Churches 'essential service' and must open - Trump

A doctor who recovered from coronavirus after spending five weeks in intensive care has received a hero's welcome from family, friends and neighbours after returning to his home in Greater Manchester.

Dr Murad Ghrew was treating patients on the Covid-19 ward at Salford Royal Hospital when he became seriously ill.

Watch Dr Murad's return home in the video below.

There has been a sharp increase in home baking during the pandemic, with empty shelves in the flour aisles a regular sight in supermarkets.

One of Belgium's old water mills has been working flat out to meet the needs of the new wannabe bakers.

Miller Adrienne Delacroix, whose mill in the Ardennes region has been producing flour for six centuries, said: "We've witnessed an explosion in demand from individuals".

Ms Delacroix believes the love of baking will continue after the pandemic is over. "I think the crisis has also brought home the importance of eating local produce."

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BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast has been speaking to Amanda, who was sleeping rough in Manchester city centre before the coronavirus pandemic.

During the lockdown, thousands of homeless people have been helped into homes and shelters, and Amanda was given a room in a Holiday Inn.

She said on the first night “I think I slept for two days”.

Amanda said the security of having a room is something that’s made a huge difference to a lot of people.

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A mysterious lock-picker has been unlocking parks in Paris for local residents to use during lockdown.

Many parks are currently closed in the French capital and, amid good weather and the easing of other restrictions, the government has resisted calls from the mayor to open them.

Instead, a man, who has revealed himself as "Jose" to a local newspaper, has been unlocking the parks in poorer areas of the city at night.

Two handwritten posters hanging from the railings of the Parc de Belleville on Friday read "Thank you, Jose!".

The closure of parks has been an increasingly controversial topic in France with police forced to clear open lawns in central Paris of twice in recent days.

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Cyprus is to reopen its airports to commercial flights from 9 June.

The reopening will start by allowing flights from 20 countries, the country's transport minister announced.

People arriving from those countries will be required to produce evidence of a negative coronavirus test from within the previous 72 hours.

The UK and Russia are not part of the first group, due to the government believing Covid-19 has not been sufficiently contained in the two countries, which are the biggest markets for Cyprus tourism.

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SpaceX and Nasa are urging spectators to stay away from next Wednesday's rocket launch on Florida's Space Coast.

But officials in Brevard County, home of the Kennedy Space Center, hope the event will help boost tourism to the state, where visitor revenue is down sharply during the pandemic.

In a news conference with reporters earlier this month, Nasa Administrator Jim Bridenstine noted that previous launches had brought hundreds of thousands of sightseers to Florida beaches.

But Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey has actively encouraged visitors, as long as they practise social distancing.

"We are not going to keep the great Americans that want to come watch that from coming here," Ivey said.

"If Nasa is telling people to not come here and watch the launch, that's on them. I'm telling people what I believe as an American. And so Nasa has got their guidelines, and I got mine."

The 27 May launch of a SpaceX rocket with two astronauts aboard will be the first launch of astronauts from US soil since the end of the US space shuttle program in 2011.

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Dominic Cummings, a top adviser to PM Boris Johnson, travelled hundreds of miles from London to County Durham during the lockdown when he had virus symptoms, the BBC has been told.

A source close to the PM's chief aide confirmed reports he and his wife went to his parents' home to self-isolate.

But the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg said she had been told Mr Cummings did not break government guidance because he and his wife stayed in a separate building.

Labour said No 10 needed to provide a "very swift explanation" for Mr Cummings' actions.

"If accurate, the prime minister's chief adviser appears to have breached the lockdown rules. The government's guidance was very clear: stay at home and no non-essential travel," a spokesman said.

"The British people do not expect there to be one rule for them and another rule for Dominic Cummings."

See here for more.

The US state of Washington lost "hundreds of millions" of dollars to benefits scammers, officials there have acknowledged, as the number of workers laid off due to coronavirus continues to rise.

The loss was disclosed by the state's Employment Security Department on Thursday.

Last week, the US Secret Service warned that states were being targeted by a “well-organised Nigerian fraud ring exploiting the COVID-19 crisis to commit large-scale fraud against state unemployment insurance programs” adding up to “potential losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars”.

The agency added that there was also evidence of attacks in North Carolina, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Wyoming and Florida, the Seattle Times reports.

The news came on the same day that the federal government reported another 2.4m American workers filed for jobless benefits last week.

In total, 38.6m unememployment claims have been filed in the past nine weeks.

It's been one of the key questions behind the debate about reopening schools.

This video looks at whether children can catch coronavirus - and whether they can spread it as well.

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Ikea will reopen 19 stores across England and Northern Ireland from 1 June, with new safety measures to ensure social distancing, the Swedish retailer says.

The homewares chain said social distancing wardens will patrol the stores and the number of customers will be limited.

Stores in Scotland, Wales and Ireland will remain closed, in line with government coronavirus guidance.

Restaurants and play areas will remain closed, but the food market will reopen for customers to make food like Swedish meatballs at home.

Ikea stores have reopened in several European countries including Belgium, Switzerland and Germany.

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Dan Smith from the band Bastille has told the BBC that he thinks the music industry needs to "rethink" how much artists are paid by online streaming sites.

“The money is there, it’s about how it’s distributed" said the singer.

"I hope that across the music industry, and so many other things – looking at the NHS, and nurses and wages – I hope there’s a real rethinking across the board of how people are remunerated and what’s important.”

Speaking to The Coronavirus Newscast, Smith said that although things were “uncertain” now he hoped the industry would be more "thoughtful” after the pandemic.

Spotify said in a statement to the BBC that "the vast majority of revenue generated is paid out to rights holders, including labels, publishing companies, and distributors".

Dan also talked about how the pandemic is having a tougher impact on smaller artists.

“Like Spotify pointed out [in their statement to the BBC], the money is there, but I think the most important thing is not these huge artists who get to play arenas and get to play stadiums and headline festivals… but it's smaller artists who I think are really, really suffering here and looking ahead of them and just totally questioning how they're going to pay rent and feed themselves.”

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People in England are being urged to stay away from tourism hotspots over the bank holiday weekend, with warm weather again forecast.

Pictures of large numbers visiting beaches in Brighton and Southend in recent days have raised fears over social distancing, with no limit in place on how far people can travel.

Visitors to Brighton will find stewards stationed around the beach to encourage physical distancing and direct people to less busy parts of the seafront if it becomes too busy.

Councillor Carmen Appich, from Brighton & Hove City Council, said it would be an "insult to the NHS staff and frontline workers" to promote the city as a destination to visit.

Hastings Borough Council says the area is "closed to visitors from outside the town" and on the Isle of Wight the council's "clear advice" is to stay away.

People are also being advised not to visit Blackpool and have been asked to think twice before visiting the Peak District or Morecambe Bay.

In Cornwall, council leaders have warned there is no lifeguard cover, and a large coastal swell and spring tide will bring hazardous sea conditions over the weekend.

The National Trust is urging people across England to stay close to home and explore local green spaces and countryside this weekend.

Speaking at the daily Downing Street press conference, Home Secretary Priti Patel said people can enjoy the outdoors as long as they follow social distancing advice.

The president of the Canadian Medical Association, which represents physicians across the country, has called Canada's health-care system "sick" and is warning that a second wave of coronavirus could strike.

Dr Sandy Buchman criticised the lack of personal protection equipment, contact tracing and testing, and warned government officials they were "gambling by reopening".

Dr Buchman was speaking before a Senate committee on Wednesday.

"We'd never permit a firefighter to go into a burning building without adequate protection. We can't expect our frontline health care workers to put themselves in harm's way," he said.

Canadian labs have the capacity to process 60,000 tests a day, say public health officials. But between 17 and 18 May, only about 23,000 tests were conducted.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged to get PPE to the front lines, and ramp up contract tracing.

His warning is a sharp rebuke for a country that prides itself on its public health-care system.

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White House coronavirus taskforce co-ordinator Dr Deborah Birx was asked during a briefing about a large study of hydroxychloroquine, which found an increased risk of death for those taking it as a Covid-19 treatment.

The Lancet study of 96,000 coronavirus patients found treatment with hydroxychloroquine - an anti-malaria drug - was also more likely to cause heart arrhythmia in patients.

Dr Birx said the study revealed more about underlying health conditions, and said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "has been very clear" about their concerns in using the drug as a coronavirus prevention (as President Trump has said he is doing) or as a treatment course.

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Time to catch up on the latest developments:

• US President Donald Trump has called on places of worship to "open right now" and said he had deemed them "essential". However, Trump does not have the authority to make churches open. That power lies with governors.
• A study of Covid-19 patients in hospitals has found no benefits to treating them with drug hydroxychloroquine. Earlier this week Trump said he is taking the anti-malarial medication to ward off the virus.
• Brazil has become the sixth country to record more than 20,000 deaths, but experts warn the true figure could be much higher.
• Fears are growing that Latin America could become the pandemic's next epicentre with countries including Mexico, Chile and Peru also struggling to contain major outbreaks.
• In the UK, the government has unveiled plans stating from 8 June people arriving in the country must self-isolate for 14 days.
• The Spanish government has announced restrictions will be eased in Madrid and Barcelona from Monday meaning the cities' restaurants will join those in the rest of Spain in being able to serve outdoors and gatherings of up to 10 people will also be allowed.

• Muslims around the world are preparing to celebrate Eid this weekend, marking the end of Ramadan. But with social distancing restrictions in place, not every country is able to celebrate as usual.

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A study of Covid-19 patients in hospitals has found no benefits to treating them with the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine.

In fact, the patients given the drug were more likely to die in hospital and develop heart rhythm complications than other Covid patients in a comparison group. Nearly 15,000 patients took the drug (or a related form chloroquine) either alone or with an antibiotic, in The Lancet study.

The researchers warn that the drug - which is safe for treating malaria and diseases such as lupus and arthritis - should not be used outside of clinical trials.

But US President Donald Trump has been taking it, despite warnings it might be unsafe.

In a bid to find out more, a trial to see whether the anti-malarial drug could prevent Covid-19 is under way.

More than 40,000 healthcare workers from Europe, Africa, Asia and South America who are in contact with patients with the disease will be given the drugs to see if they work.

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The Minnesota State Fair - one of the largest state fairs in the US with over 2m annual visitors - will close for the first time since 1946. Back then it was cancelled due to a polio outbreak.

"This isn’t a difficult decision. It’s the only decision," Minnesota State Fair General Manager Jerry Hammer said. "It’s the right thing to do."

According to the fair website, it has been cancelled only six times in total since its founding in 1859.

"By taking the tough road today, we guarantee that the fair’s future remains hopeful and bright," Hammer said. "We want to see you all for many years to come, when we can celebrate in true State Fair style."

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Coronavirus has been blamed for the collapse into administration of travel company Specialist Leisure Group.

About 2,500 jobs have been lost, and 64,000 bookings cancelled, as a result. The company, based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, specialised in breaks and events for the over 50s.

The group included well-known coach holiday brands Shearings and National Holidays.

The firm said on its website that all tours, cruises, holidays and hotel breaks had been cancelled and would not be rescheduled, and blamed the impact of coronavirus.

Travel trade organisation Abta said the hotel and travel company had been "significantly impacted" by the pandemic.