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Image source, AFP

Authorities in Moscow have posted a sharp year-on-year rise in the overall number of deaths in the city in May, linking 92% of the additional deaths to Covid-19.

According to data published by the Russian capital’s health department, coronavirus was the main or secondary cause of 5,260 deaths in May, far higher than the previously reported official total death toll for the entire Covid-19 epidemic in Moscow, 3,085.

According to the figures, a total of 15,713 deaths were registered in Moscow in May - 5,715 more than the number for May 2019.

On Tuesday, Moscow lifted its period of "self-isolation" allowing everyone to move about freely for the first time since the end of March. The move came despite a stubbornly high number of new cases.

Today's UK coronavirus briefing was hosted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was joined by Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser.

Here is what we learnt:

• The PM said the UK has met all the government's five tests for the lockdown to be eased and could proceed with further adjustments to the rules

• From Saturday certain single people in England, such as a grandparent living on their own, will be able to abandon social distancing and interact freely with another household

• Zoos and drive-in cinemas will be allowed to reopen in England, with certain restrictions

• There would be a new national "catch-up programme" for school pupils in England, after it was confirmed many children will not return to classrooms until September. More details are to be announced by the education secretary next week.

• On the two-metre social distancing rule, the PM says there is a "balance of risk to be struck" before it is loosened

• Chris Whitty says it is important to learn lessons from what happened in the outbreak, saying the issue of whether testing could have been sped up very early on in the epidemic would have to be addressed

Reality Check

The prime minister says statistics about England’s test and trace system will be published tomorrow.

The Scottish government earlier released details of how its version – Test and Protect, external – has been doing since it was launched on 28 May.

Between 28 May and 7 June, 681 people tested positive for coronavirus, of whom 481 have completed contact tracing.

The idea behind the scheme is to get hold of anyone who had contact with those infected and tell them to isolate themselves in case they have caught the virus.

So far, 741 contacts have been traced, although Public Health Scotland stresses that this a new system and that the figures will be updated.

Beaches in Miami-Dade county are reopening today, the latest county in Florida to do so after the state first shut down its nonessential businesses - beaches included - in April.

The move comes as Covid cases in Florida continue to surge. With 66,000 confirmed infections and 2,765 deaths, the state has seen an upward trend since the start of June.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

There is a lot of pressure on the prime minister to relax the 2m (6ft) rule – in line with those other countries where it’s 1m or 1.5m.

Those pushing for less stringent distancing rules say it gives businesses like shops, pubs and restaurants more of a chance to survive when they reopen.

Boris Johnson appears prepared to do so once the number of cases is lower. He argues there’s a balance of risk to be struck.

And the chief scientific adviser noted that it wasn’t a scientific rule, but a judgement call. That will fall with ministers.

James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent, BBC News

Speed matters. Small delays, even of a few days, can have a huge impact on lives lost.

This is because coronavirus was growing “exponentially” in February and March.

If cases were doubling every four days then just 100 cases would become 3,200 within three weeks. Wait another four days and it would be 6,400, another four days and it becomes 12,800.

However, scientists have told me an estimated 100,000 people were being infected every single day in England by the time the country went into lockdown.

Introducing measures a week earlier would have significantly cut that figure and in turn saved lives.

Why this did not happen is one of the major questions about the government’s handling of the outbreak.

It is easier to look back than to make the decision in the moment. There was a lack of information and the scale of the outbreak within the UK was not clear.

But other scientists were making the case for the UK to go into lockdown weeks before it happened.

• 'Earlier lockdown would have halved death toll'

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

The UK government has been criticised on testing and the slowness of ramping up the testing programme after the epidemic hit.

Some argue stopping widespread testing was a significant error – which meant the government and health service lost track of the spread of the virus.

It’s significant that Chris Whitty, the chief scientific adviser for England, has just identified it as the thing he would change.

The government’s critics are likely to bring this up with the PM again.

He doesn’t want to talk about regrets or mistakes just now, but others are more willing to do so.

The prime minister brings the UK daily briefing to a close by saying he has had a lot of questions today that have looked back at the government's actions.

"It’s too early to judge ourselves," he says.

"What I can tell you is we know a lot more about the virus than we did in January, February or even March.

"You have to proceed with caution, that is what we are doing."

He says the government has announced "reasonable steps" on shops, support bubbles and private prayer.

"We will continue with our roadmap, we will continue to stick to our plan and I hope all of you will continue to stick to the advice," he says, adding that that includes washing your hands and staying alert.

We will bring you a round-up of the briefing shortly.

There's a question about support for the cruise industry from a journalist based in the port of Southampton.

Boris Johnson says it will have to go through a period of "self-reinvention" to become Covid-secure in the future.

He adds though that the government will help the industry is "any way that we can".

Pippa Crerar from The Mirror asks about schools and whether the teaching unions were right to express caution. She asks: why hasn't education been more of a priority?

She also asks whether the panel is completely comfortable with the pace of lockdown easing in England.

The PM says the easing of measures are "dictated by the state of the pandemic in this country".

Smaller class sizes with the two-metre rule make it harder to open up, he says, adding there will be "a huge amount of catch-up work" so pupils can get help over the summer.

Whitty says there are "no comfortable options", adding: "It's always about balance and risk."

"You have to take a risk," he says. "What you are trying to do is manage those risks as best we can to minimise risk of a bad outcome... the idea that there is some option which is completely safe and all fine is clearly not true."

He adds: "There are no risk-free options ahead of us."

There's a question about whether the two-metre social distancing rule will need to be relaxed to get all children back in school.

Boris Johnson says the rule is "not the issue" in primary schools, but rather the size of the classrooms.

Asked whether relaxing the rule is a political decision, the PM says there is a "balance of risk to be struck".

Patrick Vallance says the requirement is not a scientific rule and there are other "mitigating factors" to keep in mind.

He says these will make up an "overall risk assessment" that informs policy - adding the advice is not, and has never been, "two metres or nothing".

Sky's Beth Rigby highlights ex-government adviser Prof Ferguson's comments that week later cost an estmiated 25,000 lives or more. She asks what the panel's biggest regret is.

The PM says he can't go further than what he has already said.

"We will have to look back on all of it and learn the lessons that we can," he says.

"A lot of these things are still premature.

"This epidemic has a long way to go."

Vallance says there will have been things they would have got wrong and they will need to identify them and "get them right next time".

Whitty says if he could choose one thing, it would be to look at how they could have sped up testing early on in the epidemic.

Asked what his plans are to get children back to school, Boris Johnson repeats that ministers have a "big plan" to get all children back by September.

The government is making the "right decisions at the right time", he adds.

The panel is also asked about what measures could have been taken differently given what we know about the virus.

Chris Whitty says a "post-emergency" review of policies will be "crucial", but he adds that the UK is in the "middle" of the epidemic, not the end.

The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg asks about the announcement that schools will not go back fully until September.

She also asks about comments from former government adviser Neil Ferguson, who said if UK's lockdown was introduced a week earlier, it would have halved the UK's death toll.

The PM says they would have liked to be in a position where the remainder of primary school pupils return.

However, he says, because of the "continued prevalence" of the disease and "it's not quite down far enough to change the distancing measures in our schools".

He says they will be doing "a huge amount of catch up for pupils over the summer" and the education secretary will set out further details.

The PM says the country is "in line" and "slightly ahead of others" on schools when compared to other countries. (You can find out more on how Europe is lifting lockdown here.)

On Ferguson's comments, Vallance says there will be time to go back and analyse what has happened.

Whitty says this will be routine and it improves on "what you do", but he says we will not experience an identical situation as we know more about the virus now.

Reality Check

Image source, PA Media

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that zoos and drive-in cinemas will be allowed to reopen in England, with certain restrictions.

Both sectors, however, are very small parts of the economy.

There are 420 licensed zoos in the UK. The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums is the main industry body and has a membership of 122 zoos. In 2019 those 122 zoos generated £658m ($840m) from 35.7 million visitors.

Drive-in cinemas are even rarer. Reality Check is aware of about 20 such venues across the UK, but more are likely to open in the coming months.

In late May, UK communications regulator Ofcom announced it was speeding up the process to apply for a restricted service licence, which is required to broadcast a short range FM signal to cinemagoers' car radios.

There's a second question from a member of the public on whether the government will allow partners who live apart to see each other.

The PM says the latest rule change on single households was "designed" with such people in mind - and they now "have the option" of forming a "support bubble" according to the latest policy for England.

Chris Whitty, the UK government’s chief medical adviser, says breaking the links between households generally will nevertheless reduce the risk of the virus spreading.

He says the latest change for single-adult households has been possible because they generally have fewer contacts.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

Support bubbles are the first steps in allowing SOME households to mix in England, but in a very limited way.

It will mean adults living alone can join with ONE other household; such as family or friends. It will also apply to single parents.

They won't have to follow social distancing rules; so they can stay the night at their chosen household. They could hug people in the other household too.

That means, for example, that a single grandparent could go and stay at one of their children's house.

A single person could go and stay with a partner who lives alone.

If anyone in the bubble gets coronavirus symptoms, everyone will have to self-isolate.

The government is not advising people who are shielding to do any of this, however.

Ruth in Bournemouth asks whether it should be essential for those serving food and drink to wear face coverings and gloves.

The PM replies that as England opens up shops they are developing guidelines on how to do it in a "Covid secure way".

He says: "You should wear a face covering when you're likely to be in close contact with people you don't normally meet."

Sir Patrick Vallance, government chief scientific adviser, says face coverings "have potential benefit in situations where there are indoor spaces why people cannot socially distance".

"That advice should form the basis of risk assessment in any workplace," he says.

UK chief medical officer Chris Whitty adds that handwashing remains "absolutely critical".

Image source, Downing Street

Vallance also runs through some of the latest data from the swab test survey being carried out by the Office for National Statistics.

He says the estimated daily infection rate of between 5,000 - 6,000 per day in England is "on the way down" but are "not yet very low".

"The epidemic is shrinking, but not fast," he adds.

He says this supports moving "very carefully" out of lockdown.