Latest updates: schools being told to prepare for on-site testing as pilot of testing instead of isolation to end on Wednesday, says Nick Gibb
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Boris Johnson has joined those condemning the harassment of Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, by two men in St James’ Park in London.
Here is our story about the incident.
Related: Vaccines minister condemns video of Chris Whitty being harassed by ‘thugs’
I’m shocked at seeing the despicable harassment of Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty.
I condemn the behaviour of these thugs. Our hard-working public servants should not have to face this kind of intimidation on our streets and we will not tolerate it.
I’ve seen the video of the CMO being harassed. It’s appalling and totally unacceptable. The CMO works tirelessly on behalf of the country. We will not tolerate this sort of behaviour towards our public servants. The men behaving in this disgraceful way should be ashamed.
I’m just horrified by that, I really am.
Chris is just a remarkable public servant, a man who has been leading the whole coronavirus response – nationally, yes, he has a high profile, and I think he’s an incredibly respected figure.
I can’t speak about that but it’s important that we make sure that Chris is given the right kind of support.
Good morning. Hundreds of thousands of pupils will no longer have to automatically isolate after contact with a positive Covid case when schools return in September in England, my colleagues Aubrey Allegretti, Jessica Elgot and Natalie Grover reported last night. Yesterday there was a limit to what ministers and officials would say in public about this, but this morning Nick Gibb, the schools minister, has been giving interviews, and he has gone a bit further in confirming the plan. Here are some of the points he has been making.
We have been testing through a trial in a small number of secondary schools whether daily testing of somebody who has come into contact with somebody with Covid is an effective alternative to self-isolation. That trial finishes tomorrow and we’ll look at the data and, on the advice of Public Health England, we’ll take further decisions.
Well, that’s what we’re going to do in September, if we need to. We wrote to schools yesterday asking them to prepare for taking the first two tests, once children return after the summer break, in the school, if that’s still necessary in September. And the kits are now being sent to schools ready for September.
We are provisionally asking secondary schools and colleges to prepare to offer on-site testing when students return for the new academic year, so that schools are ready in case it is needed to keep as many children as possible in face-to-face education.
We will provide further details about the approach to protective measures and test and trace in education from September in due course.
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