Coronavirus: The 11 major developments that happened on Friday
Here’s what you need to know on 17 July. This article was updated at 5.30pm.
Deaths: The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said 45,233 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Thursday – up by 114 from 45,119 the previous day.
A review will be carried out into the way COVID-19 deaths have been recorded after it was claimed the current method does not take into account the fact that some people may have recovered and died of something else. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has asked for the examination of Public Health England's (PHE) data - said by researchers to include a "statistical anomaly" by which "no one can ever recover from COVID-19 in England". Read more here.
Policy: The government will be able to order people in certain towns to stay at home under sweeping new coronavirus powers. Boris Johnson has announced the proposed new powers as part of plans to contain future COVID-19 outbreaks at a local level. Read more here.
The government will end its sweeping work-from-home guidance from 1 August and instead give employers more leeway to decide how their workforces can operate safely. The new guidance comes even after Johnson’s chief scientific advisor told MPs on Thursday that he saw “absolutely no reason” to change the government’s current advice, which states that people who can work from home should continue to do so. Read more here.
The Prime Minister outlined a raft of changes on Friday mapping England’s route out of lockdown until Christmas. Wedding receptions will soon be allowed again, and some of the remaining leisure facilities, like bowling alleys, will also reopen. Read more here.
Care homes: More than 4,000 patients were discharged from hospitals and into care homes without coronavirus tests, it’s emerged. Data from NHS trusts shows two thirds of elderly patients discharged didn’t have tests. Read more here.
Second wave: A second coronavirus wave is “not inevitable”, security minister James Brokenshire has said. He said: “The point is that this is predicated somehow on the basis of an inevitability of the second wave of the virus. That absolutely is not inevitable.” Read more here.
Read more about COVID-19
How to get a coronavirus test if you have symptoms
What you can and can’t do under lockdown rules
In pictures: How UK school classrooms could look in new normal
How public transport could look after lockdown
How our public spaces will change in the future
Rest of the world
India has confirmed one million coronavirus cases, making it third only to the US and Brazil. A spike of 34,956 new cases in the past 24 hours took the national total to 1,003,832. Read more here.
Spain has reported the steepest daily jump in coronavirus infections in more than two months, just as the country welcomes millions of tourists from across the world for its summer season. Thursday saw 580 new cases registered, up from 390 reported on Wednesday, with the regions of Aragon and Catalonia are leading the increase. Read more here.
Positive news
Captain Tom Moore has officially become Sir Tom after being knighted in a private ceremony in Windsor Castle by the Queen. The veteran won the hearts of the nation when he walked 100 lengths of his garden to raise money for NHS Charities. Read more here.
Researchers in Australia say they have developed a blood test which can diagnose a coronavirus infection within 20 minutes. The researchers at Monash University said their test can determine if someone is currently infected and if they have been infected in the past. Read more here.
