UK coronavirus LIVE: Death toll rises by 10 as Boris Johnson calls getting all schools back ‘a moral duty’

Proposals on how to restrict non-essential travel from countries outside the UK and European Union are being prepared for the Irish Government, the Health Minister has said.

Stephen Donnelly said he is concerned about high rates of coronavirus in some places, and said options will be finalised “as soon as possible”.

The Health Minister said that the number of travel-related cases in Ireland remains small but added that the risk is increasing.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Donnelly said: “Many are asking about travel/tourists coming into Ireland from countries with high Covid rates.

“My Dept is preparing options for Gov on how to restrict non-essential travel from third countries (outside EU/UK) with high rates of Covid. Am concerned about high rates in some places

“These options will be finalised as soon as possible. While travel related cases here remain small, some countries are seeing a rapid rise in cases so the risk is increasing.

“Once proposals are finalised they will be presented to Gov for discussion.”

 Greece reported 203 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, its highest daily tally since the start of the outbreak in the country, a government official said.

The latest jump in cases brings the total number of infections in the country to 5,623 since its first infection surfaced in late February.

Government statistics say 1,062 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the 24 hours until 9 a,m. Sunday. The last time the number was over 1,000 was on June 26.

Britain has seen a gradual rise in coronavirus infections since it began lifting lockdown restrictions in mid-June. The government has put the next stage of reopening, which had been due to take effect Aug. 1, on hold for at least two weeks.

The number of patients hospitalised with the virus continues to decline, as does the daily number of deaths. Eight new COVID-19 fatalities were reported Sunday.

The UK’s official coronavirus death toll stands at 46,574, the highest in Europe.

Scotland’s education secretary is to address anger over exam results chaos, as he faces a no-confidence vote in the Scottish Parliament.

John Swinney said he will set out a series of steps to address the concerns on Tuesday, amid mounting criticism over the downgrading of pupils’ results.

With no exams sat this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Scottish Qualifications Authority applied a methodology that saw grades estimated by teachers downgraded.

Pass rates for pupils in the most deprived data zones were reduced by 15.2% in comparison with 6.9% for pupils from the most affluent backgrounds.

Scottish Labour will this week table a motion of no confidence in Mr Swinney, who is also the Deputy First Minister, which will be supported by the Scottish Conservatives.

Eight more deaths in UK 

The Government said 46,574 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, as of 5pm on Saturday, up by eight from the day before.

Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have now been 56,600 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

The Government also said that in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Sunday, there had been a further 1,062 lab-confirmed cases. Overall, a total of 310,825 cases have been confirmed.

Scotland’s under-fire Education Secretary to address exam results furore

Scotland’s education secretary is to address anger over exam results chaos, as he faces a no-confidence vote in the Scottish Parliament.

John Swinney said he will set out a series of steps to address the concerns on Tuesday, amid mounting criticism over the downgrading of pupils’ results.

With no exams sat this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Scottish Qualifications Authority applied a methodology that saw grades estimated by teachers downgraded.

Pass rates for pupils in the most deprived data zones were reduced by 15.2% in comparison with 6.9% for pupils from the most affluent backgrounds.

Scottish Labour will this week table a motion of no confidence in Mr Swinney, who is also the Deputy First Minister, which will be supported by the Scottish Conservatives.

Ahead of the vote, Mr Swinney said he had “heard the anger of students who feel their hard work has been taken away” and said he was “determined to address it”.

“These are unprecedented times and as we have said throughout this pandemic, we will not get everything right first time,” he said.

The confirmed number of coronavirus cases in the US has reached five million, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The number of cases is by far the highest in the world but health officials believe that for every reported case, there are roughly ten times as many people infected, given the limits on testing and the large number of mild infections that have gone unreported or unrecognised.

The bleak milestone was reached as new cases in the US stand at about 54,000-a-day. 

While that is down from a peak of more than 70,000 in the second half of July, cases are rising in nearly 20 states, and deaths are climbing in most. 

Scotland has recorded 48 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, as the number of positive tests nears 19,000, but no further people have died with the virus in the country.

It comes after 60 new cases were confirmed on Saturday, however there was no change in the number of people in intensive care (three) or in hospital (261).

As of Sunday there were 28,340 people tested for Covid-19 in the last week with 322 of those positive.

Overall a total of 394,455 people in Scotland have been tested with 18,998 positive, including 2,491 who have died.

The news means there were total of ten more deaths announced by UK regions on Sunday – all in England. Northern Ireland does not release updated figures on the weekend and Wales also reported no further deaths.

The regional figures differ from the daily death toll released by the Government later in the day, as that total includes deaths in all settings.

No further coronavirus deaths in Wales in past 24 hours

Public Health Wales said no further deaths have been recorded where people died after testing positive for Covid-19, so the total number of deaths in the country remains at 1,579.

The number of cases in Wales increased by 26, bringing the total confirmed to 17,451.

Ten more coronavirus hospital deaths recorded in England

A further 10 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals to 29,411, NHS England said on Sunday.

The patients were aged between 45 and 89 and all had known underlying health conditions.

Two deaths were reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.

The region with the highest number of deaths was the Midlands with four.

There were three deaths in the North East & Yorkshire, two in the East of England and one in London.

There were no deaths reported in the North West, where local lockdown measures in place in Greater Manchester and parts of east Lancashire were extended on Friday to include Preston.

Online platform developed for remote building inspections to help with social distancing amid pandemic

A new online platform has been developed which would allow remote building inspections to take place – helping construction projects take place safely while allowing for more social distancing. 

The six-month project at the University of Strathclyde uses state-of-the-art algorithms, virtual reality and image processing techniques to monitor the construction phase of buildings.

Researchers say using the technology will allow fewer defects to occur in the long term as well as improving productivity and quality.

The platform will create a 3D environment of a building and limit the need for quantity surveyors and health and safety inspectors to be physically on site – an issue that has arisen during the coronavirus pandemic.

Top scientific adviser urges Government to “ramp up” coronavirus test and trace before schools reopen, saying “we are not where we need to be”

Professor Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, who is advising the Government’s coronavirus response, said the “brief window” before schools reopen must be “used wisely” otherwise new restrictions will be needed.
 

He wrote in the Observer: “Most urgently, we need to ramp up testing. We are not where we need to be. We must improve contact tracing, so we’re identifying more cases and providing better, faster data locally.
 

“If we don’t, we may not be able to reopen schools without introducing new restrictions elsewhere. These are the trade-offs we face – if we do not act now.”

His call echoed comments made by Labour education secretary Kate Green, England children’s commissioner Anne Longfield and teachers unions to boost testing to help schools reopen safely in September. 

A meat processing plant in Ireland’s County Kildare is to remain closed for two weeks following a coronavirus outbreak last week.

O’Brien’s Fine Foods at Timahoe halted production last week after dozens of workers tested positive for coronavirus.

It was announced on Friday night that Kildare, along with counties Laois and Offaly, will face further lockdown restrictions for the next fortnight following a spate of cases.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said he believes meat plants affected by the outbreak should not reopen on Monday.

He told RTE it is his personal view that it would be inappropriate for these factories to operate while other people are asked to restrict their movements.

In a statement on Sunday morning, O’Briens Fine Foods said it wished to reaffirm that in line with public health guidance, normal operations at its Timahoe plant will not resume for the 14-day incubation period.

It stopped production on Wednesday night after a number of workers tested positive.

Shadow education secretary Kate Green has urged the Government to improve Test and Trace and help teachers make schools safe for a return in September.

The Labour MP told Times Radio: “I think it’s essential that schools open in September and that all pupils are expected to be back in the classrooms.

“I do think the Government could be doing more to support them [teachers] particularly, for example, making sure we’ve got a really robust Test and Trace system in place.

“The work is being done to make schools safe but more is needed to support those schools, they may need extra resources for example for extra clearing or to stagger the school day or to make sure children can travel to and fro safely.

“The Government has a window between now and the beginning of September to get that right and it absolutely must do so.

“It’s really, really important that we don’t write off a generation of Covid children – they need to be back in class, the whole of our futures depend on this.”

Children and teachers should not get regular coronavirus tests without symptoms, says minister

Schools minister Nick Gibb has said he did not support a call for pupils and teachers to receive regular testing even if they do not have coronavirus symptoms.

After children’s commissioner for England Anne Longfield called for the move, Mr Gibb told Times Radio: “The priority for the new 90-minute tests has to be the hospitals, the care homes, the laboratories.

“All the advice we’ve had is the measures that we’re putting place, the hierarchy of controls about hygiene and so on and bubbles within schools, is the most effective method of reducing the risk of transmission of the virus.”

Mr Johnson previously spoke about allowing a “brief staycation to creep into the agenda, if that’s possible”, when asked about plans for the summer.

Downing Street declined to comment. The House of Commons has been on recess since July 22 and will not sit again until September 1.

Saudi oil giant profits plunge, with oil price battered by global coronavirus crisis

Saudi Aramco’s net income plunged by 50 per cent in the first half of the year, according to company figures – revealing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on one of the world’s biggest oil producers.

Profits for the first six months of the year slumped to 23.2 billion dollars (£17.77 billion), half of last year’s 46.9 billion dollars (£35.9 billion) for the same time period.

The company’s half-year results were announced as Aramco’s second quarter earnings dipped to 6.6 billion dollars (£5.05 billion) compared with 24.7 billion dollars (£18.9 billion) during the same time last year, reflecting a staggering 73% drop.

The majority state-owned company’s financial health is crucial to Saudi Arabia’s stability.

Despite massive efforts by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the economy, Saudi Arabia still depends heavily on oil exports to fuel government spending.

The price of Brent crude oil hovers at just under 45 dollars a barrel, significantly less than before the pandemic but up from a low of around 21 dollars a barrel in April.

‘Get it fixed or go’, former first minister of Scotland tells Sturgeon and Swinney over exam results furore

A former first minister of Scotland has issued a stark warning to Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney over the exam results chaos, saying “get it fixed or go”.

Lord McConnell said the fiasco which saw 124,564 pupils’ results downgraded is “not good enough for Scotland”.

The system, produced by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and approved by the Scottish Government when this year’s exams were cancelled, saw 26.2% of grades changed during the moderation process based on criteria including schools’ historic performances.

Education Secretary Mr Swinney is now facing calls to resign, with Scottish Labour planning to table a motion of no confidence in him at Holyrood.

He was appointed education minister later that year, and said he “knew that I would have to resign if we did not succeed” in “fixing this mess” for the 2001 results.

Arts organisations urged to apply for first wave of £1.57bn Government grants to help restore UK ‘creative magic’

Arts organisations in England have been urged to apply for a share of £500 million from the Government’s support package for the cultural sector.

Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage said those who need help should “come forward” when applications for the first wave of the £1.57 billion funding package open on Monday.

Arts Council England will be accepting applications for up to £500 million in grants, while the British Film Institute will also be reviewing applications for its £30 million funding scheme for independent cinemas from Monday.

Grants of between £50,000 and £3 million will be distributed to arts organisations, while independent cinemas will be able to apply for grants of up to £200,000.

Eligible organisations including galleries, museums, theatres, music venues and independent cinemas will also have to show how they will be financially sustainable in the long term.

Ms Dinenage said: “We know how important our culture is to our nation’s success, wellbeing and confidence.

“It is this creative magic that for centuries has put our island on the world stage – from Dickens to Disclosure…

““I urge those that need help to come forward so we can help as many as possible get back to doing what you do best.”

Labour calls for support for shuttered firms to halt ‘jobs bonfire’

Labour is calling on the Government to halt a “jobs bonfire” by giving targeted assistance to industries and businesses still shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.

Shadow business minister Lucy Powell urged the Government to “urgently rethink their rigid approach”, which will see the furlough scheme end entirely in October.

“The unpredictable nature of this virus means that public health measures must be flexible and responsive, but it surely follows that economic measures must be the same,” the Labour MP said.

“It’s clearly illogical and unfair to prevent businesses from opening their doors, cutting them off from any income, and to cut their furlough lifeline at the same time.

“They’ve said they can’t save every job, but we’re seeing a jobs bonfire. They need to target their support at the hardest-hit sectors or be responsible for another wave of mass redundancies.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has so far resisted calls to keep the measure open for still-shuttered firms, including those hit by local lockdowns.