Summary

  • People in the UK are gathering for mass anti-racism demonstrations, defying virus warnings

  • Large crowds are expected to protest in Washington DC against racism and police brutality

  • The Palace of Versailles outside Paris and the Prado museum in Madrid are among the famous venues reopening

  • Wearing masks in public can help slow spread of the virus, the World Health Organization says

  • Prince William reveals he's a volunteer on mental health helpline during lockdown

  • Number of cases in India overtakes Italy as hospitals struggle to cope

  • Globally, the number of infections is more than 6.7 million and some 395,000 people have died - Johns Hopkins

Live Reporting

Edited by Alix Kroeger and Martha Buckley

  1. How Bill Gates became the voodoo doll of Covid conspiracies

    Bill Gates and his wife MelindaGetty Images

    Bill Gates and his wife Melinda have poured billions into global healthcare

    "If anything kills over 10 million people over the next few decades, it is likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than war," Bill Gates told the TED conference in Vancouver in 2015.

    The video of this talk has now been viewed more than 64 million times - with many people more interested in the reasons behind that speech than the talk itself.

    "He is this kind of voodoo doll that all these communities are pricking with their own conspiracies. And it is unsurprising he has become the voodoo doll - because he has always been the face of public health," said Rory Smith, from fact-checkers First Draft News.

    Theories falsely linking the Microsoft co-founder to the coronavirus were mentioned 1.2m times on television or social media between February and April, according to a study by The New York Times and Zignal Labs.

    Much of the content is posted to public Facebook groups, from where it is shared millions of times. First Draft News has also found that Chinese viral video site TikTok is becoming a new home for such conspiracies.

    In an interview with the BBC, Mr Gates expressed surprise that he had become the figurehead of such theories.

    "It is troubling that there is so much craziness," he said. "When we develop the vaccine we will want 80 percent of the population to take it and if they have heard it is a plot and we don't have people willing to take the vaccine that will let the disease continue to kill people."

    Read more here.

    Gates conspiracy theories

    The BBC's anti-disinformation team has been researching some of the more outlandish conspiracy theories

  2. Palace of Versailles reopens to public

    Palace of VersaillesGetty Images

    The Palace of Versailles, one of France's iconic landmarks, was reopened to the public on Saturday for the first time since March.

    France is gradually easing its lockdown restrictions, and staggering the opening of its cultural attractions over the next few weeks.

    The palace's coffers have been hit hard by the pandemic - ticket sales to the 8m people who passed through the gates in 2019 made up 75% of revenues, with four in every five visitors foreign.

    "This financial model has been devastated. We have to start again," Catherine Pegard, who runs the palace, said. "We’re not the only ones."

    Visitors are required to wear face masks and follow a one-way route through the 2,300-room complex, built in the 17th Century by King Louis XIV and his father.

    Palace of VersaillesGetty Images
    Palace of VersaillesGetty Images

  3. Can superspreading be stopped?

    Rebecca Morelle
    Science correspondent, BBC News

    As the world races to find treatments and vaccines for coronavirus, scientists have another target in their sites - the superspreading event, when one person infects many others.

    Not every person with coronavirus passes it on to the same number of people. Some may self-isolate and infect nobody, while others go about their life and infect many people.

    Scientists have been keeping track of clusters of Covid-19 since the pandemic began.

    As new infections decrease, and the world opens up, scientists say that while lockdowns were a blunt tool for halting the spread of coronavirus, a more targeted approach is now needed.

    Read more about that here.

  4. Prince William reveals he is secret helpline volunteer

    Prince WilliamReuters

    The Duke of Cambridge has revealed he has been anonymously volunteering on a crisis helpline during the UK's coronavirus lockdown.

    He has been volunteering at Shout 85258, which offers support via text message to people in personal crisis.

    Prince William said he had been answering messages after being trained by the mental health charity.

    Read more here.

  5. India reports nearly 10,000 new cases

    Jill McGivering
    South Asia editor

    Officials say the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in India has now exceeded that of Italy.

    The news comes as India takes further steps to ease its national lockdown, although tough measures remain in force in the worst affected areas.

    India is steadily rising up the table of countries with the most cases. On Saturday, it reported nearly 10,000 new infections in the previous 24 hours - the latest high in a series of growing daily totals.

    At the same time, the country is getting ready for Monday when many restaurants, shopping malls, offices and places of worship re-open.

    India's testing rate is low; the real number of cases may be much higher. And there are concerns too about geographic spread as millions of migrant workers travel home from congested cities.

    Police screen commutersGetty Images

    Commuters have been caught in traffic jams during strict checks by police at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border

  6. Tracking the global coronavirus outbreak

    Here are the latest series of charts which track the global outbreak of the virus since it emerged in China in December last year.

    Click here to look at the full range

    The chart below shows the number of cases globally, although the true number is thought to be much higher than the reported figures, as many of those with milder symptoms have not been tested and counted.

    A chart displaying the total number of coronavirus cases

    These charts below show four countries - Brazil, Russia, Mexico and Peru - where deaths have been on an upward trajectory - as shown by the red lines.

    Charts showing the coronavirus deaths in Brazil, Russia, Mexico and Peru

    In Europe, the UK, Italy, Spain and France, along with others, now appear to have passed the peak, with the number of new confirmed cases and deaths falling.

    Charts showing daily coronavirus deaths in selected European countries

  7. What is a vaccine and how is one made?

    We are potentially getting closer to discovering a vaccine that can stop Covid-19, but is has to be safe.

    Here we look at the work needed to create a vaccine - currently the most important piece of scientific research in the world - and when one might be ready.

    Coronavirus: How close are we to getting a vaccine?

  8. No update on care home test targets today

    John McManus
    BBC News

    On 15 May, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that the government would provide tests for every resident and member of staff in elderly care homes in England by early June. Note the promise was "to provide" - not actually to ensure everybody in the home had had a test, but only that the option had been there to take one.

    The promise came following a political storm over the high number of deaths in elderly care homes from Covid-19.

    This morning the Department for Health and Social Care told me that the announcement over whether or not that target had been met would not come today - but rather some time in the next few days.

    The DHSC also said it couldn't confirm whether it would be providing extra funds for councils - but that it recognised care homes were facing significant challenges. It said it had already given an extra £600m to help reduce the infection rate in homes.

    Figures show that at least 16,000 people have died from the virus in care homes - but that may be an underestimate.

    There have been allegations that while the government scrambled to provide PPE to NHS staff, those working and living in care homes had been left to fend for themselves.

    England and the rest of the UK have not been alone in their difficulties with care home cases during the pandemic. Other European countries have also had high numbers of deaths in care homes – with WHO Europe reporting that up to 50% of Covid-19 deaths across the region were in care homes.

    The USA, Canada and other countries have also been affected – with coronavirus-related deaths in Canadian care homes corresponding to 72% of all Covid-19 deaths in the country.

  9. World War Two veterans to commemorate D-Day from afar

    An artist's view of how the memorial will lookNormandy Memorial Trust

    An artist's view of how the new memorial will look

    World War Two veterans and their families will be commemorating the D-Day anniversary - the 1944 allied invasion of Normandy - from afar this year because of measures to restrict the spread of coronavirus.

    More than 70 veterans, many in their mid-90s, were meant to make the trip to the British Normandy Memorial in France for the 76th anniversary today. It will be the first time that people have not been permitted to attend such an event.

    The memorial was meant to be officially opened on 4 SeptemberNormandy Memorial Trust

    The memorial was meant to be officially opened on 4 September

    Instead, the Normandy Memorial Trust is showing images and footage of the latest construction work at the site in the French town of Ver-sur-Mer via its website.

    Read more on this story here.

    The British Normandy Memorial under construction in FranceNormandy Memorial Trust

    The British Normandy Memorial under construction in France

  10. Analysis: Is UK's R number balanced on knife edge?

    James Gallagher
    Health and science correspondent, BBC News

    A busy street before lockdownGetty Images

    There have been warnings coronavirus may be starting to spread again in the north-west and the south-west of England.

    Some scientists say the R number - how many people, on average, an infected person passes the virus onto - is creeping up across the country and may have surpassed one.

    The UK government insists the number is not above one anywhere in the country.

    So, what is going on? How worried should we be? And what does it mean for lifting lockdown?

    Read more from James here.

  11. Merseyside's 'forgotten street'

    Throughout the coronavirus crisis, we've seen the poorest communities hit the hardest in the UK.

    The death rates in the most deprived areas of England are more than double those in the most affluent.

    Now, Public Health England says the pandemic has in some areas, deepened existing health inequalities.

    Our Special Correspondent, Ed Thomas, has been hearing from families on a street on Merseyside, where three people have died recently:

    Coronavirus: Merseyside's forgotten street

  12. Was coronavirus here earlier than we thought?

    Fergus Walsh
    Medical correspondent

    My experience of testing positive for coronavirus antibodies clearly struck a nerve. Two weeks ago I wrote that I'd had no recent symptoms but dismissed a bout of pneumonia in January because it was weeks before the first confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the UK.

    Many of you responded with your own experiences of having Covid-like symptoms - some as far back as November - and urged me to investigate further.

    China reported a cluster of cases on 31 December 2019, but later told the WHO that the earliest symptoms from these patients dated back to 8 December.

    But according to unreleased government data obtained by the South China Morning Post (which, I should stress, has not been seen by the BBC) the first case in Wuhan could have been on 17 November, with several further cases that month.

    The first confirmed cases in the UK were identified on 31 January, when two Chinese nationals tested positive in York. They caught the virus abroad. The first confirmed case of transmission inside the UK was registered in Surrey on 28 February.

    But is it possible to prove when coronavirus first struck, and does it matter?

    Read more here.

  13. Fans set to return at PGA events next month

    Fans at a golf eventGetty Images

    Golf fans will be allowed to watch a PGA Tour event for the first time since the coronavirus shutdown at next month's Memorial Tournament in Ohio.

    The tour resumes next week with the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas, but the first five events will be played behind closed doors.

    The Memorial Tournament, founded by 18-time major winner Jack Nicklaus, takes place from 16-19 July at Muirfield Village.

    The event said the move was confirmed after it was given "state approval", with tournament organisers saying they were looking forward to being "an example of how public gathering events can be developed and implemented with approved and accepted protocols in place".

    The PGA Tour has been suspended since 12 March after all professional golf was stopped because of the pandemic.

  14. Coronavirus surcharges adding 'insult to injury' in UK care homes

    Man in care home settingGetty Images

    Some older people in UK care homes are being asked to pay more than £100 a week extra in fees to cover extra costs relating to the coronavirus pandemic.

    Charity Age UK says residents who pay their own fees are facing the bills to pay for protective gear and rising staff costs.

    It is an "insult to injury" for people who have "been through the mill" during the pandemic, the charity adds.

    Read more here.

  15. Thousands march at Sydney protest

    Shaimaa Khalil
    BBC News, Sydney

    Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in central Sydney in solidarity with demonstrations in the US over police brutality and the death of African American George Floyd.

    Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney, AustraliaGetty Images

    Some held "Black Lives Matter" placards written in red, yellow and black - the colours of Australia's aboriginal flag.

    Demonstrators take part in Sydney express solidarity with US protestors over police brutalityGetty Images

    On the eve of this rally, the New South Wales supreme court decided that it should not go ahead because of concerns over the spread of Covid-19.

    But the decision was overturned at the last minute by a court of appeal.

    Aboriginal protesters at a rally in SydneyGetty Images

    Authorities are worried that mass gatherings could undo what the country has achieved so far in controlling the spread of the virus.

    But organisers and supporters, many from the indigenous Australian community, have insisted on coming out. Not just in solidarity with the protesters in the US, but also to draw attention to indigenous deaths in police custody here in Australia.

    Aboriginal protesters perform a traditional smoking ceremony before the start of the rally in SydneyGett

    Aboriginal protesters perform a traditional smoking ceremony at the start of the rally in Sydney

    Marches have been taking place across Australia, including in Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide and elsewhere.

    They have been in high spirits with no reports of unrest.

    Read more on this story here.

  16. England's Sancho fined for haircut breach

    It could prove a pricey trim for England international Jadon Sancho.

    The Borussia Dortmund forward has been fined by the German football league after being pictured having a home haircut without wearing a mask.

    The 20-year-old called the decision “an absolute joke” in a Twitter post that he later deleted.

    Sancho’s team-mate Manuel Akanji has also been fined after they were both deemed to have broken rules, with the league saying the players had "obviously violated general hygiene and infection protection standards".

    Both players received visits from a hairdresser at their respective homes, with neither the stylist nor the player wearing masks.

    Dortmund defended the players, saying they did not breach the Bundesliga's health and safety rules.

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  17. Face mask requirement comes as surprise to UK hospital leaders

    ICU nurseAFP/Getty Images

    The announcement on Friday night that National Health Service workers in England will be required to use face masks at all times came as a surprise to hospital leaders.

    Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, says bosses felt "completely in the dark" about the "significant and complex" changes.

    From 15 June, staff must use surgical masks at all times and hospital visitors and outpatients must wear face coverings.

    Read more here.

  18. Welcome to our coverage

    Good morning and welcome back to our rolling coverage of all things coronavirus.

    We'll keep you posted on all developments worldwide, and here in the UK.

    Here are some of the latest news stories: