The British love affair with home crafting shows no sign of abating, according to Hobbycraft, which has reported a 200% boom in online sales since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Hobbycraft, whose bestsellers include a giant set of 1,000 craft pieces for £6 and soap-making kits for £15, said there had been “exceptional levels of customer demand” during lockdown as customers confined to their homes looked to find their inner craftsperson. It is moving its popular craft demonstrations and workshops online as part of its adjustment to the post-coronavirus world. The company, which has 99 stores on high streets and retail parks including five that opened last year, said total revenue increased by 8.9% to £193.6m for the year ending 16 February – before the Covid-19 crisis. Online sales grew by 19% over the same period: China sends Covid-19 testing team to Hong Kong, prompting surveillance fears Seven Chinese health officials arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday, the first members of a 60-person team that will carry out widespread Covid-19 testing in the territory as it races to halt another wave of illness. The initiative marks the first time mainland health officials have assisted Hong Kong in its battle to control the epidemic. The city has reported around 3,500 coronavirus cases and 34 deaths since January, far lower than many other global metropolitan centres. But the daily number of new infections has been in three digits for the past 12 days. Members of the testing team, co-ordinated by the Chinese government, are mostly from public hospitals in Guangdong province, China’s National Health Commission said. A group of local Hong Kong councillors said on Sunday that some local residents fear China may use their presence as an opportunity to collect DNA samples for surveillance purposes: Greater Manchester declares major incident after rise in Covid-19 cases A major incident has been declared in Greater Manchester in response to increases in coronavirus infection rates across “multiple localities”. The decision to up the readiness of emergency and public services to react to the escalating Covid-19 transmission rate in the region comes after the government announced new lockdown restrictions for parts of north-west England on Thursday. Gold command meetings of senior figures from the police, local authorities and other agencies to discuss the pandemic have been taking place over the weekend. Major incidents are often declared as a result of a terror attack or natural disaster and mean a region can access extra national resources if necessary, with the police able to draft in the army if they need support: Hi, my name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest coronavirus news from around the world for the next few hours. Please do get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com. News tips, feedback and questions are welcome. Residents in the Australian city of Melbourne woke up this morning to their first full day of strict lockdown expected to last as long as six weeks, as the Australian state of Victoria struggles to contain an outbreak with hundreds of what authorities call “mystery cases” – infections that cannot be traced to known outbreaks. Yesterday 671 new cases were confirmed in the state. Many of Victoria’s cases are in aged care homes and among healthcare workers. Here is a reminder of the restrictions in Melbourne: Global infections meanwhile are nearing 18m, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, with 17.95m currently confirmed. There have been 686,947 deaths reported over the course of the pandemic so far. Here are the key developments from the last few hours: Residents in the Australian city of Melbourne will be subject to an overnight curfew for the next six weeks, and be banned from travelling more than 5km to go shopping or to exercise, as Victoria attempts to get the number of new coronavirus cases under control. The premier, Daniel Andrews, announced that from 6pm on Sunday, residents in the Melbourne metropolitan area would be under curfew for six weeks until 13 September. Nancy Pelosi says she has no confidence in Deborah Birx over handling of pandemic. House speaker Nancy Pelosi escalated an attack on Dr Deborah Birx, a senior scientist on Donald Trump’s coronavirus taskforce, in television comments on Sunday as Birx defended the administration’s handling of the pandemic. Media to be banned from Republican convention due to coronavirus restrictions. The media will reportedly not be allowed to witness Donald Trump’s formal renomination as the Republican party’s choice for president at its national convention later this month. UK prime minister Boris Johnson is considering new lockdown measures in England should there be a second wave of coronavirus infections. Plans are being assessed after a rise in Covid-19 cases forced the prime minister to slow the lockdown easing on Friday, with proposed relaxations for the leisure and beauty sectors delayed. Trump campaign adviser says election will not be delayed. “The election is going to be on 3 November,” Donald Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller said, adding it is actually Democrat governors who want the election delayed by introducing mail-in voting, where ballots can arrive after 3 November. India reported nearly 55,000 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, down from the previous day’s record 57,118 but raising the country’s total to 1.75 million. The month of July accounted for more than 1.1 million of those cases. The major cities of New Delhi and Mumbai might have passed their peaks, said a government expert, Randeep Guleria. Subways, cinemas and other public facilities are closed until 31 August. The Philippines announced it would reimpose a stricter lockdown in and around its capital for two weeks from midnight of 4 August, as the country struggles to contain coronavirus infections that have jumped to more than 100,000 cases. 40 cruise ship passengers infected with coronavirus. At least 40 passengers and crew from a luxury cruise liner have tested positive for Covid-19 and the authorities are still trying to trace a number of passengers from two recent Arctic voyages, public health officials in Norway said on Sunday. A major incident was declared in Greater Manchester, England on Sunday after coronavirus infection rates continued to climb at the end of the week. Crisis meetings of senior figures from the police, local authorities and other agencies have been taking place over the weekend amid concerns that numbers are still going up in the wake of stricter lockdown measures, which were announced on Thursday night. France to push for sanctions for countries tolerating human rights violations in EU Covid recovery plan. France will push for financial sanctions under the EU’s 750 bn euro ($880bn) coronavirus recovery fund against states that undermine fundamental human rights, its junior European affairs minister told the Financial Times.