Category Archives: England

Delaying England’s Covid reopening ‘could keep thousands out of hospital’

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Research backs four-week delay on lifting restrictions to allow more people to get jabs

Ministers have been told that a four-week delay to easing all Covid restrictions would probably prevent thousands of hospitalisations, as Boris Johnson prepares to tell the English public they will have to wait up to another month for “freedom day”.

The government roadmap out of lockdown earmarks 21 June for the last remaining coronavirus restrictions to be lifted in England, but the prime minister is expected to announce on Monday that the timetable will be pushed back by two to four weeks amid a rapid rise in cases of the Delta variant first detected in India.

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Local hero Raheem Sterling gets England off to winning start at Euro 2020

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  • Manchester City forward grew up near Wembley Stadium
  • England win opening Euros match for the first time

Raheem Sterling grew up so close to Wembley Stadium that he describes it as his “back garden”. On Sunday afternoon, under blazing sunshine and in front of a crowd that got decisively behind Gareth Southgate’s team, it was the local lad who made the difference to set the Three Lions off and running at Euro 2020.

The 26-year-old forward scored the only goal of the match to beat Croatia, England’s semi-final conquerors at the last World Cup, 1-0 in Group D. It was the first time England had won their opening fixture at a European Championship finals and the first goal Sterling had scored at a major tournament.

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Euro 2020: split loyalties as UK bars put up the bunting for Croatian fans

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Despite Covid restrictions, pubs are getting ready for supporters to see their team take on England

Ed Thomas has never shown the European Championships in his bar, but this time he’s hung up the bunting and will watch his team play their first Euro 2020 opening match with muted glee.

But who to support in today’s England v Croatia game, a “rematch” of the 2018 World Cup semi-final? For Thomas is half-Croatian and half-English.

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Lifting restrictions in England on 21 June: what are the alternatives?

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As doubt grows that government will end Covid controls on planned date, we look at the other options

Downing Street is due to announce its decision on the next stage of Covid reopening in England by Monday, a week ahead of 21 June, which was set as the earliest date to bring in what is officially stage four of the Covid unlocking process. The original aim was to remove “all legal limits on social contact”, allowing the reopening of remaining businesses such as nightclubs. Public health is a devolved matter, meaning Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do not have the same deadline. Here are some possible options for England. They are not exclusive, meaning several could be used at the same time.

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Solar eclipse 2021: spectacle to be visible across UK and Ireland

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Skygazers – with appropriate eye protection – will be able to see much of sun being obscured from 10.08am

Views of a partial solar eclipse will be “somewhat fleeting” across certain parts of the UK due to cloudy skies, forecasters have said.

But those in central and south-east England will have clear spells to witness the spectacle, according to the Met Office. On Thursday morning, skygazers will be able to see nearly a third of the sun being blocked out by the moon in what is known as an annular eclipse.

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Covid distancing may have weakened children’s immune system, experts say

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End of social distancing and mask-wearing could leave children vulnerable to common bugs

Scientists are concerned that measures to combat Covid-19 have weakened the immune systems of young children who have not been able to build up resistance to common bugs, leaving them vulnerable when mask-wearing and social distancing eventually end.

Contact with viral pathogens happens on a fairly regular basis and although it does not always lead to sickness, the exposure helps shore the immune system against the threat should the bugs be encountered again.

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What could a delay to the 21 June lockdown easing mean for England?

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Analysis: with ministers said to be considering England’s 21 June easing, how delay could affect vaccinations and virus spread

Ministers are said to be considering delaying the easing of lockdown in England on 21 June for somewhere between two weeks and a month. We look at what a delay could mean, and how long it may need to last.

Why delay?

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‘It’s a lifeline’: Cumbrian villagers raise £200,000 to save last shop

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Kirkoswald residents to reopen last remaining store as a community business run by volunteers

The village high street in Kirkoswald, Cumbria, was once home to shops including a butcher’s, a greengrocer’s and a shoe shop. Now just one remains: a small convenience store that has became the hub of village life during the pandemic.

After its owner, the local philanthropist David Hodgkiss, died of Covid in March last year, the shop was put up for sale and was destined for closure until residents stepped in. In just six weeks they have raised nearly £200,000 to purchase and run the shop as a community business, and hope the doors could reopen in just a few weeks, staffed by volunteers from the local area.

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Shackled skeleton identified as rare evidence of slavery in Roman Britain

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‘Internationally significant’ discovery of male with burial chains in Rutland is first of its kind

His ankles secured with heavy, locked iron fetters, the enslaved man appears to have been thrown in a ditch – a final act of indignity in death.

Now the discovery of the shackled male skeleton by workers in Rutland – thought to have been aged in his late 20s or early 30s – has been identified as rare and important evidence of slavery in Roman Britain and “an internationally significant find”.

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Doubts over England’s 21 June lockdown easing as delay plans drawn up

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Lifting of Covid measures reportedly could be put back to 5 July, as adviser says reopening this month ‘foolish’

The planned scrapping of remaining restrictions in England on 21 June has been thrown into doubt with reports that the government is looking at contingency plans including a two-week delay to allow more adults to be fully vaccinated.

The Telegraph and the Financial Times reported on Saturday that civil servants were drawing up contingency plans to delay the easing lockdown restrictions by two weeks, possibly to 5 July.

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Boris Johnson on lifting Covid restrictions in England: ‘The data is ambiguous’ – video

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Boris Johnson has said there are currently no clear signals that he needs to scrap or delay plans to lift all remaining restrictions on social contact in England on 21 June, but he added that data on how effective vaccines would be at preventing a third wave was ambiguous.

Despite calls from some scientists for the government to push back the planned final stage of unlocking, the prime minister suggested he saw no reason yet to deviate from the roadmap

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If India variant starts a third wave, England’s Covid rules may have to stay

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Analysis: hopes of restrictions ending on 21 June are dwindling as highly transmissible variant spreads

Heralded as “freedom day”, 21 June has been a date circled in the diary by businesses, families and communities alike – a moment when coronavirus restrictions in England are expected to finally end, hopefully in a blaze of summer sunshine.

But new data has revealed that the variant of concern first detected in India, known as B.1.617.2, has continued to spread across England, with samples containing the variant now found from Cornwall to Canterbury, Bury to Bromley.

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Third wave of Covid may be under way in UK, scientists say

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With new infections at level last seen in March, experts have cautioned against lifting restrictions too soon

Scientists have warned ministers that a third wave of coronavirus may have already begun in Britain, casting doubt on plans in England to lift all lockdown restrictions in three weeks’ time.

Experts cautioned that any rise in coronavirus hospital admissions could leave the NHS struggling to cope as it battles to clear the huge backlog in non-Covid cases.

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Covid in England: what is the impact of lifting restrictions on 21 June?

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From face masks to working from home, we examine what the government may risk ditching

From face masks to the rule of six, we’ve got used to Covid restrictions over the past 14 months. But next week the government in England is expected to unveil its review of social distancing rules, ahead of the potential full unlocking of society on 21 June. Although it’s unlikely that recommendations on handwashing and ventilation will be dropped, others, such as restrictions on household mixing or the 1-metre-plus rule, could be lifted.

Doing so would help the hospitality and travel industries, allowing pubs, restaurants and other indoor venues to increase their capacity, and more people to travel abroad for work or holidays. However, with coronavirus resurfacing in some areas of the UK, and the rise of new variants, some have questioned whether this is a good idea.

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Councils in Covid hotspots criticise advice to ‘minimise’ travel

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Local leaders say latest guidance – updated following criticism – was not what was agreed at meeting on Tuesday

Ministers are facing fresh opposition from local authorities over updated travel advice urging people to minimise travel to areas with higher coronavirus cases.

The government revised its official guidance on Tuesday following criticism that it had introduced a lockdown “by stealth” by urging people to avoid all but essential travel to eight Covid hotspots in England.

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Up to 8,700 patients died after catching Covid in English hospitals

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Exclusive: official NHS data reveals 32,307 people contracted the virus while in hospital since March 2020

Up to 8,700 patients died after catching Covid-19 while in hospital being treated for another medical problem, according to official NHS data obtained by the Guardian.

The figures, which were provided by the hospitals themselves, were described as “horrifying” by relatives of those who died.

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Local lockdowns possible in England if Covid rates rise, says minister

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George Eustice says ‘intensive surveillance’ taking place in areas to determine if restrictions can be lifted on 21 June

Local lockdowns remain a possibility in some parts of England, as “intensive surveillance” continues in areas with high coronavirus rates, a cabinet minister has said.

The environment secretary, George Eustice, told Times Radio there was a “clear roadmap out of lockdown” with a decision due within weeks on whether the last stage of lifting of restrictions can go ahead on 21 June.

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Fred West: police find ‘possible evidence’ that body of girl is buried in Gloucester cafe

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Excavation work will go ahead where missing 15-year-old Mary Bastholm worked, police have said

Excavation work will go ahead in a cafe in Gloucester where missing 15-year-old Mary Bastholm worked and the serial killer Fred West was a customer, after “possible evidence” to suggest a body could be buried there, police have said.

Forensic archaeologists have been undertaking exploratory work at the Clean Plate cafe in Southgate Street in connection with the disappearance of the girl who was last seen alive in January 1968.

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India variant will be dominant UK Covid strain ‘in next few days’

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Scientists’ warning comes as government comes under pressure to explain border policy

The Covid variant first detected in India is set to be the dominant strain in the UK within days, experts have said, with the government and health teams struggling to contain cases, which have risen by more than 75% since Thursday.

With the rapid spread of the more transmissible B.1.617.2 variant threatening to reverse moves to ease lockdown, the government faced intense pressure to more fully explain the delay in adding India to the so-called red list of countries.

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Caution and confusion mark PM’s approach to lifting Covid lockdown

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Analysis: loosening of measures in England and Wales hedged with contradictory advice – but Boris Johnson sticks to plans

On what should have been a day of celebration, cabinet ministers have come across distinctly uneasy at the latest phase of the lifting of lockdown in England, Wales and parts of Scotland, which allows the reopening of indoor hospitality, hugging, overnight stays with other households and foreign travel.

Related: 17 May reopening: how Covid measures across Britain are changing

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