Five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Thursday morning.
Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Thursday morning. We’ll have another update for you this evening.
More than 20 healthcare organisations representing nurses, doctors, surgeons and therapists meet officials from all four UK nations today to plead for better protection from coronavirus. They say current guidance on kit leaves them vulnerable to infection through the air, particularly from new variants, and want better masks that can filter out aerosols carrying the virus. The UK government says emerging evidence is continually monitored.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a meeting involving the first ministers of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales later to discuss how to emerge from the pandemic. Downing Street says it’s an opportunity to share information and ideas. The summit was postponed from last week after Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her Welsh counterpart Mark Drakeford complained about a “very rough agenda”.
Online retailer Amazon is to expand its Covid testing lab facilities in the UK, saying it will benefit employees and public health. Last year, it set up a facility in Greater Manchester to analyse employees’ samples which has so far processed 900,000 tests. However, analysts believe it could also provide business opportunities in the health sector.
Leaving work at the office can be tricky when “the office” is your kitchen table. With 35.9% of employees said to have worked from home last year, the Prospect union is calling for a legal “right to disconnect” that would ban bosses from “routinely emailing or calling” outside working hours. But companies say this would be difficult at a time when many people are demanding flexible working.
image copyrightClaire Mullaly
Fifty days out from the Olympics, Tokyo 2020’s president says she’s “100%” certain the Games will go ahead. That’s despite recent polls suggesting nearly 70% of Japan’s population do not want them to happen, with the country in the midst of a new wave of the virus. Read BBC Sport’s full interview with Seiko Hashimoto.
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You can find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page.
Amid talk of a third wave of the virus, Rachel Schraer assesses the picture in different parts of the UK.
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