Coronavirus news: Sport to return and groups of six can meet to exercise together says government, despite warnings on lockdown easing
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Elite sport can return behind closed doors from 1 June, the government announced as it eased coronavirus restrictions to allow groups of up to six people to exercise together outdoors.
Culture secretary Oliver Dowden described the move as “a significant moment” despite warnings from scientific advisers that Covid-19 “is spreading too fast to lift lockdown in England” with an estimated 8,000 infections per day.
With the new NHS test and trace system still “untested”, Professor John Edmunds accused ministers of making a “risky” and political decision, saying “Westminster clearly made a decision that this is the sort of level of incidence that they’re willing to tolerate”, despite it being “significantly higher” than similar European nations.
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Sadiq Khan urges Londoners to act with caution amid 'deep concern' lockdown being lifted too soon
Trump demands Republican convention 'with no masks or social distancing' despite coronavirus pandemic
North Carolina's governor's office has said that Donald Trump is demanding a packed Republican national convention with "no face coverings and no social distancing", Tom Embury-Dennis reports.
The US president spoke with Democrat Roy Cooper by phone, the office revealed, where they discussed the scheduled August convention in Charlotte.
Mr Trump insisted on the lack of Covid-19 measures because he does not want to see signs of the pandemic in his renomination audience, a spokesperson for Mr Cooper said.
The president this week threatened to move his formal renomination elsewhere if he does not get guarantees by next week of being able to hold a large-scale event.
Union blames 'mixed messaging' and Cummings saga for rail 'chaos'
A surge in passengers has led to "chaos" on rail services to Bournemouth on Saturday, the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has said, revealing that Cross Country had been forced to try and find additional fleet to cope with the increased passenger numbers.
"The hopeless mixed messaging from the government and the impact of the Cummings affair has resulted in predictable chaos on the railway today with Bournemouth at the eye of the storm," RMT general secretary Mick Cash said.
Testing at closed hospital finds 6% of staff infected without symptoms
Testing at Weston General Hospital - which closed to new admissions last Monday because of a high number of coronavirus cases - has found approximately 6 per cent of staff are infected without showing symptoms.
All inpatients have been tested for Covid-19 and no new cases have been identified, the hospital said.
The majority of the 1,700 staff working at the hospital have been tested, and it is hoped all will have been by the end of the day. Any members of staff who have tested positive have self-isolated.
"The signs are encouraging. The results from our inpatient testing have identified no new cases of Covid-19, which suggests the actions we have taken to control the situation are working," said Dr William Oldfield, medical director at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust.
"We will retest all our inpatients again next week, and if the results continue to show no new cases, this would indicate no in-hospital transmission of the infection.
"We will also repeat testing of all staff at the hospital again next week. The results from this will indicate whether the staff working in the hospital are remaining free of infection.
"We are continuing to safely discharge patients as appropriate when they no longer need our care, and as patients are discharged areas are being deep cleaned to get the hospital ready to reopen."
Tory MP John Penrose said "everyone was astonished" at the results.
Thousands of people have been pictured at England's beaches and parks to enjoy weather hotter than many popular Mediterranean destinations.
The lockdown guidance currently allows people to meet with one person from another household, although this will increase to groups of six people on Monday.
However, several scientific advisers have warned this may be premature, with 8,000 new infections suspected each day in England alone, and the significant risk that the move could restart an exponential rise in infections.
Formby, Merseyside. Credit: Peter Byrne/PA Wire
Dorset's Durdle Door. Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire
Dovedale, Peak District. Credit: Jacob King/PA Wire
EU urges Trump to rethink cutting WHO funding
The US president has cut funding for the UN agency, accusing it of being under China's "total control".
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has urged Mr Trump to reconsider, saying that "actions that weaken international results must be avoided", and that "now is the time for enhanced cooperation and common solutions".
She added: "The WHO needs to continue being able to lead the international response to pandemics, current and future. For this, the participation and support of all is required and very much needed."
The US is the largest source of financial support for the WHO, and its exit is expected to significantly weaken the organisation.
Scotland hospital death toll rises by 22
Statistics released on Saturday show 2,353 patients who were confirmed to have had the virus had died, while 55 more people have tested positive - bringing the number of positive tests to 15,382 people.
Meanwhile, 1,114 people are in hospital with either confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a decrease of 102 from Friday's figure of 1,216.
There are 25 people in intensive care who have tested positive, and a further eight ICU patients suspected of having coronavirus - with that total of 33 being down by seven from the previous day.
The statistics showed Greater Glasgow and Clyde continues to have the largest number of cases, with 3,943 people having tested positive for Covid-19, and 343 people in hospital - including nine confirmed or suspected cases in intensive care.
Northern Ireland sees one more Covid-related death
The country's death toll now sits at 522. Some 4,709 people have now tested positive after an increase of 13 new cases on Friday.
England hospital death toll at 26,529 after rise of 146
Of the 146 new deaths announced on Saturday, 20 occurred on Friday, 51 on Thursday and 14 on Wednesday.
The figures also show 48 of the new deaths took place between 1 May 1 and 26 May, and the remaining 13 deaths occurred in April with the earliest on April 3.
NHS England releases updated figures each day showing the dates of every coronavirus-related death in hospitals in England, often including previously uncounted deaths that took place several days or even weeks ago.
The deadliest day continues to be 8 April, with a current total of 893 fatalities.
Wales death toll rises to 1,331 after 14 new fatalities
Another 86 people have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 13,913, Public Health Wales said.
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