Coronavirus news: Education secretary insists ‘no child should be out of school’ after government issues long-awaited guidance on pupils returning to classroom
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Your support makes all the difference.Schools have been given new guidance that says teachers should socially distance from one another and older pupils from September. Officials have also set out how mobile testing units will respond to outbreaks at schools.
Meanwhile, a coronavirus outbreak that forced the reimposition of lockdown conditions in Leicester has no obvious source, Public Health England has said. The embattled body suggested the spike could have been driven by community transmission.
In the US, officials recorded the country’s biggest-yet daily rise in Covid-19 infections with about 50,700 new cases on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University. Donald Trump said yesterday he hoped the virus would “sort of, just disappear”.
Holidays in Wales from 11 July
Tourists will be able to holiday in Wales two days earlier than previously announced, the Welsh Government has confirmed.
Providers of self-contained accommodation like cottages, bed and breakfasts and caravans will now be able to take bookings from Saturday July 11, subject to the continued fall in coronavirus cases.
On Thursday, Wales' minister for international relations Eluned Morgan said the change was prompted by the tourism industry wanting holidaymakers to be able to book from the weekend instead of at the start of the working week.
She told the Welsh Government's daily press briefing: "If the scientific and medical advice supports reopening, self-contained accommodation will be able to reopen from July 11.
"We've brought this forward from July 13 after discussing this further with the sector to enable them to take bookings from Saturday to Saturday."
Parents should 'control their teenagers' outside school
Deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries has urged parents to "control their teenagers" outside school to stop the spread of coronavirus.
She told the Downing Street press conference: "The original guidance recognised that the transmission risks were potentially more in the social behaviours of the teenagers - the older children out of school - than they potentially were in school.
"School is quite a controlled environment and perhaps trying to encourage families as well - I know it is difficult because I've been there - but to try and control their teenagers in their social interactions outside of school as well."
'Very little risk of catching coronavirus from pets', says WHO
There is 'very little risk' that pets can infect their owners with COVID-19, the chief scientist of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
Soumya Swaminathan, WHO chief scientist, told a Geneva news conference that felines, ferrets and "even tigers" have been infected with the disease.
"There is very little risk from domestic animals because there was some concern about domestic animals becoming a source of infection," she said.
USCDC reports daily rise of 54,357 cases
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported an increase of 54,357 in the 24 hour period leading up to 4pm on 1 July.
It brings the total number of confirmed cases to 2,679,230, while the death toll rose by 725 to 128,024.
UK travel quarantine 'blame game'
Plans to lift quarantine restrictions for travellers have become the focus of a blame game between the governments of Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, suggested in the Commons that the Scottish Government was delaying an announcement on air bridges between the UK and countries which will be exempt from the 14-day isolation period.
Sinn Fein VP urged to stand down over lockdown breach
The DUP has called on the vice president of Sinn Fein to stand down from her role as deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, as police investigate allegations that she and other politicians broke social distancing guidance during the funeral of an IRA veteran earlier this week.
Michelle O'Neill and other senior Sinn Fein politicians attended the funeral of Bobby Storey in west Belfast on Tuesday, which appeared to breach a lockdown rule limiting outdoor public gatherings to a maximum of 30 people.
France coronavirus outbreak still in decline
The number of deaths in France from the new coronavirus has risen by 14 from the previous day to 29,875, the country's health department said on Thursday.
The number of people in hospital fell by 188 to 8,148 and the number of people in intensive care units fell by nine to 573, with both numbers continuing weeks-long downtrends.
A further 659 cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 166,378.
Drinkers urged to respect new pub rules
Hospitality leaders and police chiefs have asked pub-goers to respect the new guidelines which will be in place when the industry reopens on Saturday, amid concerns that large-scale drinking could lead to disorder and to the flouting of social distancing rules.
The appeal, launched by the British Beer & Pub Association and the National Police Chiefs' Council among other partners, called on customers to treat pub landlords and staff well, enabling them to open pubs in a safe way.
Five more deaths in Ireland
Ireland has recorded 15 more cases of Covid-19 and five more deaths, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said.
He said there were low numbers in hospital and intensive care.
Professor Philip Nolan, chair of the National Public Health Emergency Team Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said: "We have noticed an increase in the number of cases towards the end of last week. It is a trend that NPHET will continue to monitor closely."
Meanwhile the Taoiseach said he was "cautious" about international travel after so much success in suppressing the virus.
"We have to be very careful that the next steps do not in any way undermine that progress."
Nearly 2,000 job cuts at Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia
More than 1,900 jobs are set to be cut as Casual Dining Group, which owns Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia, said it would close 91 of its restaurants after calling in administrators.
The company said that entering administration was in the best interest of stakeholders during the “extreme operating environment” it is having to trade through.
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