Today on Coffee House

After a week of criticism over the government's lack of mass testing, Matt Hancock and deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam used Friday's press conference to try and move the focus to other methods for tackling the coronavirus outbreak. The Health Secretary reiterated that social distancing remains the best way to prevent spread of the disease and called on the public to resist the sunny weather this weekend and remain indoors.

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad: News and analysis The UK aims to be a world leader in Covid-19 antibody testing, says Matt Hancock.Singapore, which was thought to have beaten the virus, is closing schools to ‘pre-empt escalating infections’.The first person to be charged with breaching lockdown legislation has conviction dropped after police admitted they had misunderstood new laws.

History has not usually been kind to the Jews. But even by its low and morbid standards, the 14th century was a time of chaos. From 1348 to 1351 between 30 and 60 per cent of Europe’s population died from the Black Death, a plague that strafed continents. Hundreds of Jewish communities perished too, their inhabitants slaughtered out of hatred and fear. It was a time of mass death and horror, too; and of scapegoating. Bad times for Jews then.

Rising death rates. Economies closing down. People forced to stay at home. The coronavirus is a health, social and economic emergency for every country where it hits. But in Europe it has also mutated very quickly into something else as well, and which, while it may not be quite so threatening in the short-term, could well do even more damage in the years ahead. A currency crisis. Over the last couple of weeks the eurozone has been engulfed by a furious argument over ‘coronabonds’ – a joint eurozone financial instrument that could raise money to help deal with the crisis.