Coronavirus live news: school closures could hit economy 'for rest of century'; Tour de France director tests positive

Disadvantaged pupils ‘shut out’ of opportunities, says OECD; French PM to take test after sharing car with cycling boss who tested positive

• Full story: Tour de France race director tests positive
• ‘Not a game’: Europe pleads with young people to halt Covid spread
• US: death rate among African Americans and Latinos rising sharply
• Tokyo Olympics must be held at ‘any cost’, says Japanese minister
• UK coronavirus updates – live

5.42pm BST

Ireland has reported 307 new cases of Covid-19, an increase on the seven-day average of 139 new cases per day. The country’s 14-day cumulative incidence of Covid-19 cases has risen to 34.7 cases for every 100,000 people, higher than the UK and Italy but still far behind Spain.

There was surprise earlier at the Irish government’s decision to allow “wet” pubs – those serving just alcohol and not food, which had experienced the longest lockdown in Europe – to reopen from 21 September.

5.27pm BST

Namibia has further eased restrictions for international tourists to try to prevent the collapse of a sector hit by the coronavirus pandemic after the country closed its borders in March.

The Tourism Ministry said on Tuesday tourists could go to their pre-booked destinations and take part in activities for up to five days, after which they will be tested for the virus.

If they stay at their pre-booked destination for less than five days they can proceed to another destination without a test.

In rules introduced in July, tourists had to quarantine at their first destination for seven days, which resulted in a large number of cancellations.

The tourism sector in the southwest African country has not seen any new bookings since the beginning of the month, leading to 115.7 million Namibian dollars ($6.85 million) in cancellations, the ministry estimates.

Continue reading…

Source link