Handing out contracts out to firms like Serco and G4S is now second nature to those in power. We need to rebuild state capacity

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The coronavirus pandemic has revealed a lot about British society – the fragility of the economy, the insecure situation so many workers find themselves in – but it has also shone a light on the state itself. Many comparisons have been made between the current mobilisation of state resources and the second world war. But while that crisis involved a ramping up of public sector capacity, this one is being managed by a state that believes itself to be utterly dependent on the private sector.

First, there are the outsourcing giants, shadowy corporations who have been handed numerous contracts over the past 20 years. Matt Hancock has put Serco in charge of the phonelines for contact tracing, a vital part of the government’s public health strategy. This is a company that mismanaged data at a GP surgery, and failed to train staff properly for a breast cancer hotline service. Along with G4S, it claimed money from the government for tracking prisoners who were later found to be dead.

Despite everything, the Tory party is sticking to the ideology of the free market, rather than saving lives and jobs

“How on earth did it come to this?” Keir Starmer’s question could skewer Boris Johnson at every PMQs from now on. It encompasses all the damage the government did in the last decade, as well as all it has failed to do to protect the country from Covid-19. The list of derelictions in the early stage of the crisis is long, the testing and the protective equipment still shamefully inadequate. Have lessons been learned? The auguries are not good.

Related: Picnics and sunbathing on cards as PM expected to allow more time outside

Coronavirus is much more likely to claim the lives of black people than white. Socio-economic factors are a significant contributor

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A universal experience is highlighting the sharp divides in our society. Few are as stark and shocking as those revealed by Thursday’s news that black people in England and Wales are more than four times as likely to die from Covid-19 as white people. Bangladeshi and Pakistani people were about three and a half times more likely, and those of Indian origin two and a half times as likely, the Office for National Statistics reported.

The disproportionately high toll of BAME people was already evident, notably among medical staff: a review of just over a hundred NHS staff who died found that almost two-thirds were black or Asian, though those groups account for less than one in seven workers in the health service. It is all the more striking, given that age is one of the biggest risk factors and the over-65s comprise only one in 20 of the BAME population, compared with almost one in five of the white population.

Vietnam Airlines pilot one of only two serious cases in country with mass testing regime

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A 43-year-old British man may undergo a lung transplant in Vietnam, where he is critically ill with Covid-19.

The man, a Vietnam Airlines pilot, developed a fever and cough on 17 March, and was later admitted to Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

Clarity on lifting Covid-19 rules needed, from increasing time outdoors to schools returning

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Boris Johnson will address the nation on Sunday to set out a road map for how England might leave the Covid-19 lockdown. Any immediate changes have been billed as modest and incremental, but people are expecting more details on how life could differ over the next few weeks. Here are the questions the prime minister needs to answer:

The Guardian’s data journalists in the UK, US and Australia explain how they have shone a light on the statistical narrative behind the pandemic, and what they have helped to reveal

A small Alberta town’s attempt to discourage geese from too getting comfortable there took flight about six weeks ago, but it’s getting mixed reviews and ruffling some feathers.

A U of S researcher says there is no evidence that COVID-19 jumped to humans from bats.

Alberta's use of a smartphone app to help slow the spread of the coronavirus may provide other provinces with insight on what to do — and what to avoid — as Canada begins easing restrictions, heightening the need for effective contact tracing.

A small flock of shorebirds contaminated with oil after touching down on a northern Alberta tailings pond is expected to be released back into the wild within a week.

WeChat is one of the world’s most popular apps, but researchers at the University of Toronto caution it is surveilling international users and using their information to broaden censorship on the app in China.

Health experts agree contact tracing is a key measure to contain a pandemic. But is the answer a contact tracing app?

Sidewalk Labs, a Google-affiliated company, is abandoning its plan to build a high-tech neighbourhood on Toronto’s waterfront, citing what it calls unprecedented economic uncertainty.

Whale and iceberg season has come early, but the local tourism industry has been forced to press pause.

A St. John’s genetics specialist has found DNA connections that link the long-vanished Beothuk people to contemporary people, almost two centuries after the last known Beothuk died. 

Quebec provincial police are investigating whether at least two cellphone tower fires north of Montreal could be linked to conspiracy theories that 5G wireless technology caused the coronavirus pandemic.

Astronomers believe they have found the closest black hole to our solar system, lying just 1,000 light-years away, which in astronomical terms, is right in our neighbourhood.

Presenter reveals homemade remedy that helped him through

TV star's also claimed to have fed a peacock he killed to his pets

Handful of stars will be interviewed live from their living rooms

The smash serial killer comedy returns to the BBC with an 'exasperatingly average' third series, leaving our arts columnist Fiona Sturges wishing it would bite the dust

'If I'm not acting, I'm not sure who I am,' the True Blood star said

The tone of this half-hour comedy is part odd-couple, part hipster satire and part gross-out – but it stops short of taking any risks

Coronavirus pandemic has caused production shutdowns and delays

Show's expert called it 'by far the most expensive thing [he's] ever seen in 25 years'

'This has made the lockdown worthwhile'

Specialist London hospital receives working medical equipment used in BBC drama

Drag queen Aiden Zhane impersonated Patricia Quinn during the "Snatch Game" challenge

'I'm not going to just abandon him when he needs support'

'Watching everyone's reaction to Joe Exotic was far better than the series itself,' one viewer wrote

'I'm very hurt and angry that she had to go through all that pain alone'

No one held back when asked about the controversial figure

It features many faces from the hit documentary

Zoo owner also accuses Netflix of sensationalising' story to make him 'villain' in new aftershow

He called Exotic 'unbelievably cruel'

She accused hit Netflix show of 'betrayal' in first interview since it began

Cowie doesn't hold back in aftershow that's just been released on Netflix

'The man's done a lot of stupid s***'

'I'll make you a rich man if you kill Carole'

Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle play lightly fictionalised versions of their 13-year-old selves in this cathartic comedy, writes Annabel Nugent

New head writer Suzanne Heathcote's zombie-writing experience might come in handy. Where 'Killing Eve' had a vitality, it now feels tired to the point of lifelessness

Webb's drinking had exacerbated an undiagnosed heart murmur

This article contains major spoilers for the first episode of 'Killing Eve' series three

Mayim Bialik, Debra Messing, Finn Wolfhard and many others joined

As a new drama about the 'most British crime of all time' arrives on ITV, here's a reminder of Charles and Diana Ingram's notorious quiz show appearance and their trial for conspiring to cheat

This dramatisation of the 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' coughing scandal is superbly entertaining and well constructed, and will likely make viewers rethink a story they thought they knew well

Star also selling Instagram follow-backs for $250

The adaptation of a Colombian telenovela, starring America Ferrera as braces-wearing fashion industry wannabe Betty Suarez, reversed the trend that everyone in television has to be glamorous, says Isobel Lewis, and it was a great show too

Ofcom received over 400 complaints about the presenter's remarks on the conspiracy theory

Whether or not the Ingrams were cheating on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?', the resulting outrage was rooted in the same dynamics that have come to dominate social discourse in the years since, says Adam White