Covid UK news live: England could be ‘over the edge’ of third wave

A total of 155,133 deaths have now occurred in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, the ONS said.

The highest number of deaths to occur on a single day was 1,484 on 19 January.

During the first wave of the virus, the daily toll peaked at 1,461 deaths on 8 April 2020.

A total of 35 care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales were registered in the week to 23 July, up from 27 deaths in the previous week.

In total, 42,649 care home residents in England and Wales have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate since the pandemic began.

The ONS figures cover deaths of care home residents in all settings, not just in care homes.

A total of 327 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 23 July mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) – up 50 per cent on the previous week.

It is the highest total since 362 deaths in the week to 16 April.

A minister has estimated about 25 per cent of staff at the Department for Education (DfE) are in the office on any one day at the moment.

Gillian Keegan, minister for apprenticeships and skills, told Times Radio: “I have been in the office four days a week since June last year, as have many of us you know because obviously we have had to navigate these very difficult decisions during the pandemic.

“And many of the civil servants are also back now, more and more are coming back, and quite frankly they are all excited to come back.”

She said the Government has said “use the summer to sort of reintroduce people coming back”.

Asked how many civil servants are back in the office, she said: “In the DfE, I would say probably 20-25 per cent at the moment on any one day, obviously different people are coming in different days.”

A new study is being launched to determine what the best gap is between coronavirus vaccine doses for pregnant women, with scientists hoping findings will reassure expectant mothers on the safety of the jabs.

Researchers are aiming to recruit more than 600 pregnant women for the trial, which will monitor the vaccine’s effectiveness and follow the development of children up to one year old.

The launch comes less than a week after research revealed the vast majority of pregnant women admitted to hospital with Covid-19 are unvaccinated.

England’s chief midwife has written to GPs and fellow midwives across the country urging them to encourage expectant mothers to get a jab.

Those behind this latest Preg-CoV trial said while there are currently no safety concerns when it comes to pregnant women having Covid-19 jabs, they hope it will give expectant mothers and those caring for them “the highest quality of data about these vaccines”.

Almost 52,000 pregnant women in England have been vaccinated to date – with no safety concerns reported.

Jeremy Clarkson has criticised Covid scientists and politicians while sharing what he thinks should happen next in a post-pandemic world.

The TV presenter said that he disagrees with the idea of lockdowns designed to keep people safe, calling scientists “those communists at SAGE” who should “get back in their box”.

Our culture reporter Jacob Stolworthy has more on this story:

Gillian Keegan, minister for apprenticeships and skills, has said it is her understanding that the director general of the Joint Biosecurity Centre has resigned, following reports.

Asked on LBC to confirm if Clare Gardiner has resigned, Ms Keegan said: “Yes I believe that she has.

“I mean I don’t have any responsibility for that area, but you know, all of these things – there is a group of experts who are basically there that are looking at data, analysing data and then giving advice to the government, and so I guess they will be looking for a new chair.”

Asked why Ms Gardiner has quit, Ms Keegan said: “I don’t have any understanding at all of that, no, I have only heard what you have heard.”

A leading behavioural scientist has praised the British public for consistently being ahead of the government in terms of their awareness of the dangers of Covid-19.

Stephen Reicher, professor of Social Psychology at the University of St Andrews and Member of Independent Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), told Sky News: “The public have always been behaving responsibly.

“The remarkable thing when you look at the data is that people have always been ahead of the government in being aware of the dangers (of Covid).

“The problem, to some extent, is that the government is not matching the public with its own responsibilities.

“It does seem as if the changes in the Covid rules come as quickly as medals come to the UK team (at the Tokyo Olympics).

“We’ve got to use the summer, we squandered it last year.

“We should be installing ventilation in public spaces. In New York, they’re going to have two air purifiers in every classroom.

“If the government showed the same responsibility the public is showing, I think we’d be in a far better place in the autumn.”

Lifestyle changes driven by the coronavirus pandemic have been linked to a possible rise in short-sightedness among children in a new study.

Analysing children in Hong Kong between the ages of six and eight, researchers found a potential increase in cases of myopia after the pandemic struck.

My colleague Andy Gregory has more details in this piece for Independent Premium:

Gillian Keegan, the skills and apprenticeship minister, appeared to confirm that the government amber watchlist plan had been ditched.

Asked on LBC radio whether an amber watchlist had been discussed, she said: “Everything is discussed” – before saying the government wanted the traffic light system to stay “simple”.

The minister said: “The important thing when we’re designing this [travel list] system, and where we came down on, in the end, is to make sure the system is simple enough for people to understand.”