Thanks for following today's live coverage. The team will be back tomorrow with more updates, and in the meantime, you can find plenty to read on the coronavirus section of our site.

Today's posts were written by Hamish Mackay, Tiffany Wertheimer, Alexandra Fouche, Emma Harrison and Hazel Shearing.

They were edited by Emma Owen.

We're about to wrap up for the day. Before we do, here's a recap of some of the day's stories:

• The Covid epidemic in England is growing, scientists say - with much of it being driven by younger people who are not yet vaccinated.
• Covid restrictions in Wales are unlikely to be significantly relaxed until July because of concern about the Delta variant, BBC Wales has been told.
• Employers can claim from the furlough scheme for staff who are self-isolating - an entitlement that exists despite government guidance stating it is not what the scheme is intended for.
• Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has hailed Health Secretary Matt Hancock as a "successful genius" - after he was allegedly branded "hopeless" by the PM.
• A union has said the government must not "under any circumstances" order civil servants in England to return to the office until Covid rates are cut.
• Ryanair and the owner of Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports filed a legal challenge against the government over the travel traffic light system.

Image source, Reuters

The former head of NHS Test and Trace Baroness Dido Harding has applied to become the next head of the NHS.

The NHS England website says: "Dido has applied to become the next CEO of the NHS and has therefore stood aside as chair of NHS Improvement whilst the recruitment process takes place. Sir Andrew Morris is standing in for her during this time."

The Tory peer was executive chairwoman of the government's coronavirus Test and Trace programme until April this year.

A report from the Commons Public Accounts Committee in March said there was "no clear evidence" the £22bn venture contributed to a reduction in coronavirus infection levels.

But Harding responded to the criticism by pointing out that it had been built from scratch and had been doing more tests than any other comparable country.

The system had made a "real impact in breaking the chains of transmission" she said in March.

Current NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens is standing down at the end of July.

England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty has warned there will be "several more" surprises from Covid-19 "over the next period".

Speaking at the NHS Confed conference, he says he is anticipating that case rates will continue to go up in the next few weeks because the Delta variant is "significantly more transmissible" than the Alpha variant.

Whitty also predicts the UK "will get a further winter surge".

He says most people think there will be "further problems over the winter", adding: "How big they'll be I think is uncertain, and that partly depends on do we get new variants which can evade vaccines better, and partly depends on how the current wave passes through the UK."

He says over the next two or three years new variants "may well lead to us having to revaccinate or consider boosting vaccination as they come through".

And then five years out he would expect the country to have effective vaccines against new variants as they come in.

Read more: What do we know about the different variants?

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

11,000 cases recorded in a single day is the highest since mid-February.

But we’re in a different world now.

Back then, more than 1,400 people were being admitted to hospital with Covid in a single day. On 13 June, the most recent day for which we have data, it was 222.

So vaccinations, and the fact that infections are still mainly spreading among younger adults, mean we face a very different pandemic.

But admissions are rising, roughly double where they were at the end of May.

Epidemics are either growing or shrinking. While cases continue to rise, we can expect to see admissions rise too a few days later, adding to pressures on hospitals.

A total of 42,216,654 first jabs have been administered in the UK, meaning 80% of all adults have had their first vaccine dose.

There are now 30,675,207 people who have had both jabs, according to the latest daily figures.

Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi says: "Every jab takes us a step closer to the end of the pandemic and we will continue to deliver the rollout at lightning speed."

Image source, PA Media

Prince Charles has been visiting NHS staff at a hospital in London today, and hearing about the violence and abuse experienced by some.

During a trip to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital he met some paramedics and ambulance crew who had been attacked at work.

"You can't believe it, can you? When I think of what it has been like for so long, and how many people have been lucky enough to have wonderful paramedics and ambulance staff coming to their rescue," he says.

"But now you find the situation rising - violence, attacks, verbal attacks, racial abuse and everything else.

"To me it's unreal, unacceptable. Why attack the people who are trying to look after you?"

NHS data showed 3,569 ambulance staff reported assaults during the pandemic in 2020/21 in England - a 32% rise from five years previously.

There have been another 19 deaths reported within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test and a further 11,007 cases recorded in the UK, according to the latest government figures.

This is the highest number of cases since 19 February, when 12,027 cases were reported.

It's an increase on Wednesday's figures, when a further 9,055 cases were recorded.

Some of Scotland's biggest universities did not reduce the capacity of their student halls despite the need for physical distancing, the BBC has found.

A Disclosure investigation found many student halls were 100% full despite the risks of spreading Covid.

It also found that guidance on offering remote teaching was changed at the last minute, pressuring students to attend.

Prof Stephen Reicher, who advises both UK and Scottish governments, says it was an "accident waiting to happen".

He adds the risks were "pretty clear" and that he and others spoke publicly about the need for widespread Covid testing when students returned but this was never done.

You can read the full investigation here.

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

There have been about 16,000 suspected cases of coronavirus reinfection detected in England out of nearly four million cases overall.

So reinfection rates are pretty low: about one-in-250 people compared to the one-in-14 of us who have tested positive at all.

They’re “suspected” reinfections (a positive test three months after your first positive) because it’s very hard to prove that a case is reinfection.

You’d need to sequence both positive tests - taking the fingerprint of the virus – to know whether different viruses caused each positive result.

And we weren’t sequencing that much earlier in the epidemic, so there’s little to compare back to.

The data published by Public Health England suggest that reinfection rates are higher in the era of Delta than they were during the earlier waves of the pandemic.

Image source, Getty Images

This time tomorrow, many of us will be gearing up to watch Scotland play England.

And while jostling for a view of the TV in a packed pub is usually part of the joy of watching a major football tournament, this year's Euros are different.

Fans can watch the game in a bar, but how many people you can go with depends on which side of the border you are on.

So if you've been wondering how many friends you can have over to yours and whether you can hug to celebrate a goal, read our guide to watching Euro 2020 matches safely.

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Yesterday the BBC was told that a decision to vaccinate all 12 to 17-year-old children against Covid is unlikely to be recommended by UK vaccine experts imminently.

But Prof Dominic Harrison, director of Public Health for Blackburn with Darwen Council, told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme earlier that "we need to start vaccinating teenagers as soon as possible".

"I am absolutely asking for the JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation) to stop dithering about – Germany, Canada, the US and many other countries have judged the Pfizer vaccine for children age 12 and above as safe and effective," he says.

"I think there’s absolutely no doubt we need to get on with that as soon as possible."

He says if the UK does not vaccinate that age group, the country will see a continued surge of the Delta variant and potentially other variants too.

Scotland has recorded its highest number of new coronavirus cases in a day since late January.

There have been four further deaths and 1,317 new cases in the past 24 hours, according to the latest Scottish government figures.

This is the highest since 1,330 cases were recorded on 27 January, while the nation was in lockdown.

In total, in Scotland, 7,688 people have died who tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days.

Image source, Getty Images

Employers can claim from the furlough scheme for staff who are self-isolating, the BBC has established.

The entitlement exists despite government guidance stating it is not what the scheme is intended for.

The little-known entitlement was revealed by Politico magazine, external after emails from civil servants complaining about government guidance were leaked.

One email from a civil servant said the Treasury was "reluctant" to say the scheme could be used in such a way.

"Furlough can be used to cover self-isolation, but HMT [the Treasury] are reluctant to say this explicitly in guidance because it could lead to employees being furloughed who do not need to be," Politico quoted one of the emails as saying.

"Incentive payments are too low to incentivise employees to take tests due to risk of loss of income."

The Treasury says it is there "in plain English" that employers could choose to furlough self-isolating staff.

Read more

Covid-19 case rates in all regions of England are continuing to increase, according to Public Health England.

Its latest weekly surveillance report says north-west England has the highest rate, with 196.9 cases per 100,000 people, up from 152, in the seven days to June 13.

North-east England has the second highest rate: 92.6, up from 42.6, while eastern England has the lowest rate: 37, up from 28.6.

Public Health England says case rates among all age groups are continuing to rise, with the highest rate is among 20 to 29-year-olds.

Image source, PA Media

Many racegoers chose to stylishly match their hats and face masks for Ladies' Day on the third day of Royal Ascot.

The five-day event started on Tuesday with 12,000 spectators allowed daily as part of a government test event, external.

Racecourses are currently limited to 4,000 spectators due to Covid-19 restrictions.

See more in our picture gallery here

As we've heard, England's vaccine programme will open up to all adults over 18 tomorrow.

People can book online, external or call 119.

But what is the situation in the rest of the UK?

In Scotland - people aged 30 and over can get their vaccine, external, although in some parts of Glasgow people aged 18 and over can get a first jab

In Wales - people aged 18 and over can get the vaccine, external. This week the Welsh government announced that all adults in Wales had been offered a first jab.

In Northern Ireland - people aged 18 and over can book online, external or call 0300 200 7813.

Read more: When will I get the vaccine?

Christopher Giles

Image source, Helen Clarkson via BBC UGC

A small group of anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine protesters have been evicted from Shepherd’s Bush Green in west London after camping out for more than two weeks.

Bailiffs began demolishing the campsite this morning. Dozens of police, some wearing riot gear, were also present.

A YouTube livestream of today’s events showed police restraining a number of people as protestors reacted to the removal of their tents, but police did not report any arrests.

The activists set up camp on the green after protests on 30 May, when demonstrators had gathered in the nearby Westfield shopping centre.

I later spoke to some of them. They had a range of anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown views, and some told me they believed in conspiracy theories, including about a secret world government.

The protesters, a couple of hundred at the most, broadcast nightly music events and gatherings to like-minded audiences on social media. But by midday today, the green was mostly cleared.

Image source, Getty Images

People in Cornwall are being urged to "triple" their efforts to help halt the rise of Covid-19 cases.

Infections in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly had risen to 71 in 100,000 people by 12 June, figures show - up from eight in 100,000 people the week before.

Dr Ruth Goldstein, from Cornwall Council's public health department, says the majority of cases are the Delta variant and warns that the numbers are expected to rise.

She says public health officials began to see a rise about 10 days ago among people aged 16 to 25, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reports.

She is urging residents to get their jabs when eligible and to test for Covid-19 twice a week using the lateral flow tests which are available for free in England.

Read more

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has just confirmed that everyone aged 18 and over in England will be able to book their Covid-19 vaccine from tomorrow.

Speaking at the NHS Confed conference, Hancock says a first dose has now been given to four out of five adults.