The UK and US governments are reportedly in talks to introduce an “air bridge“ between London and New York to enable travellers to sidestep quarantine.
Ministers are studying plans for regional air bridges that would enable business and other travellers to come to Britain from “low-risk” areas, such as New York City, within “red listed” countries, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Meanwhile, India has reported another single-day record of new coronavirus cases, reporting 75,760 new confirmed infections in the past 24 hours. The Health Ministry on Thursday also recorded 1,023 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 60,472.
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Boris Johnson has been accused of “throwing civil service leaders under a bus” to protect himself and his ministers, after he sacked the Department for Education’s top mandarin in the wake of the A-level exam grading fiasco, reports political editor Andrew Woodcock.
Permanent secretary Jonathan Slater became the latest in a long line of Whitehall figures to be ousted since Mr Johnson was re-elected in December with his top adviser Dominic Cummings intent on a fundamental shake-up of the civil service to centralise power in the hands of the prime minister and trusted allies.
Labour said parents would view with dismay the “complete chaos” at the heart of the government’s education operation just days before children in England and Wales return to school after five months’ absence due to lockdown.
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Permanent secretary Jonathan Slater became the latest in a long line of Whitehall figures to be ousted since Mr Johnson was re-elected in December with his top adviser Dominic Cummings intent on a fundamental shake-up of the civil service to centralise power in the hands of the prime minister and trusted allies.
Labour said parents would view with dismay the “complete chaos” at the heart of the government’s education operation just days before children in England and Wales return to school after five months’ absence due to lockdown.
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4,000 jobs cut from Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce has said about 4,000 jobs have already been cut since May under the biggest ever shake-up of its civil aerospace arm as the pandemic sent it plunging to a £5.4 billion loss.
The engine maker said its aerospace business had seen an "unprecedented" slump in activity due to the coronavirus crisis and expects demand for large engines to remain below 2019 levels until 2025.
Rolls-Royce has said about 4,000 jobs have already been cut since May under the biggest ever shake-up of its civil aerospace arm as the pandemic sent it plunging to a £5.4 billion loss.
The engine maker said its aerospace business had seen an "unprecedented" slump in activity due to the coronavirus crisis and expects demand for large engines to remain below 2019 levels until 2025.
Its mammoth half-year loss for the first six months of 2020 compares with losses of £791 million a year earlier.
Rolls announced in May that 9,000 jobs would be axed globally to adapt to plunging demand amid the pandemic - with at least 5,000 of those now expected to go by the end of 2020 across the UK, Germany, Singapore and other worldwide bases.
Thursday's front pages:
Hancock: Financial support offer will help address 'challenges' of Test and Trace
Health secretary Matt Hancock has said the additional financial support for those on lower incomes in local lockdown areas who are asked to self-isolate was about addressing some of the "challenges" with the NHS Test and Trace programme.
As of 1 September, people on either Universal Credit or Working Tax Credit who are required to self-isolate and are unable to work from home, in areas with high incidences of Covid-19, will benefit from a new payment scheme, receiving up to £180 in some cases.
Mr Hancock told Sky News: "The big picture is we have to make sure we get as many people as possible successfully going through that NHS Test and Trace system and one of the challenges that has come back on the ground is to get that figure even higher for people on low incomes to make sure they get extra support if they're going into self-isolation."
He denied that the development was evidence that Universal Credit was not enough to live on, arguing that "in fact the levels of Universal Credit were increased from the previous rates that were in place under the old system".
Health secretary Matt Hancock has said the additional financial support for those on lower incomes in local lockdown areas who are asked to self-isolate was about addressing some of the "challenges" with the NHS Test and Trace programme.
As of 1 September, people on either Universal Credit or Working Tax Credit who are required to self-isolate and are unable to work from home, in areas with high incidences of Covid-19, will benefit from a new payment scheme, receiving up to £180 in some cases.
Mr Hancock told Sky News: "The big picture is we have to make sure we get as many people as possible successfully going through that NHS Test and Trace system and one of the challenges that has come back on the ground is to get that figure even higher for people on low incomes to make sure they get extra support if they're going into self-isolation."
He denied that the development was evidence that Universal Credit was not enough to live on, arguing that "in fact the levels of Universal Credit were increased from the previous rates that were in place under the old system".
India reports record 75,000 new infections
India has reported another single-day record of new coronavirus cases, reporting 75,760 new confirmed infections in the past 24 hours.
The Health Ministry on Thursday also recorded 1,023 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 60,472.
India's previous highest daily count was 70,488 on 22 August. India has been recording more than 60,000 new infections per day for the last two weeks and now has reported 3.3 million cases since the pandemic began.
With an average of more than 800,000 tests every day, India has scaled up testing per million to more than 27,000, the ministry said.
It also said India's recovery rate is now around 76 per cent with a fatality rate of 1.84 per cent.
India has reported the third most cases in the world after the United States and Brazil, and its reported fatalities are the fourth-highest in the world.
India has reported another single-day record of new coronavirus cases, reporting 75,760 new confirmed infections in the past 24 hours.
The Health Ministry on Thursday also recorded 1,023 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 60,472.
India's previous highest daily count was 70,488 on 22 August. India has been recording more than 60,000 new infections per day for the last two weeks and now has reported 3.3 million cases since the pandemic began.
With an average of more than 800,000 tests every day, India has scaled up testing per million to more than 27,000, the ministry said.
It also said India's recovery rate is now around 76 per cent with a fatality rate of 1.84 per cent.
India has reported the third most cases in the world after the United States and Brazil, and its reported fatalities are the fourth-highest in the world.
Public distrust of China's offer for HK testing
A Chinese government offer to test all Hong Kong residents for Covid-19 is meeting scepticism from the city's medical community and public and is emerging as a politically charged issue ahead of the launch of the plan next week.
A 60-person mainland Chinese team will carry out tests and build temporary hospitals in the first direct help from Chinese health officials for the semi-autonomous city in its battle with the epidemic.
Some medical experts have cast doubt on the effectiveness and need for the tests, with some branding the exercise more of a political effort by Beijing to burnish its image rather than a medical necessity.
"We feel uncomfortable about the whole thing," said Arisina Ma, head of the Hong Kong Public Doctors Association, who said she and other senior doctors were not consulted on the plan.
"The government just pushed it without really enquiring what we need. They've put politics above all social issues and public interests."
The programme is due to begin on 1 September on a voluntary basis, with the volume of testing due to increase to 500,000 a day from about 12,000 now.
The programme is due to begin on 1 September on a voluntary basis, with the volume of testing due to increase to 500,000 a day from about 12,000 now.
People on low incomes asked to self-isolate because they or a contact have tested positive for coronavirus will be paid to stay at home, under plans announced by the government, reports policy correspondent Jon Stone.
The new means-tested benefit, which will only be paid to people in designated outbreak areas, is worth up to £182 for a 14-day isolation period and is being introduced with the aim of ensuring people can afford to miss out on work.
Local government leaders have previously warned that some people who need to self-isolate are avoiding doing so because they cannot afford to lose out on their wages and cannot work from home.
Announcing the measure, health secretary Matt Hancock said the new payment would “help people on low incomes and who are unable to work from home to continue playing their part in the national fight against this virus”.
Read more below:
The new means-tested benefit, which will only be paid to people in designated outbreak areas, is worth up to £182 for a 14-day isolation period and is being introduced with the aim of ensuring people can afford to miss out on work.
Local government leaders have previously warned that some people who need to self-isolate are avoiding doing so because they cannot afford to lose out on their wages and cannot work from home.
Announcing the measure, health secretary Matt Hancock said the new payment would “help people on low incomes and who are unable to work from home to continue playing their part in the national fight against this virus”.
Read more below:
Plans to introduce UK-US ‘air bridge’
The UK and US governments are reportedly in talks to introduce an “air bridge“ between London and New York to enable travellers to sidestep quarantine.
Ministers are studying plans for regional air bridges that would enable business and other travellers to come to Britain from “low-risk” areas, such as New York City, within “red listed” countries, according to The Daily Telegraph.
After being hit hard by Covid-19 at the start of the pandemic, New York has since has brought its seven-day infection rate down to just 7.2 cases per 100,000 - which is below England’s 11.3.
“There are discussions going on at a very senior level around opening up London and New York. They are at a very early stage but it is vital to get business going with a major trading partner especially as we near Brexit,” a source told The Daily Telegraph.
The UK and US governments are reportedly in talks to introduce an “air bridge“ between London and New York to enable travellers to sidestep quarantine.
Ministers are studying plans for regional air bridges that would enable business and other travellers to come to Britain from “low-risk” areas, such as New York City, within “red listed” countries, according to The Daily Telegraph.
After being hit hard by Covid-19 at the start of the pandemic, New York has since has brought its seven-day infection rate down to just 7.2 cases per 100,000 - which is below England’s 11.3.
“There are discussions going on at a very senior level around opening up London and New York. They are at a very early stage but it is vital to get business going with a major trading partner especially as we near Brexit,” a source told The Daily Telegraph.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. We'll be bringing you the latest news, analysis and updates throughout the day.
