Image source, Getty Images

As the nation celebrates England's place in the Euro 2020 final, new data suggests fans gathering to watch the Three Lions' progress could be linked to a faster rise in Covid infections among men over the past two weeks.

Imperial College London's React Study , externaltested more than 47,000 volunteers across England between 24 June and 5 July - and the results confirm a "substantial third wave of infections".

Men were 30% more likely than the women to test positive for Covid, the study found, but those ifections have not translated into a large number of hospital admissions or deaths.

The report's author, Prof Steven Riley says: "It could be that watching football is resulting in men having more social activity than usual."

You can read more on the study's findings here.

The chancellor has also been speaking about the football - after England's footballers secured a place in the Euro 2020 final last night.

Asked if there would be an "economic bounce" as a result, Sunak says the Three Lions have brought "an enormous amount of joy to country after what has been a very difficult year".

He says events that make people "happy" like football "add" to UK consumer confidence, but he insists an uplift in GDP is "not the most important thing here".

"As much as I love the economy to be doing well, the most important thing here is for the first time in my lifetime we're in the final of a major football competition... this is absolutely amazing and it’s brought us together.

"Whether there’s an extra bit of GDP at the end of this, so be it, that will be great - but I take the win over that any day."

As chancellor Rishi Sunak tries to return UK public sector spending to something approaching normality, here's how borrowing has increased since 2019 - pushing the national debt over £2 trillion.

Yesterday, BBC analysis showed 4.5m people in England may be asked to isolate between now and when the rules are relaxed in August.

On BBC Breakfast this morning, Rishi Sunak said the health secretary is looking at "a more balanced approach" to self-isolation – given the "frustrations" some have about the impact on businesses and schools.

Mr Sunak said he has spoken to Sajid Javid and that the health secretary is "aware" of concerns.

"Most people’s concerns rest with the app [rather than NHS test and trace] and that does account for the majority of" cases in which people are told to isolate, he said.

Mr Sunak added that the health secretary is "looking at the difference between those two systems and looking at what might be a more...balanced approach to this".

The chancellor says the government is "throwing literally the kitchen sink" at helping people find jobs - and better jobs - to support their families.

Poverty and income inequality had fallen before the coronavirus crisis, Rishi Sunak tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He says the government has been clear from the start it would look after those who are most vulnerable, adding: "And that’s something I’m proud we have delivered on."

Asked how cutting their benefits helps families already struggling to put food on the table, Sunak points out that the national living wage going up this year.

"That’s worth £350 almost to someone working full time," he says.

The chancellor adds that he is also making sure people are funded by the government to get new qualifications and skills to help them get jobs.

As we just reported, Chancellor Rishi Sunak says any decisions on the "triple lock" for pensioners will consider "fairness" for the taxpayer, as well as pensioners.

This chart shows how the UK's public sector debt has increased sharply since the Covid pandemic began last year.

As the government grapples with the cost of the pandemic, Chancellor Rishi Sunak says he will approach decisions on the state pension triple lock with "fairness" for both pensioners and the taxpayer.

Asked whether the policy will remain, he tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It is government policy, but I recognise people's concerns about what that might mean given some of numbers being put around.

"I would say those numbers are speculation at this point and we don’t know for sure what will happen. We will approach these decisions with fairness in mind, fairness both for pensioners and fairness for taxpayers."

At present, the state pension increases each year in line with the rising cost of living seen in the CPI measure of inflation, increasing average wages, or 2.5% - whichever of those three is highest.

This is known as the triple lock, and it is a Conservative manifesto pledge for the five years of this Parliament.

Recent predictions by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) suggest the amount of state pension paid to retired people could rise by 8% - costing the government £3bn more than previously expected.

Challenged on why he wasn't committing to rising pensions by the highest of those three measures, Mr Sunak says there are "questions" around the earnings numbers so he couldn't give a more specific answer yet.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak says the £20 weekly uplift to universal credit was "always intended to be temporary".

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he says: "Like the furlough scheme - they will come to an end as the crisis abates."

He says "a year ago today" the government feared unemployment would go up to 12% - some four million people unemployed.

"You look now, and the forecast for unemployment is less than half that – that’s two million fewer people out of work than we had feared.

"It tells me that the plan we put in place, the plan we stuck to, is working."

Image source, Getty Images

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has defended the decision to phase out the £20 weekly increase in universal credit introduced during the coronavirus crisis.

"I think people understand what's right for a crisis, and what's meant to be temporary obviously is different when we get through that," he told Times Radio.

Mr Sunak is due to speak on BBC Radio 4 shortly - stay here for updates.

The £20-a-week increase to universal credit will be "phased out" in the autumn, the government confirmed on Wednesday.

Universal credit is claimed by more than 5.5 million households in the UK.

It was introduced to replace six benefits and merge them into one benefit payment for working-age people.

The Covid top up was extended by six months in March - and Labour has called for it to continue beyond the autumn.

Campaigners say the extra money - which is worth around £1,000 a year - has made the difference for some families between getting by and falling further into poverty.

Here’s a quick look at some of the main coronavirus headlines this morning:

• Chancellor Rishi Sunak has defended the end of the £20 universal credit Covid boost, which is being phased out in the autumn
• Details about how and when fully vaccinated travellers can return from certain countries without having to quarantine are to be set out later by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps
• England's Euro 2020 progress could be behind infections rising faster among men than women in the past two weeks, Imperial College London data suggests
• Russia has offered North Korea Covid vaccines once again, amid reports that a harsh lockdown is leading to extreme hunger
• The Australian city of Sydney has recorded its highest daily rise in Covid cases in months, despite being in lockdown
• Thailand's plan to re-open the country to foreign tourists in about 100 days has been thrown into doubt as it sees a new spike in cases

Welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

We will be bringing you the latest updates throughout the day.