Image source, Alamy

Retailers and police must both play a role in enforcing the use of face coverings by shoppers in England, a cabinet minister has said after officers and businesses expressed concern over how people would be made to comply with the rules.

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers in London, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme earlier that the law would be "impossible for enforcement" as he called for shopkeepers to "step up to the plate and take some responsibility".

But JD Sports chief executive Peter Cowgill said that, while his stores would offer face coverings to anyone not wearing them, it would not be for his staff to enforce the law

Eustice said retailers and shoppers had to take responsibility in the first instance, after which the police could be asked to step in.

"Of course retailers have been very responsible in the way they're approaching this challenge, they will have a role to play in making sure there's compliance," he said.

"But when it comes to that final sanction of issuing a penalty, that is something that only the police can do."

Ritu Prasad
BBC News, Fort Myers, Florida

Like many Covid-19 stories, it started with a dry cough.

Fever, loss of taste and chest pain followed Sanjay Bharath's diagnosis in early March.

Bharath, who is a hospital nurse in South Florida, says he caught the virus from a patient when the Covid-19 screening process for admissions was less strict. He was told to self-quarantine two days later.

At 34 years old, Bharath does not fall into a virus-vulnerable age group. But 14 days after that first contact, he had coughed up blood and checked into the hospital.

Two days later, on 26 March, he was intubated.

Image source, Sanjay Bharath

Florida has been averaging nearly 10,000 new cases per day for the last week. On 12 July, the state broke the national record by reporting 15,300 cases in a single day.

Along with Texas and Arizona, the Sunshine State has fast become one of the regions with the highest surges in the country.

As cases began rising, Governor DeSantis in June reversed his decision to allow bars to reopen. But he has refused to require masks statewide, though local leaders in major cities like Miami have done so, and has joined President Donald Trump in emphasising the importance of keeping the economy open.

Read more about how younger people in Florida are being affected by the outbreak.

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

In the week of 3 July, the UK saw the smallest number of Covid-19-related deaths registered since the week of 20 March.

Covid-19 deaths are shown by the red area in the chart below, which is narrower than it has been since before lockdown.

For the last three weeks, the total number of deaths in the UK has been running at or just below the level we would expect to see on the basis of the last five years (the dashed line).

That does not mean we are back to normal.

In a mild January and February we were seeing fewer deaths than the five-year average predicted, so it is hard to know where we might have been now without the epidemic.

Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst

Image source, BTV

A 52-year-old man who began a wave of coronavirus last month in China's capital Beijing has been discharged from hospital.

The man surnamed Tang, who has been affectionately termed "Uncle Xicheng", contracted Covid-19 on 11 June and was the first patient in an outbreak that saw 335 people testing positive. This outbreak has been linked to the city's largest wholesale market, Xinfadi.

"Uncle" is a common term of affection, and Xicheng is the name of the district he lives in.

Tang spent 33 days being treated for Covid-19 and has been praised by state media for providing the authorities with full transparency over his movements and the people he came into contact with.

Media want others to learn from him, and not be afraid of hiding their symptoms, in the event that other regions in China experience similar outbreaks.

Earlier, he appeared on the Beijing TV broadcaster thanking the medical workers who treated him, and offering words of encouragement to other patients. There are currently 205 still receiving treatment in the city, but nobody has tested positive now for eight consecutive days.

The city's authorities regard this wave of cases as having been brought under control, thanks to swift lockdown measures and aggressive testing.

The owners of a village pub which was virtually empty on its first Friday night open since lockdown have pleaded for customers to return.

Julie and Stephen Penney filmed a quiet bar and restaurant at The Swan in Monks Eleigh, Suffolk - which would normally be busy at the start of the weekend.

They have had to lay off the chef and cook the food themselves, and a cask of real ale has been lasting a week rather than a day.

"We need people to realise that we need them back, because next year is a long way away when you've got no trade," Julie says.

The government has tried to help the hospitality industry by reducing VAT from 20% to 5% for six months and by offering diners a discount of up to £10 per head at eligible restaurants, from Mondays to Wednesdays during August.

• What is VAT and how does it work?
• Visitors may not see the thrill of VAT cut

Earlier we reported on a number of places which have announced renewed lockdowns as cases rise. They follow a move towards localised restrictions elsewhere in the world as the pandemic continues:

• Africa: Morocco's northern city of Tangiers went back into lockdown on Monday, while Madagascar put the Analamanga region - home to the capital Antananarivo - under strict measures last week. South Africa, meanwhile, has brought back a night-time curfew
• Latin America: Areas of the Colombian capital Bogotá, which has been at the centre of the country's outbreak, were placed under a two-week lockdown on Monday
• Australia: The country's second-biggest city, Melbourne, last week told its five million residents to stay at home for six weeks. The state of Victoria, where the city is located, also closed its borders with New South Wales and South Australia
• Middle East: Both Israel and the West Bank have reintroduced restrictions in response to a rise in cases
• Asia: A district of the Philippine capital Manila is expected to go into lockdown for two-weeks in the coming days, an official was quoted as saying by AFP news agency. Uzbekistan has been in a second lockdown since 10 July, with measures extending until 1 August

Image source, Getty Images

As we've been reporting, from 24 July it will be mandatory to wear face masks and coverings in England's shops, bringing the country in line with Scotland and other European nations like Spain, Italy and Germany.

Those who fail to comply with the new rules will face a fine of up to £100.

But some retailers and police officers have expressed concern about how the rules will be enforced in practice.

The leader of the organisation which represents police officers across England and Wales said face masks should be a “condition of entry” in shops, adding that enforcing the rules “can’t all be left to policing".

John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation, tweeted: “Shops can very easily make it a condition of entry that a customer is wearing a mask - that's the least I would expect. Look forward to seeing the legislation!”

But Peter Cowgill, executive chairman of JD Sports, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The guidance so far is that our store colleagues are not really to get involved. It's a police matter to enforce rather than for them to get involved, potentially, in any public disturbances."

The head of the British Chambers of Commerce has called on the government to provide "absolute clarity" to retailers on the new rules.

Adam Marshall, director general of the BCC, said: "It's important for them to know as well that they will not be responsible for enforcing these requirements - that that will be a job for the police."

Debbie Jackson
BBC Scotland

Image source, VICKY MUIRHEAD

People who live and work across the Scottish border say they are worried about talk of closing it to limit the spread of coronavirus.

Many residents of Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, and Cumbria in England, live their lives on both sides of the border, crossing it regularly to shop, see family and go to work.

The possibility of closing it - and maybe imposing quarantine restrictions on people coming from England - has emerged since Scotland's infection and death rate began falling at a faster rate than in England.

Vicky Muirhead owns two branches of a children's swimming franchise, either side of the border. She's preparing to reopen the same business with two different sets of rules.

Read our full story here.

Can you become reinfected with coronavirus if you've already had it? BBC Health reporter Rachel Schraer takes a look at what we know so far about immunity and Covid-19.

Image source, GETTY IMAGES

The UK faces more taxes rises and spending cuts to stop its debt pile getting out of control, the country's spending watchdog has warned.

The Office for Budget Responsibility says the economy is on course to shrink by 12.4% in 2020, with borrowing set to rise to a peacetime high. This would mark the biggest economic decline in 300 years.

The UK's economy rebounded more slowly than expected in May, growing just 1.8% from the previous month, as the gradual easing of the coronavirus lockdown had a modest impact.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised last month that his government would "not go back to the austerity of 10 years ago".

Image source, AFP

As we've already reported, California has had to reimpose sweeping coronavirus restrictions after a spike in infections.

Although America's most populous state was initially praised for its handling of the pandemic, its governor has now ordered all restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, zoos and museums to close.

And it's not the only place to do so.

The southern Indian city of Bangalore has been placed under a week-long quarantine, while the Iranian capital Tehran has brought back similar restrictions for seven days.

In Hong Kong, meanwhile, social distancing rules have been brought in, including some "more stringent than in the past", according to the city's leader. The territory's Disneyland is shutting too, a month after it reopened.

The renewed closures come amid warnings from the World Health Organization that "too many countries [were] headed in the wrong direction".

Image source, Reuters

• A week after he announced he had tested positive for coronavirus, Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, will take another test to see if he is virus-free. Mr Bolsonaro, who has belittled the risk posed by Covid-19, said on Monday that he felt "very good". "If everything is fine, I'll go back to work. Of course, if it's the other way around, I'll wait a few more days," he added. Brazil is the second worst-hit country in the world and is expected to reach two million confirmed cases later this week.
• In Bolivia, another member of the cabinet has joined a growing list of politicians with Covid-19. Foreign Minister Karen Longaric said on Monday she had tested positive for the virus. The ministers of health, justice, mining, economy, as well as interim President Jeanine Áñez, the chief of staff of the armed forces and the head of the central bank have also been infected. The number of infections in Bolivia - just under 50,000 cases - is relatively low compared with its neighbours Peru and Chile, which have six times as many.
• Some good news from the Galapagos islands, where tourists sites are reopening today. The environment minister of Ecuador said visitors would have to wear masks and use disinfectant gel when touring the Unesco World Heritage site and visits to busy places may be restricted to three hours.

People across the country are being advised to wear face coverings in certain circumstances when out of the house, to help limit the spread of coronavirus. In England it is compulsory to wear one on public transport and from 24 July it will also be compulsory in shops.

While medical face masks and respirators are prioritised for health and care workers, you might want to try making your own face covering.

Whether you're handy with a sewing machine, like cutting up old t-shirts or just want a quick fix, the principles are the same: the more layers of material the better, and the mask needs to fit snugly around the face, and you should be able to breathe comfortably.

Here's our guide to different types and step-by-step instructions on how to make them.

US infectious disease chief Dr Anthony Fauci - who emerged early on as a widely recognised face of the US virus response - is now being targeted by the Trump administration.

The White House has been increasingly critical of Dr Fauci, and on Sunday, an official shared a list detailing past apparent erroneous comments.

His changing advice on masks and remarks on Covid-19's severity are among the points from the White House.

Dr Fauci has contradicted President Donald Trump's comments on the pandemic a number of times, pushing back on the president's claims that the outbreak is improving and attributing hasty state reopenings to the recent surges.

The move to undercut him comes as the US continues to see surges in Covid-19.

Here's what else Fauci has said in the past.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, PA Media

The Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum and Science Museum will reopen in August.

London's South Kensington museum district has been closed since March.

The three institutions held a joint virtual event to announce their plans to reopen.

The Natural History Museum will reopen on 5 August, the V&A on 6 August and the Science Museum on 19 August.

Image source, AFP

With the world's second-highest death toll, Brazil is still struggling to keep its coronavirus outbreak under control.

And one couple has gone to extreme measures to keep safe.

A chronic lung disease means that accountant Tercio Galdino, 66, is at high risk from Covid-19, and so he and his wife Aliceia Lima wear special outfits when out and about in Rio de Janeiro.

Tercio bought the suits but made the astronaut-style helmets himself.

As well as offering medical-grade protection, the suits also allow the couple to celebrate Tercio's love of space.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, Getty Images

Face coverings steam up your glasses, they're uncomfortable, they infringe on personal freedom, say Radio 5 Live listeners - and that's before the matter of enforcement.

• Face masks and coverings to be compulsory in England's shops
• What are the rules for face masks or face coverings?
• How to make your own face mask

Andy, in Manchester, says the discomfort means he's less likely to go to the shops and now worries shopping must carry a higher risk than he thought. He doubts the increase in footfall that shops need will follow.

Another listener with a long list of questions pleads for more guidance. Can we keep them in our pocket? How often should we replace them? Are disposable ones better?

But there's reassurance from Scotland, where face coverings have been mandatory in shops since Friday.

Pamela, who runs a clothes shop in East Kilbride, says most of her customers have been happy to wear one - only one refused because they didn't like it.

She says it's a habit you need to get into and she'll be giving uncovered customers gentle reminders.

Ros, a nurse in nearby Glasgow, says that, if she can wear a mask for her 13-hour shifts, it's not a big issue to wear one for half an hour around the shops - "You have to think of the greater good."

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

At least 43 people in the US state of Michigan have tested positive for coronavirus after attending a party.

Washtenaw County announced on Monday that there had been an increase in local infections, external following a large house party on 2-3 July, "with additional events and workplace exposures occurring in the following days".

Most of the new cases have been among young people aged 15-25.

Almost 70 other people have been identified as close contacts of those infected, with officials urging anyone who was exposed to self-quarantine for 14 days and test if they display symptoms.

More than 6,000 people have died with coronavirus in Michigan so far, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Tom Edwards
Transport correspondent, BBC London

Image source, EPA

If there's one issue that angers commuters, it is other travellers not wearing face coverings.

The new law was introduced on 15 June and for the past month it has been mandatory to wear face coverings on public transport.

So is it working?

The authorities say 90% of people abide by it but there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that some are still not wearing a face covering and there are many examples of people not wearing the coverings correctly.

The authorities have described social pressure playing a part in getting people to wear a mask - in the same way the alcohol ban on transport worked.

British Transport Police and Transport for London have issued 59 fines to people not complying with the rule.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Almost 10 million people were not able to attend the funeral of loved ones during the UK's coronavirus lockdown, a report suggests.

The research by the undertakers, Co-op Funeralcare, external, says restrictions on the number of people attending services during the height of lockdown has meant many people have not been able to grieve properly.

It estimates that 243,000 bereaved families have not been able to put on the funerals they would have wished for their loved ones.

Co-op Funeralcare warns we do not yet know what the long-term psychological effects will be for people who have not been able to say goodbye properly - and it says experts are warning of a "grief pandemic".

• How to grieve a loved one when you can't say goodbye