Image source, Reuters

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders asks if the US government should be producing high quality masks to be distributed for free to all Americans.

Dr Fauci, the top US disease expert, says yes.

"I think masks are extremely important," he says.

"There's no doubt that wearing masks protects you and gets you to be protected," Fauci continues.

"Anything that furthers the use of masks, whether it's giving out masks or any other method, that is something I am thoroughly in favour of," he says.

Image source, Reuters

The panel of health experts testifying to the US Congress have been asked about a top official's claim that the US has "too much virus" to control.

"I am also quite concerned about what we are seeing evolved in several states," says Dr Fauci, noting that "more than 50% of new infections are in areas where we are seeing surges".

"We got to make sure that when states start to try to reopen again, they need to follow the guidelines that have been very carefully laid out in regard to checkpoints."

Some states, he says, may have been "going too quickly and skipping over checkpoints".

He also attacks the "all or none" perspective - meaning that either all businesses should be fully open or fully closed - as "dangerous".

Dr Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has warned that the US is not responding like other countries who have shown success in containing the coronavirus, and has allowed the virus to spread much more widely and rapidly.

"We're not in the situation of New Zealand or Singapore or Korea where a new case is rapidly identified and all the contacts are traced and people are isolated who are sick and people who are exposed are quarantined and they can keep things under control," the top expert said in an interview with The Journal of the American Medical Association on Monday.

"We have way too much virus across the country for that right now, so it's very discouraging."

Read more:

US officials warn 'this is just the beginning'

Image source, Getty Images

Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), says 12 states have seen rates of hospital admissions going up.

Arizona, he adds, has seen its death rate climb in recent days.

Redfield says the recent surges are due to increased testing, community transmission and outbreaks at nursing homes, offices and other places of work.

“It is critical that we all take the personal responsibility to slow the transmission of Covid-19 and embrace the universal use of face coverings,” he continues.

"The disease impacts us all and it's going to take all of working together to stop it," he finishes.

Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world, with more than 10 million confirmed cases in 188 countries. More than half a million people have lost their lives.

See here for a series of maps and charts tracking the global outbreak of the virus.

While some countries are now starting to see confirmed cases and deaths fall following strict lockdown restrictions, others are still seeing figures rise.

These charts show a number of countries - Brazil, Mexico, India, South Africa and Colombia - where cases (in blue) or deaths (in red) have been on an upward trajectory in recent weeks.

Image source, Getty Images

Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the top infectious diseases expert in the US, is now speaking.

Fauci, who has advised six presidents, says studies are now being done on how children can catch and spread the virus - knowledge necessary to understand how and when to open up schools.

Next month, the US will begin phase three vaccine trials, he says, adding that he is hopeful that the vaccine's effectiveness can be determined by the "winter and early part of next year".

"Hopefully there will be doses available" by early next year he says, calling the statement "something we are aspirationally hopeful about".

Sarah Smith
Scotland Editor

Image source, Getty Images

Nicola Sturgeon says she has no plans, right now, to introduce a quarantine period for visitors coming into Scotland from other parts of the UK. But by saying that she is also "not ruling anything out", the first minister has ignited another heated constitutional debate.

Scotland has been pursuing a separate policy toward lockdown easing for weeks now, with a much much slower and more cautious opening up of the economy.

So the idea of a quarantine at the Scottish border doesn't seem completely outlandish to people who are now very accustomed to seeing very different rules operating across all four UK nations.

If we can see local lockdowns being imposed on a city like Leicester then why not have rules about crossing the border into Scotland?

It's clear the Scottish government has given the idea some serious thought as Ms Sturgeon drew comparison with the US, where some states have quarantine regulations, and the travel restrictions currently in place in different parts of Germany.

In practice, such a policy it would be bound to throw up all sorts of anomalies.

Read Sarah's full analysis.

Image source, Get

The economic impact of the coronavirus has taken a heavier toll on low-wage earners according to Tomas J Philipson, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC before his reported departure, external, he said: "There's a sort of unique impact of this shock in that its very regressive, hitting the low wage part of the economy. Low-wage workers take a bigger hit than higher wage".

The virus has derailed any progress the US was making in raising the living standards of those on low pay, Prof Philipson said in an interview for Coronavirus: The Economic Shock, in which some of the world's leading economists and business leaders look at how the gravest economic downturn in nearly a hundred years may change the way we live and work.

"We had enormous success in growing lower wages before the pandemic struck, so this has taken a very regressive toll on the economy," he argues.

Read more here.

The US has seen record numbers of new cases in recent days.

At least 16 states have paused or rolled back their reopening plans.

Arizona is the latest to tighten lockdown restriction, following other states like Texas and Florida, where the number of coronavirus cases have spiked again.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has ordered the closure of bars, nightclubs, gyms, cinemas and water parks until at least 27 July, after the state recorded its highest daily number of new cases, more than 3,800 on Monday.

And the hearing in the US Senate has started.

Senate Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, begins the hearing on reopening schools and businesses by noting that lawmakers and experts attending today's hearing are all wearing masks, except when they are speaking at the microphone.

"Sadly this simple life saving practice has become part of the political debate," says the ally of Republican President Donald Trump.

"If you are for Trump your don't wear a mask, if you are against Trump you do."

He goes on to "suggest that the president occasionally wear a mask," noting that "the president has plenty of admirers that would follow his lead".

See below on correct ways of wearing a mask.

Image source, Getty Images

Easyjet has started a consultation process with unions about making redundancies, in response to the collapse in air travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The British airline's proposals include closing three UK bases - London Stansted, London Southend and Newcastle - although the airports would remain on EasyJet’s route network.

Pilots union BALPA says it is "shocked" at the scale of the job cuts, which it says equates to a third of EasyJet’s pilots in the UK - 727 pilots.

EasyJet last month announced it would cut up to 30% of its workforce - about 4,500 jobs.

Image source, Getty Images

US infectious disease chief Dr Anthony Fauci is to give testimony before the Senate.

Dr Fauci will be appearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labour and Pensions Committee in Washington at 10:00 local time (15:00 BST).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield will also appear.

Reality Check

Image source, PA Media

Earlier, the prime minister set out how £5bn worth of infrastructure projects would be spent in order for the UK to "bounce back" from coronavirus.

Let's take a look at some of his key claims.

The New Deal

Boris Johnson said: "It sounds like a New Deal... because that is what the times demand."

In the early 1930s, the New Deal programme increased the state's role in the economy and was designed to help the US recover from the Great Depression.

Comparisons between government programmes in different countries, 90 years apart, are very difficult to make - our economies have changed out of all recognition.

Boris Johnson's £5bn amounts to less than a quarter of one per cent of GDP.

To get an idea of the scale of increased government spending in the 1930s, US federal government debt grew from 16% of GDP in 1929 to 44% of GDP in 1939.

Hospital spending

Before the speech, it was announced £1.5bn would be made available for hospital maintenance and construction, the removal of mental health dormitories and increasing A&E capacity.

In the Spring Budget 2020, the Department of Health and Social Care's capital budget increased by £1.1bn, taking the annual budget to £8.2bn.

The department has said that the £1.5bn announced on Tuesday is all "new" money - that is on top of the earlier £1.1bn.

It should also be seen against an existing backlog of £6.5bn already needed to fix problems in NHS buildings.

Read the analysis in full here.

Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst

Image source, Getty Images

The Chinese capital Beijing has only reported seven new cases of Covid-19 today, taking the total number of cases to 325 since one person tested positive on 11 June.

The national Global Times newspaper signals optimism about this latest outbreak being under control, saying that “the number of confirmed cases in Beijing might go down to zero in around one week”.

But nevertheless, the city is taking no chances at easing lockdown unnecessarily, and is in fact only implementing stricter regulations.

Today, media note that the capital city has doubled its quarantine period from 14 days to 28 amid concerns from scientists that this outbreak actually could “be more contagious than the one in Wuhan”. Most of those currently in quarantine are reportedly “workers from the beef and lamb sector”.

The worst affected area of the city, the Fengtai District, has also introduced technologies that can help efforts to ensure that areas are disinfected.

Global Times shows how “mini tank” robots, costing some 66,000 yuan ($9,326; £7,596) have been deployed in the area, capable of disinfecting 10,000 square metres an hour!

Image source, Getty Images

The list of countries which will be part of the UK government's air bridges scheme will "come very soon", according to Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

Under the new rules, passengers travelling between the UK and some countries will no longer have to quarantine for two weeks.

More than 15 nations are thought to be on the list, including France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Norway and Finland. Read more about how the UK's air bridges will work.

Meanwhile, the EU has named 14 countries whose citizens are deemed "safe" to be let in from 1 July, despite the pandemic - but the US, Brazil and China are excluded.

Those named include Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco and South Korea.

Image source, AFP

Fears of a second wave are very real in the Balkans, as infection rates have risen this month in Serbia and North Macedonia. They had been brought down throughout May, through strict controls.

• In the Serbian capital Belgrade the wearing of masks is now compulsory on public transport and in shopping malls, gyms and other sports facilities. Official data showed 242 new Covid-19 cases on Monday - part of a rising trend. The rate in May was about 50 daily
• North Macedonia reported its highest death toll from Covid-19 in a single day on Monday - 12 - and 132 new cases. According to available data, the country has Europe’s second-worst infection rate after Sweden, and is followed by Serbia
• Shortly, the EU is expected to confirm a list of 14 non-EU countries whose citizens are deemed "safe" to enter the bloc. Balkan neighbours Serbia and Montenegro are on the list, diplomats say, but the US, Brazil, China and Russia are not. Among those on the list - to be regularly updated - are: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, South Korea
• Switzerland is debating whether to make mask-wearing compulsory on public transport. The national health authority has called for masks, wherever 1.5m social distancing is impossible. President Simonetta Sommaruga tweeted her support for masks, wearing one on a tram.

Image source, sommaruga/twitter

Image source, PA Media

Leicester has become the first part of the UK to experience a local lockdown, with the city's mayor urging people to "stick together" and stay at home.

Sir Peter Soulsby said he hoped they would be able to work with the government to "get on top of whatever is out there" as non-essential shops close and schools prepare to shut their doors to most pupils.

But what caused the outbreak in the East Midlands city?

The first major public sign that there was a growing coronavirus problem in Leicester was Monday 8 June.

In the east of the city, Humberstone Academy, which runs an infant and junior school, closed its doors with the head teacher explaining it was linked to positive tests for coronavirus.

• Why did it take so long to act in Leicester?

Over the next two weeks, over 900 confirmed cases were recorded - one-in-16 of all the positive tests seen in the UK.

BBC health correspondent Nick Triggle says health officials suggest there are many factors at play: "There seems to be signs of transmission in workplaces, suggesting social distancing guidelines are not been adhered to as well as they should, and also transient workers passing through.

"In short, there is nothing necessarily unique to Leicester that could be pointed to a single stand-out cause."

Read more of Nick's analysis here.

Image source, Johns Hopkins University

Back in April, US-based Johns Hopkins University launched its Coronavirus Resource Centre, external to track the spread of Covid-19 around the world.

It's now being used by millions of people worldwide, including us here at the BBC, and has become an authoritative and vital tool for understanding the pandemic.

Users can see data on a world map and browse by country. There is also a specialised map of the US which provides data on individual counties - including virus data but also information on demographics, hospital beds and percentages of the population with medical insurance.

In an interview with the Washington Post, external, its founders say the numbers are detailed but gathering accurate information is difficult because of different reporting practices within US states, and among other countries around the world.

“Numbers in some ways instil this sense of comfort. But then on the other hand, they can be wrong,” said Lauren Gardner, the associate professor at Johns Hopkins’ Whiting School of Engineering, who helped to launch the tracker. “And they can be wrong for lots of different reasons.”

The US breakdown has also illustrated what anecdotal reports have also suggested - that minority communities are being hit the hardest. In Washington DC, for example, African-Americans make up 46% of the capital's population but 74% of all virus-related deaths.

“We’ve known for generations that populations that are poor and living in highly dense areas have these co-morbidities that are presenting for risk for Covid-19,” said Ms Gardner. “But the reality of the situation is we don’t do anything about it. If you are born black in this country, it’s harder for you to get a job, harder for you to keep a job and also harder for you to stay alive.”

Image source, Getty Images

As lockdown eases, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tells the people of Scotland: "Do not drift back to life as normal."

Speaking at the daily press conference, she says Scotland is likely to see localised outbreaks like the one in Leicester and welcomes the action that has been taken to contain it.

Meanwhile, her health secretary Jeane Freeman confirms that Scotland will "allow visiting to non-Covid areas of hospitals to resume safely and on a phased basis from 13 July". For patients in Covid-19 wards, only essential visits will continue to be allowed.

Reacting to Boris Johnson's speech this morning on helping the UK recover from coronavirus, the first minister says she is "to put it mildly, extremely underwhelmed" by the plans.

A further three people have died after testing positive for coronavirus in Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says.

It comes after Scotland recorded no deaths for four consecutive days.

Ms Sturgeon described it as a "sustained, significant and ongoing reduction".

It takes the total number of deaths in Scotland to 2,485.