World Health Organization says there were 150,000 new cases on Thursday - half from the Americas
Cases are accelerating just as people are "fed up" of lockdown, WHO head says
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson says all pupils will go back to classrooms in England in September
The UK lowers its coronavirus alert level from four to three
The new level means the epidemic is in "general circulation" and there could be a "gradual relaxation of restrictions"
South Asian people are most likely to die from coronavirus in hospital in Great Britain, a major analysis shows
Chinese officials say a coronavirus strain in an outbreak in Beijing may have come from Europe
Globally, there are almost 8.5m cases and more than 453,000 deaths with the coronavirus
And with those round-ups, it's goodbye from us.
Today's live page has been the work of: Krutika Pathi, Yvette Tan, Anna Jones, Matt Davis, Patrick Jackson, Alexandra Fouché, Mal Siret, Joshua Cheetham, Sarah Collerton, Katie Wright, Dulcie Lee, Francesca Gillett, Jennifer Scott and Justin Parkinson.
We'll be back with more on Saturday – and we hope you can join us.
Image source, Getty ImagesHello and thank you for following our live coverage, brought to you by our team of reporters in Asia, London and the US.
Here are some of the day's major developments:
Image source, Getty ImagesIt's been another busy day for coronavirus developments in the UK. Here's a recap:
Yesterday at the UK government's daily briefing, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the NHS contact-tracing app would be switching to use Apple and Google's model.
Mr Hancock said: "We've agreed to join forces with Google and Apple, to bring the best bits of both systems together."
But Apple has now spoken to the Times,, external saying: "We don't know what they mean by this hybrid model. They haven't spoken to us about it."
Mr Hancock also said there were issues with Apple's model regarding how it measured distance.
Of the distance measuring claims, Apple said: "It is difficult to understand what these claims are as they haven't spoken to us."
Image source, Nina AmbroseThere's a heartwarming story from Essex in the UK, where a woman furloughed from her job decided to volunteer at a care home in order to see her father.
Nina Ambrose was unable to see her 76-year-old dad Roger for the first five weeks of the coronavirus lockdown.
She became an activities team volunteer at the home, and said she felt "so, so lucky" to have spent time with him.
The pair's story is here - including how Nina had to take eight exams to get the volunteering gig.
Image source, PA MediaLeicester City FC's stadium was ring-fenced off as the Premier League began behind closed doors this week
People from black and minority ethnic groups in Leicester have said they are alarmed by a "surge" of coronavirus cases in "the most deprived area of the city".
Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced an "outbreak" in the city at Thursday's Downing Street briefing.
About 25% of the city's 2,494 confirmed Covid-19 cases were reported in the past two weeks, many in east Leicester.
One man who was hospitalised for two months with Covid-19 wants shops closed to stop the virus spreading.
About 28% of Leicester's population is of Indian heritage, and a further 21% are from black or Asian backgrounds.
It comes as analysis has found South Asian people are the most likely to die from Covid-19 after being admitted to hospital.
There's been a lot reported about people being fined for breaking coronavirus restrictions, but one man in the Isle of Man, a UK crown dependency, has been jailed for failing to self-isolate.
Nigel Caldecott allowed people to visit his home to buy items advertised on social media.
The 59-year-old, of Marina Lane in Port Erin, was sentenced to six weeks in jail.
He had travelled back to the Isle of Man from the UK. Under the island's current laws, anyone who arrives on the island must self-isolate for 14 days, whether or not they are showing symptoms of Covid-19.
The court heard that although he had been practising social distancing from those visiting the property, he had "sold a number of items to a number of people" and contact tracing was now under way.
Image source, ReutersIrish airline Aer Lingus is set to cut as many as 500 jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The carrier said it had been operating at 5% of its capacity during lockdown restrictions.
It said the uncertainty caused by the 14-day quarantine period for arrivals had also contributed.
The company said the pandemic had had a "catastrophic" effect on its business, adding the Irish government could have done more to help.
Image source, Getty ImagesEarlier, the UK's chief medical advisers downgraded the country's alert level from four to three. (You can read more on what that means here).
But Sir David King - who chairs an independent group of scientists to rival the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) - has said lowering the level was "a very strange decision to make at this point in time".
He told Channel 4 News: "The message that goes across when we reduce from four to three in this way is we seem to be winning the battle but the number of cases per day is still very high for the whole of England."
He was asked whether he thought the science was being massaged to follow the politics. Sir David replied: "I very much fear that is the case. I think that we know the scientists were resisting the change of the alert number from four to three before and the politicians were pushing very hard for that to happen.
"I'm really questioning whether we've been following the science from the very beginning."
The government has repeatedly said its response to the pandemic would be led by scientific advice and evidence.
A 101-year-old woman from southern Scotland has completed a zip wire challenge to raise funds for charity.
Margaret McConchie described herself as "not particularly adventurous" but said she had got more daring as she got older.
"I had complete faith in my grandson Duncan who helped me fly down the zip wire," she said afterwards. "I enjoyed the experience thoroughly."
Her goal was to raise £1,919 - to match the year of her birth - for NHS Charities Together but she ended up raising more than £12,000.
Olga Robinson
Disinformation specialist, BBC Monitoring
Image source, Getty ImagesFacebook has taken down an advert claiming the new coronavirus was engineered by humans, saying it spread "misinformation about Covid-19".
The ad, bought by a minor UK political party, suggested that a study on a potential coronavirus vaccine found "unequivocal evidence" that the virus was "man-made".
But the scientific paper that the ad linked to made no such claims.
Before it was removed, the ad had received several thousand views – mostly from Facebook users reportedly in their 50s and older.
Conspiracy theories about the origins of the virus have been doing the rounds on social media since the start of the outbreak.
As we have previously reported, they have been dismissed by scientists who say genome sequencing shows that the virus came from animals and was not made by humans.
Alison Roberts
Portugal Correspondent, Lisbon
Image source, Getty ImagesPortugal's top health official has called for "calm reflection" before any decision to allow bars and nightclubs to reopen, citing as a warning an illegal party in the Algarve that has given rise to at least 90 confirmed coronavirus cases in recent days.
Speaking at Friday's epidemiological briefing, the director-general of health, Graça Freitas, stressed that the state of public calamity remains in place and that it was not yet clear when it could be lifted.
Several children are among at least 90 people who tested positive after a party on 7 June in the village of Odiáxere, near Lagos, drew more than 100 revellers.
The outbreak - in one of Portugal's popular tourist regions - came as restrictions on tourism are being lifted, with regular commercial flights having restarted on Monday.
Portugal's Prime Minister António Costa earlier dismissed concerns about the country's image abroad, after 10 European Union member states left Portugal off their lists of countries whose residents will be permitted to visit as tourists.
Portugal reported 375 new infections on Friday, bringing the national tally to 38,464. Of the new cases, more than three-quarters were in the Tagus Valley and the capital, Lisbon. Over 1,500 virus-related deaths have also been confirmed.
Chris Page
BBC News Ireland correspondent
Image source, PA MediaTaoiseach Leo Varadkar
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has announced a significant acceleration of the Republic of Ireland’s plan to ease lockdown restrictions.
Most parts of the final phase have been moved forward from 20 July to 29 June.
From the 29th of this month, indoor gatherings of up to 50 people will be allowed, along with outdoor gatherings of up to 200.
Cinemas, gyms and hairdressers can reopen and places of worship can hold services again.
On 20 July, the limit for gatherings will increase to 100 people indoors and 500 outdoors.
Mr Varadkar said people should continue to adhere to the 2m social distancing rule, to follow good hygiene practices and wear face coverings on public transport or crowded indoor spaces.
He said: “As a country we got through this without giving way to despair, by looking out for each other, and by staying hopeful. This spirit of hope proved to be contagious and it has brought us to where we are now, ahead of schedule, able to accelerate the reopening of our country and our economy.”
Image source, Getty ImagesTheatre grandee Andrew Lloyd Webber says he wants to show the UK government that venues can reopen to audiences safely.
Theatres and their staff have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, which you can read more about here.
But Lord Lloyd-Webber - who has produced best-selling and long-running musicals including Cats and Jesus Christ Supsterstar - has told the BBC that those in the theatre industry "must be positive".
He is planning to carry out a series of tests at the London Palladium in early July, to trial measures that have allowed The Phantom of the Opera to reopen in South Korea.
Measures include hygienic door handles and thermal imaging cameras.
"What I hope to do is to be able to demonstrate to the government what has happened in Korea," he said. "The whole point is to try and make people feel as safe and secure as they possibly can."
Philippa Roxby
Health reporter, BBC News
Image source, Getty ImagesWith the commitment from the education secretary that every child in England would be back at school in September, questions focused on how that would be possible with social distancing in place.
The current 2m rule means more classrooms and more teachers will be needed to fit in all pupils, schools say.
A review of the rule in England – which isn’t a hard-and-fast scientific measurement anyway - is now taking place, but Northern Ireland has already taken a lead and relaxed their guidance to 1m in schools.
This is line with advice in a number of other countries, including France, Denmark and China, as well as guidance from the World Health Organization.
Child health experts and psychologists are in no doubt that the benefits to children and adolescents’ well-being of returning to the classroom and socialising with their friends outweigh any risks of bringing them closer together in September.
With infections falling, a contact tracing system in place and non-essential shops opening, it could soon be the right time to test that theory out.
Here’s a little more on the news we brought you earlier that the World Health Organization is warning that the pandemic is entering a “new and dangerous” phase.
Maria van Kerkhove, technical lead of the WHO’s Covid-19 response, told a press conference the pandemic is “accelerating in many parts of the world”.
“While we have seen countries have some success in suppressing transmission and bringing transition down to a low level, every country must remain ready,” she said.
Mike Ryan, the head of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, said that some countries had managed to flatten the peak of infections without bringing them down to a very low level.
"You can see a situation in some countries where they could get a second peak now, because the disease has not been brought under control," he said.
“The disease will then go away and reduce to a low level, and they could then get a second wave again in the autumn or later in the year.”
Image source, ReutersHere are some of the latest developments from Canada:
Image source, PA MediaA large number of schools in Northern Ireland will not be able to return to full-capacity teaching in September, despite a change in social distancing rules, the education minister says.
On Thursday, Peter Weir announced that the 2m social distancing rule would be reduced to 1m between pupils when schools reopen in September.
Some principals have said that even a 1m social distancing requirement for pupils would prevent them from accommodating all pupils at the same time.
Weir said he anticipated that children would only return to the classroom on a part-time basis "in quite a large number of schools".
His department published new guidance today setting out how schools should plan to reopen. You can get more details about that here.
Image source, Getty ImagesItaly has reported 47 new deaths from coronavirus within the last 24 hours, down from 66 on Thursday. The daily toll of cases has also fallen to 251, from 333 yesterday.
Once the epicentre of the global pandemic, Italy continues to report the fourth-highest number of deaths in the world, behind the US, Brazil and the UK. The total stands at 34,561, according to the country's Civil Protection Agency.
More than 238,000 cases have also been confirmed across the country, though the number of people registered as carrying the virus has fallen to 21,543, from 23,101 on Thursday.
Since early May, Italy has been gradually easing its lockdown restrictions. Authorities have unilaterally lifted border closures and regional travel restrictions, and the country entered phase three of its lockdown lifting on 15 June.
Jessica Parker
BBC political correspondent
It was an ambition – now it’s an outright pledge.
The Education Secretary for England, Gavin Williamson, has said the government will bring all children in all year groups back to school in September.
That leaves very little wriggle room for ministers should the plan not work out.
Remember, Williamson already had to backtrack on getting all primary kids back for a month before the summer holidays.
Alongside the £1bn catch-up fund, the government is likely to be keen to show it's getting a grip on this issue - one that is of vital importance amid fears many children are falling behind.
But by making a big pledge, Williamson has set himself a big task that he'll now be under even greater pressure to deliver on.