UK coronavirus live: thousands defy warnings to join anti-racism protests – latest updates

Thousands of people have joined rallies across the country in solidarity with protests in the US demanding justice for George Floyd and an end to systemic racism. From London to Sheffield, Glasgow to Cardiff, Leicester to Manchester, protesters have donned face coverings and gloves and ignored the home and health secretaries’ warnings not to attend large gatherings over virus fears.

Here are some more images from the movement.

“This is not an American issue. It’s a worldwide issue,” said a protester at the Black Lives Matter demonstration in London.

Another 204 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus as of 5pm on Friday, the Department of Health and Social Care said.

This takes the DHSC death toll to 40,465 but does not include all deaths involving Covid-19 across the UK, which is thought to have passed 50,000.

The DHSC said that as of 9am on Saturday there had been 5,438,712 tests, including 218,187 tests on 5 June, of which 1,557 were positive.

The department said a total of 284,868 people had tested positive.

The figure for the number of people tested has been “temporarily paused to ensure consistent reporting” across all methods of testing.

NHS England has confirmed a further 75 people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 27,359.

The number of deaths of patients with Covid-19 by region are as follows:

East of England 6

London 5

Midlands 15

North East & Yorkshire 19

North West 17

South East 12

South West 1

Total: 75

Any effort to relax Sunday trading laws have been condemned as “misguided” and “grossly unfair” to key workers by union leaders.

Any change would ignore the childcare challenges that many shop workers face while also stopping them from having a much-needed break on Sundays during the highly-pressurised coronavirus crisis, they said.

In contrast, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) argues that “businesses need to be given every possible opportunity to start to generate sales again”.

Paddy Lillis, general secretary of Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers), said:

The last thing the retail industry needs is longer trading hours, there is no economic case for this and it will put extra pressure on the retail workers who have worked so hard throughout this crisis.

His comments come after reports of government plans to suspend Sunday trading laws for a year to try and stimulate the economy amid the coronavirus crisis.

Larger supermarkets could open for more than six hours on Sundays while cafes and pubs would be given fast-track approval to serve food and drink outside, doing away with the need for the 28-day minimum statutory consultation period, according to the Times.

Lillis said:

Opening for longer will increase overheads but not necessarily take any more cash through the tills. The fact is that customers will not have more to spend just because the shops are open for longer.

Our members in retail are working long hours, in difficult circumstances and under a great deal of pressure, they need a break. It isn’t too much to ask for a shorter day on Sundays.

Deregulating trading hours will put more pressure on shop workers to work longer and cause further problems with finding childcare.

Unite national officer Bev Clarkson said that retail workers, who have played a key frontline role in keeping the UK fed and supplied during lockdown, are “exhausted and deserve to spend time with their families”.

The government must understand that many retail workers have to work around childcare and by extending Sunday opening hours it will create additional stress and make it impossible for many workers to juggle work and their caring duties.

The Sunday Trading Act of 1994 allows large stores to open for no more than six consecutive hours between 10am and 6pm.

The former prime minister David Cameron was forced to drop plans to extend Sunday trading hours in 2016 after suffering a humiliating Commons defeat which saw 27 Tories joining forces with opposition parties.

The BCC director general, Adam Marshall, said:

If there are rules that can be relaxed to give more companies a fighting chance to trade their way through this crisis without compromising safety, ministers should do everything in their power to make it happen.

This is from the Guardian’s Mattha Busby

Hundreds of protesters have gathered in Parliament Square in Westminster for an anti-racism rally, which began at 1pm.

A group of drummers is playing for the crowds, many of whom are carrying placards and dancing in time with the beat.

Streams of demonstrators continue to cross Westminster Bridge to join the protest despite the rainy conditions.

The majority of the demonstrators are wearing masks and face coverings, with some also opting for gloves.

Placards carried by demonstrators reference the coronavirus crisis, with one that says:

There is a virus greater than Covid-19 and it’s called racism.

Protesters were reminded to try and keep a 2-metre distance from others where possible and to be mindful of the pandemic.

Last night the home secretary, Priti Patel, appealed to people:

Of course, I completely understand people’s desire to express their views and to have that right to protest. But the fact of the matter is we are in a health pandemic across the United Kingdom and coronavirus is a deadly virus.

I’d say to those that want to protest: please don’t. The regulations are very clear in terms of gatherings and mass gatherings in particular. We must put public health first at this particular time.

While lockdown is eased for shops and beaches from 15 June, zoos are struggling to stay afloat after being told they must remain closed “indefinitely”, Helen Pidd reports.

This was despite the fact that zoo chiefs across the UK insist they are able to make their attractions, which are huge outdoor spaces, far more “Covid-secure” than non-essential shops.

With revenue from visitors making up 97% of the Chester Zoo’s income and running costs of £1.6m a month, its chief operating officer says the long period of closure is having a “devastating impact” and the zoo may never reopen its doors again.

The Welsh Mountain zoo, Wales’ national zoo, has also been “haemorrhaging” funds. It would have made at least £500,000 in the past two months, and that even with closed doors and staff furloughed, a zoo is a very expensive endeavour. It’s director of operations and administration said:

While we have cut expenditure, we cannot furlough our dedicated keepers. You cannot, basically, ‘switch off’ a zoo.

More schools have shelved plans to reopen on Monday, after new data suggested coronavirus could still be spreading in the north-west of England.

Health officials at Blackburn and Darwen council, which runs 85 schools in Lancashire, reportedly emailed local schools on Friday evening advising them not to reopen to more pupils on Monday morning.

The same advice has been given by officials in Tameside, Greater Manchester (see 10.46am.).

It comes after new data showed the reproductive rate, known as the R value, is higher than the crucial threshold of 1, in the north-west region.

The R value refers to the average number of people that will contract coronavirus from an infected person. If it is 1 or higher, the virus will spread exponentially through the population, while a value less than 1 indicates the virus is in decline.

A street market which has been operating for more than 600 years has reopened more than two months after closing in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

Traders at the Saturday market in Lymington, Hampshire, last sold their wares on 21 March.

Lymington and Pennington town council, which runs the market, gave them the go-ahead to set up stalls again on Saturday.

Fewer stalls than usual were open, while customers were urged to stay apart when queuing and to sanitise their hands.

The Duke of Cambridge has revealed that he secretly worked on a crisis helpline.

The duke said he had been working as a volunteer supporting people contacting a crisis helpline developed by his Royal Foundation.

William’s work with Shout 85258 – a round-the-clock text messaging helpline – was announced to mark Volunteers Week.

Last month, the duke and duchess marked the service’s first anniversary by speaking to some of its volunteers via video call, and William said: “I’m going to share a little secret with you guys, but I’m actually on the platform volunteering.”

His wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, has also taken part in “check in and chat” calls with those self-isolating or vulnerable as part of the Royal Voluntary Service’s NHS Volunteer Responders scheme.

The government is understood to be on track to meet its 6 June care home coronavirus test target, despite a survey finding some had not received testing kits.

More than a tenth of homes surveyed by the National Care Forum (NCF), which represents 120 not-for-profit care organisations, reported they had not received testing kits at the start of the week, according to PA Media.

However, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) believes it is on track to have offered testing to all care homes with residents over 65 in England by Saturday, it is understood.

The DHSC is expected to announce whether it has hit its target in the coming days.

A letter from the DHSC sent to care providers on Friday revealed plans to expand testing to all remaining adult care homes for those under the age of 65 from 7 June.

Tests will be available to all residents and asymptomatic staff, the letter said, adding that 919,321 testing kits had so far been provided to care homes in England and that it is able to send out 50,000 test kits a day.

“We expect these to be adult care homes catering for adults with learning disabilities or mental health issues, physical disabilities, acquired brain injuries and other categories for younger adults under 65 years,” the letter said.

Responding to the announcement of expanded care home testing, the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) said it was concerned the government was “continuing to overlook” other parts of the sector, including those in supported living.

Rhidian Hughes, VODG chief executive, said:

We have serious concerns about the lack of parity in government’s approach to testing. Government must protect all citizens and we are concerned that its current programme continues to overlook some types of support for disabled people and the staff and carers. Testing needs to be made available immediately for disabled people using care services whether living in their own home or supported living and whether symptomatic or not.

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, announced his pledge for universal care home testing on 15 May, saying “every resident and every member of staff in our elderly care homes in England” would be tested “between now and early June”.