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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/mar/20/uk-coronavirus-live-confusion-over-key-workers-list-as-schools-close
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| UK coronavirus live: confusion over list of key workers as schools close | UK coronavirus live: confusion over list of key workers as schools close |
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| All the day’s developments as schools across the UK close their doors | All the day’s developments as schools across the UK close their doors |
| The Rugby Football Union has announced the end of the season for all league, cup and county rugby in England, except the Gallagher Premiership, PA reports. | |
| The UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, is self-isolating after showing symptoms of coronavirus. | |
| The news, which was reported by various sources today and attributed to the UK government comes after Frost’s EU counterpart, Michel Barnier said he had tested positive for the disease yesterday. | |
| If you had any reservations about the government’s response to the crisis, Politico’s Jack Blanchard has highlighted its capacity to copy and paste is still going strong, to put your mind at ease. | |
| A critical care nurse has made a tearful appeal to members of the public to stop stripping supermarket shelves of food after she came off a shift and was unable to buy supplies for her family. | |
| “Those people who are stripping the shelves of basic foods. You just need to stop it because it is people like me who will be looking after you when you are at your lowest, so just stop it,” said the nurse, named as Dawn. | |
| The British Museum has seen a surge in online visitors with the Benin Bronzes and the Lewis Chessmen in the top 10 of searches. | |
| It said the number of online visitors between 1-18 March was 978,548, up from 472,890 in the same period last year. Most of the increase has happened over the last 7 days. | |
| The largest number of online visitors are people from Italy: 203,250 in March so far, followed by the UK (175,734), USA (113,741), Spain (111,707), Turkey (54,133), Russia (22,764), Canada (15,610), Australia (15,575). | |
| The reasons are obvious. Every UK museum and gallery closed down this week so people self-isolating at home are desperate for a diversion. | |
| The top 10 searches are: ‘Egypt’, ‘Virtual tour’, ‘Benin bronzes’, ‘Rosetta stone’, ‘Netsuke franks’, ‘Lewis chessmen’, ‘Virtual’, ‘Rosetta’, and ‘Vase Exekias.’ | |
| The museum’s director Hartwig Fischer said: | |
| Sales at Wetherspoons have been falling after Prime Minister Boris Johnson told members of the public to stay at home and not visit pubs. | |
| The pub chain said that sales, which had risen by 3.2% in the previous six weeks, started falling by 4.5% in the week ending March 15, as the coronavirus pandemic scared customers off. | |
| The decline picked up even further when the Prime Minister told people that it was vital they do not visit pubs in order to slow the spread of the highly infectious disease. | |
| “In the early part of the current week ... sales have declined at a significantly higher rate,” Wetherspoons chairman Tim Martin said in a statement to shareholders on Friday. | |
| Earlier this week the Guardian reported on how staff at the pub chain had spoken of their fears about having to continue working in busy pub environments without masks, hand gel or other protective equipment. | |
| They spoke out as the company announced that its pubs would remain open – but customers will pay by card, avoid standing at the bar and sit at alternate tables. | |
| “We’re effectively going to become Petri dishes,” said one worker who said that he and others should be provided with hand gel, gloves and face masks. | |
| An iconic Italian deli which has served London for more than 75 years is raising money so it can supply pasta and sauce to people in need amid the coronavirus crisis, reports London’s Evening Standard. | |
| Lina Stores, which has a site in Soho and another in King’s Cross, wants to make provisions for hospitality staff whose jobs have been cut and people in at risk groups. | |
| “We want to look after London - the community that has been supporting us for over 75 years,” the store, which opened in the 1940s, said in a Go Fund Me page, which has raised more than £11,000 so far and has an aim of £20,000. | |
| Rail services in Scotland will move to a reduced timetable from Monday 23 March onwards as people follow the extraordinary advice to limit social contact and stay at home. | Rail services in Scotland will move to a reduced timetable from Monday 23 March onwards as people follow the extraordinary advice to limit social contact and stay at home. |
| Network Rail Scotland and ScotRail announced they would be operating a reduced service so emergency staff can travel and will prioritise moving goods and emergency supplies such as medicines can be moved around the country. | Network Rail Scotland and ScotRail announced they would be operating a reduced service so emergency staff can travel and will prioritise moving goods and emergency supplies such as medicines can be moved around the country. |
| David Simpson, ScotRail Operations Director, said: “We are facing an unprecedented challenge on Scotland’s Railway and the revised timetable will help to provide a critical service for the key workers across the country. | David Simpson, ScotRail Operations Director, said: “We are facing an unprecedented challenge on Scotland’s Railway and the revised timetable will help to provide a critical service for the key workers across the country. |
| “Our own people are absolutely committed and are working flat out on the frontline to help keep the country moving, while also keeping themselves and customers safe. | “Our own people are absolutely committed and are working flat out on the frontline to help keep the country moving, while also keeping themselves and customers safe. |
| Scottish transport secretary Michael Matheson said the government is in discussions with rail unions to protect rail staff during unprecedented times. | Scottish transport secretary Michael Matheson said the government is in discussions with rail unions to protect rail staff during unprecedented times. |
| “We are also investigating ways to provide proportionate relief to operators, while also ensuring contractual incentives remain to mitigate the impact of doing so. Any changes to rail franchise contracts, including funding mechanisms, will be made in the best interests of the public and business communities.” | “We are also investigating ways to provide proportionate relief to operators, while also ensuring contractual incentives remain to mitigate the impact of doing so. Any changes to rail franchise contracts, including funding mechanisms, will be made in the best interests of the public and business communities.” |
| BT is to remove all caps on home broadband plans to give customers unlimited data while working from home or self-isolating. | BT is to remove all caps on home broadband plans to give customers unlimited data while working from home or self-isolating. |
| Questions remain unanswered about how school places will remain open to the children of key workers, Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the NAHT, the school leaders’ union, has said. | Questions remain unanswered about how school places will remain open to the children of key workers, Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the NAHT, the school leaders’ union, has said. |
| In a statement he said: | In a statement he said: |
| The Conservative MP for Lewes, Maria Caulfield, has said she will be returning to the NHS to support efforts to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. | The Conservative MP for Lewes, Maria Caulfield, has said she will be returning to the NHS to support efforts to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. |
| She told PA Media she had kept her nursing registration since becoming an MP in 2015 and would return to her job as a nurse alongside her political role. | |
| Her announcement follows a call from the health secretary Matt Hancock for doctors and nurses who have recently left the NHS to return to help fight Covid-19. | Her announcement follows a call from the health secretary Matt Hancock for doctors and nurses who have recently left the NHS to return to help fight Covid-19. |
| She said she was returning to nursing because “the NHS will be getting unprecedented numbers of patients needing care, but also because staff are liable to get sick themselves. They can only go at 110% pace for so long and will need breaks themselves.” | |
| Good morning. As schools close to most children across the UK today, the government has published a list of key workers whose children will still be able to go to school, following some confusion over who would be classed as a “key worker” after the announcement on Wednesday. It includes doctors, nurses, midwives, teachers, nursery staff, police, transport workers and others. | Good morning. As schools close to most children across the UK today, the government has published a list of key workers whose children will still be able to go to school, following some confusion over who would be classed as a “key worker” after the announcement on Wednesday. It includes doctors, nurses, midwives, teachers, nursery staff, police, transport workers and others. |
| Later, at the daily coronavirus press conference, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is set to announce an employment and wage subsidy package to try to protect millions of jobs, with many firms including Marks & Spencer and Next warning of collapse. Letters are also being sent to more than 65,000 retired doctors and nurses in England and Wales asking them to come back to help the NHS fight the outbreak. Train services across Britain are to be stripped back from Monday after Covid-19 caused a 70% drop in the number of passengers. And the Catholic Church will suspend public masses from this evening until further notice. | Later, at the daily coronavirus press conference, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is set to announce an employment and wage subsidy package to try to protect millions of jobs, with many firms including Marks & Spencer and Next warning of collapse. Letters are also being sent to more than 65,000 retired doctors and nurses in England and Wales asking them to come back to help the NHS fight the outbreak. Train services across Britain are to be stripped back from Monday after Covid-19 caused a 70% drop in the number of passengers. And the Catholic Church will suspend public masses from this evening until further notice. |
| We will be covering the latest on this, and all other UK coronavirus developments, as the day goes on. | We will be covering the latest on this, and all other UK coronavirus developments, as the day goes on. |
| For the worldwide picture, do read our global coronavirus outbreak live blog. | For the worldwide picture, do read our global coronavirus outbreak live blog. |
| You can find all the latest Guardian coronavirus articles here, including this morning’s edition of Today in Focus on social distancing and the new normal – here. | You can find all the latest Guardian coronavirus articles here, including this morning’s edition of Today in Focus on social distancing and the new normal – here. |
| If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @lucy_campbell_. Tips are always welcome. | If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @lucy_campbell_. Tips are always welcome. |