Here is a round up of the latest news regarding the ongoing coronavirus pandemic from the North-East and across the country.

  • A further three people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in the North-East and Yorkshire.
  • Across the England the number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals was ten, bringing the total to 29,411, NHS England said on Sunday.
  • The patients were aged between 45 and 89 and all had known underlying health conditions.
  • Two deaths were reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.
  • The region with the highest number of deaths was the Midlands with four.
  • There were two deaths in the East of England and one in London.
  • There were no deaths reported in the North West, where local lockdown measures in place in Greater Manchester and parts of east Lancashire were extended on Friday to include Preston.
  • Public Health Wales said no further deaths have been recorded where people died after testing positive for Covid-19, so the total number of deaths in the country remains at 1,579.
  • The number of cases in Wales increased by 26, bringing the total confirmed to 17,451.
  • On Saturday, a further eight deaths in hospital were reported in the North-East and Yorkshire.
  • Boris Johnson has been urged to boost coronavirus testing and tracing in order to safely reopen schools to all pupils without needing to impose further restrictions on businesses or social lives.
  • The Prime Minister said it is the "national priority" to get children back in class in England next month, but he has been warned by scientific advisers that "trade-offs" may be necessary to keep transmission down.
  • Mr Johnson is understood to favour forcing pubs, restaurants and shops to shut ahead of schools in the event of severe local Covid-19 flare-ups.
  • But Government advisers, opposition politicians, teachers and the children's commissioner for England Anne Longfield have all called for improvements to testing before pupils return in September.
  • Their calls came as the Prime Minister wrote in the Mail on Sunday that "we have a moral duty" to reopen schools to all pupils after months without in-person education for most children.
  • Labour is demanding "rapid reform" of the test and trace system to focus on local health protection teams as data suggests they are more effective than national call centres.
  • MPs have written to Health Secretary Matt Hancock raising concerns that the current model is "not fit for purpose", as scientific advisers said improvements are necessary before schools reopen.
  • Shadow cabinet members Jonathan Ashworth and Rachel Reeves focused much of their criticism on outsourcing giant Serco, saying it should receive no additional funding.
  • Government figures show that local teams manage to contact 98% of close contacts of people who tested positive for Covid-19 before asking them to self-isolate.
  • This figure plummets to 56% of close contacts in cases handled either online or by call centres.
  • Boris Johnson this week defended the system has having achieved his pledge of being "world-beating".
  • The Prime Minister is reportedly heading to Scotland for a summer holiday as quarantine rules during the coronavirus pandemic jeopardise trips abroad.
  • Nearly 1,800 UK companies told the Government of plans to cut 20 or more jobs in June as the coronavirus wreaked havoc on the country's economy, figures suggest.
  • Labour is calling on the Government to halt a "jobs bonfire" by giving targeted assistance to industries and businesses still shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.