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UK coronavirus: Wales to prioritise reopening schools; M&S sandwich supplier closes factory after outbreak – as it happened

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M&S truck
A M&S truck arrives at the Greencore sandwich factory in Northampton where more than 200 people tested positive for coronavirus. Photograph: Paul Childs/Reuters
A M&S truck arrives at the Greencore sandwich factory in Northampton where more than 200 people tested positive for coronavirus. Photograph: Paul Childs/Reuters

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Grant Shapps said there are about 11 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 of the population in the UK.

Speaking about quarantine on return from holidays, he told BBC Breakfast: “Regardless of where you’re going, having been caught out on this myself, everybody will be travelling with their eyes open this summer because this virus is incredibly unpredictable, and all the more so in the countries where we don’t have any control with the way that the response is being handled.

“So people should always, I think, be prepared, if they’re going away to think about what would happen if a country then did require quarantine on return.”

Online sales fell 7% in July compared with June, as more shoppers felt confident returning to the high street, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS added that overall retail sales volumes rose 3.6% in July compared with June and are now 3% above pre-pandemic levels in February. Fuel sales remain low - down 11.7% compared with February - but are recovering as more trips resume, it said.

A senior health body has warned the government about the risks associated with the sale of Covid-19 antibody testing devices directly to the public.

Professor Jo Martin from the Royal College of Pathologists said her organisation was “concerned” that such devices, intended for solely for professional use, were being offered for sale to consumers “without the required reassurance of appropriate laboratory or professional back up”.

The college has written to health secretary Matt Hancock, with Prof Martin adding in a statement: “The use of these for unsupervised self-use test falls outside current regulations, and can mislead the public and put individuals at risk.

“We want everyone to be assured about the tests they receive in healthcare, or that they purchase.

“We want to make sure that not only are they are of good quality but that they give the right result and that the result is properly readable - that they are appropriately ‘useable’.”

The college called for “urgent steps” to be taken to support enforcement and public safety where testing devices were being used unregulated.

BBC’s Newsnight reported an analysis of 41 antibodies tests sold to the public in Britain showed almost a third had inaccurate and incomplete information.

Last month an international team of researchers wrote in The BMJ that there was an “urgent need” for better quality studies assessing the effectiveness of Covid-19 antibody tests.

Public sector debt has breached 2 trillion for the first time, as Government borrowing hit 26.7 billion in July, according to new figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said borrowing for last month was 28.3 billion more than the same time last year, and the fourth-highest since records began in 1993, as the Government throws billions at the economy to try to help it through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Debt hit 2.004 trillion for the first time and is up around 227.6 billion from a year ago. Analysts had forecast borrowing would reach 28.6 billion in June, according to a consensus by Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Croatia’s ambassador to the UK has said it is “a regret” that the UK Government did not implement regional quarantine rules rather than removing the entire country from its quarantine exemption list.

Igor Pokaz told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “What we are trying to do in our constant dialogue with the British government on this particular measure of quarantine is to somehow see whether it would be possible, something that other countries do, to have a more nuanced approach.

“So we regret that it was not possible for the UK government to consider a regional approach, because in Croatia we have, as I said, witnessed these spikes in certain areas - for example in Zagreb in the capital and maybe among the young population.

“But in Dubrovnik, its surroundings and the islands there were very, very few cases. And I deliberately mention Dubrovnik and the islands as that is where most of the British tourists go.

“And Dubrovnik has its own international airport and is naturally secluded from the rest of the country.

“Germany, as I said, has introduced this model, and has introduced measures for only two of the Croatian counties and we have 20 counties in Croatia.”

Grant Shapps added that the government will continue to look into the option of testing at airports.

Asked about possible testing at Heathrow, he told Sky News: “I want to see systems in place to do that kind of thing. But you’ve also got to be sure that you’re testing the right person on that second time around because are you going to just send the kit to the house or are you going to require the person to perhaps drive to a test centre?

“So the point I’m making is this, it’s a bit more complicated than is sometimes suggested. People say why don’t you just test at the airport? Well, because it wouldn’t provide the results and you’ve then got to make sure the second test goes to the right person.

“So all of those things are matters under consideration, but as I say, the main thing to know if you’re travelling this summer, and we just put Portugal on the travel corridor list for the first time, but everyone travelling there or elsewhere will need to know that this virus may change things very quickly.

“With the best will in the world, you may end up having to quarantine.”

Pushed again on testing, Shapps said: “You’re right, I’d said we’d keep reviewing it, and we do. So we have a review point once a month on this and we are reviewing it and we are working with, for example, Heathrow.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said it would be too “difficult” to implement regional quarantine rules as opposed to removing an entire country from the Government’s quarantine exemption list.

Speaking to Sky News about changes to the exemption list, Shapps said: “I do sympathise, I’ve been there myself, I had to actually quarantine myself from Spain after I changed the rules.

“This is a very unpredictable virus which unfortunately just doesn’t play ball as far as the way that it can just sometimes take off in a country and I think anyone travelling this year will know that there are risks involved.

“Indeed, we’ve added Portugal back on to the list, but you need to go with your eyes open there or anywhere that you travel this year because coronavirus is just a fact of life, we’re having to live with it.”

He added: “So to answer your question, it is still rather too difficult to do the kind of regionalisation that you’re talking about because we just don’t have the same control elsewhere.”

Concerns raised over government's approach to data privacy

The UK’s information rights body must act to ensure the government stops “playing fast and loose” with people’s health, it has been claimed.

A cross-party group of MPs has written to the Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, raising concerns over the government’s approach to data protection and privacy.

In a letter, the group accused ministers of paying “scant regard” to both privacy concerns and data protection duties during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It accused the government of engaging with private contractors that have “problematic reputations” to process personal data and said it had built a contact tracing proximity app that centralised and stored more data “than was necessary, without sufficient safeguards”.

On releasing the app for trial, the group noted, ministers failed to notify the Information Commissioner in advance of its data protection impact assessment.

The group also said the government admitted it had breached its data protection obligations by failing to conduct an impact assessment prior to the launch of their test and trace programme.

Calling for action to establish public confidence, the group said it is now “imperative” that action is taken.

They wrote: “The government not only appears unwilling to understand its legal duties, it also seems to lack any sense that it needs your advice, except as a shield against criticism.

“Regarding test and trace, it is imperative that you take action to establish public confidence - a trusted system is critical to protecting public health.”

The letter added: “ICO action is urgently required for Parliament and the public to have confidence that their data is being treated safely and legally, in the current Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.”

Green MP Caroline Lucas, one of the signatories to the letter, raised the issue of data protection directly with Health Secretary Matt Hancock in the Commons last month.

Warnings in Birmingham as cases rise

Police and officials in Birmingham have warned the public to act now to avert a city-wide lockdown as the number of people testing positive for coronavirus in England rose 27% in a week, hitting its highest level since mid-June.

The UK’s second city, which has a population of more than 1 million, has seen a rise to 30 cases per 100,000 up from 22.4 the week before and 12 at the start of the month, its director of public health said.

Birmingham city council said the increase was “extremely concerning” and its leader, Ian Ward, urged the city to pull together to prevent a return to the “dark days” of lockdown. While it is not the country’s worst-hit area, concern over the rate of increase prompted West Midlands police to openly discuss the prospect of a city-wide lockdown. It called on residents to adhere to social distancing and avoid gatherings.

It comes as other areas of the country raised the alarm over stricter measures to control Covid-19 outbreaks, including Oldham in Lancashire. Scotland announced 77 new cases of coronavirus, the highest number over a 24-hour period in nearly three months.

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