Italians were today enjoying the chance to exercise in parks for the first time in eight weeks as their country took its first significant steps out of its coronavirus lockdown.

Thousands of firms today rushed to get "bounce back" loans of up to £50,000 to avoid going bust within weeks as the coronavirus crisis wreaked havoc in the economy.

UK scientists have developed a new coronavirus antibody test which they say produces results in 35 minutes with 99.8 per cent accuracy.

A convicted stalker has admitted assaulting emergency workers after spitting blood in the faces of police officers while shouting about coronavirus.

A hospital set up to care for people recovering from Covid-19 will be named after the pioneering nurse Mary Seacole to pay tribute to nurses on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic.

Care home workers say employers are playing "Russian roulette" with their lives as personal protective equipment (PPE) is withheld or rationed amid unclear guidance, according to a union.

A dating app is providing London bus drivers with free face bandanas, amid fears of a lack adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline transport staff.

There are "questions to be asked" about where coronavirus came from, Boris Johnson's spokesperson has said.

Military-style discipline will be needed from every individual to get the country safely back to work, the Defence Secretary said today as ministers started preparing to modify the two-metre social distancing rule.

Schools are installing hand-washing troughs in playgrounds and preparing to mark out two-metre lines to keep parents apart as they drop off their children in anticipation of the coronavirus lockdown ending.

On the criteria for a claimant to be looking for work being paused for three months, Ms Coffey said: "We do however want claimants to continue to look for work wherever they are able to do so."

London's Nightingale hospital will be put "on standby" within days as a result of the capital passing the peak of coronavirus cases.

More than three million Britons have downloaded an app designed by researchers at King's College London to track the symptoms of coronavirus.

The Government has missed its 100,000 daily coronavirus test target for the second day running.

Updated figures for England come as authorities in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland all announce additional Covid-19 deaths

The UK has fallen behind many other European countries in its response to coronavirus, a public health expert has said.

The UK public's right to privacy could become "another casualty" of the coronavirus crisis through the use of a contact-tracing app, Amnesty International UK has warned.

Selectively lifting lockdown restrictions in the UK risks "potential divisions between groups", an expert has said.

Urgent action is still needed to make it easier for vulnerable people to access supermarket delivery slots and other sources of supplies, Which? has warned.

Trials are beginning on a new coronavirus contact-tracing app which ministers have said will save lives and help lift Britain out of lockdown.

New car sales were almost wiped out last month as the the number of registrations collapsed to their lowest level for 74 years.

The number of new Covid-19 cases "needs to come down further", an expert has warned, as the UK death toll recorded its lowest daily rise since the end of March.

US president predicts economic surge later this year as several states begin tentatively re-opening for business after weeks of shutdown

Three doctors in Russia who raised concerns about the working conditions on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic have fallen out of hospital windows over the last two weeks, it has been reported.

Spain's strict coronavirus lockdown has sent the unemployment rate to a near four-year high.

Nike has donated tens of thousands of trainers to frontline healthcare workers fighting the pandemic around the world.

China's ambassador to the UK has criticised MPs for "attacking" China over the coronavirus outbreak.

The coronavirus death toll in the UK has risen to more than 32,000 - and may now be the highest in Europe.

Union bosses have written to Sadiq Khan to demand a reversal of Transport for London's "disgraceful" decision to deny free travel to London Underground's cleaners.

It's an agonising choice which no prime minister would ever want to have to make.

Boris Johnson's top scientist has defended the Government's battleplan against Covid-19 and said "you can't stop it".

A hospital worker described as a "true gentleman" by colleagues has died after contracting coronavirus.

Two 20-year-old men were arrested on suspicion of public order offences

A French hospital which has retested old samples from pneumonia patients discovered that it treated a man who had Covid-19 as early as December 27.

The number of people who have died across the UK after testing positive for coronavirus has increased by 693 to nearly 30,000.

Dominic Raab has said the UK must adjust to "a new normal" in the second phase of the coronavirus response, which he insisted "will not be easy".

Government's chief scientific advisor spells out danger of flouting two metre social distancing guidelines

Hundreds of people have taken to the streets for the funeral of a local doctor who "gave everything for the local community" and died after being infected with coronavirus.

Italy has already taken its first steps towards easing lockdown restrictions and now the country has revealed how restaurants could look once they re-open.

The Queen has spoken to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to discuss how the country is fighting coronavirus.

The White House is looking to wind down its coronavirus task force in a move to shift management of the US's response to the pandemic, Vice President Mike Pence has said.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is considering options to taper off the Government's furlough scheme which is supporting workers staying at home during the coronavirus outbreak.

The second stage of the coronavirus response "will not be easy" and the UK must adjust to a "new normal" to avoid a second peak , Dominic Raab has said.

Online supermarket Ocado has revealed retail revenues surged by 40.4 per cent for the past two months as demand soared due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Trump administration failed to prepare for the onslaught of coronavirus, then sought a quick fix by trying to rush an unproven drug to patients, a senior government scientist has alleged in a whistleblower complaint.

The first cohort of children are returning to school in Wuhan, China, where the first case of the new coronavirus was reported late last year.

Doctors at the London hospital at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak today told how they rapidly came up with innovative solutions when it ran out of vital life-saving equipment.

A key figure of Columbia Road flower market and a campaigning businessman dubbed "Mr Highbury" are among the latest victims whose deaths show how coronavirus is tearing through London's communities.

Angela Merkel faced a test of her authority today as she prepared to thrash out plans with the country's 16 state premiers to further ease Germany's coronavirus lockdown.