Coronavirus news you may have missed overnight: Captain Tom Moore to receive knighthood as Trump claims US having most cases is ‘badge of honour’

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The world continues to try and navigate its way out of the coronavirus pandemic, as the social and economic effects of lockdowns impacts lives everywhere.

In the UK, 248,818 people have tested positive for the virus, and 545 deaths were recorded on Tuesday, pushing the death toll to 35,341.

Here is your daily briefing of coronavirus news you may have missed overnight.

Captain Tom Moore to be knighted after raising £33m for NHS charities

The 100-year-old Second World War veteran who raised millions for the NHS during lockdown is to be knighted.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson recommended Captain Tom Moore be honoured by the queen, just weeks after he was made an honorary colonel in recognition of his fundraising work.

Capt Moore raised almost £33m for charities supporting the health service by walking laps of his garden in Bedfordshire before his 100th birthday.

“Colonel Tom’s fantastic fundraising broke records, inspired the whole country and provided us all with a beacon of light through the fog of coronavirus,” said Mr Johnson.

“On behalf of everyone who has been moved by his incredible story, I want to say a huge than you. He’s a true national treasure.”

The centenarian, who served in India, Burma and Sumatra during the Second World War, originally aimed to raise just £1,000 for the NHS.

But his fundraising target quickly rose to eight figures within just days of his campaign beginning as he captured the hearts of the British public.

Trump says it’s ‘badge of honour’ for US to lead world in coronavirus cases

The US president said that it is a “badge of honour” for the US to have more cases of Covid-19 than any other country in the world.

With 1.59 million coronavirus cases confirmed in the US, and over 91,000 deaths, Donald Trump attributed the high numbers to the volume of tests being carried out.

He said during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday: “When we have a lot of cases, I don’t look at that as a bad thing – I look at that in a certain respect as being a good thing because it means our testing is much better… So I view it as a badge of honour, really.”

The US has conducted 11.28 million coronavirus tests, according to the latest figures from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Families of migrant NHS cleaners and porters left out of leave-to-remain scheme

NHS porters and cleaners and social care staff do not qualify for a Home Office scheme that grants families of health workers indefinite leave to remain in the UK if they die of coronavirus, it was revealed.

The GMB union said the exclusion of some of the NHS’s lowest paid workers was an “outrageous scandal”.

Around 8 per cent of social care home workers are non-EU migrants, who also make up a large number of those who work as hospital cleaners, porters, security guards and catering staff who are considered key workers but have been left out of the scheme.

Lola McEvoy, NHS organiser for the GMB union, called the policy “heartless” and said it leaves the lowest-paid key workers “out in the cold”.

“We ask them to take the maximum risk – but they get minimal reward. They have been drafted to the front of the fight on Covid-19 and if – as so many have – they lose their lives in doing so, their families are not looked after,” she said.

“It’s only right that they’re offered the same security and peace of mind as directly-employed NHS staff – after all they face the same dangers.”

Government considering extra bank holiday in October

An extra bank holiday to be put in place in October is reportedly being considered by the government as a way to help the tourism industry recover from the repercussions of coronavirus.

The UK’s tourism agency Visit Britain put forward the proposal for an extra day off near half-term, reported the BBC.

The government told the BBC it will ‘respond in due course” to the agency’s proposal, but warned that having an extra break does “come with economic costs”.

Head of Visit Britain, Patricia Yates, reportedly argued that an extra bank holiday in October would help the industry mitigate the benefits lost from the two bank holidays in May, as people remained in lockdown at the time.

UK Hospitality, a trade group for leisure businesses, also supported the idea of an extra bank holiday, but expressed caution.

Chief executive Kate Nicholls told the BBC: “A bank holiday in October may provide a welcome boost for hospitality businesses, not least at a time when consumer confidence will hopefully be returning to healthy levels.

“However, we are still some way from knowing what the sector will look like. A lot depends on whether businesses are able to open safely and whether the government continue to support businesses who need it.”

Cambridge University to move all lectures online until 2021

The University of Cambridge will hold all “face-to-face lectures” virtually until the next academic year, it has confirmed.

The university becomes the first to set out such measures for the full 2020/21 academic year and it says it is “likely” that social distancing will continue to be required.

However, it may be possible for smaller teaching groups to take place in person if it “conforms to social distancing requirements”.

A spokesman for the university said: “The University is constantly adapting to changing advice as it emerges during this pandemic.

“Given that it is likely that social distancing will continue to be required, the university has decided there will be no face-to-face lectures during the next academic year.

“This decision has been taken now to facilitate planning, but as ever, will be reviewed should there be changes to official advice on coronavirus.”

California animal sanctuary charters two planes to rescue 1,000 chickens due to be euthanised

An animal sanctuary in California chartered two planes in their latest mission to rescue 1,000 chickens from a farm in Iowa before they could be euthanised during the coronavirus pandemic.

The farm was preparing to reduce its chicken population because of a decline in operations caused by Covid-19, said Animal Place sanctuary.

But instead, the farm agreed to give the 1,000 chickens to Animal Place, who will nurse some of the sick birds back to health and put healthy chickens up for adoption.

According to a press release from the sanctuary, the chickens were in poor shape as the farm was running low on funds and could not feed them well.

Hannah Beins, Animal Place animal care director, said: “I would do it again in a heartbeat, because until their rescue these hens never got to touch grass or feel the sunshine, and now they can live out the rest of their lives as chickens should.”