Ministers have set five tests for easing restrictions in England. How are we doing?

That brings to an end BBC Scotland's live coverage of the coronavirus for Wednesday. Today we learned:

• Half of Covid-19 deaths are now taking place in care homes
• National Records of Scotland (NRS) figures showed 2,272 deaths as of 26 April
• People aged 75 or over have accounted for 74% of the deaths

Live coverage will resume early on Thursday.

Fergus Walsh
Medical correspondent

A trial of potential treatments for Covid-19 has now enrolled more than 8,000 hospital patients throughout the UK.

The RECOVERY trial, led by the University of Oxford, is testing five existing medicines. These include a combination HIV therapy and an anti-malarial drug, both of which are being examined to see if they can halt replication of the virus inside the body.

There are also treatments which aim to reduce inflammation, and dampen the immune response, which can go haywire in patients with severe disease.

The trial has enrolled patients in nearly 170 hospitals in the UK, and will seek to find out if the drugs reduce mortality.

“The more patients we can enrol, the quicker we will get results.The trial has broken many records in terms of size, it’s quite incredible,” the Principal Investigator Prof Peter Horby told the BBC.

The trial is by far the biggest in the world looking at possible medicines for coronavirus.

A global trial of Covid-19 treatments, launched by the World Health Organization, confirmed today that it have recruited more than 1,200 patients. The Solidarity trial will involve more than 100 countries.

Jeff Pike, 60, got coronavirus six weeks ago. He’s a patient at Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge.

Jeff, who has had cancer twice, is now part of the RECOVERY trial and another study at Cambridge.

“Being part of the trials probably won’t help me, but it might help those that follow. We need some science at this moment,” he said.

Angie Brown
Edinburgh and East reporter

Beauticians and hairdressers say they would find it "impossible" to do their jobs if social distancing restrictions continue for the rest of the year.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has indicated that some measures could even last until 2021as part of a phased lifting of the lockdown.

Under the social distancing rule, people should stay at least 2m (6ft 6in) away from others to protect themselves from catching coronavirus or from unknowingly passing it on.

Carole Fortune, 55, who runs beauty therapy business Carole's Beauty Therapy in Edinburgh said she hoped that rule could be relaxed.

She said: "I was very worried when I heard the government saying the 'new norm' would involve being 2m away from people and that the restrictions would last until the end of the year."

Read more here

Coronavirus: Scotland's response
BBC Scotland

Rebecca Curran and Martin Geissler present Coronavirus: Scotland’s Response on BBC1 Scotland from 8.30pm.

Here's what to expect in tonight's programme:

• BBC Reality Check’s Chris Morris debunks some common coronavirus myths.
• They will be taking an in-depth look at testing and how we are tracing people’s status and contacts.
• Consumer affairs correspondent Nick Sheridan will have answers on all things insurance.
• And finally the programme looks at how children are feeling during the pandemic.

You can watch on BBC iPlayer.

Image source, Getty Images

While enjoying a drink in a bar or restaurant still seems like a distant prospect for people in the UK, pub chain Wetherspoons has said it plans to reopen its pubs and hotels in June.

Bosses said they hope to benefit from the chain having larger pubs premises than its rivals.

"Wetherspoon pubs are substantially larger than average, and most have outside facilities. The company believes these factors are likely to assist if social distancing measures apply," said a statement.

Wetherspoons has 850 pubs in the UK which have been closed since the government introduced new measures in March to try to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The government has not yet outlined any plans to ease lockdown restrictions for pubs and restaurants.

Image source, Getty Images

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has said the UK government was anxious people would act in a "cavalier" way if told to wear face masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

It comes after Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon recommended people wear face coverings in places where staying two metres apart from others was difficult, such as when using public transport and visiting shops.

The rest of the UK is continuing to follow advice that covering their face is not required.

UK chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance has previously said that the evidence relating to masks helping prevent transmission was "quite weak".

A review into Scotland's secondary education system has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Education Secretary John Swinney said the final report from the review would now not be published until June 2021.

The independent review was intended to examine the senior phase of Scottish education following a critical report, which said there had been a "lack of clear leadership" from officials and "some narrowing of subject choice".

It was later widened to include the whole of the Curriculum for Excellence.

Image source, google

Reporting Scotland

Dr Tom Fardon, a respiratory consultant at Dundee's Ninewells Hospital, is himself recovering from coronavirus.

He says learning lessons from Italy meant the NHS In Scotland was "ahead of the game".

He told the BBC's Reporting Scotland that communities pulled together to help "flatten the curve" so the health service wasn't overwhelmed.

But he said the impact of the virus would be felt for a long time yet and there was a risk of a second or third wave of the disease.

James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent, BBC News

Image source, getty

Has the first treatment for coronavirus been found? The answer is maybe.

The pharmaceutical company Gilead has put out a statement, but no evidence, about its drug remdesivir.

Remdesivir is an anti-viral that was originally developed as a treatment for Ebola.

The company says there is “positive data” from a trial run by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the study has “met its primary endpoint”.

To strip out the jargon – they’re saying it works. What we don’t know is how well, in whom or what the strength of that evidence is.

The only hint is remdesivir was more effective when given early. The company said: “62% of patients treated early were able to be discharged from the hospital, compared with 49% percent of patients who were treated late.”

But the announcement came as the Lancet medical journal published the details of a remdesivir trial in China.

That showed the drug did not improve outcomes, although it was not finished because there were insufficient patients as lockdown was so successful.

We’re going to have to wait for the full US data before we know for sure.

A family-run Glasgow building firm has been placed into administration with the loss of 148 jobs.

Central Building Contractors was founded nearly 50 years ago.

However, it has been forced out of business by cash flow difficulties, made worse by the current closure of much of the construction industry during the coronavirus lockdown.

Administrators KPMG said 11 employees were staying on to assist as they try to sell on the business or its remaining assets.

Read more here.

Image source, google

Douglas Fraser
Scotland business & economy editor

Image source, getty

There is no prospect of the UK government moving soon to sell its 62% stake in Royal Bank of Scotland, according to its chairman.

Howard Davies was speaking at the bank's AGM, which was held online due to social distancing restrictions.

He said ministers - and the bank - have other priorities during the coronavirus pandemic.

Asked by one shareholder about cost-cutting, he said the bank remains busy, and he does "not envisage any large-scale redundancies".

Read more here.

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

Earlier on Drivetime with John Beattie, a charity counselling survivors of historic child abuse said there had been a sixfold increase in calls to their helplines.

"A lot of people are finding that the lockdown is triggering memories of their time in care," said Janine Rennie from In Care Abuse Survivors (INCAS).

"Some are seeing no hope and are having suicidal thoughts. A lot of the people we are working with are completely isolated, they don't have any family at all.

"My concern is that we have a huge mental health crisis brewing."

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman is at pains to stress that the Scottish government is "not trying to apportion blame" for the high rate of deaths in care homes.

"What we are trying to do is understand, with care home providers, what is actually happening here and what can be done to assist it - that is a shared responsibility.

"I need to understand why the initial guidance did not produce the results we hoped it would.

"Our care homes may well need the additional resilience that we can offer from NHS staff, some of who are already assisting there, but also from that army of NHS and social care returners who are volunteering to help."