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Teaching unions have condemned the Government’s decision to release new coronavirus guidelines for schools just days before millions of pupils are set to return to the classroom.
Secondary students in England could be forced to isolate for 14 days if a single virus case is confirmed in their year group, according to measures published late on Friday.
In areas with a local lockdown, secondary schools could have to use a “rota system” to limit the number of teenagers attending at any one time.
The fresh guidance was published just before the bank holiday weekend ahead of the start of the autumn term next week. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, has branded the timing “reprehensible”.
Meanwhile Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned that “very extensive” local or national lockdowns could be enforced in the event of a second wave this winter.
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Live Updates
World update:
France reports 5,453 new cases
France has recorded 5,453 new coronavirus cases – down from 7,379 yesterday.
The health ministry said the cumulative number of Covid-19 deaths rose to 30,602 from 30,596 reported on Friday.
The number of people in hospital with the disease was at 4,530 versus 4,535 the day before and the number in intensive care rose to 400 from 387.
Over in Trafalgar Square…
Artist unveils NHS-inspired installation made from hospital bed sheets as a memorial to those who have died in the Covid-19 pandemic
Luke Jerram created the flag installation from 120 sheets.
In Memoriam “commemorates all the people we have lost and is also a tribute to all the NHS and key workers”, the artist said.
“I’m hoping the artwork will help some people with the grieving process,” he added. “There’s been a lot of grief. The country is in a grieving process. I’m hoping this artwork may be of use to people to contemplate the pandemic but also to help with the bereavement.”
Jerram said he bought the bed sheets – which resemble a medical cross logo from the air – and “stitched” them up.
Myanmar reports 77 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, the Southeast Asian nation’s biggest daily rise
The Health Ministry did not immediately say where the 77 new cases were found. Most recent infections have been in Sittwe, the capital of conflict-torn Rakhine state, where authorities have imposed a lockdown and curfew.
Myanmar’s outbreak has been relatively small compared with other countries in the region since it found its first case in March, with only six deaths and 733 infections reported so far.
No new deaths reported in Northern Ireland
Another 89 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, the department of health said.
It brings the seven-day total to 520.
Coronavirus death toll in England hospitals rises by six
A further six people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 29,547, NHS England said on Saturday.
The patients were aged between 52 and 91 and only one 85-year-old patient did not have a known underlying condition.
The dates of the deaths ranges from June 23 to August 28, with the majority on or after August 27.
Another five deaths have been reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.
No new coronavirus deaths have been reported in Scotland in the last 24 hours
A total of 2,494 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus.
Statistics published on the Scottish Government website show 20,195 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 88 from 20,107 the day before.
Six of these new cases are in the Grampian health board area, 36 in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, seven in Lanarkshire and 11 in Tayside.
There are 258 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, an increase of three in 24 hours.
Of these patients, five were in intensive care, up by two.
Government must provide ‘more funding for extra staff’, says union leader
Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT – the Teachers’ Union, called on the Government to provide more funding so extra staff can be recruited if schools are affected by local lockdown measures.
He said: “We have been saying for some time that schools need clarity on these important issues and that it is the responsibility of the Government to provide that clarity.
“There must be a recognition that whilst children will be affected by local restrictions, so too will teachers and other staff in schools.
“The availability of staff where there is a local lockdown or outbreak may mean that schools have to limit provision if they cannot be staffed safely
“The Government now needs to confirm that schools will have the additional resources they need to deliver an effective remote learning offer to all pupils as well as funding for additional staff that will be necessary to maintain continuity of provision in the event of local disruption.”
Ireland in ‘more difficult’ phase of coronavirus after six months of fighting virus
The head of the HSE has said that Ireland has reached a “more difficult phase” of Covid-19 as the country marks six months since the first case was detected.
There have been a total of 1,777 people who died with Covid-19 in Ireland, many of them elderly people living in nursing homes.
Figures provided by the Department of Health show that Ireland recorded its highest death toll on April 20 when 77 people died from the virus. After health officials confirmed the first case on February 29, there have since been 28,578 people diagnosed with Covid-19.
HSE chief executive Paul Reid said it has been a “a long six months” since the first Covid-19 case confirmed in the State. Much learning, hurt, sorrow, grieving and frustration.”
Protesters hold signs calling for the government to ‘prioritise people’ at the South bank demonstrations
More consultation with local authorities is needed regarding Government decisions on local coronavirus lockdown restrictions, says Greater Manchester mayor
Any Burnham told BBC Breakfast: “I think we will better negotiate what lies ahead of us in the autumn and winter if Government listens to local leaders – they know their communities.
“It wasn’t just in Greater Manchester where they overruled us. In Bradford, basically communities were split there – some are still under restrictions, some not.
“You then have the situation where some people on one half of the street are under restrictions and others not.
“My main message to the Government is you must not impose these things from London when you are going to affect communities in this way, it must be by negotiation and agreement.
“And that needs to be a core principle that we agree on before we go any further into the rest of what will be a very difficult year.”
Dozens of people gather outside the National Theatre in central London to protest against more than 1,000 redundancies being made along the South Bank
Staff say they are not receiving the redundancy pay they are entitled to, describing the cuts as “callous”.
Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood has said “draconian action” could be needed to curb the spread of coronavirus if the public does not maintain social distancing measures.
It comes as a leaked SAGE report suggested a “reasonable worst case scenario” of 85,000 deaths across the UK this winter due to Covid-19.
Mr Ellwood hinted the Government could take stronger action than local lockdowns as told he Times Radio what could happen if the R-rating goes “too high”.
Read the full report here
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, branded the timing of the new guidance “reprehensible”
He said: “It was obvious weeks ago that lockdown advice was necessary. The Government’s decision to publish this at 9pm on the Friday of the Bank Holiday weekend before most schools are due to return is nothing short of reprehensible and demonstrates a complete lack of regard for the wellbeing of school leaders and their teams.
“The decision confirms the Government simply does not understand the commitment and professionalism of school leaders who will feel compelled act immediately.”
Confusion over lockdown guidelines is being used by some as an “excuse” to break the rules, says police chief
Andy Rhodes, Chief Constable of Lancashire Constabulary, said there was a “world of difference” between people acting sensibly and others who were “flagrantly” ignoring the rules.
“What we’re looking at here is being proportionate, so if we think that people have thought about it and they are confused, we turn up and deal with the situation,” he told BBC Breakfast on Saturday.
“The vast majority of times across the country the police are just giving advice out and asking people to do things differently.
“(But) we’ve had people who have clearly, fragrantly, ignored the rules and had a wedding for 200 people.
“There’s no one anywhere who could misinterpret the current rules to say that 200 people in your back garden or in your house or in an area is going to be OK.
“There’s a world of difference between good people who are doing their best to enjoy themselves and they’re a bit confused, and people that are clearly just ignoring the normal rules that the rest of us are trying to abide by. Being confused is becoming a bit of an excuse for some people at the moment.”
The Home Secretary has condemned the organisers of illegal raves, warning them they are “not above the law”.
It comes as new measures came into force on Friday, which mean that organisers of illegal raves will be ordered to pay £10,000 fines.
Meanwhile, people not wearing masks and participants in unlawful gatherings can be fined starting at £100, doubling for each repeat offence up to a maximum of £3,200.
Read the full report here
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham responds to new guidance
Mr Burnham told BBC Breakfast: “To be fair the guidance does seem fairly clear, but it was very late.
“It came out at 7.30pm on the Friday before a bank holiday.
“Why is the Government doing this again, putting out guidance so late so that head teachers don’t have time to prepare?”
Labour’s shadow education secretary Kate Green said that while the guidelines were “long overdue”, the timing of the release of information was “unfair” to head teachers and school leaders
“School leaders have been asking all summer for information about what they should do in the event of local restrictions in their area,” she told Sky News.
“And really unfair, I think, to heads, that (the guidelines) are sent out late on a Friday night, at the start of a bank holiday, days before the first day of the new school term.
“Heads are going to feel under a lot of pressure now over this weekend to start looking at these, thinking about how they will implement them in their schools, whether they will have to make any changes to arrangements they’ve already put in place.
“At a time when, really, it would be quite good to give them a weekend off. They’ve had a long summer of having to put preparations in place for children’s return and I do think the Government’s timing is really unfair to heads and school leaders.”
Union leader expresses “weary, resigned sense of inevitability” at timing of latest Government guidelines on the reopening of schools
Asked how teachers would feel about the situation, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the guidance had come “at last minute”.
He said: “I think, probably, the most polite response… is a weary, resigned sense of inevitability that here we are again, right at the last minute with something that we have been accused of expressing treachery in asking for – where’s the plan B in case of local lockdown – at last it has arrived.”
Read our full report on the new school’s guidance here