United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, says that some elements of the UK’s Coronavirus lockdown could be eased next week, as he faced a grilling from Sir Keir Starmer in their first PMQs over “rising” deaths in care homes and the government’s initial abandonment of contact-tracing.
Fears have been raised that “malicious” fake alerts could be generated by the new NHS contact-tracing app, adding to prior concerns about users’ privacy and whether the app will even be usable. It is being trialled on the Isle of Wight, initially by health workers and by the general population from tomorrow.
Overnight reports emerged that Rishi Sunak was mulling an end, or at least a tapering-off, of the government’s furlough scheme, in July. More than 6 million workers are currently furloughed.
Meanwhile, Matt Hancock has said there is no evidence to suggest coronavirus is a man-made virus. Donald Trump has tried to suggest it might be as he attempts to pile pressure on China over its early handling of Covid-19, and the US outbreak continues.