Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

NHS Confederation chief executive Niall Dickson has raised concerns about the potential "damage" to public confidence in official Covid-19 guidance due to the case of the UK government's senior aide Dominic Cummings.

Mr Dickson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Over the next few weeks, following guidance is going to be as vital as ever and actually it's going to be more complex because as lockdown eases the advice is, frankly, less binary and people have to exercise more discretion.

"So I think there is concern that this has been a distraction and that it's not been helpful, and the fear is that it has made people on the front line frustrated and fearful."

Mr Dickson added the incident could "undermine more generally staff confidence in government pronouncements".

Image source, Reuters

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem has reopened as the West Bank eases its lockdown.

But only 50 visitors will be allowed in at a time, and they'll have to wear facemasks and ensure that they do not have a temperature.

The church in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ, is a major tourist draw for the Palestinian economy in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Image source, Reuters

The Trump administration has brought forward new travel restrictions on Brazil, where coronavirus cases have risen sharply in recent days.

The White House said on Monday that the restrictions will come in effect at 23:59 local time on Tuesday, 26 May (03:59 BST on Wednesday, 27 May), not 28 May as originally planned.

Read more: US suspends travel from Brazil for foreigners

Brazil has the second highest number of coronavirus infections (374,898) and the sixth highest number of deaths (23,473) in the world, a tally by Johns Hopkins University shows, external.

The travel restrictions have been viewed as a blow to Brazil’s right-wing President Jari Bolsonaro, who is an admirer and ally of US President Donald Trump.

Like President Trump, Bolsonaro has played down the risks posed by the virus, and promoted unproven treatments.

Image source, PA Media

Ireland’s taoiseach Leo Varadkar did not breach coronavirus restrictions by having a picnic at a park with friends, his spokesperson has said, despite an official’s warning against such activity.

The spokesperson said on Monday that Varadkar “broke no laws, breached no regulations and observed public health guidance”.

The statement was issued after photos of Varadkar and his partner Matthew Barrett standing in Dublin’s Phoenix Park on Sunday were shared on social media. Both topless and wearing shorts, the pair appeared to be having a picnic with friends.

Under the current guidelines, four people who are not from the same household can meet up outdoors, provided they observe social distancing.

But last week, the assistant secretary to the taoiseach's department, Liz Canavan, urged people to avoid unnecessary trips outside, including picnics.

She said: "If you're visiting a public amenity try not to stay too long at the site or have picnics."

Some critics have compared Varadkar’s picnic outing to the conduct of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s most senior aide, Dominic Cummngs, who was accused of breaking lockdown rules.

Image source, Reuters

Countries could see a “second peak” of coronavirus cases during the first wave of the pandemic if lockdown restrictions are lifted too soon, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

Dr Mike Ryan, the WHO’s head of emergencies, told a briefing on Monday that the world was “right in the middle of the first wave”.

He said because the disease was “still on the way up”, countries need to be aware that “the disease can jump up at any time”.

“We cannot make assumptions that just because the disease is on the way down now that it's going to keep going down," Dr Ryan said.

There would be a number of months to prepare for a second peak, he added.

The stark warning comes as countries around the world start to gradually ease lockdown restrictions, allowing shops to reopen and larger groups of people to gather.

Read more: Five ways Europe is easing its lockdown

Experts say that without a vaccine to give people immunity, infections could increase again when social-distancing measures are relaxed.

Dr Ryan said countries where cases are declining should be using this time to develop effective trace-and-test regimes to “ensure that we continue on a downwards trajectory and we don’t have an immediate second peak”.

Pakistan's top health official has warned that lockdown might resume as cases and deaths rise.

Dr Zafar Mirza urged citizens to follow social distancing measures, external, warning that a "strict lockdown" was on the cards if infections continued to swell.

Pakistan lifted its lockdown in phases, starting earlier this month. The country has more than 57,000 confirmed cases and 1,197 deaths so far.

"I want to warn Pakistanis that if you don't take precautionary measures, this crisis could turn into a huge tragedy," said Dr Mirza.

Image source, Getty Images

Latin America’s largest airline has filed bankruptcy protection in New York after the coronavirus pandemic grounded flights across the region.

The move allows Latam Airlines Group to keep operating while it works out a plan to pay creditors and turn around the business.

The Chilean carrier said it continues to operate on a reduced schedule and has commitments for a loan of up to $900m (£736m).

Earlier this month Colombia's largest airline Avianca filed for bankruptcy, dragged down by a sharp drop in customers and large debts.

Image source, Rex Features

• In the UK, the Women's Super League and Women's Championship seasons have been ended immediately, with the outcome of the WSL title - and promotion and relegation issues - still to be decided
• The Premier League will discuss close-contact training - as opposed to socially-distanced sessions - with club captains, managers and representatives from the Professional Footballers Association and League Managers Association on Tuesday. A vote will follow on Wednesday
• Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has written, external to France's prime minister and sports minister, calling for them to reconsider the decision to end the French football season early. Ligue 1 is the only one of the big five European leagues to have ended its season, with Lyon seventh, so they would miss European qualification
• Former boxing world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield is open to coming out of retirement to fight Mike Tyson for a third time. Both are now in their 50s and have planned returns for charity

Image source, EPA

The Czech Republic is opening its border crossings with Austria and Germany today - although restrictions on who is allowed to enter the country remain.

Only returning citizens, foreign residents, and European Union students and business travellers will be allowed in. Police will carry out spot checks on cars, and passengers will need to provide a certificate proving they do not have Covid-19 - or else face two weeks of quarantine.

From Wednesday, the border with Slovakia will reopen, but visitors from either side of the border will have to return within 48 hours.

The Czech Republic was one of the first European countries to close its borders, doing so on 12 March.

As we reported earlier, Saudi Arabia is lifting its curfew next month. While the severity of the curfew has varied at different times and in different places, it will mean normal life returning to the country after weeks of quiet.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Particularly in Mecca, the curfew made a drastic difference. During Ramadan, there would have been countless pilgrims across the city. Not this year, though.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Monday's news conference by Dominic Cummings - the prime minister's closest adviser - leads almost all the UK newspapers.

The Daily Mail says the conference was a "rose garden roasting" and asks how Mr Cummings - or, as the paper labels him, the PM's "defiant svengali" - can survive in his post in the face of "public fury".

For his part, Mr Cummings insists his trip to County Durham - in order to get childcare for his four-year-old son, while he and his wife were ill - was within the rules.

• See all the front pages here

Image source, Daily Mail

Image source, AFP

Uganda will today begin easing coronavirus restrictions - with private cars allowed back on the roads, shops and restaurants reopening, and guidelines that everyone wears a mask.

President Yoweri Museveni last week delayed the easing until today, giving time for the public to acquire face masks.

The easing of restrictions will only apply in 95 out of 135 districts, with 40 border districts still restricted.

Public transport restrictions will be eased on 4 June, the same day guidelines on the reopening of schools will be announced.

Image source, PA Media

Two major sporting events held in the UK in March "caused increased suffering and death", the scientist leading the country's largest Covid-19 tracking project has said.

Data gathered from millions of volunteers found coronavirus "hotspots" shortly after the Cheltenham Festival and Liverpool's Champions League match against Atletico Madrid.

Professor Tim Spector said rates of cases locally "increased several-fold".

• Read the full story here

Image source, Reuters

The first human trial of a vaccine in the southern hemisphere has begun today in Melbourne, Australia.

The vaccine being tested - with the catchy name of NVX-CoV2373 - was made by US company, Novavax. It will be tested on a group of 130 healthy adults with the first results expected in July.

There are more than 100 vaccines being developed around the world, and around a dozen have begun human testing.

The first in the UK began last month at Oxford.

• When will we have a vaccine?
• Australian scientists test vaccines on ferrets

Image source, Getty Images

Germany has recorded 432 new infections over the past day, while 45 new deaths have been linked to Covid-19.

The overall totals are now 179,002 infections and 8,302 deaths. Around 90% of those infected have recovered already.

Like most of Europe, Germany is in the process of easing lockdown restrictions - and the state of Thuringia, which had only a few infections, is thinking about lifting them all.

With the collapse of the tourism industry, many of Thailand's captive elephants are now at risk of starvation.

Some of their keepers are leading the animals out of the country's tourist hubs and into the countryside where there is food.

The BBC followed one group of elephant keepers on what charities have described as "the biggest migration of elephants in Thailand's history".

Reality Check

Image source, Getty Images

As the WHO suspends trials of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, what is the confusion all about?

The BBC Reality Check team looked into the drug - which has been touted by both Donald Trump and Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro.

• Click here to read the full analysis

Laura Bicker
BBC News, Seoul

A 27-year-old man in South Korea has been sentenced to four months in prison for breaking coronavirus quarantine rules.

It’s the first conviction of its kind in the country.

The man - who has only been identified by his family name, Kim - was asked to self-isolate at home for two weeks after he was discharged from a hospital north of Seoul.

He was caught leaving his house two days before his 14-day quarantine was due to end. He was taken to a residential centre, but was caught once again trying to leave and was arrested for violating the Infectious Diseases Control and Prevention Act.

The country is cracking down on quarantine violators after an outbreak at a series of nightclubs in Seoul’s party district saw sporadic clusters of infections across the country.

The number of daily new infections continue to hover at around 20 per day.

There are more than 33,000 people across the country in self-isolation, most of whom have arrived from overseas. Those who violate quarantine rules are now ordered to wear electronic bracelets to track their movements. There are 17 people currently wearing the devices.

Meanwhile, more than 2.4 million students are due to head back to their classrooms tomorrow as part of a phased return to school.

Health officials fear that further spikes in infection rates may prevent some from re-opening.

Image source, Reuters

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is set to reopen its trading floor on Tuesday after a two-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But the exchange is likely to look and feel very different as new rules come into effect.

The NYSE is one of the few bourses to still feature floor trade - most have shifted to fully-electronic trading.

New York City has been hit hard by the outbreak with some 200,000 cases and more than 20,000 deaths.

Under the new measures only a quarter of the normal number of traders will be allowed to return to work.

• Read our full story here

Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor

Image source, AFP

Dominic Cummings' rose garden confessional was a bold move designed to take the drama out of a crisis.

But giving detailed answers to why he at the very least broke the spirit of the lockdown rules does not answer the fundamental question now - is his continued presence in Downing Street more of a hindrance than a help to Prime Minister Boris Johnson?

Tempers may have cooled slightly on the conservative backbenches, but there are still calls for him to go, both private and public.

The man respected by Johnson for judging the public mood has made himself famous for falling foul of that opinion.

His explanations may ease for some of the anger. But in Westminster and beyond, it will not disappear overnight.

• Read more analysis from our political editor here