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Coronavirus: The 13 major developments that happened on Tuesday

Here’s what you need to know on 4 August. This article was updated at 5.30pm.

Deaths: No new deaths were recorded in Northern Ireland, or Scotland. There was one new death in Wales and six in England. There have been 51,596 deaths involving COVID-19 in England and Wales up to 24 July, registered by 1 August. Read more here.

Deaths are decreasing in every region in England except Yorkshire and the Humber and the East Midlands according to the latest statistics. Both those regions are recording slight rises in the number of coronavirus deaths from the week ending 24 July compared to the week before. Read more here.

No children under 14 have died from coronavirus in England and Wales for the 10th week in a row, figures reveal. According to the latest report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there have been five deaths involving COVID-19 in children aged one to 14 this year in the two countries. Read more here.

Schools: The government insists the reopening of schools in September is “not up for debate” despite warnings of a second wave of coronavirus. Junior minister for local government, Simon Clarke, insisted the system is “delivering” and that schools will reopen. Read more here.

Researchers from UCL and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have said not having an effective track and trace in place in the UK before reopening schools could lead to a second wave of coronavirus twice as big as the first. Reopening schools was modelled alongside wider opening of society and people going back to offices. Read more here.

Scotland: Pass rates of Scottish Highers increased this summer as teachers decided grades after exams had to be cancelled because of the pandemic. Three out of four grades were not adjusted by the Scottish Qualification Authority. Read more here.

Science: The coronavirus outbreak came from bats and was probably passed to humans through another intermediary animal "host", World Health Organization (WHO) scientists have concluded. The team of WHO experts visited the Chinese city of Wuhan, understood to be the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, to probe the origins of the virus and how it spread across the world. Read more here.

Women who take the pill are less likely to develop serious coronavirus, a major new study has found, which could explain why men have suffered more when they contract it. Analysis of more than half a million women by King's College London during May and June found oestrogen had a vital role. Read more here.

Business: Pizza Express has announced it will close 15% of its UK restaurants, putting 1,100 jobs at risk. Dixons Carphone has also announced it will be making 800 managers redundant. Read more here.

Entertainment: Michael Eavis has admitted Glastonbury might not come back until 2022, suggesting having the usual number of people on the site would be “wishful thinking”. He said he is confident it would survive. Read more here.

Read more about COVID-19

How to get a coronavirus test if you have symptoms

What you can and can’t do under lockdown rules

In pictures: How UK school classrooms could look in new normal

How public transport could look after lockdown

How our public spaces will change in the future

Rest of the world

France could lose control of its COVID-19 outbreak at any point according to its top scientific body. The French government’s scientific council said a second wave could happen at any point in autumn or winter. Read more here.

Donald Trump has attempted to defend his handling of the coronavirus crisis in the US in an interview, in which he said the nation was doing an “incredible job” despite having 158,000 deaths. He said he was basing his assessment of the handling on number of deaths as a proportion of cases, not of the population. Read more here.

More than 27 million people have been put back into lockdown in and around the Philippines’ capital after the country’s infection tally topped 100,000. Two hospitals have had to close and some private hospitals are reportedly turning people away because of bed shortages. Read more here.

Positive news

The National Railway Museum in York has reopened with tickets for visits fully booked in advance. Visitors are asked to observe social distancing and wear face coverings in the museum, which is free to visit. Read more here.

Coronavirus: what happened today

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