THE transparency of scientific advice to ministers during the coronavirus outbreak will be a “big issue” in a future inquiry into how the crisis was handled, a top Government adviser has said.

Deputy chief scientific adviser Professor Dame Angela McLean added that she had not spent much time worrying about how secretive or not scientific advice was.

Speaking alongside her at the daily Downing Street briefing on Tuesday Environment Secretary George Eustice said the Government had been “candid” in sharing information with the public.

  • Mr Eustice called for furloughed workers to take a second job picking fruit or harvesting crops. He said: "Every year large numbers of people come from countries such as Romania or Bulgaria to take part in the harvest, harvesting crops such as strawberries and salads and vegetable. "We estimate that probably only about a third of the people that would normally come are already here, and small numbers may continue to travel. But one thing is clear and that is that this year we will need to rely on British workers to lend a hand to help bring that harvest home."
  • The latest figures show 35,341 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Monday, up by 545 from 34,796 the day before. In the 24-hour period up to 9am on Tuesday, 89,784 tests were carried out or dispatched, with a total of 2,412 positive results.
  • A further 15 people have died in hospitals across the region after they tested positive for coronavirus. Figures published on Tuesday afternoon confirmed that a total of 1,519 people had now died in hospitals in the North-East and North Yorkshire.
  • Hartlepool has one of the lowest Covid-19 infection rates across the North-East, according to new figures. According to the latest statistics compiled by health chiefs, Hartlepool had the second least cases, relative to population, with only Stockton-on-Tees having a lower rate.
  • The head of care home providers has launched a stinging attack on the Government over its handling of the Covid-19 crisis as new figures suggest around 15,000 elderly residents have died with the virus. Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said pandemic planning had been completely inadequate and the Government had focused on the NHS while discharging infected patients into care homes.
  • UK banks have funnelled more than £22 billion to companies as part of three Government-backed loan schemes since the coronavirus shut down large parts of the country’s economy. Meanwhile, more than £11.1 billion has been claimed to help keep staff on payrolls as part of the furlough scheme. Eight million jobs have been furloughed under the Treasury’s job retention scheme.
  • Newton Aycliffe firm, Hitachi, will contribute $1m to small businesses through loans by Kiva, an American non-profit organisation that supports lending to small businesses, entrepreneurs, farmers and families around the world through crowdfunding. Hitachi is one of the first major contributors to Kiva's global Covid-19 fund and hopes to fund communities hit hardest by the crisis.
  • Tributes have been paid to an "energetic, approachable and dedicated" doctor who died after testing positive for coronavirus. Dr Abdel Wahab Babiker, 70, had worked as a consultant physician at Scarborough General Hospital since August last year.
  • Labour's annual party conference has been cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis and will be replaced with online events, it has been announced. Some 13,000 people were due to attend the conference in Liverpool this September, which would have been Sir Keir Starmer's first as Labour leader.
  • Benefit claims in the UK soared by more than 69% in April after the coronavirus lockdown gripped the labour market, official figures reveal. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that claims under Universal Credit by the unemployed and those on low incomes surged by a record 856,000 to 2.1 million in April, compared with the previous month. Official statisticians also said early estimates for April 2020 indicate that the number of paid employees fell by 1.6% compared with March, as firms began to feel a greater impact from the lockdown.
  • Daily carbon emissions dropped by more than a sixth around the world at the height of the coronavirus lockdown, research has suggested. However, the "extreme" reduction in emissions is "likely to be temporary", said Professor of Climate Change Science Corinne Le Quere, of the University of East Anglia. Daily emissions decreased by 17% - or 17 million tonnes of carbon dioxide - globally during the peak of the confinement measures in early April compared to mean daily levels in 2019, the study indicated.
  • Three Premier League football clubs have been hit by positive Covid-19 tests ahead of top-flight return. Half a dozen people from three Premier League football clubs have tested positive for Covid-19 in two days. With hopes of top-flight football resuming next month, the Premier League announced six players or staff returned positive results in its first two days of testing.