Coronavirus: Gradual economic reopening for Ireland – as it happened

This blog is now closed – coverage continues here

The number of coronavirus cases recorded globally now stands at 6,852,810, according to the Johns Hopkins University dashboard.

The US is hardest hit, with 1,917,080 cases, followed by Brazil (645,771 cases) and Russia (458,102 cases).

Victoria Bekiempis reports from New York:

New deaths have been curving downward in the US, but Covid-19 continues to spread across the country, with thousands of confirmed diagnoses daily.

The increase comes as officials – grappling with a 13.3% unemployment rate – take more steps to reopen local economies. Meanwhile, social-distancing guidelines have been increasingly challenged by nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd, prompting concerns that cases could soon surge.

The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, recently expanded reopening efforts following dramatic declines in deaths and diagnoses in his state, which has been the most ravaged in the country.

Cuomo said that New York City, which has been the center of the pandemic in the US, is on track to enter “phase one” of re-opening on 8 June. It permits construction and manufacturing, as well as retail conducted on the curbside or trhough in-store drop-off and pick-up. In some regions of New York state, houses of worship will be permitted to reopen at 25% occupancy with “all social distancing protocols” on 7 June.

Across the US, some tourist hubs are reopening. Universal Orlando reopened theme parks on 5 June after being closed for nearly three months, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Most guests sported masks and followed safety procedures such as temperature checks at the lightly attended parks.

Las Vegas’s famed casinos also re-opened this week

Public health officials have voiced concern that demonstrators and police at anti-police brutality protests could spur Covid-19’s spread. Social distancing is virtually impossible at heavily attended protests and shouting could spread droplets containing COVID-19. The sheer number of attendees renders contact tracing virtually impossible.

Heavily criticized police techniques, such as using teargas and pepper spray on protesters, intensify this risk The substances cause coughing and oil-based pepper spray prompts mucus, saliva, and tears to leave the nose, mouth, and eyes.

Hello, this is Rebecca Ratcliffe in Bangkok, taking over from my colleague Molly Blackall in London. If you have contributions for the coronavirus global live blog please do email me rebecca.ratcliffe@theguardian.com, or I’m @rebeccarat on Twitter.

I’ll be handing over to my colleagues in Australia shortly. Thank you to everyone who read the blog or followed live, and particular thanks to those who sent in tips and pointers. I hope you’re all staying safe and well, wherever in the world you’re reading from.

Before I go, here’s a summary of key events to bring you up to speed on the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic:

• OPEC members and other oil producing nations have agreed to extend their output cuts through July.

• World number one tennis player Novak Djokovic has shed doubt on whether the US Open tournament will go ahead as planned in September, saying coronavirus restrictions would make it impossible.

• The organisers of anti-racism demonstrations in Northern Ireland will be reported to the public prosecution service for breaking coronavirus locked rules, police have said. It comes after thousands turned out for protests across the UK following the death of George Floyd.

• Places of worship in the UK will reopen for individual prayer on June 15.

• California is planning to allow film, television and music production to resume from June 12, depending on coronavirus conditions at that time.

• Brazil’s president Jai Bolsonaro has defended his decision to withhold some of the official data on country’s coronavirus pandemic. The Johns Hopkins University tracker has since removed Brazil’s tallies, although the reason for this remains unclear.

Brazil’s coronavirus tallies have been removed from the Johns Hopkins university tracker, which has been a key monitor of the spread of the pandemic since its the early days of outbreak.

The reasons for this are unclear, but it follows the Brazilian president’s decision to withhold some official statistics on the country’s coronavirus spread.

France’s Palace of Versailles, one of the country’s biggest tourist attractions, reopened today, with face masks mandatory, and a one way route imposed. 80% of the palace’s visitors generally come from abroad.

“This financial model has been devastated. We have to start again,” Catherine Pegard, who runs the palace, told Reuters. “We’re not the only ones.”

The Louvre has also reopened.

The UK’s housing and communities minister Robert Jenrick has announced that places of worship will reopen for individual prayer on June 15.

Young clubbers in the Netherlands have been trialling clubbing during the coronavirus era - complete with chairs, social distancing, and afternoon sets.

As the country races to save its night life, clubs are trying a number of measures to encourage a safe return to business.

Clubbers at Doornroosje in the eastern city of Nijmegen booked in advance to attend short sets of electronic dance music in the afternoon, and were restricted to chairs.

Promoter Jonatan Brand said the original plan had been to have the guests dance while standing in place 1.5 meters (5 feet) apart, but local authorities had instructed them to sit in chairs.

A maximum of 30 guests were allowed in the building at a time, with plans to expand to 100 in July. The event cost 10 euros, which included a drink. Shows did not sell out, and the event was also streamed online.

UK prime minister Boris Johnson may be planning to relax measures on outdoor dining and weddings, and to speed up government investment plans, reports from Sunday newspapers suggest.

According to the Sunday Times, Johnson is keen to relax planning restrictions that prevent many pubs, cafes and restaurants from using outside areas, and also to make it legal to hold weddings outside. This is currently limited to Jews and Quakers.

The newspaper also said that indoor weddings and funerals with up to 10 people attending would also be permitted from early July, while places of worship would be allowed to reopen for private prayer from June 15. The plans will be announced in the coming week, the publication said.

“Boris wants us back to normal, or as near to it as possible, before the summer,” the newspaper quoted a senior source as saying, adding the prime minister was concerned about forecasts of a sharp rise in unemployment.

A Downing Street spokesperson declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Telegraph said Johnson planned to announce a speeding up of road improvements, and the construction of 40 new hospitals it had promised before last December’s election. They said they announcement would come in coming weeks.

“Now is the time to be even more ambitious with his plans to unite and level up the country,” a government source was quoted as telling the Sunday Telegraph.

Thanks to all those getting in touch with tips and pointers, it’s very useful and much appreciated.

If you spot anything you think we should be covering in this blog, feel free to drop me a direct message on Twitter. I won’t be able to respond to everything but I will endeavour to read it all.

The death toll in France has risen to 29,142 from 29,111 yesterday.

The number in people in hospital with Covid-19 has decreased from 12,696 on Friday to 12,479 today. The number of people in intensive care units has also decreased to 1,059, from 1,094 on Friday.

The overall number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 153,634 from 153,055 on Friday.

California is planning to allow film, television and music production to resume from June 12, the governor’s office says. However, this is contingent on specific “conditions”, seemingly surrounding the spread of coronavirus at that time.

However, Los Angeles county remains one of the main epicentres in California, recording about half the infections and deaths in the state.

OPEC members, led by Saudi Arabia, and other key oil producers have agreed to extend their output cuts through July, as oil prices begin to recover and coronavirus lockdowns ease.

Algerian oil minister Mohamed Arkab, who currently holds OPEC’s rotating presidency, told AFP that the agreed cut for July was 9.6m barrels per day, just slightly below the 9.7 mbpd cut for May and June.

Here are some of the most powerful photographs from todays anti-racism demonstrations around the world, which continued despite coronavirus regulations: