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England and Scotland footballers donate match fees to NHS

The England men’s national football team have made a “significant donation” to the NHS, using match fees going back to September 2018.
It comes from a fund already in place for worthy causes.
The money will go to NHS Charities Together through the #PlayersTogether movement involving Premier League footballers.
The FA has not said how much the donation is or how much players get in match fees.
North of the border, Scotland’s men's and women's teams have also made a “substantial” NHS donation.

What did we learn from today's UK briefing?

Today's government press conference was led by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who was joined by Angela McLean, the deputy chief medical officer.
Here's what they told us:

• Criminal gangs, which are often linked to other state actors, have been attacking the cyber infrastructure of national and international organisations working against coronavirus. The government has issued advice on tackling these threats, as well as working to debunk misinformation
  
• The government is troubled by an increase in people using their cars and other vehicles
  
• There is strong evidence that being obese increases the chance of being seriously ill and needing intensive care treatment
  
• Just under 89,000 tests were carried out on Monday, meaning the government missed its 100,000 target
  

'Where's the beef?'

US businesses are experiencing meat shortages which have partly been driven by outbreaks at slaughterhouses.
Wendy's, the fast food chain that coined the slogan "Where's the beef?" as an insult to its competitors, has taken hamburgers off the menus at nearly 20% of its restaurants.
"Some of our menu items may be in short supply from time to time at some restaurants in this current environment,'' Wendy's said in a statement to Restaurant Business.
"We expect this to be temporary, and we're working diligently to minimise the impact to our customers and restaurants."
Costco is also limiting sales of pork, beef and poultry to three packages per shopping trip.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there have been more than 5,000 confirmed infections at 115 meat processing plants across 19 states.

New York City subway to close overnight for first time in history

New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Administration (MTA) plans to shut down the city's subway system from 01:00 to 05:00 on Wednesday morning for disinfecting.
Service will resume each day, but on a truncated schedule for the first time in the subway's 115-year history. Buses will be free during that time.
It comes amid a 90% drop in riders, but a large uptick in homeless people who have essentially moved onto railcars.
"Our customers should not have to board a car that’s being used as a shelter," acting New York City Transit President Sarah Feinberg said last week.
Starting at 01:00 the city’s 472 subway stations will become exit-only and thousands of NYPD officers will flood the system to force out anyone remaining on trains and platforms.
At his daily news conference New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said normal service would resume when "the pandemic is not problematic".
"You tell me when the global pandemic is over and I’ll tell you when 24-hour service resumes," he told one reporter.
Cuomo added that the state had seen 230 Covid-related deaths in past 24 hours, up from 226 on Sunday.

Baseball starts in South Korea - without fans

South Korea's baseball league started on Tuesday in front of no fans.
It is one of the world's biggest sport leagues to return during the coronavirus pandemic. The country's football league kicks off on Friday.
Players and coaches were checked for fever on their way into the grounds. Umpires and some coaches wore masks and players could not high five team-mates without gloves.
Cheerleaders were still active - although to empty stands. Some pictures of fans were placed in seats.
The league will be suspended for three weeks if any player catches coronavirus.

Lawsuits from parents hit shuttered US universities

Parents of a student in Washington DC have filed a class-action lawsuit against George Washington University, one of the priciest private universities in the country, alleging that the closure of the campus merits a refund.
“Despite sending students home and closing its campuses, Defendant continues to charge for tuition and fees as if nothing has changed, continuing to reap the financial benefit of millions of dollars from students,” the complaint states.
The father of the female student adds that he's observed a decline in "academic rigour" since virtual learning began from home.
The lawsuit follows similar complaints at Boston University, Brown University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Chicago.

When will it be safe to fly again?

The images of a nearly full flight from Belfast to London yesterday have shocked many.
Most of us are not even thinking about flying at the moment. Between 16 and 22 April, the number of air passengers coming into the UK was 99% lower than for the same period in 2019.
But we will want to travel again in the future - so when will it be safe to fly?
Some airlines say they will keep middle seats free in the future - but others say that is not possible.
And what about the air circulation in the plane? Is that safe? What can airports change to make things safer?
We've tried to answer some of these questions and more here.

Empty terminals and no queues

Ed Habershon - BBC News
What strikes you most is just how grim the nature of air travel has become. Gone are the traditional travel tribes - the hen and stag groups, the relaxed-looking couples, the boisterous families, the lone backpackers. Most people I spoke to are just trying to get home.
I needed permission from the Spanish government - where I'm travelling for work - to fly, and was questioned quite seriously about it. It’s no longer light-hearted fun.
The terminal I went through at Heathrow was practically empty, and felt even more cavernous than usual. There were no bars, cafes, restaurants or children’s play areas open, just a newsagent and a chemist.
What also stands out is how almost everyone is wearing a mask, conspicuous given how few do in the UK.
One bonus is that there's hardly any queuing. With just 25 flights leaving that day though, perhaps it’s no surprise.
Social distancing is easy with so few people in the airport - but that is not the case on the plane. The narrow aisle funnels passengers as it always has, and it’s difficult to stay away from anyone.
Once the plane landed and the seat-belt sign went off, it was as if coronavirus didn’t exist - most people just joined the fight to get their bags back, and stood bunched together waiting to get off.
It’s hard to see how air travel will ever return to normal. Planes feel more confined than ever, and airports already feel like outdated, cavernous monuments to the heady, freewheeling travel of the past.

Fourteen deaths at Northern Ireland care home

Fourteen people from the same care home in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, have died from coronavirus-related symptoms, the BBC has learned.
The patients were residents of Glenabbey Manor in Glengormley.
However, as there is no clear breakdown of figures relating to deaths or confirmed cases in individual care homes, it is not clear whether Glenabbey is the worst affected in Northern Ireland.
It has also emerged at least 109 homes in Northern Ireland are coping with the virus or flu-like symptoms.
Read more here

When will UK schools return?

It's a question a lot of adults and children have been asking - but when will pupils start to go back to school in the UK?
While the government is due to announce its roadmap to end the lockdown on Sunday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said he believes opening all schools at once would create a "very real risk" of infections rising.
"At least to date the evidence has been that we wouldn't be able to open up all schools without a very real risk that the R rate - the transmission rate - would rise at such a level that we would risk a second spike," he said at Tuesday's Downing Street briefing, adding that the government would continue to follow scientific advice.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, meanwhile, has warned that opening all primary schools in Scotland at once could "overwhelm the NHS," saying that a return before summer holidays there begin in June may not be possible.
In England and Wales, there has been speculation that schools could start to return in June, although this has not been confirmed. In Northern Ireland, First Minister Arlene Foster said in March that the closures would last into the summer.

Obama to host virtual graduation ceremony

Former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle will host a prime-time televised graduation ceremony for high school seniors who have been stuck at home during the pandemic.
"Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020" will air on all major US networks on 16 May.
It will feature celebrities such as basketballer LeBron James, youth education activist Malala Yousafzai, pop stars the Jonas Brothers, and US soccer player Megan Rapinoe.
Then on 6 June, the Obamas will take part in a YouTube event called "Dear Class of 2020". They will each "deliver separate commencement addresses" and "a joint message to students," according to a statement from Obama's office.
The announcement of the events comes after students across the country asked Obama to speak virtually to their graduating class, making #ObamaCommencement2020 trend on Twitter.

Can you compare the UK with Italy?

Reality Check


The UK has now overtaken Italy to have the highest number of officially recorded coronavirus deaths in Europe.
The figures - announced by both governments daily - show a total of 29,427 deaths in the UK and 29,315 in Italy.
But can you make a fair comparison between the two countries?
There are challenges around doing this at the moment, so we've taken a look at some of the factors to consider.
Read more here.

Trump trip doubles as campaign reboot

Anthony Zurcher - BBC North America reporter
In the best of times, US presidents seeking re-election have a vast array of tools at their disposal to boost their electoral prospects. The ability to criss-cross the nation on Air Force One, to command media attention and to campaign with the trappings of the highest office in the land makes for a very powerful political advantage.
These are, of course, not the best of times in the US. After weeks spent largely in the confines of the White House, however, Donald Trump is starting to once again test the powers and privileges of the presidency on the campaign trail.
On Sunday, thanks to a waiver granted from his interior secretary, the president conducted a television interview inside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Now he’s travelling to Arizona and Ohio – two pivotal presidential battleground states – for “official” visits that will double as political appearances.
With just under six months before election day, Trump essentially has to reboot his presidential campaign. Because of the financial devastation brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, his planned pitch for re-election – that he will steward over continued economic prosperity – has become untenable. Now his appeal to the nation is that he is best positioned to oversee the recovery.
Recent polls suggest it will be a challenging task – but it wouldn’t be the first time this president has overcome the odds.

Doctor MP says 'government's lack of testing has cost lives

Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan has criticised the government for its testing strategy, saying it has "cost lives".
The shadow health minister has been doing A&E shifts at a London hospital during the coronavirus outbreak.
She questioned the health secretary in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
Matt Hancock responded by saying there had been "a rapid acceleration in testing over the last few months".
Hancock added she "might do well to take a leaf out of" the shadow health secretary's book "in terms of tone".
That prompted Allin-Khan to later tweet she would not "watch her tone" when challenging the government.

UK top scientific adviser quits

Professor Neil Ferguson has quit his role as a government adviser after breaking social distancing rules.
"I accept I made an error of judgement and took the wrong course of action," Prof Ferguson of Imperial College London said.
"I have therefore stepped back from my involvement in Sage," he said referring to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.
"I deeply regret any undermining of the clear messages around the continued need for social distancing to control this devastating epidemic."
Prof Ferguson was instrumental in persuading the UK government to impose a lockdown last month.

Canadians fined for coronavirus infractions

An academic project has found that Canadians have been fined over C$5m ($3.6m, £2.9m) for coronavirus-related infractions.
Policing the Pandemic is a mapping project launched by two Canadian researchers tracking instances where citizens were ticketed, charged and/or arrested for Covid-19 related violations, such as breaking social distancing rules or mandated self-isolation.
It has not been peer reviewed.
Alex Luscombe, a PhD student at the University of Toronto and Alexander McClelland, found that more than 4,500 people have been ticketed or charged on separate occasions for these offenses.
Enforcing social distancing rules has become a hot topic of debate in Canada and elsewhere. Many are in favour of fines for people breaking the rules. But civil liberties organisations have warned that the pandemic has led to an unprecedented increase in police powers, and that marginalised people are more likely to be targeted.

Japan begins clinical trials on potential coronavirus treatment

Rachel Schraer - BBC Health Reporter
Fujifilm is better known for its cameras, but the Japanese company has begun clinical trials of a drug called favipiravir (marketed as Avigan) for the treatment of Covid-19.
It’s an anti-viral drug which can interrupt the machinery viruses use to replicate, and it’s approved for the treatment of flu in Japan – although it’s not commonly used.
These trials have not yet reported back so we don’t know whether it will prove effective in treating this coronavirus. It has been shown to stop the virus, SARS-CoV-2, from replicating in a culture in the lab, so it’s thought to have potential. But that’s no guarantee that the same effect will be seen in humans. It didn’t perform as well as Remdesivir - which has been authorised for emergency use in the US - at the laboratory stage.
There are also concerns about the drug because it’s been linked to birth defects if taken during pregnancy. It seems to share some structural similarities with thalidomide.
If it were to get to the stage of being used in humans – a big if – there would have to be strict safety checks and it wouldn’t be suitable during pregnancy, puberty or childhood, according to Dr Stephen Griffin, a professor of medicine at the University of Leeds.

Concern as child vaccinations drop in Portugal

Alison Roberts - Portugal Correspondent, Lisbon
The number of vaccines administered in Portugal last month was almost half those given in April 2019, despite warnings to new parents stressing the need for immunisation against serious diseases during the coronavirus pandemic.
In April a total of 247,810 doses of vaccine were given, down 48% from 473,057 in the same month last year, Portugal's national health service said.
Health officials have stressed that vaccines administered in the first year of life offer protection against 11 potentially serious illnesses, including measles and mumps, and should not be delayed.
The World Health Organization has also stressed the need to ensure the pandemic does not undermine programmes to vaccinate children against diseases such as polio or measles, warning that these could re-emerge as major threats.
Portugal has had 25,702 confirmed coronavirus infections and 1,074 deaths, according to its national health authority. A total of 1,743 people are deemed to have recovered.

Police investigate KKK hood worn at US grocery store

Police in San Diego County are investigating an incident in which a shopper wore a white hood symbolising membership in the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) hate group to a grocery store in order to comply with a mandatory facemask policy.
The incident took place on Saturday, one day after local health officials ordered masks to be worn by residents whenever they are in public.

  :tweet:   :Left Quotes: Tammy Gillies:
Don’t know which angers me more - the person wearing this or the fact that no one in management @Vons Santee did anything about it. ⁦@ADL_SD⁩ would be happy to educate your team. San Diego is #NoPlaceForHate

A spokeswoman for the Vons grocery chain said the shopper had been asked by employees to remove the racist hood, but he refused until he had reached the checkout line.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Monday that they were not called to the scene on Saturday but are now investigating whether criminal charges are warranted.

Flouting your own rules

As mentioned, Professor Neil Ferguson has quit his role advising the government on coronavirus after admitting "undermining" the messages on social distancing rules.
Prof Ferguson leads the team at Imperial College London and their research claimed more than 500,000 Britons would die because of Covid-19 if no measures were taken, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson then introducing a lockdown in Britain on 23 March.
Prof Ferguson's departure comes after the Daily Telegraph reported he had allowed a woman to visit him.
He is not the first medical expert to have left their position after breaching the rules they were asking other Britons to observe. On 6 April, Scotland's chief medical officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood, resigned after making two trips to her second home during the lockdown.

'Too beautiful to be destroyed by cars'

Guy De Launey, BBC Balkans Correspondent
The mayor of Kosovo's capital, Pristina, says he wants the city's drastic reduction in traffic to become permanent.
The number of cars has fallen dramatically because of emergency restrictions to tackle Covid-19.
Shpend Ahmeti described Pristina as "too beautiful to be destroyed by cars”. He said the city authorities would implement measures including road pricing, more expensive parking and both permanent and temporary road closures.