Coronavirus news – live: Teachers and parents criticise threat of fines for children who miss school as scientists claim to have found first patient reinfected with Covid-19
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Teaching unions and parents have hit back over the threat of fines if children do not return to the classroom next week, warning it could undermine trust between families and schools at a crucial point in the UK’s recovery from coronavirus.
It comes after Boris Johnson urged parents to send their children back to school when they reopen in England, saying that yet more time outside the classroom is a greater health risk than returning – a view echoed by Jennie Harries, the deputy chief medical officer, who said car crashes and flu were greater health dangers than Covid-19.
Scientists, meanwhile, claim to have found the first person to be reinfected with coronavirus – a man in Hong Kong who is believed to have caught one strain four months after battling a different incarnation of Covid-19.
22 new clusters found in France
The number of new, confirmed cases of Covid-19 in France has risen by 1,955 compared to a day earlier, with 22 new clusters found, the French health ministry has said.
The health ministry added that the number of deaths has risen by 15 from the previous day to stand at a total of 30,528 casualties.
France has the seventh-highest Covid-19 death toll in the world.
Test and Trace online booking system under fire
The NHS Test and Trace system has faced fresh criticism for a flaw in its online booking system which tries to direct people to test centres more than 100 miles away.
Some people with coronavirus symptoms who try to book a test online are directed to centres which would take them more than three hours to reach by car.
A person from Ilfracombe in Devon who has symptoms of Covid-19 is directed to a test centre in Swansea when they try to book a test online.
This would see them drive past centres in Taunton, Bristol and Cardiff on their six-and-a-half hour round trip, driving 175 miles in each direction.
People in Felixstowe, Suffolk, have been directed to Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, with the government coronavirus test booking website saying it is just 13.8 miles away when the journey is actually 40 miles by car and they would be passing their closest test centre in Ipswich on the way.
Labour said problems with the booking system should be resolved as a "matter of urgency".
US Covid-19 cases drop for fifth week in a row
The number of new coronavirus cases reported in the United States fell by 17% last week, the fifth straight week of declines, according to a Reuters tally of state and county reports.
Nearly 1,000 people a day continue to die from Covid-19 in the US, although last week's total of more than 6,700 deaths was down 9% from the previous seven days.
The United States reported 297,000 new cases for the week ended 23 August, down from a weekly peak of over 468,000 cases in mid-July.
The country is now averaging less than 50,000 new infections a day for the first time since early June.
The United States still has the worst outbreak in the world, accounting for a quarter of the global total of 23 million cases.
Oxford professor 'hopeful' of vaccine 'readout' in early autumn
Asked when a Covid-19 vaccine might be available, Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford, told Channel 4 News: "I'm hopeful we are going to start to get a read-out early in the autumn as to whether this thing works or not.
"A lot of this depends on the intensity of infection. So, in order to get a read-out, you have to have a certain number of incident cases in the control vaccine population - and that then tells you you can look at the real vaccinated population and see whether they have been protected.
"So, I'm hoping that's going to happen pretty smartly this autumn."
He added: "There will be a delay between the outcome of the trial and a decision whether it can be approved as a vaccine."
Virgin Atlantic offers free Covid-19 insurance
Virgin Atlantic is offering coronavirus insurance cover, free of charge, to all passengers, Helen Coffey reports.
The airline has launched what it claims is “the most comprehensive Covid-19 cover provided by any major airline” for all new and existing bookings up until 31 March 2021.
BBC documentary to look at Covid-19's impact on Bame communities
David Harewood will investigate the disproportionate impact of coronavirus on black and minority ethnic communities in a new documentary.
The BBC One programme will see the actor meet medical researchers and doctors who are examining the genetic, environmental and social conditions behind the phenomenon.
In May, research by University College London (UCL) suggested people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (Bame) communities were two to three times more likely to die from Covid-19.
Harewood said: "Covid-19 has had a profound impact on the whole of the UK but it has left a particularly devastating footprint in the lives of many black and other ethnic minority communities across the country, taking the lives of loved ones and relatives in shocking numbers.
"In this documentary I set out to understand the real reasons why this is happening and what can be done about it."
Thousands of health and care workers infected at work, data suggests
At least 6,500 health and care workers may have been infected with coronavirus through their work, including 100 who died, according to data from the Health and Safety Executive, our health correspondent Shaun Lintern reports.
The regulator told The Independent it was reviewing each case and could launch investigations under the Health and Safety at Work Act if hospitals or care homes are suspected of not taking adequate steps to protect staff from infection.
Full report below:
Melania Trump has been photographed not wearing a face mask at an event at the White House, where she reportedly hugged and shook hands with multiple children.
The event was also attended by the US second lady Karen Pence, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, transportation secretary Elaine Chao and education secretary Betsy DeVos, who were all pictured without face masks.
Gaza declares lockdown amid first Covid-19 cases in general population
Gaza reported its first cases of Covid-19 in the general population today, as authorities confirmed four infections at a refugee camp and security forces declared a full lockdown for 48 hours.
The four cases were from a single family in a camp in central Gaza, a government spokesman said.
Salama Marouf, chairman of the government's media office, said a "full curfew" will be imposed in all of the Gaza Strip from tonight.
The curfew will include official, private and educational facilities, while mosques, markets, wedding halls and sports clubs will also be closed, he added.
Officials are now working to determine the causes of infection and to trace contacts of those infected.
Until today, the 360 square-kilometre coastal strip, home to 2 million Palestinians, had reported no infections outside quarantine centres.
Those centres had recorded one death and 109 infections. People arriving in Gaza had to spend 21 days in the centres on orders from Hamas, the armed Islamist group that has controlled Gaza for over a decade.
Aberdeen lockdown 'effective in beating back virus'
Nicola Sturgeon has said reintroducing lockdown restrictions in Aberdeen has been "effective in beating back the virus".
Speaking as most of the measures were lifted today, the first minister praised the level of compliance in the city.
Lockdown restrictions were reimposed on the Aberdeen City Council area on 5 August following an outbreak linked to pubs.
A five-mile recreational travel limit, restrictions on gatherings and limitations on hospital and care home visits were lifted on today, while a ban on the opening of hospitality businesses will be removed on Wednesday after checks by the local authority.
Ms Sturgeon said: "These restrictions have been effective in beating back the virus in Aberdeen, for the simple reason that you have all complied very well with them.
"That's also the reason that we're now able to lift these restrictions.
"I know how difficult this last two-and-a-half week period must have been for everyone in the city and you have my grateful thanks."
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