Jonathan Blake
BBC political correspondent

Downing Street says the government is working with Houses of Parliament authorities "to ensure Parliament can operate in a way that is safe for MPs and house staff".

The prime minister's spokesman said: "It’s vital that Parliament can continue to scrutinise the government and legislate to support the coronavirus response.

"As you’ll know the existing temporary arrangements limit some of these functions in particular regard to legislation and that's why work is ongoing... to carefully move back to more ordinary business."

Asked whether the government was concerned about Scottish MPs not being able to travel to Westminster, the spokesman said that was "a matter for them".

The comments come after Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg said on Tuesday that he wants MPs to return to Parliament in the next few weeks to "set an example".

Tom Burridge
Transport correspondent

Transport for London says that as of 10:00 BST today, tube ridership was about 7.3% higher than the same time last Wednesday.

That equates to about 5,700 extra journeys. In total, there were 83,293 journeys.

However, it is still a fraction of normal ridership. On the same day last year there had been nearly 1.2 million journeys by 10:00.

Image source, Getty Images

The tiny nation Lesotho has confirmed its first case of coronavirus. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, which has more than 11,000 cases, Lesotho had been the only country in Africa without a reported infection. But this week dozens of people who arrived from Saudi Arabia via South Africa were tested, and one case was found.

Also in Africa:

• Mosques and churches in Niger are reopening today for the first time in two months. Buildings must be disinfected and visitors wear face masks. Earlier this week Senegal also reopened places of worship
• Tanzania is at risk of being overwhelmed by their outbreak, the US embassy there says, but authorities deny the extent of the crisis. Videos of night burials have caused some to call into question the government's approach

Gavin Lee
BBC Europe reporter

More details now on the European Commission's guidelines for future travel that we talked about earlier. The Commission, which is the only EU body that can draft laws, says member states should consider enforcing:

• Airline and train passengers to buy tickets and check in online
• Physical distancing should be ensured at security checks and luggage drop off and collection
• Food, drinks and other goods may no longer be on sale on board flights, to limit contact
• Fewer passengers should be allowed on board aircraft, buses, trains and ferries
• Passengers who are not from the same household may be seated apart
• Disinfectant gels should be available in vehicles, at airports, train stations and other transport hubs
• All transport staff should have protective equipment, with the possibility of protective barriers between the passengers and the driver on buses and trains
• Ventilation on flights and public transport should be strengthened both with air filters and natural ventilation

Separate daily coronavirus death figures have been published by the four nations in the UK.

Another 244 people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died in England, NHS England said, bringing the total there to 23,952.

Meanwhile, 61 more people have died after testing positive in Scotland, bringing the total there to 1,973.

A further 22 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus in Wales, taking the total there to 1,154.

And two more people have died after testing positive for coronavirus in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health in the nation said. This brings the total there to 449.

The tallies for individual nations can differ from the UK-wide total, because they are calculated on a different timeframe.

Image source, Getty Images

Staggered screenings and isolating families through online booking systems are part of cinema group Vue's plans to start reopening in the UK as soon as possible.

The government has said cinemas, which have been closed since mid-March, could reopen from 4 July - depending on how the UK's plan to drive down new infections progresses.

The UK Cinema Association has welcomed the proposed reopenings, but recognises it remains dependent on a "host of public health considerations".

"We remain in discussion with the government on the exact nature of the safeguards that will be required, some of which have been touched upon by Vue in their response, but all of which will be observed by the entire cinema sector to offer every reassurance to audiences and staff around their continued safety," said chief executive Phil Clapp.

Last week, Cambridge University virologist Dr Chris Smith questioned the validity of reopening entertainment venues, from both a medical and economic standpoint, until a vaccine emerges.

Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world, with more than four million confirmed cases in 187 countries. Nearly 300,000 people have lost their lives.

The US alone has more than 1.3 million confirmed cases - about six times as many as any other country.

And here is our latest table tracking the outbreak in the worst-hit European countries.

Image source, @keir_starmer

UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson to return to the House of Commons to "correct the record" after accusing him of misleading MPs over advice to care homes.

During Prime Minister's Questions Sir Keir said: "Until 12 March, the government's own official advice was - and I’m quoting from it: 'It remains very unlikely that people receiving care in a care home will become infected'."

Johnson had told the house that "it wasn't true that the advice said that".

A page on the government's website, external, which was withdrawn on 13 March, says: "This guidance is intended for the current position in the UK where there is currently no transmission of COVID-19 in the community.

"It is therefore very unlikely that anyone receiving care in a care home or the community will become infected."

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

The number of people dying with coronavirus in Scotland has fallen for the second week in a row.

The National Records of Scotland said 415 deaths had been linked to the virus in the past week - 110 fewer than the week before, with their figures showing the total number of deaths now at 3,213.

There has also been a drop in the number of people dying in care homes.

But the figures suggest that people living in the most deprived areas are more than twice as likely to die than those in the least deprived.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the drop in deaths represented "further and sustained signs of hope", but that she would continue to "err on the side of caution" over lockdown restrictions.

Image source, Getty Images

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned the country not to move too quickly out of lockdown and jeopardise what it has achieved in slowing down the coronavirus.

Germany has been widely praised for its response to the outbreak. Mass testing and effective lockdown restrictions have helped keep the death toll far lower than in other European countries.

Germany's 16 federal states have been given control of easing the lockdown, with shops and schools allowed to reopen this week.

"It would be depressing if we have to return to restrictions that we want to leave behind us because we want too much too soon," Merkel told the Bundestag.

She added her government was not planning to increase any taxes or contributions to finance the cost of coping with the coronavirus crisis.

Merkel also said that Germany's aim was that all border controls in the Schengen travel zone be lifted by 15 June.

We have more on how lockdowns are being lifted across Europe.

The number of people who have died in UK hospitals and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus has reached 33,186, up by 494 from the previous day, the Department of Health says.

The latest figures also showed there were 87,063 tests provided on Tuesday - short of the government's 100,000 tests-per-day target.

In total 1,522,258 people have been tested for coronavirus to date, of whom 229,705 tested positive.

Image source, PA Media

Marks & Spencer is to reopen 49 of its cafes in the UK from Thursday.

The high street retailer said it had taken the decision to reopen the sites to takeaway customers after operating social distancing and extra hygiene measures in its stores.

It said the cafes would be opening for takeaway hot drinks only and the sites selected were all cafes located next to M&S Foodhall stores, which have remained open through the lockdown.

M&S said its reopening plan came after a trial at five locations including its High Street Kensington in London and Maybrook in Canterbury sites.

Gavin Lee
BBC Europe reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The European Commission has set out guidance for EU countries to resume travel and tourism from this summer onwards.

They say their advice aims to give "people confidence to travel again" and should "offer people the chance to get some well-needed rest, relaxation and fresh air".

Recommendations include ending blanket restrictions on free movement and replacing them "gradually" with more targeted measures.

A "phased and co-ordinated approach" would allow seasonal workers across borders, followed by lifting restrictions between countries that have managed to get the virus under a “similar” level of control.

This would be followed by the opening of all internal borders, and countries should not "discriminate" against any other EU countries.

The Commission also says EU citizens should have the right to receive mobile phone alerts of a possible infection, while on holiday in another EU country.

Danny Shaw
BBC Home Affairs Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The lockdown has brought immense challenges for the police service.

Although crime has plummeted and police sickness rates have been far lower than expected, officers have found themselves caught in the middle of a web of hastily drawn-up regulations and guidelines.

The latest police guidance for England suggests their job won't be any easier as it makes clear they can only enforce the law - not government advice.

That means, for example, you can be stopped or fined if you go on an overnight trip or meet up with two or more people from outside your home - because that's the law.

But officers can't prevent you from standing close to a stranger or travelling by train without a face mask on - because two-metre distancing and wearing face coverings in enclosed spaces are guidance.

Image source, Getty Images

Germany will start to open some border crossings from Saturday, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has announced. They include the border with Luxembourg and possibly that with Denmark.

Border controls with France, Switzerland and Austria would be extended until 16 June, but as many crossings as possible will be opened, he said.

"The goal is that from mid-June we want to have free travel in Europe," Mr Seehofer said, but clarified that controls would be re-introduced if there were new outbreaks of coronavirus.

The actor Robert De Niro strongly criticised President Donald Trump's management of the coronavirus crisis in an interview with the BBC.

Describing the White House press conferences as "Shakespearean", De Niro said "what bothers me is nobody says anything". He accused the president of "not caring" how many Americans die and putting re-election first.

De Niro has long been an outspoken critic of Trump.

A three-day-old baby has died in South Wales after his mother tested positive for Covid-19, an inquest has heard.

Coolio Carl Justin John Morgan was born on 2 May at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, but died three days later in Singleton Hospital, Swansea.

The primary cause of death was listed as severe hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy, meaning the brain was starved of blood and oxygen.

Maternal Covid-19 was listed as a secondary cause.

"I pass on my condolences to the family in these most sad and depressing circumstances," said the coroner, Graeme Hughes.

Reality Check

Image source, House of Commons/PA Wire

When questioned at PMQs by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer about the transparency of the government’s scientific advice, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said "all Sage advice is published in due course".

Sage - or the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies as it's formally known - leads the UK government’s scientific response to the coronavirus pandemic and other health emergencies.

Some of the scientific evidence presented to Sage's 57-person panel of experts has been published, the vast majority of it has not.

Only 27 of the 120 pieces of evidence reviewed by Sage over the course of more than 20 meetings up to mid-April have been published, and one of the documents released was heavily redacted.

The government has released the names of the unpublished documents - some of which date back as far back as early February and examine topics as varied as "Comparing interventions in Italy and UK" and "Does the use of face masks in the general population make a difference to spread of infection?".

Members of Sage include the Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Chris Whitty and the Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Patrick Vallance, who both regularly appear at the government's daily coronavirus briefings.

Image source, Getty Images

New figures released by the European Union show industrial production fell by 11.3% in the eurozone in March, the sharpest monthly decline since records began in 1991.

That figure is almost three times worse than any single month during the financial crisis and represents a 12.9% drop from the same period in 2019.

Production of durable consumer goods like cars, washing machines and television sets fell the most, dropping 26.3% for the month and by 24.2% year-on-year.

Capital goods (heavy-duty machinery and equipment) fell by 15.9% but non-durable goods like food only dropped by 1.6% as people stocked up.

Germany, a big exporter of capital goods and durable consumer goods, saw its industrial production fall by 14.2%, while the Republic of Ireland recorded a 25.3% increase, largely driven by food production.

With PMQs finished, MPs put questions to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson about plans to reopen English schools.

Williamson says all teachers and school pupils will be able to be tested for Covid-19 if they develop symptoms when they return to schools.

"This will enable a track-and-trace approach to be taken to any confirmed cases," he says.

He is also asked whether graduates, volunteers and retired teachers could staff summer schools for vulnerable children - noting that "close to 90%" are currently not in education.

Williamson says the government is looking "very closely" at how the enthusiasm of those who want to help out can be harnessed.

And he acknowledges allowing pupils to return to school will be "challenging".

He adds: "We continue to follow the best medical and scientific advice and believe that this phased return is the most sensible course of action to take.

"I know that this will be challenging but I know that nursery, school and college staff will do everything in their power to start welcoming our children back to continue their education."

Image source, House of Commons