13 English councils breach WHO 5% threshold for positive Covid tests - NationalWorld digital front page

13 council areas in England have surpassed a safe limit on Covid test positivity rates set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for governments considering relaxing lockdowns.

Last year WHO recommended that governments should ensure the proportion of coronavirus tests coming back positive remains below 5% for at least two weeks before regions reopen.

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All 13 areas were in the North West. One area – Blackburn with Darwen – was more than double the threshold, while Rossendale and Bolton were approaching double.

The threshold is the maximum limit at which point a pandemic would be considered out of control, although positivity rates would ideally be far lower.

But the latest government data shows 13 councils in England had a positivity rate of more than 5% in the week to 2 June, up from three a week earlier.

That means at least 5% of people tested that week returned at least one positive result, with any duplicates removed, with just two weeks to go until the planned end to England’s lockdown on 21 June.

EasyJet ‘not enforcing mask policy’ on UK to Portugal flight

A UK traveller has criticised easyjet for allowing fellow passengers to travel without using a mask on a flight to Portugal.

Speaking to NationalWorld, the traveller said that while most of the “40 or 45” passengers “wore masks of their own accord” there were “a group of teen boys who had the masks dangling off their chins the entire journey”.

The passenger also noted that “none of the air stewardesses said anything to them despite walking past a number of times.”

The traveller, who has asked to remain anonymous, was flying between Manchester and Albufeira on June 6 just two days before the Iberian country is downgraded from green travel restrictions to amber.

Speaking to our reporter Finlay Greig, the traveller claimed that the enforcing of restrictions had been far greater on previous flights.

She said: “we flew twice last year with Jet 2 who were a lot stricter on enforcing masks so it felt much safer in my opinion."

Adult Swim TikTok trend explained

After going viral on the social media platform TikTok, our reporter Rhona Shennan has put together a handy guide on why people are paying tribute to Adult Swim.

The late night TV network began to appear on TikTok after a user known as Vano 3000 made several Adult Swimmer inspired bumpers.

Don’t know what a bumper is? You’re in luck as Rhona explains everything you need to know about Adult Swim, what the trend is all about, and why people are paying homage to the channel.

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