Babak Belurs

Senin, 08 Maret 2021

COVID-19: PM hails 'emotional' return of schools - but repeats warning on target dates - sky.com

Boris Johnson has hailed the return of schools across England as a "big" and "emotional" day - but warned it will impact on the spread of coronavirus and there is no guarantee the country will reopen on the target dates set out.

Speaking at a news conference in Downing Street, the prime minister said it is "more vital than ever to follow the rules" so the roadmap to easing lockdown can continue as planned.

The prime minister said the government would be "driven by data not dates" when deciding whether to remove more restrictions in the coming weeks ahead of the next planned date of 29 March.

Follow live COVID-19 updates from the UK and around the world

Asked whether encouraging data from recent days - including daily deaths dropping below 100 - might tempt him to move forward some of his targets, he said: "We've got to remain prudent - the whole point of this roadmap is that it's intended to be cautious but irreversible.

"And we think we can do that because of the vaccine rollout.

"I think people would really rather trade some urgency and some haste in favour of security and certainty about those dates that we have set out."

The prime minister added that infection rates and the number of people in hospital are still "very high by the standards of last year".

He reminded the public that other European countries are seeing cases rise and to remember that every time that has happened "it is not too long after that we see an increase in this country as well".

Mr Johnson also said vaccine certificates for international travel will be "a feature of our life in the future" although he acknowledged they "raise all sorts of issues" which are being examined by Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove who is heading up a review into the issue.

Dr Jenny Harries, England's deputy chief medical officer, added that they are expecting to see a rise in cases in the first two weeks schools are open but we can be "very optimistic going forward" due to the vaccination programme and testing.

"The likelihood of a case going into a school and larger numbers coming out to self-isolate are now much smaller," she said.

"There may be a short period where larger numbers of children come out [to self-isolate] but that will settle down.

"It's really important to look beyond the first two weeks."

She added that testing for children and their families will take some getting used to but will likely "diminish the number of community transmission cases which could come into schools".

"So schools will be inherently safer places, but equally it will reach back into families," Dr Harries said.

Monday 29 March is when it is hoped more social rules can be relaxed, including the resumption of outdoor sports and the government's "Stay at Home" message being dropped.

From that date, up to six people from different households or a larger group from two households will hopefully be allowed to meet outside, including in private gardens.

All primary schools returned today while secondary pupils will have staggered returns this week as part of the first step to easing the lockdown imposed on England at the beginning of January.

Secondary school children are being urged to take two lateral flow tests a week, with the first three taken in school then the rest at home where their households have also been asked to take twice-weekly tests.

Other measures have also been eased slightly from today, with one person allowed to meet another from a different household outside for recreation, such as a coffee or a picnic, instead of just exercise.

Care home residents are also allowed to choose one named visitor from today.

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2021-03-08 16:28:11Z
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Covid: PM praises 'astonishing' effort as England schools return - BBC News

The BBC's Ben Wright asks if Johnson and Harries accept that infection rates will go up now that children in England are back in the classroom - and what would be an acceptable level.

The PM says a risk of increased transmission now that schools are back is "inevitable".

But he adds that immunity has "bedded in" for millions of people who have now had their first dose of the Covid vaccine, which means it's safe to continue with the reopening plans.

As we approach the next steps of lockdown easing we must be "very, very cautious," the PM warns.

Harries adds that education is of public health importance "just as much as Covid is" so the UK should press on with getting children back to school.

She adds that it will be difficult to tell what impact a return to schools has to the numbers, because social interaction will also increase as the roadmap continues.

While the news conference is about the continuing pandemic, the PM is asked about the big story of the day - the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's interview with Oprah Winfrey.

"I've always had the highest admiration for the Queen and the unifying role that she plays in our country and across the Commonwealth," he says.

He says he's spent "a long time" not commenting on Royal Family matters and doesn't plan to make that change.

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2021-03-08 16:14:59Z
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Meghan and Harry interview: Tabloid racism 'large part' of why we left UK, says duke - BBC News

The Duke of Sussex has said racism from the tabloid press that filtered into the rest of society was a "large part" of why he and his wife left the UK.

Prince Harry told Oprah Winfrey that the UK tabloid media is "bigoted" and creates a "toxic environment" of "control and fear".

He said he thought the Prince of Wales had to "make peace with it".

Meghan said social media had made the relationship with the press like "the wild, wild West".

She described trying to protect her parents from a "media frenzy" and said it was "hard to reconcile" her father Thomas Markle working with the tabloids.

During the two-hour CBS special, to be screened in the UK on ITV at 21:00 GMT on Monday night and on ITV Hub, Courtesy of Harpo Productions/CBS, the couple covered a range of topics, including racism, mental health, their relationship with the media and Royal Family dynamics.

In other key revelations:

Meghan said she found life within the Royal Family so difficult that at times she "didn't want to be alive any more"
She said Harry had been asked by an unnamed family member "how dark" their son Archie's skin might be
Oprah later said the family member was not the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh
The couple announced their second child, which is due in the summer, is a girl
They exchanged vows in a ceremony led by the Archbishop of Canterbury in their "backyard" three days before they were legally married at their public wedding in May 2018
Harry said his brother and father were "trapped within the system" of the Royal Family
He said his family cut him off financially at the beginning of last year and his father stopped taking his calls
But Harry said he loved his brother "to bits" and wanted to heal his relationship with both him and his father
Meghan said she phoned the Queen after Prince Philip went into hospital last month

In previously unseen footage from the three hour 20 minutes interview, Oprah asked the prince if the couple left the UK because of racism. Prince Harry replied: "It was a large part of it."

He said that shortly after the couple announced they would step back from royal duties, someone who was "friends with a lot of the editors" had warned him about their confrontational stance with the press: "Please don't do this with the media, they will destroy your life."

The conversation happened at a fundraising dinner in January 2020, a few months after Meghan sued the Mail on Sunday over a private letter and Prince Harry said he feared his wife would fall "victim to the same powerful forces" that he lost his mother to.

The friend of the editors told him: "You need to understand that the UK is very bigoted." But the duke responded: "The UK is not bigoted, the UK press is bigoted, specifically the tabloids."

Speaking to Oprah, the prince added: "But, unfortunately, if the source of information is inherently corrupt or racist or biased then that filters out to the rest of society."

He said that "sadly" no-one in the family had said they were sorry that the couple felt they had to move away from royal life because they did not feel supported.

"The feeling is that this was our decision, therefore the consequences are on us."

He said it was "really hard because I am part of the system with them, I always have been".

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex depart Canada House on January 07, 2020 in London, England

Prince Harry said he is "very aware" that his brother Prince William "can't leave that system but I have".

Asked if William wanted to leave the system, he replied: "I don't know, I can't speak for him."

Harry said the "relationship and that control and the fear by the UK tabloids, it's a really, it's a toxic environment".

The duke said he will "always be there" for his brother and the rest of his family and he has "tried to help them to see what has happened".

His father, the Prince of Wales, "had to make peace" with the relationship with the media.

But Meghan said she and the duke could not make peace with it themselves, saying it was "different" because of social media, describing it as "like the wild, wild West".

In another unaired clip shared by broadcaster CBS on social media, Prince Harry said that in January last year the couple had an invitation to visit the Queen at Sandringham suddenly withdrawn by her private secretary, who said she was "busy all week".

"When you're head of the firm there are people around you that give you advice. And what has also made me really sad is some of that advice has been really bad," said Harry.

'Obsession'

Also in the unaired footage, the Duchess of Sussex said her treatment in the press had been worse than other royals, saying that although the Duchess of Cambridge being branded "Waity Katie" before her marriage to Prince William must have been "really hard", it was "not the same".

"If a member of his family would comfortably say 'we've all had to deal with things that are rude', rude and racist are not the same," she said.

"And equally you've also had a press team that goes on the record to defend you, especially when they know something's not true, and that didn't happen for us."

Meghan said there had been an "obsession about anything in my world", including the media offering money to track down her parents.

"I did everything I could to protect both of them in that media frenzy for over a year," she told Oprah.

Asked if it felt like a "betrayal" when she found out her father was working with the tabloids, Meghan said: "I'm just trying to decide if I'm comfortable even talking about that."

She said her father had denied speaking to the media, even after they pleaded with him that if they used the Royal Family's "leverage" to quash the story, they would not be able to use it to protect Archie from intrusive coverage later.

Meghan said his unwillingness to protect her or to think of her son "has really resonated, especially now as a mother".

"I look at Archie, I think about this child, and I genuinely can't imagine doing anything to intentionally cause pain to my child. I can't imagine it, so it's hard for me to reconcile that," she said.

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2021-03-08 15:53:39Z
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Meghan and Harry interview: Queen and Prince Philip not behind comments about colour of Archie's skin - Sky News

The Queen and Prince Philip were not behind "concerns" about the colour of Archie's skin, says Oprah Winfrey.

The talk show host said Prince Harry had insisted she tell people his grandmother and grandfather were not involved.

In new clips on US breakfast TV, he also claimed the Queen had listened to "really bad" advice and was suddenly too busy to meet him at Sandringham last year.

Harry added that the UK press was "inherently corrupt or racist or biased" and that racism was "a large part" behind him leaving the country.

Live: Latest reaction to bombshell Meghan and Harry interview

The two-hour interview - Oprah With Meghan And Harry - was broadcast on US television on Sunday night and went further than many expected.

New clips have now aired on the CBS This Morning show as the fallout continues - with all eyes on whether Buckingham Palace will issue a response.

Oprah Winfrey said Harry had revealed to her who was behind the skin colour comments, but that the couple didn't want it shared.

Meghan also said she would not reveal the source as it would be too "damaging" for that person.

In one new clip, Harry describes an awkward conversation with the Queen in which she told him she was no longer able to invite the couple to Sandringham as planned.

The duke told Oprah Winfrey it happened in January 2020, a few days before they went public with their announcement on stepping aside as working royals.

He said he believed his grandmother's advisers had given her "really bad" advice that persuaded her to change her mind.

Harry said he had called the Queen, who told him she had "something in my diary that I didn't know that I had" - and that she was also busy the rest of that week.

Meghan also spoke about her estranged father and half-sister in another new clip from the interview.

"There was such an obsession about anything in my world including finding out about my parents and I did everything to protect him," she told Winfrey.

She said her father had denied selling his story to the papers when she called him before their wedding.

"I look at Archie and I genuinely can't imagine him doing anything to intentionally cause pain to my child. I can't imagine it so it's hard for me to reconcile that," said Meghan.

The duchess said that - in contrast - her mother has retained "silent dignity" for four years to protect her.

Meghan also dismissed her half-sister on her father's side, Samantha Markle, who wrote a 'tell-all' book on her famous family member.

She said the last time she saw her was nearly 20 years ago.

Winfrey told CBS that she hadn't spoken to the couple since the interview was aired, but got a text from Meghan on Sunday asking "how's it going?" because she was putting Archie to bed and had no idea what was going on.

The talk show star said she hoped to speak to them later today.

What did they say in last night's interview?

The duchess claimed one member of the family had had "several conversations" with Harry about their child's skin colour, and "what that would mean or look like".

She also revealed she had suicidal thoughts, saying "I just didn't want to be alive any more", and denied reports she had made Kate cry ahead of her wedding, claiming "the reverse happened".

Prince Harry admitted to a rift with his father and said Prince Charles had stopped taking his calls for a while when the couple left for a new life in America.

The Duke of Sussex also claimed he had been "trapped" in the royal system - "like the rest of my family".

The couple also told Winfrey they were expecting a girl and spoke of their "fairytale" life in California.

What's been the reaction so far?

In the UK, late editions of the newspapers featured headlines such as "Meg: I Felt Suicidal", "Meghan Accuses Palace of Racism", and "Meghan's bombshell: Kate Made Me Cry!".

Sky News will air a special programme, Harry & Meghan: The Royal Rift, at 7pm tonight

American media also led with the story, and Sky News US correspondent Greg Milam said people were "astonished" at what they heard.

He said there were "gasps" when the duchess made her comments about Archie's kin colour.

CNN's headline was "Bombshells in royal interview", Fox News referred to the revelations as "Spilling The Tea", while the New York Times reported on Meghan's suicidal feelings.

Social media users have so far been largely sympathetic towards the duke and duchess.

Sky's royal correspondent, Rhiannon Mills, said the content of the interview made it impossible for Buckingham Palace not to comment and stick to the usual rule of "never complain, never explain".

What have the couple's friends said?

Meghan has received support from the likes of her friend and tennis star Serena Williams, who was at her wedding, as well as US poet and activist Amanda Gorman.

Williams tweeted to say the duchess was her "selfless friend" who "teaches me every day what it means to be truly noble".

Gorman, who became well known after a powerful performance at Joe Biden's inauguration, said the royals had missed the "greatest opportunity for change" and "didn't just maltreat her light".

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2021-03-08 15:11:15Z
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Oprah Winfrey: Skin colour remark 'not Queen nor Duke' - BBC News

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoke with Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey has said Prince Harry clarified it was neither the Queen nor the Duke of Edinburgh who questioned what his son's skin colour would be.

Winfrey told CBS News on Monday the prince "did not tell me who was part of those conversations".

The revelation that a family member wondered "how dark" Archie's complexion might be came during a TV interview that aired overnight in the US.

The Duchess of Sussex had described the remarks as a low point.

"He did not share the identity with me but he wanted to make sure I knew, and if I had an opportunity to share it, that it was not his grandmother or grandfather that were part of those conversations," Winfrey said.

When asked for further details on Monday, Winfrey said she "tried to get that answer on camera and off" but the prince did not elaborate.

She told CBS This Morning that she was shocked to hear about the skin colour remarks during the interview. "Even on the take, you can hear me go, 'whoa I cannot believe you are saying this now'."

CBS has also shared new clips from the couple's three hour interview with the chat show host.

In one, when asked by Winfrey if the couple left the UK because of racism, Prince Harry said that "was a large part of it".

He said he was once told by someone friendly with "a lot of the editors" in the UK that "the UK is very bigoted".

The prince said he responded that "'the UK is not bigoted, the UK press is bigoted, specifically the tabloids'".

He added: "But unfortunately if the source of info is inherently corrupt or racist or biased then that filters out to the rest of society."

In another clip discussing how the UK press treated other members of the royal family, Meghan told Winfrey that "rude and racist are not the same".

"You've also had a press team that goes on the record to defend you especially when they know something's not true, and that didn't happen for us," the duchess said.

Winfrey also asked Prince Harry if any family members had apologised to him for the reasons he felt he had to leave.

Prince Harry replied, "sadly not".

"The feeling is that this was our decision therefore the consequences are on us."

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2021-03-08 14:06:48Z
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Megan and Harry interview: Queen and Prince Philip not behind comments about colour of Archie's skin - Sky News

The Queen and Prince Philip were not behind "concerns" about the colour of Archie's skin, Oprah Winfrey says.

The talk show host said Prince Harry insisted that she should tell people his grandmother and grandfather were not involved.

In unaired clips from Sunday night's show shown on CBS News, Prince Harry also said the Queen was suddenly too busy to meet him at Sandringham in January last year.

Harry also added that the UK press was "inherently corrupt or racist or biased" and was "a large part" behind him deciding to leave the country.

The two-hour interview - Oprah With Meghan And Harry - on US television on Sunday night went further than many expected and has made headlines around the world.

New clips aired on breakfast television in America this morning as reaction to the dramatic interview continues - but Buckingham Palace have so far not commented.

Oprah Winfrey was interviewed on the show and said Harry had told her who made the comments, but that the couple did not want it to be shared.

Meghan said she would not reveal the source of the alleged comment as it would be too "damaging" for that person.

What did they say?

The duchess claimed one member of the family had had "several conversations" with Harry about their child's skin colour, and "what that would mean or look like".

She also revealed she had suicidal thoughts, saying "I just didn't want to be alive any more", and denied reports she had made Kate cry ahead of her wedding, claiming "the reverse happened".

Prince Harry admitted to a rift with his father and said Prince Charles stopped taking his calls for a while when the couple left for a new life in America.

Live: Meghan and Harry on Oprah latest

The Duke of Sussex also claimed he had been "trapped" in the royal system - "like the rest of my family".

During the interview the couple told Winfrey they were expecting a girl and spoke of their "fairytale" life in California.

What's been the reaction so far?

In the UK, late editions of the newspapers featured headlines such as "Meg: I Felt Suicidal", "They asked how dark Archie's skin would be", and "Meghan's bombshell: Kate Made Me Cry!".

Sky News will air a special programme, Harry & Meghan: The Royal Rift, at 7pm tonight

American media also led with the story.

CNN's headline was "Bombshells in royal interview", Fox News referred to the revelations as "Spilling The Tea", while the New York Times reported on Meghan's suicidal feelings.

Social media users have so far been largely sympathetic towards the duke and duchess.

What have the couple's friends said?

As the fallout continues, Meghan has received support from the likes of her friend and tennis star Serena Williams and US poet and activist Amanda Gorman.

Williams tweeted to say the duchess was her "selfless friend" who "teaches me every day what it means to be truly noble".

Gorman, who became well known after a powerful performance at Joe Biden's inauguration, said the royals had missed the "greatest opportunity for change" and "didn't just maltreat her light".

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Covid-19: School rapid test cannot be overruled, says minister - BBC News

The government is sticking to the rule that a positive rapid Covid test done in secondary schools in England cannot be overruled by the gold-standard tests processed by labs.

Concerns have been raised by testing experts that significant numbers could be incorrectly told they are infected.

They have called for all positives from the rapid testing done in schools to be confirmed by the standard PCR test.

This is what will happen when testing is done at home after next week.

It will mean a pupil who tests positive at home with a rapid on-the-spot test - known as a lateral flow test - will have to isolate on the basis of that test, but will be told to get a PCR test which is processed in a lab.

If that PCR test is negative they will be released from isolation.

But for those done in schools - pupils are being offered three tests in the next two weeks - it will be assumed the lateral flow test is right. A PCR test cannot overrule the lateral flow test.

The Royal Statistical Society is one of the bodies which wants to see all positive tests in schools confirmed with a PCR test.

Prof Sheila Bird, a member of the society's Covid-19 Task Force, has said false positives were "very likely in the present circumstances".

However, Schools Minister Vicky Ford insisted the approach was right.

She told BBC Radio Four's Today Programme that the chances of a false positive - where a pupil is incorrectly diagnosed as having the virus - was "very low".

She said pupils who test positive via the lateral flow tests done in schools will need to isolate, along with their families and close contacts and "should not take a PCR".

"The really important thing is to make sure we can keep schools open and minimise the risk of Covid in classrooms," she said.

But testing experts have questioned the policy, arguing it is contradictory to insist on rapid tests done at home to be confirmed by a PCR test but not those done in schools.

Some have said with infection rates so low, it could mean it could do more harm than good - as the number of false positives could outnumber the true positives.

It is unclear what the true false positive rate will be in school settings. Research by Public Health England has suggested it could be as high as three for every 1,000 tests done, but other studies have suggested it is nearer one.

The testing done in schools in recent weeks for the children of key workers and teachers show the number of tests returning positive results is in line with the lower estimate, suggesting a significant number of tests could be false positives.

With around four million secondary school pupils, even if just half of them take up the offer of rapid testing - which is not mandatory - it could lead to tens of thousands of pupils and families having to isolate unnecessarily.

University of Bath mathematical biologist Dr Kit Yates said warned the government's stance could undermine confidence in the testing policy.

"Not confirming less accurate lateral flow positives with more accurate PCR tests will put people off testing their kids. It's as simple as that."

Primary school children are not being asked to take rapid tests, but families can request tests for use at home.

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2021-03-08 11:30:11Z
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Senin, 08 Maret 2021

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