Plus, 'lockdown made me rethink my busy life'
| | | | Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is urging Boris Johnson to "get a grip" and restore public trust in the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis. In his strongest criticism yet, Sir Keir told the Guardian newspaper there was a suspicion the PM was "winging it" over steps to ease the lockdown, including reopening schools and relaxing shielding advice. No 10 insisted it was proceeding with caution to secure a safe recovery. The two men will face each other at Prime Minister's Questions later. Also later, in a statement postponed from Tuesday, we'll get more details on plans to introduce 14-day quarantine for most arrivals into the UK from next week. Read more on the policy, deeply unpopular as it is in some quarters. Portugal's foreign minister has told the BBC anyone from the UK thinking of going to his country this summer would be "most welcome". Elsewhere, university leaders have been setting out proposals for a socially distanced student life this autumn. They suggest students might have to live and study in the same small group - the sort of "bubbles" being used in schools. The virus has now claimed the lives of nearly 40,000 people in the UK, according to official daily figures. The risk of dying is higher for people from ethnic minorities, Public Health England says, but it's so far unclear why. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said much more work was needed to understand the variations. In other news, a trial has begun to see if ibuprofen could provide a low-cost treatment for coronavirus, and the owner of restaurant chains Frankie & Benny's and Garfunkel's is set to tell staff a "large number" of its outlets are "no longer viable" and will not reopen after lockdown. | |
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| As the UK talks travel, Italy is opening up for tourists once more. Travellers from most European countries will be allowed to enter from Wednesday, with no quarantine, and Italy is also lifting restrictions on domestic travel, allowing people to move between regions. Across Europe, new virus cases are steadily declining, the World Health Organization says. The only exceptions are Russia and other Eastern European countries. See how various nations are opening up. Brazil's death toll has now surpassed 31,000. The country is the worst-hit in Latin America, the current global hotspot of the pandemic. Despite this, several major Brazilian cities are starting to reopen, causing concern among health officials. In neighbouring Argentina, see how the prolonged lockdown has brought more misery to a country with a troubled economic past. On the economic front, the finance ministers of the G7 countries will hold a phone conference later to discuss the impact of the pandemic and how to deal with it. Some industries and companies are certainly booming - Zoom for example - but read why sex workers are one group particularly fearful about the future. As always, our live page has all the latest. | |
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| | | | | For many of us, life is a series of commitments - whether that's social events, family gatherings or work-related meetings. Lockdown has meant that our diaries are suddenly empty, and for those of us with busy lives, the stark change has been difficult to adjust to. But for others, it's been a wake-up call. Rather than lamenting the loss of a packed calendar, some people have found that the quieter, slower life offered a much-needed break. | |
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| | | | The topic of travel again makes several front pages. The Daily Mail makes a plea to Boris Johnson to "save our summer holidays". The paper reports that the PM is pushing for the idea of "air bridges" between the UK and certain other destinations. Home Secretary Priti Patel also mentions air bridges in an article she has written for the Daily Telegraph - but she doesn't give details and defends the quarantine plans. The Daily Mirror strives for optimism, though, seeing a "lifeline" in suggestions the rules could be relaxed. Elsewhere, the i considers the impact of the pandemic on universities. One vice-chancellor tells the paper it's "comfortably... the biggest crisis ever" to hit the sector. Many of the papers also deride the huge queues of MPs that formed on Tuesday after the government ended the system of remote working. For the Guardian, it's no laughing matter. Not all MPs can physically attend due to health vulnerabilities, and the paper feels "Mr Johnson has seized an opportunity in a crisis to concentrate power rather than diffuse it." | |
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