ENGLAND has today recorded the lowest daily death toll since lockdown began with 27 deaths.
Three more people have died in Wales with the virus, while one person lost their life in Scotland but figures for Northern Ireland haven't yet been released in order to calculate the UK tally.
Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak has said the two metre social distancing rule is "under comprehensive review".
Speaking on Sophy Ridge on Sunday this morning the Chancellor added the Government is "urgently" looking into ways to slash the distance.
It comes as The Sun on Sunday reports Boris Johnson is set to review the two metre social distancing rule to help save the economy.
ENGLAND has today recorded the lowest daily death toll since lockdown began with 27 deaths.
Three more people have died in Wales with the virus, while one person lost their life in Scotland but figures for Northern Ireland haven't yet been released in order to calculate the UK tally.
Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak has said the two metre social distancing rule is "under comprehensive review".
Speaking on Sophy Ridge on Sunday this morning the Chancellor added the Government is "urgently" looking into ways to slash the distance.
It comes as The Sun on Sunday reports Boris Johnson is set to review the two metre social distancing rule to help save the economy.
ENGLAND has today recorded the lowest daily death toll since lockdown began with 27 deaths.
Three more people have died in Wales with the virus, while one person lost their life in Scotland but figures for Northern Ireland haven't yet been released in order to calculate the UK tally.
Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak has said the two metre social distancing rule is "under comprehensive review".
Speaking on Sophy Ridge on Sunday this morning the Chancellor added the Government is "urgently" looking into ways to slash the distance.
It comes as The Sun on Sunday reports Boris Johnson is set to review the two metre social distancing rule to help save the economy.
A 20-year-old man has died, a woman has been raped and three people have been stabbed during two illegal "quarantine raves" that attracted 6,000 people.
Thousands flocked to Daisy Nook Country Park and Carrington in Greater Manchester late on Saturday.
The man at the country park died of a suspected drug overdose and the stabbings and the attack on an 18-year-old woman took place in Carrington.
Police said the illegal raves have had "tragic consequences".
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes condemned them as a clear breach of coronavirus legislation, adding officers "were met with violence, resulting in items being thrown and a police car being vandalised".
He asked "anyone with footage that could assist our enquiries" to give it to police.
Police said about 4,000 people were at the Droylsden rave, where there were no reported crimes.
There were however three separate stabbings at the Carrington site - one of which left an 18-year-old man with life-threatening injuries.
Ass Ch Con Sykes said officers "managed to safely enter the crowds, locate the man and administer life-saving first aid before paramedics arrived."
Two other men, aged 25 and 26, were hurt in separate stabbings and a 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon.
"We are also investigating the rape of an 18-year-old woman... and we have specialist officers supporting her and her family", police said.
Streams of young people were seen on their way to an area just off Common Lane in Carrington late on Saturday evening.
There was a large Greater Manchester Police presence at both sites.
Images and footage were also being shared on social media show densely-packed crowds of people dancing and singing at the outdoor raves.
A large sign reading "Quarantine Rave" can be seen in background of one video.
Sacha Lord, who is night-time economy adviser for the region, said the "morons" and "selfish idiots" that attended "are a disgrace" who have put the people they love "at risk".
Mr Lord tweeted: "I've seen some of the footage. You aren't clubbers. Just selfish idiots."
The MP for Ashton-Under-Lyne, Angela Rayner, said she had joined Oldham Street Angels at the Daisy Nook site during the rave.
The group offers support and pastoral care to partygoers and others that need it during the night-time.
Ms Rayner tweeted that she had "just finished my shift at Street Angels in Oldham" and had been "dealing with the illegal rave at Daisy Nook liaising with the police".
Volunteers have spent Sunday morning clearing away rubbish left scattered across the fields at the Daisy Nook site with help from Oldham Council.
Empty bottles, plastic bags, gas canisters and abandoned gazebos cluttered the beauty spot.
Oldham Council leader Sean Fielding tweeted thanks to the "dozens of volunteers there this morning helping to clean up the mess".
In a statement, Ass Ch Con Sykes said: "These raves were illegal and I condemn them taking place - they were clearly a breach of coronavirus legislation and guidelines, and have had tragic consequences."
He said the force had seen huge demand including a 60% surge in emergency calls from 17:00 BST on Saturday to 04:00 on Sunday and hoped "the public can recognise the challenges we are facing."
He said the "gatherings were carefully monitored" but "we needed to balance the present public health emergency and our overall demand with ongoing incidents".
"We have to ensure that we strike the right balance of proportionality and fairness with our overall coronavirus response", he added.
But he revealed on Sunday the two-metre rule would remain under review until the next stage of the government's planned reopening of the economy, scheduled for 4 July.
Chancellor announces two-metre rule review
Non-essential retail shops are being allowed to open in England from Monday but pubs, clubs, restaurants, hairdressers and beauty salons are being told to stay closed.
This is due to the greater risk of transmission of COVID-19 in person-to-person contact over longer periods.
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The government is under pressure to reduce the two-metre rule to one metre, as is recommended in countries such as France, Denmark and Singapore.
It has been claimed two-thirds of English pubs will be forced to stay closed unless the rule is reduced to one metre.
More from Boris Johnson
Pubs and restaurants not opening yet
Senior Conservative MPs are urging the government to act now in order to save millions of jobs in the hospitality sector.
It has been a relaxation of the measure could also help more schools to reopen and allow more pupils to return to classrooms.
More schools to reopen
Mr Johnson was asked about the review of the social distancing guideline on a visit to Westfield Stratford City, a shopping centre in east London, on Sunday.
"We'll work very closely with the scientists at all times and make the right decision on the basis of safety, health and stopping the disease," he said.
"The question for us is - as we get the numbers down so it becomes one in 1,000 (people infected with coronavirus), one in 1,600, maybe even fewer - your chances of being two metres or one metre or even a foot away from somebody who has the virus are obviously going down statistically.
"So you start to build some more margin for manoeuvre and we'll be looking at that, and we'll be keeping it under constant review as we go forward to the next step in our plan, which is 4 July.
"So we'll be keeping it under review for 4 July."
Image:In France a one-metre distance is recommended
But the prime minister stressed he would not "sacrifice the huge efforts of the British people" in combating the spread of COVID-19.
"The country has come together to squash the incidence of the disease down and that gives us the potential now to look at those rules," he added.
Earlier, Chancellor Rishi Sunak told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday show that Mr Johnson had "put in place a comprehensive review of the two-metre rule".
"Now we have made good progress in suppressing the virus, we're at a different stage of the epidemic than we were at the beginning, and that enables us to take a fresh look at this," he said.
"Obviously many other countries around the world use a different rule
"We have seen a couple of countries recently - Norway and Denmark - have moved from two metres to something less."
Mr Sunak added: "It is important we look at it comprehensively in the round and that is what we will do urgently."
Image:Many pubs will have to remain shut without a reduction in the two-metre rule, it has been claimed
The chancellor said he understood the "positive impact" a reduction in the two-metre rule would have on businesses' ability to reopen.
Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith pointed to recent economic data that showed the UK suffered the biggest collapse in GDP ever seen as it plunged by 20.4% in April.
"There is a real economic imperative to get the economy moving again," he told Sky News, as he expressed his hope the two-metre rule would be reduced "quickly".
"One of the problems in moving the economy is that the two-metre rule hamstrings us in a whole series of areas."
Labour's shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds warned if the government moved to a one-metre rule without it being supported by scientists, there would be a risk of a second peak of coronavirus infections which "could cause even greater economic damage".
The two metre rule is now facing an "urgent review"
His comments come as the UK's high streets take a huge step towards normality as non-essential shops reopen from tomorrow.
Appearing on Sophy Ridge on Sky, he said: “It's the difference between three quarters and maybe a third of pubs opening. So it is important that we look at it.
“Now that we have made good progress in suppressing the virus we are at a different stage in the epidemic than we were at the beginning. That enables us to take a fresh look at this.
“Obviously many other countries around the world use a different rule and indeed we have seen a couple of countries recently - I think Norway and Denmark - have moved from two metres to something less as well.
“But is it important we look at it comprehensively in the round and that is what we will do urgently.”
The Sun revealed today BorisJohnson is poised to ditch the two-metre social distancing rule to help battered businesses bounce back from lockdown.
The Prime Minister will this week set a date for lifting the restriction — and it could be as early as next month.
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Rishi Sunak suggested he was for slashing the distance down from two metres
The rules around the world
Mr Sunak yesterday urged bargain-hunters to go on a spending spree — to help Britain bounce back from the Covid crisis.
The Chancellor wants the nation to reawaken its “lion spirit” to give shops a roaring trade as they open for the first time in three months tomorrow.
He has now insisted slashing the two metre limit could help companies get back on their feet.
Mr Sunak added: "I can very much understand the positive impact it will have on businesses' ability to open and thereby maintain the jobs that they have and make sure the people who work for them can come back to those jobs and remain employed.
"“It is safe to go [shopping]… we have always been an economy that is driven by consumption… driven by services and the numbers of people employed in these sectors are huge whether it’s in retail or in hospitality, there are millions and millions of people who work in these sectors."
The risk of catching the virus at one metre is 2.6 per cent, compared with 1.3 per cent at two metres. But this can be cut dramatically by other measures such as wearing face masks or taking regular breaks.
Scientists have drawn up a list of imaginative new ways to make it safer for people to work or socialise within one metre of each other.
Mr Johnson has also been spurred by grim predictions of firms going to the wall with millions of job losses under current guidelines.
The move could be timed for when the hospitality trade reopens in July.
Mr Johnson is expected to make the cut conditional on a continued fall in the infection rate and bosses agreeing to alternative regulations.
Tory MPs and ministers have warned only a third of pubs, restaurants and cafes will open for business if the two-metre rule stays in place.
