Five of England's metro mayors call for face masks to remain in use on public transport even after rules change on Monday
Face coverings will stay compulsory in areas they have control over, like Manchester's trams and West Yorkshire bus stations
They will also be compulsory on London's transport network after England's restrictions ease on 19 July
Masks will no longer be a legal requirement in England from Monday but you have to wear them on transport in Scotland and Wales
The Balearic Islands of Ibiza, Majorca and Menorca move onto the government's amber travel list
It means from Monday, those not double-jabbed or under 18 have to quarantine on their return
A further 42,302 Covid cases are reported across the UK and another 49 deaths within 28 days of a positive test
Two thirds of UK adults have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus
Most Covid rules in Wales - but not all - will be scrapped from 7 August if coronavirus rates allow
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Thanks for joining our rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic today. Here's a recap of the day's main stories in the UK:
Image source, Getty ImagesProtests have taken place in Paris
We're wrapping up our coverage for the day, thank you for joining us. Here is a round-up of the biggest developments from around the world today:
Image source, Getty ImagesThe government has confirmed nearly all remaining Covid-19 restrictions in England will be lifted on 19 July.
It means all legal restrictions on social contact will be removed. The legal requirement to wear face masks in some public spaces will be dropped, nightclubs will be allowed to reopen, and limits on how many people can meet will be ditched.
Several countries around the world have already tried easing their coronavirus restrictions this year - with mixed results.
So what has happened in places where rules have been relaxed?
Image source, Getty ImagesSenegal is experiencing an "unprecedented" surge in Covid infections, the health ministry has warned.
The country hit a new daily record of 733 cases on Wednesday. The previous record was 529 cases on Sunday.
Senegal has avoided the worst of the pandemic so far, but is struggling with its vaccine rollout.
"The situation is unprecedented. We have never seen such an increase in cases," says health ministry spokesman Mamadou Ndiaye.
Measures must be taken urgently to reverse the trend ahead of Eid al-Adha - a Muslim holiday that will be celebrated next week - Ndiaye says.
The holiday is the biggest in Senegal and is usually marked with large family gatherings. There are currently no measures in place to restrict such events.
Image source, Getty ImagesFrench police have used tear gas to disperse a protest against President Emmanuel Macron's plan to require a vaccine certificate or negative PCR test to gain entry to bars, restaurants and cinemas from August.
Macron has announced new measures to combat a surge in infections. These included the mandatory vaccination of health workers and new health pass rules for the wider public.
These rules have gone further than most of France's neighbours and some have accused the government of stamping on freedoms.
Protesters marched through Paris, with some wearing badges saying "no to the health pass", before clashes started.
Image source, GettThe debate over face coverings is not confined to public transport.
Under new advice from House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle, masks are compulsory for parliamentary staff from next Monday - but will be optional for MPs as they are not employed by Parliament.
Unions say the Speaker could stop those who don't wear a face covering from entering the Commons chamber.
From 19 July, the legal requirement to wear a mask in enclosed public spaces in England will be removed.
Instead, PM Boris Johnson has said the government "expects and recommends" that face coverings are worn in crowded and enclosed spaces.
Read more here.
Asked whether central government could change its mind on masks on public transport, Tracy Brabin says: "It does feel to me as though there is going to be a shift."
As reasoning, she says Transport Secretary Grant Shapps showed support for Sadiq Khan's decision to make masks mandatory on London's transport network.
No-one would criticise the government if the the PM did change his mind, says Andy Burnham, adding: "It would help everyone if there was a change of heart at the national level.
"None of us is saying this is going to be easy, we're all trying to act where we can."
Image source, ReutersThe Balearic Islands of Majorca, Ibiza and Menorca are to move to the UK's amber travel list just three weeks after quarantine-free travel to the popular destinations was granted.
Following a rise in local cases, the Spanish islands - which attract millions of UK visitors in a normal year - will move to the amber list from 04:00 BST on Monday 19 July.
The British Virgin Islands will also move to the amber list at the same time.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria and Hong Kong will move to the green list, meaning no arrivals need to quarantine, and Croatia and Taiwan move to the green watchlist, putting travellers on notice of potential future changes.
Cuba, Indonesia, Myanmar and Sierra Leone will be moved to the red list, with arrivals required to carry out their quarantine in a government-run hotel at a cost of £1,750 per adult.
The announcement applies to England, but the other UK nations are expected to follow suit.
Separate changes to the travel list system mean that, from Monday and in England, Scotland and Wales, those who are fully vaccinated can avoid quarantining at home on their return from an amber country.
Returning to the metro mayor's press conference, West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin is asked whether it is fair to ask transport staff to enforce mask-wearing when it is not a legal requirement.
She says she doesn't want to put staff in a difficult position, and can't fine people who refuse. It is a matter of persuasion and encouragement, she says.
Bus operators are going to be "strongly encouraging" passengers to wear masks on buses, she adds, but it will not be mandatory.
Brabin goes on to say doesn't want to put staff in a vulnerable position and if people don't want to wear one, then ultimately they won't.
Image source, Getty ImagesMeanwhile, speaking in the House of Commons, in Westminster, shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth warns current Covid hospital admissions "have increased to over 500 a day, up 50% in a week", with waiting lists at their "highest level seen on record, currently at 5.3 million".
During a debate on a new Health and Care Bill in England, he said the planned "top down reorganisation" is coming "when we are not even through the pandemic".
He described the proposals as a "Trojan horse to hide a power grab" by ministers, with patients "treated like ghosts in the machine".
Previously the government said the planned changes would mean a focus "on the health of the population, not just the health of patients".
The shake-up will see the law changed to reverse reforms of the NHS in England introduced under Prime Minister David Cameron in 2012.
Read more about them here.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is asked what changed his mind about calling for masks on public transport, after initially suggesting he would not call for such a move.
"When we originally looked at it, I did say I thought this was going to be difficult to do but you do the job [well] if you're listening to people," he says.
Burnham adds he has been "inundated with messages" from vulnerable people saying 19 July is "fear day" for them, not "freedom day".
"I've been hearing their voices loud and clear," he says
He mentions the guidance for vulnerable people, which tells them to avoid those who have not been vaccinated, and questions what an unvaccinated person is supposed to look like?
If things go on as they are, people will feel they can't go out "and that's not right", says Burnham.
Liverpool mayor Steve Rotherham says, unlike Sadiq Khan, he does not have the power to make masks mandatory.
However, he says he will be asking all transport operators in his constituency to enforce mask-wearing on their services.
"I'll be asking all of them... to do the right thing," he says. "I don't think we can put a price on public safety."
Wearing face masks "costs nothing" and they are a "minor inconvenience", he adds.
Sheffield City Region Mayor Dan Jarvis and West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin say they will make masks mandatory at the bus stations within their control, but like Burnham and Rotherham, say they do not have the power to make them a requirement across all public transport.
West of England Mayor Dan Norris says he has no power to make masks mandatory but he has written to the prime minister to complain about the "ridiculous" decision not to enforce mask wearing on public transport.
He adds he is calling on people in the West of England to wear masks when they travel.
Mayors across England have together called for face masks to remain in use on public transport even after the legal requirement for them ends on Monday.
Greater Manchester's Andy Burnham, West Yorkshire's Tracy Brabin, Liverpool City Region's Steve Rotheram, North of Tyne's Jamie Driscoll, Dan Jarvis in the Sheffield City Region and the West of England's Dan Norris are holding a joint press conference.
Burnham says the people of Greater Manchester should "work with us" to protect each other and supporting members of the community who may be concerned by the end of mandatory mask rules.
Masks will stay compulsory on Manchester's Metrolink tram services and at West Yorkshire bus stations, for example. They are places the metro mayors have powers over.
It comes after Mayor of London Sadiq Khan declared masks mandatory on the capital's public transport network even after 19 July, and West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said he is expecting local passengers to wear them on all forms of transport., external
You can read more about which rules are changing on Monday here.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe US State Department is "surging" staffing levels to address a backlog of as many as two million passport applications due to the pandemic.
Americans have been left waiting between 12 and 18 weeks for new passports, an official tells the Reuters news agency.
Rachel Arndt, deputy assistant secretary for passport services in the department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, says the availability of vaccinations in the US has led to many more than usual applying for passports to travel overseas.
Hugh Pym
BBC News Health Editor
Dr Catherine Monaghan, a consultant in respiratory medicine at the University Hospital of North Tees, has worked all through the pandemic's first and second waves and now is facing up to the bleak reality of a third Covid surge.
"We are absolutely gutted - it's really hard - I know the whole country wants this to be over - but the reality is that's not what is happening in the hospital," she said.
"People are still critically unwell with it - I cannot quite believe we're back at this stage again - it's really worrying."
And now nurses are donning their high-grade PPE once more.
Dr Monaghan's hospital, in Stockton-on-Tees, currently has 22 Covid patients, five of whom are in intensive care. That is a lot less than the peak in January - but the number has increased sharply from just six in a single week.
Read more from Hugh here.
A further 42,302 new Covid cases have been reported across the UK, alongside another 49 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.
More than 46 million people have now received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, with more than 35 million now fully vaccinated, government figures showed.
Image source, SCOTT SALTBoom Village was going to be held on the same site as the already-cancelled Boomtown
A scaled-down version of the Boomtown music festival has been cancelled because of escalating cases of Covid, the event's organisers have said.
Boom Village was due to be hosted at the Matterley Estate, near Winchester, between 11 and 15 August.
It was designed to be a smaller event than the usual Boomtown festival, which had already been cancelled.
Organisers say they appreciate the decision might seem confusing given the imminent lifting of Covid restrictions.
A statement on the Boomtown website, external says the risk of widespread illness and self-isolation would result in them not having enough people to safely deliver the event.
"The core decision is due to the escalating cases of Covid-19 across the country," it adds.
Ticket holders have been promised refunds and the full Boomtown festival is expected to return in 2022.
Image source, Getty ImagesFace masks will still be required in shops after 7 August
Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford says the prevalence of Covid-19 in Wales will remain "extremely high for at least the rest of this summer".
This is based on warnings from the Welsh government's technical advisory group, he says.
He tells the Senedd that the Delta variant is in every part of Wales and "spreading quickly".
"There can be no doubt that we are experiencing the anticipated third wave of this pandemic, with the rate in Wales rising overnight to 145 cases per 100,000 people," Drakeford says.
It comes as most Covid rules in Wales - but not all - are set to be scrapped from 7 August.
Nightclubs are set to resume trading, and social-distancing laws inside will be replaced with a requirement for workplaces to assess the risk.
But face masks will still be required in most indoor public places, except in hospitality businesses, such as pubs and restaurants, or schools.
Philippa Roxby
Health reporter, BBC News
With two out of three UK adults now fully vaccinated against Covid, the UK is one of the most vaccinated countries in the world - but many challenges still remain.
The spread of the Delta variant and a sharp rise in cases as restrictions are lifted means vaccinating as many people as possible before the onset of autumn is now urgent.
A third of adults, mostly people in their 20s and 30s, are not yet fully protected.
But there are other communities where uptake is low, for example some ethnic minorities, particularly people from black backgrounds, those living in some poorer areas and working in certain jobs, who have not yet been jabbed.
Convincing them to come forward and get a vaccine will help increase the height of the wall of immunity which is going to help hold back the tide of hospital admissions come the winter.
Every adult in England has been offered at least one dose, but only 87% have had one. That gives an indication of the scale of challenge ahead.
Even with one of the fastest vaccination programmes on the planet, the UK is not out of the woods yet.