Two residents of a care home on the Isle of Skye, which has 56 cases of coronavirus, have now died.

The outbreak at the care home in the island community was detected last week.

HC One, the company that runs the home, says 29 of the 34 residents and 27 members of staff have tested positive for the virus. All residents are being isolated.

An Army-run mobile testing unit - as shown in the image above - has been set up on Skye.

For the full story, click here.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced the start of a trial involving an app to track and trace the coronavirus.

Using Bluetooth, the free app tracks when its users come into contact with each other, automating the tracing process. If a user develops coronavirus symptoms, it is up to them to let the app inform the NHS.

Their disclosure may trigger an anonymous alert to users with whom they recently had significant contact, again potentially asking those people to go into quarantine or be tested.

For those without smartphones, an alternative could be a Bluetooth-enabled wristband, like those being used in other countries to detect lockdown breaches.

But there are privacy concerns due to the fact contact data from app users is shared with the NHS and a central database if a user declares symptoms.

Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen said this may "open the door to pervasive state surveillance and privacy infringement, with potentially discriminatory effects."

But NHSX, which developed the app, says it only asks for the first half of a user's postcode and that all data in the app is anonymous. The information does not leave a user's phone until they volunteer to share it with the NHS.

Read more here, including whether the app could help end lockdown.

Image source, WHO

The US government has provided no evidence to support “speculative” claims that the coronavirus originated from a lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) expert has said.

Dr Michael Ryan, speaking at a WHO briefing in Geneva, was questioned about the unsubstantiated theory, often touted by US President Donald Trump.

“We have not received any data from the US government relating to the purported origin of the virus. From our perspective, this remains speculative,” Dr Ryan, head of the WHO’s Covid-19 response unit, said.

Dr Ryan said all the evidence suggested “the virus is of natural origin”. He called for a science-based, not a political, inquiry into the origins of the virus.

Read more: Is there any evidence for lab release theory?

Image source, Getty Images

The Republican-controlled US Senate returned to Washington today, but the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives remains closed.

The House Democratic leadership last week abruptly reversed course and told the chambers’ 535 members to continue to stay away from the Washington area, where the rate of new infections is still climbing.

Monday’s first order of business for the 100 US senators is voting on the confirmation of a US nuclear regulatory commission inspector. The senators - many of whom are elderly - are expected to wear masks and keep their distance from each other as they cast their votes.

“We will continue to stand together for the American people - even as we stand six feet apart,” said Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) internal memo shows that the daily US Covid-19 death rate is forecast to rise from 1,750 now to around 3,000 by 1 June, according to a report in the New York Times, external.

The White House has disputed the report.

The CDC document warns officials to expect around 200,000 new infections per day by the end of May, up from around 25,000 new cases now.

“There remains a large number of counties whose burden continues to grow,” the document warns.

Some states that have partially reopened their economies are seeing cases climb. Scientists say this is a worrying trend that could prolong the US recovery.

On Sunday, President Trump doubled his initial estimate for the ultimate death toll, telling Fox News that perhaps 100,000 Americans would die.

But after the Times published the report on Monday, White House spokesman Judd Deere disputed its accuracy.

“This is not a White House document nor has it been presented to the Coronavirus Task Force or gone through interagency vetting," he said in a statement provided to BBC News. "This data is not reflective of any of the modelling done by the task force or data that the task force has analysed."

Image source, EPA

There are fears that the number of infections in Afghanistan could be much higher than reported after one third of people randomly tested in the capital Kabul tested positive, AP news agency reports.

On Monday the number of positive cases rose to 2,894, with 90 deaths.

Although official figures seem relatively low, Afghanistan has limited access to testing and the health system has suffered under decades of conflict.

More than 150,000 Afghans returned from virus-stricken Iran during March, while tens of thousands of others returned from Pakistan, leading to concern that the virus may have spread inside the country.

Last month there were reports that dozens of members of staff at the presidential palace had also tested positive for the virus.

Bruno Boelpaep
Madrid

Spain has been hit hard by the pandemic. BBC senior producer Bruno Boelpaep went out in the capital as the country slowly eased its lockdown restrictions.

Walking the streets of Madrid, you come across many police cars patrolling, a few taxis here and there, blue buses and an army of food deliverers.

Sweating on their bicycles or mopeds, you see the food deliverers everywhere. Around dinner time, groups of 7 or 8 form outside sushi restaurants and burger joints.

One is Fredi. “People mainly order burgers and pizzas. I make around €20 ($22; £18) to €30 where I used to make €40 or €50," he says.

"The first two weeks of lockdown there was a lot of work but then it slowed down. You can feel people have less money now."

A few hundred metres away, coming out of a metro station, Asuncion readjusts her face mask. She has spent the lockdown in the house of her employers - an elderly couple she looks after.

“I’m so glad to be finally able to walk outside for a bit. The people I work for are nice and treat me well but 48 days inside is a long time," she says.

Just off the deserted Plaza Mayor square, Valentin makes up his bed. He’s been homeless for a while and has spent the lockdown on the same street corner but is in high spirits.

"For me it's just the same, only quieter. I have fewer problems than many as I don't have to worry about paying rent," he says.

Image source, Getty Images

The Stranglers keyboard player Dave Greenfield has died at the age of 71 after testing positive for Covid-19.

Greenfield died on Sunday having contracted the virus after a prolonged stay in hospital for heart problems.

He penned the band's biggest hit, Golden Brown, a song about heroin, which went to number two on the UK singles chart in 1982.

The Stranglers bass player Jean-Jacques "JJ" Burnel paid tribute to Greenfield as a "musical genius".

Image source, Getty Images

Health workers in St Petersburg have been offered compensation if they fall ill with Covid-19, but only on the condition they are investigated for how they contracted the disease.

The city’s government has pledged to pay health workers 300,000 roubles ($3,800) if they are diagnosed with Covid-19 while treating infected patients, Russian media report.

Last week, St Petersburg’s health committee said a special commission would establish the eligibility of health workers to claim compensation.

The commission will investigate the extent to which workers were at fault for contracting the virus “as a percentage”, according to the Moscow Times, external.

Russia’s health workers have come under increasing pressure. Last month President Putin admitted there was a shortage of protective kits.

On Monday, Russia recorded more than 10,000 new Covid-19 infections for the second day in a row, bringing the total to 145,268.

Maddy Savage
BBC News, Stockholm

Image source, Getty Images

Sweden has now recorded around three times as many deaths as its Nordic neighbours combined.

The country’s Public Health Agency says a key reason is how rapidly coronavirus has spread in care homes.

In Stockholm, the epicentre of the virus, 212 out of a total of 400 elderly care homes have now reported cases of Covid-19, the agency said on Monday.

It also reported that it had carried out an online survey of managers at care homes in Stockholm and Sörmland, south of the capital in mid-April. It suggested it had been difficult to maintain safe distances between staff and residents.

Per Follin, a Stockholm region infectious disease doctor, said “a lot more has been done and very very quickly” since the survey, including changes to cleaning routines and how staff and residents interact.

A nationwide ban on visiting care homes came into force on 1 April.

A total of 2,769 people are known to have died with the coronavirus in Sweden. Sweden has focused on voluntary social distancing, in contrast to Denmark, Norway and Finland, which introduced stricter measures.

US Vice-President Mike Pence has acknowledged that he should have worn a face mask when he visited a US hospital treating coronavirus patients last week.

His 28 April visit to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota was criticised after video showed him as the only person in the ward not wearing a mask as he met patients and doctors.

“I didn’t think it was necessary, but I should have worn a mask at the Mayo Clinic and I wore it when I visited the ventilator plant in Indiana” two days later, Pence told Fox News on Sunday.

He had earlier defended his decision not to wear a mask - despite being told of the hospital's requirement - saying that he received coronavirus testing “on a regular basis”.

The clinic tweeted after the visit to say it had asked everyone to wear masks, but later deleted the tweet.

Today's government press conference was held by Health Secretary Matt Hancock. He was joined by deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, and the government's testing co-ordinator, Prof John Newton.

Here's what they told us:

• A pilot of the government's track and trace strategy, with human contact tracing and an app, will start on the Isle of Wright this week. It will allow people to log coronavirus symptoms and inform those who may have been exposed to the virus that they need to isolate
• The government aims to have the entire track and trace network, including an initial 18,000 contact tracing workers, set up by the middle of May

• The daily capacity for testing is 108,000, but not all of the capacity is being used. There has also been some progress on developing antibody tests, which could tell if someone has had the virus
• New cases need to fall further for the government to consider policy changes
• A huge scientific study is looking into why people from ethnic minorities are more likely to get coronavirus and why they are more likely to die if they become ill

The Isle of Wight County Press asks about the new app and related privacy concerns.

Matt Hancock says the app "has been designed with privacy and security front of mind" and been "signed off by the National Cyber Security Centre".

He says the data is stored on the individual’s phone and not by the NHS, until the user needs a test.

The "highest level of privacy" has been built in, he says.

Matt Hancock is asked whether vaccination against the virus could be compulsory for children when a vaccine is available.

He says he does not "rule anything out" - but says ministers are anticipating "enormous demand" for vaccination anyway.

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam says it is "more likely than not" that the first vaccines will be licensed for use by adults.

Van-Tam points out that data shows children are less vulnerable to the virus, saying this will have to be borne in mind.

Reality Check

The government has failed to maintain its target of 100,000 tests per day for the second day in a row.

The latest figures for the 24 hours up to 09:00 on Monday showed 85,186 tests. The government had previously announced on Friday and Saturday that it had hit the 100,000-plus target.

England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam referred to the latest figure as "completed" tests. But as on previous days, thousands of tests sent out by post - and which may not all be returned - were included in the figures.

The health secretary said that the testing figures “tend to be lower” over the weekend.

The Evening Standard asks whether those recovered from Covid-19 are expected to catch the virus again, and for an update on the development of antibody tests.

Matt Hancock says the automatic response tests the government looked into had not been effective enough, but were able to be used for surveys.

He says the government will get estimates "soon" of the proportion of the population who have antibodies.

Hancock says he is taking part in regular testing for antibodies and to monitor if he gets the virus again.

England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam says there are suggestions that those who have tested positive for coronavirus do develop antibodies.

On whether this will protect from further infections, he says the disease has not been around long enough "to know the answers with any surety".

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

Plenty of questions about contact tracing at Monday's briefing. This is understandable - it will be crucial in helping UK to move out of lockdown.

If people are going to be able to return to some level of normality, there needs to be a way of quickly identifying new infections and prevention them becoming major outbreaks.

The increase in testing that has been seen as part of this. But so is finding the people who have had close contact with the infected person.

To do that the government is piloting an app in the Isle of Wight that will alert users if they are one of those close contacts.

A team of contact tracers will also be put in place to manually trace people because not everyone will sign up for the app.

But some element of social distancing and shielding the vulnerable will still be needed in a post-lockdown world.

A journalist from the Isle of Wight asks why the island has been chosen for the trial of the NHS tracing app.

Matt Hancock says the elderly population on the island - and projected lower number of smartphone users - was a factor in choosing it.

He says this means the trial will therefore address "as many of the challenges" as possible in rolling the app out nationwide.

John Newton, the UK government’s testing co-ordinator, says that relatively restricted travel to the island makes the island an "ideal place" to study the spread of a virus.

An ITV reporter points out that the most successful contact tracing efforts have been reliant on volunteers to track down cases, and asks whether this capacity is in place in the UK.

Matt Hancock says he agrees it is not "just about the technology" but also about "citizens acting in the right way" - like downloading the app - but he doesn't answer the question directly.

Matt Hancock says the government hopes to roll out its contact tracing programme across the UK in the "middle of this month".

Asked how many of the 18,000 tracers have so far been recruited, he says "thousands" have joined but does not give a precise figure.

He says the 18,000 target is only an "initial goal" and could be modified if new data shows it is justified.