James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent, BBC News

There are fears that the coronavirus will surge during winter, which could lead to a second wave of the disease that is even bigger than the first.

But predicting what a Covid winter will look like is complex and uncertain. There are reasons both to be worried and to be reassured.

How bad a northern hemisphere winter will be is dependent not only on the coronavirus, but on what happens to all the other winter bugs, our own behaviour and the success, or failures, of government policy.

There is also the relatively new field of science showing one viral infection can potentially block another one, with still unknown implications for coronavirus.

The question of whether coronavirus will spread more in winter is unanswered, but the science leans towards yes.

This is largely based on what we know about other viruses. All viruses survive outside the body better when it is cold. The UK's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) says a temperature of 4C is a particular sweet spot for coronavirus. There is also less UV light, which deactivates the virus, from the sun in winter.

Read the full piece from James here.

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One of the main talking points today has been the UK government's 14-day quarantine on travellers from Spain, which was brought in on Saturday after a spike in cases there.

BBC Radio 5 Live's Your Call has been asking for people's views on the matter and here is what some of you had to say.

Kirk lives in Spain’s Costa Blanca. His daughter and her family live in Scotland and booked a flight out to see him when Nicola Sturgeon lifted quarantine regulations on the 20 July. Now with the quarantine re-introduced, his daughter Claire and son-in-law Stephen won’t be able to return to work as planned - and as a result won’t be paid for two weeks.

“This is going to be quite devastating for them because it’s looking like they’ll both lose two weeks’ wages, which is a lot for a young family,” he said.

Elizabeth, from Sidcup, flew back from Tenerife yesterday and said the process of completing passenger contact forms on return was “a complete shambles”.

“When we got to Gatwick Airport, we still had these forms, nobody collected them. This is supposed to be a contact and trace for me, I still have the form in my bag. We were wandering around wondering who to give it to.”

She said her experience when arriving in Tenerife was “the complete opposite”.

“When we got to Tenerife we handed in our forms, they were stamped and kept, and they took temperatures.”

“The (UK) government don’t know where I am now so I could be wandering around spreading Covid-19 all over the country!”

The Home Office has said that all passenger location forms must be filled in online and will be processed, whether they are printed out or not.

It said the vast majority of forms, which say where a person will be staying during their quarantine, were being filled out without difficulty.

Jenny from Surrey said her family had to take the hit and cancel their upcoming holiday to Majorca. Her son is due to start secondary school and she was worried about the impact a two-week quarantine would have on him.

“We’ve always said that was the one thing we wouldn’t do, was stop him from getting back to school on the first day.”

Instead she has booked “a very budget hotel trip” up and down England and Scotland, through Harrogate and Edinburgh.

Reality Check

Speaking about quarantine rules, Spanish MEP Jose Ramon Bauza told the BBC's Today programme that Spanish coronavirus numbers were "far better than those in Britain".

He said: "Just two days ago, the UK had 2,356 new patients infected with Covid and, sadly, 146 [Britons] passed away, but the same day in Spain there were just 922 new infected and just three people died".

His numbers for Spain on 24 July are correct, but he's not right about the UK figures for that day - 123 deaths were reported and 768 new infections, according to government figures.

There are challenges with comparing countries (in terms of how countries count deaths and how they test for coronavirus) and just using the figures for a single day.

If you look over the last fortnight then, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Spain recorded 39 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, external - more than double that of the UK or France (both at 15 cases per 100,000 residents).

And the trend in Spain is a sharp increase in the number of infections recorded daily, which is not the case in the UK.

You can find out more about what is happening in Spain here.

The United Kingdom is the ninth country to pass the 300,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases mark, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Currently the US, Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa, Peru, Mexico and Chile all have had more cases.

With seven more confirmed deaths the UK has had its lowest daily rise since early March, although reporting on Mondays tends to be lower.

However, the UK is currently third for overall deaths in the world, according to Johns Hopkins, with only the US and Brazil having suffered more fatalities.

At the end of April, the NHS in England recommended that black and ethnic minority healthcare workers should be risk assessed for coronavirus. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland issued similar guidance.

It came as statistics from England show more people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups are dying from coronavirus than those from white ethnic groups.

But now, new figures seen from the Health Service Journal suggest more than a quarter of BAME NHS staff are still waiting for a risk assessment.

The data shows 73% of BAME staff had had a risk assessment in England by 17 July, but in some hospital trusts the figure was just 20%.

"We have a lot of members who have not had their risk assessments done even though it has now been mandatory since last month," said Francis Fernando, founding director of the Filipino Nurses Association UK.

He told the PA news agency some of the assessments were merely "tick box exercises".

An NHS spokesman said progress has been made since 17 July. He added: "We have been clear that trusts as the legally responsible employers must carry out risk assessments for their black and minority ethnic staff and other at-risk groups, in line with publicly-available guidance, and publish their progress.

"Early indications show significant progress was made in the first two weeks, meaning thousands more staff will now be benefiting from additional measures to protect their health, and trusts tell us that this work continued towards the end of the stated window."

The number of people who have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK has passed 300,000, official figures show.

The total number of deaths in the UK has risen by seven to 45,759 from 45,752 on Sunday.

The UK has now had 300,111 cases of coronavirus.

Image source, Getty Images

The value of gold hit a record high today as increasing numbers of nervous investors look for a safe place to put their money, spurred by weakening economies and concerns over the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

The precious metal climbed as much as 2.4% to a record $1,944.73 an ounce, beating its previous record of $1,921 set in September 2011.

Many investors avoid gold and other precious metals because they do not pay dividends or interest - but they are traditionally viewed as a safe investment, and the price of gold typically rises during times of geopolitical uncertainty. So far this year, gold spot prices have risen by more than 25%.

A fall in the value of the US dollar is another factor that boosts the price of gold, which is quoted in the US currency.

Read more here.

M Ilyas Khan
BBC News, Islamabad

Image source, Getty Images

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan says his government has succeeded in bringing the spread of coronavirus under control in the country, and has called on people to consolidate these gains by following safety rules during the upcoming Muslim festival of Eid.

In an address to the nation, the prime minister said that if Pakistanis can safely go through Eid - scheduled over the weekend - and the Shia Muslims' traditional Muharram events that follow less than a month later, "we will have brought our lives back to normal".

He warned, however, that ignoring safety rules during the Eid festivities - such as wearing face masks and social distancing - may trigger another flare-up in cases.

He mentioned examples from Australia, Iran and elsewhere where the falling numbers of infections led to the easing of restrictions, which brought another spell of infections.

Khan said a sustained fall in infections in Pakistan has been the result of his government's policy of "smart lockdowns", instead of a full-blown curfew, which he said only rich countries could afford.

Image source, Getty Images

US President Donald Trump's national security adviser, Robert O'Brien, has tested positive for coronavirus, the White House has confirmed.

In a statement, the government said Mr O'Brien had "mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site.

"There is no risk of exposure to the president or the vice-president. The work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted," it added.

O'Brien, 54, is the highest-ranking official in Mr Trump's administration known to have tested positive.

A number of people in and around the administration have also caught the virus in the past, including a military member who works as a White House valet, Mr Pence's press secretary Katie Miller, and a helicopter squadron Marine.

O'Brien travelled to Paris this month to discuss foreign policy issues with European counterparts, and gave a speech in Arizona in June comparing Chinese President Xi Jinping with Soviet leader Josef Stalin.

Read more here.

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Earlier we told you about the pet cat in the UK which has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Experts say it is the first confirmed case of infection in an animal in the UK, but does not mean the disease is being spread to people by their pets.

It's thought the cat caught coronavirus from its owner, who had previously tested positive for the virus. Both have now recovered.

Downing Street has now commented on the incident.

"The test was carried out by the Animal and Plant Health Agency laboratory having been referred by a private vet who the owners had taken the cat to see," said the prime minister's official spokesman.

"Its symptoms were a respiratory infection with a nasal discharge and some shortness of breath."

Read the full story here.

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Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will not be exempt from quarantine rules when he returns to the UK from his holiday in Spain, Number 10 has said.

"The same rules apply to ministers as they do anyone else," UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's official spokesman said.

Downing Street said Mr Shapps remained in touch with his department and had been "involved in the decision-making process".

It added that it expected the vast majority of people to comply with quarantine rules - with just three fines issued at the border since the measures were first introduced in early June.

Image source, Getty Images

An earlier lockdown would "likely have saved" more lives of London bus drivers who died with coronavirus, a new study from University College London has suggested.

The UK has seen 34 London bus workers die after testing positive Covid-19 - including 29 drivers - 3.5 times the rate of other roles.

"Our review explicitly suggests that lockdown was the main factor that saved bus drivers' lives," said Professor Sir Michael Marmot, who led the study.

"Because London was an early centre of the pandemic, it is likely that the increased risk among London bus drivers is associated with exposure."

The report was commissioned by TfL amid major concerns over the deaths of bus drivers in the capital.

Read more here.

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The UK's biggest tour operator, Tui, has urged the UK government not to slap blanket quarantines on whole countries.

The call came after it was announced that people arriving in the UK from Spain would be required to self-isolate for 14 days.

Andrew Flintham, managing director of Tui UK and Ireland, said the government should have a "regionalised" policy. That would mean only travellers returning from coronavirus hotspots should be forced to quarantine.

"Everything in life has risks, but it's about taking a proportionate risk-based approach," said Mr Flintham.

Tui has cancelled all mainland Spanish holidays until 9 August.

It has said that customers due to travel to all areas of Spain between 27 July and 9 August will be able to cancel or amend holidays. They will also be able to receive a full refund or the option to rebook their holiday with a booking incentive. People with holidays from 10 August will be updated on 31 July.

Meanwhile, airline Ryanair has said it will continue flights in and out of mainland pain despite the government's 14-day quarantine.

Neil Sorahan, Ryanair's chief financial officer, told the BBC "the schedules remain in place" but said the carrier was keeping its entire operation "under consideration".

Read more here.

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The latest figures from the Scottish government show no new coronavirus deaths were recorded in Scotland in the last 24 hours - the 11th day in a row without any fatalities.

A total of 2,491 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for Covid-19.

The number of new confirmed cases in Scotland rose by three from the day before, to a total of 18,554 people.

There are 270 people in hospital with confirmed coronavirus and two patients are in intensive care.

Tom Burridge
Transport correspondent

A UK government source has confirmed that talks are ongoing with Spain about introducing air bridges with Spain’s islands so people arriving from the Balearics and Canaries don’t have to quarantine.

The travel industry is lobbying the government and is hoping a decision is made by Friday.

One travel industry source said the government had told them it wanted to study more data from Spain’s islands before making a decision.

A government source indicated to the BBC that a decision on the matter would not be made in the immediate term.

Robert O’Brien, national security adviser to US President Donald Trump, has tested positive for coronavirus, according to US media.

If confirmed, Mr O'Brien will be the highest profile White House official to catch the virus.

Michelle Roberts
Health editor, BBC News online

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Biotech company Moderna says it is beginning a phase three trial of its coronavirus vaccine candidate, after successful earlier safety trials.

In this next phase of testing, around 30,000 healthy volunteers will get two doses of the jab, 28 days apart, to see if it can protect against the pandemic virus.

The vaccine is called mRNA-1273 and it contains a small section of genetic code from coronavirus.

It will not cause the disease itself but should hopefully train the body’s immune system to recognise and fight off coronavirus infection.

Half of the volunteers will be given the real vaccine, while the other half, chosen at random, will get two shots of a saline placebo. It will take months to know if the vaccine works.

Moderna’s vaccine is not the first to enter phase three trials - the last phase of testing of a vaccine before it can be submitted to a regulatory authority, external for evaluation and possible approval.

Phase three testing of a coronavirus vaccine from Oxford University in the UK is already under way. There are more than 120 coronavirus vaccines in various stages of development across the world.

Image source, Reuters

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, one of Bollywood's most famous faces, has been discharged from hospital after testing negative for Covid-19.

The Indian actress and former Miss World left Mumbai's Nanavati hospital along with her daughter Aaradhya earlier today.

Her husband Abhishek Bachchan and his father Amitabh, who are both famous actors, remain in hospital after they tested positive.

"Aishwarya and Aaradhya have thankfully tested negative and have been discharged from the hospital. They will now be at home," Abhishek Bachchan tweeted.

Since winning the Miss World crown in 1994, Aishwarya has become a hugely successful model and multiple award-winning Bollywood actress. Indians also regard her as a true celebrity who's done India proud in the global arena.

Thousands of Indians have been praying for the family's recovery.

You can read more here.

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A pet cat has become the first animal to test positive for Covid-19 in the UK, the UK's chief veterinary officer has said.

Despite the result the government said there is no evidence to suggest that the animal was involved in transmission of the disease to its owners or that pets or other domestic animals are able to transmit the virus to people.

The test was confirmed on Wednesday at a laboratory in Weybridge.

Public Health England's advice is for people to wash their hands before and after contact with animals.

Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said: "This is a very rare event with infected animals detected to date only showing mild clinical signs and recovering within in a few days.

"There is no evidence to suggest that pets directly transmit the virus to humans. We will continue to monitor this situation closely."

Danny Shaw
BBC Home Affairs Correspondent

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Young men aged 18 to 34 from ethnic minority groups were twice as likely to be fined for breaching coronavirus laws as young white men, figures show.

The findings follow analysis by government statisticians of 17,039 fixed penalty notices imposed over a two-month period between March and May in England and Wales.

Overall, people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds were 1.6 times more likely to be fined than white people - a far lower level of disproportionality than police stop-and-search rates and lower than some previous reports have suggested.

Senior police officers pointed out that high levels of ethnic disproportionality in some regions may be due to high numbers of visitors and tourists travelling to areas with proportionately low numbers of residents from black, Asian and ethnic minority groups.

Martin Hewitt, chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), said while he was concerned about the ethnic disparity figures, policing of the lockdown in general had been done in a proportionate way.

Other data - from the NPCC - shows that the total number of fines issued to 20 July has risen to 18,669 across England and Wales, with only eight fines imposed in the previous two weeks, six of which were for people not wearing face coverings on public transport.