UK records highest daily infection total since June as local lockdowns upheld and France threatens quarantine reprisals

Our reporter, Liam James, has more details below on the hefty fines which could be used against organisers of illegal raves:

France threatens to impose 'reciprocal' measures over UK quarantine decision

France has warned it will impose “reciprocal” measures after the UK government removed the country from its list of destinations exempt from quarantine restrictions.

Clement Beaune, France’s secretary of state for European affairs, described the quarantine announcement as “a British decision which we regret and which will lead to reciprocal measures, all in hoping for a return for normal as soon as possible.”

Our political correspondent, Ashley Cowburn, has the full story below:

Notting Hill Carnival to go online-only after cancellation due to coronavirus restrictions

Notting Hill Carnival is set to swap the streets of West London for computer screens around the world this year as the event goes online-only due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The organisers of the carnival, which usually attracts more than a million visitors, have spent a month filming acts to be broadcast online between 29 and 31 August after the physical parade was cancelled earlier this year. 

“First I was very sad that it wouldn't be on the streets - I still am - but I'm very excited about the possibilities of this year taking Carnival into unique places,” Matthew Phillip, the carnival’s executive director, said.

The online 2020 event will be set against a backdrop of heightened focus on racial inequality in the UK following large protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and attention on the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on BAME communities.

‘Troubling’ signs virus is re-emerging fastest among young people in France

Health authorities in France have warned that new coronavirus infections have been rising fastest among younger people in the country.

Santé Publique, the French health ministry’s public health arm, said the infection rate in the week beginning 3 August was fastest among people aged 15 to 44 and described the rise as a “troubling situation”.

It came as the national government declared Paris and Marseilles as high-risk zones for the virus and granted authorities greater powers to impose localised restrictions.

Our reporter, Kate Ng, has the full story below:

England’s latest lockdown easing is political and science ‘has not really changed’, Sage adviser says

The latest easing of England’s coronavirus lockdown is a political decision not based on a change in scientific evidence, a leading expert has suggested.

John Edmunds, professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “nothing has really changed” in terms of the science around the pandemic in the last couple of weeks.

Professor Edmunds, who is also a member of the Sage group of advisers, added that there was “huge uncertainty” around estimates for the prevalence of coronavirus in society 

Our reporter, Jon Sharman, has the full story below:

Nearly 8 per cent of people in German hot spot have Covid-19 antibodies, data shows

Results from a study in a town which had one of Germany’s earliest coronavirus outbreaks found 7.7 per cent of residents had antibodies for Covid-19, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases has said.

Researchers tested 2,203 people in the town of Kupferzell in southern Germany - where a church concert led to an outbreak in early March - between 20 May and 9 June.

The findings showed there were almost four times as many infections in the town as previously reported, the study's project leader Claudia Santos-Hoevener from the RKI told a news conference.

Just shy of 17 per cent of people did not show any symptoms, the institute added.

China’s levels of air pollutant drop by nearly 11 per cent during lockdown period

China saw its average concentrations of the air pollutant PM2.5 fall by 10.8 per cent from January to July as industries shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to data released on Friday.

Average PM2.5 stood at 33 micrograms per cubic metre over the seven months, according to data collected from monitoring stations in more than 300 cities, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends levels of no more than 10 micrograms due to health problems linked to the pollutant - China's national standard is 35 micrograms.

Environmental groups have warned that China might turn a blind eye to industrial polluters and rely on energy-intensive processes to try to reverse the economic impact of the pandemic in the second half of the year.

“There was a temporary pollution increase in April but it quickly went down in May,” Li Shuo, senior energy and climate analyst with Greenpeace, said. 

“We need to see if July represents the beginning of a larger trend.”

In July, average PM2.5 levels fell 5 per cent, but some regions saw a rebound. 

The capital of Beijing saw average PM2.5 rise 10.8 per cent to 41 micrograms, while the smog-prone Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as a whole jumped 5.9 per cent to 36 micrograms.

India’s Covid-19 death toll overtakes UK to become fourth highest in world

India’s confirmed coronavirus death toll has overtaken the UK, giving the South Asian country the fourth highest total of fatalities in the world.

The Health Ministry reported 1,007 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 48,040 - behind only the US, Brazil and Mexico.

India’s total number of confirmed cases also reached 2,461,190 after a single-day spike of 64,553, the ministry said.

The country’s two-month lockdown in late March kept infections low, but nationwide measures have since been eased and restrictions are now largely being enforced in high-risk areas.

New cases spiked after India reopened shops and manufacturing and allowed hundreds of thousands of migrant workers to return to their homes from coronavirus-hit regions.

Our travel correspondent, Simon Calder, has an update on France’s response to being put on the UK’s quarantine list.

Simon writes:

French transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbar has warned that President Emmanuel Macron’s government will bring in quarantine for arrivals from the UK.

He said: “France regrets the UK's decision and will apply reciprocal measures in the transport field. 

“I've told my counterpart Grant Shapps that we want to harmonise health protocols to ensure a high level of protection on both sides of the Channel.”

France imposed tit-for-tat quarantine between 8 June and 9 July in response to the UK’s initial blanket policy of requiring travellers to self-isolate at home for two weeks.

But French officials made it clear that it was a voluntary or advisory procedure, which was never policed.

Statista has produced a map for The Independent below, showing the countries for which non-essential travel is now advised against by the UK government:

Source: Statista