Eight mobile coronavirus testing units staffed by the army are starting to travel around Britain, with dozens more to follow, to help the government approach its target of 100,000 tests a day for the new coronavirus, Reuters reports. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has promised that number of daily tests by 30 April, but by Friday only 28,760 had been achieved. Refitted vehicles will collect throat swabs, which will be sent to laboratories for processing, the Department of Health said in a statement on Sunday. A further 96 of the units will start operating during May. The units can be set up in under 20 minutes and will carry out tests on essential staff such as those who work in care homes, the police and prisons, and have found it difficult to travel to fixed, drive-through test centres. There are concerns that a lack of testing could slow Britain’s gradual exit from lockdown and delay the revival of its economy, the world’s fifth-largest. The mobile units carried out a trial run last week in Salisbury, Southport and Teesside. In Northern Ireland, the units will be staffed by contractors, not the army, the statement said. Hundreds of thousands take part in government-decreed civic labor in Belarus Hundreds of thousands of state employees in Belarus, including doctors and nurses, took part in a government-decreed national day of civic labor Saturday despite worries about the country’s sharply rising coronavirus infections, AP reports. The work, including painting, tree-planting and general clean-ups, was ordered by President Alexander Lukashenko, who has dismissed concerns about the virus even though Belarus has recorded more cases than neighbouring Ukraine, a county with four times as many people. Lukashenko, a former collective farm manager, has retained many Soviet-era practices during his quarter-century in power, including the day of civic labor known as a subbotnik from the Russian word for Saturday. The Belarusian government has not imposed social-distancing requirements or restricted public activities in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Of the hundreds of people working along with the president, none were seen wearing masks. In these extraordinary times, the Guardian’s editorial independence has never been more important. Because no one sets our agenda, or edits our editor, we can keep delivering quality, trustworthy, fact-checked journalism each and every day. Free from commercial or political bias, we can report fearlessly on world events and challenge those in power. Your support protects the Guardian’s independence. We believe every one of us deserves equal access to accurate news and calm explanation. No matter how unpredictable the future feels, we will remain with you, delivering high quality news so we can all make critical decisions about our lives, health and security – based on fact, not fiction. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you. Sainsbury’s top man steps down just as the panic-buying revenues roll in Mike Coupe is preparing to deliver Sainsbury’s annual results on Thursday, his last presentation to investors as head of Britain’s second biggest supermarket chain. After almost six years at the top, the 59-year-old is retiring on 31 May, and will hand over to Simon Roberts, the group’s retail and operations director. You wonder how Roberts might be feeling about that. Few could have predicted the challenges facing the retailer, and the country, when Coupe’s departure was announced in January – just as Public Health England was declaring that the risk to the British public from coronavirus was low. Even for a business that goes back 150 years, Sainsbury’s (and its retail rivals) are dealing with truly historic circumstances, and huge pressure on supply chains. China has been accused of using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to take some bold and provocative actions, including expansions in the South China Sea, crackdowns on activists in Hong Kong and further detention of activists in the mainland. Some analysts have suggested Beijing is sending a message that China’s aggressive foreign policy is still business as usual, or testing its adversaries for weaknesses. Hi, Helen Sullivan with you now. I’ll be bringing you the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic from around the world for the next few hours. You can get in touch with my directly on Twitter @helenrsullivan. The total number of people to die worldwide after contracting the novel coronavirus has surpassed 200,000, figures show. The global death toll increased to 202,368 on Saturday, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally. The figures for infections are likely to underestimate the true scale of the pandemic due to suspected under-reporting and differing testing regimes. Death toll figures are also controversial, with some countries reporting deaths as confirmed Covid-19 cases on the basis of symptoms and in the absence of a positive test, while others are not including them. Boris Johnson will return to work on Monday and is ‘raring to go’, a Downing street spokeswoman has confirmed. The prime minister has been recovering in his country residence after spending three nights in intensive care in April. He returns to face a dilemma over whether to ease the coronavirus lockdown, as leading scientists warn that the number of new cases remains much too high. German police arrested dozens of protesters in Berlin on Saturday for flouting the coronavirus lockdown measures they were demonstrating against. About 1,000 people turned out for the rally, which has become a weekly event in the German capital. Saturday’s protest attracted mainly far-left activists but there were also right-wing supporters and members of other fringe groups. Paraguayan authorities have laid out details of a plan to begin lifting the country’s total quarantine. Health minister Julio Mazzonleni announced at press conference on Friday that a new “intelligent quarantine” will begin on 4 May. It will gradually reintroduce public freedoms and economic activities through a four-stage plan set to run until early July. The UK’s biggest steel producer needs about £500m in government support to see it through the coronavirus crisis, according to Welsh MP Stephen Kinnock. Tata Steel has reportedly approached the UK and Welsh governments for a bailout after its big European customers halted production. The company employs 8,385 people across the UK, including more than 4,000 workers at the Port Talbot steelworks in south Wales. Spain could lift more lockdown restrictions and allow adults out to exercise from 2 May if efforts to contain the spread of the virus continue to pay off, prime minister Pedro Sánchez has said. The strict lockdown enacted after the declaration of a state of emergency on 14 March has been extended until 9 May, but children under the age of 14 will be allowed out for an hour’s exercise each day from Sunday. As rumours of Kim Jong-un’s death circulate on social media, one news agency has suggested that he may be sheltering from Covid-19 in a North Korean resort town. On Friday, South Korean news agency Newsis said that a special train for Kim’s use had been spotted by intelligence sources in the town of Wonsan. A Washington-based North Korea monitoring project called 38 North has captured satellite images which also appear to show a special train, possibly belonging to the Northern Korean leader, in Wonsan. Though the group said it was probably Kim Jong Un’s train, Reuters has not been able to confirm that independently, or whether he was in Wonsan. Donald Trump stays away from briefings amid fallout from disinfectant comments After more than a month of near-daily White House coronavirus press briefings, Donald Trump stayed behind closed doors on Saturday after advisers reportedly warned the president that his appearances were hurting his campaign. In recent weeks Trump has used the briefings to dole out unproven and debunked medical advice, suggesting that things like sunlight and an anti-malaria drug are cures to Covid-19, often causing his own medical experts to try to correct the record. But on Friday Trump surprised observers by taking no questions and stalking out of the room after an unusually short briefing of just 22 minutes. Some took the move as an acknowledgement from Trump himself that he may have taken things too far when he said on Thursday that disinfectant could be used to cure Covid-19. My colleague Lauren Aratani has the full report: Key workers should be given face masks – BMA The chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) has urged the government to provide all essential workers with face masks to combat the spread of Covid-19. It is currently not compulsory to wear a mask or face covering in public, but ministers are considering recommendations made by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) following a review of current advice. Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the BMA council, is calling on the government to ask all members of the public to cover their mouths and noses when going outside. He told the Daily Telegraph that the doctors’ union believes all key workers outside of the NHS should be provided with masks or suitable face coverings. He said this includes “transport workers, shopkeepers, carers or supermarket staff” who are unable to abide by social distancing. “Common sense tells you that a barrier between people must offer a level of protection, however small,” Dr Nagpaul said. He added: The Government must pursue all avenues of reducing the spread of infection. This includes asking the public to wear face coverings to cover mouths and noses when people leave home for essential reasons.” He said that until “sufficient supplies of PPE are provided” to the frontline, this may initially mean members of the public wearing cloth masks and scarves. Current UK guidance has emphasised the importance of masks for doctors and nurses, but does not suggest widespread usage. However, scientific advisers for the government have carried out a review of the use of face masks, despite the World Health Organization (WHO) saying that there is no evidence to support their use by the general population. Turkey’s health ministry has reported 2,861 new confirmed cases of coronavirus and 106 more deaths but says the rate of positive tests for the virus is decreasing. The daily figures the health minister, Fahrettin Koca, shared on Saturday brought the total number of virus-related deaths recorded by the Turkish government to 2,706. Turkey ranks seventh in the world for confirmed infections, surpassing China and Iran, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally. The government reported a total of 107,773 cases as of Saturday. But experts believe many more people have gotten sick or died during the pandemic than the ones included in the Johns Hopkins University project due to limited testing for the virus, the difficulty of counting the dead during the crisis and other factors. An unexpected consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic is that sewing factories in the Gaza Strip are back to working at full capacity for the first time in years. The AP his this report on how garment manufacturers in the enclave are producing masks, gloves and protective gowns, some of which are bound for Israel: It’s a rare economic lifeline in the coastal territory, which has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since the Hamas militant group seized power from rival Palestinian forces in the strip in 2007. The blockade, and three wars between Hamas and Israel, have devastated the local economy, with unemployment hovering around 50%. But the sudden opportunity also shows how Gaza’s economy is at the mercy of those enforcing the blockade and how depressed wages have become. Workers earn as little as $8 a day. So far, Gaza appears to have been largely spared from the coronavirus pandemic, with only 17 cases detected, all within quarantine facilities set up for those returning from abroad. Many still fear an outbreak in the impoverished territory, which is home to two million people and where the health care system has been battered by years of conflict. But for now, authorities are cautiously allowing most businesses to stay open. Rizq al-Madhoun, owner of the Bahaa garment company, said he has produced more than one million masks in the past three weeks, “all for the Israeli market.” Gaza may not have the advanced machinery seen in other places, but he said residents’ sewing skills are unmatched. He added: Gaza workers are distinguished in handiwork and they are better than workers in China or Turkey. Another factory, Unipal 2000, is able to employ 800 workers across two shifts to produce protective equipment around the clock. Both factories import fabric and other materials from customers in Israel and then produce items like masks, gloves and surgical gowns. Unipal makes about 150,000 pieces a day, and demand is high as countries around the world grapple with shortages. Asked about doing business with Israeli customers, both factory owners said they did not want to discuss politics and framed their work in terms of business and humanitarian needs. Bashir Bawab, the owner of Unipal 2000, said: Despite the siege in Gaza, we export these masks and protective clothes to the whole world without exception. We feel we are doing a humanitarian duty. Gisha, an Israeli group that advocates for easing the blockade on Gaza, appealed to Israeli leaders to do more to promote economic activity in the territory. “The pandemic has created demand for these products,” it said. It added: But Israel must lift restrictions on trade entirely so that Gaza residents can work and so that Gaza’s faltering economy can brace itself as much as possible against the wider global crisis caused by the pandemic. Dozens of anti-lockdown protesters arrested in Berlin, AFP reports. German police arrested dozens of protesters in Berlin on Saturday for flouting the coronavirus lockdown measures they were demonstrating against. About 1,000 people turned out for the rally, which has become a weekly event in the German capital. Saturday’s protest attracted mainly far-left activists but there were also right-wing supporters and members of other fringe groups. Police put up barriers around Rosa Luxemburg square, where the protesters were headed, leaving the participants to gather in nearby roads. The protest “is not in line with the rules” in place to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus, police said on Twitter, telling those taking part to disperse. Some of the demonstrators wore T-shirts accusing Chancellor Angela Merkel of “banning life” while others simply called for “freedom”. Others brandished placards bearing slogans such as “Stop the pharmaceutical lobby”. The protest was unauthorised as a result of emergency rules in Berlin banning gatherings of more than 20 people. The protest organisers’ website called for “an end to the state of emergency” and played down the threat posed by the virus. Public discontent with the confinement rules has been growing gradually in Germany, as in other countries, though Merkel’s popularity remains high. She has received plaudits for her management of the health crisis which has seen Germany’s Covid-19 toll – 5,500 according to an AFP tally – remain significantly lower than in Italy, Spain, France and Britain where the death tolls have all risen above 20,000. Opposition to the lockdown measures is being led by the far-right, the main opposition force in the German parliament. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party accuses the government of exaggerating the risk posed by the virus and has called for the immediate reopening of all businesses. Boris Johnson to return to work on Monday – reports Boris Johnson will return to Downing Street on Monday and is “raring to go”, Sky News reports. The PM was discharged from hospital on Easter Sunday, after spending three nights in intensive care. He may host on Monday’s daily Downing Street news conference and take on new Labour leader Keir Starmer at PMQs on Wednesday, depending the advice of doctors. “He is ‘raring to go’ and will be back Monday,” a Downing Street source told Sky News. Johnson now faces a dilemma over whether to ease lockdown measures. Leading scientists have warned the number of new cases of Covid-19 being diagnosed is still much too high, as highlighted in this report: Algeria has taken further steps to ease restrictions over coronavirus by allowing several businesses to reopen “to reduce the economic and social impact of the health crisis” caused by the pandemic, the prime minister’s office said on Saturday. It said shops to be reopened include those for materials for building and public works, appliances, fabrics, jewellery, clothing and shoes, cosmetics and perfumes, home and office furniture, pastries and hairdressers in addition to urban transport by taxi. The government on Thursday decided to ease confinement measures by shortening the curfew for some provinces but called on citizens to be “vigilant”. That measure came hours before the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on Friday. Algeria has said restrictions linked to coronavirus has significantly hit the economy which is under financial pressure due to a sharp fall in global oil prices. The government has reported a total of 3,256 confirmed infections with the virus, with 419 deaths and 1,479 recoveries.