Rishi Sunak has announced a job retention bonus in his summer statement.

The UK chancellor said if employers bring back someone who has been furloughed and continuously employ them until January, the government will pay them a £1,000 bonus per employee.

But he says it is vital people don't return for "the sake of it".

Employees must be paid at least £520 on average each month.

Sunak says if employers bring back all 9 million people who are furloughed it would cost the government £9bn.

"Our message to business is clear: If you stand by your workers, we will stand by you."

Image source, HoC

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is making his statement to the Commons.

He says the government will do "all we can" to help prevent job losses in the wake of Covid-19.

"No one will be left without hope," he pledges.

The government will "do what is right" and will be "unencumbered by dogma," he tells MPs.

"Where problems emerge, we will confront them. Where support is justified, we will provide it. Where challenges arise, we will overcome them" he says.

Image source, Reuters

Spain's Catalonia region has made it compulsory for all residents and visitors to wear face coverings in public at all times.

To help enforce the measure, which is due to come into effect on Thursday, masks and other protective equipment will be distributed across Catalonia, the region's President Quim Torra said today.

"Masks will be mandatory all over Catalonia, not just in the Segrià region... I think it's an important measure," Mr Torra said.

The region recently reimposed a number of coronavirus controls following a sharp rise in infections, including a local lockdown in Segrià, a district west of Barcelona.

Police checkpoints were installed to enforce the lockdown there.

Catalonia is one of the Spanish regions worst affected by coronavirus.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

During PMQs, Sir Keir Starmer also said the government made "huge mistakes" on care homes despite "repeated warnings from the care sector" and adds the decision to discharge people to care homes without tests was "clearly a mistake".

"His government was simply too slow to act full stop," he says.

Boris Johnson says the understanding of the disease "changed dramatically" and defends his government's record.

He says the supply of PPE and increase in testing have "helped them get the incidence of disease down to record lows".

He then accuses the Labour leader of changing his mind on easing lockdown rules.

Our correspondent Iain Watson says:

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson have faced each other at Prime Minister's Questions.

Sir Keir began by saying the PM's comments about care homes - in which he said too many "didn't really follow the procedures" - "caused huge offence".

The Labour leader asked if the prime minister would apologise for his remarks.

"The last thing I wanted to do was to blame care workers," replied Mr Johnson.

The PM said care workers "worked incredibly hard during this crisis", adding he took "full responsibility for what has happened".

Sir Keir Starmer responded by saying the PM had not apologised and it "just won't wash".

He said it was "clear" what the PM was saying in his comments about care homes.

Sir Keir accused the PM of "rubbing salt into the wounds of the very people for whom he clapped" by not apologising.

He asks what the prime minister will say to care workers who feel let down.

Boris Johnson replies "this government appreciates the incredible work they have done."

"We will invest in our care homes and we will reform the care home system," he promises.

The PM emphasised that asymptomatic transmission of the virus was not properly known at the start of the pandemic, and guidance was changed after it was discovered.

A total of 4,173 Scots deaths have been linked to Covid-19 as of 5 July, official figures show.

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) figures, external indicate that is an increase of 17 deaths from the previous week.

From 29 June to 5 July, 40 fewer deaths from all causes were registered compared with the average number for this time of year.

New analysis of deaths registered up to 14 June shows that deaths among people from the South Asian ethnic group were almost twice as likely to involve Covid-19 than deaths in the White ethnic group, after accounting for age group, sex, area deprivation and urban/rural classification.

The NRS weekly figures are higher than the daily figure announced by Nicola Sturgeon because they include all cases where Covid-19 is mentioned on a death certificate, even if the patient had not been tested.

A pub in Oxfordshire has banned under-25s in the evenings after some drinkers refused to adhere to its coronavirus social distancing measures.

The Royal Standard in Wallingford said younger drinkers had been "impossible to control" since the pub reopened, putting staff and other customers at risk.

Landlord David Haines said: "They start off fine but then it goes out the window."

Under-25s will only be allowed in the pub before 20:00 BST.

Read more.

Image source, Boohoo

Fast fashion brand Boohoo has ordered an independent review of its UK supply chain following reports that workers at a factory in Leicester were not being allowed to socially distance.

It comes after retailers Next and Asos dropped Boohoo goods from their stores and shares in the firm dropped by a third.

The factory at the centre of the allegations was also said to be operating during a localised lockdown.

Leicester and surrounding suburbs became the subject to the UK's first local lockdown last week after a spike in Covid-19 cases.

Boohoo said it was "shocked and appalled" by the allegations.

Labour Behind the Label, a workers' rights group, has separately claimed that some employees at factories in Leicester, which supply Boohoo, were "forced to come into work while sick with Covid-19".

Boohoo said it would spend an initial £10m "to eradicate supply chain malpractice" and was accelerating its independent third party supply chain review.

Read more.

What you need to know about how the immune system works.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast's Your Call programme has been asking listeners how they feel about wearing masks, after actor Tom Hanks said he "has no respect" for people who refuse to wear a mask in public during the pandemic.

Caller Emma in Hertfordshire said she regularly wears a mask and feels "strongly" that other should too.

"Partly, I think I’ve got a vivid imagination," she said, "I can imagine these particles in the air even when people walk past you."

Emma thinks she had coronavirus in March, and said she still feels "exhausted" from it.

And next week she's going to see her 92-year-old mum for the first time in nearly four months.

"I’ll obviously have to wear a mask for seeing her, but I don’t want to risk anything, and I don’t want to pass on to other people.

“I’ve made my own mask, which has three layers, and I can put an extra piece of paper in there or something if necessary.

“Nobody is saying it’s risk free, but it’s also a courtesy to other people, it’s a common courtesy... you can feel people’s breath when they speak to you.”

Listen again to this morning's Your Call on BBC Sounds.

Image source, PA Media

Boris Johnson will face Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons at 12:00 BST (11:00 GMT).

And straight after that we'll hear from Chancellor Rishi Sunak and how he plans to help boost the economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

His summer statement will include a £2bn "kickstart scheme" to create more jobs for young people.

He's also expected to announce a temporary stamp duty holiday to stimulate the property market.

Ahead of his speech, a selection of young people told us what they are hoping to hear from the chancellor.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg says this government likes to talk about shaking things up, but we'll see later just how radical it's willing to be.

And will all of these measures to deal with coronavirus mean we all end up paying more tax?

We will bring you the main updates here, but there will be blow-by-blow coverage of both PMQs and the chancellor's statement on the politics live page.

The US reported a record of more than 60,000 daily confirmed cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The previous highest tally was 55,220, which the US recorded on 2 July.

The latest figures come as the states of California and Texas each reported more than 10,000 new daily cases.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that America was "in a good place" regarding the pandemic.

But Dr Anthony Fauci, infectious disease expert and adviser to the White House on coronavirus, said the country was still "knee-deep" in only its first coronavirus wave.

The US has had by far the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths of any nation.

More than three million infections have been recorded across the US since the beginning of the pandemic, according to both the New York Times and NBC.

Covid-19 has been linked to more than 131,000 deaths in the US.

Image source, EPA

Lauren Moss
Political editor, BBC South East

Hillingdon Hospital in Uxbridge, west London, has closed to emergencies after an outbreak of coronavirus.

Seventy members of staff went into isolation on Tuesday, including a number who tested positive for Covid-19. The outbreak was declared on Friday.

The hospital serves the prime minister's Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency.

"The trust has taken the precautionary decision to close Hillingdon Hospital to emergency ambulances and emergency admissions," a Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said.

"The trust is managing the outbreak in line with Public Health England guidance."

A care home in the UK, which has been closed to visitors since March, has installed a plastic curtain that allows families to hug their loved ones without risking coronavirus infection.

Image source, Getty Images

A study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed almost half of all UK employees worked from home in April - at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.

New figures reveal that 46.6% of employees did some work at home, mainly due to the lockdown.

Of those who did some work from home, typically a third worked fewer hours than usual while a similar number worked longer hours.

Women were slightly more likely to do work at home than men, while younger employees - those aged up to 24 - were less likely to work from home than older employees.

The study conclued there was less opportunity to work from home for manual occupations.

Guy De Launey, BBC Balkans Correspondent

Image source, EPA

Small-scale protests are common in Belgrade. An atomised political opposition - and more recently an election boycott - means that citizens disgruntled with the leadership of President Aleksandar Vucic and his Progressive Party (SNS) have to take to the streets to make their voices heard.

But the protests don't normally feature police swinging batons and firing tear gas while protesters hurl stones and set fire to police vehicles. The scenes reflect a sour mood in Serbia's capital triggered by Mr Vucic's warning of a weekend lockdown.

Some protesters expressed anger at the government's rapid removal of restrictions to allow last month’s parliamentary election to go ahead. Tens of thousands attended football matches and nightclubs reopened, signalling that normal life had resumed.

The SNS gained the massive majority they wanted, but the Covid-19 infection rate has been rising ever since.

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic blamed opposition politicians for last night's violence. The authorities have placed barricades around the National Assembly to prevent a repeat this evening. But the protesters are likely to return.

As the world battles the pandemic, more and more protective equipment is ending up in the sea.

Some 129 billion face masks and 65 billion plastic gloves are being placed into the environment every month, according to Ocean Conservancy.

Divers and observers are spotting more of this discarded waste floating and underwater, causing problems for wildlife and washing up on shorelines all over the world.

Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor

Image source, PA

Extra cash for employers to take on trainees, changes to stamp duty and possible cuts to VAT - these are some of the announcements expected today as Chancellor Rishi Sunak seeks to salvage the UK economy in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

At the start of the pandemic, when the government enforced shutdown on the UK economy, the Treasury decided the only way to avoid disaster was to move far and fast.

Now the government is looking to the second phase of the crisis - when the worst stage of the health aspect has passed and they hope the economic recovery can begin.

But job losses have begun, with barely a day going by without an announcement from a household name they are shedding staff.

So the focus of the chancellor's statement, expected at 12:30 BST (11:30 GMT) after PMQs, will be "jobs, jobs, jobs", insiders say.

"What's the alternative?" says one senior government figure. "We can't just watch millions of people go to the wall."

Read more from Laura here.

Image source, Getty Images

A Covid-19 patient who escaped quarantine at a hotel in Auckland, New Zealand, and then went shopping will face charges, officials say.

The 32-year-old reportedly left the isolated premises for about 70 minutes and took selfies in the health and beauty aisle of a nearby supermarket, the New Zealand Herald reports.

The man, who has tested positive for the virus, managed to escape the Stamford Plaza hotel through a fence.

Air Commodore Darryn Webb, the head of managed isolation and quarantine, said the patient was a New Zealand citizen who had recently returned from India, adding that his actions were "completely unacceptable".

The man could face a fine or up to six months in prison.