This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2020/aug/25/uk-coronavirus-live-face-covering-rules-for-students-should-be-kept-under-review-says-union
The article has changed 24 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 15 | Version 16 |
|---|---|
| UK coronavirus live: Johnson may review mask rules in English schools if medical advice changes | UK coronavirus live: Johnson may review mask rules in English schools if medical advice changes |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| PM says he will change guidance if it is necessary; Ofqual chiefs and Williamson to face MPs; secondary school pupils in Scotland to cover faces from Monday as Wales reviews mask guidance for schools | PM says he will change guidance if it is necessary; Ofqual chiefs and Williamson to face MPs; secondary school pupils in Scotland to cover faces from Monday as Wales reviews mask guidance for schools |
| Trials of the Oxford coronavirus vaccine may have gathered enough data to show whether it works and is safe by the end of the year – but it will then need to go through the regulatory process, scientists say. | |
| Prof Andrew Pollard, the director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said it is “just possible” that there may be enough clinical trial data on Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine to put before the regulators this year. | |
| Prof Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, has said a vaccine may not be ready until next winter. Pollard suggested they were hoping to go faster. | |
| “I think that Chris Whitty is quite rightly being cautious, that it could take as long as that to first of all demonstrate a vaccine works and is safe and then to go through the processes of regulators looking at that very carefully to make sure everything’s been done correctly,” Pollard told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. | |
| Students have begun receiving their BTec grades, a week after exam board Pearson withdrew some and delayed the publication of others to give itself time to recalculate scores in the week of the A-level exam results fiasco. | |
| About 200,000 people who had taken the level one and two vocational qualifications were told last week, just hours before results day, that they would not be receiving them on time. A further 250,000 level-three grades, which had already been awarded, were also reassessed. | |
| It came after an outcry over A-level and GCSE results led to the scrapping of an algorithm that had calculated pupils’ grades in lieu of exams. After the algorithm downgraded the results of many pupils from the estimates given by their teachers, while apparently favouring pupils from private schools, pupils held multiple protests with many calling for the resignation of the education secretary, Gavin Williamson. | |
| Boris Johnson is facing fresh calls to meet bereaved families who lost their loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic. | |
| The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group said they have asked for meetings with the prime minister on four occasions. | |
| Earlier this month, the all-party parliamentary group on Coronavirus heard from bereaved families who said they felt they are being “swept under the carpet” by the government. | |
| The APPG chairwoman, Liberal Democrat Layla Moran, wrote to the prime minister and said she was shocked to learn that he had “refused” to meet the group - which represents 1,450 families. | |
| Commenting on the letter, Jo Goodman, who lost her father, Stuart, after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 aged 72, said: | |
| The Co-operative Bank became the latest major British employer to announce redundancies on Tuesday as it said it would part ways with around 350 members of staff. | |
| Last week, more than 7,700 major job losses were announced at big British employers. | Last week, more than 7,700 major job losses were announced at big British employers. |
| It comes as the Office for National Statistics said 730,000 people have been taken off payrolls since the beginning of the crisis in March. | It comes as the Office for National Statistics said 730,000 people have been taken off payrolls since the beginning of the crisis in March. |
| You can read back over full coverage of today’s latest grim economic and business news on our business live blog here on a day when hopes of a swift recovery suffered some serious blows. | |
| A piece of news now that - for a significant section of the population - might be as important as anything else today. | A piece of news now that - for a significant section of the population - might be as important as anything else today. |
| The Great British Bake Off will look as it always does when it returns to screens due to the cast and crew living and filming “in a bubble”, a Channel 4 executive has said. | The Great British Bake Off will look as it always does when it returns to screens due to the cast and crew living and filming “in a bubble”, a Channel 4 executive has said. |
| Production of the 11th series was initially delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic, but filming on the popular show finished last week. | Production of the 11th series was initially delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic, but filming on the popular show finished last week. |
| Kelly Webb-Lamb, deputy director of programmes and head of popular factual for Channel 4, explained during a controller session at Edinburgh’s Television Festival that the “enormous” feat of getting the show back on air was due to stringent health and safety measures. | Kelly Webb-Lamb, deputy director of programmes and head of popular factual for Channel 4, explained during a controller session at Edinburgh’s Television Festival that the “enormous” feat of getting the show back on air was due to stringent health and safety measures. |
| She said: “The feat of getting Bake Off back was enormous and enormously important. | She said: “The feat of getting Bake Off back was enormous and enormously important. |
| The head of England’s exam regulator, Sally Collier, has resigned over the exams fiasco that has engulfed schools and universities. | The head of England’s exam regulator, Sally Collier, has resigned over the exams fiasco that has engulfed schools and universities. |
| Collier, the chief regulator and Ofqual chief executive, oversaw the development of the flawed exams algorithm that was scrapped after it downgraded nearly 40% of A-level results. It came after ministers insisted on avoiding grade inflation. | Collier, the chief regulator and Ofqual chief executive, oversaw the development of the flawed exams algorithm that was scrapped after it downgraded nearly 40% of A-level results. It came after ministers insisted on avoiding grade inflation. |
| She had been conspicuous by her absence since the U-turn on results last week, with Ofqual’s chair, Roger Taylor, issuing a public apology instead. | She had been conspicuous by her absence since the U-turn on results last week, with Ofqual’s chair, Roger Taylor, issuing a public apology instead. |
| Collier’s resignation comes days after the publication of millions of GCSE results and a day after Gavin Williamson insisted Ofqual had his “full confidence”. He had previously refused to back Collier. | Collier’s resignation comes days after the publication of millions of GCSE results and a day after Gavin Williamson insisted Ofqual had his “full confidence”. He had previously refused to back Collier. |
| Amid speculation that the government has already signed off on a U-turn on its masks policy in English schools, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has added his voice to calls for the government to to take World Health Organization (WHO) advice on board. | Amid speculation that the government has already signed off on a U-turn on its masks policy in English schools, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has added his voice to calls for the government to to take World Health Organization (WHO) advice on board. |
| “The World Health Organization has advised children over 12 to wear a face covering where they can’t socially distance, and as more countries are introducing them in school corridors and communal areas, it’s important that lessons are learned,” said Khan. | “The World Health Organization has advised children over 12 to wear a face covering where they can’t socially distance, and as more countries are introducing them in school corridors and communal areas, it’s important that lessons are learned,” said Khan. |
| “I have continually called on government to respond to the latest health advice and my team are speaking with officials in Scotland to ensure we have the most up-to-date advice ahead of our schools returning.” | “I have continually called on government to respond to the latest health advice and my team are speaking with officials in Scotland to ensure we have the most up-to-date advice ahead of our schools returning.” |
| Public Health England and the Department for Education have both signed off on a new policy that will make the wearing of face masks near-mandatory in communal areas of secondary schools in England, the TES reports, citing sources. | Public Health England and the Department for Education have both signed off on a new policy that will make the wearing of face masks near-mandatory in communal areas of secondary schools in England, the TES reports, citing sources. |
| An announcement could come as early as today, the same sources say. | An announcement could come as early as today, the same sources say. |
| Downing Street probably hoped Dominic Cummings’ family would not provide any more headaches after the furore prompted by Boris Johnson’s adviser’s lockdown dash to his parents’ Durham farm this year. | Downing Street probably hoped Dominic Cummings’ family would not provide any more headaches after the furore prompted by Boris Johnson’s adviser’s lockdown dash to his parents’ Durham farm this year. |
| But, in a fresh blow to No 10, the top aide’s father-in-law has reportedly said Johnson will stand down as prime minister in six months. | But, in a fresh blow to No 10, the top aide’s father-in-law has reportedly said Johnson will stand down as prime minister in six months. |
| The claim – strenuously denied by Downing Street – was apparently delivered by Sir Humphry Wakefield to a visitor to the family’s 13th-century Grade I-listed Chillingham Castle, in Northumberland, last week. | The claim – strenuously denied by Downing Street – was apparently delivered by Sir Humphry Wakefield to a visitor to the family’s 13th-century Grade I-listed Chillingham Castle, in Northumberland, last week. |
| The 84-year-old baronet, father of Cummings’ wife, Mary, told visitor Anna Silverman the PM was still struggling badly after having coronavirus and would step down in six months, according to a report in the Times. | The 84-year-old baronet, father of Cummings’ wife, Mary, told visitor Anna Silverman the PM was still struggling badly after having coronavirus and would step down in six months, according to a report in the Times. |
| Wakefield, a lifelong horse rider, is said to have likened the virus to being “gone in the fetlock”, a horse’s joint. “If you put a horse back to work when it’s injured it will never recover,” he reportedly said. | Wakefield, a lifelong horse rider, is said to have likened the virus to being “gone in the fetlock”, a horse’s joint. “If you put a horse back to work when it’s injured it will never recover,” he reportedly said. |
| No 10 dismissed the claim as “utter nonsense”. Wakefield could not be reached for comment. | No 10 dismissed the claim as “utter nonsense”. Wakefield could not be reached for comment. |
| Labour is calling for the use of face masks in secondary schools, citing a “growing body of evidence that the use of face masks in communal areas in secondary schools helps protect students and staff and drive down transmission”. | Labour is calling for the use of face masks in secondary schools, citing a “growing body of evidence that the use of face masks in communal areas in secondary schools helps protect students and staff and drive down transmission”. |
| The shadow education secretary, Kate Green said a change in advice was needed quickly. “The prime minister must listen to this evidence and act quickly to give certainty to parents and teachers who are just days away from schools reopening,” she said. | The shadow education secretary, Kate Green said a change in advice was needed quickly. “The prime minister must listen to this evidence and act quickly to give certainty to parents and teachers who are just days away from schools reopening,” she said. |
| “The last thing concerned parents and pupils need is another last minute U-turn from this government that throws school plans into chaos.” | “The last thing concerned parents and pupils need is another last minute U-turn from this government that throws school plans into chaos.” |
| More from the official stats authority, while we await more updates on the possibility that schoolchildren will be asked to wear face coverings when they return next month. | More from the official stats authority, while we await more updates on the possibility that schoolchildren will be asked to wear face coverings when they return next month. |
| The proportion of people who believe Britain will be united after the coronavirus pandemic has halved in three months, figures suggest. | The proportion of people who believe Britain will be united after the coronavirus pandemic has halved in three months, figures suggest. |
| The Office for National Statistics (ONS) surveyed 12,630 adults between 24 April and 28 June about their perceptions of unity and division in Britain. | The Office for National Statistics (ONS) surveyed 12,630 adults between 24 April and 28 June about their perceptions of unity and division in Britain. |
| Over the period as a whole, 46% of adults on average thought that Britain will be united after society has recovered from Covid-19. | Over the period as a whole, 46% of adults on average thought that Britain will be united after society has recovered from Covid-19. |
| At the start of the period, a higher proportion of people felt Britain would be “very or somewhat” united after the pandemic than felt this way at the end of the period. | At the start of the period, a higher proportion of people felt Britain would be “very or somewhat” united after the pandemic than felt this way at the end of the period. |
| In the first week of the survey period more than half (57%) felt the UK would be more united, falling to 28% in the final week. Exactly half of female respondents believed this compared with 41% of men. | In the first week of the survey period more than half (57%) felt the UK would be more united, falling to 28% in the final week. Exactly half of female respondents believed this compared with 41% of men. |
| Deaths in the UK have risen above average levels for the first time since mid-June, official statistics show, but coronavirus is not thought to be behind the rise. | Deaths in the UK have risen above average levels for the first time since mid-June, official statistics show, but coronavirus is not thought to be behind the rise. |
| The high temperatures of the heatwave earlier this month are most likely behind the recent increase, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. | The high temperatures of the heatwave earlier this month are most likely behind the recent increase, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. |
| In the week ending 14 August, there were 9,392 deaths from all causes in England and Wales – 447 more than the previous week. | In the week ending 14 August, there were 9,392 deaths from all causes in England and Wales – 447 more than the previous week. |
| This took the number of deaths that week to 3.4% above the average for this time of year over the past five years – the first time the average has been exceeded since June. | This took the number of deaths that week to 3.4% above the average for this time of year over the past five years – the first time the average has been exceeded since June. |
| Meanwhile, deaths involving coronavirus have been steadily falling. There were 139 deaths registered in the week ending 14 August that mentioned “novel coronavirus”, an 8.6% fall from the 152 deaths recorded in the previous week. | Meanwhile, deaths involving coronavirus have been steadily falling. There were 139 deaths registered in the week ending 14 August that mentioned “novel coronavirus”, an 8.6% fall from the 152 deaths recorded in the previous week. |
| The ONS said: “The rise in deaths between weeks 32 and 33 coincided with high temperatures in England and Wales, and heatwave warnings were issued by NHS England.” | The ONS said: “The rise in deaths between weeks 32 and 33 coincided with high temperatures in England and Wales, and heatwave warnings were issued by NHS England.” |
| There have been no further reported deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19 in Wales, health officials have said. | There have been no further reported deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19 in Wales, health officials have said. |
| The total number of deaths in the country since the beginning of the pandemic remains at 1,593. | The total number of deaths in the country since the beginning of the pandemic remains at 1,593. |
| Public Health Wales said the total number of coronavirus cases had increased by 28, bringing total cases in Wales to 17,774. | Public Health Wales said the total number of coronavirus cases had increased by 28, bringing total cases in Wales to 17,774. |