Covid-19: Red list arrivals terminal opens at Heathrow Airport

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A dedicated terminal for passengers arriving in the UK from countries with a high risk of Covid is opening at Heathrow Airport later.

From 04:00 BST, travellers arriving on direct flights from red list nations will transit through Terminal Three.

Heathrow said its top priority was protecting the public and helping reduce the risk of new variants.

There are 43 countries on the red list but direct flights are permitted from only a few of them, including India.

Only British and Irish nationals or UK residents are allowed to travel from countries on the list.

But anyone who has been in a red list country in the previous 10 days, whether they took a direct flight or came via another country, is required to pay for quarantine in a hotel for 10 nights after their arrival.

However, there has been concern at reports that travellers from red list areas were mixing with other passengers in immigration halls, where they could be waiting for several hours on occasion.

It comes as a scientist advising the UK government warned of signs the country is in the early stages of a third wave of coronavirus infections.

A Heathrow Airport spokeswoman said: "Red list routes will likely be a feature of UK travel for the foreseeable future as countries vaccinate their populations at different rates.

"We're adapting Heathrow to this longer-term reality by initially opening a dedicated arrivals facility."

• Heathrow to open terminal for 'red list' arrivals
• What are the rules for the green, amber and red lists?

She added that while opening the facility would be "logistically very challenging", Heathrow hoped that doing so would enable Border Force to carry out its duties more efficiently, as passenger volumes increase in line with countries on the government's green list.

But for now, the current red list system would continue, including mandatory negative Covid tests for all international arrivals, mandatory use of face coverings, social distancing, segregation and enhanced cleaning regimes and ventilation in immigration halls.

Heathrow added that its dedicated arrivals site would switched to Terminal 4 "as soon as operationally possible".

A government spokeswoman emphasised the UK's top priority was protecting the health of the public, using an enhanced borders regime to reduce the risk of new variants being transmitted.

"As we reopen international travel safely, we will maintain 100% health checks at the border and the new dedicated terminal at Heathrow for arrivals from red list countries will enable passengers to be processed as safely and as efficiently as possible, before being transferred to a managed quarantine facility," she said.

"We continue to do all we can to smooth the process, including the roll-out of our e-gate upgrade programme during the summer and deploying additional Border Force officers."

It's been three and a half months since the government first introduced quarantine hotels.

But before red list passengers make their way to the hotels for their 10 days of isolation, they were waiting in the same arrivals hall as passengers from other lower risk countries, sometimes for hours at a time. While there were separate queues, some people felt unsafe.

Although the idea of a separate red list-only terminal has been floated before, the issue has always been about who would pay for it.

After over a year of incredibly low passenger numbers, opening an extra terminal was a big cost that Heathrow weren't eager to take on.

Some felt that as the red list is a government policy, it should be the government that foot the bill.

Although neither side has confirmed who is covering the cost, it's understood that the government is now picking up a substantial part of it.

International travel is likely to remain very different for a while, as Heathrow anticipates that a red list terminal will be needed for some time.

Minimising queuing times

The Home Office told the BBC that Border Force has mobilised additional staff to help minimise queuing times for passengers who are compliant with the UK's border health measures, and that it is making sure that it has the right level of resources to maintain border security as international travel begins to open.

However, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) says that its Border Force members are "very concerned" about the health and safety issues arising from the decision to open up Terminal Three as a dedicated red list terminal.

A PCS spokesman said: "The decision was taken at extremely short notice meaning key social distancing procedures are not in place and operational work is likely to be undertaken without the necessary protection for border staff or passengers.

"This is another poorly planned initiative that will be understaffed and rely on volunteers to do overtime, to avoid mounting queues."

Dozens of countries are on the red list, including India, Pakistan, Turkey, Brazil and South Africa.

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June 01, 2021 at 11:04AM

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Covid: Peru more than doubles death toll after review

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Peru has more than doubled its Covid death toll following a review, making it the country with the world's highest death rate per capita, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The official death toll now sits at more than 180,000, up from 69,342.

Prime Minister Violeta Bermudez told reporters that the number was raised on the advice of Peruvian and international experts.

This was in line with so-called excess deaths figures.

Excess deaths are a measure of how many more people are dying than would be expected based on the previous few years.

"We think it is our duty to make public this updated information," Ms Bermudez said.

Peru has been one of the worst-hit countries in Latin America, resulting in an overstretched healthcare system and a lack of oxygen tanks.

The official number of Covid deaths now stands at 180,764, a huge increase on the previous official figure of 69,342.

In comparison, neighbouring Colombia has registered 88,282 deaths and Bolivia has reported more than 14,000, while Brazil has one of the world's highest death tolls with more than 460,000.

But Peru now has the highest number of deaths in the world in relation to the size of its population, according to Johns Hopkins data.

Hungary previously had the worst number of deaths per capita at around 300 per 100,000 people. Now Peru stands at more than 500 Covid deaths per 100,000 people.

A true picture emerges

Peruvians had long suspected they weren't getting the true picture of the country's dire coronavirus situation from the government.

The revised figure for Covid-19 related deaths shows they were right to be doubtful. In fact, the government has admitted the real number is more than twice the previous figure.

A government working group of experts, formed to analyse Peru's data, published the revised figures after establishing broader criteria by which deaths from coronavirus were recorded.

Now that the narrower definition has been abandoned, the country's per capita death toll is in fact much higher than Brazil's.

Such a figure coincides more closely to the anecdotal evidence coming from hospitals and intensive care units across the country and with the images of cemeteries struggling to find space for the high number of burials each day.

Meanwhile, the process of vaccination has been slow and beset with difficulties across most of South America.

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June 01, 2021 at 09:29AM

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-57307861

NewsWatch: Bitcoin is headed toward its worst month since 2011; ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ author says that’s ‘great news’

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: Mortgage rates drop back below 3% — here’s how much Americans could save by refinancing

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: Yellen says financial literacy can help create a ‘more equitable economy’ — and Americans appear to be listening

The pandemic reaffirmed a hard lesson that lives and plans can change with blistering speed — and not always for the better.

Millions of workers forced into unemployment last year due to shutdown orders and much smaller consumer demand saw that whipsaw change.

So did people who were suddenly seeking refunds after the pandemic upended weddings, trips and even in-person college courses last year.

Now, with COVID-19 vaccination rates rising and more consumers willing to splurge within bounds, a study released Wednesday suggests Americans are taking some pandemic-era financial lessons to heart while a Treasury Department meeting that same day underscored the big-picture needs for financial literacy.

Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen highlighted the connection between financial literacy and stability when speaking to members of the federal government’s Financial Literacy and Education Commission.

The Treasury Department and almost 20 federal agencies are part of the commission focused on improving Americans’ financial savvy.

More financial literacy is certainly no cure all, especially when it comes to structural disadvantages and wealth gaps that have harmed Black households, Yellen said.

“But research does show that education — especially early education — about how to navigate personal finances can have a lasting, positive impact on people’s lives. It can be part of our strategy for building a more equitable economy,” she said.

U.S. Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen spoke Wednesday at the federal government’s Financial Literacy and Education Commission.

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Despite a perilous year for millions of Americans, the takeaway is a positive one. Nearly one third (32%) of people say they’ve improved their financial discipline because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from Northwestern Mutual.

Lower expenses (45%) , paying off debt (34%) and increased investing (33%) were the top three ways people said they tried to improve their financial footing, according to the survey findings released Wednesday from more than 2,300 people.

Nearly one third of people said the pandemic caused them to make either small or big changes to their financial plans and 17% said the experience made them start a financial plan. Another 34% said they had already had plan in place, but didn’t make any changes.

“ Lower expenses , paying off debt and increased investing were the top 3 ways people said they tried to improve their finances. ”

Financial planning can help people when they’re hit with an unexpected event like a pandemic, but it can also help people avoid serious missteps with their taxes.

But if the survey indicates a step forward, the pandemic was a significant step back.
Indeed, 15% of people said the pandemic’s effects fouled up their long-term plans for financial security by up to a year, while 18% said it will set them back up to two years. Another 12% said it could delay plans up to five years, and possibly even more than that.

One fourth of adults said the pandemic left them in worse financial shape, according to a Federal Reserve report on financial wellbeing in 2020 that was released earlier this month. In 2019, 14% said they were worse off than they were a year earlier.

“ The pandemic served as a reminder that the finances in many households are spread too thin to absorb a money shock. ”

The pandemic highlighted life’s uncertainty — but it also served as a reminder that the finances in many households are spread too thin to absorb a money shock like unexpected expense or lost income.

Researchers have previously traced a link between financial fragility and financial literacy. More specifically, they found that people who had difficulty correctly answering questions on topics like inflation and risk diversification also reported challenges coping with money pressures.

“The urgent has always crowded out the important in this country,” John Hope Bryant, the founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE, an organization focused on reducing poverty through programs including financial coaching, told the federal government’s meeting on financial literacy.

However, he added, “COVID and 2020 made it clear to everybody how urgent the important really is.”

Financial literacy is a civil rights issue in Bryant’s view because it stems back to financial inclusion in an economy powered by consumer spending.

When the pandemic first hit, Bryant noted that his staff went from in-person meetings to digital ones. They experience “a 30% immediate spike in coaching and counseling requests.”

“It wasn’t just from Black and brown neighborhoods,” he said. “It was from middle-class white families who found themselves in challenges. It was from the mainstream business owners who found themselves in a moment of challenge.”

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June 01, 2021 at 04:57AM
Andrew Keshner
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In pictures: Bank Holiday Monday brings hottest day of the year

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People headed to beaches, parks and pub gardens to enjoy the sunshine as the Bank Holiday weekend brought the warmest weather of the year and blue skies for much of the UK.

Monday saw the hottest day of the year so far, with Northolt in west London recording a temperature of 24.8C and Kinlochewe, in Scotland's northwest highlands, seeing a high of 25.1C, the Met Office said.

However, not everyone in the UK has enjoyed the balmier temperatures, with forecasters observing some mist and chillier weather along parts of the north-east coast.

The warm spell comes after a month of gloomy weather that saw Britons stuck indoors as lockdown rules were eased across the country.

A series of heavy downpours meant May was the fourth wettest on record for the UK, and the wettest ever for Wales.

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June 01, 2021 at 04:06AM

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Covid: WHO renames UK and other variants with Greek letters

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced a new naming system for variants of Covid-19.

From now on the WHO will use Greek letters to refer to variants first detected in countries like the UK, South Africa and India.

The UK variant for instance is labelled as Alpha, the South African Beta, and the Indian as Delta.

The WHO said this was to simplify discussions but also to help remove some stigma from the names.

Earlier this month the Indian government criticised the naming of variant B.1.617.2 - first detected in the country last October - as the "Indian variant", though the WHO had never officially labelled it as such.

• Where is the Indian variant and how is it spreading?
• What we know about the different variants

"No country should be stigmatised for detecting and reporting variants," the WHO's Covid-19 technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove, tweeted. She also called for "robust surveillance" of variants, and for the sharing of scientific data to help stop the spread.

Today, @WHO announces new, easy-to-say labels for #SARSCoV2 Variants of Concern (VOCs) & Interest (VOIs)

They will not replace existing scientific names, but are aimed to help in public discussion of VOI/VOC

Read more here (will be live soon):
https://t.co/VNvjJn8Xcv#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/L9YOfxmKW7

— Maria Van Kerkhove (@mvankerkhove) May 31, 2021

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

Letters will refer to both variants of concern, and variants of interest. A full list of names has been published on the WHO website.

These Greek letters will not replace existing scientific names. If more than 24 variants are officially identified, the system runs out of Greek letters, and a new naming programme will be announced, Ms Van Kerkhove told STAT News in an interview.

"We're not saying replace B.1.1.7, but really just to try to help some of the dialogue with the average person," she told the US-based website. "So that in public discourse, we could discuss some of these variants in more easy-to-use language."

On Monday, a scientist advising the UK government said the country was in the early stages of a third wave of coronavirus infections, in part driven by the Delta, or Indian variant.

It is thought to spread more quickly than the Alpha (UK; Kent) variant, which was responsible for the surge in cases in the UK over the winter.

Vietnam, meanwhile, has detected what appears to be a combination of those two variants. On Saturday, the country's health minister said it could spread quickly through the air and described it as "very dangerous".

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June 01, 2021 at 05:54AM

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Extremely rare prehistoric animal carvings found for first time in Scotland

Historic Environment Scotland

Prehistoric animal carvings thought to be thousands of years old have been found for the first time in Scotland.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) said the carvings - thought to be between 4,000 and 5,000 years old - were discovered inside Dunchraigaig Cairn in Kilmartin Glen, Argyll.

They are thought to date to the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, and include images of deer.

Hamish Fenton, who has an archaeology background, found them by chance.

Kilmartin Glen is viewed as one of the most important concentration of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in mainland Scotland.

Valuable as sources of meat, hides, and with bones and antlers used for a variety of tools, HES said deer would have been very important to local communities at the time.

Historic Environment Scotland

Dr Tertia Barnett, principal investigator for Scotland's Rock Art Project at HES, said: "It was previously thought that prehistoric animal carvings of this date didn't exist in Scotland, although they are known in parts of Europe.

"So it is very exciting that they have now been discovered here for the first time in the historic Kilmartin Glen.

"This extremely rare discovery completely changes the assumption that prehistoric rock art in Britain was mainly geometric and non-figurative."

Dr Barnett said there were a few other prehistoric carvings of deer in the UK, but the only others created in the Early Bronze Age were "very schematic".

"It is remarkable that these carvings in Dunchraigaig Cairn show such great anatomical detail and there is no doubt about which animal species they represent."

Mr Fenton said he had been passing the cairn at dusk when he noticed the burial chamber in the side of the cairn and decided to slide inside with a torch.

Historic Environment Scotland

"As I shone the torch around, I noticed a pattern on the underside of the roof slab which didn't appear to be natural markings in the rock.," he said.

"As I shone the light around further, I could see that I was looking at a deer stag upside down, and as I continued looking around, more animals appeared on the rock."

He said the discovery had been completely unexpected.

"To me, discoveries like this are the real treasure of archaeology, helping to reshape our understanding of the past," he added.

The cairn is currently closed while HES carries out further evaluation and puts measures in place to protect the carvings.

Related Internet Links

• Historic Environment Scotland - Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba

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June 01, 2021 at 02:47AM

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UK set for stronger post-Covid recovery, says OECD

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The UK economy's recovery from the pandemic is set to be stronger than previously thought, a leading international agency has suggested.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says the UK is likely to grow 7.2% in 2021, up from its March projection of 5.1%.

The OECD raised its forecast for global growth to 5.8%, compared with the 4.2% it predicted in December.

However, it warned that growth would not be shared evenly.

The UK's growth is set to be the fastest among the large rich countries, the OECD says.

UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak attributed the strength of the forecast to the success of the UK's vaccine rollout and the government's Plan for Jobs.

However, he cautioned that with debt at nearly 100% of GDP, there was a need to "ensure public finances remain on a sure footing".

• Covid map: Where are cases the highest?

The OECD said prospects for the world economy had brightened, with activity returning to pre-pandemic levels.

However, they remained short of what had previously been expected by the end of 2022.

The OECD praised stimulus measures and swift vaccine rollouts in richer countries for boosting growth, but said the slow jab distribution in many developing countries threatened to blight their economic progress.

It said the recovery would remain uneven and vulnerable to fresh setbacks as long as a large proportion of the world's population were not vaccinated.

Global growth will be led by a strong upturn in the US, where GDP is forecast to reach 6.9% this year, before easing to 3.6% in 2022, the OECD added.

Output in China has also caught up, but emerging-market economies, including India, may continue to have large shortfalls in GDP.

The strong forecast this year for the UK reflects the key role that vaccination plays in supporting economic recovery. It is the fastest growth among the large rich countries - and within the wider G20, it's behind only India and China. But that also reflects the UK rebounding from a downturn that was one of the deepest.

The OECD report gives a flavour of how countries are performing over the course of the health crisis by setting out how long it expects them to take to get back to pre-pandemic levels of economic activity (GDP) per capita. For the UK, it's the middle of next year, along with Italy and Canada.

That's a few months ahead of France and Spain but behind the US, Japan and Germany. It's also behind several emerging economies, including China, which was the first to regain the lost ground.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said there was an urgent need to "step up the production and equitable distribution of vaccines".

"Effective vaccination programmes in many countries has meant today's economic outlook is more promising than at any time since the start of this devastating pandemic," he said.

"But for millions around the world, getting a jab still remains a distant prospect. We urgently need to step up the production and equitable distribution of vaccines."

OECD chief economist Laurence Boone urged stronger international co-operation between nations to help provide poorer countries with resources to vaccinate their populations.

Income support for people and businesses should continue, but as restrictions ease, these should be "better targeted" where they are needed most, including through retraining and job placement.

The OECD said support also needed to focus on "viable businesses to encourage a move away from debt into equity, and to create jobs and invest in digitalisation".

Foreign trade

Public debt has risen in most economies as a result of the pandemic, but current low interest rates have made servicing the debt manageable.

In the UK, while GDP is predicted to return to pre-pandemic levels next year, the OECD warns that increased border costs following Brexit will hit foreign trade.

Unemployment is also expected to peak at the end of 2021, with a predicted rise to 6.1% when the furlough scheme ends.

It will reach an average of 5.4% in 2021, above 2020 levels of 4.5% and 2019 levels of 3.8%.

The OECD recommends the UK government should maintain support measures until economic recovery is under way, focusing on businesses and sectors with the best growth prospects.

The report also says a closer trade relationship with the EU would improve the economic outlook in the medium term.

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May 31, 2021 at 10:51PM

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