Category Archives: UK news

Coronavirus live news: Iran in grip of ‘third wave’ of pandemic; Covid-related deaths in France on the rise

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New infections in Iran pass more than 3,000 a day again; deaths in France related to Covid-19 trend upwards for first time since lockdown

The US biotech company Moderna has announced that it expects to produce 20million doses of its experimental coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, Reuters reports.

The announcement, made in a filing with US securities regulators, comes after Moderna’s chief executive, Stephane Bancel, told Reuters on Thursday that the company plans to seek emergency authorisation for the vaccine’s use in high-risk groups if it proves even just 70% effective.

Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands, has said his government is preparing “regional” measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak, after the country registered 1,972 cases in the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.

Rutte said the Dutch situation was “worrying” after the country registered a record number of cases for the fourth consecutive day, with particular rises in major cities in the west of the country, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague.

At this rate, the number of infections would double every week and we absolutely cannot have that.

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Covid-19: UK test and trace ‘barely functional’ as 11 million face lockdown

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With local lockdowns set to spread, report shows 90% of tests failing to hit turnaround target

The coronavirus test and trace system was condemned as “barely functional” today as its tsar admitted that demand was up to four times capacity, while 90% of tests were failing to hit the 24-hour turnaround target.

The Guardian has seen documents showing tracers taking up to two weeks to contact friends, relatives and workmates of people diagnosed with Covid-19 – the entire length of the self-isolation period.

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Asylum seekers and lessons from history | Letters

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Paul Secher on the refugees housed in an army barracks on the outskirts of Sandwich in 1939, Rachel A Elliott on the judge who stopped the expulsion of 20 asylum seekers on a charter flight, and David Edwards Hulme on the origins of the boat name Speedwell

There is an interesting parallel to the proposal to house 400 asylum seekers in a disused army barracks in Folkestone, about which the local Conservative MP, Damian Collins, and district councillors have registered their protest with the home secretary (Former Kent barracks to house asylum seekers who arrived by boat, 15 September).

In the summer of 1939, some 4,000 refugees, also mainly men in their 20s and 30s (including my father and uncle), were housed in the derelict Kitchener Camp army barracks on the outskirts of nearby Sandwich. Similar objections were raised by some local politicians to the imminent arrival of so many foreigners, mainly from Germany and Austria. While the influx could have overwhelmed the small Kentish town with a population of just 3,500, they were largely welcomed – to the benefit of both the refugees and the local community.
Paul Secher
London

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Syrian teenage refugee homeless on Lesbos – despite having right to live in UK

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Labour urges Home Office to ‘right this wrong’ as Syrian teenager remains stranded in Greece despite legal right to join family

“When I saw the smoke coming I didn’t have the chance to get my backpack, I just ran. The fire was very close, I couldn’t save anything, I lost all my documents. I just escaped through the forest.”

Ahmed looks nervously around as he talks about the catastrophe he has just lived through: the fire that destroyed the Moria refugee camp in Lesbos. Around him people are going about their daily lives in the island capital Mytilene, drinking coffee and chatting in the sunshine. But today the Syrian teenager is focused on the basics of survival. “Do you know where I can buy clothes?” he asks. It has been a week since the fire and he only has what he is wearing.

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‘The battle is not over’: Hancock announces new Covid restrictions in north-east England – video

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Nearly 2 million people in north-east England will be banned from mixing with other families, under the strictest measures imposed since the country eased out of nationwide lockdown. The restrictions include a 10pm curfew on nightlife.

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, announced the measures following a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the north-east and amid growing concern about a UK-wide rise in cases. 'With winter on the horizon, we must prepare, bolster our defences and come together once again against this common foe,' he said. 

The rules will apply to people in Newcastle, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Gateshead, County Durham and Sunderland

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Boris Johnson not considering second national lockdown, says health minister – video

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Edward Argar denied the government is considering a two-week national lockdown, after a London-based former World Health Organization expert said the coronavirus infection rate could be nearing 38,000 a day. Argar said there was 'speculation in the press' that a new lockdown would be necessary to contain a rapid rise in infections, but said the prime minister did not want such tough measures to be reimposed nationally

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UK coronavirus live: minister dismisses claim PM preparing for new two-week national lockdown

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News updates: Edward Argar says Boris Johnson does not want a new national lockdown; Matt Hancock due to announce restrictions in north-east of England

Care providers in England will receive more than £500m extra funding to help reduce transmission of Covid-19 during the winter, the government has announced. As PA Media reports, the infection control fund will help pay staff full wages when they are self-isolating and ensure carers work in only one care home, reducing the risk of spreading the infection. The fund was set up in May but has now been extended until March 2021 and will offer the sector an extra £546m ahead of an anticipated second wave of the virus over the winter months.

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Coronavirus live news: infections surge in Czech Republic; India reports 97,894 new cases

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Czech Republic records 2,139 new cases; India reports world record one-day cases; Trump appointee to take leave after rant likening CDC scientists to ‘resistance’

The global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic may take as much as five years, the World Bank’s chief economist Carmen Reinhart has said.

“There will probably be a quick rebound as all the restriction measures linked to lockdowns are lifted, but a full recovery will take as much as five years,” Reinhart said in a speech during a conference held in Madrid.

The Czech Republic has reported more than 2,000 new Covid cases in a single day for the first time as it battles a surge in infections that is among the fastest in Europe.

The health ministry recorded 2,139 cases of the new coronavirus on Wednesday, up from a previous record of 1,675 reported the previous day, Reuters reports.

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‘Off the charts’: Ireland’s contact tracers face return of sleepless nights

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Tracers express their fears as infected people reveal multiple close contacts in multiple locations

In the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, Ireland’s contact tracers often made calls to people who were very sick, with some struggling to breathe.

“In a lot of cases people were suffering extreme physical distress,” said Eamonn Gormley, a tracer at University College Dublin. “One person collapsed on the floor and we could hear them gasping for air. You got questions like: ‘Am I going to die?’ Some nights I had trouble sleeping.”

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Device to curb microplastic emissions wins James Dyson award

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Tyre attachment designed by four students aims to reduce road transport pollution

A device that captures microplastic particles from tyres as they are emitted – and could help reduce the devastating pollution they cause – has won its designers a James Dyson award.

The Tyre Collective, a group of masters students from Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art, scooped the UK prize of the international competition with their solution for the growing environmental scourge of tyre wear caused by road transport.

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UK awards border contract to firm criticised over role in US deportations

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Exclusive: tech firm Palantir has come under fire for links to Trump’s drive to eject migrants

The government has awarded oversight of the UK’s post-Brexit border and customs data to Palantir, an American tech firm notorious for assisting the Trump administration’s drive to deport migrants from the US.

Palantir, whose co-founder Peter Thiel has been a vocal supporter of Trump, was formally awarded a contract last week to manage the data analytics and architecture of the UK’s new “border flow tool”, which will collate data on the transit of goods and customs from 31 December, according to a Cabinet Office document seen by the Guardian.

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UK judge halts Home Office flight to remove asylum seekers

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Lawyers argue group of up to 20 people will be left destitute in Spain if deported

A senior high court judge has halted a charter flight hours before up to 20 asylum seekers who crossed the Channel to the UK in small boats were due to be forcibly removed to Spain, a country they had previously passed through.

The judge, Sir Duncan Ouseley, ordered the flight to be grounded because of concerns that the asylum seekers due to fly might be left destitute in the streets of Madrid, as happened to another group earlier this month.

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UK coronavirus live: Boris Johnson admits there is not enough testing capacity; 3,991 new cases recorded

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PM says testing capacity will be 500,000 per day by end of October; close to 4,000 lab-confirmed new cases reported in UK

Scotland’s children’s commissioner has called for “clear and direct communication to children and families” from the Scottish government, amidst growing concerns that the rule of six impacts disproportionately on poorer children.

Parents have asked why it is that both grouse shooting and fox hunting can continue under the new restrictions, while it is against the law for children from more than two families to play together indoors or out, resulting in an effective ban on home-organised birthday parties and limits on free play in parks, as well as excluding those who can’t afford paid-for group activities.

Public health is the first priority, and we need the public to have confidence that the rules are fair ... The fact is, current regulations mean children can only invite all their friends to celebrate their birthday if their parents can afford to pay someone else to organise it.

A children’s rights impact assessment is essential in demonstrating the legitimacy of decision-making and should be a part of any significant policy changes, along with clear and direct communication to children and families so the legitimate reasons for the restrictions are widely understood.

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Bugs in NHS website add to UK’s Covid-19 testing crisis

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Many users report errors that prevent them booking a test or being told tests aren’t available

The NHS website used to book coronavirus tests is struggling to cope with the number of requests, adding yet more problems to the government’s troubled test-and-trace scheme.

Britons who attempt to book a test for Covid-19 online are directed – once they have passed screening questions to ensure they are entitled to the testing – to a purpose-built website where they can theoretically book either a home test kit or a walk-through or drive-through test. However, in practice, an increasing number of users are reporting errors on the site itself, which prevent them from even attempting to book a test.

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Dark hair was common among Vikings, genetic study confirms

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Research reveals Vikings were genetically diverse group and not purely Scandinavian

They may have had a reputation for trade, braids and fearsome raids, but the Vikings were far from a single group of flaxen-haired, sea-faring Scandinavians.

A genetic study of Viking-age human remains has not only confirmed that Vikings from different parts of Scandinavia set sail for different parts of the world, but has revealed that dark hair was more common among Vikings than Danes today.

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UK repatriates child orphaned in Syria after Isis collapse

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Child is thought to be first to have returned from the country since November

A British child left orphaned by the collapse of the Islamic State caliphate has been repatriated from Syria, the Foreign Office has said.

The child is understood to be the first to have returned to the UK from Syria since November, when a small number of other unaccompanied British children were repatriated.

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‘Confounding’: Covid may have already peaked in many African countries

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One explanation for virus not behaving as expected could be previous exposure to other infections, experts tell MPs

The coronavirus pandemic has peaked earlier than expected in many African countries, confounding early predictions, experts have told MPs.

Scientists do not yet know why, but one hypothesis is the possibility of people having pre-existing immunity to Covid-19, caused by exposure to other infections.

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Biden and Pelosi warn UK over risking Good Friday agreement

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Leading Democrats tell UK foreign secretary that Northern Ireland peace deal cannot be casualty of Brexit

Joe Biden on Wednesday joined the clamour of Democrats warning Boris Johnson not to let the Northern Ireland Good Friday agreement become a casualty of his Brexit talks.

The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, is in Washington trying to repair relations with pro-Irish Democrats amid concerns that the UK’s attempt to leave the EU on its own terms will undermine the Good Friday peace agreement.

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Coronavirus live news: Trump says Covid-19 will ‘go away’ because of ‘herd mentality’

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‘It would go away without the vaccine,’ Trump says on ABC town hall. India’s total cases pass 5 million; Virus death toll linked to Maine wedding grows to 7; Follow the latest updates

Me, traveling abroad 10 minutes after getting the vaccine: pic.twitter.com/xe2odYxXBT

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said a vaccine against the deadly coronavirus could be three or four weeks away, underscoring predictions made by US public health officials and Pfizer Inc earlier this month, Reuters reports.

Trump, speaking at a town hall hosted by ABC News in Philadelphia, defended his handling of the coronavirus crisis, and said a vaccine could be ready for distribution soon.

“We’re very close to having a vaccine,” he said. “If you want to know the truth, the previous administration would have taken perhaps years to have a vaccine because of the FDA and all the approvals. And we’re within weeks of getting it you know could be three weeks, four weeks.”

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