By Damien Gayle (now); Simon Burnton and Helen Sullivan (earlier)
Asylum applications in Europe fall to lowest level for a decade as borders closed; world faces worst food crisis in 50 years
- Burundi president dies of illness suspected to be coronavirus
- Fauci: coronavirus pandemic that ‘took over the planet’ is far from over
- WHO urges Pakistan to return to lockdown as hospitals struggle
- UK coronavirus updates – live
11.37am BST
China has been accused by Brussels of running disinformation campaigns inside the European Union, as the bloc set out a plan to tackle a “huge wave” of false facts about the coronavirus pandemic, writes Jennifer Rankin, the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent.
The European commission said Russia and China were running “targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns in the EU, its neighbourhood, and globally”. While the charge against Russia has been levelled on many occasions, this is the first time the EU executive has publicly named China as a source of disinformation.
I believe if we have evidence we should not shy away from naming and shaming. What we also witnessed is a surge in narratives undermining our democracies and in effect our response to the crisis, for example the claim there are secret US biological laboratories on former Soviet republics has been spread by both pro-Kremlin outlets, as well as Chinese officials and state media.
Related: EU says China behind ‘huge wave’ of Covid-19 disinformation
11.22am BST
Amid the continuing controversy in the scientific community, Greece has resumed production of chloroquine to treat people with coronavirus, AFP reports.
Last week a major UK trial run by Oxford University halted its tests of the drugs, saying there was no evidence they worked against the virus, but scientists in Greece said they are continuing trials with a “calm and distant approach.”
