Evening summary
- Pupils in years 10 and 12 will be prioritised in the phased reopening of schools in England early next month, Gavin Williamson said. The education secretary said that along with plans to get reception, year 1 and year 6 children in school from 1 June they also want pupils who were preparing for GCSE and A-level exams to have face-to-face time with their teachers.
- Ministers and unions were told to “stop squabbling and agree a plan” for safely reopening schools by the children’s commissioner for England. Several local authorities have said they won’t reopen schools on 1 June and the British Medical Association backed teaching unions in saying schools shouldn’t reopen until infection numbers are “much lower”.
- All care home residents and staff in Wales are to be offered coronavirus tests, the Welsh government announced. The move brings Wales into line with England and is a marked change in Welsh policy, where previously only the symptomatic were able to get tested.
- The public were told to stay away after several English beauty spots became busy in the first weekend since lockdown measures were eased in England. National parks and local authorities had earlier warned people to “think carefully” before visiting beauty spots to avoid putting themselves and others at risk if physical distancing became impossible. Several places including Margate, the Peak District and the Lake District reiterated that people should not visit.
- Pregnant BAME women are four times more likely to be hospitalised with Covid-19 than white women, a study found. More than half (55%) of women admitted to hospital with coronavirus were from a BAME background, prompting experts to issue guidance for midwives to remain on high alert and lower the threshold for diagnosis by medical professionals for BAME women.
That’s it from us on the UK side for the day. Thank you to everybody who has been in touch throughout the day to share insight with me and to all of you for reading along. If you would like to continue following the Guardian’s coverage of the pandemic, head over to the global live blog for the worldwide picture.
Updated
Updated
And that’s it, the press conference is over.
Q. How will women (who make up most primary school teachers) go back to work if there’s no childcare available?
Williamson says teachers are critical workers, so all have access to education provision for their children.
Q. Why will pupils be allowed to take their own lunch boxes to school but not their own pencil cases - what’s the difference?
Harries says the basic public health principle is to keep everything as clean as possible.
Lunch boxes are quite personal to the child it belongs to and when you’re eating you put your hands to your food and face, she says.
It’s important that both are kept as clean as possible and good hygiene is practised.
Q. Are you worried that union leaders who don’t wish to return to school on 1 June don’t understand that the most disadvantaged children are suffering most from not being at school or that they’re prepared to sacrifice that?
Williamson says every teacher he has spoken to understands this.
He wants to talk to representative organisations and work with them on this, he says.
Q. So are you saying teachers don’t agree with what their union leaders are saying? Do you want them to ignore them?
Williamson says teachers have been heroes and thanks them.
Updated
Q. How will you ensure that children in special schools and vulnerable children won’t get left behind?
Williamson says education is the greatest leveller. Different initiatives are being looked at, he says.
Q. Given teachers’ concerns about schools reopening in June, would you consider starting the next school year in early August?
Williamson says there are currently no plans to start the new school year in early August.
Q. Why are year 6 pupils going back ahead of year 5 who are getting ready to sit their SATs?
Williamson says one of the reasons year 6 was chosen is because it is a key transition year for children getting ready to go into secondary school.
Q. Is it the case that children in reception and year 1 won’t be expected to socially distance?
Williamson says schools won’t be brought back without meeting the five tests.
Harries says good respiratory and hand hygiene is very important and measures like spacing desks apart can help reduce the risk of infection.
Q. What are you going to do to ensure better national coordination and support for children who won’t be going back to school for many months to ease the burden on individual teachers and parents?
Williamson says there’s no substitute for being in school, but they’re looking at a package of measures.
Q. The R estimate has been revised upwards. Can you guarantee reopening schools in this way won’t result in a significant increase in the R number?
Q. What’s the R value at which you consider reversing the new strategy?
Williamson says Sage has looked at different models to see which would have the least impact on the R value.
Harries says 0.7-1 is a broad range below 1. It’s derived from a broad consensus of modellers.
It has gone up using that consensus model, but there are several different R rates, she says.
There is an R value for the community, which informs ONS data, there’s one for care homes and there’s one for hospitals too.
We need to understand what the drivers in each of these areas are to determine where hotspots are, she says.
Updated
They are taking questions from the media now.
Q. The British Medical Association says cases aren’t dropping fast enough to reopen schools. Will you ignore the UK’s doctors if that’s still their view in June?
Williamson says they recognise the important role of schools in a child’s life.
When there is advice that there is an opportunity to reopen schools in a “safe” and “controlled” way, we should be doing that, he says.
Harries says Sage has input from a huge number of doctors when doing their modelling, and this has gone into their advice about schools.
It’s important if other medical groups share anything they think has been missed with the government, she says.
We know now that children rarely get as ill as the older population with Covid-19, she says. Evidence is still growing but there is some to suggest they’re also less likely to pass it on, she says.
We need to track cases now they’re going down, but the latest ONS data suggested one in 400 people were infected. In two weeks it will be half that rate, she says.
So parents should not think every school will be swarming with cases.
Q. Where local councils are telling schools they don’t have to open, should school governors be listening to them or to you?
Williamson says caution is at the heart of the government’s approach.
Updated
Lee from Maidstone asked if people with diabetes should be added to the shielded list, given that the NHS confirmed that more than 25% of people who have died in hospital of Covid-19 were diabetic.
Harries says this data looks at specific diseases without necessarily looking at other risk factors these individuals had, such as obesity or cardiovascular disease.
The variables need to be looked at together to better determine risk, she says.
Updated
They are taking questions from members of the public now.
Lindsay from Gateshead, which has the highest infection rate in the country, asks why the government isn’t taking a regional approach to reopening schools, given the differences in infection rates across the UK.
Williamson says he wants every child to have the opportunity to come back to school, but this will be done “in a cautious way”.
If there are concerns about the rate of infection, we will look at that, he says.
Harries says that in most communities the R number is likely to be significantly lower than the national R number.
Updated
Dr Jenny Harries is going through the daily slides now.
Transport use is consistently low, though there is a slight rise in the use of cars and light goods vehicles as people begin to go back to work, she says.
There has been a sustained increase in testing, she says.
There is a “slow and steady” downward trend in hospital admissions for Covid-19 across the four nations.
The seven-day rolling average for daily deaths is also coming down, she says.
Updated
This is in line with what other European countries are doing to get their schools, nurseries and colleges back, he says.
Updated
School children and their families to be able to get tested if they develop symptoms
Some pupils will be asked to return to school next month. Reducing class sizes, keeping children in small groups, will create a “protective, small bubble around them”, Williamson says.
He says schools will be rigorous about hygiene and hand washing.
School staff can already be tested for the virus. From 1 June this will be extended to cover school children and their families if any of them develop symptoms, he says.
Track and trace methods would then be used to prevent further spread.
Updated
The poorest, most disadvantaged children will be the ones who will fall furthest behind if schools remain closed, Williamson says.
Year 10 and 12 pupils to be prioritised to return to school next month, Williamson says
The education secretary turns to wider plans for reopening of schools.
He says he is sorry to all children who were preparing for GCSE and A-level exams.
It’s now been eight weeks since schools closed to most pupils, he says, thanking workers who kept them open for the children of critical workers.
The government will only reopen schools when the five tests are met, he says.
But children do need to be back in school.
We can start planning for some pupils to return as early as next month, he says.
If rates of infection are decreasing, this will give us the green light to get some children back into school, he says. Reception, year 1 and year 6 will be allowed to return with smaller class sizes, along with students in years 10 and 12 on a limited basis to have face-to-face time with their teachers.
These children are being prioritised because they stand to lose more by missing school, he says.
Updated
Williamson is speaking now.
He is going through the daily figures on testing, positive cases, hospital admissions and deaths. This information can be found here.
Updated
Gavin Williamson's press conference
The education secretary Gavin Williamson will front today’s daily government news briefing, due to begin shortly. He will be joined by the deputy chief medical officer for England, Dr Jenny Harries.
All care home residents and staff in Wales to be offered tests, Welsh government says
All residents and members of staff in care homes in Wales will be able to get a coronavirus test, the Welsh government has said.
The health minister, Vaughan Gething, said the change follows the latest scientific advice and brings Wales into line with England.
Opposition politicians said the original decision not to test everyone in care homes should be the subject of a future inquiry. From now, every care home in Wales will have access to testing and will be able to order online testing kits for their residents and staff.
Previously only residents and staff in care homes with confirmed cases of coronavirus were tested, as were homes with more than 50 beds, anyone being discharged from hospital into a care home, or anyone moving into a care home from the community.
Gething said:
Today is a step change in how we will be testing in care homes, adapting our policy so that every resident and member of staff can be tested for coronavirus. I hope this brings further reassurance to those living and working in care homes and their families.
Testing in Wales had been more restrictive than in England, where all care home residents and staff have been eligible for testing regardless of symptoms since the end of April.
The first minister, Mark Drakeford, said at the time there was not a “clinical value” in testing everyone where no one was displaying symptoms.
Plaid Cymru’s Delyth Jewell said:
This is a long-awaited recognition of what we have consistently argued for.
The tragic cases of Covid-19 in care homes and its prevalence within them should have been a wake-up call for the Welsh government that testing everyone was a necessary life-saving step.
The refusal to do so up to now should be the subject of examination in the future inquiry.
While it is a welcome change of approach, ministers must now publish the advice which informed the previous policy of not testing in every care home and how it has now changed.
Updated
UK death toll rises by 468 to 34,466
A further 468 people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died, taking the total across all settings in the UK to 34,466, the DHSC said.
As of 9am 16 May, there have been 2,489,563 tests, with 136,486 tests on 15 May.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) May 16, 2020
1,742,028 people have been tested of which 240,161 tested positive.
As of 5pm on 15 May, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 34,466 have sadly died. pic.twitter.com/NUmxLoGRgx
A new “home-school” competition for children and young people has been launched to explore black British history and multicultural Britain.
The competition, sponsored by the National Education Union (NEU), is part of the 100 Great Black Britons campaign created by Patrick Vernon to celebrate the
continued legacy and achievements of black people in Britain.
Kevin Courtney, NEU joint general secretary, said:
The current crisis has highlighted the centrality of black people in Britain, to the NHS and care work, transport systems, food supplies, utilities, research, education and so much more.
Arike Oke, managing director of Black Cultural Archives, said:
Black history in Britain goes as far back as it’s possible to go. Children growing up in modern Britain should know their true history, and whether they are Black, brown or white, Black history is part our of national story.
Lavinya Stennett, founder of Black Curriculum, said:
Black history is vital for every young persons' development and understanding of their identity and the world around them. To become fully rounded people, it is important that all young people are given meaningful access to a full version of history.
A senior British Transport Police officer has been criticised after travelling from Glasgow to his family home in Yorkshire during the lockdown.
BTP has confirmed Ch Supt Eddie Wylie returned to Yorkshire from his rented flat in Glasgow on two occasions between 21 March and 13 May, but claimed he did not breach Covid-19 regulations – after the UK went into lockdown on 23 March.
It said that on both occasions he travelled home alone and by car to minimise any possible exposure to others.
In a statement, BTP said:
British Transport Police is a national police force with its headquarters in London, and as such our officers are required to regularly travel across England, Scotland and Wales for essential meetings or as operationally required. In these instances, Ch Supt Wylie will stay at whichever address is the most convenient.
Our officers can be posted anywhere in the UK, at any time. This means it is not unusual for them to have their family home in one part of the country and rent other accommodation nearer to where they are currently stationed. Crucially, the restrictions state that people should only leave the place they are living if they have a reasonable excuse. This includes travelling for the purposes of work where it is not reasonably possible for that person to work from the place they are living.
It would not be reasonably possible for Chief Superintendent Wylie to perform his role solely from either the Glasgow address, or his home in Yorkshire.
However, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said:
British Transport Police officers are currently playing a crucial role as guardians of the lockdown. Alongside the Scottish Government and Police Scotland, the BTP’s message to the people of Scotland has rightly been to stay at home, and avoid any unnecessary travel.
People across Scotland and the whole UK have made huge sacrifices during this time, including missing family funerals and spending precious time away from their loved ones.
But it seems as if the BTP’s top officer in Scotland has failed to learn the lessons of the Catherine Calderwood debacle, and believes there is one rule for him, and one rule for the rest of us. This could have serious consequences for the BTP’s ability to police the lockdown, which could in turn endanger public safety in Scotland. Eddie Wylie has serious questions to answer.
England records another 181 deaths, bringing total to 24,527
NHS England has announced 181 more deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths in hospitals in England to 24,527.
Of the 181 new deaths announced today:
- 39 occurred on 15 May
- 89 occurred on 14 May
- 22 occurred on 13 May
The figures also show 23 of the new deaths took place between 3-12 May. The remaining eight deaths occurred in April, the earliest being on 4 April.
NHS England releases updated figures each day showing the dates of every coronavirus-related death in hospitals in England, often including previously uncounted deaths that took place several days or even weeks ago. This is because of the time it takes for post-mortem examinations to be processed and for data from the tests to be validated.
The latest NHS England figures show 8 April continues to have the deadliest day of the outbreak so far, with a current total of 889.
Updated
Another four deaths in Northern Ireland, taking total to 473
The number of people who have died after being tested positive for coronavirus in Northern Ireland has risen to 473 after a further four deaths were reported by the Department of Health.
Another 40 positive cases of Covid-19 were confirmed, taking the total since the outbreak began to 4,357.
The DoH dashboard is here:
UPDATE on coronavirus (#COVID19) in NI.https://t.co/YN16dmGzhv pic.twitter.com/HNBIvlzjHS
— Department of Health (@healthdpt) May 16, 2020
Deaths in Scotland rise by 41 to 2,094
A total of 2,094 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, a rise of 41 from 2,053 on Friday, according to the latest Scottish government statistics.
The number of people to have tested positive for the virus rose to 14,447, up 187 from 14,260 the day before.
There are 59 patients with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 in intensive care, down from 71 on Friday, of whom 49 have tested positive.
There are 1,416 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a decrease of 33.
As of 2pm today 85,604 people in Scotland have been tested for #coronavirus
— Scottish Government (@scotgov) May 16, 2020
71,157 confirmed negative
14,447 positive
2,094 patients who tested positive have sadly died.
Latest update ➡️ https://t.co/bZPbrC7f5X
Health advice ➡️ https://t.co/l7rqArSHI2#COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/mKgbYVGB59
Updated
People have been told to stay away from Loch Lomond thousands of people breached lockdown rules around the beauty spot in recent weeks, my colleagues Severin Carrell and Libby Brooks report.
Police data shows breaches have increased at weekends and on sunny days. The district, which includes the villages of Balloch and Luss on the banks of the loch, has had the highest number of lockdown breaches of any in Scotland. Police ordered 2,291 people to go home in 30 days.
Updated
Wales records another 18 deaths, taking total to 1,191
A further 18 people have died after testing positive for Covid-19 in Wales, taking the total number of deaths there to 1,191, health officials said.
Public Health Wales said another 183 people had tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 12,142.
Spokesman Dr Chris Williams said:
Public Health Wales welcomes the announcement yesterday by the first minister of the traffic light road map which sets out how Wales could exit the coronavirus lockdown.
In conjunction with the Welsh government’s ‘Test, Trace, Protect’ strategy published earlier in the week, Public Health Wales will continue to work in partnership with our communities, the Welsh government, the wider NHS and local government in Wales to focus on protecting the health of the people of Wales as we support the implementation of the strategy.
The latest number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Wales has been updated.
— Public Health Wales (@PublicHealthW) May 16, 2020
Data dashboard:
💻 https://t.co/RwgHDufHE7
📱https://t.co/P6UF1MTOwc
Find out how we are responding to the spread of the virus in our daily statement here: https://t.co/1Lza9meaTL pic.twitter.com/6o8FPJzyoO
Updated
Piers Corbyn, the brother of the former Labour leader, has been led away in handcuffs after arriving at Hyde Park with a megaphone and espousing the conspiracy theory that 5G and the coronavirus pandemic are linked, calling it a “pack of lies to brainwash you and keep you in order”.
He was detained after declining to leave when asked to by an officer and refusing to provide his details, PA Media reports.
A group of about a dozen people has also gathered on Southampton Common to demonstrate against the lockdown. One protester, Dee, who did not wish to give her surname, said her job in the hair and beauty industry had been hit by the crisis. She told PA Media:
I am here because I am worried about civil liberties being taken away. Reading the coronavirus act that has gone through parliament it seems there are changes being made which infringe our freedom.
And I am worried the media has run away with the Covid-19 thing and blown it all out of proportion.
Updated
Boris Johnson’s father has said he has not noticed criticism of the prime minister’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Speaking to Ta Nea, a Greek daily newspaper, Stanley Johnson said the government’s approach had been “on the right track”.
He told the paper from his home in Exmoor, south-west England:
We are living in a time of great uncertainty and nobody quite knows what the impact is or what the disease is or what to do. At the moment there are no clear answers and I think we are probably on the right track. We have been taking a tough line here and we’ll have to see how that goes. I didn’t notice that he’s received a lot of criticism.
Asked about his son’s own bout of coronavirus, which included a stay in intensive care, he said he “felt as any father must feel when his son is at death’s door”.
Before strict lockdown measures were introduced, he said he would ignore his son’s advice to avoid pubs.
“Of course I’ll go to a pub if I need to go to a pub,” he said.
Updated
The Department of Health has said mass high-quality testing is an integral part of dealing with coronavirus after the chair of the Royal College of GPs said doctors were concerned about the government’s strategy.
Prof Martin Marshall said:
We do not believe that there is sufficient clarity on a joined-up comprehensive testing strategy to prevent a second wave of infections and to secure the overall health of the population.
As we ease lockdown over the coming weeks and months, it is essential that the profession and patients have full confidence in the approach to test, track and trace.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said:
High-quality testing on a mass scale is an integral part of our strategy to stop the spread of the virus and save lives.
Thanks to the significant increases in capacity which we have built at pace, tens of millions of people are now eligible for tests and we have been able to prioritise our frontline health and care staff, essential workers and the most vulnerable, including in our care homes.
We have also doubled the capacity of NHS and PHE labs to ensure people receive their results swiftly, with 95% of tests processed in less than 48 hours.
Updated
Thousands of young people and frontline workers are turning to a text advice line for people in crisis during the coronavirus epidemic, as counsellors report a rise in anxiety caused by the lockdown.
In the two months since Boris Johnson announced restrictions on normal life, an extra 6,000 people have contacted the Shout line and there has been a 10% increase in the number of people with anxiety. Shout often deals with young people in considerable distress, and suicidal feelings are the most common issue raised. Typically, two-thirds of people texting are aged under 25.
The helpline, which was launched a year ago with the backing of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and a £3m investment from the Royal Foundation charity, reported that frontline and key workers are twice as likely as others to mention anxiety. Conversations concerning Covid-19 peaked on days where there were significant announcements, such as those about school closures and other lockdown details.
Around three dozen people have gathered in Hyde Park to protest against the coronavirus lockdown and the principle of mandatory vaccinations, with at least two people led away in handcuffs so far.
Standing close together near Speaker’s Corner, several held placards and banners including slogans like “freedom over fear” as police, including some on horseback, looked on, PA reports.
David Samson, 50, who said he works in finance, said he was attending the protest because “I never thought I’d see in my generation the suppressing of civil rights” over what he falsely described as a “fake virus”.
Protesters boo as man led away in handcuffs by police at Hyde Park anti-lockdown protest pic.twitter.com/ZpCPqmsypG
— Thomas Hornall (@Thomashornall) May 16, 2020
Socially distanced selfie with James Delingpole. We’re in Hyde Park reporting at the anti-lockdown protest. @JamesDelingpole pic.twitter.com/uBLQ6HEE07
— Mahyar Tousi (@MahyarTousi) May 16, 2020
Updated
A school pastoral support worker who was handcuffed by police has said misuse of stop and search powers has worsened during the coronavirus pandemic, my colleagues Ben Quinn and Frances Perraudin report.
Dwayne Francis, who was detained while waiting in his car for a post office to open on his way to work, said young black men’s negative experiences of police use of stop and search in London had got worse during the city’s lockdown.
The full story is here:
And the thread Francis posted on Twitter about this experience is here:
@guardian Yesterday at 9.30am I was carrying my duties as a key worker as i work in a secondary school and making my way to work. Before I attended i stopped off at my local post office as I waited for the store to open in my car a @metpoliceuk Territorial support group passed.
— Tribal (@D_Tribal) May 14, 2020
The Met carried out 30,608 stops in April, up from 20,981 in April 2019 and 23,783 in March this year. The force said one-in-five led to a “positive outcome”.
Updated
Researchers are investigating whether dogs can be trained to identify unique odours associated with coronavirus infection, my colleague Frances Perraudin reports.
Dogs are to be trained to try to sniff out the coronavirus before symptoms appear in humans, under trials launched with £500,000 of government funding.
Dogs have already been successfully trained to detect the odour of certain cancers, malaria and Parkinson’s disease, and a new study will look at whether labradors and cocker spaniels can be trained to detect Covid-19 in people.
Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will carry out the first phase of a trial in collaboration with Durham University and the charity Medical Detection Dogs.
Updated
The Peak District has urged the public not to visit after its car parks filled up on the first weekend since lockdown measures were partially eased in England.
The national park said the Langsett area at the north-eastern edge of the park was “extremely busy” on Saturday morning, making physical distancing difficult.
Visitors flocked to the area despite people being asked to “think carefully” before visiting national parks and beaches (see 10.15am.).
Park bosses in the Peak District tweeted:
⚠️ Saturday 16 May: Visitor Update, Langsett
— Peak District National Park (@peakdistrict) May 16, 2020
This area is reported to be extremely busy with car parks currently full and social distancing difficult. Please don't travel to the area or park outside of designated bays.
🅿️ 🚘 ✅ Thank you pic.twitter.com/kpHqrC0WNB
With the Met Office forecasting sunny conditions, members of the public are being urged to continue observing physical distancing rules and avoid potentially contributing to crowded public spaces this weekend.
Updated
Businesses in Margate have issued a “don’t visit” plea to discourage visitors on the first weekend since lockdown restrictions were eased in England, the Isle of Thanet News reports.
The Don’t Visit Margate campaign was launched on the Visit Margate website, where a letter from prominent local businesses says the area is “not ready” for visitors. It reads:
We love Margate. It’s a beautiful place, with a kind community, and we are all happiest when we can share it with visitors. But right now, we have other things we need to do. Covid-19 is real, and here on the Isle of Thanet we have one of the highest death rates in the county. Our NHS is fragile, our local council clearly struggling, and we’re not ready for visitors.
So – for all of our indies, for local people, and for your own health, please stay home. Don’t visit Margate.
Don't Visit Margate.
— Dan Thompson (@artistsmakers) May 16, 2020
Artwork by @Maddyology https://t.co/EU2LOjaWT4 pic.twitter.com/Zukq6YOSdg
The local MP, Sir Roger Gale, also urged people not to visit and called the government’s advice on limitless travel within England “premature and possibly sheer folly”. In a thread on Twitter, he said it was “irresponsible” for people to be encouraged to visit the coast this weekend. “Baby steps towards reopening” are needed, he said, not “a leap in the dark”:
Get this wrong and we could be worse than right back when we started. Get it right and we could be back in business in time for the real summer holidays.
I have dozens of small businesses facing huge losses and wanting desperately to open up and start earning a living again but if we take the shutters down too soon we could lose an entire season for the sake of another few weeks. 2/6
— Sir Roger Gale MP (@SirRogerGale) May 14, 2020
Updated
Pregnant BAME women four times more likely to be hospitalised with Covid-19 than white women, study finds
A study has found that more than half of pregnant women who were admitted to hospital with coronavirus in the UK were from a black and minority ethnic background, my colleague Aamna Mohdin reports.
The “troubling data” has prompted experts to issue guidance for midwives to remain on high alert and lower the threshold for diagnosis by medical professionals for BAME women.
The study found that 55% of pregnant women admitted to hospital with coronavirus from 1 March to 14 April were from a BAME background. The findings show women from a BAME background were four times more likely to be hospitalised with coronavirus than white women.
The study suggests that for pregnant women, being from a BAME background is a stronger predictor of the likelihood of being hospitalised with coronavirus than age and obesity.
Updated
Test, track and trace is critical as a second wave is still a possibility, Sir Mark Walport, chief executive of UK Research and Innovation, has said.
The former government chief scientific adviser told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme:
It is a combination of people being really careful about how they behave coupled with identifying cases as early and as rigorously by testing as possible, and then working out who their contacts have been and making sure that they do isolate themselves.
As measures are taken to relax social distancing, they have got to be taken very, very cautiously indeed.
There is no question that the prospect of a second wave does exist. That is undoubtedly the case. It will continue to exist while there are a significant number of cases out there.
Meanwhile, Prof Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said the body was aware of concerns among healthcare workers about the accuracy and timing of some test results.
He said:
We know that the distances that tests are travelling to labs and the wait time for results is undermining confidence in the process and results themselves.
Any testing strategy must therefore commit to building confidence in the process, including a commitment to improving the sensitivity and specificity of the tests.
He called for GPs to be given guidance on how to help patients get tested, and asked for “transparent communication” from government.
Updated
The government needs to move away from an “arbitrary focus on numbers” to a clear testing strategy to prevent a second wave of coronavirus infections, the Royal College of GPs has said.
In a letter to the health and social care secretary, Matt Hancock, the RCGP chair, Prof Martin Marshall, said there was a lack of confidence in the government’s testing strategy - including in the accuracy and timing of results. He added that while improvements have been made, a clear and comprehensive plan is needed to stop a second swell of cases.
Marshall wrote:
Whilst we recognise the work of government and a range of stakeholders, we do not believe that there is sufficient clarity on a joined-up comprehensive testing strategy to prevent a second wave of infections and to secure the overall health of the population.
As we ease lockdown over the coming weeks and months, it is essential that the profession and patients have full confidence in the approach to test, track and trace.
He said a joined-up approach is required between the NHS, social care and community care, including care homes, which he said were on the “frontlines” of the pandemic, adding:
In the absence of a clear strategy and with delays in social care planning, patients have been left vulnerable.
I am sure you will agree that now is the time to move beyond an arbitrary focus on numbers and targets and ensure that our loved ones in vulnerable settings are given particular protection.
He stressed the importance of confidence in the testing strategy from both the healthcare profession and the general public as the government moves to ease parts of the lockdown.
The government also needed to clearly inform the public about the importance of test, track and trace, and other measures that will accompany the NHS Covid-19 tracking app, he said.
Our letter to @MattHancock about a comprehensive test, track and trace strategy according to @MartinRCGP on @BBCRadio4 asks 4 key questions of government on testing pic.twitter.com/chsXj4QF4V
— RCGP (@rcgp) May 16, 2020
Updated
Public urged not to travel to English beauty spots this weekend
People are being asked to “think twice” before visiting national parks and beaches on the first weekend since lockdown measures were partially eased in England.
With no limit on the amount of exercise allowed and how far one can travel within England for it, an estimated 15m leisure trips will be made by car in the UK this weekend, an RCA survey indicates.
And with sunny weather predicted, the County Councils Network is urging people to stay local, warning that some facilities remain closed and places may be forced to close again if overcrowding makes physical distancing impossible.
National parks including the Lake District and the Peak District have told travellers to stay away for the sake of the communities that live there and to avoid straining the emergency services. Cornwall council also warned people to think twice before going into the sea this weekend as there won’t be any lifeguards on duty.
This, from BBC Breakfast, gives the perspective of many in seaside towns.
Thinking about travelling to the beach this weekend? ☀️🏖
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) May 16, 2020
These community leaders in seaside towns say they're not ready for visitors to return yet ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/1prBufvAB9
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Ministers and unions told to 'stop squabbling' over how to reopen schools safely
Good morning. Ministers and teaching unions should “stop squabbling and agree a plan” for the reopening of schools in England, the children’s commissioner for England has said. Anne Longfield said schools needed to reopen “as quickly as possible” because many disadvantaged pupils were losing out as a result of schools being closed for so long.
Teachers’ leaders met the government’s scientific advisers on Friday, but no agreement was reached on how to open schools safely. And last night the British Medical Association backed the teaching unions’ opposition to phased reopening from 1 June, saying it was “absolutely right” for the unions to urge caution and prioritise testing before reopening.
The BMA council’s chair, Chaand Nagpaul, said in a letter to his NEU counterpart, Kevin Courtney:
We cannot risk a second spike or take actions which would increase the spread of this virus, particularly as we see sustained rates of infection across the UK.
Until we have got case numbers much lower, we should not consider reopening schools.
It comes after the revelation on Friday that the UK’s R number (reproduction rate) had risen in the past week to between 0.7 and 1. That is dangerously close to levels that could bring a second wave of infections. The data is subject to a several week long lag, there are are regional differences and the increase could also reflect what is happening in hospitals and care homes, but it has brought the government’s easing of lockdown measures in England into question.
R, or the 'effective reproduction number', is a way of rating a disease’s ability to spread. It’s the average number of people on to whom one infected person will pass the virus. For an R of anything above 1, an epidemic will grow exponentially. Anything below 1 and an outbreak will fizzle out – eventually.
At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the estimated R for coronavirus was between 2 and 3 – higher than the value for seasonal flu, but lower than for measles. That means each person would pass it on to between two and three people on average, before either recovering or dying, and each of those people would pass it on to a further two to three others, causing the total number of cases to snowball over time.
The reproduction number is not fixed, though. It depends on the biology of the virus; people's behaviour, such as social distancing; and a population’s immunity. A country may see regional variations in its R number, depending on local factors like population density and transport patterns.
Hannah Devlin Science correspondent
Some local authorities, including Liverpool city council and Hartlepool borough council, have already challenged the government’s timetable amid fears that 1 June is too early to guarantee it will be safe.
However, the Times (paywall) reports that the heads of four primary school chains are preparing to defy the teaching unions and back the government’s plans to reopen to some pupils next month.
Schools in Wales will not be going back on 1 June and it is not expected that schools in Scotland or Northern Ireland will go back before the summer holidays begin.
I’ll be bringing you all the latest UK coronavirus news throughout the day, so please do get in touch if you would like to share a news tip, advice, comments or suggestions.
Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_
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