UK coronavirus live: Britain claps for NHS on 72nd anniversary | Politics

• A further 22 deaths of people who had tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK were recorded today, taking the total to 44,220.
• People across the UK have expressed their gratitude to the health service and its staff in a nationwide clap to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the NHS.
• NHS England has launched a coronavirus recovery service to support survivors of the virus as they navigate the long-term effects. You can read more here.
• The chief executive of NHS England said the NHS was preparing for a possible second wave of coronavirus in the winter. Sir Simon Stevens this would be particularly difficult if it coincided with seasonal bouts of the flu, which has similar symptoms to coronavirus, so the NHS needed to roll out unprecedented flu immunisation schemes.

Fears that emergency services would be overwhelmed after the reopening in pubs in England yesterday appear to have been unfounded. While the longer-term impact on the spread of the virus is not yet clear, police and A&E departments said they coped well last night.

• Despite the circulation of photos showing crowds and no social distancing in London’s Soho last night, health secretary Matt Hancock said the vast majority of people were “doing the right thing”.
• Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to roll out a new economic package focused on jobs on Wednesday.
• One of the largest studies into the long-term health implications of coronavirus launched in the UK today. Around 10,000 patients are expected to take part in the study, which has been given £8.4m by the government.

You can continue to follow live developments on our global live blog:

This from Oxford City Council:

It seems the turnout for tonight’s clap hasn’t been enormous.

On my street in central Brixton, not a single person clapped. Over on Twitter, scores of people are reporting the same, with some saying they had no idea a clap for the NHS was on, and others stating that they deliberately didn’t join in.

Here are Boris Johnson and Annemarie Plas, the founder of Clap for Carers, in Downing St, mid-clap.

The Prince of Wales has paid tribute to the NHS on its 72nd anniversary, expressing pride in how the health service has coped with the Covid-19 pandemic. He said NHS staff had made “costly sacrifices” during the crisis, “and in tribute to them we have come together as a nation to thank them for their skill, professionalism and dedication.”

People across Britain are once again coming together to clap their thanks for the NHS.

The Metropolitan police have been urged to launch an immediate investigation into Dominic Cummings’ trip from London to Durham at the height of the coronavirus outbreak by the former chief prosecutor for north-west England.

Lawyers for Nazir Afzal have written to the Met commissioner, Cressida Dick, arguing that the behaviour of Boris Johnson’s chief adviser during the lockdown warrants a “thorough investigation” by the force.

They say the “continuing pressing public imperative to ensure strict compliance” with advice about the pandemic “makes this matter urgent”.

Aftzal’s lawyers point out that a three-day investigation by Durham police was confined to Cummings’ movement in County Durham and made no finding on why he left London when his wife had symptoms of coronavirus and a day before he fell ill with a suspected case.

My colleague Matthew Weaver, who broke the story of Cummings’ trips to Durham, has more: