Coronavirus latest: Here's what you need to know this Wednesday, July 15

• The number of weekly registered deaths involving coronavirus has fallen to the lowest level since lockdown was first introduced, latest figures reveal. According to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending July 3 involving Covid-19 was 532. It is the lowest number of deaths linked to the virus in the last 15 weeks. Latest figures published on Tuesday afternoon confirmed were no further coronavirus patient deaths in hospitals in the North-East and North Yorkshire. Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said 44,968 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Sunday - up by 138 from 44,830 the previous day. The figures do not include all deaths involving Covid-19 across the UK, which are thought to have passed 55,500. The DHSC also said that in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Tuesday, there had been a further 398 lab-confirmed UK cases. Overall, a total of 291,373 cases have been confirmed.

Coronavirus cases continue to fall Picture: Pixabay

• Extra measures including a limit on the number of people allowed to visit a household have been announced in Blackburn with Darwen after a rise in coronavirus cases. On Tuesday, the Lancashire authority's director of public health Dominic Harrison announced the new measures to be followed for the next month with the aim of avoiding a local lockdown. The restrictions include a limit of two people from the same household allowed to visit another home. Figures published on Tuesday showed Blackburn had 47 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to July 11, up from 31.6 cases per 100,000 in the seven days to July 4. The authority is third on the list of highest weekly rates, behind Leicester, which is subject to a local lockdown, and nearby Pendle. 

A coronavirus testing site opened in Blackburn on Saturday

• A second wave of coronavirus infections this winter could be more serious than the first, with 120,000 hospital deaths in a "reasonable worst-case scenario", scientists advising the Government have warned. A new report from the Academy of Medical Sciences, commissioned by the Government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, says action must be taken now to mitigate the potential for a second peak of Covid-19. It argues that hospitals could potentially see 120,000 Covid-19 deaths in between September and next June at the same time as battling a surge in demand due to usual winter pressures, including flu. The report, from 37 scientists and academics, acknowledges there is a high degree of uncertainty about how the Covid-19 epidemic will evolve in the UK over the coming months, but sets out a "reasonable worst-case scenario" that would see the R rate rise to 1.7 from September. The R refers to the number of people an infected person can be expected to pass the virus on to. The academic modelling suggests there could be a peak in hospital admissions and deaths in January and February 2021, similar to or worse than the first wave in spring 2020.

Scientists are warning that a second wave of Covid-19 could hit in the winter Picture: Pixabay

• Wearing a face mask or face covering in shops and supermarkets will be made mandatory across England in a fresh bid to stop the spread of coronavirus - the Government has announced. In a statement on Tuesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock will say anyone failing to comply with the order – which comes into force on July 24 – could face a fine of up to £100. The move follows a weekend of confusion over whether ministers intended to make face coverings compulsory after Boris Johnson said they were looking at “stricter” rules.

Face coverings will be compulsory in shops from July 24

• Banksy has sprayed the inside of a London Underground train carriage with messages about the spread of coronavirus. The street artist uploaded a 59-second video captioned "If you don't mask - you don't get" to his Instagram and YouTube pages on Tuesday afternoon. It begins with a laptop playing PA Video footage showing the London Underground being deep cleaned in May. Banksy, wearing a white boiler suit, mask, goggles, blue gloves and an orange hi-viz jacket with the message "stay safe" printed on it, is then seen posing as a Transport for London worker. He makes his way to a Circle Line train, carrying a yellow pump action spray bottle and stencils in cardboard on board. As an announcement states that "the next station is Baker Street", the artist sprays blue droplets from the face of one of his famous rats, which has been stencilled on the carriage.

Bansky has sprayed London Underground carriages with coronavirus-related images and slogans Picture: PA/BANKSY