The government is pushing ahead with plans for primary school and older secondary school children to return to classrooms next week, despite calls for a delay following the discovery of the new COVID variant.
Officials from Number 10 and the Department for Education were due to meet on Monday to discuss the impact on schools following evidence the new coronavirus variant spreads more quickly than the original strain.
Millions more people in England entered Tier 4 restrictions on Boxing Day after ministers acted to try and dampen infection rates - although schools can still remain open under the highest level of COVID measures.
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On 24 December, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a Brexit deal that would preserve access to several European research programs. Paul Grover AP
Brexit deal secures U.K. access to European research funds
Dec. 28, 2020 , 4:10 PM
U.K. researchers will remain eligible for European research funding despite the country having left the European Union, thanks to a long-term trade and cooperation agreement struck on 24 December.
The deal was reached after negotiators finally agreed on fishing rights, which had stalled negotiations, and most of its 1246 pages set out the principles of the U.K.-EU relationship from January 2021 onward. But the deal and its accompanying declarations contain key passages about research: In exchange for a contribution to the EU budget, the United Kingdom will join the forthcoming Horizon Europe research program, which will spend €85 billion over the next 7 years.
Image credit: Kateryna Kon
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A new variant of the coronavirus is sweeping through England. At the same time, the country is reporting a record-high number of COVID-19 cases – nearly 40,000 on Wednesday as well as surges in hospitalizations and deaths. In London last week, an estimated 2% of people in private households tested positive for the coronavirus,
The Independentreported.
So the big question is: Are these events connected? Is the new variant causing this surge?
How Worried Should We Be About The New U K Coronavirus Variant? – Nation & World News wuft.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wuft.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.