Baroness Dido Harding, who runs NHS Test and Trace in England, is to be the interim chief of the government's new Health Protection Institute.
The agency - set to launch on Tuesday - will merge some of Public Health England's (PHE) pandemic response work with the coronavirus test and trace system.
Lady Harding will run the new institute until a permanent appointment is made.
PHE has come under intense scrutiny of its response to the coronavirus crisis.
It has been criticised for the controversial decision in March to halt community testing and tracing of contacts.
But its defenders say it is being made a scapegoat for failures elsewhere in the government.
For now, PHE will continue its role in combating obesity and running other measures to prevent ill health.
A leaked memo seen by the BBC, written by the head of PHE Duncan Selbie to staff, said the aim of the new National Institute for Health Protection was to boost expertise with "much needed new investment".
The new institute will begin work with immediate effect.
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) said the move to merge PHE's pandemic functions with those of NHS Test and Trace raised more questions than answers, including the timing of an announcement on the scrapping of a national public health agency in the midst of a global pandemic.
RSPH chief executive Christina Marriott said: "We recognise that there have been some serious challenges in terms of our response to Covid-19, including the timing of the lockdown, the ongoing ineffectiveness of Tier 2 Track and Trace and postcode-level data previously not being available to directors of public health."
She said "multiple lessons" needed to be learned "before solutions can be in place in advance of the winter", adding: "to do otherwise risks avoidable mistakes in subsequent waves of the pandemic which will only harm the public's health further."
PHE expertise is 'irreplaceable'
Prof Richard Tedder, visiting professor in medical virology at Imperial College London, defended PHE as an "assembly of some of the wisest and most committed microbiologists and epidemiologists you could hope for anywhere".
He criticised what he called the "persistent meddling from on-high", which he said had "disenfranchised and fractured" staff "to the great detriment of the UK as a whole".
Prof Tedder warned the plans to merge existing laboratory staff with NHS Test and Trace were "misplaced" and would "further dismantle" the "irreplaceable" expertise that exists within PHE.
Baroness Dido Harding, who runs NHS Test and Trace in England, is to be the interim chief of the government's new Health Protection Institute.
The agency - set to launch on Tuesday - will merge some of Public Health England's (PHE) pandemic response work with the coronavirus test and trace system.
Lady Harding will run the new institute until a permanent appointment is made.
PHE has come under intense scrutiny of its response to the coronavirus crisis.
It has been criticised for the controversial decision in March to halt community testing and tracing of contacts.
But its defenders say it is being made a scapegoat for failures elsewhere in the government.
For now, PHE will continue its role in combating obesity and running other measures to prevent ill health.
A leaked memo seen by the BBC, written by the head of PHE Duncan Selbie to staff, said the aim of the new National Institute for Health Protection was to boost expertise with "much needed new investment".
The new institute will begin work with immediate effect.
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) said the move to merge PHE's pandemic functions with those of NHS Test and Trace raised more questions than answers, including the timing of an announcement on the scrapping of a national public health agency in the midst of a global pandemic.
RSPH chief executive Christina Marriott said: "We recognise that there have been some serious challenges in terms of our response to Covid-19, including the timing of the lockdown, the ongoing ineffectiveness of Tier 2 Track and Trace and postcode-level data previously not being available to directors of public health."
She said "multiple lessons" needed to be learned "before solutions can be in place in advance of the winter", adding: "to do otherwise risks avoidable mistakes in subsequent waves of the pandemic which will only harm the public's health further."
PHE expertise is 'irreplaceable'
Prof Richard Tedder, visiting professor in medical virology at Imperial College London, defended PHE as an "assembly of some of the wisest and most committed microbiologists and epidemiologists you could hope for anywhere".
He criticised what he called the "persistent meddling from on-high", which he said had "disenfranchised and fractured" staff "to the great detriment of the UK as a whole".
Prof Tedder warned the plans to merge existing laboratory staff with NHS Test and Trace were "misplaced" and would "further dismantle" the "irreplaceable" expertise that exists within PHE.
Baroness Dido Harding, who runs NHS Test and Trace in England, is to be the interim chief of the government's new Health Protection Institute.
The agency - set to launch on Tuesday - will merge some of Public Health England's (PHE) pandemic response work with the coronavirus test and trace system.
Lady Harding will run the new institute until a permanent appointment is made.
PHE has come under intense scrutiny of its response to the coronavirus crisis.
It has been criticised for the controversial decision in March to halt community testing and tracing of contacts.
But its defenders say it is being made a scapegoat for failures elsewhere in the government.
For now, PHE will continue its role in combating obesity and running other measures to prevent ill health.
A leaked memo seen by the BBC, written by the head of PHE Duncan Selbie to staff, said the aim of the new National Institute for Health Protection was to boost expertise with "much needed new investment".
The new institute will begin work with immediate effect.
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) said the move to merge PHE's pandemic functions with those of NHS Test and Trace raised more questions than answers, including the timing of an announcement on the scrapping of a national public health agency in the midst of a global pandemic.
RSPH chief executive Christina Marriott said: "We recognise that there have been some serious challenges in terms of our response to Covid-19, including the timing of the lockdown, the ongoing ineffectiveness of Tier 2 Track and Trace and postcode-level data previously not being available to directors of public health."
She said "multiple lessons" needed to be learned "before solutions can be in place in advance of the winter", adding: "to do otherwise risks avoidable mistakes in subsequent waves of the pandemic which will only harm the public's health further."
PHE expertise is 'irreplaceable'
Prof Richard Tedder, visiting professor in medical virology at Imperial College London, defended PHE as an "assembly of some of the wisest and most committed microbiologists and epidemiologists you could hope for anywhere".
He criticised what he called the "persistent meddling from on-high", which he said had "disenfranchised and fractured" staff "to the great detriment of the UK as a whole".
Prof Tedder warned the plans to merge existing laboratory staff with NHS Test and Trace were "misplaced" and would "further dismantle" the "irreplaceable" expertise that exists within PHE.
Seventy-two people have tested positive for coronavirus at a dessert factory in Nottinghamshire.
The outbreak was reported at Bakkavor in Newark, which describes itself as "the leading provider of fresh prepared food in the UK".
The positive cases came after 701 workers were tested for the virus.
All 1,600 employees will now receive coronavirus tests at a facility set up on site by the NHS.
Some 33 of those who have tested positive have since returned to work "fully fit" following a period of isolation.
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Newark was recently made an "area of concern" on the list of local authorities that have a higher-than-average case rate for the virus.
Shona Taylor, business director for desserts at Bakkavor, said: "We understand the importance of the testing and I have been immensely proud of the management team and all the efforts that have been made to ensure we could deliver this for our colleagues.
More from Covid-19
"The programme has been positively received, and colleagues have been supportive and reassured that every effort is being taken to ensure their safety."
Coronavirus outbreaks have also taken place at food processing plants in Wisbech, Wrexham, Cleckheaton, Merthyr Tydfil and Llangefni.
Jonathan Gribbin, director of public health at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: "Bakkavor have been very co-operative and we hope that the testing of their employees will allow us to find out more about where people are acquiring the infection.
"However, we know that not all the cases in Newark are linked to Bakkavor so it is vital that people continue to follow the strict guidance to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 across the whole community.
"People should follow social distancing guidance in full including guidelines about car sharing, washing hands regularly, wearing face coverings, self-isolating and quickly getting a test if symptoms develop."
A-level students in England will be given grades estimated by their teachers, rather than by an algorithm, after a government U-turn. Here are some reactions from those who, amid the confusion, still don't know if they have lost their university places.
'This should have happened last week'
Emily King doesn't feel much better about the government's decision, because "not that much has changed".
The 18-year-old from Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, says being downgraded from a C to a U in A-level biology last week "really knocked my confidence" - and meant she was rejected from the University of Lincoln, where she had an offer to study midwifery.
Emily has emailed the university since the government announcement, but still doesn't know if she's in or not. She's got no other offers so will face a year out and will apply again next year if Lincoln say no. "I'd have to re-do that whole interview process again, which takes up a lot of time and a lot of money," she says.
Emily says she's not found much comfort in the idea of being awarded her predicted grades. "I'll always know that I was given a U. And I know that I didn't deserve that grade," she says.
"I'm pretty happy [about the U-turn] but also a bit annoyed. This should have happened last week. Or even a month ago."
'It's been horrific'
Like Emily, Josh Reid is also repeatedly refreshing his inbox for email confirmation - but he has been told there will be a place for him to study theology at Oxford University's Regent's Park College - in line with his initial offer - once he's sent over his teacher assessed grades.
"I'm just completely over the moon. It's been just an utterly horrific few days in terms of stress and anxiety, just trying to get this all sorted. Just to finally have confirmation that our grades will be changed - it's such a relief," he says.
The 19-year-old, from Woking, says it was "frustrating" and "heart-breaking" to be downgraded last week. "I was so furious that I was getting these grades that in no way shape or form represented any of the work I had done over the past two years."
Although his place is more or less secure, Josh's anger hasn't abated. He says the government has had months to come up with an alternative way of grading students whose exams were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"They've had five or six months to do it, and to get it so wrong - it just puts so much stress on students. And [the confusion] really just showed that, for whatever reason, the students weren't the priority."
'I still feel a bit let down'
"I'm relieved but quite frustrated at the same time. It's too late," says Zainab Ali, 18, from London, minutes after hearing about the U-turn.
Zainab's predicted grades were an A* in history, an A in psychology, and a C in chemistry. But after she was given an A, B and a D on results day last week, she lost her place to study psychology at Queen Mary University of London - and was told the course had filled up.
"I'm facing the consequences for the indecisiveness of people who are in charge," Zainab says.
She'd come to terms with the fact that she's going to her second choice, the University of Westminster, instead - but still feels frustrated because she had "always wanted" to go to Queen Mary's since being a child. "It's just a very vibrant environment and I really had admired that. I just automatically fell in love," she says.
After first speaking to the BBC, Zainab says Queen Mary decided to offer her a place. The university said on Monday evening that it was "deeply sympathetic" to all students affected by the U-turn, and that applicants with revised grades will be guaranteed a place if they meet the terms of their original offer.
Although she is now likely to get her first choice of university after all, Zainab says the past week has been an "awful" and "confusing" experience. "I felt like I've been really let down. Now [after the U-turn] it's a bit different, but I still feel a bit let down after all of that. It was really, really stressful."
'I can keep my head up now'
Connor Bragger, 18, from Redditch, was given BCD last Thursday, and needed a BBB to get into a journalism course at Sheffield. He was predicted ABB so should, theoretically, be allowed to go now.
But tonight, he's disappointed to find the phone lines for the University of Sheffield's admissions office are closed - so despite the announcement, he doesn't know if he'll be heading there in September.
"Results day is [supposed to be] when you get answers - not more questions," Connor says.
His second choice is the University of Gloucestershire, where he has an unconditional offer. But now he's got the grades for Sheffield, he hopes he can go there.
Connor is trying to stay positive, and says he's pleased with the U-turn.
"There were two boxes that I was annoyed about not meeting, which was getting into my first choice, and getting grades I felt like I had earned. So even if I'm unable to get into my first choice, I feel as though I've now got results that I earned from my hard work all year. So if it doesn't all go to plan, I can still keep my head up a little bit higher."
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Making the best of an 'awful' situation
Kath Burbidge's son Sam Thier is working a shift at B&Q near his home in Willsbridge, Bristol. At the same time, the 18-year-old is on the phone waiting his turn to speak to Cardiff University. He wants to see if they'll make space for him on the dentistry course he initially had an offer for, but was rejected last week as his predicted grades of A*AA were downgraded to BBB.
"I cried for 48 hours and didn't sleep after Thursday. I just feel so sorry for him," Kath says. "He's worked so hard on everything."
Sam's A* in chemistry meant Cardiff offered him a place on their chemistry Masters course. He'd just decided to accept it - and therefore handed in his notice at B&Q - when the news came through that his grades would be bumped up.
As she receives updates by text from Sam (he's now 20th in the queue), Kath wonders if he might take the chemistry offer instead.
"He's trying to just make the best of an awful, awful job that just never should have happened. Will he think 'I'll go and do chemistry now', just because he's fed up with the whole thing?"
