03/06/20 COVID-19 Global News Update

Australia is set for its first recession in 29 years as the country feels the impact of the virus pandemic. Official figures show that the economy shrank by 0.3% in the first three months of the year, amid bushfires and the early stages of the outbreak.

Outdoor nurseries and childminders are reopening as part of the first phase of lifting lockdown.

British retailers struggling during the coronavirus pandemic have cut their prices by the most in a month since 2006, according to industry figures revealing the scale of the economic fallout. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen said shop prices fell by 2.4% in May following a decline of 1.7% ...

Independent drama production in Wales will be unable to restart after the pandemic without UK government support, industry leaders have said. Bad Wolf Studios in Cardiff, which produced His Dark Materials, said resuming would be expensive, with questions over the affordability of insurance. The firm said "it's going to be ...

EasyJet and cruise operator Carnival are set to lose their place in the FTSE 100 index of the UK’s biggest companies following the collapse in their share prices due to the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the travel industry. The budget airline has lost half of its market value since the ...

Students might have to stay in a "protective bubble" of the same small group, when the UK's university campuses reopen in the autumn. University leaders suggested students would live and study with the same group to minimise mixing. They were setting out safety measures for a socially-distanced student life - ...

Ministers are under pressure to hold a public inquiry after an official report confirmed that people from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups are dying disproportionately from Covid-19. Political leaders, medical groups and trade unions voiced deep frustration and anger after the government failed to set out any concrete steps ...

Twenty-four people have died at a care home in Durham in one of the worst known outbreaks of the coronavirus pandemic so far. The deaths occurred at Melbury Court, a home on the outskirts of the city which is operated by the UK’s largest provider of private care homes, HC-One. ...

(Reuters) - Britain’s quarantine for travellers arriving from abroad, which will be introduced from June 8, is crucial to avoiding a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, Interior Minister Priti Patel and Transport Minister Grant Shapps said. “From Monday, people arriving to the UK will need to ...

Boris Johnson's "mismanagement" of the easing of virus restrictions risks a second wave of infections, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has warned. In his strongest criticism yet of the PM's handling of the crisis, he told the Guardian that Mr Johnson must "get a grip" and restore public trust. He ...

Opposition parties are calling for an independent inquiry into the Welsh Government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic to report before the 2021 Senedd election. The Conservatives say ministers could then be "held to account" by voters. Due to time constraints, Plaid Cymru and the Brexit Party want an interim report ...

The government is facing calls to pay the wages of workers told to self isolate under the new test and trace scheme to prevent people being forced to choose between paying their bills and putting others at risk. Under the new NHS tracing programme, public health officials will ask anyone ...

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus outbreak this Tuesday evening. We'll have another update for you on Wednesday morning. 1. Being from an ethnic minority is a risk factor People from ethnic minorities are at a higher risk of dying from coronavirus than white British ...

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland, the European Union’s biggest hard coal producer, is considering closing at least three mines in coming months as the coronavirus pandemic forces it to accelerate its exit from the sector, according to sources familiar with the matter. Poland, the only EU member to refuse to pledge ...

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India’s coronavirus infections crossed 200,000, official figures showed on Wednesday, and a peak could still be weeks away in the world’s second-most populous country, where the economy has begun re-opening after a lockdown imposed in March . Cases jumped by 8,909 over the previous day in ...

Councils around Australia have seen a huge increase in volumes of household rubbish and dumping of waste triggered by a combination of more online shopping, home improvements, international workers returning to their home countries and a clearing out of unwanted possessions during the coronavirus lockdown. Streets across the country have ...

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Professional sport in New Zealand could welcome fans back to stadiums as early as next week with the government set to decide whether to lift all social distancing restrictions imposed to due the COVID-19 pandemic. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will decide on Monday whether the ...

Prisons and Probation Minister Lucy Frazer has today (2 June 2020) set out how those services will start to recover from the restrictions imposed in response to coronavirus.