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Thanks for joining our live page today. We're pausing our coverage until tomorrow - but before we go, here's a recap of some of the day's top stories.

• There are now more than 2.6 million confirmed cases of coronavirus globally, and more than 180,000 people have died, according to tracking by Johns Hopkins University
• The head of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that the virus will be "with us for a long time", and that there are "worrying upward trends" in parts of Africa, Central and South America and Eastern Europe

• England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty says the UK is not seeing a steep descent in new infections, and that the chance of an effective vaccine or drug being developed in the next calendar year is "incredibly small"
• Still in the UK, the head of Roche - one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies - told the BBC that the country's ability to respond to the pandemic has been hampered by years of underinvestment in healthcare
• A postmortem in California has revealed that the first death of the virus in the US was actually weeks earlier than previously thought
• In New York state, two cats have been diagnosed with coronavirus. They are the first domestic pets to test positive for the virus in the US
• Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa and chairman of the African Union, called for aid for Africa from the G20 group of nations - saying that the global recession likely to follow the pandemic would hit African countries "particularly hard"
• Germany is making face masks mandatory on public transport from next week

What's it like to be on the frontline treating Covid-19 patients, day in and day out? We spoke to medics from around the world about their fears and the challenges of fighting the virus.

Elizabeth knows she is lucky to be alive.

After falling seriously ill with coronavirus, she was admitted to hospital earlier this month.

Read her story of life - and near-death - on a high-risk Covid-19 ward.

Image source, Getty Images

A body representing Indian-origin doctors in the UK has written to the NHS calling for all staff to urgently be risk-assessed for age, sex, ethnicity and health conditions.

Ethnic minorities in the UK are disproportionately more likely to become critically ill with the coronavirus - 34% of ICU patients are Bame (Black, Asian and minority ethnic), despite making up only about 13% of the general population. A disproportionate number of NHS staff who've died of the virus have also been Bame.

A government review is looking into the issue.

"There is palpable worry, upset and at times anger amongst them that the matter [of Bame mortality rates] is not being addressed with sufficient urgency," the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (Bapio) said., external

The letter adds that many of the health conditions likely to make people more susceptible to Covid-19 - including hypertension, diabetes and vitamin D deficiency - are more common in Bame people in the UK than the rest of the population.

It says if staff are deemed to be at significant risk they should be deployed in non-Covid working environments or asked to work remotely.

It also asks that Bame staff be tested for vitamin D deficiency.

Read more about how the coronavirus is affecting Bame communities in the UK.

Image source, Getty Images

Fauci says he has no concerns that public health officials are being muzzled by the Trump administration, noting that he is still on the podium even after expressing dissenting views. He was responding to a question about hydroxychloroquine, a drug touted by the president as a possible coronavirus treatment.

There has been a global surge in demand for drugs normally used against malaria to tackle the coronavirus, as governments urgently seek out treatments for the new disease.

Chloroquine, and a related derivative, hydroxychloroquine, have gained attention - despite the World Health Organization (WHO) saying there is no definitive evidence they work.

According to a study released on Tuesday, coronavirus patients taking hydroxychloroquine had higher death rates compared with those who did not take the drug.

The research focused on 368 patients at US Veterans Health Administration medical centres. It found 97 patients who took hydroxychloroquine had a 27.8% mortality rate. The 158 patients who did not take the drug had an 11.4% death rate.

The research, which was not peer reviewed or published in a medical journal, was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the University of Virginia.

So what exactly is the evidence of the effectiveness of malaria drugs as a treatment for the coronavirus, and who is using them?

Read the full story from our Reality Check team here.

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US Health Secretary Alex Azar reportedly appointed a trusted aide who previously ran a dog-breeding business in Texas to lead the Department of Health and Human Services’ day-to-day response to coronavirus.

The aide, Brian Harrison, 37, had no experience in public health or medicine, reports Reuters.

Asked about this, Trump says: "I don't know about that."

Before joining the Trump administration Harrison ran a company called Dallas Labradoodles for six years, according to financial disclosures unearthed by Reuters news agency.

Five sources told Reuters that some officials in the White House derisively called him “the dog breeder".

“Everyone had to report up through him,” said one official.

Infectious disease chief Dr Fauci is asked about the recent news of two pet cats catching Covid-19.

"Certainly animals, pets can get infected," he says, noting big cats in zoos have become infected with the coronavirus.

But he says there is no proof the virus can be transmitted from pets to humans.

"Biologically, anything is possible," Fauci says. "But there's no evidence whatsoever that we have seen from an epidemiological standpoint that pets can be transmitters within a household."

Fauci also points out that finding an animal has the virus does not necessarily mean the animal is transmitting it. He says zoo animals that have caught Covid-19 likely contracted it from an asymptomatic keeper who was caring for them.

Trump was asked about a senior government vaccine expert, Dr Rick Bright, who says he has been sidelined for refusing to toe the political line.

The president says: "I've never heard of him."

On the claim he was driven out, Trump adds: "Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't."

Dr Bright told the New York Times, external he was removed after conflicting with the Trump administration over unproven coronavirus treatments.

The president has often touted chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as possible treatments against Covid-19.

So what does President Trump's immigration order do?

For the next 60 days, it will bar anyone who is currently outside the United States and does not have a valid immigrant visa or travel document.

It does not affect:

• Anyone seeking to enter the US as a healthcare professional
• Those coming under the Immigrant Investors visa
• US Service Members
• Special Immigrant Visa holders
• Anyone whose entry is in the "national interest"
• The spouses and children under-21 of these groups

Carolyn Goodman, the independent mayor of Las Vegas, has said she proposed offering the city as a "control group" to test out dropping social distancing measures.

“Well, how do you know unless you have a control group?” she said on CNN, adding that she had offered to let Las Vegas be a control group but was turned down by statisticians.

Ms Goodman wants to see the city's casinos, hotels and businesses reopened.

"We have to open up," she said.

Infectious diseases chief Dr Anthony Fauci says he is "convinced" the US "will have coronavirus in the fall" because of how transmissible the disease is.

But he says the nation will be "much, much better prepared" in the autumn "compared to what happened to us this winter".

Fauci notes that the programme to deal with Covid-19 "is not one that is going to be, ‘turn the lights on in America, we’re finished'."

"We have to proceed in a very careful and measured way," he says, adding that the guidelines by the administration are just that.

Fauci also says that if the US does not adopt such an approach, "there’s a likelihood that it will rebound and the one way not to reopen the economy is to have a rebound that we can’t take care of".

"If you leave the virus to its own devices it will take off," Fauci adds.

Trump thanks Harvard University after it decided not to accept nearly $9m (£7.3m) in coronavirus relief aid.

The president said on Tuesday he was unhappy that the prestigious US university had received stimulus money.

"I'm pleased to announce that Harvard has announced today that they will not accept the funds, nor will Stanford University or many of the others that were involved," he said.

"They're not accepting the money and that's great, so I want to thank Harvard, I want to thank Stanford and I want to thank the other companies," he added.

President Trump tells reporters he's just signed an executive order that he said yesterday would temporarily suspend green cards.

“I’ve just signed it before coming into the room,” he says.

"This will ensure unemployed Americans of all backgrounds will be first in line for jobs as our economy reopens," Trump adds.

"As for amending it, extending it, that we can do at the appropriate time."

Here's our story.

The president also noted he disagreed "strongly" with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a fellow Republican, who has decided to reopen some non-essential businesses.

"I told the governor very simply I disagree," Trump says, noting "safety has to predominate" in reopening the states.

"I think spas and beauty salons and tattoo parlours and barber shops - in phase one [of reopening] is just too soon."

The president added: "But at the same time I want him to do what he thinks is right.”

Kemp, a Trump ally, on Monday announced Georgia would allow gyms, bowling alleys, nail salons and massage therapists to open on Friday. In-person church services can resume.

Restaurants and cinemas can also open. His order also prohibited cities from imposing their own restrictions on businesses.

"It's been encouraging to watch states begin to open up, it's a beautiful thing to see," Trump says.

"I want to remind all Americans to adhere to our guidelines, very important," Trump adds.

He goes on to say he wants the state governors "to do what they think is best, but ideally they'll adhere" to the administration's guidance.

He reminds Americans to wash their hands, avoid close contact and wear a face covering in cases where social distancing is impractical.

"We don't want a rebound," Trump says.

The president's reminder comes after weeks of anti-lockdown protests across the country.

Protesters say the restrictions in states are an overreaction and have demanded governors reopen their economies.

Democratic governors had requested the Trump administration remind Americans of the guidelines due to these demonstrations.

• The moment a man in scrubs confronts drivers
• What's behind the anti-lockdown protests?

Trump asks Dr Deborah Birx, one of the taskforce experts, if there is a good chance that Covid-19 won't come back at all.

Birx instead says it'll be easier to find it if it does.

"I think we are assured that the CDC is putting in place today what we are going to need in the fall so that we can stay in containment if, potentially, the virus comes back," she says.

"We're hoping that the flu infections also go down because people are much more aware of respiratory illnesses and how to protect themselves."

Trump says: "And if it comes back, though, it won't be coming back in the form that it was. It will be coming back in smaller doses that we can contain.

He says "you could have some embers of corona", but adds: "We will not go through what we've been going through for the last two months."

"It might not come back at all," he adds.

Trump says recent comments from Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director Dr Robert Redfield that a second Covid-19 wave could be even worse were "inaccurate".

"He was totally misquoted," Trump says. "His whole purpose in making the statement was to get a flu shot."

Redfield joins Trump to clarify.

He says he noted that next autumn "could be more difficult, more complicated" if influenza and Covid-19 were circulating at the same time.

"I think it's really important to emphasise what I didn't say," Redfield says.

"I didn't say this was going to be worse, I said it was going to be more difficult and potentially complicated.

"The issue that I was talking about being more difficult is we're going to have two viruses circulating at the same time."

Redfield says he was accurately quoted in the Washington Post, but takes issue with the headline, “CDC director warns second wave of coronavirus is likely to be even more devastating”.

Here's what Redfield is quoted as saying by the Post: “There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through.

"We’re going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time.”

Trump tweeted about this earlier:

President Trump is now speaking at the White House.

Want to watch with us? Check out our livestream here.

The president is joined by Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr Deborah Birx, Coronavirus Response Co-ordinator, and Vice-President Mike Pence, who leads the taskforce.

Image source, Getty Images

As we wait for the delayed White House briefing, here's the latest from North America:

• There are now over 842,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the US, and more than 40,000 in Canada
• The US has had more than 46,000 deaths, while Canada has seen more than 2,000 deaths
• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a C$9bn ($6.4bnb; £5bn) fund to support post-secondary students and recent graduates; eligible students will receive between C$1,250 and C$1,750 per month, from May to August

• New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city's fireworks show on the July 4 independence holiday would still go on, despite Covid-19 restrictions: “No matter what the coronavirus throws at us, we’re going to find a way to honour America on that beautiful day"
• An Ohio prison has had 78% of its inmates test positive for Covid-19; the state's correctional agency says it "has taken an aggressive and unique approach" by mass testing inmates and staff and that many of the cases are asymptomatic; prisoners now account for 27% of all Ohio virus cases
• During a briefing earlier today, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China of destroying existing samples of Covid-19 and not sharing samples from inside the country, "making it impossible to track [the virus'] evolution"
• New post-mortem examinations in California have changed the timeline of Covid-19 in the US, revealing that the first deaths from the virus came weeks earlier than previously believed

The US president and his Covid-19 task force are due to address the nation within the next few minutes.

Mr Trump will probably be asked to comment on a senior government doctor who came forward today to claim he was sidelined for refusing to toe the political line.

Dr Rick Bright says he had resisted efforts to promote hydroxychloroquine, a malaria medication touted by the president as a possible treatment for coronavirus.