Summary for Sunday, 24th May
Hello and welcome back to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s a quick roundup of events from overnight and this morning:
He and the government said he acted "reasonably and legally" by driving from London to Durham with his wife and young son to be near relatives when she developed coronavirus symptoms in case they needed help with childcare.
But the Observer and Sunday Mirror now claim he was seen in the North East twice more, including once after he had returned to work in London.
Downing Street says the story is "inaccurate".
The two newspapers say witnesses reported seeing Cummings in Barnard Castle, more than 25 miles from Durham, on 12 April and in Houghall Woods near Durham on 19 April.
Cummings, who was photographed in London on 14 April, is yet to respond to the new claims, but the Sunday Telegraph reports that he told Downing Street the allegations that he made a second trip from London to Durham were "totally false".
In an interview with state broadcaster CGTN, Wang Yanyi dismissed reports that the virus now sweeping the world could have originated from the institute.
"This is pure fabrication," she said. "Our institute first received a clinical sample of the unknown pneumonia on 30 December. After we checked the pathogen within the sample, we found it contained a new coronavirus. We didn't have any knowledge before that, nor had we ever encountered, researched or kept the virus."
The virus is widely believed to have come from a live food market in Wuhan - possibly from bats - but US President Donald Trump has suggested that China could be covering up an accidental leak from a lab. China has dismissed the claim.
There’s a packed schedule on The Andrew Marr Show in the UK this Sunday morning.
Here is how it looks:
The panellists also include Daily Mirror journalist Pippa Crerar who helped break the story around Dominic Cummings.
Not one to miss on BBC One.
A witness tells the Sunday Mirror and the Observer they saw Mr Cummings admiring bluebells at a beauty spot in County Durham, days after he returned to London.
Another claims to have spotted the Vote Leave strategist a week earlier, on Easter Sunday, at Barnard Castle, about 25 miles from Durham.
Hydroxychloroquine is used as a treatment for malaria, lupus and arthritis
French Health Minister Olivier Véran has ordered a review of the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19 after a study suggested that it raised mortality rates.
US President Donald Trump has promoted the anti-malarial drug and recently said he was taking it to ward off the virus.
In a tweet, Mr Véran said he'd asked the government's health advisory committee to re-evaluate the drug's prescription guidelines within 48 hours. He described the results of research published by The Lancet medical journal as alarming.
- British PM Boris Johnson is standing by his chief adviser who faces fresh allegations that he breached the UK's coronavirus restrictions
- Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez has announced a resumption of foreign tourism from July
- Mr Sánchez also said La Liga could resume behind closed doors from 8 June
- Muslims around the world are celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, under lockdown
- France has ordered a review of the drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 after a study suggested it raised mortality rates
- New York state's daily death toll has dropped below 100 for the first time since late March
- Argentina is extending a lockdown in the capital, Buenos Aires, for another two weeks as cases there continue to rise
- Globally, more than 5.3m cases have been recorded, says Johns Hopkins University; 342,000 have died and 2m have recovered
Hello and welcome back to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s a quick roundup of events from overnight and this morning:
- Downing Street says British PM Boris Johnson is standing by his chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, who faces fresh accusations of breaking lockdown rules by travelling to be near relatives.
- Cummings says he acted "reasonably and legally" by driving from London to Durham while his wife had coronavirus symptoms, but new allegations have since emerged of further trips within and to the north-east of England
- French churches are celebrating Sunday Mass for the first time in two months. Worshippers must adhere to strict social distancing rules
- France's health minister has ordered a review of the use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 patients after a study suggested that it raised mortality rates. US President Donald Trump has promoted the use of the drug, which is undergoing trials around the world
- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says the country will reopen to international tourism in July "in safe conditions". He has not yet given any details. La Liga will also resume behind closed doors on 8 June
- New York state's daily death toll has dropped below 100 for the first time since late March. The US accounts for nearly a third of all global infections worldwide. Meanwhile, the New York Times has devoted its entire front page to the names of victims of the coronavirus
Cummings faces fresh allegations over lockdown breach
The prime minister's chief aide Dominic Cummings is facing fresh allegations that he breached lockdown rules.He and the government said he acted "reasonably and legally" by driving from London to Durham with his wife and young son to be near relatives when she developed coronavirus symptoms in case they needed help with childcare.
But the Observer and Sunday Mirror now claim he was seen in the North East twice more, including once after he had returned to work in London.
Downing Street says the story is "inaccurate".
The two newspapers say witnesses reported seeing Cummings in Barnard Castle, more than 25 miles from Durham, on 12 April and in Houghall Woods near Durham on 19 April.
Cummings, who was photographed in London on 14 April, is yet to respond to the new claims, but the Sunday Telegraph reports that he told Downing Street the allegations that he made a second trip from London to Durham were "totally false".
Wuhan lab denies link to coronavirus
The director of a Chinese virology institute in Wuhan, the city where the new coronavirus first emerged late last year, says her centre has three live strains of bat coronavirus but none match the new strain that causes Covid-19.In an interview with state broadcaster CGTN, Wang Yanyi dismissed reports that the virus now sweeping the world could have originated from the institute.
"This is pure fabrication," she said. "Our institute first received a clinical sample of the unknown pneumonia on 30 December. After we checked the pathogen within the sample, we found it contained a new coronavirus. We didn't have any knowledge before that, nor had we ever encountered, researched or kept the virus."
The virus is widely believed to have come from a live food market in Wuhan - possibly from bats - but US President Donald Trump has suggested that China could be covering up an accidental leak from a lab. China has dismissed the claim.
What's coming up...
The Andrew Marr ShowThere’s a packed schedule on The Andrew Marr Show in the UK this Sunday morning.
Here is how it looks:
- UK Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps
- Shadow Home Secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds
- BBC Director-General, Lord Tony Hall
- President of The Royal Society and Sage member, Sir Venki Ramakrishnan
- Chief executive of AstraZeneca, Pascal Soriot
The panellists also include Daily Mirror journalist Pippa Crerar who helped break the story around Dominic Cummings.
Not one to miss on BBC One.
The newspaper headlines
As you might imagine, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's embattled chief aide Dominic Cummings is featured on most of Sunday's national newspaper front pages.A witness tells the Sunday Mirror and the Observer they saw Mr Cummings admiring bluebells at a beauty spot in County Durham, days after he returned to London.
Another claims to have spotted the Vote Leave strategist a week earlier, on Easter Sunday, at Barnard Castle, about 25 miles from Durham.
France orders review into hydroxychloroquine
Hydroxychloroquine is used as a treatment for malaria, lupus and arthritis
French Health Minister Olivier Véran has ordered a review of the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19 after a study suggested that it raised mortality rates.
US President Donald Trump has promoted the anti-malarial drug and recently said he was taking it to ward off the virus.
In a tweet, Mr Véran said he'd asked the government's health advisory committee to re-evaluate the drug's prescription guidelines within 48 hours. He described the results of research published by The Lancet medical journal as alarming.