Coronavirus news: Island travel corridors to replace country-wide quarantines, as UK cases soar by nearly 3,000 in 24 hours
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Your support makes all the difference.Matt Hancock denied the government was “losing control” of the coronavirus crisis, as the government launched a new ‘island corridor’ travel quarantine policy.
The health secretary admitted the sharp rise in daily cases to 2,988 on Sunday - the highest daily figure since late May - was “concerning” but said they were predominantly among younger people from affluent areas.
He made the comments before transport secretary Grant Shapps announced seven Greek islands would be added to England’s quarantine list from Wednesday. Meanwhile a school in Suffolk was forced to close after five teachers tested positive for Covid-19, while two others awaited their test results.
Primark has shrugged off the gloom casting a shadow over UK high streets after reporting better-than-expected sales since lockdown restrictions were eased in mid-June.
The budget clothing retailer's owner, Associated British Foods, said the number of people visiting its stores had risen and shoppers were spending “significantly” more than last year.
Primark's full-year profits are expected to come in at the top end of forecasts, between £300m and £350m, ABF said.
Business correspondent Ben Chapman has more on this story below:
Primark sales rise as shoppers return to UK high streets after lockdown
Shoppers buying more per trip than this time last year, says fast fashion retailer's owner Associated British Foods
Five teachers from the same school in Suffolk have tested positive for coronavirus, with two more waiting for their test results, reports Kate Ng.
The Samuel Ward Academy in Haverhill closed its doors as a “precautionary measure” today, in accordance with advice from Public Health England.
The school said it hoped to reopen on Tuesday and will notify parents by 5pm today. Headteacher Andy Hunter said the safety of staff and pupils at the school is his “biggest priority”.
Five teachers test positive for coronavirus in one school
Two more teachers await their Covid-19 test results as school shuts to enable contact tracing
India has overtaken Brazil to become the country with the second highest total number of coronavirus infections after the United States.
Some 90,802 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours on Monday, pushing India’s total to 4,204,614, surpassing Brazil, which has more than 4.1 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 6.2 million people in the US have been infected.
Samuel Osborne has more details on this below:
India overtakes Brazil with second-worst number of coronavirus cases in world
‘The urban areas are not slowing down and rural areas are picking up,’ expert says
300 urged to self-isolate as 28 test positive after charity football match
Up to 300 people who attended a charity football match in the north east of England are being asked to self-isolate after 28 people tested positive for coronavirus.
The event took place on 30 August at Burnside Working Men’s Club in Fencehouses, Houghton-le-Spring, near the border of Sunderland and Durham, the Sunderland Echo reports.
Both local authorities are now working together with Public Health England to manage the response.
They have urged anyone who attended the match to immediately self-isolate up until midnight on 13 September.
Rail firms to restore 90% of services
Train operators in England, Scotland and Wales are to resume more services from today, bringing services to about 90% of pre-lockdown levels as more schools reopen and the government encourages workers to return to offices.
Extra carriages will be added to some peak trains, particularly on services serving schools, although trains can only safely carry around half of their capacity due to social distancing requirements.
Staff will also be on hand to ensure social distancing among older children and explain the rules on face coverings.
Some of the remaining suspended services are not expected to resume until December, prompting unions to call for the full restoration of timetables amid concerns that schedules may end up being permanently cut.
My colleague Joanna Whitehead has the full story here:
Rail services restore 90 per cent of services as schools and office workers return
There will be extra capacity on busier services
Plan for 24-hour Covid ‘passes’
Matt Hancock suggested that mass testing could see people given a 24-hour Covid-free "pass" to enable them to get back into theatres and sporting events where they may need to be in close contact.
Speaking on LBC, the health secretary said: “That is the hope that we hold out for the nation, that we can get things going even if there isn't a vaccine, that we can use mass testing so people can check whether they have the virus today, if they don't then go and do things, even if it means being in close confinement.”
Rapid home-testing kits would be required before the idea could be brought in, he added.
Hancock said: "We need to use the next design of tests which don't require you to send the swab off to the lab and get the result back.
"There's a new technology that we're backing to get a test where you can have the turn around essentially on the spot and so you can imagine being able to go to something like the theatre, or a sports event, or to work, and you have the test, you get the result back and then they can go into the theatre.
"That is what we're working on, that is the hope, and I also hope that will allow us to have a merry Christmas."
Coronavirus cases confirmed at three schools in northeast
Covid-19 infections have been confirmed at three schools in northeast England.
The cases in Middlesbrough, Redcar and Hartlepool come after pupils at many English schools returned to classrooms for the first time since March.
Samuel Osborne reports:
Coronavirus cases confirmed at three schools in northeast
Middlesbrough added to government's Covid-19 watchlist as ‘area of concern’
Denmark bans gatherings of more than 50 people
The limit on public gatherings will be lowered to 50 people from 100 in Denmark's capital Copenhagen and in Odense, after a recent spike in number of Covid-19 infections, the country's health minister has announced.
England teenagers Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood could face disciplinary action after photos published in the Icelandic press appeared to show the duo with girls at their hotel, in breach of coronavirus protocols, Lawrence Ostlere reports.
Both Manchester City midfielder Foden and Manchester United forward Greenwood made their England debuts during Saturday’s 1-0 win over Iceland in the Nations League.
However neither player appeared for training on Monday morning following emergence of the images, which were published by Icelandic outlet DV.
England stars breach quarantine rules bringing girls into hotel rooms in Iceland
Neither player appeared for training on Monday morning
An expert has warned human trafficking into the UK could increase as criminals look to exploit those hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, PA reports.
Unseen UK chief executive Andrew Wallis said thousands of victims arrive in the country each year through traffickers, having been promised a chance to escape poverty or support their families back home financially.
But instead they find themselves at the mercy of criminal gangs who force them into illegal work to pay off inflated debts while threatening them with violence.
Coronavirus slump could trigger rise in human trafficking — expert
Risk of exploitation rises with post-coronavirus economic slump, group warns
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