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The public has been urged to continue to follow lockdown rules over the sunny bank holiday weekend.
It comes as speculations grow about how Boris Johnson may choose to ease lockdown restrictions when he addresses the nation on Sunday night.
To date, 30,615 people have died after contracting Covid-19 in the UK, while more than 200,000 have tested positive for the virus.
Public urged to follow lockdown rules over the bank holiday
The government has urged the public to continue to follow lockdown rules over the bank holiday weekend, despite the sunshine and warm temperatures that has been forecast.
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab insisted on Thursday there would be no change to social distancing rules until Boris Johnson makes an address to the nation on Sunday evening.
“Any changes in the short term will be modest, small, incremental and very carefully monitored,” Raab said during the coronavirus press conference.
He added: “For the moment it is really important, particularly as people look towards a warm bank holiday weekend, that we continue to follow the guidance in place at this time.”
He denied Boris Johnson had been “unhelpful” in hinting at a change to the lockdown just before the bank holiday, but without offering any detail as to what it might entail.
Much of the UK will be bathed in glorious sunshine, with temperatures expected to soar up to 26C (78.8F) on the VE Day bank holiday on Friday – before falling again over the weekend.
The PM’s official spokesman said previously: “There is no change to the advice.
“We are asking people to stay at home in order to stop the spread of the virus and, by doing so, protect the NHS and save lives.”
Asked if that meant “don’t sunbathe this weekend”, the spokesman said: “If you want to put it like that.”
Here’s how WWII veterans are marking VE day in care homes
Care homes have described how they plan to celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE day for WWII veterans after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of commemoration events across the UK.
To commemorate the anniversary, the early May bank holiday traditionally held on the first Monday of the month has been pushed back four days.
But the Covid-19 pandemic means care homes – where many of those who lived through VE Day reside – have had to come up with creative ways to celebrate the momentous day and pay tribute to the Second World War generation.
Kelly, 31, is activities co-ordinator at Ashcroft Care Home in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, run by Four Seasons Health Care.
Ashcroft Care Home will be celebrating VE Day 2020 with a BBQ and garden party, and will also put on a karaoke for residents with songs from the 1940s and 1950s. It will be recorded and put on Facebook so families can see their loved ones taking part in the fun.
She told HuffPost UK: “We are proud of any veterans we get in. Without them, we would not be where we are today, and we owe them the world.
“VE Day is a huge deal for this country and the people who went through it spent a long time in a hard place and this day represents them finally getting their freedom back.
“We should never forget the sacrifices they made, lockdown or not. We should be proud and celebrate not only those who went to war, but those who lived through it at home as well.”
Covid-19 could be a fixture of life in Africa ‘for the next several years’, WHO warns
Covid-19 could become a fixture of life in Africa “for the next several years” unless governments are pro-active in tackling the virus, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.
In a new study, the health agency said that coronavirus had the capacity to kill between 83,000 and 190,000 people in Africa in the first year if it was not contained.
Meanwhile, it could infect as many as 44 million in 12 months, projections suggested.
However, the WHO figures were based on the assumption that no measures were put in place to contain the virus, Reuters reported.
Most countries on the continent have imposed restrictions on public gatherings, international travel and curfews among other measures meant to curb the spread of the virus.
The virus hit Africa later than other continents and transmission rates are lower than elsewhere. But this could translate into a prolonged, years-long outbreak, WHO said.
“COVID-19 could become a fixture in our lives for the next several years unless a proactive approach is taken by many governments in the region. We need to test, trace, isolate and treat,” WHO Africa head Matshidiso Moetti said in a separate statement.
The organisation warned that small countries, as well as Algeria, South Africa and Cameroon, could be severely affected.
Notably, the WHO Africa study covered only the 47 countries that belong to the WHO Africa region and not the entire continent. It means the study did not take account of Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco.
As of Thursday, the 47 countries included in the study recorded more than 35,000 cases of coronavirus and upwards of 1,200 deaths, Reuters reported.
UK rapper Ty Chijioke dies after contracting coronavirus
Acclaimed rapper Ty Chijioke has died after being hospitalised with Covid-19 complications, HuffPost UK understands.
The Brixton-based artist, 47, was an influential figure on the UK music scene, releasing four successful albums, and gaining a Mercury Music Prize nomination in 2004.
His death comes after the hip-hop MC, born Ben Chijioke, was admitted into hospital with medical complications related to Covid-19 and placed into a medically-induced coma.
According to an update on April 19, Ty was moved out of the intensive care unit and onto a ward while continuing to recover.
Speaking to HuffPost UK, broadcaster and friend Jasmine Dotiwala paid tribute to the late rapper.
“Ty is a UK hip-hop legend that has championed the culture in all its many forms across many decades. He’s one of the torch bearers and flagstone icons of the culture who created his own music but also championed so many others,” she said.
She added: “And when all of this is over, when we are able to go out and be free again, we will celebrate him with the biggest celebration and make sure that people don’t forget him, we will play his music loudly and walk through the streets rapping along with him. I hope he’s resting in peace.”
Police hunt gang who stole PPE destined for NHS
Detectives are hunting a burglary gang who stole 80,000 face masks destined for the NHS and frontline workers.
The £166,000 worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) was taken from the warehouse of a medical supplies firm at the Trafalgar Business Park in Salford, Greater Manchester, on Wednesday night.
The high-quality n95 respirator masks were to be supplied to the NHS along with councils and care homes in West Yorkshire.
The gang of three suspects spent around two hours at the premises, first cutting a hole in the warehouse steel shutters so as not to trigger burglar alarms by lifting up the door.
They then removed 320 boxes, or 10 pallets’ worth of the masks.
Other medical equipment, including cheaper quality masks – also housed at the site, were left untouched.
Police are trawling CCTV and want to trace three offenders, two men and a third person, possibly a woman, all wearing dark clothing, who made off with the haul in three vehicles; a white Mercedes Sprinter van, a grey Volkswagen Caddy van and a grey silver estate vehicle.
Detectives believe they were at the site between 9.30pm on Wednesday and 12.20am Thursday, when the alarm was raised by a security guard.
Detective Inspector Christopher Mannion, from Greater Manchester Police, said: “This is a particularly sickening crime when you consider that the PPE was intended for the NHS and for care home workers and at a time when we are trying to protect the NHS and one another against one common enemy in Covid-19.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives on 0161 856 5345 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.