No-symptom transmission 'a big unknown'

As we approach the end of today's live coverage, here is a round-up of developments.

• Non-essential shops can re-open in England from Monday, providing they respect coronavirus rules such as social distancing
• The UK government does not have plans to reduce the 2m social distancing rule as some businesses have asked, but it is committed to keep it under review
• Plans for all England's primary children to return for a month before the summer break have been dropped
• The World Health Organization has rowed back on comments that asymptomatic transmission of the virus was "very rare". Dr Maria Van Kerkhove said just how much transmission comes from people with no symptoms was still a "big unknown"
• Brazil has restored its website of coronavirus data, following an order by the Supreme Court. The government controversially removed pages of detailed virus data over the weekend
• Research carried out by Harvard Medical School using satellite imagery shows an apparent surge in traffic outside Wuhan hospitals from August 2019, suggesting the coronavirus hit China earlier than reported. China dismissed the report as "ridiculous"
• The Eiffel Tower in Paris will reopen on 25 June after being forced to shut for more than three months because of the pandemic
• There have been more than 7 million infections globally, with more than 400,000 deaths

PA MediaCopyright: PA Media

Zoos, safari parks and drive-in cinemas will be able to reopen in England from 15 June, the prime minister is due to announce.

Boris Johnson is expected to outline the latest step in the easing of the coronavirus lockdown at Wednesday's daily briefing.

He will say the outdoor attractions can reopen as long as they follow social distancing rules.

Some zoos, including Chester Zoo and London Zoo, have reported financial struggles during the pandemic.

The move will pave the way for the sites to reopen on the same day as non-essential shops.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Peru's Health Ministry has released its latest figures, showing confirmed cases of coronavirus have risen to 203,736.

The country has also registered 5,738 deaths, since its first case on 6 March.

It has the second highest number of cases in Latin America, after Brazil.

CCTVCopyright: CCTV

The pandemic has had many of us wishing we could turn back the clock and start the year all over again. And that’s what more than a million social media users in China were discussing on Tuesday: what they would do differently, if that was an option?

A whopping 1.8 million users of the popular Sina Weibo platform have used the hashtag #WhatWouldYouDoIf2020Restarted.

Many have said the pandemic has made them realise things they had taken for granted. One netizen said they would “have a picture taken with my whole family, because this epidemic has made me understand that my family’s health is the most important thing”.

Some say they would be "more humble", and regret leaving jobs just before Chinese New Year – a common trend around this period. Others are simply reflecting on how they wish they’d “appreciated others” better. “I wish I’d been a better person,” says one.

Working conditions for migrant workers in Canada are placing them at risk from coronavirus, an advocacy group warns.

"While millionaire corporations are being bailed out, migrant worker — the ones that actually grow food— are in crisis,” the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change says.

The report said that in Ontario province alone, at least two migrant workers had died with the virus and there were 280 cases. It also said workers were told to work in groups while waiting for test results, and that they were being housed in cramped quarters.

Many migrants had the start of their work season delayed because of coronavirus restrictions. Once they did arrive, the new rules forced them to quarantine.

During their quarantine, the report found they were underpaid, underfed and not given good health information. The report was based on calls with 180 workers who were speaking on behalf of 1,162 workers, mostly from the Caribbean.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

The UK government is coming under increasing pressure from MPs and businesses to relax the 2m (6ft) rule for social distancing.

Trade body UK Hospitality insists the current separation rules would be impossible for bars and restaurants to follow, and the Financial Times is reporting that the "majority of the cabinet" supports a reduction.

The 2m distance is also one of the challenges schools face in reopening: head teachers and governors have said they lack the space to bring all pupils back.

But scientists continue to question whether a reduction would be safe, given how little is known about how far coronavirus can spread.

Read more from our science editor David Shukman.

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More than 1,000 doves kept at a famous mosque in Afghanistan have died of starvation after the building was closed due to the coronavirus.

Caretakers at the 12th-Century, blue-tiled mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif told AFP news agency that the doves were dying because there were no visitors to feed them.

"Every day about 30 doves die. We bury them outside the shrine," said mosque official Qayum Ansari, adding that more than 1,000 had already died.

The birds are a popular attraction and many visitors consider them sacred.

The mosque is one of many buildings closed in a nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus. The country has registered more than 21,000 confirmed cases but the real number is thought to be much higher.

Government officials in Balkh province have now promised to supply bird food for the doves, if mosque managers will allow it.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

A new study has linked blood group to susceptibility to coronavirus.

The data, regarded as preliminary, suggests that individuals with blood type O, the most common in the UK, are less likely to test positive for Covid-19.

The research, carried out by genetic-testing company 23andMe, echoes other studies on the blood groups of coronavirus patients.

Many teams have been investigating how genetic factors could explain why some people who contract the virus have relatively few symptoms, while others become severely ill.

Last week, a study from Italy and Spain found patients with type A blood were more likely to need oxygen or go on a ventilator. An earlier Chinese study produced similar results.

But scientists say it’s not clear whether it is blood group that influences risk, or some other genetic factor.

There are four main blood groups – A, B, AB and O – and they're determined by the genes inherited from your parents.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Students in the UK must decide by the middle of next week whether or not to accept university offers for the new academic year.

It's a big decision - even more so this year as many lectures are due to take place online and socialising could be very difficult when term begins.

So, will universities open in September? Many have already decided to alter their normal schedule.

Cambridge will hold lectures online for the entire year, while Manchester will have online lectures for the first autumn term.

The deadline for prospective students to decide on whether to accept offers has been pushed back to 18 June.

See here for a breakdown of what you need to be thinking about if deciding whether you're going to start your studies in September.

A six-year-old boy has run a mile a day 26 times to raise money for Britain's Natiional Health Service.

Ollie, from Plymouth in England, chose a different costume for each of his runs, finishing - appropriately - dressed as a doctor.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says there will be a “limited exemption” for immediate family members of Canadian citizens to cross into Canada from the US.

The border has been closed to non-essential travel since 21 March and the earliest it would reopen would be 21 June.

Many non-Canadian citizens have been denied entry, despite being married to Canadians. Those affected include expectant parents Ashley and Tim Cook. Ashley Cook is a Canadian living in Windsor, Ontario and her husband and the father of her child lives just over the border in Michigan.

The new announcement reiterated that anyone coming from the US, which has been hit hard by the virus, would have to quarantine for 14 days.

"If you don't follow these rules, you could face serious penalties," Trudeau said.

The aviation industry is in a deep crisis, and governments around the world have responded. Today alone, we have seen the announcement of a major support package for aerospace in France, while Cathay Pacific received a £4bn bail-out from the Hong Kong government.

Lockdowns have forced airlines to ground aircraft, depriving them of much of their income. That in turn means they will struggle to afford new planes, so manufacturers have had to slash production - forcing their suppliers to cut back as well.

In France, some 300,000 jobs rely on the aerospace industry. That's why the government in Paris thinks it is worth providing some £12bn in grants, loans and guarantees (£5.5bn for Air France alone) to prop it up.

In the UK, by contrast, there has been little government largesse. Easyjet and British Airways have borrowed under Covid-19 loan schemes, and many companies have been able to furlough employees. But there has been nothing on the scale of the rescues seen elsewhere. And job cuts are mounting.

People within the industry say there is deep frustration that the UK government has been willing to introduce a stringent quarantine regime that threatens to do more damage, but hasn’t done a great deal to help them.

Time, they say, is running out.

Coronavirus has changed the way we use energy - at least for now. But could the pandemic finally finish off coal, the most polluting of all fossil fuels?

The Covid-19 crisis has been an extraordinary and terrifying time for us all, but it has been a fascinating period to cover environmental issues.

We've all enjoyed the unusually clean air and clear skies. They are the most obvious evidence that we have been living through a unique experiment in energy use.

Locking hundreds of millions of us down in our homes around the world has led to an unprecedented fall in energy demand, including for electricity.

And that has, in turn, revealed something striking about the economics of the energy industry: the underlying vulnerability of coal, the fuel that powered the creation of the modern world.

Read more.

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Society will need to have "rational debates" about when is the least risky age to be infected with coronavirus if a vaccine does not materialise, an expert has said.

Carl Heneghan, professor of evidence-based medicine at the University of Oxford, said Covid-19 is behaving in a way similar to seasonal flu in its disproportionate impact on the elderly.

He told a Science Media Centre briefing: "It matters when you get infections in relation to your risk - I think that's incredibly important.

"So we will start to have some rational debates, because many infections, we know if you get them when you're very young you actually do very well, for instance chickenpox, you get that when you're young and you confer immunity.

"So, if you took away the concept that there were no vaccinations, let's park that aside and this becomes a circulating endemic infection, we will start to have to have a debate around when is it better to get this infection?

"If you look at the data, it is when you're under 45. As you get older then it's worse for you."

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Since the start of the US outbreak, Food Bank for New York City has distributed 21m meals, marking a 20% increase from the same period last year, the charity say.

Almost 80% of food pantries and soup kitchens reported an increase in families with children visiting.

According to the report, the crushing demand for food assistance caused more than half of the food banks to run out of supplies in April.

Food Bank for New York City CEO Leslie Gordon said the rise in demand represents "the new normal".

At the peak of the outbreak 40% of the city's food banks were closed, largely because they are run by seniors who are particularly at risk of infection.

Knowsley SafariCopyright: Knowsley Safari

A safari park in England has questioned why changes to the lockdown have allowed drivers "to get a Big Mac, but not to see our big cats".

Knowsley Safari near Liverpool, which has been closed since 23 March, said people would be safe to visit as it was similar to using a McDonald's drive-through.

A spokeswoman said being told to remain closed while the restaurants are allowed to reopen "doesn't make sense".

She added: "We can't understand why it's now OK for people to go into shops or visit public spaces where there's no enforced social distancing, but not stay in their vehicle on the safari drive."

The focus today in England has been on primary schools, and the roll back from allowing all pupils to return before the summer holidays.

But the government has also confirmed that secondary schools in the country will not be opening until September at the earliest.

So just how have pupils been coping during lockdown?

One 16-year-old A-level student from Hackney, east London, has been telling BBC Radio 5 Live that she has found it hard to stay motivated.

“A lot of my friends descended into this kind of panic," she told presenter Emma Barnett. "Feeling we were doomed - and that was reflected in a lack of online engagement and education.”

But says she is now "feeling a little bit more hopeful” and the lockdown has given her “time to think about discipline and how I learn, and educate myself".

Miriam Jordan Keane from the National Citizen Service said her organisation has set up an online hub for pupils, instead of running its regular schemes this summer.

"We had no idea of what the summer of 'no you can't' was going to feel like for young people - no you can't go to school, no you can't do your exams, no you can't celebrate the summer of a lifetime,” she said.