UK workers slowest in Europe to return to the office August 6, 2020 British office workers have been much slower to return to their desks than counterparts in France, Germany, Italy and Spain as they continue to work from home, according to new research. Just over one-third of UK white-collar employees have returned to work since the lockdown, compared to almost three-quarters of staff in Europe, according to [...]
Coronavirus: Screen time soars as adults spend half their day on devices August 5, 2020 A surge in screen time during lockdown saw adults in the UK glued to their devices for more than 40 per cent of the waking day, according to new research. In its annual study of the nation’s media habits, industry watchdog Ofcom found that adults in the UK spent an average of six hours and [...]
Coronavirus: MPs slam ‘serious mistake’ over UK border policy August 5, 2020 The spread of coronavirus in the UK could have been curbed if the government had not made the “serious mistake” of failing to impose quarantine restrictions on international arrivals, a group of MPs has said. The Home Affairs committee said ministers had underestimated the threat of importing the virus from Europe, as opposed to Asia, [...]
Coronavirus: How safe is the post-lockdown commute to work? August 4, 2020 After more than four months of lockdown Londoners are beginning to return to the office as public transport operators take measures to make the once-daily commute as safe as possible from coronavirus. Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave employers “more discretion” from 1 August to bring back their staff if it was safe to do so. [...]
Weekly coronavirus deaths sink to lowest level since March lockdown August 4, 2020 Weekly coronavirus deaths fell more than a quarter in the seven days to 24 July, marking the lowest level since before the lockdown, latest figures showed. England and Wales have now recorded weekly death rates lower than the five-year average for the sixth week in a row, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). [...]
Virgin Media triples losses as pandemic eats into finances August 4, 2020 Virgin Media almost tripled its losses in the three months to 30 June, as the coronavirus crisis dented revenue despite record customer sign-ups. The results Net loss at the Liberty Global-owned firm swelled 285 per cent to £203.9m during the quarter, up from £53m during the same period last year. Revenue declined 3.5 per cent [...]
UK coronavirus: Second wave could be double the size of first August 4, 2020 Reopening schools in September without an effective test, track and isolating system could result in a second wave of coronavirus more than double the size of the UK’s first, according to a new modelling study. Researchers from UCL and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) examined the potential effects of reopening schools [...]
WHO head warns that there may never be ‘silver bullet’ coronavirus vaccine August 3, 2020 The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that there may never be a “silver bullet” in the form of a perfect vaccine for coronavirus, imploring countries to “do it all” to beat the virus. Speaking at a news conference in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to enforce mask-wearing, social [...]
Sewage testing for coronavirus begins across England August 3, 2020 Sewage testing is being rolled out across England today as part of plans to get a “head start” on new outbreaks of coronavirus, following a sharp spike in infections. Early on in the pandemic, scientists discovered that people infected with Covid-19 “shed” the virus in their faeces within hours of contracting the virus. It is [...]
Downing Street admits it could impose M25 quarantine ring August 3, 2020 Plans to introduce a quarantine ring around the M25 to halt travel in and out of London are “within the government’s contain strategy”, Downing Street said today. The admission came as the Prime Minister scrambles to curb a spike in infections across the country. Boris Johnson is said to have held a “war game” session [...]