Dr Anthony Fauci, the US’ leading virologist, opened the 2020 baseball season in the US with a ceremonial pitch in Washington DC.

The stadium was empty of fans, a rule enforced as the country continues to see huge numbers of coronavirus cases.

Home team the Washington Nationals were missing player Juan Soto after he tested positive. He won’t be able to play until he tests negative twice.

Image source, Getty Images

UK retail sales were nearly back at pre-lockdown levels in June as shops reopened, according to new figures.

The amount of goods sold last month increased by 13.9% compared to May, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) says, external.

June's rise in retail sales followed record falls in April and a partial recovery in May as the coronavirus pandemic led to widespread shop closures.

The ONS said the rebound had brought overall retail sales back to a similar level to where they were pre-lockdown, but there was a "mixed picture" in different store types.

It said food and online sales were up, but clothing was still "struggling", while online sales continued to go "from strength to strength".

Image source, Reuters

South Korea has announced it will allow audiences to attend professional baseball and football matches.

Both seasons began in May in front of empty seats.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) can now open its stadiums to fans but only 10% of the seats can be occupied. According to the Korea Times, clubs that are ready can reopen from this Sunday, external.

The Korea Professional Football League (K League) will open its stadiums from 1 August and the same capacity rule will apply.

Tickets will be sold online so that there is a record of who is being admitted to the stadiums. All spectators will be required to wear a mask, Yoon Tae-ho from the Central Disaster Management Headquarters said.

South Korea recorded 41 new cases on Thursday and one death. A total of 298 people have died from the virus and almost 14,000 cases have been confirmed.

England has joined an increasing number of countries which are making face coverings mandatory in shops and some other enclosed public spaces.

But if you've been out and about you'll have seen people have many different ways of wearing them. So what is the correct way to wear a mask?

Image source, AFP

A drug that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro pushed heavily saying it could treat coronavirus has been found to be ineffective in a large study in Brazil.

Hydroxychloroquine made headlines earlier this year when it was hoped the malaria drug could also help people sick with Covid-19.

Since May, Bolsonaro's goverment has recommended that hospitals prescribe the drug to coronavirus patients. The president himself has said he is taking it after testing positive for Covid-19 in early July.

US President Donald Trump also said it could be beneficial.

But after a large trial at Oxford University in June found hydroxychloroquine to be ineffective, the World Health Organization halted its own studies.

Now a clinical study of patients with mild to moderate symptoms in 55 hospitals in Brazil has found the drug does not effectively treat Covid-19 and could have damaging side effects.

The study, conducted on 667 patients, was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, external.

The trial had its limitations, the paper's authors cautioned, explaining, "the trial cannot definitively rule out either a substantial benefit of the trial drugs or a substantial harm".

Read more about coronavirus and hydroxychloroquine

Image source, AFP

We have already reported thatBolivia's general election has been postponed until 18 October as the country grapples with the pandemic. In other developments in Latin America:

• Mexico and Venezuelaboth recorded new daily highs in infections of 8,438 and 449 respectively. A further 718 people died in Mexico, which now has the fourth highest number of deaths in the world
• A network of domestic violence shelters in Mexico are reporting that the country's lockdown has brought a surge of 80% in the number of women and children seeking refuge, reports Thomson Reuters Foundation
• In an effort to combat the economic impact of the pandemic in Chile, President Sebastian Pinera will today sign a law allowing people to withdraw 10% of their pension funds

As we mentioned earlier, India is seeing a sharp rise in the number of cases.

Earlier today, it broke its one-day record for the total number of cases.

With the wearing of masks recommended in order to stay safe, people in the western state of Gujarat are making theirs fashionable.

Bejewelled masks start at $2,000 (£1,570).

Image source, AFP

Boris Johnson has said he wants people to "stop thinking of coronavirus as something that makes it impossible to do things", as he outlines an ambition to speed up the running of government services.

He said: "There are aspects of the way government works, the whole of government, that really need to be faster and more responsive to the needs of the people.

"And if you look at particularly what's happening now, you've got this problem of 'backlog Britain'."

He cited the delays to people receiving passports and birth certificates and the backlog of court hearings as procedures that needed to speed up.

He added: "I want to see a massive effort now by the country to psychologically stop thinking of coronavirus as something that makes it impossible to do things and start really looking at tackling the problems of the British people - how to get the things that they want in double time."

Image source, Reuters

State schools in South Africa will close for a month following a surge in coronavirus cases.

The number of confirmed cases in the country has surpassed 400,000. More than 6,000 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The measure will come into effect on Monday and students from poorer families will continue to have meals provided for them by the government during the break.

President President Cyril Ramaphosa said closing schools was important to stop them from potentially spreading the virus.

Schools were closed during a first lockdown in March but some classes resumed early last month.

Image source, Getty Images

More than half of people receiving treatment in Great Britain for long-term physical or mental health conditions before the coronavirus pandemic have had their care cancelled or reduced, a survey suggests.

Before the Covid-19 outbreak, 63% of 660 adults with a physical or mental health condition or illness had been receiving medical care, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found as part of its Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.

Of these, less than a third (31%) said their treatment had started or continued as normal since the outbreak.

A similar proportion (30%) said they had received reduced treatment, or care for only some of their conditions, while a fifth (21%) said their treatment had been cancelled.

The ONS analysed responses from 1,606 adults aged 16 and over in Great Britain who were polled between July 15 and 19.

As Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the US state of Florida, teachers are calling for schools to remain closed.

Governor Ron DeSantis has decided to reopen all brick and mortar schools in August.

However teachers have accused the government of making students “guinea pigs” and “test subjects”

As lockdown restrictions re-emerge in the US, not everyone is complying.

A number of establishments including gyms, restaurants and even churches are remaining open.

The BBC spoke with several business owners who explain why.

Boris Johnson says he wants "everybody to get a flu jab" in the run-up to this winter - as part of the government's plan to prevent the National Health Service being overwhelmed by a combination of both seasonal flu and coronavirus.

The UK prime minister described the proposal for more than half the population of England, around 30 million, to be offered a free flu jab this winter as the “biggest ever programme of flu immunisation”.

He said: “The reason for doing this is to protect the NHS in the winter months because obviously we have still got Covid. We have still got the threat of a second spike.

"It's vital therefore to keep that pressure off the NHS by everybody getting a flu jab and I really hope everybody will."

Johnson was also asked about whether he thinks it is a good idea for the public to be "shaming" people who are not wearing masks after they were made mandatory in shops in England.

He replied: "I think we should rely on the massive common sense of the British people that have so far delivered the results that we've seen, and that's going to work."

Image source, Reuters

India has recorded 49,310 cases, a single-day record, the health ministry said. This brings the country’s total number of cases to 1.2 million.

The country recorded 740 deaths on Friday, bringing the total to almost 30,000 since the pandemic began.

India is the world’s third worst affected country and is currently experiencing a rise in cases after relaxing some lockdown rules.

Many experts say that testing levels remain low in the country, which means the extent of the pandemic could be worse than is being reported.

Image source, EPA

In some states, lockdowns have been put back in place.

Kashmir is one of the regions currently experiencing another shutdown. The entire Kashmir valley aside from one district has gone back into lockdown until 29 July.

Southern Kerala state, which has already imposed partial restrictions, could decide on Monday to impose a full state-wide lockdown, AFP news agency said.

India is set to mark its Independence Day on 15 August and the home ministry has asked all states to avoid large gatherings, the Times of India reports, during the celebrations amid concerns it could lead to a further rise in cases, external.

Image source, Reuters

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he’s not normally one for “nannying or bossying” but the country does need to address its obesity problems to improve people’s chances if there’s a second coronavirus wave.

Speaking during a visit to a GP surgery in east London, he says: “Losing weight is frankly one of the ways you can reduce your own risks from Covid and actually it’s one of the ways you can generally improve your health and protect the NHS.”

He says he would encourage other people to lose weight, adding that he lost “a stone [6.3 kilos] and a bit” by eating less and exercising.

The PM's experience in intensive care during his treatment for Covid-19 is thought to have contributed to his changing position on tackling obesity.

He is set to announce new measures to curb obesity next week. Read more about those plans here.

An autism charity in England says it has seen a "significant increase" in demand for help over the "little understood" effects of lockdown on autistic people.

Daisy Chain, which supports more than 2,500 North East families, said changes to daily life had had a big impact on people who relied on routines.

The charity set up a crisis line which has received more than 1,000 calls, from 800 families.

It said getting back to normality would be "another battle".

Read more

Image source, AFP

Some small business owners in Scotland have said they cannot afford to keep giving health workers discounts and have requested people to stop asking for them.

Discounts to National Health Service staff have been offered by some businesses over the last few months to recognise their contribution in tackling coronavirus.

Mohammed Alam, manager of Morningside Spice in Edinburgh, says he has been asked up to 100 times for deductions on food bills by NHS staff over the four-month lockdown period.

He said: "Business is not going in the right direction because of the lockdown situation so we can't keep giving the discounts like we have been doing."

He says he has never seen business so bad in his 17 years working in the restaurant.

Read the full story

According to new research, lockdown measures to combat the spread of Covid-19 led to a 50% reduction in seismic noise observed around the world in early to mid-2020.

Human activity such as walking around and car traffic drives a seismic buzz.

The study, led by the Royal Observatory of Belgium, involved more than 70 scientists. They analysed data from over 300 seismic stations around the world.

A press release, external from the University of British Columbia, where one of the study’s co-authors is based, said scientists were able to visualise the lockdown “wave” moving through China, Italy and then around the rest of the world.

Scientists said that the reduction had been caused by the decrease in tourism and the number of people working from home instead of commuting and travel restrictions.

A care home manager in south-east England who locked down the site two weeks before being told to do so and avoided a coronavirus outbreak says lessons need to be learned in case of a "second wave".

David McGuire, who runs Edensor Care Centre in Essex, refused to take in patients as the virus spread across continental Europe.

Image source, Getty Images

The chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, John Apter, has urged shops to refuse entry to anyone not wearing a face covering in England.

Police can hand out fines of up to £100 ($127) to those who do not comply with the new rules which have come in today.

He said: "I would urge retail outlets to play their part in making the rules crystal clear; if you are not wearing a face covering then you are not coming in.

"Officers will be there to help stores if needed - but only as a last resort, as we simply do not have the resources."

Do you want to know what powers the police actually have? Find out more here.