Coronavirus news: First UK local lockdown imposed in Leicester as WHO chief warns pandemic ‘not even close to being over’

 Beginning of university academic year may be pushed back to January

The beginning of the academic year for university students may be pushed back from September to January with students applying for university after getting their A-level results rather than using projected grades.

A dramatic revamp of how students are admitted to university is being planned by the education secretary, according to a report in The Guardian.

The move would mark a substantial break from the present structure which sees sixth-form students rely grades predicted by their teachers when applying to university in January before taking their A-level exams at the end of spring.

Read more:

Parents face fine for non-attendance of children in new school year, government says

Parents in England risk being fined if they do not send their children back to school when they reopen in September, the education secretary has warned.

Gavin Williamson said it will be “compulsory” for pupils to return to classes and unless parents have a “good reason” keeping children at home they may face financial penalties.

Speaking to Sky News, the minister said a detailed plan on how the government will ensure all children in England are back in classrooms in the autumn will be set out by the end of this week.

Read more:

In the US, Broadway theatres will remain closed until 3 January 2021, industry group the Broadway League said on Monday, extending their coronavirus shutdown for another four months.

The theatres, which went dark in mid-March, had previously set a tentative reopening date of 6 September 2020.

People in the UK are still travelling less than 50 per cent of their pre-pandemic distance despite lockdown restrictions easing, according to new figures.

Movement is only increasing by around 2-3 per cent each week, University of Oxford data shows.

After sinking to a 98 per cent reduction compared with pre-lockdown levels in mid-April, as of June 22 travelling had increased to around 45 per cent.

The government dropped its "stay home" slogan on 10 May.

One of the researchers involved in the study of movement, Dr Matthias Qian, said: "We explain the slow and steady increase in mobility with the lockdown fatigue of the population while destination choices are limited.

"The key driver of population movement is the daily commute to work, and these commutes remain muted as many offices have yet to reopen."

The highest levels of movement since the crisis began coincided with the hottest day of the year so far on 25 June.

 The spike in coronavirus cases in the United States and elsewhere shows Canadians must remain vigilant as the economy gradually reopens, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday.

Trudeau also told a daily briefing that fewer people were being admitted to hospital in Canada and the death toll was increasing at a smaller rate than before, although some hot spots remained.

By contrast, some southern U.S. states are reporting huge jumps in daily cases. Authorities in Mexico, Brazil and Russia are also struggling to control outbreaks.

"What the situation we're seeing in the United States and elsewhere highlights for us is that even as our economy is reopening, we need to make sure we are continuing to remain vigilant," Mr Trudeau said.

The United States and Canada have banned non-essential travel between the two nations. The measures are due to expire on July 21, and Trudeau said discussions about what to do next were taking place.

The World Health Organisation is sending a team to China next week to investigate the origins of the novel coronavirus, its head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Monday.

The United States, the WHO's largest critic which has said it is leaving the UN agency, has called for an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus.

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have said it may have originated in a laboratory, although they have presented no evidence for this and China strongly denies it.

The number of people who died from coronavirus infection in France rose by 35 to 29,813 over the last three days, health authorities announced on Monday and hospitalisations for the disease have followed their long-running downward trend.

For the first time since the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus, no daily figures were given over the weekend by the authorities, who said that would now be the new procedure.

The number of people permitted to meet outdoors in Northern Ireland will increase from 10 to 30 under the latest relaxation of lockdown rules.

First Minister Arlene Foster and deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill made the announcement following a meeting of the Stormont Executive.

Ms Foster said health minister Robin Swann would lay regulations on the issue on Monday.

The rules around indoor meetings will remain at a maximum of six people.

In the coming weeks, hotels, bars servings food, restaurants, coffee shops, attractions, hair salons and gyms are set to reopen.

However, Ms Foster warned that this is "not business as usual".

"While we have managed to suppress the spread of the virus here in Northern Ireland, it has not been beaten and while the hunt for a vaccine continues and while the rate of infection remains under control, we cannot assume that that will always be the case," she said.

Schools in Wales have started to reopen for the first time since March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Wales is the first country in the United Kingdom to reopen its primary and secondary schools for all pupils since they closed in March.

Schools will remain open for between three or four weeks, with the Welsh Government saying it will provide pupils, staff and parents time to prepare for a "new normal" when the new academic year begins in September.

However, schools on Anglesey remain closed following a Covid-19 outbreak at the 2 Sisters chicken processing plant, while five schools in Blaenau Gwent were unable to reopen following issues with their water supply.

On Monday, education minister Kirsty Williams praised school leaders and staff for the "huge amount of work and planning" to welcome back students with social distancing measures and a restriction on class sizes in place.

She said: "For our head teachers, our classroom teachers and the support staff, a massive thank you to you.

"I know that a huge amount of work and planning has gone into making today and the weeks ahead successful."