Cities and towns up and down the UK saw people gather to peacefully protest for Black Lives Matter.

Although police and MPs had warned protestors to keep social distancing.

A protest in Durham saw around 500 people congregate in Palace Green - most people wearing masks, gloves and keeping their distance.

Professor John Edmunds, who attends meetings of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) supporting the Government, told Today: "I can understand why people would want to protest but on the other hand I think people need to be careful - very careful.

"If you think about it, overall the infection rate in the community is about 1 in 600, 1 in 700 maybe, so in large groups of individuals you would expect there to be some individuals in a large group who would be infectious."

He said people can transmit coronavirus before displaying symptoms, and added: "Mask wearing would reduce the risk to some extent from individuals who may be infectious."

On wearing masks in hospitals, Prof Edmunds said he did not think mask wearing was "particularly effective" but that it "might help a bit".

"We really need to get on top of these hospital outbreaks and epidemics," he said.

In other coronavirus news:

  • A further nine people have died after testing positive for coronavirus in the North-East and North Yorkshire. Figures published on Saturday afternoon revealed a total of 1,666 patients had now died in the region's hospital since the start of the outbreak.
  • A family have raised further concerns that a Newton Aycliffe care home is not taking the isolation of coronavirus residents 'seriously' as it emerged their mother tested positive for the virus last week. Lewis Mairis said the family had been left deeply distressed as she claimed staff at Rose Lodge Care Home admitted they could not get their 82-year-old mother to stay in her room, despite having the virus.
  • A charity worker has pledged to cycle, run or walk a mile for every pound donated to her effort to raise some cash. Debbi Renton, who works for St John's Ambulance, decided to get moving to raise money for the charity during lockdown. The organisation, which earns most of its income through offering first aid training and by providing services at events, has seen a drastic fall in the money coming in as a result of the coronavirus. Ms Renton, who lives in Darlington and works as a first aid trainer, as well as volunteering for the charity, hopes to raise as much as she can and has also been inspired by her mother, who is currently recovering in a home after being treated in critical care for coronavirus symptoms.
  • Retail chain Argos have revealed when they intend to reopen 140 of its stores across the country. The company closed down like other retailers when lockdown restrictions were imposed, and has only opened a small number of shops in recent weeks within Sainsbury's supermarkets. The retailer opened on a limited basis for click and collect orders. As restrictions begin to ease across the UK, with non-essential shops allowed to open their doors on June 15, speculation has mounted on social media as to when Argos will make their return to high streets nationwide. A spokesperson from Sainsbury's, the group who own Argos, said: "We are looking at what the government’s announcement around non-essential retailers possibly being able to open from June 15 in England means for our business.To ensure we get this right, we are preparing to open a first phase of around 140 standalone Argos stores to customers for collections and returns."
  • From June 15, face coverings will be mandatory when using public transport in England, and in Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is considering updating the law soon too. As well as being uncomfortable and often lacking in style, face masks have been hard to come by during the coronavirus pandemic. But as panic buying subsides, and wearing face masks becomes more normalised in the UK, there are lots of options for stylish face coverings.
  • Advice has been issued on how to tell the difference between the symptoms of hay fever and coronavirus.
  • With hay fever and coronavirus having overlapping symptoms, like coughing, loss of smell and headaches, some people might get confused about what their symptoms mean. Most hay fever sufferers are affected from childhood, and will probably be expecting their symptoms every year around the same time. If you’ve never had hay fever before, and you suddenly begin experiencing symptoms, it’s understandable that this might cause concern. Marc Donovan, chief pharmacist at Boots, says: “Hay fever doesn’t cause a high temperature and most people don’t feel unwell.”
  • NHS England announced on Saturday a further 75 people had died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number in England to 27,359. The patients were aged between 43 and 100 and all had underlying health conditions.
  • One more person with coronavirus has died in Northern Ireland, taking the total recorded by the Department of Health - a toll primarily accounting for hospital deaths - to 537. There have been another 14 confirmed cases of the virus, bringing the total since the outbreak began to 4,790.
  • Another 204 people had 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.
  • 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. 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.