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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Lucy Campbell; Alexandra Topping (earlier)

UK coronavirus live: lockdown restrictions to be lifted in parts of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire – as it happened

A deserted Stockport town centre during the full lockdown in April.
A deserted Stockport town centre during the full lockdown in April. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Evening summary

  • Lockdown restrictions will be lifted for over 1 million people in parts of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire for the first time in a month after a fall in cases. The DHSC confirmed that from 2 September (next Wednesday) restrictions on two households mixing introduced last month will be lifted in the Greater Manchester boroughs of Bolton, Stockport and Trafford, as well as Burnley and Hyndburn in Lancashire. People in parts of Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees in West Yorkshire will be able to mix with other households from Wednesday, but the measures will remain in place in Bradford city centre, Halifax, Dewsbury and Batley.
  • Nine out of 10 people in the UK who have worked from home during lockdown want to continue doing so, according to a report. Its publication came after reports the UK government is set to launch a big push to urge workers to return to offices amid concerns of the impact of home working on cities and towns.
  • Boris Johnson was urged to produce a “credible plan” for persuading more workers to return to the office instead of relying on what unions have condemned as a “scare campaign”. Downing Street moved to distance the UK government from reports that ministers planned to argue that working from home could put employees at greater risk of being fired.
  • The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, urged people not to break quarantine rules and reminded the public that it is a criminal offence to do so. It came as many Britons were thought to be rushing back to the UK ahead of the 4am deadline on Saturday for anyone returning from Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Jamaica. Shapps told LBC this morning: “You’re not just doing this for yourself, you’re doing it for those around you. Don’t put other people’s lives at risk.” You can find the full list of travel corridors, as well as which countries are no longer exempt from quarantine rules and further information about what is required upon arrival in the UK here.
  • The UK’s R number remains unchanged since last week and is still above 1, according to the latest data from Sage. The R value represents the number of people each Covid-19 positive person goes on to infect. In England, the R is between 0.9 and 1.1, and the growth rate is minus 2% to plus 1%.

That’s all from me, Lucy Campbell, for today. Thank you so much for reading along and to everybody who got in touch to share tips and stories. If you would like to continue following the Guardian’s rolling coverage of the pandemic, head over to the global live blog. Have a lovely weekend.

Updated

This is from my colleague Josh Halliday

A UK government statement said:

In Pendle and Blackburn residents will continue to be advised to avoid mixing with anyone from another household anywhere.

Some businesses and organisations remain closed in Blackburn and Darwen.

Pendle had the highest number of cases per 100,000 anywhere in England during the week ending 20 August, reaching 67.8.

The ban on two households mixing indoors will continue in Preston.

On top of the indoor gatherings restrictions, some leisure sector businesses will continue to remain closed.

The next review of these measures will take place by 11 September.

It added:

In Kirklees, the ban on indoor household gatherings will continue in Dewsbury and Batley.

The ban will also continue in parts of Calderdale.

Updated

The weekly Local Action Gold committee, chaired by Matt Hancock, agreed local restrictions will continue in some areas.

A ban on two households mixing indoors will remain in the city of Manchester, Salford, Rochdale, Bury and Tameside.

In Oldham, in addition to a household mixing ban indoors, residents will continue to be advised to avoid mixing with anyone from anther household anywhere.

Cases per 100,000 in Oldham reached 67.1 during the week ending August 20, the second highest in England, the UK government said.

The UK government said some improvements have occurred in Leicester, though current restrictions are remaining in place for a further two weeks as cases “remain high”.

From Wednesday 2 September, restrictions on two households mixing introduced last month will be lifted in Bolton, Stockport, Trafford, Burnley and Hyndburn.

The move will also impact on parts of Bradford excluding Bradford city and Keighley town, parts of Calderdale excluding Halifax, and parts of Kirklees excluding Dewsbury and Batley.

The changes mean that next week more than a million people will be able to mix with family and friends outside their household, in line with national social distancing rules, for the first time since localised restrictions were announced on 30 July.

Bowling alleys and indoor play areas, which opened elsewhere in England on 15 August, will also be permitted to open their doors in those areas where rules are being eased.

The health and social care secretary Matt Hancock said he has “every faith” in people across the country in following local rules.

We brought in measures to protect people in these parts of northern England, and I want to thank residents who have worked so hard to get on top of this virus.

We’re seeing the positive results of our local approach and are able to bring in increasingly targeted measures.

It is vital we can maintain this good progress. I have every faith people across the county, especially in areas where we are seeing higher numbers of cases, will continue to play their part by following local rules, and self-isolating and requesting a free test as soon as they get any symptoms.

Restrictions will be lifted in parts of north west England - DHSC confirms

Lockdown restrictions are to be lifted in parts of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire where incidence rates have decreased, the Department of Health and Social Care has announced.

Restrictions on two households mixing introduced last month will be lifted in Bolton, Stockport, Trafford, Burnley and Hyndburn.

Parts of Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees will also fall into line with the rest of England on 2 September.

Updated

The number of coronavirus cases reported across the UK fell to 1,276 today (confirmed positive cases in the 24-hour period to 9am this morning).

This is a fall of 272 cases on yesterday’s figure which represented the highest number of new Covid-19 cases since mid-June. However, figures recorded in the past week mean the seven-day average remains at 1,190 cases, the highest level since 22 June.

Nine further deaths were recorded - eight were in England and one in Northern Ireland - bringing the UK government’s cumulative death toll to 41,486 (although it bears repeating that this figure reflects only those deaths where the person received a positive test result and died within 28 days, and is lower than that of the UK’s statistical agencies which put the figure at 57,182).

Both the daily case number and the seven-day rolling average remain well above the figures recorded on 23 March, the day national lockdowns were announced (967 daily cases and 730 cases on a seven-day rolling average).

The number of hospitalisations due to Covid-19 remains low at 754 on 26 August.

default

Updated

Young people in Wales are being warned that they must quarantine when they return from some overseas trips after a cluster of cases emerged around Merthyr Tydfil.

Public health officials said the 13 cases are linked through social gatherings and it appears the first young people infected contracted the virus whilst abroad.

Siôn Lingard, consultant in public health for Cwm Taf Morgannwg public health team, said:

If you have been abroad and have returned from a country on the UK quarantine list, then you must not go out for 14 days.

Our investigations into a number of cases of Covid-19 have indicated that a lack of social distancing, in particular by a minority of the 18-30 year age group, has resulted in the spread of the virus to other groups of people.

The Welsh health minister, Vaughan Gething, said:

The thoughtless behaviour of a few can put some of the most vulnerable people at risk of infection.

Anti-lockdown protesters from across the country are expected to gather in London on Saturday afternoon, calling for an end to movement restrictions and the rejection of mass vaccination campaigns and mandatory face masks.

The “unite for freedom” protest is set to gather at Trafalgar Square from 12pm, where it will hear from a number of activists who have campaigned against the government’s coronavirus measures, before marching down Whitehall, past Downing Street, to Parliament Square, where a number of other speakers are due to appear, including the conspiracy theorist David Icke.

Even as the official death toll has mounted from the coronavirus outbreak, opposition has been growing among people who feel that measures imposed by the government in response to the pandemic are a violation of civil liberties.

Piers Corbyn, the weather forecaster, who is the older brother of the former leader of the Labour party Jeremy Corbyn, is among those due to speak at Trafalgar Square. Corbyn, who was among 19 arrested at a previous lockdown demonstration, told the Guardian that a number of groups had come together to join in with the demonstration. Explaining the reasons for the protest, he said:

In terms of whether you believe that the virus is a hoax or not, whatever is happening now is less than or equal to a normal flu, so the lockdowns and all that goes with them is unjustifiable in any terms.

We are calling for MPs to refuse renewal of the Covid Act [Coronavirus Act], and if they do not we will campaign to have them removed from office.

Corbyn rejected a suggestion that the presence of Icke, who is known for outlandish conspiracy theories, could discredit their protest, although he distanced the protest due to take place in Parliament Square from that due to happen at Trafalgar Square.

What we are doing in Trafalgar Square doesn’t include David Icke … [but] his contribution against these lockdowns is important. We are trying to build a united front against lockdowns: whatever differences [between what] people might believe, we don’t ask that, we don’t care.

The London protest is one of a number due to take place around the world, with others expected in Paris, Ottawa, Copenhagen and several US cities.

Authorities in Berlin had tried to ban a protest due to take place there, but the decision was overturned by a court on Friday afternoon.

Updated

Preparations are under way for casinos to open from Saturday across Wales, which follows similar moves in Scotland and England earlier this month as lockdown restrictions are further eased.

The venues have introduced a range of measures to ensure the safety of returning staff and customers, including perspex screens, track and trace systems and strict social-distancing rules, PA Media reports.

There are four casinos in Wales, located in Cardiff and Swansea, and they employ around 300 people.

Carl Hoogwerf, general manager at the Grosvenor Casino Cardiff, said:

We are delighted we can now finally welcome back our customers to enjoy our casino safely once more having already proved we have not only complied with but exceeded the necessary hygiene and safety standards.

Michael Dugher, chief executive of the Betting and Gaming Council, added:

The Welsh government has listened to the concerns of our members and responded to the tremendous efforts they have made to ensure they can reopen safely.

It’s great news that casinos across Great Britain are now able to open their doors and make a vital contribution to the country’s economic recovery.

Updated

The Bank of England is “not out of firepower” to support the UK’s coronavirus-ravaged economy, its governor, Andrew Bailey, has said, claiming that in fact it was too cautious about keeping its powder dry before the crisis.

In a speech to the Jackson Hole economic policy symposium, Bailey told traders that major bond-buying drives were more effective following major crises, and stressed that the central bank appreciated the need to keep enough “headroom” to deal with future shocks. He said:

We are not out of firepower by any means, and to be honest it looks from today’s vantage point that we were too cautious about our remaining firepower pre-Covid.

In the decade ahead, I think we need to take on board the message the Covid crisis has reiterated, namely that our tools may be state contingent in their effects. And with that in mind, let’s not ignore the need to manage central bank balance sheets to enable such state contingency to take effect.

There are times when we need to go big and go fast.

Bailey took over at the Bank in March and almost immediately oversaw a £300bn bond-buying programme and a cut in interest rates to a record low of 0.1%.

Updated

Boris Johnson has been urged to produce a “credible plan” for persuading more workers to return to the office instead of relying on what unions have condemned as a “scare campaign”, write Heather Stewart and Rob Davies.

The prime minister, and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, have become increasingly concerned about the impact on city centre economies of the shift towards home-working during the pandemic.

They are expected to launch a publicity campaign in the coming days to encourage more workers to return to the office, and advise employers about what they can do to keep staff safe.

On Friday, Downing Street distanced the government from reports that ministers planned to argue that working from home could put employees at greater risk of being fired.

Responding to a Daily Telegraph headline that said: “Go back to work or risk losing your job”, a government source said: “This is a deeply irresponsible headline with no truth behind it. Our priority has always and will always be protecting people’s jobs.”

The Trades Union Congress general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said the government’s priority should be improving the test-and-trace system, and tackling practical issues, such as transport and childcare.

The prime minister needs a credible plan to help more people travel and work safely, not a scare campaign.

Throughout this crisis millions of people have worked extremely hard from home, often in cramped bedrooms with limited equipment or balancing work with childcare.

Many now want a better balance of office- and home-based working. But before this can happen, ministers must take responsibility for guaranteeing workers’ safety with a fast and reliable test-and-trace system, and better enforcement of transport safety and workplace risk assessments.

Updated

There have been no further reported deaths of people who tested positive for coronavirus in Wales, health officials have said.

The total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic remains at 1,595.

Public Health Wales said the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country had increased by 34, bringing the revised confirmed cases to 17,877.

UK-wide R value remains above 1.0

The reproduction number (R value) of coronavirus across the UK remains unchanged since last week, and is still above 1.0, according to data released on Friday by the Government Office for Science and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).

The growth rate of coronavirus transmission, which reflects how quickly the number of infections is changing day by day, has changed slightly. For the whole of the UK the latest growth rate is between minus 2% and plus 1% per day, a slight change from between minus 3% and plus 1% last week. The growth rate means the number of new infections is somewhere between shrinking by 2% and growing by 1% every day.

The most likely value is towards the middle of the range, experts say.

Scientists say there have been indications that these values may be increasing, with estimated ranges rising slightly from previous publications. The R number represents the number of people each Covid-19 positive person goes on to infect. In England, the R is between 0.9 and 1.1, and the growth rate is minus 2% to plus 1%.

Recent changes in transmission are not yet fully reflected in the estimates because the data used to calculate R and growth rate reflect the situation from a few weeks ago.

As the UK government urges people to return to the office and schools reopen, England’s test-and-trace system was hit with fresh problems after there were delays in contacting nearly 2,000 people infected with coronavirus, and one in seven home tests failed to produce a result.

My colleague Josh Halliday reports that an internet outage meant nearly 3,000 more people than usual were transferred to the contact-tracing system after testing positive for Covid-19 in the week ending 19 August. Two-thirds of these people had been tested days or weeks earlier, meaning there was a delay in reaching them and their close contacts when they should have been self-isolating.

Full story here:

Lockdown restrictions expected to be lifted in Stockport and Bolton, reports say

Stockport and Bolton are expected to be released from the region’s additional local lockdown measures, according to the Manchester Evening News.

William Wragg, the MP for Hazel Grove, told MEN that Stockport would no longer be subject to the extra regulations that have applied to the Greater Manchester region for the past month. The government is yet to confirm when the change will come into effect.

The newspaper was also told by a senior source that the stricter restrictions will no longer apply in Bolton after the infection rate fell in the town.

Restrictions are also expected to be removed in Trafford, Burnley and Hyndburn, following on from the easing of measures in Wigan this week.

There will be more on this as we get it.

Updated

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 there to 29,541.

The patients were aged between 63 and 95 and all had known underlying health conditions.

Another five deaths had been reported with no positive Covid-19 test result, NHS England said.

Updated

Travel restrictions imposed on people returning from Switzerland could prevent terminally ill patients from having an assisted death, campaigners have said.

Travellers arriving in England after 4am on Saturday will need to self-isolate for 14 days, a rule also enforced in Scotland last week.

Dignity in Dying said the rule change, announced late on Thursday for England, had made it “impossible to plan” for terminally-ill patients hoping to travel to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

It added that jobs and caring responsibilities, coupled with an average cost of £10,000 at Dignitas, could put the option of assisted dying out of reach for some people.

Jane Parker was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in October 2019 and had been considering travelling to the clinic for an assisted death, which is illegal in the UK.

“I am now unable to speak and swallowing has become very difficult as the muscles continue to weaken,” the 68-year-old told the PA news agency.

I do not want to suffer a protracted, traumatic death but my options are severely limited, even more so since lockdown.

Travelling to Switzerland for a legal assisted death, for example, is made even more difficult, particularly with this recently announced quarantine and travel restrictions changing practically every week.

Parker, who has three daughters and three grandchildren and lives with her husband Adrian in Devon, said:

I want to die at home, and am genuinely considering the idea of refusing food and water - a legal option under the current law. How can we allow people to starve and dehydrate to death, but not allow someone to slip away, quickly and peacefully in their sleep?

The Dignity in Dying campaigns manager, Ellie Ball, told PA:

It’s just another source of anxiety about an option that is already so fraught with difficulty.

For those who have the resources and strength to avail themselves of this choice, it takes many months of meticulous planning, often in secret. But with travel restrictions changing by the day, it makes planning almost impossible.

And for loved ones returning to the UK... imagine losing a dear relative, having to leave their body behind in a foreign land and then dealing with your grief completely alone with your support network?

Ball said the best solution was for assisted-dying options to become available in the UK for “terminally ill, mentally competent people” in their final months.

In UK law, helping someone end their life is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, Ball said one Briton a week was travelling to Switzerland for an assisted death. She added that each year about 300 terminally ill people end their lives in Britain, often involving “multiple, incredibly traumatic attempts”.

The UK government ruled out changing the law on assisted dying in 2019 after the high-profile case of Anne Whaley.

Updated

Here is a livestream of the independent Sage group’s weekly briefing, now under way. The group of scientists said they were releasing a report on Covid-19 safe workplaces and would also be responding to Boris Johnson’s latest statement on the need to return to work.

Updated

As we reported earlier (see 11.43am.), restrictions on social gatherings between different households in Trafford, Greater Manchester, are set to be removed, despite the local council recommending they should stay for the immediate future, after advice from its own director of public health.

Andrew Western, the Labour leader of Trafford council, said:

It is apparent that for all of their claims of working in collaboration with local authorities, the government has decided to overrule the council and lift restrictions in Trafford.

This action by government makes a mockery of the claims of locally led decision making and once again shows that local government is being ignored in spite of being on the front line of this crisis.

He added that many residents and businesses would be pleased to see restrictions lifted and accepted it was a “finely balanced issue”.

Updated

A popular Birmingham restaurant has become the first in the city to be warned for breaching Covid-19 guidelines during an enforcement crackdown, Birmingham city council said.

The Tipu Sultan eatery in Alcester Road, Moseley, was given a direction order from the city council on Thursday.

The order came after local authority officers responded to “approximately 25 reports” of events being held on the premises with “significantly more” than the maximum 30 people allowed.

Officers also found the restaurant’s safety measures in its risk assessment were not always followed, and queuing was not being controlled “in an acceptable manner”.

New powers to force premises to follow UK government Covid-19 guidance were handed to the local authority on Wednesday.

Updated

About 28,200 people in England had coronavirus in the week to 20 August, according to the most recent Infection Survey from the Office for National Statistics.

This means about one in 1,900 individuals in the community had of Covid-19.

While separate figures published on Thursday showed confirmed cases rose to their highest level since June, the incidence rate remained stable, according to the ONS.

This may be because the infection survey is an estimate based on statistical modelling of test results from. Swabs are not necessarily analysed in date order by the laboratory, meaning estimates are revised each week, and may not reflect recent changes.

Updated

New emergency powers banning people from hosting or attending house parties of more than 15 people in Scotland have come into force, after warnings they risk Covid-19 outbreaks among younger people.

Iain Livingstone, the chief constable of Police Scotland, said from today police would have the powers to force entry to homes and make arrests “as a sanction of last resort” intended to keep people safe.

Under the current guidance, no more than eight people from at most three households are allowed to meet indoors.

Airbnb hosts, home owners and families have been blamed for allowing house parties and very large gatherings to take place in recent weeks, following the easing of lockdown. The police also have emergency powers to disperse large groups outdoors and make arrests if people repeatedly refuse to observe physical distancing, and restrictions on group sizes.

The Scottish Police Federation, which represents junior officers and constables, told BBC Scotland on Friday it worried there were loopholes in the powers: it was hard for officers trying to break up a house party to know who legitimately lived in the property.

Speaking alongside Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, at the Scottish government’s regular coronavirus briefing, Livingstone agreed the new powers presented challenges for the police. He said they were the 14th or 15th “iteration” of the police’s emergency powers.

But he supported their introduction:

[There is a] public health imperative to try to prevent the virus spreading. What has been clear is that indoor house parties have a high likelihood of transmission, [so] the introduction of the power of entry under certain conditions are clearly necessary for that public health imperative.

Sturgeon said a further 51 positive cases had come to light in the last 24 hours, with 10 of those in Tayside where an outbreak among workers at the 2 Sisters chicken processing plant has spread. She said three people were in intensive care, an increase of one, but there were no new deaths in confirmed cases.

Updated

Lockdown rules to be lifted in Burnley and Hyndburn from next Wednesday

Restrictions on mixing between different households in homes or gardens in Burnley and Hyndburn will be lifted from next Wednesday (2 September) in line with the rest of England, according to public health officials in Lancashire.

However, with infection rates still above the national average in both boroughs, residents are warned not to become complacent and to be sensible.

Lancashire’s director of public health, Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, said:

People living in Burnley and Hyndburn will be pleased that government has lifted the additional restrictions in their areas, but this should not lead to complacency.

In both Burnley and Hyndburn infection rates are significantly above the national average with an increasing rate in Hyndburn.

Coronavirus does not respect administrative boundaries and there is a high volume of social, educational and commuting travel between these areas and Lancashire’s hotspots.

The virus is very much still present in both Burnley and Hyndburn so residents must play their part to help protect themselves, their families and their communities.

Elsewhere in the county, all existing restrictions remain. This means that in Preston and parts of Pendle residents still can’t have visitors or visit others in their homes or gardens, or socialise with friends at indoor venues, but they can continue to meet in groups of up to six in outdoor public areas.

Residents in other parts of Pendle and in the northern part of Blackburn with Darwen still have additional restrictions which means they cannot socialise with anyone outside their own household, anywhere indoors or outdoors, and should only use public transport if essential.

Updated

Hospital trust in Kent faces enforcement action amid concerns over infection control

Enforcement action has been taken at an NHS trust amid concerns over infection control, including people contracting Covid-19 in hospital, PA Media reports.

The Care Quality Commission said it had launched action at East Kent Hospitals University NHS foundation trust following an inspection earlier this month.

Inspectors were responding to concerns about standards of care and risk to patients.

The watchdog would not comment on the nature of the enforcement action, but the PA understands it relates to infection control including levels of hospital-acquired coronavirus.

The trust – which runs three acute hospitals – has been under the spotlight in recent weeks in relation to Covid-19.

Prof Ted Baker, the CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, said:

As a result of serious concerns we have taken immediate enforcement action at East Kent Hospitals University NHS foundation trust.

CQC inspectors visited the trust on Tuesday 12 August 2020 after concerns were raised about the standards of care and the risk to patients.

The CQC said it would be inappropriate to comment on the details of the investigation since East Kent Hospitals had a right to appeal against the action.

A spokesman for the trust said:

Keeping our patients and staff safe is always our top priority.

We have reviewed and are strengthening our procedures and training, overseen by an experienced director of infection prevention and control.

We are asking our staff to always follow recommended guidance, are making further physical changes to our buildings to improve infection control and support social distancing, and have reported on this progress to the Care Quality Commission, while being supported by NHS England and NHS Improvement.

The trust is also subject to an independent review in relation to its maternity service. Care for mothers and newborn babies has been heavily criticised following a series of baby deaths.

Updated

Staff at Ikea Glasgow are threatening to strike after the store sacked a trade union rep fighting cuts to workers’ sick pay, the Daily Record reports.

The changes to working conditions at Ikea in the UK, set to come into force next month, include a penalty system for absences whereby if a worker has been absent twice over a year they will only receive basic statutory sick pay.

This would see many workers relying on statutory sick pay of only £95 a week if they have Covid-19 or have to self-isolate.

Ikea then fired Glasgow-based USDAW union rep Richie Venton who gave workers forewarning of the changes, on the grounds of breaching confidentiality of negotiations.

Staff at the Braehead store said the changes would amount to sick workers feeling pressured to come into work, putting themselves, colleagues and customers at risk.

I’m grateful to a reader in Edinburgh for flagging this. You can read the Daily Record’s front page story here.

Updated

An estimated 28,200 people within private households in England had Covid-19 between 14 and 20 August, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.

This was the equivalent of around 0.05% of the population or one in 1,900 individuals.

This estimate is broadly unchanged from the previous week of 7 to 13 August which had an equivalent of around 0.05% of the population, or one in 2,200 individuals.

The figures do not include people staying in hospitals, care homes or other institutional settings.

The ONS said while recent figures had suggested some evidence of a small rise in the percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 in July, following a low point in June, this continues to level off.

Trafford could be released from lockdown restrictions, reports suggest

As those in northern areas of England affected by local lockdown measures await an announcement from the health and social care secretary, Matt Hancock, it has been reported that Trafford in Greater Manchester will be released from the restrictions.

According to Manchester Evening News, Labour has said the government will release the local authority from measures which include preventing people from meeting up with other households in private homes and gardens or at hospitality venues.

Yesterday Hancock and England’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, chaired a meeting of the Joint Biosecurity Centre to review the partial lockdowns.

Around 4 million people in Greater Manchester, east Lancashire and West Yorkshire have been affected by the restrictions since 31 July.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics today show that the north-west of England had the highest Covid-19 mortality rate during the month of July, but that deaths across all regions had fallen since the previous month.

In the north-west, there were 2.8 coronavirus-related deaths per 100,000 of the population, down from 9.2 in June, when the region also had the highest death rate.

Updated

Doing the broadcast rounds this morning, the transport secretary Grant Shapps reminded the public that breaking quarantine is a criminal offence and puts the lives of others at risk. He said 4,200 cases of people breaking quarantine rules had been referred to the police.

Asked about the case of an individual who attempted to board a flight despite having received a positive test result from NHS test and trace, Shapps told LBC that people who tested positive needed to stay home:

You’re not just doing this for yourself, you’re doing it for those around you. Don’t put other people’s lives at risk. Not only that, when you do that, you are committing offences as well.

As with breaking a quarantine, if you come home from one of these countries that is quarantined, it is a criminal offence, it goes on your criminal record.

Don’t break your quarantine and for goodness sake be sensible.

He later reiterated on Times Radio that breaking quarantine was “a serious matter” that came with a risk of getting a criminal record as well as a fine. He added:

More than that though, you are in danger of putting other people’s lives at risk and that of course is a much more serious matter.

You can find the full list of travel corridors, as well as which countries are no longer exempt from quarantine rules and further information about what is required upon arrival in the UK here.

Updated

The north-west of England had the highest coronavirus mortality rate for the month of July, but figures for all regions have decreased since the previous month, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

There were 2.8 deaths involving Covid-19 per 100,000 of population for the north-west, down from 9.2 in June, when it was also the region with the highest rate.

The south-west had the lowest rate again, with 0.3 deaths per 100,000 population, down from 2.1 in June.

In London the rate was 1.2 for July, down from 3.1 in June.

The ONS figures, which take into account the age of population, are based on all deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate and which had been registered by 15 August.

Updated

Good morning! I’m Lucy Campbell, I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments on coronavirus in the UK for the next eight hours. Please feel free to get in touch with me as I work if you have tips, comments, advice or stories to share – your contributions are always welcome!

Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_

Updated

More on the remote working debate - Ann Francke, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, is very strong on this.

She says:

At a time when most workers are still apprehensive about returning to the office, and with the number of infections rising in European countries among office workers, the government’s insistence that people rush back to the office is out of touch with reality.

Contrary to Grant Shapps’s claims this morning, our research has shown that companies can be just as productive – if not more so – with employees working from home. The pandemic has also catapulted working life into the future, encouraging more staff to take up a permanent blended working approach. This shift should be embraced by employers, and not discouraged by the government.

Updated

As Grant Shapps urged people not to break quarantine rules on the radio this morning, many Britons were thought to be rushing back to the UK ahead of the 4am deadline on Saturday for anyone returning from Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Jamaica.

Anyone who comes back to the UK from those countries later will have to self-isolate for two weeks after the government removed the three countries from its safe list.

One couple returning to the UK in a hurry were Daniel Maree and Leisa Evans, from Stevenage. They landed at Heathrow from Switzerland on Friday morning and told PA how they had cut short their Swiss Alps honeymoon because of the looming changes to travel quarantine rules.

The couple, both 43, and travelling with their four-year-old son, spent about £200 on new flights.

“We took a chance and said, well, if it happens it happens,” Maree said. “I would have lost two weeks of work. I’m self-employed, so no work, no pay. It would have affected us quite a bit, especially after an expensive holiday.

“We anticipated it, so it wasn’t that much of a shock. Yeah, it’s a bit disappointing.”

Maree said they had flown out a week ago despite being aware of other countries being hit recently with changes to travel quarantine rules. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip, so we thought we’d take the risk,” he said.

On the government’s handling of travel corridors, he added: “I’m sure they know beforehand that they are going to announce it, say a week later. So they might give people a bit more notice, which would have been probably better.”

Updated

Louise Ware, who is head of people at FYXER, a company that provides remote-working executive assistants to companies, has been in touch. A remote working expert, she believes that more flexibility and working from home will give companies greater access to a larger talent pool. She writes:

If people perform, what does it matter where they deliver from? The government may be encouraging us to go back to the office, but I want the freedom to choose where I work.

We’ve seen companies are planning to work remotely until the end of this year and into next year. Doing this and remaining productive, will challenge whether companies need office space going forward and could change the landscape of the UK, particularly London.

For me this presents an opportunity, being remote working can open up the talent pool to those who may have had limited opportunities previously (those living in rural areas, with caring commitments etc). We should look to continue to disrupt this, not go back to how we used to be.

Grant Shapps has certainly been earning his wages this morning, he’s been speaking on Times Radio too.

He told the station that 4,200 cases of people breaking quarantine rules have been referred to the police.

He said:

Well I know that the police figures or the border force figures come out retrospectively so I don’t have those.

But I can tell you that 4,200 cases have been referred to the police for breaking the quarantine.

And a reminder that you are in danger of getting a criminal record as well as the fine if you break the quarantine, it is a serious matter.

More than that though, you are in danger of putting other people’s lives at risk and that of course is a much more serious matter.

He added that “about 1,000 people are contacted every single day of those returning”.

On LBC this morning he reminded people that breaking quarantine is a criminal offence.

If you’ve got the test, you need to stay home.

You’re not just doing this for yourself, you’re doing it for those around you. Don’t put other people’s lives at risk. Not only that when you do that, you are committing offences as well.

As with breaking a quarantine, if you come home from one of these countries that is quarantined, it is a criminal offence, it goes on your criminal record.

You don’t want to be in that position and the police have 4,000 cases of people who they are pursuing in various different ways.

Don’t break your quarantine and for goodness sake be sensible.

Reader Lisa Budhoo from Lichfield in Staffordshire has been in touch to tell us about her family’s experience of the current test-and-trace system in England. I’m posting it in full below because it calls into question government claims that we now have an effective system up and running.

My 29-year-old daughter living in Birmingham started experiencing a thumping headache, achy body and a mild sore throat on Wednesday this week. She phoned 119 on Wednesday and was told a medic would call her back at 10 am yesterday. The medic advised her to get tested. He couldn’t tell her where or how. She phoned her GP, they said they have run out of tests. My daughter looked for test-and-trace centres in Birmingham, a drive-in was five miles away but she has no car and didn’t feel she could put a taxi driver at risk. She found a walk-in centre one mile away and went at 3pm. When she arrived it was closed with signs up saying: ‘We are not a test centre, go home.’ She has no idea if she has Covid-19 now or not but is staying home despite work commitments .

She called her sister aged 23 who lives in Brixton to advise of her condition. They had met on Saturday – indoors. My 23-year-old daughter who was on her way into work in South Kensington by car got to work and looks for a local test centre. The nearest is a drive-through – 65 miles away, a 170-mile round trip. She phoned her GP who said: ‘We only do antibody tests I’m afraid.’ She put on her mask and went into her building scared that she may unknowingly be asymptomatic and spread the virus.

She rang her stepfather because she stayed with him after seeing her sister. He is a surgeon in Birmingham, aged 59, Asian and therefore at risk. He then tried to find out how he could get tested in his hospital. He was told that as a member of staff he has to wait for symptoms.

Mr Johnson wants to send children back to school and workers back to desks without any system in place to find out if they should stay at home if they have symptoms.

Thanks for getting in touch, Lisa, hopefully everyone in your family returns to health soon.

Updated

Nine out of 10 people want to work from home

The big push to get people back into the office, may have started but there is evidence to suggest that many people who have been working from home are significantly less keen on the idea than the government.

According to a report out today, nine out of 10 people in the UK who have worked from home during lockdown want to continue doing so.

PA reports:

The report – Homeworking in the UK: before and during the 2020 lockdown – is believed to be the first to analyse survey data focused on home working during the coronavirus pandemic.

It said working from home in the UK rose from 6% of employees before the start of the pandemic up to 43% in April, with results indicating that productivity mostly remained stable compared with the six months before.

Its publication comes after reports that the UK government is planning to encourage workers to return to offices amid concerns of the impact of home working on cities and towns.

The report, by academics at Cardiff University and the University of Southampton, said 88% of employees who worked at home during lockdown would like to continue doing so in some capacity, with 47% wanting to do so often or all the time.

About two-fifths (41%) said they got as much work done at home as they did six months earlier when most, but not all, were in their usual places of work.

More than a quarter (29%) said they got more done at home, while 30% said their productivity had fallen.

The surge in home working triggered by the lockdown mostly affected the highest-paid, the better-qualified, the higher-skilled and those living in London and the south-east.

Prof Alan Felstead, based at Cardiff University and the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD), said the results suggested there could be a “major shift” from the traditional workplace.

He said:

What is particularly striking is that many of those who have worked at home during lockdown would like to continue to work in this way, even when social distancing rules do not require them to.

These people are among the most productive, so preventing them from choosing how they work in the future does not make economic sense.

Giving employees flexibility on where they work could be extremely beneficial for companies as they attempt to recover from the impact of Covid-19.

Report co-author Darja Reuschke, from the University of Southampton, said:

City centre high streets have been hard hit by the pandemic and are likely to remain quiet for some time to come as fewer people return to traditional places of work.

However, this also provides an opportunity for us to radically rethink our city centres as multi-use places that accommodate different kinds of economic uses and are not built around fast roads that connect workplaces with residences.

The report analysed data gathered for the Understanding Society Covid-19 Study, comprising three surveys by the Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, in April to June.

It questioned a representative sample of 6,000-7,000 workers who had worked at least one hour in the week before interview, and who provided information on where they worked either side of the lockdown.

Updated

Covid-19 death tolls at individual care homes are being kept secret by regulators

If you haven’t yet read it, please do take a look at this exclusive from my colleague Rob Booth, who has discovered that Covid-19 death tolls at individual care homes are being kept secret by regulators in part to protect providers’ commercial interests.

Rob writes:

England’s Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the Care Inspectorate in Scotland are refusing to make public which homes or providers recorded the most fatalities amid fears it could undermine the UK’s care system, which relies on private operators.

In response to freedom of information requests, the regulators said they were worried that the supply of beds and standards of care could be threatened if customers left badly affected operators.

The CQC and Care Inspectorate share home-by-home data with their respective governments – but both refused to make it public.

You can read the full story here:

Updated

Gatwick airport: demand for air travel might not recover until 2025

Gatwick airport has said demand for air travel might not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2025. PA reports:

The West Sussex airport announced a 61.3% fall in revenue and a £321m loss during the first six months of the year compared with the same period in 2019.

Earnings before tax and interest plummeted by 98.3%. Passenger numbers fell from 22.2 million to 7.5 million over the same period.

The airport said in a statement that the recovery to pre-pandemic traffic levels “is forecast to be four to five years”.

It announced on Wednesday that it planned to cut around 600 jobs due to the impact of the crisis, representing nearly a quarter of its workforce.

Its chief executive, Stewart Wingate, said:

Like any other international airport, the negative impact of Covid-19 on our passenger numbers and air traffic at the start of the year was dramatic and, although there are small signs of recovery, it is a trend we expect to continue to see.

However, we are focused on ensuring the business remains robust and is best placed to take advantage of future growth.

As with any responsible company we have protected our financial resilience by significantly reducing our operational costs and capital expenditure.

Wingate revealed that despite the collapse in demand for air travel, the airport was pressing ahead with plans to use its emergency runway for routine flights.

It is seeking permission to bring the airstrip into full passenger use.
Gatwick lost out to Heathrow in a bid to obtain government approval to build an additional runway in October 2016, amid a need for more airport capacity in the south-east.

Wingate said:

In this post-Covid-19 travelling world, we are working hard with our airlines to ensure we continue to offer our customers a wide choice of destinations and carriers.

We also expect, next year, to progress our plans to bring the existing northern (standby) runway into routine use which, as we rebuild our passenger numbers over the next four to five years, will enable us to offer even more travel choice.

We will ensure we continue to deliver our operation mindful of our environmental, social and governance responsibilities.

We want to rebuild better.

Updated

This is an interesting example of the kind of decisions businesses are making right now - and what the government is up against with its new message: office manager Stuart tells LBC’s James O’Brien that working from home has been such a success, his company has decided to close its offices to save £18,000 a month – and as a result he’s losing his job.

Updated

The hard sell on getting people back to the office continues across the board this morning. Former deputy prime minister Damian Green has told Talk Radio that if people don’t go back to the office, businesses and jobs “that depend on big city activity ... will just die”.

Updated

Back to coronavirus and its risk to children for a moment. A professor who sits on the government’s Sage advisory group has said parents should be “reassured” that Covid-19 has not caused the deaths of any healthy schoolchildren.

Prof Calum Semple, of the University of Liverpool, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “So we looked at roughly two-thirds of all hospital admissions to England, Scotland and Wales over the first wave of the pandemic, so we looked at 69,500 people attending, I think, 280 hospitals. So that is a very big study.

“And when we looked really carefully and did all the numbers, we found that out of that 69,500 there was only 650 children – so 1% of hospital admissions were children. And then of that 1%, only six children died.

“Now each of these deaths is a huge personal tragedy, of course, but in the bigger picture, this is quite reassuring.”

He added that “what we can say is that each of these six children had profound medical problems prior to getting ill with Covid, and in many cases these conditions would have been life-limiting in their own right”.

Semple said: “We did have quite a few children go to intensive care needing organ support and we can’t deny that it is possible for children to get severe disease, but in the bigger picture we want to be able to reassure parents.”

Updated

More from Shapps, who is insisting it is “usually going to be OK” for workers to return to offices.

Asked whether the government’s position was that workers should return to their offices, Shapps told BBC Breakfast:

Yes, by and large where it is possible people can now return to work, it is safe to do so, your employer should have put in Covid-friendly – or Covid-unfriendly I suppose you could say – measures to ensure that people can work safely from their offices because there are just things which are impossible to do from home over Zoom videos as we’re doing now.

So yes, gradually now people will start to return to the office. But I suspect we’ll see more flexible working than we’ve seen in the past and it will be for employers and employees to work out the right balance in their particular cases.

He added:

And so usually it is going to be OK to return. Unless somebody’s in a particular vulnerable state there is no reason not to return.


Asked how many people were currently in the Department for Transport’s main central London headquarters, the cabinet minister said they were “encouraging people back now” but that renovation works were ongoing at the building.

He said:

So now, whereas at the height of the disease there were only four or five people in the building when everybody was being asked to stay at home and the department absolutely complied with it, now you’ll find that each floor has a buzz about it again.

Interestingly, I was told yesterday by a business leader that civil servants had been told to go back into the office across the board, but were “just ignoring” the diktat.

Updated

Shapps is being repeatedly challenged on the statement that it is “safe to go back to work” this morning.

On BBC Breakfast, he admitted that more people using the transport system as they return to work is “obviously not without its challenges”.

Asked whether the transport system is fit and safe for more workers to be travelling on as they return to work, Shapps said:

Yeah, so it’s obviously not without its challenges, but we’re ramping it up so that the transport system will be back and, in particular, putting on additional coaches bespoke for the school children returning in many cases.

Asked whether he himself has been on a train, the Transport Secretary added:

Yes I have, yes. I go on them all the time actually because in my job, as you can imagine, I go on them a lot.

What I found, what I tend to find... in London they are a bit busier. They’re sort of up to about 40 even 50% of where they were. Out of town they tend to be less busy.

The key thing is to make sure there is still sufficient social distancing there with the one metre-plus (rule) which there will be, certainly on lines outside of London.

Shapps said more services will be put on if areas of the transport system become too busy:

So at the moment the trains are - all the public transport is very much underused - probably at about a third of its usual levels.

We think now, with the guidance that is in place, and it was updated, if you recall, just before the summer, that there is capacity now for more people on public transport.

He added:

We think that we’ve got the right balance in place. But I’m not going to sort of pretend this is all straight forward, it is not.

Everyone knows the restrictions that this virus has brought to bear and we will be watching it very, very carefully next week.

As I say, often the first few days of school in particular when a lot more people are using public transport - partly because also parents tend to go back to work when their children are at school - that does tend to create pressures and we’ll watching those very carefully and looking to, for example in some cases, run additional services where we see those problems bubble up.

Updated

Transport Secretary: there is a limit to what can be done while working from home.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has told Sky News that it is safe for people to go back to the office and that there is a limit to what can be done while working from home - I wonder how many people reading this who have managed to effectively work from home - despite in many cases having to also deal with childcare - since March will agree with this?

Shapps said:

What we’re saying to people is it is now safe to go back to work and your employer should have made arrangements which are appropriate to make sure that it is coronavirus-safe to work and you will see some changes if you haven’t been in for a bit as a result.

We’re absolutely clear that employers and employees need to work together to resolve this and there are of course a whole host of sort of employee protections in place if employees have concerns about the work place for example, then the Health and Safety Executive, the local authority will be the right places to go.

The vast majority of employers just want to get their businesses back up and running, they want to do the right thing, and many will have found that actually home working can work for some of their employees.

But as I say, I think there’s a limit, just in human terms, to remote working. And there are things where you just need to spark off each other and get together in order to make progress.

So I think common sense will prevail between employers and employees. It’s certainly what we’ve seen so far and I very much think that will carry on next week as people do start to return more often to the office.

Workers to be encouraged to go back to the office

A lot of people who have been enjoying the benefits available to some of working from home may feel a little anxious this morning, after news of a government campaign to encourage workers to return to the office expected to be launched next week.

The television and newspaper messages will promote the government’s aim to reduce the number of employees working from home amid fears that town and city centres are becoming ghost areas as workers stay away.

A report in the Telegraph said the campaign would push the emotional and mental health benefits of mixing with colleagues but also said that ministers would warn that those working from home could be more vulnerable to being sacked.

Labour has criticised the plans as being “unconscionable” while the CBI said any return to work push should involve a “hybrid” approach that did not force people to return.

Labour’s shadow business minister, Lucy Powell, said:

It beggars belief that the government are threatening people like this during a pandemic. Forcing people to choose between their health and their job is unconscionable.

No 10 should condemn this briefing and categorically rule out any such campaign.

Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, the director-general of the CBI, said a hybrid approach with home and office working was the best way forward.

Speaking to Times Radio on Thursday, Fairbairn said:

This is not about compulsion. I couldn’t say that more strongly.

This is about creating the opportunity and the confidence to get to a hybrid that gets the best of both worlds. We’re certainly not there yet.

Our offices are at risk of dying. And we would regret that very much if we allowed that to happen.

A government spokesperson said:

We are working closely with employers across the country to help them make workplaces Covid-secure and give people confidence to go back to work during the coronavirus pandemic.

Next week we will showcase the benefits of returning safely to work and raise awareness of companies getting this right.

We’ll also provide practical steps businesses are taking to ensure offices are Covid-secure as well as alternative ways of travelling to work.

Asked what happens to schools in a lockdown area, the transport secretary told Sky News that students will have to wear masks from Year 7 upwards.

Shapps said:

So in a lockdown area things may be a bit different, and as you’ve seen people will... the students will need to wear face coverings in Year 7 upwards, secondary school upwards.

In other areas that will be at the discretion of the head teacher and the school depending on, for example, the width of corridors and that sort of thing.

So it will depend on the layout of the school and local factors, but in an area which is experiencing a local lockdown - there it will be mandatory.


Asked whether there should be an England-wide policy on masks in schools, Shapps said:

I think we’ll always look at the latest advice and we’ll check it with our own chief medical officer and experts... and so it makes sense to follow that.

Transport secretary: expect quarantine rules to continue to change

British holiday makers who want to brave going abroad for their breaks will have to keep themselves up to date on the most recent quarantine rules, as they are likely to continue to change rapidly transport Secretary Grant Shapps has warned this.

Mr Shapps told Sky News:

Look there is a travel corridor list and I think it contains probably still about 55, 60 countries. It changes every week - a country went on - Cuba went on - the list yesterday, or goes on at the weekend.

So, they are there for a reason. However, when people travel at the moment when coronavirus is still a thing... just need to be aware that unfortunately things can change very quickly and, you know, if you go with your eyes open and you know that things can change, it won’t then come as so much as of a surprise.

Though as I say, sometimes countries just move very quickly.

Shapps said whether or not pupils wear face coverings in school will depend on factors including “the width of corridors”.

Here’s a little more on this study which shows that the risk of severe illness and death to children from Covid-19 is vanishingly small.

My colleague Sarah Boseley reports:

The study included two-thirds of all patients admitted to hospitals across England, Scotland and Wales with Covid-19. Of these, 651 – less than 1% – were children and young people under 19. Six of these patients – less than 1% – died. All had severe underlying health conditions.

Calum Semple, professor in child health and outbreak medicine at the University of Liverpool, and co-lead of the study by the International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium said:

They were children with profound co-morbidities – not a touch of asthma and not cystic fibrosis.

Co-author of the paper published in the BMJ, Dr Olivia Swann, clinical lecturer in paediatric infectious diseases at the University of Edinburgh, said the risk of severe disease and death was also very small, and added:

The absolute risk of being admitted to hospital is tiny.

You can read the full story here:

Good morning from London. I’ll be bringing you the main UK coronavirus news this morning.

Here are some key stories:

  • Workers will be encouraged to return to the office as part of a major media campaign to be launched by the government next week. The television and newspaper messages will promote the government’s aim to reduce the number of employees working from home amid fears that town and city centres are becoming ghost areas as workers stay away.

I’m Lexy Topping and you can contact me on Alexandra.Topping@theguardian.com. I’m @lexytopping on Twitter and my DMs are open.

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