Coronavirus updates: UK toll overtakes Italy's; Coles and Woolworths to slash price of meat; Newmarch death toll rises; Australia on brink of ending working from home; Queen sends 'best wishes'

Thank you for following along with 9News.com.au's continuing live coverage of the coronavirus crisis on Tuesday, May 5.

To keep up to date with all the latest information and events from Wednesday, May 6, click here.

Australians are waking on Wednesday to the following overnight updates:

- Queen Elizabeth II has had a phone call with Prime Minister Scott Morrison to discuss how Australia is dealing with the coronavirus crisis and check in on other disasters the country has faced this year.

- Australian businesses should start slowly preparing for employees to return, Mr Morrison said yesterday after the first National Cabinet meeting this week, which aimed at readying the country to reopen.

- Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has outlined the priority areas where the government will focus in order to speed up economic recovery as COVID-19 restrictions are eased.

- The United Kingdom has overtaken Italy to report the highest official death toll from coronavirus in Europe, expected to increase scrutiny of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's response as the impact worsens.

Queen Elizabeth II has had a phone call with Prime Minister Scott Morrison to discuss how Australia is dealing with the coronavirus and check in on other disasters facing the country.

George Brandis, Australian High Commissioner to the UK, revealed the phone call on Twitter just after midnight.

"The Prime Minister spoke with Her Majesty The Queen about Australia's progress in responding to #COVID19 along with our bushfire and drought recovery efforts," Brandis wrote in a tweet, alongside a black-and-white photo of Mr Morrison on the phone.

"Her Majesty sends her very best wishes to all Australians."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the phone to Queen Elizabeth II. (Source: Twitter)

The Tour de France has been rescheduled, to August 29-September 20 – but there is no guarantee it will go ahead this year due to the COVID-19 crisis, French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu said on Tuesday.

"Many people are begging me to keep the Tour even behind closed doors," Maracineanu told France Television.

"I hope it will take place but I am not sure. We do not know what the epidemic will be like after lockdown."

France's lockdown, in place since March 17, will be partially lifted on Monday, although the seasons of several sports championships, including soccer's Ligue 1 and rugby's Top 14, have already been abandoned.

– Reported with AAP

The Tour de France in 2019. (Source: AAP)

Britain's BBC will close the majority of its satellite news offices as part of a cost-cutting drive affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

The move comes after BBC News suspended plans to cut 450 jobs as part of a plan to meet an STG80 million ($A155 million) savings target by 2022.

An internal email to BBC staff seen by the UK's PA news agency says the cuts to ancillary offices used by its regional news teams comes as the BBC faces "a challenging financial future".

"We have been reviewing all of the smaller district offices we have across England and were doing so through much of last year," head of BBC East and South East Jason Horton wrote.

"We have now decided to close a majority of those smaller sites."

– Reported with AAP

Greece's prime minister says it appears "absolutely feasible" for restaurants and cafes to reopen on June 1 if the coronavirus outbreak keeps slowing.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held a video conference with several cabinet members Tuesday to discuss how to reopen the restaurant and café sector while maintaining social distancing regulations. One possibility was increasing the outdoor space for tables and chairs.

On Monday, Greece reported two deaths and six confirmed infections, bringing the total death toll to 146, with confirmed infections at 2,632.

Greece began easing its lockdown measures the same day, with the opening of a limited number of retail businesses, such as beauty salons and bookshops, and people allowed to leave their homes.

– Reported with Associated Press

British airline Virgin Atlantic plans to cut 3150 jobs and move its flying program from London Gatwick to Heathrow airport as it counts the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss said the pandemic was the most devastating event in the airline's history.

"To safeguard our future and emerge a sustainably profitable business, now is the time for further action to reduce our costs, preserve cash and to protect as many jobs as possible," Weiss said in a statement on Tuesday.

"It is crucial that we return to profitability in 2021. This will mean taking steps to reshape and resize Virgin Atlantic in line with demand."

A Virgin Atlantic airbus on the final approach into Heathrow Airport. Source: Associated Press

Virgin Atlantic said it continued to explore all available options to get extra funding through talks with the government and other stakeholders about possible support for the airline.

The British Airline Pilots Association said it was a terrible blow for the industry, and urged the government to stop "prevaricating" and help the aviation sector.

"Government should call a moratorium on job losses in aviation and lead a planned recovery," BALPA general secretary Brian Strutton said.

– Reported with AAP

Austria's first loosening of its coronavirus lockdown three weeks ago, in which thousands of shops reopened, has not led to a new spike in infections, though further vigilance is necessary, its health minister says

The Alpine republic acted early to tackle the viral pandemic, cutting the daily increase in infections to less than 1 per cent and keeping deaths relatively low – with just 606 reported so far. Buoyed by those numbers, on April 14 Austria became one of the first countries in Europe to loosen its lockdown.

"We have no indication of a noticeable increase in individual areas. The situation is very, very constant, very, very stable and that is a really very, very positive, good situation," Health Minister Rudolf Anschober told a news conference.

The daily increase in infections, he added, is 0.2 per cent.

Current data does not reflect the impact of a more recent loosening from May 1 when hairdressers, other service providers and shops of more than 400 square metres were allowed to reopen.

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– Reported with AAP

People in a street in Vienna on May 2, after certain shops and businesses were allowed to reopen. Source: Associated Press