Boris Johnson's right hand man Dominic Cummings has been urged to resign after apparently breaching lockdown while infected with Covid-19. The aide is reported to have travelled to stay with his parents in Durham after the Boris Johnson fell ill.
People arriving in the UK from overseas face spot checks and £1,000 fines if they fail to self-isolate under a quarantine order intended to stem the spread of Covid-19.
The home secretary Priti Patel will use Friday’s daily Downing Street to outline the plans – to be introduced in early June – despite an outcry from the travel industry.
Meanwhile, a group of independent scientists have warned 1 June – the date the government has earmarked for schools to begin reopening – is “too early” for pupils to return to classrooms safely.
UK to confirm 14-day quarantine order for overseas arrivals
Priti Patel is to reveal details of the UK’s first mandatory quarantine order this afternoon.
The home secretary will use the No 10 daily briefing to confirm that from early June – possibly as early as the first of the month – travellers arriving by air, sea or rail must self-isolate at home for 14 days.
The rule applies to returning holidaymakers as well as foreign visitors to the UK. Journeys within the Common Travel Area, covering the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, will be exempt.
Essential professions, including truck drivers, government officials and medical staff travelling for work, will also escape the obligation to go home and stay there for two weeks. International transit passengers arriving at Heathrow airport are exempt.
The Independent's Simon Calder has all the details here:
Starmer warns of 'hidden cost' on mental health
Keir Starmer has called for a boost to mental health services to help the UK respond to “the hidden cost” of the coronavirus pandemic in trauma, fear and uncertainty.
Writing in The Independent, the Labour leader warned of the “long-term effects” that will be felt by key workers on the frontline of the battle against Covid-19 in hospitals and care homes, as well as by those who have lost loved ones or forced by lockdown to live in isolation.
In a message to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, he said Britain must capitalise on the spirit of national solidarity forged during the outbreak to construct “a better future built on fairness”.
He called on the government to “step up” with immediate help for those at risk now as well as a commitment to build true parity between mental and physical health into the UK’s healthcare system.
Read his piece here:
Passengers face £1,000 fines if they fail to self-isolate
International travellers could face spot checks and £1,000 fines if they fail to self-isolate for 14 days as part of measures to enforce the quarantine order to be announced by Priti Patel later.
People who arrive at airports, sea ports and international rail stations will be asked to fill in a form with their contact information, and health officials will perform spot checks to ensure compliance with the measures.
The quarantine order is certain to anger parts of the travel sector, with Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary earlier this week branding the plan "idiotic" and "unimplementable" and trade body Airlines UK warning it would "would effectively kill" international travel to and from Britain.
The boss of Heathrow airport yesterday warned quarantine "can’t be a solution for more than a few weeks" or the coronavirus pandemic would become an "unemployment epidemic".
The Independent's Simon Calder reports that when quarantine comes up for review, just three weeks after its introduction, so-called air-bridge arrangements - in which certain nations sign mutual quarantine-free deals with the UK - may be used to justify lifting the 14-day obligation for arrivals from the most popular holiday destinations.
Government borrowing reached record £62bn in April
UK government borrowing surged to £62.1 billion to April - the highest figure for any month on record - after heavy spending in the face of coronavirus, according to new figures.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector borrowing - excluding banks owned by the state - was £51.1 billion higher than the same month last year.
The figure is significantly higher than analysts had predicted, with a consensus of economists predicting £30.7 billion for the month.
Meanwhile, borrowing by the state in March 2020 has been revised up by £11.7 billion to £14.7 billion by the ONS.
It said this was driven by a reduction in previous estimates of tax receipts and National Insurance contributions.
It comes after Chancellor Rishi Sunak stepped up financial support for businesses and employees after vast areas of the economy were forced to halt due to the coronavirus lockdown.
As a result of the jump in borrowing, public sector debt rose to £1,887.6 billion at the end of April - £118.4 billion higher than April 2019.
Leading care home provider calls for weekly testing
Weekly testing of all residents and staff is needed to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak in care homes, the head of one of the UK's largest care providers said.
Sam Monaghan, chief executive of MHA, warned asymptomatic cases meant the virus could spread without being noticed.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "What we're saying is either once a week or once a fortnight. Some of the research that
seems to have been done would suggest that weekly would be the most effective way."
He added: "Just two weeks ago we had a home where there had been no infections throughout the whole of the pandemic. We had a case develop in one of our residents, they started to show symptoms, they were tested and found to be positive.
"None of the residents had been in or out of hospital, there was no other way that it could have come in and yet none of the staff were presenting any symptoms and at that point it was before the whole home-testing procedure was in.
"There was a real reluctance to test staff, they were going to test the residents but they were not going to test the staff. But that was the most highly likely way the infection could have come into the home."
But the government's testing chief, who also appeared on the programme, said there were no plans to carry out weekly testing.
Public Health England's Professor John Newton, who is leading the government's Covid-19 testing response, said: "We are rolling out testing to everybody in care homes and the value of that is to understand how the infection has spread.
"It's a very dynamic infection, the numbers are in fact falling. So before you decide whether you need to test every member of staff every week, we need to understand how the infection has spread already.
"We need to know how to protect people best, how to support care homes and that information is still coming in and I think it would be premature to decide exactly what is required now."
UK quarantine order 'has no basis in science'
Scientists and opposition MPs have cast doubt on the need for the self-isolation order which Priti Patel will impose on overseas travellers later today.
Professor John Edmunds, who sits on the Sage panel advising the government on the UK's coronavirus response, told LBC this morning that "people coming into the country are unlikely to cause much of a problem at the moment" because there is already a high number of Covid-19 cases in the UK.
He said the strategy could prove useful if infections were at a "much lower" rate.
Those comments chime with the stance of the World Health Organisation, which said in February that measures which "significantly interfere" with international travel "may only be justified at the beginning of an outbreak".
Labour MP Ben Bradshaw expressed similar scepticism in far stronger words, tweeting that "the most useless Home Secretary in history is about to announce a quarantine with no basis in science ... all because it's 'eye-catching'". He urged Patel to publish the scientific advice on which the move is based.
Government 'too much on the back foot' throughout crisis, says Nobel Prize-winning scientist
A leading scientist has said the UK government has been "too much on the back foot" during the Covid-19 outbreak and must learn from the mistakes it has made in the crisis.
Sir Paul Nurse, chief executive of the Francis Crick Institute, told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme a lack of testing had made hospitals "potentially unsafe places to be".
He said: "For a long time it has been clear that people without symptoms can be infected and therefore be infectious to other people.
"And yet in the hospitals and in the care homes we haven't been testing such people."
The Nobel Prize-winning scientist added: "I get a sense the UK has been rather too much on the back foot, increasingly playing catch-up, firefighting us through successive crises."
Sir Paul warned that "everybody involved - not just the politicians, the scientists and the doctors" was making mistakes.
He said: "The question I keep asking myself is: Do we have a proper government system in here that can combine tentative knowledge, scientific knowledge, with political action?
"And the question I'm constantly asking myself is: Who is actually in charge of the decisions? Who is developing the strategy and the operation and implementation of that strategy?
"Is it ministers? Is it Public Health England? The National Health Service? The Office for Life Scientists, Sage? I don't know, but more importantly, do they know?"
Responding to the comments, Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis said: "I just wouldn't agree with that.
"I think what we have seen through this actually is we as a Government have been very clear with people, very transparent with people.
"The prime minister himself has been very clear - the prime minister ultimately is responsible.
"We do follow the best advice that is out there from both the scientific advisers, our chief medical advisers and the teams there but ultimately it is the ministers who make decisions."
Researchers have begun recruiting volunteers for the next two phases of clinical trials they hope could result in a coronavirus vaccine this year.
Work began in January on the vaccine, which uses a virus taken from chimpanzees and has been developed by the University of Oxford's Jenner Institute and the Oxford Vaccine Group.
The first phase of trialling involved 160 healthy volunteers between 18 and 55.
Scientists want to recruit up to 10,260 people across the country for phases II and III, which involve vastly increasing the number of volunteers and expanding the age range to include older adults and children.
Professor Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said: "The clinical studies are progressing very well and we are now initiating studies to evaluate how well the vaccine induces immune responses in older adults, and to test whether it can provide protection in the wider population.
Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the Jenner Institute, said: "We have had a lot of interest already from people over the age of 55 years who were not eligible to take part in the phase I study, and we will now be able to include older age groups to continue the vaccine assessment.
"We will also be including more study sites, in different parts of the country."
Pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, which has signed a deal to manufacture the vaccine, said this week it had the capacity to make one billion doses and could potentially begin supply in September.
Independent podcast: how to grow your own fruit and veg
For those of us lucky enough to have garden, lockdown presents a good opportunity to start rearing your own fruit and veg at home.
On the latest episode of The Independent Coronavirus Podcast, executive editor Chloe Hubbard is joined by food writer Julia Platt Leonard and sub-editor (and resident horticulturist) Emily Clark to discuss how to care for your crops.
Even with limited space you can optimise on the good weather and extra time by getting some fresh produce growing in your home or garden.
What is best for small, medium and large spaces? Is there a 'perfect' soil? What is the ethical way to deal with a slug? And will I remember to keep watering my tomato plants?
Listen here to here for answers to those questions (except the last one) and more.
Abta condemns quarantine policy
Abta, the trade body for UK tour operators and travel agents, is the latest industry organisation to condemn the government's plan to order travellers to self-isolate for two weeks upon arrival from overseas.
A spokesperson said: “Abta has been clear that measures that limit travel will have a damaging impact on the UK inbound and outbound tourism industry.
“Quarantine measures or other proposals for exiting the current lockdown must be part of a wider strategy, which is regularly reviewed, including consideration of the Foreign Office's travel advice, and based on scientific advice to protect public health.
"We look forward to seeing full details of the quarantine proposal.
"There will be pent-up demand for holidays which for many of us are an important part of our lives, and it would be helpful if the government could indicate its criteria for the transition from the current FCO advice against non-essential global travel to the re-opening of travel to destinations.”
Coronavirus threatens survival of EU, says Soros
George Soros, the billionaire financier, was warned cornavirus poses an existential threat to the European Union unless the bloc issues perpetual bonds or "consuls" to help weak members such as Italy.
"If the EU is unable to consider it now, it may not be able to survive the challenges it currently confronts," he said, according to a transcript of a question-and-answer session emailed to reporters.
He added this was not just a "theoretical possibility; it may be the tragic reality".
Soros said the EU would have to maintain its AAA credit rating to issue such debt - and therefore have to have tax-raising powers to cover the cost of the bonds - so suggested it could simply authorise the taxes rather than imposing them.
India reports 6,000 new cases in largest single-day spike
India has reported 6,088 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the county's largest spike in a single day.
The increase takes the total number of confirmed infections in India to 118,447, the eleventh highest in the world.
Maharashtra remains the country's worst-affected state with more than 41,000 cases and reported more than 2,000 new infections for the fourth straight day. The number of fatalities in the state rose to 1,454, the highest in India.
The nationwide surge comes ahead of the "calibrated" re-opening of domestic flights from Monday.
Not possible to predict when vaccine will be ready, scientist warns
A UK scientist leading the development of a coronavirus vaccine has cautioned it is "not possible to predict" when it will be ready for the wider population.
But Professor Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, warned it was "very difficult" to know when scientists will have proof that the candidate is effective.
During an appearance on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, Prof Pollard was asked what the chances were of having a proven vaccine within a few months.
He said: "It is a very difficult question to know exactly when we will have proof that the vaccine works because we need, within our population of 10,000 people, to have enough of those who have been exposed to the virus over that time, who are hopefully in the controlled group, who are getting the control vaccine, and to see whether the coronavirus vaccine protects them.
"Now, there is uncertainty about how many cases there will be over the next three months.
"If there are cases then it is certainly possible by the autumn to have a result, and that is what we are hoping for, but it is not possible to predict."
His comments come as researchers look to recruit up to 10,260 people across the UK for the trial's second and third phases, which involve vastly increasing the number of volunteers and expanding the age range to include older adults and children.
Socially distanced clubbing in Germany
A nightclub hosted an event at a club in Germany yesterday, in what electronic music website Resident Advisor suggests "might be the first dance party in Europe in months".
The eight-hour party, headlined by German DJ and producer Gerd Janson, took place at an open-air venue in the western Münster. As the video below shows, attendees maintained distance from each other and wore face masks:
According to the event's promoters, capacity was capped at 100 and ticket prices were increased to €70 (£62) - including drinks and food - to compensate. This gives an indication of how unfeasible it may be for many venues to reopen with social distancing in force.
A nationwide ban on clubs, theatres and cultural sites remains in place in Germany until 31 July, although some venues have been able to reopen as beer gardens with strict no-dancing rules.
Bus fares reintroduced in London
Transport for London (TfL) is to resume charging for bus travel in the capital from Saturday.
Passengers have not needed to present their payment card since 20 April in a bid to protect drivers, 29 of whom have died in London after being infected with Covid-19.
But the government is requiring TfL to resume the collection of bus fares as part of the £1.6 billion bailout agreed last week.
Payments will initially be required again on 85 routes served by buses fitted with protective screens or New Routemaster buses, on which passengers can use doors at the other end of the bus from the driver.
Charges will return to all buses "once further safety measures have been introduced to protect bus drivers", TfL said.
TfL's director of bus operations Claire Mann asked passengers to "please wear a face covering".
"This allows bus drivers, and those who need to use buses, to continue to do so safely," she said.
A former director of Abta, the UK trade associaition for travel agents, has condemned the government’s quarantine plans as “throwing petrol on to the blaze of businesses”.
Kane Pirie, now managing director of Vivid Travel, said: “The government has not missed a trick so far in how to make this multi-billion-pound crisis worse.
“Fourteen-day quarantining for UK arrivals will throw petrol on to the blaze of businesses, brands and trust as UK travel companies struggle to process refunds due.
“Outbound travel was a thriving UK industry, and one to be proud of. We were renowned as a centre of excellence for arranging great holidays around the world, not just for UK customers but also for many in Europe, America, Asia.”
Children 'less than half as likely to catch coronavirus'
Children and young people may be half as likely to catch coronavirus than adults, a global scientific review of studies on the disease suggests.
Researchers found people aged under 20 were 56 per cent less likely to contract SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19, from an infected person.
But the analysis of global test and tracing and population screening studies led by University College London found the evidence "remains weak" on whether children transmit the disease.
Lead author Professor Russell Viner, of the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, said: "There is an increasing amount of data now available on children and Covid-19, and this is the first comprehensive study to carefully review and summarise what we do and do not know about susceptibility and transmission.
"Our findings show children and young people appear 56 per cent less likely to contract Covid-19 from infected others. Susceptibility is a key part of the chain of infection, and this supports the view that children are likely to play a smaller role in transmitting the virus and proliferating the pandemic, although considerable uncertainty remains.
"This new data provides essential evidence to governments around the world to inform their decision-making on whether to reopen schools and reduce or end lockdown measures."
Sicily coronavirus chief arrested for corruption
The head of Sicily's coronavirus efforts has been arrested on suspicion corruption in a past role, police have said.
Antonino Candela, the region's Covid-19 emergency coordinator, has been placed under house arrest after he was also accused of rigging health sector tenders during a previous job, reports Zoe Tidman.
Mr Candela was allegedly part of a "power base made up of businessmen and corrupt public officials", the police statement said. Nine other people have been arrested.
Only 2% of school staff reassured it will be safe to return on 1 June
The vast majority of school support staff remain unconvinced that it will be safe to return on 1 June, according to a survey.
Only 2 per cent of school support staff said they felt reassured by Boris Johnson's speech and recent government guidance that it would be safe for pupils to begin returning to classrooms next month, found a a poll by Unison.
The union has warned against rushing to reopen schools to meet an "arbitrary date".
With just 10 days to go until schools could reopen more widely, ministers have come under increasing pressure from education unions and council leaders, who have urged the government to reconsider their plans to send pupils in nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 back to school.
