Covid-19: Denmark off travel corridor list and city-wide testing trial begins
Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Friday morning. We’ll have another update for you at 18:00 BST.
1. Denmark removed from UK’s travel corridor list
Anyone arriving in the UK from Denmark
must self-isolate for 14 days
with immediate effect, after the government made an emergency ruling overnight. It came after it emerged a mutated form of coronavirus present in the country’s mink farms could be passed to humans. Germany and Sweden have also been taken off the UK’s travel corridor list, although in their cases the requirement to self-isolate kicks in at 04:00 GMT on Saturday.
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2. City-wide testing pilot begins
The UK’s
first city-wide Covid testing trial is getting under way in Liverpool
, with everyone living or working there being offered repeat tests, whether or not they have symptoms. The city’s mayor says it has “absolutely nothing to lose” by hosting the two-week pilot. Here’s
how it will work
. Meanwhile, our health correspondent James Gallagher examines
whether mass testing could help avoid the need for future lockdowns
.
3. Mum and sons die after catching Covid-19
The potentially devastating effects of coronavirus have been highlighted by the case of 81-year-old David Lewis, who
lost his wife, Gladys, 74, and sons Dean, 44, and Darren, 42,
in the space of just five days, after they tested positive for Covid-19. Dean’s widow, Claire Lewis, says the family, from Pentre, Rhondda Cynon Taf, has been left heartbroken and is struggling to come to terms with what has happened.
Covid: Pentre family’s mother and two sons die within five days
4. Students tear down ‘prison-like’ halls fencing
University of Manchester
students have torn down fencing put up around their halls of residence
on the first day of England’s new lockdown, after saying it left them feeling like they were in prison. The university has apologised, insisting it was not designed to stop students exiting the site but to address safety concerns, “particularly about access by people who are not residents”.
5. Strictly ‘difficult’ to film without live audience
If you’re relying on comfort TV such as Strictly Come Dancing to keep you sane while ordinary life is curtailed, you can rest assured
the BBC One contest will go ahead
as planned. However, judge Craig Revel Horwood and contestant Clara Amfo say lockdown is making things a bit more difficult as there will no longer be a live studio audience to cheer on the dancers.
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And don’t forget…
With the UK having updated its travel corridor list, you can
check the latest quarantine rules
.
You can find more information, advice and guides on our
coronavirus page
.
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