Working from home will continue to be appealing to the UK public until a Covid-19 vaccine is found, research suggests.

King's College London has been tracking attitudes during the pandemic.

Results from its latest survey reveal that 86% of people believe that, until there is a vaccine, workers should be able to decide whether they returned to the office.

A total of 87% of the people questioned also said they would accept local lockdowns being imposed in the future, with 85% saying they would accept their own local area being subject to such limitations.

Experts said it shows people are prioritising public health over the economy and their social lives.

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Public hospitals in Kenya have begun charging virus patients for Covid-19 tests and staff personal protective equipment (PPE), local media report.

The Daily Nation newspaper said charges began after the Kenyan government reneged on a promise, external to pay for tests and PPE - including masks, hazmat suits, gloves and other items.

The newspaper said this could be because the cost of PPE had risen, with a full PPE kit that cost about $70 (£53) in March now costing about $120.

"We are using our money to buy the protective gear and when the government says it will take care of the patients and it does not, we are left struggling," a source told the Daily Nation.

Some reports say patients in private hospitals with Covid-19 and other conditions are also being charged.

The Daily Star quoted relatives of a diabetes patient, external who spent 10 days in intensive care in a private hospital in Nairobi as saying that their final bill of $46,000 included up to 10 sets of full PPE a day and more than 80 masks on one day.

Wang’ombe Kariuki, director general of the Competition Authority of Kenya, advised against capping PPE prices.

"Price controls are counterproductive since they ultimately harm consumers, more so by facilitating proliferation of black markets. Quality and safety of goods is also not guaranteed," he told the Daily Star.

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UK universities are seeking to reassure thousands of students who have been rejected for their chosen courses because their A-level exam results were downgraded.

Pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were unable to sit public exams this year because of the pandemic and this year's grades were awarded using a controversial modelling system.

Many students are preparing to launch appeals.

In the meantime, some universities are coming forward to offer possible solutions.

The University of Oxford's Worcester and Wadham colleges have said they will honour all the provisional offers they had made to UK students, irrespective of their final grades.

Other places - such as Leicester University - say they are willing to look at mock-exam results when allocating further course places., external

Experts Eddie Playfair and Catherine Sezen, senior policy managers at the Association of Colleges have been answering some of your questions about the situation.

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Some restaurants and pubs say they are withdrawing from the UK government's Eat Out to Help Out scheme because of "hostility towards staff".

Under the scheme the government pays half of the bill on meals served from Monday to Wednesdays throughout August.

But some owners says a surge in demand on these days has led to staff being shouted at, and "physical and mental stress".

In tourist-heavy areas like south-west England, many say the scheme is not helping at an already busy time of year.

Some say fewer customers are dining on other weekdays as a result. However, the Treasury maintains the scheme is working.

You can read more about the businesses opting out here - and for details on how the scheme works see our explainer.

More than 294,000 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, according to the World Health Organization's figures. This is the highest daily increase of the pandemic so far.

Cases are continuing to surge in many countries, while others - which had apparent success in suppressing initial outbreaks - are now seeing infections rise again.

Several countries across Europe have reported a recent rise in cases.

Spain, which was one of the worst-affected countries in the early months of the pandemic, has seen an increase in recent weeks and experts there say the country has once again reached a "critical situation".

France, another country that saw a large number of cases and deaths in March and April before managing to restrict the spread of the virus, is also seeing a surge in infections.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said the coronavirus pandemic is "easily the most severe" global health emergency the organisation has ever seen and that there may never be a vaccine - or "silver bullet" - to defeat the virus.

However, he has also pointed out that, though the virus has been detected in 188 countries, about half of all cases reported so far were from just three: the US, Brazil and India.

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With schools in England due to reopen in September, the government is trying to persuade parents that it will be safe for their children to return to the classroom.

Under the #backtoschoolsafely slogan, the new campaign will highlight the various measures being implemented to minimise the risk of coronavirus transmission.

It comes after Boris Johnson said there was a "moral duty" to get pupils back to the classroom.

Meanwhile, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also said it was the PM's "moral responsibility" to ensure that schools reopen.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, external, Sir Keir said he expected children to be back in the classroom in September "no ifs, no buts, no equivocation".

Read more here.

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France is considering making facemasks compulsory in shared workspaces.

It comes as the country struggles with a spike in coronavirus cases, with more than 3,300 cases confirmed in the last 24 hours.

Employment Minister Elisabeth Borne said she would propose the expansion of the facemask rules on Tuesday, during talks with employer and union representatives.

"A theme that appears in all scientific opinions is the value of wearing [masks] when there are several people in a confined space," Borne said in an interview with French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

The number of clusters being investigated in France has risen to 252 from 17, according to government figures. The UK Foreign Office is now warning against all but essential travel to France.

Wales has become the last part of the UK to end shielding for people who are medically vulnerable to coronavirus.

Around 130,000 people with underlying health conditions were advised to stay indoors when the pandemic took hold in March.

But the Welsh Government says the situation could change again if cases begin to rise.

And some people affected have mixed emotions. Richard Bluck, 37, who has cystic fibrosis and underwent a double lung transplant in 2018, says he still may not be able to hug his daughter until a vaccine is found.

Shielding was paused in Northern Ireland from 31 July, and in England and Scotland from 1 August.

Read our explainer for more details on the rules for social distancing and self-isolation still in place across the UK.

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A female swimmer has broken the men's record for the number of English Channel crossings - and been assured her fears of falling foul of the UK-France quarantine rules are unfounded.

Australian Chloe McCardel took 10 hours and 40 minutes to complete her 35th swim, after setting off from Dover, Kent on Saturday evening.

She had been worried arriving in Calais would require the need to self-isolate when she returned to Britain. Rules requiring people coming to the UK from France to quarantine for 14 days were introduced on Saturday, amid a rise in Covid cases there.

However, McCardel, 35, says UK and French coastguards clarified the situation.

As she spent only minutes on the shore before swimming back out to her support boat for the return journey, she would not have to quarantine.

"I'm in great spirits," McCardel said afterwards. "I would like to have a little celebration this evening in England."

McCardel also negotiated special dispensation from the Australian government to travel to the UK.

Though she has passed the men's record of 34 Channel swims, equalling the women's record will be a greater task as Briton Alison Streeter has swum the distance 43 times.

Read more here.

Robert Plummer
Business reporter, BBC News

You can't stop the music, as one old disco song says - but one way or another, coronavirus has come pretty close.

At the height of the pandemic, with record shops shut and labels struggling, the flow of new album releases slowed to a trickle.

Now the UK music industry is starting to pick up the rhythm again but shoppers are still reluctant to visit the high street for new LPs and CDs.

In lockdown, we have learnt to order more albums online and the way we use music streaming services has changed as well.

And while live music can resume in England from this weekend, it is likely to be on a restricted basis, as social distancing measures mean fewer paying customers will be allowed into venues.

So how have different sectors of the music business coped?

Read more here.

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England's exams regulator is reviewing its guidance on how to appeal against grades using mock exam results - hours after publishing it.

Neither A-level nor GCSE students were able to sit public exams this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

This year's grades are being awarded using a controversial modelling system, with the key factors being the ranking order of pupils and the previous exam results of schools and colleges.

Almost 40% of A-level grades were marked down from teachers' predictions - with pupils, parents and schools expressing anger and dismay at the outcome. GCSE results are out this week.

On Saturday Ofqual set out what constituted a "valid" mock exam for students appealing against the results. But the regulator has now suspended that criteria, and further information will be published "in due course".

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The Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand has said next month’s general election should be postponed because of the country’s new outbreak of coronavirus.

Winston Peters, who heads a junior coalition party, said the outbreak compromises the holding of a free and fair poll.

His intervention puts additional pressure on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. She is expected to make an annoucement on the election plans on Monday morning.

The opposition National Party has said it would back a postponement.

A second lockdown was declared last week after four new cases were discovered in the city of Auckland, just after New Zealand had celebrated 100 days of being Covid free.

Thirteen new cases were reported on Sunday, bringing the total number to 69.

Critics have blamed problems in border controls and security at quarantine hotels, where people are alleged to have escaped regularly, paying visits to supermarkets and liquor stores.

Arden has said the new outbreak is being dealt with in “an urgent but calm and methodical way".

The World Health Organization has reported that the number of confirmed global coronavirus cases has increased by more than 294,000 in 24 hours - the highest figure so far.

More than 21 million people are known to have been infected with the virus globally, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

More than 771,000 people have lost their lives.

The highest death toll is far the United States at almost 170,000, out of more than 5 million cases.

Image source, Reuters

South Africa's president has said coronavirus infections appear to have peaked in the country, as he announced a sweeping relaxation of lockdown measures.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said nearly all restrictions on the country's economy will be eased from Monday.

A controversial ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco will be lifted.

Domestic travel, small family gatherings and the reopening of businesses will be allowed.

In a TV address on Saturday, Ramaphosa said the easing of restrictions will help to revive the country's flagging economy after a period of great hardship for the country.

However, he called on South Africans not to let their guard down against Covid-19 despite "signs of hope", warning of difficult times ahead.

The country has recorded more than half of Africa's coronavirus infections, with more than 570,000 cases and 11,500 deaths to date.

Read more here.

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South Korea has reported its biggest Covid-19 outbreak in five months and officials are pointing fingers at the leader of a religious sect for flouting restrictions.

A total of 279 new cases have been reported, more than double the 103 reported on Friday. Most of the new cases are in and around the capital Seoul.

The Sarang Jeil Church led by Reverend Jun Kwang-hoon, a controversial pastor and an outspoken government critic, accounts for 107 of the new cases.

The health ministry has accused Jun of violating restrictions by holding a rally on Saturday and failing to provide a full list of his congregation to allow tracking and testing.

More than 10,000 people took part in anti-government protests in the capital on Saturday.

President Moon Jae-in said there would be a stern response to members of the sect.

"It is a very senseless act that hampers efforts of the whole people to contain the spread of the new coronavirus," Moon wrote on Facebook.

"It is a clear challenge to the national disease control and prevention system, and an unforgivable act that threatens the lives of the people."

The government will take "very stern and strong measures,” he added.

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We’re starting our coronavirus coverage for the day. Here is a round-up of the world’s most biggest new developments:

• The World Health Organization has reported that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world has increased by more than 294,000 in 24 hours - the biggest figure so far
• New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters called for a delay to the September general election due to the reappearance of coronavirus in the country
• The country - which saw an outbreak this week after no new infections for 102 days - now has 69 active cases
• South Korea has reported 279 new cases, its biggest outbreak of new cases in five months and more than double the 103 reported on Friday
• The country’s health ministry has accused the leader of the Sarang Jeil Church religious sect of violating self-isolation rules and obstructing investigations
• South Africa's president has said coronavirus infections appear to have peaked in the country, as he announced a sweeping relaxation of lockdown measures
• President Cyril Ramaphosa said nearly all restrictions on the country's economy will be eased from Monday, including a controversial ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco
• The UK exams regulator is reviewing its guidance on how to appeal against A-level and GCSE grades using mock exam results - hours after publishing it. Neither A-level nor GCSE students were able to sit public exams this year because of the coronavirus pandemic