Annabel Rackham
Newsbeat reporter

Image source, Getty Images

In a parallel universe, festival season is in full swing, while flights to Mallorca and Ibiza are filled with Brits ready to hit the clubs.

But most of those clubs are closed.

And while the coronavirus pandemic has ruined many plans for the summer, one country has spotted an opportunity.

Four music festivals are planned in Malta over the next few months.

The line-ups are full of British artists like Chase and Status, Aitch, AJ Tracey and Fatboy Slim, with their social media targeting people in the UK with information on flight prices.

But there are concerns about what might happen if loads of people pile onto the island. "Imagine how much corona Brits are going to take to those festivals in Malta," one DJ posted.

Michelle Roberts
Health editor, BBC News online

Some countries, such as Iceland, offer travellers a choice on arrival if they have stayed in areas with high virus levels. Anyone entering must either self-quarantine for 14 days or get tested for Covid-19.

And Germany is planning compulsory tests at its airports for anyone arriving from a high-risk country.

At the moment, the UK says it has no plans to introduce testing at airports, saying it is not just logistically difficult but risks missing some cases of coronavirus.

Nose or throat swab tests are safe and accurate, but can sometimes give a false negative result.

"This is concerning as a negative test result may give people a false sense of security," said Dr Joshua Moon from the University of Sussex Business School.

Earlier, the boss of Heathrow told the BBC that airports should be allowed to test for coronavirus to avoid the "cliff edge" of quarantine. We have about what he had to say here.

The annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia is getting under way with drastically reduced numbers because of the pandemic.

More than two million pilgrims normally take part in the Hajj but this year only about 10,000 Saudi residents will perform the five-day ritual.

Pilgrims are required to wear face masks and observe social distancing during a series of religious rites in the holy city and its surroundings. All those taking part this year were given temperature checks and placed in quarantine as they began arriving in Mecca at the weekend.

Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam - mandatory things all Muslims must do during their lifetime, as long as they are physically and financially able to do so.

We told you earlier that six US states - Arkansas, California, Florida, Montana, Oregon, and Texas - registered record numbers of new coronavirus infections on Tuesday.

Here our colleagues in the US ask whether the requirements to safely reopen were met.

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The decision to allow hospital patients in England to be discharged to care homes without Covid-19 tests at the start of the pandemic has been described as "reckless" by MPs.

The Public Accounts Committee said there had clearly been an "emerging problem" with official advice before it was "belatedly" changed in April.

The committee said around 25,000 patients were discharged into care homes in England between mid-March and mid-April to free up hospital beds. It accused ministers of being slow to support social care during the crisis.

In a highly critical report, the cross-party committee said the initial decision to allow untested patients into care homes was an "appalling error".

After initially saying a negative result was not required before discharging patients, the government later said on 15 April all patients would be tested, external.

The government said it had been "working closely" with the sector.

Image source, Reuters

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has announced he caught and then recovered from the coronavirus "on his feet.

"This is what doctors concluded yesterday. Asymptomatic," he told military leaders. He offered no evidence to support his allegation, nor his claim that "97% of our population carry this infection asymptomatically". Johns Hopkins University says the country has recorded 67,366 cases and 543 deaths.

As the rest of Europe locked down in March in a bid to contain the outbreak, Belarus kept its borders open and football matches playing.

Lukashenko - who has been in power since 1994 and is often described as Europe's last dictator - has described coronavirus fears as a "psychosis", a response that has provoked rare public demonstrations against him ahead of a presidential election next Sunday.

The authorities have cracked down on dissent and arrested protesters around the country.

Earlier we told you about calls to reduce the need for quarantine by introducing coronavirus tests at airports, as supported by the boss of Heathrow.

But UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said a test on landing would not provide the necessary reassurance that a traveller did not have the disease. He told BBC Breakfast: "[The virus] can incubate over a period of time, so there's not a silver bullet of just testing immediately at the border."

The government would "look at other measures to mitigate the impact of that and reduce the burden", he said, adding that the authorities needed to take action to keep the virus under control. "Look around the world, the disease is continuing to spread," he said.

Dowden did not go as far as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in suggesting that she would not book a foreign holiday at this time. Instead, he said people just needed to be aware of the risks.

But Conservative backbencher David Davis said Heathrow's chief executive is right to call for airport testing, external to reduce quarantine time. "Vienna has been doing this for months. I don't understand why we haven't," he said.

Simon Atkinson
BBC News, North Queensland

On the banks of the Daintree river, our tour guide pointed out crocodiles lazing in the early afternoon sun. Croc-spotting is one of the most touristy things you can do in north Queensland.

But while the boat operators can rely on finding the scaly reptiles, tourist numbers are less predictable. Australia has shut off its international borders for the foreseeable future, so visitors from Asia and Europe are few and far between.

For the past month, travellers from Victoria have not been welcome after the outbreak on Covid-19 cases there. Hotels, rainforest retreats and tour operators reckon that in what should be peak season they’re operating at about 20% capacity. Some have closed down altogether.

Image source, Getty Images

Boats out to the Great Barrier Reef - perhaps Australia's biggest tourist attraction - are almost empty too. Keeping businesses just about going are Queenslanders who - unable to jet off to Bali - are exploring their own beautiful state instead.

And then there are people like me - Sydney-dwellers travelling to one of the few places they are allowed to go.

Well, were allowed to go. Queensland has announced that from this weekend, anyone who has been in Greater Sydney will no longer be allowed to visit the state (without two weeks of self-funded hotel quarantine).

Image source, PA Media

The UK government has signed a fourth coronavirus vaccine deal, securing up to 60 million doses of an experimental treatment being developed by drug giants GSK and Sanofi.

Regulatory approval could be achieved by the first half of 2021 if trials are successful, according to Sanofi, which is leading the vaccine's clinical development.

The government has already signed up for 100 million doses of the Oxford University vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca.

It has also secured another 90 million doses of two other promising vaccines.

However, it is still uncertain which - if any - of the vaccines will work.

Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent, BBC News

UK scientists are to receive millions of pounds of government funding for a raft of studies to learn why people from an ethnic minority background are at greater risk from Covid-19.

Six projects will analyse data on social circumstances, health and day-to-day activities, as well as investigating genetic risk factors.

One will follow 30,000 health and social-care staff for a year.

Researchers say there will be rapid action based on the findings.

Prof Kamlesh Khunti, director of the Centre for BME Health at the University of Leicester, who is involved in three of the studies, told the BBC he expected results to be translated into guidance that would help save black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) lives within months.

Image source, Getty Images

More now from the US where President Donald Trump has again touted the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a way to prevent coronavirus, contradicting the advice of his own public health officials.

At a White House news conference on Tuesday he said the drug had only been rejected as a Covid-19 treatment because he suggested it. Scientists say there is no evidence the drug can fight the virus, and regulators warn it may cause heart problems.

"When I recommend something, they like to say 'don't use it'," he told reporters. Trump also grumbled that the top US infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, was more popular than him.

Earlier this week, President Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr, both shared a video on social media advocating hydroxychloroquine. Facebook and Twitter removed the content, flagging it as misinformation.

Image source, Getty Images

As the UK faces criticism from Spain for reintroducing quarantine measures, Heathrow Airport chief executive John Holland-Kaye says the restrictions have already caused "a few more drop-outs" among people with flights booked.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the government needed to introduce an "alternative to the cliff-edge" of quarantine for free travel and said a testing system could be "up and running within the next couple of weeks".

He said it would likely involve people quarantining for eight days rather than 14, after which they could leave if they received a negative test result. Other countries such as France are testing similar approaches, Holland-Kaye said.

"We all have the same interests here. Nobody wants to have a second wave. We will always put the interests of health and safety first. But the government also has a responsibility to protect jobs and support the economy," he said.

The airport boss said that unless the country can find a "balance" between safety and getting the economy moving, the UK could face "a huge jobs epidemic" as well as a viral one.

Image source, Reuters

Hong Kong's hospital system could face "collapse" as it grapples with a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, the city's leader Carrie Lam has warned.

She urged residents to stay indoors, saying the city was "on the verge of a large-scale community outbreak". New measures were introduced on Wednesday including mandatory face masks and the closure of dine-in restaurants.

Less than a month ago the average number of new daily cases in Hong Kong was fewer than 10 but the city is now regularly reporting more than 100 new infections every day. A record 145 cases were recorded on Monday.

On Tuesday the city reported its 23rd overall death. The patient had been a resident at a care home where at least 45 infections have been recorded.

Image source, EPA

Six southern and western US states registered record numbers of new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, external - California, Arkansas, Florida, Montana, Oregon, and Texas.

Meanwhile, Texas joined California and New York to register more than 400,000 cases.

President Donald Trump, who has come under widespread criticism for his handling of the crisis, insisted that large parts of the US were virus-free, even though federal data shows just one state, Vermont, doing well.

The US now has more than 4.3 million reported cases of Covid-19, and more than 149,000 deaths.

Our colleagues at the Visual and Data Journalism Team have been tracking the pandemic in the US and around the world.

Image source, PA Media

And if you're joining us in the UK, here’s a summary of the main headlines:

• Scientists are to receive millions of pounds to fund six studies aimed at learning why ethnic minorities are at greater risk of Covid-19. They will examine social circumstances, health, day-to-day activities and genetic factors and researchers say the studies are intended to allow rapid action to be taken to save lives
• Financial experts say the UK faces a wave of business failures as "zombie companies" kept afloat during lockdown by temporary government support struggle with high debt and poor sales
• Heathrow Airport's chief executive has called on the government to introduce Covid-19 tests on landing to allow quarantine restrictions for high-risk countries to be eased. John Holland-Kaye said testing could be up and running in a couple of weeks
• The decision to discharge patients from hospitals to care homes without a test for Covid-19 has been criticised as "an appalling error" by a committee of MPs. The public accounts committee said 25,000 patients were discharged into care homes before guidance was "belatedly" changed in mid-April
• Up to 60 million doses of a potential vaccine being developed by Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline have been ordered by the UK government. It is the fourth vaccine deal the UK has struck, with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy saying health and social care workers along with those at higher risk could be vaccinated in summer 2021 if it is shown to work in human studies

• Fraudsters are impersonating organisations such as the NHS and HMRC to trick people out of their cash during the pandemic, banks have warned. Local authorities say there has been a 40% increase in reported scams

Hello and welcome back to our live coverage about the coronavirus pandemic. Our teams from around the world are again ready to bring you the latest developments.

Let's kick off with a summary of the latest top stories.

• Nearly 1,300 virus-related deaths were confirmed across the US on Tuesday - the biggest daily increase since May
• US President Donald Trump has again defended the use of the malaria medication hydroxychloroquine to prevent coronavirus, contradicting the advice of his own public health officials - there is no evidence the drug can fight the virus
• Hong Kong's hospital system could face collapse because of a spike in coronavirus cases, the city's leader Carrie Lam has warned. Hong Kong is now regularly reporting more than 100 new cases daily whereas less than a month ago the average was fewer than 10
• The annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia is under way with drastically reduced numbers because of the pandemic. More than two million pilgrims normally take part in the Hajj but this year only around 10,000 Saudi residents will perform the five-day ritual