DRUGS TRIALLED AND SIGNS OF SLOWDOWN

Every day in this column, The Daily Telegraph will seek out and report snippets of comfort as the world fights coronavirus

♦ The world’s largest randomised trial of potential Covid-19 treatments is under way in the UK, with a “number of promising treatments” being tested. The trial involves almost 1,000 patients from 132 different hospitals.

♦ There are some signs the lockdown is helping slow the spread in the UK, Prof Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist, said, adding: “We have just had the first day where new admittances to hospital have reduced day-on.”

♦ In Italy, the number of virus patients in intensive care dropped, falling from 4,068 on Friday to 3,994 on Saturday and 3,977 yesterday. In Spain, new recorded cases dropped for the third day in a row, with deaths down for a second consecutive day.

♦ The children of key workers at Wigan’s St John Fisher Catholic High School are making face shields for the NHS using Youtube tutorials – the first batch of 100 was delivered to Wigan Hospital last week.

♦ In Israel, rabbis have ruled that Passover could be shared with extended family and friends over Zoom calls.

♦ Mountaineer Charlie Wardle, 45, is “virtually” hiking 20 of Britain’s biggest peaks in 20 days using his stairs. He had been due to scale 20 mountains to raise money for charity before the lockdown.

♦ Australian health officials are cautiously optimistic about the virus slowing – the daily rate of infections is now below 5 per cent, a fifth of what it was in midmarch.

♦ Renaud Lavillenie, the French pole vaulter, is staging an international home containment competition. On Saturday he cleared 5.61m (18ft16in), posting a video of his jump on Twitter.