California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, promised “meaningful” adjustments to stay-at-home orders in the coming days as protesters gathered in the capital of Sacramento and in Orange county’s Huntington Beach, a recent flashpoint after Newsom ordered beaches there to close following a busy weekend. In Sacramento, the state’s capital, a packed crowd of protesters faced off with lines of riot cops in a tense and chaotic protest on Friday afternoon. “Traitors!” the protesters screamed at police, according to a livestream of the protest produced by reporters from the Sacramento Bee. Some protesters held signs questioning whether the coronavirus is real or promoting anti-vaccine conspiracies, while others protested the closure of businesses during the pandemic, arguing that all jobs are essential. Almost none of the protesters were wearing masks, according to reporters and photographers at the scene. Top U.S. health official Anthony Fauci will not testify next week to a congressional committee examining the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, the White House said on Friday, calling it “counterproductive” to have individuals involved in the response testify. The White House issued an emailed statement after a spokesman for the House of Representatives committee holding the hearing said the panel had been informed by Trump administration officials that Fauci had been blocked from testifying. “While the Trump administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at congressional hearings,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement. “We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time.” Fauci’s testimony was being sought for a 6 May hearing by a House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees health programs, said spokesman Evan Hollander. The Washington Post first reported that Fauci would not testify. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been one of the leading medical experts helping to guide the U.S. response to the highly contagious virus that has swept across the United States. Hello and welcome to our continuing global coverage of the pandemic. Global number of infections passes 3.33m and at least 237,943 have died around the world since the pandemic began, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University. Top US health official Dr Anthony Fauci will be prevented from testifying to a congressional committee examining the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic next week, the White House has said. The Trump administration claimed it would be “counterproductive” to have individuals involved in the response testify. Donald Trump is offering an increasingly bleak picture, telling a White House event: “Hopefully, we’re going to come in below that 100,000 lives lost, which is a horrible number, nevertheless.” In the US the drug remdesivir has been approved for emergency use to treat virus patients. The FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn clarifies that the drug has specifically been cleared for emergency use on those in hospital. Trump’s threats to reignite the US-China trade war in reaction to the pandemic trigger a sell-off in global financial markets, as the economic costs of the pandemic continue to mount. Against a backdrop of rising tension between the world’s two biggest economic superpowers, share prices resume a downward slide, with the FTSE 100 falling by 144 points, or 2.5%, in London. Restrictions on movement are to continue for several more weeks in Ireland, although over-70s may now leave their homes to exercise. The taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, says most restrictions will remain until 18 May to “weaken the virus further so it doesn’t make a comeback”. The UK reports 739 more deaths, bringing the total death toll in the country to 27,510. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, says 177,454 people have tested positive: an increase of 6,201 since Thursday’s update. Of those, 15,111 patients are in hospital, Hancock says. India has extended its lockdown – the world’s broadest by population – for two more weeks, but with some easing of restrictions in areas with few cases. The home ministry says that in view of “significant gains in the Covid-19 situation”, there will be “considerable relaxations” in areas with few or no cases. In South Africa some industries are allowed to reopen after five weeks of restrictions in Africa’s most industrialised nation, which was already struggling with low growth and high debts when the lockdown began on 27 March.Its easing comes after the ratings agency S&P downgraded the country’s credit rating to junk on Wednesday.