Coronavirus news: France facing another nationwide lockdown as cases surge and UK government could fast-track vaccine under new plans
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A coronavirus vaccine could be fast-tracked as an unlicensed medicine before the end of the year under new government plans.
The proposals would allow the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to grant temporary authorisation before a full licence has been approved.
More healthcare workers - including student nurses and physiotherapists - could also be trained to administer vaccines. It is hoped the new measures could be in force by October.
England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said: "The proposals consulted on today suggest ways to improve access and ensure as many people are protected from COVID-19 and flu as possible without sacrificing the absolute need to ensure that any vaccine used is both safe and effective."
Downing Street is also preparing to launch a media campaign to encourage workers to return to offices in an effort to save shops in town and city centres from closure.
However Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's first minister, said she would not support any plans to "intimidate people back to work" during the pandemic before it is safe for employees to return.
Meanwhile France is facing a new lockdown after its health ministry said new cases were increasing "exponentially" and hospitalisations and intensive care admissions were also rising.
President Emmanuel Macron said his government would do "everything possible" to avoid reimposing nationwide restrictions but admitted it could not be ruled out.
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Transport secretary Grant Shapps' explanation for the government's return to work push can be found below:
More than 100 coronavirus cases linked to rally headlined by Smash Mouth
More than 100 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in connection to a controversial Smash Mouth concert earlier this month.
The band performed to a packed, mask-less crowd at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota on 9 August, sparking outrage after lead singer Steve Harwell told the audience: “F*** that Covid s***. Now we’re all here together tonight.”
Our reporter, Isobel Lewis, has the full story below:
UK staycation boom brings hope and fear to Britain’s coastal residents
During normal times, the sight of bustling streets filled with UK tourists enjoying a rare holiday at home would be a welcome sight for coastal areas.
But in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, many residents have been left feeling overwhelmed by an invasion of city-dwellers.
Our reporter, Sarah Young, has spoken to coastal residents about how the increase in visitors has affected them:
Raab to meet Canadian foreign minister to discuss coronavirus and trade
Dominic Raab will meet Canada's foreign minister at Hampton Court Palace in London on Friday, the Foreign Office has confirmed.
The foreign secretary will host his Canadian counterpart, Francois-Philippe Champagne, at the royal palace, with the pair expected to discuss the global response to coronavirus, shared international priorities, and strengthening UK-Canada trade, the department said.
“I look forward to welcoming Foreign Minister Champagne to Hampton Court Palace, and to continue our work making the friendship between our countries a force for good in the world,” Mr Raab said.
Care home deaths kept secret ‘to protect commercial interests’ of providers
The number of coronavirus deaths at individual care homes is being kept a secret because of the “commercial interests” of firms running the homes, regulators have said.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England and the Care Inspectorate in Scotland said revealing the death tolls in individual care homes could harm providers - with fears families could start removing loved ones from homes with high fatality rates.
Our reporter, Adam Forrest, has the full story below:
Government’s quarantine system is not ‘chaotic’, transport secretary says
Transport secretary Grant Shapps has rejected criticism of the government’s quarantine policy, arguing the UK does not have access to sufficient data to differentiate between regions within the same country.
Mr Shapps suggested Spanish islands might eventually be granted no-quarantine status but warned all prospective travellers that they could face two weeks self-isolation on their return to the UK from a holiday abroad.
Our travel correspondent, Simon Calder, has the full story below:
Merkel warns coronavirus crisis will become ‘more difficult’ in coming months
Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel has cautioned that the coronavirus crisis will make life more difficult in the coming months as she called on Germans to continue taking the threat seriously.
The country’s response to the virus has been generally viewed as relatively successful but the country has seen a pickup in new infections in recent weeks - like many others in Europe.
“We have to expect that some things will be even more difficult in the coming months than in the summer,” Ms Merkel said on Friday.
She said it was important to keep infections down as people increasingly meet indoors and Germans must learn to “keep living with the virus”.
Ms Merkel added that her three priorities were ensuring that children could continue to access education, assisting Germany’s economic recovery and maintaining social cohesion at a time when many in society are suffering hardship.
Coronavirus vaccine could be fast-tracked under government plans
A coronavirus vaccine could be rolled out as an unlicensed medicine under planned changes to the law which will also protect pharmaceutical companies from being sued.
Ministers have launched a short three-week consultation on plans to allow the medicines regulator to authorise any vaccine for use once clinical trials demonstrate it is safe.
The measures could come into force by October, ahead of the winter season, but the Department of Health and Social Care said they would be used as a last resort.
Our health correspondent, Shaun Lintern, has the full story below:
Johnson & Johnson to begin Phase II vaccine trials next week
Johnson & Johnson's Janssen unit will begin Phase II trials for its Covid-19 vaccine in Spain, the Netherlands and Germany next week, Spanish health minister Salvador Illa has announced.
The trial will last two months and include 590 participants across the three countries, including 190 people in Spain, Mr Illa told a news conference in Madrid.
More than 150 potential vaccines are being developed and tested globally to stop the coronavirus pandemic, with 30 in human trials.
There is so far no approved vaccine, except one authorised in Russia before large-scale trials.
Tribespeople on remote islands off India test positive for coronavirus
Four members of a small tribe in the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands have tested positive for coronavirus, an Indian health official has said.
Dr Avijit Ray said the four were among the 37 members of the Great Andamanese tribe who live on Strait Island.
The members apparently caught the virus during a recent visit to Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands - a federally administered Indian territory in the Bay of Bengal
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