Coronavirus news- live: Protests and calls to postpone GCSE results as appeals ‘mess’ deepens A-level chaos
Follow here for the latest developments
Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health
Get our free Health Check email
Hundreds of protesters have filled the streets outside the Department for Education, after nearly 40 per cent of A-level marks were downgraded from teachers’ suggestions by a government algorithm.
Amid fears that GCSEs could be even harder hit, the former education secretary who introduced them, Lord Baker, urged current secretary Gavin Williamson to postpone the looming results, following the ”unfair and barely explicable downgrades” of A-levels.
Meanwhile, Matt Hancock was reportedly moving to abolish Public Health England and instead set up a new organisation set up to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, with the health secretary expected to announce that the pandemic response work of PHE will be merged with the NHS Test and Trace programme.
Please allow a moment for the liveblog to load:
Good morning, we'll be using this live blog to follow the latest developments of the coronavirus pandemic.
Matt Hancock to scrap Public Health England and set up new organisation for pandemic, reports say
According to reports, Public Health England is to be scrapped and replaced by a new organisation set up to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, Conrad Duncan reports.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is expected to announce this week that the pandemic response work of PHE will be merged with the NHS Test and Trace programme.
The new body will be called the Institute for Health Protection, according to The Sunday Telegraph, and will be modelled on Germany’s Robert Koch Institute. It will become “effective” next month, although the change will be completed in spring.
It added that Baroness Dido Harding, the Conservative peer and former TalkTalk telecoms boss who currently runs NHS Test and Trace, was being tipped to lead the organisation, despite criticism over the effectiveness of the UK’s contact tracing system in recent weeks.
“We want to bring together the science and the scale in one new body so we can do all we can to stop a second coronavirus spike this autumn,” a senior minister said, according to The Telegraph.
Ofqual suspends criteria for exam appeals hours after releasing policy
The exams regulator is reviewing its guidance for students on how to challenge their A-level grades using mock examination results..
Ofqual said the policy was “being reviewed” by its board and that further information would be released “in due course”. No reason for the decision was immediately available.
The move comes just hours after the body published its criteria for mock exam results to be considered as the basis of an appeal.
It threatens to plunge the A-level grading process in England into further disarray following an outcry from students after almost 40 per cent of predicted marks were downgraded by the regulator’s “moderation” algorithm.
Russia records 4,969 new cases
Russia reported 4,969 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, bringing its nationwide tally to 922,853, the fourth highest caseload in the world.
The country's coronavirus crisis response centre said that 68 people had died over the past 24 hours, pushing its official coronavirus death toll to 15,685, adding that 732,968 people have recovered.
Reuters
New Zealand officials call to delay general election amid resurgence of Covid-19
New Zealand's deputy prime minister Winston Peters has called for a delay to the planned September general election, given an abrupt reappearance of coronavirus in the country, increasing pressure on prime minister Jacinda Ardern to postpone the vote.
Last week's resurgence of infections in Auckland - after the country had been free of infections of the new coronavirus for 102 days - was compromising the ability to hold a "free and fair election" on 19 September, Mr Peters, the leader of the New Zealand First party, wrote in a letter to Ms Ardern.
Mr Peters, who delivered government to Ms Ardern's Labour party through a coalition deal after a 2017 election failed to result in a majority for the National or Labour parties, suggested 17 October and 21 November as alternative dates.
Reuters
Ministers have just seven days to prevent a ‘wave of evictions’, MPs and charities warn
MPs and charities have issued an urgent plea for the government to extend the ban on evictions amid fears tens of thousands of renters could be kicked out of their homes after the moratorium expires in just seven days’ time, Ashley Cowburn reports.
One national housing organisation warned inaction from ministers – coupled with an unprecedented recession – could result in many facing the “trauma” of being evicted over the autumn and winter months.
The government confirmed last month that the ban, which was introduced at the start of the pandemic to protect tenants during the crisis, would end on 23 August for England and Wales, despite pleas for a further extension.
Thangam Debbonaire, Labour’s shadow housing secretary, told The Independent that renters are “living in fear” with existing possession cases set to resume in the courts imminently.
“The situation can’t be more urgent,” she said. “The government has just seven days to prevent a wave of automatic evictions and homelessness at the worst possible time, as the furlough scheme winds up and we enter a potential second wave this winter.”
South Korea reports highest daily surge of cases since March
South Korea has reported 279 new coronavirus cases in its highest daily jump since early March.
The figures released by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) on Sunday brought the national caseload to 15,318, with 305 deaths.
The number of new cases is the highest since 367 on 8 March, when the country was attempting to bring an outbreak in the less populated southern region under control.
The KCDC said 253 of the new cases came from the Seoul metropolitan area, home to 26 million people, where health authorities have been struggling to stem transmissions linked to churches, nursing homes, schools, restaurants and door-to-door salespeople.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Government launches national advertising campaign amid fears parents afraid to send children back to classrooms
A national advertising campaign is to be launched by the government amid fears parents are afraid to send their children back to school in England next month, Ashley Cowburn and Kate Devlin report.
Boris Johnson has declared the reopening of schools a “moral duty” almost five months after they closed due to the pandemic, warning it is crucial to kick-starting the economy.
Both the prime minister and the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, have pledged that all pupils in England will be back in the classroom in just two weeks’ time.
The campaign – involving newspaper, digital, radio and billboard adverts – will emphasise the importance of organised learning to children’s development.
Senior Tory brands decision to suspend appeal criteria hours after releasing policy as 'farcical'
The Conservative chair of Westminster’s education committee has branded the decision of the exam regulator to suspend A-Level appeal criteria – just hours after it was published – as “farcical”, Ashley Cowburn reports.
Publishing a brief statement on Saturday evening, Ofqual said the policy was “being review” by its board and that further information would be released in “due course”. No reason for the decision was immediately available.
It will undoubtedly add to the sense of chaos at the regulator and the Department for Education (DfE) over A-Level results, with uncertainty still facing thousands of students who were downgraded by a contentious algorithm used to calculate results.
Speaking about this decision to drop guidance on appeals, the Tory MP Robert Halfon told BBC Breakfast: “That is a huge mess. Goodness knows what is going on at Ofqual. It sows confusion among pupils, headteachers, school teachers, and it’s the last thing we need at this time.
“We need a ronseal appeal system that is simple, people understand it, that it’s fair and it helps young people climb the education ladder of opportunity.
“My own view that remains is what should happen is every individual student who feels that their grades are unfair, they should be able to appeal through their headteacher and make sure they get a fair crack of the whip in terms of finding out whether their grades are fair or not.”
South Africa has likely reached peak of coronavirus infections, president says
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has said that all indications point to South Africa having reached the peak of coronavirus infections, as he announced a sweeping removal of lockdown restrictions on the economy.
Mr Ramaphosa announced the lifting of a ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco, as businesses were allowed to reopen and domestic travel was permitted to resume.
With more than 570,000 cases and 11,500 fatalities, South Africa accounts for half of the coronavirus infections identified in Africa so far.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies