Latest coronavirus news

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  Evening Standard

  Coronavirus testing in schools should be scrapped, experts say

  In an open letter to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson they criticised the approach, branding it “deeply concerning” that daily testing trials are “being presented as a solution for educational disruption”. Currently around 200 schools and colleges across England are participating in a trial, with one group following the national guidance of quarantining contacts of positive cases, and the other allowing daily testing of contacts for a week instead of isolation.
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  The Independent

  Casino executive and actress plead guilty after flying to Indigenous community for Covid vaccine

  Donation to global vaccine programme may have helped pair avoid jail time
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  The Independent

  Covid UK news: Lockdown ‘may have to be tightened again’ amid warning of significant summer wave

  Follow the latest statistics and developments from Thursday
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  The Guardian

  Hospitals undertook 1.6m fewer operations last year because of Covid

  Hospitals undertook 1.6m fewer operations last year because of Covid. Researchers warn some cancer patients will die as a result of widespread suspension of normal NHS care
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  The Independent

  Dutch offered free pickled herring to take Covid jab

  ‘A herring for a jab. Who could possibly resist?’
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  Evening Standard

  Wales postpones changes to Covid restrictions amid Delta variant spread

  First Minister Mark Drakeford said the Delta strain of coronavirus is now the most dominant variant among new cases in Wales.
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  The Guardian

  Wales delays easing Covid restrictions by four weeks

  Wales delays easing Covid restrictions by four weeks . Pause will allow 500,000 more vaccine doses to be given to curtail spread of Delta variant
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  The Independent

  How Nextdoor became a place for Covid vaccine misinformation

  The app’s CEO said it wanted to curb “toxic-type” content, but users report many conspiracy posts remain on the platform
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  The Independent

  Covid: Chris Whitty warns current wave could be ‘significant’ and expects winter surge

  ‘We have to just be aware that Covid has not thrown its last surprise at us,’ says chief medical officer
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  The Telegraph

  Scrap Covid tests in schools, says Oxford vaccine pioneer

  Covid testing in schools is hugely disruptive and should be suspended, experts have said, as it emerged that up to 60 per cent of "positive" tests a week are coming back negative when checked. Under plans to keep schools open, more than 50 million lateral flow tests have been carried out on youngsters, leading to thousands of pupils and their social bubbles being forced to self-isolate for 10 days. But an analysis of NHS Test and Trace data by The Telegraph shows that, in secondary schools, one-