A fresh government bailout for theatres could be on the cards. Given they are likely to remain unable to open for some time due to social distancing requirements, the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, said “other support” was being discussed. It comes as the West End producer Cameron Mackintosh announced he was delaying the return of shows including Hamilton and Les Mis to the West End and had started the redundancy process in the absence of any support, and 98 leading creatives signed a letter urging the government to issue emergency support for the creative sector, stressing it was “on the brink of ruin”. A Union Jack makeover for the prime minister’s RAF Voyager will cost the taxpayer at least £900,000. The project was ridiculed and condemned by opposition parties as a waste of public money in the midst of an unprecedented national crisis. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson’s official spokesman insisted the red, white and blue paint job provided “value for money” and that the rebranding would help promote the UK’s standing abroad. No 10 was unable to say when the NHS Covid-19 contact-tracing app would be ready for roll-out. The health and social care secretary, Matt Hancock, had initially said it would be ready this month, but the PM’s official spokesman today said he had no update on when the app would be made available to the public. The UK death toll surpassed 42,000 as another 184 fatalities were recorded. It brings the official total across all settings as tallied by the Department of Health and Social Care to 42,153. And the long-awaited return of the Premier League kicked off this evening. Aston Villa v Sheffield United got off to a powerful start, with a minute’s silence for all victims of the coronavirus pandemic and all 22 players and the referee taking the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement immediately after the whistle blew. You can follow updates on the second half over on our Premier League live blog. That’s it from us on the UK side. If you would like to continue following the Guardian’s coverage of the pandemic, head over to the global live blog for the worldwide picture.