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Coronavirus: The 16 major developments that happened on Tuesday

Here’s what you need to know on 2 June. This article was updated at 5pm.

Deaths: The number of people who have died in England, Scotland and Wales after contracting coronavirus has risen to 39,369 – an increase of 324 over 24 hours. Read more here.

Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people are more likely to die of coronavirus than their white counterparts, an official report has found. People of Bangladeshi ethnicity were twice as likely to die as those who are white British. Read more here.

Almost 50,000 people have died from coronavirus in the UK, new data shows, well above the official toll of 39,045. Read more here.

Policy: The government has announced the daily briefing on coronavirus will no longer take place at the weekend. Ministers will address the media and the public Monday to Friday, with Boris Johnson hosting at least one per week. Read more here.

The UK has suffered a worse coronavirus outbreak than anticipated partly because large numbers of cases arrived from Spain and Italy before experts realised. Professor Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College, whose work helped bring about the lockdown, said on Tuesday that the UK had worried more about arrivals from China, other Asian countries and the US than Europe. Read more here.

Reviews of lockdown measures will take place every four weeks instead of every three, Matt Hancock has said. The health secretary explained the change would allow decisions to align more closely with the period of time necessary to assess the impact of previous changes on key data feeds, including the R rate. Read more here.

Matt Hancock addressed the disparity between BAME deaths and white deaths at the coronavirus daily briefing and said more work needed to be done, with equalities minister Kemi Badenoch to look into it further. However there has not been any indication BAME communities should follow stricter social distancing measures.

Politics: MPs are returning to the Commons to vote in person on Tuesday but there’s a growing rebellion against the changes after weeks of electronic voting. Only 50 MPs can sit in the Commons while maintaining a two-metre distance from each other; but ministers insist all MPs who can safely return must now do so. Read more here.

Finance: House prices suffered their steepest monthly fall in May since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago, new figures suggest. Lender Nationwide’s closely followed house price index showed the average UK property price drop more than £4,000 between April and May as the coronavirus lockdown dramatically curbed activity. Read more here.

EasyJet has announced it hopes to return to flying 75% of its routes from August. It said on Tuesday it would add more destinations, flying 50% of its 1,022 routes in July, and 75% in August. Read more here.

Science: Two professors have spoken about the potential for a coronavirus vaccine, with one warning “this could implode”. They have urged the public to be cautious about positive updates. Read more here.

Travel: So-called ‘air bridges’ could be in place by the end of the month to allow people to travel without spending two weeks in self-isolation when they return to the UK. Current plans mean all international arrivals – apart from people carrying out a limited number of specified roles – would need to quarantine for 14 days from Monday. Read more here.

Crime: A father-of-eight who stole £30,000 worth of personal protective equipment to sell on eBay at inflated prices has been jailed. Gary Edwards, 40, from Wirral, Merseyside, was sentenced to 28 months in prison after he admitted stealing the equipment from his employer. Read more here.

Read more about COVID-19

How to get a coronavirus test if you have symptoms

What you can and can’t do under lockdown rules

In pictures: How UK school classrooms could look in new normal

How public transport could look after lockdown

How our public spaces will change in the future

Rest of the world

In the US, there are concerns that mass rallies and protests to bring about justice for George Floyd will trigger a second peak in COVID-19 cases. Political leaders urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Read more here.

At least 20 journalists have died from COVID-19 in Peru as reporters, photographers and camera operators covered the outbreak without suitable protection. At least 12 journalists have reportedly died from the virus in Ecuador’s hard-hit city of Guayaquil, about eight in Brazil, and at least one in Nicaragua, among deaths in other countries. Read more here.

Positive news

McDonald's is in the process of reopening all its UK Drive-Thru restaurants after having closed all outlets in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The fast food firm plans to reopen all 924 of its Drive-Thrus by 4 June. It had already opened 38 restaurants in May. Read more here.

Gyms have been reopening in Germany, but with strict social distancing and hygiene rules. There are exclusion zones and rules against entering if you have symptoms. Read more here.

Coronavirus: what happened today

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