We're pausing our Live coverage for the day. Thank you for joining us - coverage will resume Wednesday morning. Today's writers were Katie Wright, Becky Morton, Victoria Bisset and Alexandra Fouché; the page was edited by Jasmine Taylor-Coleman and Suzanne Leigh.

There have been many developments today, including:

• The UK government faced questions over the lack of available coronavirus tests
• The number of patients in mechanical ventilation beds across the UK passed 100 for the first time in nearly two months, and a further 3,105 people tested positive for Covid-19
• The entire Irish cabinet were told to restrict their movements after the country's Health Minister Stephen Donnelly reported feeling unwell
• A number of European countries, including the Netherlands, Denmark and France, are seeing surges in cases and some are imposing new restrictions as a result
• Cases in India passed the five million mark
• Globally, there have been more than 29 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 and more than 930,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University

Image source, OIREACHTAS

Earlier we heard the speaker of the Irish parliament had announced that all members of the cabinet in Dublin would have to self-isolate, after the health minister reported feeling unwell.

Stephen Donnelly has contacted his GP for a Covid-19 test, Irish broadcaster RTÉ reports.

Initially it was believed that the Dáil (Irish parliament) would be adjourned indefinitely, after Speaker Sean O Fearghail said "the possibility of proceeding with business does not arise and the house stands adjourned, I suspect, until Tuesday next".

However, Irish prime minister Micheál Martin later told RTÉ that the Dáil would be reconvened at 20:00 IST and the cabinet were restricting their movements due to "an abundance of caution".

Read more.

Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor

No government wants scenes like this.

Families in Oldham, external, where there has been particular concern about the spread of coronavirus, are boiling over with frustration that they can't access tests.

Not least a government that promised the public its testing system would be better than any other country's.

Not least a government that believes a properly functioning testing system is vital to keeping kids back in school and climbing out of recession as quickly as possible.

Not least a government that knows testing is a crucial way to monitor and control the virus that saw such a terrible loss of life in the grim spring that we have all just lived through.

Read more.

Dan Roan
BBC Sports editor

Image source, Getty Images

The English Football League will continue to stage pilots with up to 1,000 fans at matches this weekend, following approval from the government.

EFL clubs were asked to put in requests by Tuesday in order for their plans to be signed off in time.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden will meet with sports bodies later this week to discuss the planned return of spectators to sport from 1 October.

Last week, the government restricted pilot events to 1,000 spectators after a rise in coronavirus cases, and said plans for grounds to be up to a third full from 1 October would be reviewed.

The Premier League says around £100m per month will be lost by clubs across the leagues while matches continue behind closed doors and it is one of a number of sports bodies to have voiced concerns at the financial impact of an extended period with empty venues.

Read more

Mary O'Connor
BBC News

Image source, Katrina Lester

Jewish communities around the world will celebrate the holy festival of Rosh Hashanah this weekend. With Yom Kippur to follow on Monday week, how will the UK's new coronavirus restrictions affect Jewish celebrations?

For Dr Katrina Lester, who is due to give birth in eight weeks, this year will be a "very lonely time", spent away from relatives and the synagogue.

Like millions of others, her family has been looking forward to the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah - which marks the Jewish new year - and Yom Kippur - a solemn day of atonement, involving a 25-hour fast and continuous prayer throughout the day.

But this year, certain rituals and customs will have to be adapted to meet Covid-19 guidelines.

The government has issued highly detailed guidance for the Jewish community as they observe the festivals, with measures including the removal of communal items, such as prayer books, in synagogues; and the use of microphones for devotions or sermons to avoid shouting, external.

Read more.

Ben Butcher
BBC Reality Check

The government is facing criticism over its "world-beating" coronavirus testing system after people reported struggles to get tests.

Ministers have been defending the NHS Test and Trace system for England and have claimed testing capacity is increasing.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: "The government has been consistently increasing testing capacity, but also laboratory capacity."

She is correct that government data shows that both testing capacity and laboratory capacity have increased considerably since the beginning of the pandemic.

However, there has been a sizeable gap between how many tests labs are able to process ("capacity") and the number of tests actually processed.

Read more on this and other claims made by the government here.

Image source, Getty Images

Many adults are drinking more since the coronavirus pandemic began, data suggests, external.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists is warning that addiction services in England could struggle to cope with the "soaring" numbers of people misusing alcohol.

The college estimates that in June, more than 8.4m people in England were drinking at higher-risk levels, up from 4.8m in February.

It says deep cuts made to addiction services could mean patients will miss out on life-saving care.

Read more.

Yogita Limaye
Mumbai correspondent, BBC News

Image source, EPA

India has now recorded more than five million confirmed cases of coronavirus.

It is the second worst affected country in the world, but the virus is spreading much faster there than in the US, which is in the top spot.

More than 82,000 people have died with the virus in India, with more than 1,000 dying each day.

Hospitals in many cities are running out of intensive care beds and oxygen supplies.

But the government has been pointing out that the number of Indians dying with Covid-19 relative to the size of its population is a lot lower than in other badly hit countries.

Image source, Reuters

Some of the lockdown provisions put in place by Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor Tom Wolf are unconstitutional, a US federal judge has ruled.

Judge William Stickman found in favour of two Republican politicians and several business owners, who said ongoing restrictions threatened livelihoods.

He said Governor Wolf did not have the right to infringe civil liberties, even if he was acting with good intentions.

Mr Wolf had already lifted some restrictions after infections in Pennsylvania began to fall. They had required people to stay at home, placed limits on the size of indoor and outdoor gatherings and ordered “non-life-sustaining” businesses to shut down.

The lawsuit is one of hundreds brought across America challenging local lockdown rules.

The Wolf administration said it would appeal: “The actions taken by the administration were mirrored by governors across the country and saved, and continue to save lives in the absence of federal action," a spokeswoman for Mr Wolf said.

"This decision is especially worrying as Pennsylvania and the rest of the country are likely to face a challenging time with the possible resurgence of Covid-19 and the flu in the fall and winter,” she added.

Image source, PA Media

Another person awaiting test results is Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who will not take part in Prime Minister's Quesions tomorrow as he is "still awaiting" a coronavirus test result for a member of his family, a spokesman said.

The spokesman said he would remain in self-isolation and deputy leader Angela Rayner would take his place.

The Labour leader has been self-isolating since Monday, after a member of his household showed symptoms. They were tested the same day.

Starmer is not reported to have shown any symptoms himself.

Image source, Scott Vining

Schools are back, businesses are reopening and winter bugs are starting to spread - meaning more and more people are asking for a coronavirus test.

Scott Vining's daughter fell ill with a temperature on Saturday. By Sunday, the rest of the family, who live near Dunstable, in Bedfordshire, had also developed symptoms.

"We've tried hundreds of times," he told the BBC about trying to book a test. "We started to try and book tests for my daughter on Sunday, to no avail, and then we started at 08:00 on Monday morning for us all."

At one point Scott was offered a test in Warwickshire, 65 miles away from his home, through the government website. But by the time he'd entered the details of his family of four, the spaces had disappeared.

Scott eventually managed to secure a test for his wife today in Luton. He has since managed to book tests for himself and his children at a separate testing centre, in Bedford.

Read more about Scott and other families' experiences here.

Faisal Islam
BBC Economics Editor

"A tricky balancing act" is how the chancellor himself described to me the next stage of support to an economy that will continue to be affected by the pandemic.

He dropped his heaviest hint yet that this will include a new measure or scheme to boost job creation, as the jobless numbers start their inevitable turn upwards.

That task, he says, is his "number one priority" and he told me on a visit to a pottery factory in Stoke: "I'm always looking for interesting creative, innovative and effective new ways to support jobs and employment."

What it is not is the extension to the current furlough scheme. The purpose of the visit to the Emma Bridgewater factory was to celebrate the return to work from furlough of its staff.

The Treasury calculates that half of those furloughed are now back in their jobs, and the chancellor is adamant that people are "itching to get back to work".

Read more from Faisal here.

New Covid 19 cases were recorded in all but one of England’s 315 local authority areas in the seven days to 12 September.

Babergh in Suffolk was the only area to not record a new case, according to the latest Public Health England data.

It also shows that 510 new cases were recorded in Bradford in the week up to 12 September. That’s the equivalent of 94.5 cases per 100,000 people - up from 77.6 in the previous week.

Other cities recording sharp increases in their weekly rate include:

Liverpool (up from 51.2 to 91.4, with 455 new cases)

Leicester (up from 56.7 to 86.4, with 306 new cases)

Sunderland (up from 61.9 to 82.5, with 229 new cases)

Chris Page
BBC News Ireland correspondent

The Speaker of the Irish parliament has announced that all members of the cabinet in Dublin have to self-isolate.

The Irish national broadcaster RTÉ is reporting that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly contacted his GP for a coronavirus test after feeling unwell this afternoon.

The Speaker told parliament that following "very serious information arising out of events today, the cabinet must now self-isolate".

Parliamentary proceedings have been adjourned.

Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst

Image source, EPA

As China celebrates 30 days without any domestic cases of Covid-19, China’s top health body says it is now going to roll out counselling to people who have recovered from Covid-19.

According to the official China Daily, social workers, volunteers and therapists will be made available to former patients, external, to help understand any physical, mental or financial help they might need.

Their data will be held on local medical databases, under a system that “emphasises the importance of protecting their privacy”.

Local health centres will also offer mental health assessments “based on informed consent and voluntary participation”.

In China, more than 80,000 people have recovered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the year. Mental health hotlines have been open since as early as January, external.

But mental health is a major concern in China. The official Xinhua news agency estimated last year that one in 10 Chinese people had mental health problems, external. That is 140 million people.

People on Chinese social media have spoken often in recent months about how they have struggled as a result of strict lockdown procedures, working/studying at home, and finding work.

The government is particularly concerned that those who have recovered have experienced work and social stigma. However, it has urged people to be transparent if they have any ailments rather than hide their symptoms and risk the event of another localised outbreak.

School attendance figures "should reassure parents" about sending their children back to classrooms, Downing Street has said.

The first official figures for England, published earlier today, showed 88% of pupils went back for the autumn term.

This is a higher absence rate than the usual figure of about 5% but it is not broken down to show whether pupils were at home because of Covid-19 outbreaks.

The prime minister's spokesman said the government acknowledged it may take time for some parents to feel confident enough to send their children back to school and fines would only be used "as a last resort, where there's no valid reason for absence".

It is understood no fines have been issued since schools returned.

BBC Radio 5 Live

There are a lot of reports of people struggling to get a coronavirus test. Gaynor Hope in south west London got her 16-year-old son a test after four days of trying. But test site workers were only able to grant him one by using a postcode from over 500 miles away.

“We drove up to the test centre, no queue, two other cars… but the steward said we had to use an Aberdeen postcode to get a QR code for a test”, she told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“They were on their handheld devices, searching for any postcode they could use… it’s just so frustrating.”

Gaynor’s MP, Liberal Democrat Munira Wilson, asked the health secretary about this issue in Parliament this afternoon, external.

The number of patients in mechanical ventilation beds across the UK has passed 100 for the first time in nearly two months

There were 106 patients on ventilation in the UK on Monday - the first time the figure has been over 100 since 24 July.

UK-wide figures for today are yet to be published but there were 101 patients on ventilation in England on Tuesday.

Image source, Reuters

Hundreds of Hasidic Jews who set off on a pilgrimage to Ukraine are stranded on the Ukraine-Belarus border because of coronavirus restrictions.

They want to get to the central Ukrainian town of Uman for the Jewish New Year, which is being celebrated at the weekend, and visit the grave of Rabbi Nachman, who revived the Hasidic movement in the 19th Century.

One described the conditions at the border:

"I spent the night on the bus, but most of them [other pilgrims] spent the night right on the road, some gathered branches in the forest and lit fires," he told Reuters news agency.

"We have no food or water, we have children with us, about 100 children," he added.

Ukraine has imposed a ban on the entry of foreigners from the end of August till the end of September because of the pandemic.

Image source, Reuters