Virma Simonette
Manila

At a public transport terminal, several buses have arrived carrying Filipinos who excitedly waved at us despite the scorching temperature of 34C.

This is the first batch of Filipino crew members from the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship, disembarking today after a month of quarantine.

The cruise ship, which set sail from Australia, arrived in the country on 20 April. A day after their arrival, the crew members were tested for Covid-19 and sent to 14-day mandatory quarantine.

But after that, they were still not allowed to leave the ship since test results were unavailable.

One crew member, Federico Marcos, said the problem was the Philippine government. He said they were tested a couple of times and were scheduled to leave the ship on 6 May but weren’t given any information on their disembarkation.

"We were quarantined and tested. After the quarantine, we are scheduled for another swab test? Why? For what?"

A Filipina ship stewardess also said she is "mentally not okay" and unsure of what the government is doing right now.

About 300 Filipinos are still onboard the ship, and waiting for their test results and certifications.

Alison Roberts
BBC News, Lisbon

Image source, Reuters

Portugal has reopened cafes, restaurants and many more shops, in a new phase of easing restrictions.

Creches have also reopened, with children removing shoes at the door and smaller groups in each room.

In schools, some face-to-face classes have resumed for older pupils, with caretakers in protective kit at the entrances, wielding hand sanitiser.

But school heads report that many children failed to turn up, under flexible rules allowing worried parents to keep them at home if they choose.

Portugal has been hit far less hard by coronavirus than its neighbour Spain.

But after two weeks in which smaller shops and salons reopened, surveys show many people are still reluctant to leave home except for work or essential purchases.

Prime Minister António Costa was shown on TV visiting shops and cafes in Lisbon at the weekend, and he urged citizens to come out into the streets.

Maddy Savage
BBC News, Stockholm

In Sweden almost half of all those whose deaths are linked to Covid-19 were residents of care homes, according to figures given to the BBC by the Swedish public health agency.

Separate figures released by state-funded data agency Statistics Sweden show that a total of 10,458 people died in April, making it Sweden's deadliest month since 1993, when there was an outbreak of seasonal flu and 11,057 died.

Prior to that, the highest death toll in a month was in 1918, at the peak of the Spanish flu pandemic.

In another development, Gothenburg’s iconic blue and white tram services are being suspended this afternoon after union officials raised concerns about the health and safety of drivers during the pandemic. Kommunal, the union which represents tram workers, has told Swedish media that not all drivers’ cabins have been sealed off from passengers and that drivers are being forced to work on busy routes.

• What is going wrong in Swedish care homes?

Michelle Roberts
Health editor, BBC News online

Image source, AFP

I’ll have what he’s having. No thanks – or rather, not yet.

US President Donald Trump says he is taking a malaria drug called hydroxycholorquine to ward off coronavirus, even though experts say, currently, there is no convincing evidence that it helps fight the virus and it can cause unpleasant and harmful side effects in some people.

Is Mr Trump misguided or a trailblazer?

Repurposing existing drugs to treat coronavirus is a very good and sound idea (unlike Mr Trump's previous ones about injecting disinfectant or hitting the body with “tremendous” UV light).

It may be our only hope, at least in the short term, until a vaccine can be found.

The UK government has been stockpiling some medicines that might be useful against coronavirus. That includes 16m hydroxychloroquine tablets., external

Clinical trials are under way in the UK and the US to assess the drug’s worth. The human guinea pigs taking part include frontline healthcare workers at high risk of exposure to the virus, as well as patients.

Experts agree that this work is worth doing, but they are concerned about advocating more general use of these experimental treatments before the proof is in.

Dr Stephen Griffin, Associate Professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds, told me: “People that follow the president’s example might not only endanger themselves, but could also deprive patients with chronic autoimmune conditions of their much-needed medication."

The World Health Assembly has agreed to an independent investigation into the response to the global coronavirus pandemic.

At the agency's annual ministerial meeting, none of the WHO's 194 member states - which include the United States - raised objections to the resolution brought by the European Union on behalf of more than 100 countries including Australia, China and Japan.

"Is the Health Assembly prepared to adopt the draft resolution as proposed? As I see no requests for the floor, I take it that there is no objection and the resolution is therefore adopted," said Keva Bain, the Bahamas ambassador who serves as the assembly's president.

Earlier, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said an independent evaluation, which would look at what lessons could be learned and put forward any recommendations, would take place "at the earliest opportunity".

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has been defending the government's response to the crisis in England's care homes during the coronavirus pandemic.

He has told MPs:

- "89% of all deaths have been those aged above 65"

- The government has offered what he called "unprecedented levels of support for the social care system"

- "62% of care homes have had no reported cases of coronavirus"

He was responding to an urgent question in the Commons from shadow social care minister Liz Kendall, who accused ministers of being "too slow" to tackle the spread of coronavirus in care homes.

She asked: "Can (Mr Hancock) explain why guidance saying care homes were very unlikely to be infected wasn't withdrawn until March 12 when the chief medical officer (Chris Whitty) warned about community transmission and the risk to the elderly on March 4?"

Mr Hancock responded: "We have made social care a priority from the start. The first guidance went out to social care in February. She (Ms Kendall) refers to the March 13 guidance, that was only a matter of days immediately after the risk to the public was raised on medical advice.

"And the guidance that was in place until then, as she probably knows, explicitly stated that that guidance was in place whilst community transmission was low and said it would be updated as soon as community transmission went broader and that's exactly what we did."

Image source, PA Media

Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says he takes some responsibility for the UK government not being sufficiently prepared for a coronavirus pandemic.

The Conservative MP told the BBC: "We were preparing hard for a pandemic of flu – I have to hold my hands up as I was health secretary for six years when those pandemic preparations were done – and we weren’t thinking hard enough about pandemic coronaviruses like Sars."

He says coronaviruses have a long “incubation period” when people can spread the virus without showing any symptoms, adding that this means testing becomes "much more important".

He says it's for that reason that European countries and America, who were focusing on flu, have had "a less effective response" compared to countries in Asia which “really had their fingers burnt with Sars”.

It's lunchtime here in the UK, and it's been a busy morning. Welcome if you're just joining us.

Here are the main developments from the UK:

• The number of people claiming unemployment benefit soared during the first full month of the coronavirus lockdown. Official figures show there were 2.1 million people claiming benefits in April - up by 856,500
• Claims for universal credit - the benefit for working-age people in the UK - hit a record monthly level in the early weeks of lockdown
• Meanwhile, separate research suggests young people are most likely to have lost work or seen their income drop because of the pandemic. More than one in three 18-to-24-year-olds is earning less than before the outbreak, the Resolution Foundation claims
• Nearly 10,000 people have died with coronavirus in care homes in England and Wales, figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest
• And campaigners say UK towns and cities must be made cycle-friendly if a change to commuting habits is to succeed. People are being encouraged not to use public transport when they return to work

Image source, Getty Images

Polish public radio has been accused of censoring an anti-government song which topped the charts and was then removed from the station's website.

Kazik's Your Pain is Better than Mine is widely seen as criticising the head of Poland's ruling nationalist party.

The song's theme is grieving and the lockdown of the nation's cemeteries during the coronavirus outbreak.

The host of the Trojka chart show has resigned along with two other DJs.

The station director has claimed the chart was fixed, but MPs from the ruling party as well as the opposition have condemned the song's removal.

Read more here.

The coronavirus cannot be eradicated, the House of Lords has heard.

Prof David Robertson, head of viral genomics and bioinformatics at the University of Glasgow, told the House's Science and Technology Committee that Covid-19 was a highly successful virus.

He said: "It is so transmissible, it's so successful, we're so susceptible, that actually it's a little bit of a red herring to worry about it getting worse, because it couldn't be much worse at the moment in terms of the numbers of cases."

He contrasted coronavirus with Ebola, which killed many more of the people it infected but was therefore easier to control as people stopped spreading it.

"This virus is infecting so many people with asymptomatic to mild symptoms that it's almost uncontrollable.

"I think we have to be clear that we're not going to be able to eradicate this virus. It's going to settle into the human population and in several years it will become a normal virus."

There was also a warning that people who have had coronavirus may not develop significant immunity.

John Edmunds, professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said evidence from survivors of Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, a different form of coronavirus) suggested immunity-giving antibodies reduced over time.

"So that's potentially bad news for us, that immunity may not last that long against this virus," he said.

Qatar has confirmed 12 cases of coronavirus in a prison, but has denied suggestions of a more serious outbreak.

The government said two prisoners were seriously ill but none had died at Doha's Central Prison.

In a report, Human Rights Watch said six detainees had "described a deterioration in prison conditions" in what it called an "apparent Covid-19 outbreak"., external

But the government said the report was "based on unfounded rumours and speculation from a small number of unverified interviews".

Image source, Getty Images

It's a mixed picture across Europe today, with bleak news for the car industry and fears that easing travel restrictions may still be premature:

• Car sales in Europe plunged by 76.3% in April – a record fall – compared with the same period last year, according European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA)
• An EU agency which monitors infectious diseases has been accused of underestimating the virus threat. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) considered coronavirus low-risk when it met on 18 February, just three days before the outbreak in northern Italy made headlines. Spain’s El País newspaper reports that the agency made no urgent recommendations for special measures and concludes, citing other medical experts, that it did not respond robustly enough
• The Czech Republic (Czechia) has reported its largest daily increase in cases for over a month with 111 new infections. The R rate is now 1.2 and 297 people have died. The country is now stockpiling medical equipment, to be ready for a possible second wave of the virus
• Germany has reported 72 more deaths, bringing its official total to 8,007. Its R rate is 0.9 - a rate above 1.0 means that on average a person can infect more than one other. And for 10 days in a row the respected Robert Koch Institute has reported fewer than 1,000 new infections daily
• The head of the World Medical Association, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, says it's still too early for Europeans to be planning summer holidays abroad. German and EU officials have spoken optimistically about restarting tourism and easing border controls. But Mr Montgomery told Funke Media “the new relaxations among European countries make me very worried”

Adam Easton
Warsaw correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Coronavirus infections in Poland may start to fall within a week, the country’s Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski says.

“I think that in a week we will be able to say that we have a downward trend,” Szumowski told a news conference.

The number of cases is not yet falling because of an outbreak among coal miners in Poland’s Silesian region.

As of Tuesday morning, 2,683 miners had tested positive for the virus. Five mines have suspended production due to the outbreak, but one partially resumed excavation on Monday.

The region of Silesia accounted for 77%, or 150 of all the 195 new cases confirmed on Tuesday morning. Poland has to date recorded 19,080 cases, 941 deaths and 7,903 recoveries. There are currently 2,490 people in hospital with the virus, according to health ministry figures.

Szumowski said the number of hospital beds occupied by patients with the virus had never exceeded 30% of the Polish health system’s capacity.

“This shows that we managed to avoid the scenario in Italy and France,” he said.

Poland has recorded far fewer Covid-19 cases and deaths than many western European countries. The authorities put this down to the swift closing of the country’s borders, which are to remain closed until 15 June.

Image source, RSPB

A group of conservationists have made it back to the UK after being rescued from one of the world's most remote islands - following a 12-day voyage and an RAF military flight.

Four Britons were part of a group of 12 from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds who became stranded on Gough Island, which is a British Overseas Territory about 1,700 miles (2,735km) west of Cape Town, South Africa.

They had arrived on Gough Island at the end of February to start work on a restoration programme, but the project had to be postponed amid the coronavirus outbreak.

To get back to the UK, they sailed for 12 days on a yacht to Ascension Island, and then got an RAF flight - which was delivering essential supplies to the island - back to the UK.

Image source, RSPB

The government is increasing the size of loans available from the Bank of England to keep large companies afloat during the coronavirus crisis from £50m to £200m - but it comes with strings attached.

Companies taking loans above £50m will have to pledge to limit cash bonuses to senior management, and dividends - unless they were announced before applying for the loan. Share buybacks are also against the rules.

The Bank of England said the measures were intended to help ensure that companies could pay back what they borrow.

Read the full story

Image source, Getty Images

Formula 1 says it will be "impossible" to hold a British Grand Prix later this year if personnel are not given exemptions from plans to quarantine international travellers.

The UK government is set to require all arrivals from abroad to self-isolate for 14 days under quarantine rules expected to come into effect in early June.

An F1 spokesman added this would have an impact on tens of thousands of jobs.

Read more here.

Figures released by the UK's national statistical agencies show that there were 54,437 more deaths up to 8 May than would normally have been expected by this time of year.

The figure is larger than the 34,796 people who died after a positive test result for coronavirus up to that date, or the 41,020 people whose death certificate mentioned Covid-19.

Robert Cuffe, the BBC's head of statistics, said the larger "excess deaths" figure was likely to capture the true impact of the virus, reflecting the numbers of people who died without a test or who died because of the strain on the healthcare system.

More than a quarter of people with Covid-19 mentioned on their death certificate have died in care homes. But these figures are now falling across the UK.

There were 1,940 deaths attributed to coronavirus in care homes in the week up to 8 May, down from 2,809 the previous week.

Image source, Getty Images

Hello to everyone just joining our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Here's an update on the latest developments from around the world:

• China-US relations continue to deteriorate. China’s foreign ministry has accused the Trump administration of attacking the World Health Organization as a means of diverting attention from its own mishandling of the coronavirus crisis

• It came after Trump accused the WHO of showing an “alarming lack of independence” from China
• Trump has also shocked many by saying he is taking the drug hydroxychloroquine, even though there is no evidence it fights the virus
• The number of people claiming unemployment benefit in the UK soared last month, rising by 856,500 to just over 2 million. But the work and pensions secretary told the BBC that Britain "can cope" with rising joblessness
• The pandemic is making it harder for India and Bangladesh to evacuate millions of people from coastal areas ahead of an approaching super cyclone

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

The head of Visit Britain says she’s had discussions with the government about the possibility of an extra bank holiday in October this year.

Patricia Yates has been giving evidence to a virtual session of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

She told the MPs: “The idea that we could possibility have a bank holiday in October, because the industry has lost the benefit of the two May bank holidays, I think that’s an idea that’s being considered, to have a bank holiday around the October half term. Because what we’re going to need to do is not just stimulate people in July and August but really extend the season this year for the domestic market.”

At the start of the hearing, Patricia Yates said Visit Britain now estimated that the UK’s tourism sector had lost around £37 billion (£15bn from foreign tourists not visiting, £22bn from domestic tourists) as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.

So will the government say yes to another bank holiday? We'll ask the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman at the lunchtime briefing for political reporters.

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

Witnesses appearing before parliamentary select committees often arrive with a briefcase full of carefully chosen language, euphemisms and pleasantries.

There's none of that at the Commons Health Select Committee this morning as it hears about Covid-19 in care homes.

Professor Martin Green, the chief executive of Care England, is particularly forthright. Care England represents care home providers in England.

Professor Green has just told MPs:

- "We have still got to the get the PPE situation sorted out". And personal protective equipment remains "extremely problematic"

- "We need a national strategy. We need some central direction"

- There is "endless guidance from various different agencies that has been changing by the day"

- Some services "might go under"

- "Public Health England understands the NHS, but doesn’t understand the social care workforce and what our needs are"