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Tuesday 30 June 2020 21:03
Follow all the latest updates on the Covid-19 pandemic
Non-essential shops have shut again in Leicester and schools will close to most pupils from Thursday after the government ordered the first local lockdown amid a rise in coronavirus cases.
The city will now not see the further easing of lockdown planned for the rest of England from Saturday, health secretary Matt Hancock said. Labour has demanded a No 10 press conference to explain the lockdown, following claims of delays in reacting to the emergence of new cases and a failure to communicate with local civic leaders.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), meanwhile has warned “the worst is yet to come” as “globally the pandemic is actually speeding up” despite many countries making some progress.
Still 36 parts of England where coronavirus cases increasing, statistics reveal
With a swathe of lockdown restrictions due to be lifted on ‘super Saturday’ this weekend, new statistics showed that there are still 36 parts of England where coronavirus cases have been increasing, political editor Andrew Woodcock reports.
Release from lockdown was put on hold in Leicester as authorities moved to damp down an upsurge infections which saw the Midlands city record 10 per cent of all positive cases in England in the past week.
Its infection rate of 135 cases per 100,000 over the seven-day period was three times higher than the next worst-affected city in the country.
But figures from Public Health England showed that other areas had also experienced increases in positive cases between the weeks of 13-19 June and 20-26 June.
Grand Central trains to begin ‘measured’ return to service
Train operator Grand Central has announced a “measured” return to service following a four-month period of hibernation during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The Yorkshire-based company is allowing passengers to book for its West Riding and North East routes from 26 July.
The firm, which operates from London King’s Cross to Yorkshire and the North East, went out of action in early April due to a collapse in demand caused by the pandemic.
It is one of a handful of Britain’s open access train companies which have not benefited from the Department for Transport’s package of support for franchised operators to keep their services running.
The business will resume with two daily return services between Bradford Interchange and King’s Cross and a further three daily return services between Sunderland and King’s Cross.
Drivers and operational staff will begin their return to work soon.
Airbus to cut 1,700 UK jobs as result of coronavirus crisis
Aerospace giant Airbus is planning to cut 1,700 jobs in the UK as a result of the coronavirus crisis, the company announced.
The news is a huge blow to its site at Broughton in north Wales, where wings are manufactured, and its other factory at Filton in Bristol.
The company is cutting 15,000 jobs across its global operations.
A company statement said: “Airbus has announced plans to adapt its global workforce and resize its commercial aircraft activity in response to the Covid-19 crisis.
“This adaptation is expected to result in a reduction of around 15,000 positions no later than summer 2021.
“The information and consultation process with social partners has begun with a view to reaching agreements for implementation starting in autumn 2020.”
US could reach 100,000 coronavirus cases a day, Fauci warns
Dr Anthony Fauci has said coronavirus cases could grow to 100,000 a day in the US if Americans do not start following public health recommendations.
The nation’s leading infectious disease expert made the remark at a Senate hearing on reopening schools and workplaces.
Asked to forecast the outcome of recent surges in some states, Dr Fauci said he cannot make an accurate prediction, but believes it will be “very disturbing”.
“We are now having forty-plus-thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, and so I am very concerned,” said Dr Fauci, infectious disease chief at the National Institutes of Health.
Dr Fauci said areas seeing recent outbreaks are putting the entire nation at risk, including areas that have made progress in reducing Covid-19 cases.
He cited recent video footage of people socialising in crowds, often without masks, and otherwise ignoring safety guidelines.
Scientists warn over expansion of coronavirus mega-labs
Expanding the number of mega-labs to test for coronavirus will worsen data-sharing problems which have plagued the UK’s testing programme, experts have warned, health correspondent Shaun Lintern reports.
The Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) said it was concerned to learn the government was considering setting up more Lighthouse Laboratories to create one in every NHS region.
It warned this would exacerbate existing problems with the sharing of patient information.
An in-depth investigation by The Independent revealed on Sunday the concerns over the government’s testing strategy had been too slow and cost lives by centralising testing in the labs, which had been hit with problems that meant they were not up and running until after the peak of the epidemic had passed.
Public health officials have complained they are still not getting access to patient data.
Britons have grown increasingly concerned about the government’s plans to ease coronavirus lockdown measures, a survey suggests.
Pubs, restaurants and hairdressers will be allowed to reopen from Saturday, along with a reduction in the two-metre social distancing rule to one metre.
Following Boris Johnson‘s announcement of the changes, a snap YouGov poll showed the public strongly supported the revival of such businesses.
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The European Union has lifted its travel ban on 14 countries but confirmed restrictions will continue for citizens of the US and other nations still struggling to contain their coronavirus outbreaks.
New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Japan all made the “safe list” after seeing a downward trend in the number of new cases.
Travellers from China will also be permitted if the government in Beijing agrees to a reciprocal arrangement.
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Barack Obama has reportedly criticised president Donald Trump‘s use of “kung flu” to describe the coronavirus.
Mr Trump, alongside other Republicans, has repeatedly referred to Covid-19 as “kung flu,” or “Wuhan flu,” during the pandemic, and both phrases have been criticised for blaming the virus on a single country and group of people.
Additionally, there are concerns that the phrase could lead to a rise of harassment and mistreatment of Asian Americans, according to NBC News.
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Can pubs show football when they reopen?
Pubs and bars will be allowed to show live sport on television when they reopen in England from 4 July, though many may choose not to do so as they attempt to adhere to government guidelines.
Boris Johnson announced last week that pubs would be able to open under regulations limiting contact between staff and customers to reduce the possibility of Covid-19’s resurgence.
However, they will be encouraged to keep noise at a minimum in order to discourage shouting, which is thought to increase the spread of the virus, so volume on the TV may be much lower than normal, or even turned off.
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Villages on the edge of Leicester’s lockdown have been left in “complete confusion” over which coronavirus restrictions now do and do not apply to them, residents, councillors and businesses have said.
Areas such as Narborough, Anstey and Thurnby are just outside the proposed controlled zone laid out by the government on Tuesday.
But, for many, being in the shadow — as well as the economic and social sphere — of the UK’s first ever citywide closure has raised just as many questions as it has for those bang in the middle.
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US infectious disease expert Dr Fauci has warned that the daily increase of new cases in the United States, currently around 40,000, could reach 100,000 if people do not adhere to social distancing guidelines and wear masks.
“I am very concerned because it could get very bad,” he said.
His remarks coincide with warnings by health officials that some Americans, particularly younger adults, have let down their guard since the end of mandatory lockdowns put in place in March and April to stop the pandemic.
British shirt shop T.M. Lewin will close all its stores and go online only, its restructurer has said, resulting in around 600 redundancies as the pandemic continues to hammer the high street.
The deal will see 66 stores close as the online business is sold to Torque Brands, an acquisiton arm of Stonebridge Private Equity, in a pre-pack administration.
“We are pleased to have been able to save the online business of this great British retail brand at a time when the High Street is experiencing such difficulties and many brands may disappear completely,” said Cameron Gunn, senior partner at restructuring firm ReSolve.
The United States cannot count on the availability of a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine, the government’s top infectious diseases expert has said, as he urged Americans to work together to fight the virus that is surging across large parts of the country.
California, Texas and many other states have reported record increases in new cases of the sometimes deadly illness caused by the novel coronavirus, leading to a sobering reassessment of U.S. efforts to contain the pandemic.
“It’s extremely important to have safe and effective vaccines available for everyone in this country,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a US Senate committee.
However he added that “there is no guarantee … we’ll have a safe and effective vaccine,” and urged Americans to come together to contain the virus.
The UK death toll from coronavirus has risen by 155 in 24 hours to 43,730, the government said on Tuesday.
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Countries, states and cities that relax restrictions too soon can be flooded with new Covid-19 cases, the World Health Organization’s regional director for the Americas, Carissa Etienne, warned in a virtual briefing from Washington.
In the United States, Washington state and New York are seeing very low numbers of new cases and deaths, but 27 other states are reporting exponential growth, she said.
The Americas region reported 5.1 million cases and more than 247,000 deaths due to COVID-19 as of June 29.
The UK has reported an increase in deaths of 155 in the last 24-hour period, according to department for health and social care figures.
Arizona governor Doug Ducey announced that the state has closed bars, gyms and movie theatres for 30 days, amid a rise in coronavirus cases.
The state has also shut down water parks that reopened in May, and Mr Ducey has imposed a limit of 50 people at gatherings both indoors and outdoors.
Arizona announced a record daily total of coronavirus cases on Sunday, with 3,800 people testing positive for Covid-19.
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EasyJet job losses as airline to close bases at Stansted, Southend and Newcastle
EasyJet wants to close three of its airport bases, Stansted, Newcastle and Southend, with the loss of hundreds of jobs.
The collapse in demand caused by the coronavirus crisis has led the budget airline to predict “levels of market demand seen in 2019 are not likely to be reached again until 2023”.
Shell takes $22bn coronavirus hit
Oil giant Shell has warned it will slash the value of its assets by up to $22bn (£17.9bn) after the coronavirus hit demand for fossil fuels.
In one of the clearest indicators yet of just how badly Covid-19 has ravaged the oil and gas industry, Britain’s largest company said it expected sales to plunge 40 per cent in the second quarter of this year due to a sharp drop in fuel prices that is expected to be prolonged.
‘Unusually high’ rate of infection among children in Leicester
There has been an “unusually high” rate of coronavirus infection children in Leicester, Matt Hancock has said.
The health secretary said the striking incidence of positive tests among under-18s was part of the reason the government decided the city’s schools had to close from Thursday.
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