes to be announced later this week, health secretary says, as UK death toll rises by 43
Follow the latest updates
Matt Hancock has said England is “clearly on track” to relax more lockdown measures around early July. The health secretary said changes will be set out later this week.
Meanwhile, the UK saw its coronavirus death toll rise by 43 – although Scotland and Northern Ireland reported no new deaths.
British tourists can now go to Spain without having to self-isolate for two weeks on arrival, after the country lifted its quarantine rules for people coming from the UK. However, as it stands, people would have to quarantine for 14 days on their return home.
In the US, Donald Trump claimed he had asked officials to slow down coronavirus testing to avoid keep finding more infections.
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Jurgen Klopp condemns UK government’s response to coronavirus
“From a personal point of view, I don’t understand why we started wearing face masks in closed areas on 15 June when five or six weeks ago all the other countries were doing it,” the Liverpool manager said.
"When I go to the petrol station in England, I am the only one wearing a face mask and I’m the only one with gloves – I feel like an alien," he added. "I will not stop doing that until someone tells me it’s over."
Jack de Menezes reports ahead of the Liverpool's match against Merseyside rivals Everton:
Lockdown changes
Matt Hancock has said a further relaxation of the coronavirus lockdown will be set out later this week, with ministers also set to ease the two-metre social distancing guidelines, our politicial correspondent Ashley Cowburn reports.
Insisting the strategy to curb the spread of coronavirus was “working”, the health secretary said the government was “on track” to reopen businesses in the hospitality industry, including pubs and restaurants, by 4 July.
Appearing on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Mr Hancock said: “I think we are about to see another step in the plan and this week we will announce further details of the measures that we can take to relieve some of the national lockdown measures at the start of July.”
Health secretary says sorry for patting colleague on back
Matt Hancock has apologised for breaching social distancing rules by approaching a colleague in the House of Commons and patting his back.
"It was just totally natural. This shows how difficult social distancing is," the health secretary told The Andrew Marr Show on the BBC.
"I know these rules inside out and I haven't seen my colleague for weeks and I really like him."
He added: "All I can do is say I'm incredibly sorry for this momentary breach."
Here is a refresher on what happened:
European visitors arrive in Spain
Passengers wearing masks and wheeling suitcases arrived at Madrid's main airport today as Spain opened its borders to most European countries.
The country's borders are now open to all EU nations except Portugal, as well as Schengen Area members outside the bloc and Britain.
Spaniards were also allowed to move freely around the country from Sunday and many were expected to visit friends, relatives and second homes in other regions.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Passengers from Paris arrive in Madrid (REUTERS/Sergio Perez)
Father's Day
Since the first UK case was identified in January, the country has seen thousands of families lose mothers, fathers, siblings, friends, and other relatives to the deadly virus.
Sophie Gallagher spoke to three Brits who have lost their dads to coronavirus about this Father's Day in this heartbreaking piece.
South Korea records nearly 50 more infections
South Korea has reported 48 new cases of coronavirus as health authorities struggle to contain a resurgence that is erasing some of the country's hard-won gains against the virus.
Officials said 24 of the new cases came from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, which have been the centre of the country's outbreak since late May.
Ten others were reported in the central city of Daejeon, indicating that the virus was beginning to spread more broadly, apparently as a result of increased public activity and complacency in social distancing.
While some experts say the country should reimpose stronger social distancing guidelines after easing them in mid-April, officials have been reluctant to do so over concerns of hurting an already fragile economy.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
Pantomimes 'won't happen' this year, theatre director says
Pantomime season "won't happen" over Christmas because of the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to theatre director Sir Nicholas Hytner.
Sir Nicholas said the entire arts sector is "on the brink of ruin" because even the one-metre social distancing rule would not be enough to keep the industry financially stable.
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, he also said the industry needs "unprecedented and immediate" investment which would enable performers to find a way to work.
Additional reporting by Press Association
Tory London mayoral candidate says people are social distancing in capital
Shaun Bailey, the Conservative Party candidate for the 2021 London mayoral election, said people in the capital have taken social distancing "very seriously".
He told Sky News's Sophy Ridge On Sunday: "We're at that very strange tipping point where we do want to get our economy back up and running so we're asking people to move around safely and I think some of that is what you're observing."
He added: "I think we could see a spike in cases anyway. If you look at pandemics historically there's always been a second wave. I believe we need to prepare ourselves for a second wave, but again we still also need to look at how do we start to get the country moving again?
"Because one thing we know for sure, second wave or not, our economy absolutely needs to start moving."
Additional reporting by Press Association
Air travel in Bangladesh
Bangladesh's state-run airline resumed international flights on Sunday after a suspension of more than two months due to the coronavirus.
Tahera Khandaker, a spokesperson for Biman Bangladesh Airlines, said a flight carrying 187 passengers left Dhaka for London on Sunday afternoon.
She said a scheduled flight will leave Dhaka every week on Sundays and another will depart London for Dhaka on Mondays.
Bangladesh has confirmed 112,306 cases of the virus, including 1,464 deaths.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
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