Follow our coverage of the Coronavirus pandemic as we bring you the latest developments from the UK and from our correspondents around the world.

17:45 pm This brings an end to the daily briefing and to our live coverage of the Coronavirus pandemic.

17:40 pm  Diamond says all the data collected shows the importance on social distancing rules and therefore, should not be abandoned.

17:35 pm   Care home deaths is still a huge challenge 

Even though the latest figures show a decline in the number of deaths within care homes, it is still “a significant issue” and therefore, the transmission rate is resulting extremely challenging.

17:28 pm. Changes will be “modest, small and incremental”.

Raab has confirmed that any changes taken place on Monday will be done accordingly to the scientific evidence. All modifications will be carefully monitored.

The government has the option of reversing any changes if necessary.

17:25 pm. The government dashboard has been updated with the daily figures

Image source: Gov.uk

17:23 pm

After having being asked by BBC editor, Laura Kuenssberg, Dominic Raab has confirmed that there is no change to the lockdown rules today. However, the roadmap will be set out on Sunday by the PM.

Raab also confirmed that the PM has spoken to Sturgeon today and is determined to maintain the four- nations approach

17:15 pm   Raab: We can start to think about the next phase 

Raab has warned the public not to abandon the social distancing measures as the virus will grow again at an exponential rate if not followed.

“It will trigger another lockdown” he says.

The next steps the UK will take will be sustainable, but if social distancing rules are eased  and the R level increases, restrictions will be tighten again.

17:09 pm   Daily briefing begins  

• 86,583 tests carried out today, up by 17,000 from the previous day. It is now the fifth consecutive day, the testing has been below the government’s target.
• 5,614 increase in cases making the total 206,715.
• The total death toll now standing at 30,615, an increase of 539 deaths in the UK.
• R level – rate of infection- is now between 0.5 and 0.9
• This weekend the PM will set out the roadmap to progress forward into the second phase of the virus.

16:43 pm     Daily UK briefing to be led by Dominic Raab 

16:27 pm      Further 389 deaths recorded in England

Public Health England have announced another 389 new deaths of those who have tested positive for COVID-19. This bringing the total amount of deaths in England to 22,432.

A further 18 people have died in Wales, bringing the total death toll to 1,062. A further 59 deaths have been reported in Scotland, total is now 1,762.

The total death toll for the Uk will be released later on during the daily brief at 5pm GMT.

15:30 pm    There has been an increase in migrant boats making the dangerous crossing of the English Channel, according to the Home Office. 

14:53 pm   Notting Hill carnival will not go ahead this year

As a result of the pandemic organisers of the annual event have been forced to shut down this year.

The carnival which was scheduled to take place over the bank holiday weekend in August will return in 2021.

In a statement released on Twitter, Notting Hill Carnival said they have “no wish to place extra strain on our colleagues St John Ambulance and the NHS.”

“We, of course, work very closely with them for carnival and want to take this opportunity to express our utmost respect, admiration and gratitude for their work.”

They added: “We look forward to welcoming you back to the streets of Notting Hill in 2021.”

NHC PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
We have an update for you regarding NHC 2020.
Please see our official statement from the NHC Board of Directors. pic.twitter.com/owjdchFcz1

— Notting Hill Carnival Ltd. (@NHCarnivalLDN) May 7, 2020

14:47 pm   NHS workers deserve a pay rise 

The efforts put in by many of the key workers have been noticed by many, but the pay they receive doesn’t measure up with their recognition. For years and most recently, NHS workers have been crying out for increased pay, most significantly during this tough period.

Read the full piece by Michael Patcha on WNOL.

Photo credit: clap for our carers

14:15 pm   Latest figures revealed in Scotland’s daily briefing

• 67,097 people in Scotland have been tested for Coronavirus
• 54,173 confirmed negative
• 12,924 were positive
• 1,762 patients who tested positive have died

Chart from gov.scot

14:00 pm   Lockdown lifting measures next week will be limited

Downing Street has made it clear that any relaxation to social distancing measures set to take course next week will be “very limited”. Boris Johnson insisted “We will advance with maximum caution.”

This statement comes after speculation that Mr Johnson was ready to give the all clear on sunbathing, picnics and unlimited exercise. Until further notice the nation is to adhere to social distancing rules, which include leaving your house for limited activities and maintaining a two metre separation when in public.

13:50 pm    Coronavirus leaves a question mark over football summer transfers

The summer transfer window usually opens on July 1st, and the deadline recently got returned from August 8th to August 31st. This was implemented a long time before the lockdown was enforced by nations across Europe and before football seasons across the globe were put on hold alongside other sports.

With most leagues expected to return to action between late May and mid-June, many have questioned what the summer transfer window would look like.

Report by WNOL reporter Michael

Read about how football leagues in England and abroad are handling the pandemic on WNOL.

13:17 pm   Is this the the new normal?

Approaching the easing of the lockdown, we created a poll to find out how many people wish to return to what we used to know and call it a normal life, or whether they would rather keep some elements of the lockdown.

Results show a large desire to keep some elements of the lockdown.

To find out more in regards to why they would wish to keep some of the elements, we conducted a survey and targeted a rather young adult audience, whom most are students in their first or second year of university.

Report by WNOL reporter Sam Tabahriti

Read Sam Tabahriti’s report on normalcy after lockdown on WNOL.

Graph 1 & 2 by Sam Tabahriti

13:00 pm   NHS Covid-19 app now available

The NHS Covid-19 app has just been made available to people living on the Isle of Wight. NHSX.HNS.UK have stated that the contact-tracing app will use Bluetooth to connect with other users and track the spread of the virus.

The NHS #COVID19 app is now available to all residents living on the Isle of Wight.

This app will enable fast identification of people most at risk of infection and help them take action to protect themselves and those around them from #coronavirus

Watch below to learn more 🔽

— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) May 7, 2020

12:42 pm   Students are extremely concerned as they are unaware of what the future holds for them. 

Video by WNOL reporter Grace Staley

12:30 pm   The Scottish government’s daily briefing is due to start. Summary will follow on WNOL.

📺 Watch live: First Minister @NicolaSturgeon holds a press conference on #coronavirus (#COVIDー19).

Joining the First Minister today is Health Secretary Jeane Freeman and Scotland’s Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith. https://t.co/W7xeB5QSIy

— Scottish Government (@scotgov) May 7, 2020

12:00 pm   Key takeaways and honourable mentions from this morning 

• The UK fail to meet daily Covid-19 tests, only managing to carry out 57,006, less than half of the 100,000 tests the government anticipated.
• New ONS report reveals people of ethnic minorities are more at risk of a Covid-19 related death than their White counterparts. The numbers show Black people are four times more likely to die from coronavirus.
• Residents of the Isle of Wight received a link today enabling them to download the new NHS COVID-19 App.
• Crime in the UK has decreased since the lockdown was put in place.
• Today ministers will meet to review lockdown measures, if deemed safe some of the restrictions put in place will be relaxed next Monday. Pinics, park trips and days out will be considered in todays meeting.
• Honourable mentions:
• Bank of England warns of deepest recession on record, the bank’s review of the possible impact of the outbreak sees the UK economy shrinking by 14% in 2020.
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) shipment flown in from turkey has been impounded by inspectors, who say it is faulty.
• The government has blamed ‘technical issues’ in labs for its failure to reach test target for four consecutive days.

11:49 am   PM to review lockdown restrictions

Ministers will meet today to consider which measures will be relaxed next Monday. Boris Johnson is expected to address the nation on his plan which may see the UK follow in the footsteps of other European countries such as Spain and Italy. Yesterday evening WHO strongly warned against rushed ends to lockdowns, saying countries emerging from restrictions must proceed “extremely carefully” or risk a rapid rise in new cases. In light of this Twitter users are voicing their opinions using the hashtag ‘KeepTheLockdown’. The question remains, will the UK lift the lockdown on Monday?

Read more about the lockdown on WNOL.

11:24 am   Laws put in place as a precaution to the coronavirus outbreak have proven effective in minimising crime within the UK.

Read more to see how Coronavirus has impacted crime rates on WNOL.

11:11 am   A reminder from No. 10 

We are past the peak and are flattening the curve, but we have got to keep going. #StayHomeSaveLives

— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) May 7, 2020

10:52 am   Residents of the Isle of Wight will today receive a link enabling them to download the new NHS COVID-19 App which it is hoped will help an easing of lockdown restrictions.

Read more about the pilot scheme on WNOL here.

10:48 am   Black people are four times more likely to die from coronavirus than white people.

The Office for National Statistics published its report on Coronavirus deaths by ethnic groups. Here are the main points.

• Risk of death involving Coronavirus is significantly higher for some ethnic groups than those who are of white ethnicity.
• When age is taken into account, Black females are 4.3 times more likely to die from Covid-19 than Black males who are 4.2 times more likely to die from Covid-19. This is higher than White males and females.
• People of Bangladeshi and Pakistani, Indian and Mixed ethnicities are also more likely to die from Covid-19 compared to those of White ethnicity.
• Allowance for health factors and social deprivation still puts males and females of Black ethnicity 1.9 times more at risk of a Covid-19 related death.
• Males in the Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic group were 1.8 times more likely to have a Covid-19 related death than white males even when health factors and deprivation is considered. Bangladeshi and Pakistani women are 1.6 times more at risk of dying from Covid-19.
• ONS say that although this report explains some of the differences, a remaining part of the difference is yet to be explained.

Read the full piece by Sam Tabahriti on WNOL.

10:15 am   UK fall short on number of daily Covid-19 tests

Latest figures from 6 May show there have been 1,448,010 tests carried out in total, with the number of people being tested daily standing at 57,006, far less than the government’s target of 100,000 tests per day.

As of 9am 6 May, there have been 1,448,010 tests, with 69,463 tests on 5 May.

1,072,144 people have been tested of which 201,101 tested positive.

As of 5pm on 5 May, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 30,076 have sadly died. pic.twitter.com/cKEui1YBAV

— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) May 6, 2020

10:11 am   Good morning.

This will be a live blog bringing you updates on Coronavirus from 10 am till 5 pm. Our coverage will keep you up to date on the latest news from the UK. Here is a summary of developing UK news from yesterday evening;

• Boris Johnson will announce his plan to begin easing lockdown measures on Sunday, with aspects to come into effect on Monday.
• Rishi Sunak is making preparations to scale back job retention scheme from July as part of the governments plans to gradually ease lockdown measures. It is understood the Treasury is in the process of examining several options including cutting the 80% wage subsidy paid by the state to 60% and lowering the £2,500 cap on monthly payments.
• The official UK Coronavirus death toll is now 30,076, as another 649 deaths were recorded. This figure represents the number of people that has tested positive and died from Covid-19, therefore the true number could be much higher.
• Temperature screening of passengers will be introduced at Heathrow airport in an effort to minimise the spread across boarders.
• And police have made the decision to not take action against Prof Neil Ferguson after he breached lockdown rules. The scientist resigned on Tuesday after it emerged he had broken lockdown measures.