Image source, PA Media

Thanks for joining us today. Before we wrap up, here’s a look at some of the main stories:

• Workers in companies that are forced to shut down by new coronavirus restrictions will get two-thirds of their wages paid by the government, the chancellor announced. A Treasury source said the scheme, which begins on 1 November, could costs hundreds of millions of pounds a month.

• Businesses said it could "cushion the blow" of further shutdowns, but the hospitality industry said many venues that were not facing closure were still struggling as they had to operate with reduced capacity.
• Spain has ordered a 15-day state of emergency in Madrid and nearby cities, with 7,000 police enforcing restrictions including a ban on all non-essential travel.
• The Premier League has introduced a £14.95 pay-per-view option for games that had previously not been selected for broadcast, while fans are unable to attend matches.
• Coronavirus cases "increased rapidly" in the UK at the end of September, a survey suggests, with up to one in 240 people being infected in the week up to 1 October. Scientific advisors to the government warn the country is "very close" to the levels of hospital admissions seen in March.

• US President Donald Trump said he hopes to hold a rally over the weekend after his physician said he had completed his course of treatment for Covid-19.
• With just 2.1% growth in August, the UK's economic recovery has been below expectations despite the boost provided by the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. The economy remains 9.2% smaller than before the pandemic.

• Northern Ireland's Health Minister Robin Swann said Covid-19 is the biggest challenge the executive has faced in the modern era, as the number of daily cases exceed 1,000. NI's deputy first minister is self-isolating after a family member tested positive.
• Pubs and restaurants across central Scotland have closed for more than two weeks as part of measures intended to bring infections under control.

Nineteen ambulance staff are believed to have tested positive after an outbreak at a 999 emergency call handling centre in West Yorkshire.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service confirmed the outbreak at its Emergency Operations Centre in Wakefield and said it had taken steps to ensure the 999 service would continue, with help from a facility in York and other ambulance services if needed.

A source from the Unison union said that 19 staff had tested positive but it was not known how many others might be self-isolating.

Today's estimate of the R number - which measures the average number of people each infected person spreads the virus to and can show how quickly the epidemic is growing - was between 1.2 and 1.5.

That's slightly lower than last week's figure of 1.3 to 1.6, although scientists advising the government said the epidemic continues to grow exponentially.

But the picture varies across the country, with former hotspots such as the north-west of England showing evidence of slower growth, while the highest estimates of between 1.3 and 1.6 were in Wales, Scotland, the east of England and the South West.

North-west England remains the worst-affected region in terms of hospital admissions, however, followed by North East and Yorkshire. Hospital admissions are rising in almost every region.

A travel writer has said he received "such intense abuse" when he suggested people visit Wales that he has "no further plans" to book a stay in the country.

Speaking on ITV earlier this week, Simon Calder listed Gwynedd and Ceredigion, as well as Belfast and Edinburgh, as places people in the UK could go for a break during the pandemic.

But he said he then received a torrent of abuse via email and social media.

Visit Wales said it was trying to welcome people back, external "in a way that is safe".

In an article for The Independent, external, Mr Calder said he had replied to many of the hundreds of people who messaged on social media and understood the deep concern about the spread of coronavirus, but did not now intend to book a holiday in Wales again.

Mr Calder said he had never meant to upset anyone and had followed travel advice, but it was an "interesting lesson" on current sensitivities.

He added: "The hundreds of people I inadvertently angered may be glad to hear that I have no further plans to book a stay in Wales."

Read the full story here.

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Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US researcher who leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has told CBS - the BBC's US media partner - that President Trump's apparent recovery from the coronavirus may wrongly make people think it is not dangerous.

He said that talk of a "cure", as Trump has labeled the medical treatments he received, creates "confusion" among the American public.

There is no medicine that "cures" Covid-19, but experimental treatments such as the ones that Trump received in hospital have shown promise in helping patients to recover.

Polls show around half of Americans say they would not get a coronavirus vaccine if one is found.

Image source, Getty Images

Nottingham has a weekly rate of 760 new cases per 100,000 people - the highest in the UK.

It is the only city to have a rate above 700 per 100,000 in the seven days to 6 October.

The second highest rate is in Northern Ireland's Derry City & Strabane, where the figure is currently 684 cases per 100,000.

Glasgow has the highest rate in Scotland at 242, while Merthyr Tydfil has the highest rate in Wales with 213.

Image source, Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful US Democrat, has announced legislation to establish a congressional commission to assess the process for removing a president for health reasons.

A statement on the move said the commission would be set up under the 25th Amendment, which outlines how a sitting president can be stripped of power if they are deemed unable to conduct the duties of the office.

Any serious consideration of the measure is unlikely, but it will serve as a political tool to raise questions about Trump's health.

Trump hit back, calling Pelosi "crazy" and said she was "the one who should be under observation".

Read more about the 25th Amendment here

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Europe has seen more than 100,000 new cases in a day for the first time since the pandemic started.

A World Health Organization official, Dr Michael Ryan, said it was sad to see a rapid rise in cases in many European countries. He called on governments to take decisive action.

Spain's government has declared a two-week state of emergency in the Madrid region, imposing travel restrictions to try to contain an outbreak there.

In the UK, estimates suggest between one-in-170 and one-in-240 people you meet in the street has the virus.

Russia has reported its highest daily cases since May.

The number of people testing positive for coronavirus each day continues to rise sharply, with 13,864 confirmed cases reported over the past 24 hours. That brings the 7-day average to 15,505.

Reported daily deaths, which include people who died within 28 days of a positive test, are rising gradually, although today's figure of 87 was the largest for months. The average over seven days is now 59.

Image source, Getty Images

Local restrictions and government warnings about the impact of pubs and restaurants on the spread of the virus appear to be having an impact on the habits of the public in Britain.

Only a quarter of adults (25%) said they had eaten or drank at a restaurant, pub or bar during the previous week, when questioned by the Office of National Statistics between 30 September and 4 October. Three weeks earlier, the figure was 30%.

The number of people leaving home to meet others in a public place or someone else's home has also dropped over the same period from 28% to 20%.

More than a third of people (34%) in areas with additional local restrictions said they had not socialised with anyone outside their household, compared to 25% in other areas.

But a small minority admitted to flouting the rules, with 7% of people in areas with local lockdowns saying they gathered in a group of more than six people, and 9% in other areas.

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"Brutal" trading conditions brought on by the pandemic have forced the Edinburgh Woollen Mill - which also owns the Peacocks and Jaeger clothing brands - to appoint administrators in an attempt to save its business.

The move puts more than 20,000 jobs at risk, although the stores will continue to trade as a review of the firm is carried out.

Chief executive Steve Simpson blamed the pandemic but said "false rumours" about the company's payments and trading had also affected its credit insurance.

"I hope and believe we will be able to secure the best future for our businesses, but there will inevitably be significant cuts and closures as we work our way through this," he said.

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump will hold his first on-camera interview tonight since his coronavirus diagnosis.

He will receive a "medical evaluation" during a Fox New appearance from Dr Marc Siegel, a Fox contributor, according to the network.

Saturday will mark 10 days since Trump's diagnosis, according to White House Dr Sean Conley, who on Thursday cleared Trump to "return to public engagements" this weekend.

The US president was treated in a military hospital for three days and received supplemental oxygen. The White House has refused to say when he last took a negative Covid-19 test.

The president's coronavirus infection has thrown the campaign in disarray. After the next debate against Joe Biden was moved to a virtual format, Trump pulled out.

Trump has said he is considering returning to the campaign trail with rallies as soon as this weekend.

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The number of Covid-19 cases at a Nottinghamshire prison has reached more than 200, the county's director of public health confirmed.

A total of 172 prisoners and 43 staff at HMP Lowdham Grange have tested positive.

It represents a significant increase on 84 recorded cases a week ago.

Jonathan Gribbin said the prison outbreak represented a part of the increase in cases across the Newark and Sherwood district.

The figures were revealed in a briefing on Friday to discuss Covid-19 infection rates in the county, with Nottingham currently having the highest rates in the country.

Image source, EPA

The United Nations' migration agency says that international cooperation is urgently needed to help more than 2.5 million migrants who have been left stranded by coronavirus restrictions around the world.

Among others, they include seasonal workers, temporary residence holders, seafarers and international students.

The Middle East and North Africa account for 1.27 million of the total of 2.75 million stranded, the report said. Asia has nearly a million.

The International Organization for Migration says that, while stranded, some are at higher risk of abuse, exploitation and neglect - including cramped and unhygienic living conditions that put them at greater risk of catching Covid-19.

“It should be clear that migrants can be returned home in a safe and dignified manner despite the constraints imposed by Covid-19,” director general António Vitorino said in a statement.

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Mayors across the north of England - Greater Manchester's Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, North Tyne's Jamie Driscoll, Sheffield's Dan Jarvis and Liverpool's Steve Rotherham - have issued a joint statement saying Chancellor Rishi Sunak's new package of support does not go far enough.

“We are pleased that the government has listened and recognised that any new system of restrictions must come with a substantial package of financial support," they said.

"What has been announced by the chancellor today is a start but, on first look, it would not appear to have gone far enough to prevent genuine hardship, job losses and business failure this winter."

Reality Check

Image source, Regeneron

President Trump is taking a drug which he has touted as a “cure” for Covid-19, and says he will roll it out across the US.

The drug uses a combination of antibodies, and is developed by US based company Regeneron using human cells derived from an aborted foetus.

But the Trump administration suspended funding for projects using human foetal tissue from abortions in 2019. There is no outright ban however on the use of foetal material in drug research.

At the time of the funding suspension, the Department of Health and Human Services released a statement, external saying: “Promoting the dignity of human life from conception to natural death is one of the very top priorities of President Trump’s administration.”

This has raised questions about the president’s use and promotion of new coronavirus treatments which have been developed using the practice.

Remdesivir, another drug used by the president, and some vaccine development projects with White House funding also rely on the same cell lines produced from foetal tissue.

But the policy excluded cell lines made before June 2019. The cells used by most of the companies now trying to find a coronavirus treatment were derived from tissue of a foetus aborted in the 1970s.

So the latest drugs being touted by Trump don’t violate the current regulations as long as they’re not being developed using cell lines from a recently aborted foetus.

Responding to Rishi Sunak's announcement of new job support for the UK, shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds has said Labour welcomes "the fact the government has realised there does need to be more wage support" but there is still much more that could be done.

Ms Dodds told the BBC the news "does not match the schemes in operations in other countries", where the aim is to "incentivise employers to actually keep their staff on".

She added that one in four people in the UK was already living under additional local measures and the government had been "incompetent, slow, dithering" in its response.

She went on to say she would not be arguing for tax rises to fund the additional spending at this time, as the UK has "a very weak recovery now".

Not having economic support ready as parts of the country came under extra coronavirus measures meant "there’s been a huge amount of anxiety and that’s hit confidence," she concluded.

Image source, Getty Images

There is fresh confusion over when Donald Trump will return to the campaign trail following his hospital treatment for coronavirus.

A White House spokeswoman said the president wanted to do so this weekend, adding that he would be tested for coronavirus beforehand and would not appear in public if he could still transmit the infection.

Trump's physician Sean Conley also said the president can return to public engagements this weekend.

But an administration official later said Trump was unlikely to travel so soon because the logistics of organising events at short notice was problematic. An appearance is more likely on Monday, they said.

Congressional Democrats argue the president's recent behaviour suggests his judgement has been impaired - they want to set up a panel to examine whether he is fit for office.

In the latest outbreak at a UK university, 300 students in halls of residence at Bristol University are self-isolating.

Students at The Courtrooms in the city centre will now have to remain in their flats and only socialise with those they live with after 40 students tested positive.

The university says it is supporting those in isolation but may take disciplinary action against those who breach regulations.

Georgiana Scott, a psychology student, said: "What makes it difficult is that we are living in houses and halls of residencies with lots of people, so when just one person is exposed to the virus it has a huge rippling effect."

Now for some positive news: after seven months, the Royal Ballet company is back on stage at the Royal Opera House in London.

The performances, however, will be different to before - with social distancing on stage and off.