Covid news live: Public told to wear masks after 19 July, as Test and Trace hires thousands for summer wave – The Independent

Nadhim Zahawi says people will be expected to wear masks in indoors enclosed spaces

Boris Johnson will share the governments latest coronavirus data with the nation tomorrow, and is expected to confirm the next phase of easing restrictions on 19 July, according to vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi.

Appearing on Sky News Trevor Phillips on Sunday, Mr Zahawi revealed guidance will include being expected to wear masks in indoor enclosed places even though the legal requirement to do so would be dropped.

Meanwhile, the governments Test and Trace service is panicking as it rushes to fill thousands of vacant contact tracing positions just months after making thousands of clinical staff redundant amid fears a summer wave of coronavirus will see a 100,000 infections a day.

Under the plans, the new recruits will have no clinical training and be paid at substantially cheaper rates compared to the nurses and other clinical staff who were made redundant en masse in May, as test and trace bosses said demand on the service had reduced.

A further 26 deaths and 31,772 daily cases were reported on Sunday, according to official data.

Supporters gathered in central London see Englands performance as welcome good news after 18 months of the coronavirus pandemic.

Simon Brown, 36, told Press Association: I think after coronavirus everyone just wants a reason to be happy and we all got behind it. Even if we dont get through - weve done well to get to the finals. Ill drink to that.

I think England will win. Youve got to get behind the team - youve got to. Weve got the home advantage and the crowd will be behind them. Its now or never.

Mr Brown will be watching the match at a bar in Chiswick. He added: It would be a shame if they lose because the atmosphere is so good and everyones so happy and that would definitely dent it. But well see.

Peter Stubley11 July 2021 18:21

Anti-lockdown protests forced a vaccination centre in Brighton and Hove to postpone jabs this weekend.

NHS Brighton and Hove CCG announced that vaccinations on Hove Lawns were being postponed due to the team facing disruption during the anti-lockdown measures protest in the city.

Social media footage shows protesters, including anti-vaccination campaigner Piers Corbyn, surrounding a health service bus on Saturday.

Peter Stubley11 July 2021 17:59

London could be hit hardest once all Covid restrictions are lifted on 19 July due to the high number of over-50s in the capital who have not had a Covid vaccination, writes science correspondent Samuel Lovett in this Independent Premium piece.

Peter Stubley11 July 2021 17:41

Police have again urged fans not to travel to Wembley after large crowds gathered in the area more than four hours before kick-off.

London mayor Sadiq Khan also made the same appeal, adding: Wherever youre watching the match, please do so safely.

Peter Stubley11 July 2021 17:01

South Tyneside has the highest rate of new Covid cases in the UK, at 1,203 per 100,000 population for the week ending 6 July (the latest available accurate figures).

It means the North East region is currently the hot spot for coronavirus in England.

Of the four nations, Scotland has the highest rate at 400.7, with the average for the UK as a whole being 298.1.

Here are the top ten regions, according to the governments Covid dashboard.

Peter Stubley11 July 2021 16:42

More than 300,000 people received a Covid jab yesterday, including 93,763 first doses and 211,446 second doses.

Around 87.1 per cent of the UK adult population (45.9 million) have received a first dose and around 66 per cent (34.8 million) have received a second dose.

Peter Stubley11 July 2021 16:15

A further 26 deaths and 31,772 cases have been reported today, according to the latest official daily update.

It brings the total number of deaths within 28 days of a positive test to 128,425.

There have been a total of 152,725 deaths with Covid mentioned on the death certificate.

Peter Stubley11 July 2021 16:11

A further 529 cases of Covid were recorded in Senegal on Sunday a record in new daily cases there since the start of the pandemic, and a sign that a third wave of infections was gaining speed.

The growing infection rate has alarmed authorities, but they have stopped short of imposing stringent measures to curb the spread after previous restrictions led to economic hardship that helped to fuel violent protests in March.

Senegal has reported 46,179 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, and 1,194 deaths.

So far it has vaccinated close to 600,000 from a total population of around 16 million.

Sam Hancock11 July 2021 16:05

Airline bosses and Scottish airports have written to Nicola Sturgeon asking her to bring in the same rules as England for quarantine-free travel from amber-list countries.

From 19 July, travellers from amber-list areas who have had both coronavirus vaccine doses will not have to self-isolate if they return to England.

CEOs from AGS Airports - which owns the terminals in Aberdeen and Glasgow - as well as easyJet, Loganair, Jet2 and Tui want to see the same exemption applied in Scotland, saying the UK governments announcement was a positive move towards the genuine reopening the sector has been looking for.

Connectivity is vital for Scotland, with current restrictions causing further ongoing damage to Scottish aviation and Scottish businesses, jeopardising tens of thousands of jobs up and down the country that depend on Scotlands air links, they write in the letter.

We urge you to support travellers and Scotlands aviation sector by bringing a quarantine exemption into effect for fully vaccinated UK residents from 19 July.

A Scottish government spokeswoman said ahead of Ms Sturgeons next lockdown easing announcement: We are considering relaxing restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers arriving from amber-list countries, but it needs to be fair and deliverable.

Sam Hancock11 July 2021 15:32

Vaccinations at a site in Brighton have been postponed following anti-lockdown demonstrations in the city, after protestors surrounded a vaccination bus on the seafront on Saturday.

NHS Brighton and Hove CCG announced that vaccinations on Hove Lawns were postponed on Sunday to ensure that everyone is able to receive their vaccine safely and without any pressure put upon them.

The healthcare provider said its staff experienced disruption during the anti-lockdown measures protest in the city. Vaccinations are still available elsewhere in the city.

Brighton and Hove has experienced a sharp rise in coronavirus infections in recent weeks, with the area recording 423.5 cases per 100,000 people for the seven days to 5 July, according to data analysis by the PA news agency.

One of the protestors, who described the demonstration as decent, posted the below footage to Twitter.

Sam Hancock11 July 2021 15:21

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Covid news live: Public told to wear masks after 19 July, as Test and Trace hires thousands for summer wave - The Independent