Summary for Sunday, 7th March
Good morning and welcome to today’s live coverage. We’ll be bringing you updates on the pandemic in the UK and around the world throughout the day. Here’s a look at this morning’s main headlines to get started:
- UK Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to face questions shortly from Andrew Marr on the return of schools
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson urges caution as England takes the first step on his roadmap to ending lockdown with the reopening of schools on Monday
- Two-thirds of parents are worried about lost learning, but most are happy to see their children go back to the classroom, a survey suggests
- People aged 56 to 59 are being invited to make vaccination appointments this week in England as the rollout continues
- Nurses are calling for updated guidance on protective equipment, arguing current recommendations are out of date
- The US Senate has approved a $1.9tn Covid relief package, including payments of $1,400 (£1,012) for most Americans
Good morning and welcome to today’s live coverage. We’ll be bringing you updates on the pandemic in the UK and around the world throughout the day. Here’s a look at this morning’s main headlines to get started:
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the country is beginning to move “closer to a sense of normality” as the first stage of his roadmap for reopening approaches. Schools in England reopen to all pupils from Monday, but Mr Johnson urged people to be careful and “not to undo the progress we have made so far”.
- A majority of parents are happy to send their children back to the classroom, but two-thirds are concerned about catching up on lost learning, a survey suggests. Some parents told the Institute for Fiscal Studies survey they fear they may never catch up.
- The vaccine rollout in England has been officially extended to the 56 to 59 age group, with letters inviting them for their appointment starting to arrive. Nearly 21.4 million people in the UK have had at least one dose and one million have had both.
- Nurses are calling on the government to update guidelines on protective equipment, saying they are based on out of date evidence. The Royal College of Nursing says they need higher-grade masks to take account of the risk of Covid spreading through the air
- The US has passed a $1.9tn (£1.4tn) Covid relief bill, giving payments of $1,400 (£1,012) to most Americans along with unemployment support and funds to help schools reopen safely. But plans to introduce a $15 minimum wage were rejected.
- And the Dalai Lama has received his first dose of the vaccine. The Tibetan spiritual leader urged others to “take this injection” as he received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at a facility in India.
Summary of recent global events
The Guardian- Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city, emerged on Sunday from a strict weeklong lockdown imposed after a community cluster of the more contagious UK coronavirus variant.
- The reopening of England’s schools to all pupils on Monday will mark the first step back towards normality, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. A
further 158 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 in the UK as of Saturday, bringing the total to 124,419. - France reported 23,306 new confirmed Covid-19 cases on Saturday, down from 23,507 on Friday. The French health ministry reported 170 new deaths, taking the total to 88,444.
- Italy has reported 307 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday against 297 the day before, the health ministry said. The daily tally of new infections fell to 23,641 from 24,036 the day before.
- In England, the National Health Service has invited people aged 56 to 59 to book Covid-19 vaccinations in the coming week, while schools will reopen on Monday for the first time in two months. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to remain “cautious” in loosening coronavirus restrictions.
- Hundreds of thousands of people in northern France have been placed under lockdown. The residents of Pas-de-Calais on the north coast joined those in the region’s port of Dunkirk – and the Mediterranean resort of Nice – already shut down on Saturdays and Sundays.
- New Zealand’s largest city Auckland has come out of a weeklong lockdown. Restrictions had been imposed following a community cluster of the more contagious UK coronavirus variant. There were no new local Covid-19 cases recorded on Sunday.
- Ireland has reached the milestone of half a million coronavirus jabs administered. The taoiseach, Micheál Martin, hailed progress made fighting the pandemic. He said he was inspired by recent visits to vaccination centres where thousands of frontline healthcare workers are receiving the vaccine doses.
- The Dalai Lama has urged people to be brave and get vaccinated, after he received a shot on Saturday at a hospital in the north Indian hill town of Dharmsala.
- In Vienna, thousands turned out on Saturday to protest against coronavirus restrictions, the latest demonstration opposing the public health measures.
- The US Senate has passed President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan. The all-night session saw Democrats battling among themselves over jobless aid and the Republican minority failing in attempts to push through some three dozen amendments.