Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

National Clinical Director Jason Leitch will be on Drivetime after the news.

More people have now died with coronavirus in Scotland's care homes than in the country's hospitals.

The National Records of Scotland, external (NRS) said there have been a total of 1,818 deaths linked to the virus in care homes since the outbreak began.

That is three more than the 1,815 deaths that have been recorded in hospitals.

The figures also showed the total number of people dying with the virus has fallen for a fifth week in a row.

• Coronavirus in Scotland - latest developments
• Who is dying and where?

Angie Brown
Edinburgh and East reporter

Business leaders have called on Edinburgh residents to behave like tourists in their own city to boost the economy after lockdown is lifted.

They say the city centre has been like a "ghost town" since pubs, restaurants, hotels and shops closed in late March.

Even when they reopen in the later phases of the lockdown recovery plan, there is unlikely to be the influx of tourists so many businesses depend on.

Please read more here

Image source, PA Media

Boris Johnson will chair this afternoon's UK daily press briefing at Downing Street, expected to start at 17.00 BST.

The prime minister will be joined in No 10 by Professor Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer and Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK government's chief scientific adviser.

Mr Johnson has faced criticism for the number of times he has appeared to take questions from journalists in recent weeks, with other senior ministers often fronting the events.

No 10 said earlier this week that the PM was committed to appearing at least once a week from now on.

You can follow live updates here.

Ryanair has described plans to force arrivals to the UK to isolate for 14 days as "ineffective and useless".

A spokesman said passengers could potentially spread infection on public transport from the airport, while most visitors from Europe were arriving from countries with lower infection rates.

EasyJet called for a “risk based approach” to be adopted, with “air bridges” in place to remove quarantine for travellers from countries where Covid-19 is under control.

British Airway's parent company IAG reiterated earlier comments from chief executive Willie Walsh, who said that the move has "seriously set back recovery plans" for the airline sector.

The Confederation of British Industry called for more detail on how the policy would be reviewed, and the creation of international travel corridors with key trading partners.

The British Chambers of Commerce said: “Co-ordinated checks at departure and arrival airports, together with other internationally-agreed safety measures, would alleviate the need for a blanket quarantine

As the crisis has unfolded, scientists have discovered more evidence about a strange and worrying feature of the coronavirus. While many people who become infected develop a cough, fever and loss of taste and smell, others have no symptoms at all and never realise they're carrying Covid-19.

Researchers say it's vital to understand how many are affected this way and whether "silent spreaders" are fuelling the pandemic.

When people gathered at a church in Singapore on 19 January, no-one could have realised that the event would have global implications for the spread of coronavirus.

Read more.

Image source, Peter Devlin

Football legend Sir Alex Ferguson is backing a scheme to help Glasgow Caledonian University graduates in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The former Manchester United manager has donated £200,000 to a new Mentoring, Internships, Networking and Talks (MINT) programme.

It is designed to give up to 5,000 graduates the best possible chance of securing employment.

Details of the special appeals process for students who should have been sitting their exams this year have been announced.

The SQA says schools and colleges can submit appeals for any candidates who end up with a poorer grade than they had estimated.

Appeals from those who needed grades for places at college or university will be prioritised.

The SQA also confirmed that results will definitely be issued on August 4.

Its chief executive Fiona Robertson said: "Everyone at the SQA remains committed to delivering results to learners in as fair a way as possible.

"We all want to ensure the class of 2020 can hold their heads high, now and in the future, with their qualifications fully recognised as they would in any other year."

Candidates will get their results by post or can sign up to get them by text message or e-mail as in other years.

A further 359 deaths of people who tested positive for coronavirus have been confirmed in the UK, across all settings, taking the total number to 39,728.

The Department of Health's latest figures also showed 171,829 tests had taken place over the most recent 24-hour period, with 1,871 positive results.

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

Deaths from coronavirus have fallen for the fifth week in a row but new figures show that, since the pandemic began, more people have died in care homes than in the country's hospitals.

Chief executive of Scottish Care Donald Macaskill and public health expert Dr Linda Bauld will be on the programme just after 5pm.

Also on Drivetime:

• From today childminding services and fully outdoor nurseries can resume. John will speak to those in the business.
• Protests continue in the US and there was also a march in London today over the death of George Floyd. We'll be crossing live to the States and asking how should we be talking about racism?
• And there are some very cheap holiday deals out there. But given that we aren't supposed to travel more than five miles and the home secretary has confirmed quarantine rules will remain for now - will it be hame'll dae me this summer?

Holyrood Live
BBC Parliaments

The constitution secretary has warned ending the Brexit transition period at the end of the year would "undermine a fragile economy" at a time it is already vulnerable due to coronavirus.

Addressing MSPs at Holyrood, Mike Russell called for an extension to allow businesses to benefit from most aspects of EU member "while they continue to recover from the current crisis".

He warned businesses' resilience and ability to cope with changes to the UK's relationship with the EU on top of the Covid-19 related downturn is "almost zero".

Mr Russell also suggested ending freedom of movement at a time when the UK is even more reliant on healthcare workers from the EU had never "looked more damaging or inappropriate".

Image source, Getty Images

Scientists are running a trial to see if ibuprofen can help hospital patients who are sick with coronavirus.

The team from London's Guy's and St Thomas' hospital and King's College believe the drug, which is an anti-inflammatory as well as a painkiller, could treat breathing difficulties.

They hope the low-cost treatment can keep patients off ventilators.

The trial will use a special formulation of ibuprofen rather than the regular tablets that people might usually buy. Some people already take this lipid capsule form of the drug for conditions like arthritis.

Read more

West coast ferry operator CalMac has extend its essential travel-only timetable until at least 30 June.

No future bookings will be taken until after this date.

Since March, the company has restricted use of its ferries to people living on islands, key workers and for the delivery of supplies to islands in the Inner and Outer Hebrides.

CalMac staff have been turning away people for its ferries, including daytrippers.

Jamie McIvor
BBC Scotland local government correspondent

Cosla's president has told MSPs councils across Scotland are facing a £100m funding shortfall because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Scottish government intends to give councils an additional £155m, but Ailison Evison says this will not be enough to cope with the impact of Covid-19.

Ms Evison also said the crisis had:

• affected the ability of councils to make savings.
• hit revenues, for instance through the closure of car parks and leisure centres
• and sparked concerns householders could be building up council tax arrears because they are in financial difficulties because of the pandemic.

Cosla has been assured the government will pass on the extra money it has been promised in June and the organisation's finance spokesperson Gail Macgregor has been in regular touch with the government's finance secretary Kate Forbes and is due to speak to her today.

Image source, Getty Images

More people have now died with coronavirus in Scotland's care homes than in the country's hospitals.

The National Records of Scotland, external (NRS) said there have been a total of 1,818 deaths linked to the virus in care homes since the outbreak began.

That is three more than than the 1,815 deaths that have been recorded in hospitals.

The figures also showed the total number of people dying with the virus has fallen for a fifth week in a row.

NRS said there had been 131 deaths involving Covid-19 between 25 and 31 May - a decrease of 99 from the previous week.

This was the lowest weekly number of deaths since the end of March, and brings the total number of people to have died to 3,911.

• Read more here
• Coronavirus in Scotland - latest developments
• Who is dying and where?