Coronavirus live news: Wuhan lab had bat viruses but not Covid-19 strain; Russia reports highest daily death toll

Istanbul has become world’s largest diaspora hub for Uighurs fleeing Chinese persecution. They are celebrating Eid, but for many the pain of being away from their homeland is acute. Bethan McKernan has this report.

Celebrating the Muslim holiday is a freedom Gül and her four children did not have at home in China’s western Xinjiang province, the Uighur homeland, where over the last few years the authorities have suffocated the ethnic minority’s cultural practices and turned the entire region into a police state subject to strict surveillance even inside their homes. Up to 1 million people have disappeared into re-education camps in what China says is a necessary measure to stamp out extremism.

“I miss my homeland and my family every day. I cry a lot with the pain,” she said at her home in Istanbul’s Zeytinburnu neighbourhood. “I love life in Istanbul. I wish they could be here too. My children have freedom here we could not imagine before.”

Full piece:

The French government does not want its citizens to travel abroad this summer and recommends they take their holidays in France, the environment minister Elisabeth Borne says.

Earlier this month, president Emmanuel Macron said it was unlikely that French people would be able to undertake major foreign trips this summer and that even trips within Europe may have to be limited to reduce the risk of a resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic.

Borne, in an interview with France Inter radio, also said that next week the government would decide on possibly loosening rules on French domestic travel, currently limited to a maximum 100 kilometres from home.

She said Paris parks had to remain closed for now, as the capital was still a “red zone” for virus circulation, Reuters reports. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has repeatedly called on the government to reopen parks as Parisians, who mostly live in apartments without gardens, tend to congregate around the closed parks where it is difficult to respect social distancing rules.

Our US coronavirus live blog, which will include reaction to the controversy over Donald Trump’s golf trip, is now up and being steered by Martin Pengelly.

The city of Wuhan, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak in China, conducted 1,146,156 nucleic acid tests – which are used to identify the virus – on 23 May, the local health authority has confirmed. This compares with 1,470,950 tests a day earlier.

Wuhan began a campaign on 14 May to look for asymptomatic carriers – infected people who show no outward sign of illness – after confirming on 9-10 May its first cluster of Covid-19 infections since the city’s release from a virtual lockdown on 8 April.

Underground production at AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng mine in South Africa will remain closed until further notice after 53 employees tested positive for coronavirus, health authorities have announced.

The mine, the deepest in the world, restarted operations on 22 April after closing entirely during a nationwide lockdown, and was operating at 50% capacity.

The department of health in Gauteng, the province where the mine is located, said on Twitter that 53 employees at the mine had so far tested positive for the virus, and that a further 104 tests were still being processed.

“The management of the mine has indicated that the underground production will remain closed until further notice,” the statement said.

The company did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment outside of business hours, Reuters reports.

In the US, president Donald Trump is making headlines for his decision to spend Saturday playing at his golf course in Virginia.

Public health experts, including the White House’s own Dr Deborah Birx, have said that golf is OK with social distancing and other measures observed.

But Trump, not wearing a mask, was filmed shaking hands with a playing partner.

You can read more about this from my colleagues in the US on their live blog:

Thousands of pro-democracy protesters assembled in Hong Kong against a controversial security law proposed by China, defying a coronavirus-linked ban on gatherings of more than eight people.

Police fired tear gas and water cannon at the pro-democracy protesters who gathered on Sunday in the most intense clashes for months, AFP reports.

As the demonstrators and police were facing off in the semi-autonomous financial hub, the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, insisted in Beijing that the proposed law must be imposed “without the slightest delay”.

The planned legislation – expected to ban treason, subversion and sedition – comes after Hong Kong was shaken last year by months of massive, often-violent protests, and repeated warnings from Beijing that it would not tolerate dissent.

With campaigners warning the proposal could spell the end of the city’s treasured freedoms, thousands gathered and chanted slogans in the busy Causeway Bay and Wan Chai districts, while some masked protesters set up makeshift barricades to stop police vehicles.

Vincent, a 25-year-old protester, told AFP:

People may be criminalised only for words they say or publish opposing the government.

I think Hong Kongers are very frustrated because we didn’t expect this to come so fast and so rough. But… we won’t be as naive as to believe that Beijing will simply sit back and do nothing. Things will only get worse here.

At least 120 people were arrested, police said, as attempts to clear the roads in the area continued into the evening.

In the UK, a former English Football Association chief executive has warned that clubs could face “insolvency” amid the pandemic.

Former English Football Association chief executive Mark Palios has warned the cost of the coronavirus to lower-league clubs could be even larger than the £200m forecast by officials.

Rick Parry, the chairman of the English Football League, which governs the three divisions below the Premier League, estimated the cost of lockdown earlier this month.

But Palios, the chairman of third-tier Tranmere, believes the financial damage could be worse.

Palios told Sky News:

Whilst you may look at the ‘hole’ which has been articulated as £200m to September – I think it’s bigger than that.

There is a real financial maelstrom coming towards the league at this point in time.

I personally believe we haven’t seen the worst of it yet, and during the course of the summer you’ll see a lot more financial stress on the clubs as we move onwards and continue to pay wages.

I think what you’ll see is a lot of clubs will stumble down the road to insolvency.

Teams in third-division League One have still to agree on how to end their season, with Palios – whose club sit in the relegation zone – calling for relegation to be scrapped.

“We don’t want to have a decision foisted upon us that is going to affect us financially,” said Palios. “Why would you … in terms of certain clubs, foist on them an even worse position?”

Palios said the impact of the coronavirus meant EFL rules that hit insolvent clubs with points penalties should be relaxed.

Although points deductions can be appealed against on the grounds of “force majeure” events, Palios also called for a clarification of rules regarding clubs which entered administration.

“This is a consequence of a pandemic, so I think they need to be considering that clubs may need to go to the protection of administration,” he said.

I’m taking a lunch break now but my colleague, Aaron Walawalkar, will steer you through the next hour or so.

What do we now know about Covid-19 – and can you get it twice? Nicola Davis has answers to your questions, based on current knowledge and the latest research from scientists.

Dominic Cummings, the under-fire adviser to Boris Johnson, has been seen entering 10 Downing Street. Significant? We don’t yet know, but our UK coronavirus blog will keep you firmly up to date as this story continues to pan out.

The United States should stop wasting time in its fight against the coronavirus and work with China to combat it, rather than spreading lies and attacking the country, the Chinese government’s top diplomat Wang Yi says.

Sino-US ties have nosedived since the outbreak of the new coronavirus, with the administrations of president Donald Trump and president Xi Jinping repeatedly trading barbs over issues related to the pandemic, reports Reuters, especially US accusations of cover-ups and lack of transparency. The two top economies have also clashed over Hong Kong, human rights, trade and US support for Chinese-claimed Taiwan.

State councillor Wang, speaking at his annual press conference on the sidelines of China’s parliament, expressed his deep sympathies to the United States for the pandemic, where the death toll is expected to surpass 100,000 in the coming days, the highest number of any country.

“Regretfully, in addition to the raging coronavirus, a political virus is also spreading in the United States. This political virus is using every opportunity to attack and smear China,” said Wang, who is also China’s foreign minister.

“Some politicians have ignored the most basic facts and concocted too many lies about China and plotted too many conspiracies. I want to say here: Don’t waste precious time any longer, and don’t ignore lives.

“What China and the United States need to do the most is to first learn from each other and share their experience in fighting against the epidemic, and help each country fight it.”

In Germany, there are more football matches in the country’s top division – the Bundesliga – today. It restarted last week behind closed doors amid intense scrutiny and, thus far, things appear to have gone relatively smoothly. This picture, showing medics in protective suits checking the body temperature of a person about to enter Schalke 04’s stadium before their match with Augsburg, gives a flavour of the strict measures being taken to ensure it takes place safely.

A British man has been detained in an Indian prison after being accused of breaching the country’s strict coronavirus lockdown rules, reports Nazia Parveen.

Sohail Hughes, 29, had been on an extended holiday to visit family in the Gujarat region before undertaking a pilgrimage of mosques when he was detained last month.

His family, who have a launched a petition to have him freed, have claimed he is being unlawfully held by Indian officials.

Hughes’ sister, Aatika, said he was forced to take refuge in a mosque in Bhopal after being caught out by the swiftly implemented lockdown laws requiring people to stay off the streets.

Aatika, 35, says her brother, alongside dozens of other men, had his passport seized before being kept in quarantine for more than a month inside a hostel. While in quarantine Hughes has been repeatedly tested for Covid-19 and has always been negative.

Here is the full report:

The key stories from the last few hours …

• Conservative MPs are among those calling for Dominic Cummings, adviser to the UK prime minister Boris Johnson, to resign. Cummings is under fire from all ends of the political spectrum after the Guardian reported claims he breached government lockdown guidance on more than one occasion.
• Eid al-Fitr celebrations are under way across the world but there are concerns that a surge in Covid-19 cases could result. Festivities have been constrained in many places as a result of the pandemic.
• Russia has reported its highest daily Covid-19 death toll. The country recorded 153 coronavirus deaths over most recent 24-hour period measured, its highest daily toll during the pandemic, raising total fatalities to 3,541.
• Sweden has run the least-restrictive lockdown of any developed country but that strategy is coming under fire. Anneka Linde, the predecessor of the country’s state epidemiologist, has told the Observer that tougher measures should have been put in place earlier in the pandemic.
• The number of confirmed coronavirus case in Afghanistan has topped 10,000, while the Taliban has announced a ceasefire over Eid. Concerns are high as, despite the government-mandated lockdown, people continue to break the regulations.
• First indications of the effectiveness of a potential vaccine against coronavirus may be available in the autumn. That is according to the head of the GAVI vaccine alliance, Seth Berkley, who cautioned in a Swiss newspaper that it would be a long road from there to broad availability.

If you are just joining today’s global coronavirus news blog, remember you can email me at nick.ames@theguardian.com or direct message me @NickAmes82 with any tips, feedback or observations. Your input is valued enormously.

Meanwhile, in Spain, preparations are afoot for the next phase of lockdown loosening – but there are significant differences in vision between Madrid and Barcelona when it comes to bringing back the national staple of sitting on a terraza for food and drink. Stephen Burgen and Sam Jones have this report.