UK coronavirus live: scramble to beat quarantine deadline; Wigan to come out of lockdown

Wigan joinstwo Lancashire areas also easing restrictions; Croatia, Austria and Trinidad and Tobago off safe list from4am SaturdayShapps rejects idea of partial quarantine for countriesLockdown fears for Birmingham amid sharp rise in casesRetail sales rise above pre-Covid levelsCovid-19 drives UK national debt to £2tnCoronavirus global updates – live1.13pmBSTTens of thousands of frantic school-leavers are still waiting to hear if they will be accepted at the university of their choice afterreceiving better A-level grades this week. But vice-chancellors are warning that taking large numbers of extra undergraduates would put students, staff and local communities at risk from coronavirus.Elite universities are racing to revise their social distancing plans, after the government U-turn led to 160,000 students having their A-level grades marked up. Some Russell Group universities say they took tens of thousands of calls in just two days this week, as students begged to be reconsidered for offers they had missed last Thursday.Related:Universities warn of pandemic risk if upgraded A-level students admitted1.10pmBSTAt her daily briefing,Nicola Sturgeon says that 31 out of 71 new coronavirus infections overnight are in Tayside, where health officials are dealing with an outbreak at the 2 Sisters poultry factory,Coupar Angus.Sturgeon has told all workers at the food processing plant and their families to self-isolate until 31 August.Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - August 21, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Jessica Murray (now) and Sarah Marsh (earlier) Tags: Coronavirus outbreak Birmingham Boris Johnson Infectious diseases Politics Science UK news Medical research Microbiology Source Type: news