Amid concerns about infection rates in parts of Yorkshire and north-west England, UK Local Government Minister Simon Clarke said "won't hesitate to act" where local lockdown restrictions are necessary.

He told BBC Breakfast that Bradford in Yorkshire was "the next one down on our list".

But he said Leicester - the first place to be put into a localised coronavirus lockdown - was an "outlier" with three times the infection rate of the second worst-affected area.

Following criticism that local governments were not able to see detailed information about infections in their neighbourhoods, Clarke said all councils would have access to postcode-level data, which had been made available on 22 June.

Image source, Getty Images

France is prepping for a second wave while Serbia tightens restrictions. Here’s the latest from Europe:

• Companies will be asked to stockpile 10 weeks’ worth of masks in the event of a second wave, France’s secretary of state for economy and finance said. "We're preparing for the start of the school year and there is a risk of re-circulation of the virus," Agnès Pannier-Runacher said
• Serbia has reimposed and tightened lockdown restrictions in certain parts of the country as infections rise once more. The country is currently on a list of EU "safe travel" nations, although Austria has issued a travel warning for the Balkan nation
• People have been caught on camera crossing the border from Sweden into Norway, which has imposed restrictions on its Nordic neighbour. Norway’s Public Roads Administration has since deleted the images, Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reports
• And Denmark's football cup final between Aalborg BK and Sønderjyske had to be halted after Aalborg fans refused to socially distance in the stands. Police eventually had to expel a group of supporters, and play resumed after a 15-minute delay - with Sønderjyske winning 2-0

Image source, Reuters

The Israeli parliament voted to allow its domestic intelligence services to access mobile phone data of those diagnosed with coronavirus for the next three weeks, as cases rise again.

Under the new law, the Shin Bet will be allowed to access the location of patients for 14 days before their diagnosis, which the government argues is necessary to identify new cases.

Similar moves in March faced opposition from activists and was blocked by the Supreme Court, which said the measures must be passed into law or dropped.

Across the world, countries have grappled with to balance privacy concerns with tracking suspected cases.

Earlier this week, Singapore began handing out Bluetooth-enabled contact tracing devices as an alternative to the government's contact tracing smartphone app.

Tom Burridge
Transport correspondent

The UK is likely to publish a list of around 75 countries that will be exempt from travel quarantine rules from Monday, government sources have indicated.

Currently most people arriving in the UK from anywhere, apart from the Republic of Ireland, have to self-isolate for two weeks.

Last weekend the government said it would relax its advice on travel abroad and would rate countries as either green, amber or red, depending on the prevalence of the virus.

Previously the government had indicated it was working to establish a relatively small number of travel corridors, where people would not have to self-isolate on arrival in the UK.

The list with the countries low or very low risk is likely to be published by the end of this week, according to government sources. Some of the countries on this new list do still have restrictions on people travelling from the UK.

Other higher risk countries, like the US, will be categorised as red.

It seems that agreeing a small number of travel corridors with specific countries was fraught with risk. The Scottish government has expressed concern about plans to relax the quarantine and is still in discussion with officials and politicians in Westminster.

Statistics from England show more people from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups are dying from coronavirus than those from white ethnic groups.

Public Health England , externalfound people from black ethnic groups are most likely to be diagnosed with Covid-19, and death rates were highest among people of black and Asian ethnic groups.

But why is this exactly?

Leicester has become the first place in the UK to be put into a local lockdown, but a report says there is no obvious source for a recent surge in cases in the city.

The Public Health England report said there were no outbreaks in care homes, hospitals or factories that could be the origin of the rise in infections.

More young and middle-aged people had tested positive than in nearby areas, with the rise in infections being "most marked" among under-19s, it found.

Last week the city had 10% of all new infections in the country, but the report said the spread of the virus was not "unconstrained".

The preliminary investigation said the increase in reported cases could partly be due to a "growth in availability of testing" in Leicester.

Image source, EPA

The surge in cases in some southern US states has led many other parts of the country to reconsider their plans to lift local lockdowns.

As we reported earlier, the US reached a new record of almost 50,000 new daily cases on Wednesday, with North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas all reaching new highs.

Arizona, which received praise from President Trump for its reopening just weeks ago, is now closing bars, gyms and cinemas for a month.

Bars, theatres and indoor restaurants have also been closed again across most of California, while New York has postponed its plans to allow indoor dining to resume.

Parts of southern Florida, meanwhile, are closing beaches to prevent large crowds from gathering on Independence Day on 4 July.

Find out more about what is behind the alarming new outbreaks.

Pubs, cafes and restaurants in Wales have been given the go-ahead to reopen from 13 July - but only for outdoor service.

As long as coronavirus cases continue to fall, the Welsh government has said they can serve customers in beer gardens, terraces and other outdoor spaces that they already own and have licences for.

But Wales is the only part of the UK which still has no date for when the hospitality industry will be able to welcome customers indoors.

Restaurant owners have warned thousands of jobs are at risk.

A wedding in India's Rajasthan state ran into some unexpected extra costs after 16 guests were infected with Covid-19, including one who died, local media report.

The groom's family have been fined around 600,000 rupees (£6,362; $7,944) for violating safety rules, external, which state that the maximum number of people allowed at weddings is 50. According to NDTV, this one had more than a 1,000 guests in attendance.

The family will also have to pay for treatment for the 15 who were infected and the quarantining of nearly 60 guests - this would include food and other services at an isolation ward.

Earlier this week, another wedding in Bihar state was in the news after more than 100 guests tested positive. The groom - who had symptoms - died a day after his wedding.

Image source, Getty Images

Implementing a compulsory quarantine rule for new arrivals in the UK has not been worth it, according to an ex-transport minister.

Tory MP Theresa Villiers said the travel industry had been "damaged" without cutting the Covid-19 risk.

So far, no UK police force has confirmed issuing any fines for people breaking the rules - and the UK Border Force has handed out two penalties.

But the Home Office says it is seeing "a high level of compliance".

Since 8 June, most people arriving in the UK from abroad have to had quarantine at an agreed address for 14 days. If they don't comply, then they are liable to be fined £1,000.

Read more about the enforcement action that has taken place.

Countries in the Middle East have reached a "critical threshold" in their response to Covid-19 as lockdowns are lifted and airports and borders begin to reopen, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.

The director for the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean region - which extends from the Middle East and North Africa to Afghanistan and Pakistan - said the number of cases in June alone was more than had been seen in the whole of the previous four months.

Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari added that almost 87% of deaths in the region had been reported from just five countries: Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan.

Fewer coronavirus cases were being reported in crisis-hit Syria and Yemen, he said, but noted that this was likely due to the difficulties in carrying out tracking, testing and treatment of infections in these countries.

"Our health systems are overwhelmed, our health care workers are exhausted, a large number of people in our region are still vulnerable," Dr Al-Mandhari said. "There is no option to fail."

If you're just joining us now in the UK, good morning and welcome back to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. Here's what you need to know so far today:

• The full-time return to school in September for all pupils in England will be based on keeping year groups apart in separate "bubbles"
• This will be an expansion of the "protective bubble" system already used in schools - in which classes or year groups are kept apart, with separate starting, finishing, lunch and break times. Attendance will be compulsory
• Quarantine for new arrivals in the UK has not been worth it, an ex-transport minister has said. The Home Office says it is seeing "a high level of compliance" but Tory MP Theresa Villiers said the travel industry had been "damaged" without cutting the Covid-19 risk
• A Public Health England report has found that there is no obvious source for a recent surge in coronavirus cases in Leicester,
• Globally there are now 10.6m coronavirus cases and more than 515,500 deaths

A research team at Yale University has said that the US could be underestimating the true death toll from Covid-19 by as much as 28%.

The team said there had been 781,000 deaths in total in the US during March, April and May - that is 122,300 more than the average for the same period. According to the official data, there were 95,235 Covid-19 deaths in that time.

"Evaluating unexplained increases in deaths due to all causes or attributed to nonspecific outcomes, such as pneumonia and influenza, can provide a more complete picture of the burden of COVID-19," said the researchers.

They said data on deaths varied significantly between states and that some of the deaths could be attributed to "secondary effects" caused by lockdowns or people being afraid to go to hospitals.

The figures were just an estimate, they said, but concluded that "official tallies likely undercount deaths due to the virus".

You can read the full research here., external

It was just around six months ago that the world first learned about Covid-19. Few could predict then the impact it would go on to have. Here's a look back at how quickly the virus swept across the globe:

Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

When a group of villagers in India's West Bengal state recently insisted that they would hold prayers in their local mosque - in violation of social distancing rules - Mohammed Nizamuddin sprung into action.

It helped that locals trusted Nizamuddin. They called their wiry 54-year-old neighbour "doctor" and visited him for treatment and medicines whenever they fell sick.

Except Nizamuddin is not a qualified doctor.

He is one of the state's estimated 100,000 informal rural health care providers who provide the first line of healthcare in tens of thousands of Indian villages.

"I explained why it was wrong for public health. They listened and finally decided to hold smaller congregations in a number of open places," he told the BBC's Soutik Biswas.

• Click here to read the full story

Image source, Getty Images

More than 300,000 Melburnians have re-entered lockdown today as infections rise in Australia's second biggest city.

The order applies to 10 postcodes which have seen the majority of the 370 active cases in the state of Victoria. Of those, 77 were confirmed today.

Police have set up roadblocks in those hotspots and warned residents of fines for disobeying the rules.

Adding to concerns, New South Wales and the Northern Territory have each reported a person testing positive after travelling there from Victoria.

Australia has had very few community transmissions outside of Victoria in the past couple of months. The country has recorded about 8,000 cases in total and 104 deaths.

The US state of Texas is experiencing one of the most dramatic spikes of coronavirus cases in the country - with hospital beds filling up rapidly and up to 6,000 new cases each day.

But just weeks ago the state was doing well and the economy began reopening.

So what's driving the sudden surge and could it have been avoided?

The advice about face masks as a virus prevention tactic has changed through the pandemic.

Early on they were seen as not being as helpful as basic hygiene, and the concern was that they could encourage people to be complacent about things like handwashing and should be left for medical staff or the most vulnerable people. The WHO now says they are a good simple tool to stop the person wearing one from passing infection on.

But in the US there has been significant oppostion to the idea of wearing masks, with people saying doing so is a violation of their freedoms or even dangerous.

President Trump has long resisted wearing a mask, but in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday said: "I'm all for masks."

He said he would "absolutely" wear one "if I were in a tight situation with people".

It's unclear whether this will trigger a sea change among Trump supporters about the idea of wearing a mask.

Here's the BBC Reality Check team's debunking of some of the health concerns about masks.

Infections are continuing to rise at an alarming rate in India. The country has confirmed 585,492 cases, including 17,400 deaths, according to the health ministry.

The situation has prompted a worried federal government to urge states to ramp up antigen testing, reported local media.

India went into lockdown in March, when cases were still in the hundreds and eased out of lockdown in early June, when infections had started to gallop. For example, last month was the worst in the outbreak so far - around 70% of infections were added in June.

Experts had earlier warned that the monsoon season - between July and September - would bring the peak, but it seems like this might already be under way. The rising numbers have prompted some states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand to go back into lockdown while a few other states like Telangana continue to mull it over.

Image source, Getty Images

New Zealand aimed to "eliminate" the virus on its soil, by closing its borders early and bringing in a very stringent quarantine and lockdown. It achieved that goal in early June.

But recent weeks have seen a series of breaches of quarantine protocol which risked its virus-free status. In one case, two people were allowed to leave isolation early to visit a dying parent without being tested for the virus. They were later confirmed to have Covid-19., external

Most countries would not be alarmed by two cases but in New Zealand those two sparked a media outcry.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed on Thursday that she had accepted the resignation of health minister David Clark.

In a statement, he said he took "full responsibility for decisions made and taken during my time as Minister of Health".

Clark had already been demoted after breaking rules to take his family to the beach.