UK Covid live: one in 35 Londoners and one in 55 in England had coronavirus last week, ONS figures say
Latest updates: percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 remained high but decreased slightly in week ending 16 January
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Absence rates for primary school teachers with Covid-19 were six times higher in England than for children in the same settings, an analysis suggests.
PA media reports:
Teacher absences due to a confirmed case of coronavirus were up to three times higher in secondary schools than those of pupils, according to research from the Education Policy Institute (EPI) think tank. It is “highly likely” that more teachers had a confirmed case of Covid-19 during the autumn term than the wider adult population, but more government data is needed to confirm this, the report says. Approximately 0.5% to 0.9% of primary teachers in England were absent due to a confirmed Covid-19 case during the autumn term, compared with 0.05% to 0.15% of primary pupils, the analysis finds. About 0.6% to 1% of secondary teachers were absent compared with 0.2% to 0.3% for secondary pupils.
Related: Vaccine priority: who should get the Covid jab next in UK?
More from the Guardian’s reporter Steven Morris:
Asked about the UK government proposal to pay £500 to everyone in England who tests positive for Covid-19, the Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, said:
I think it was a kite flown overnight that has come very firmly down to earth this morning with UK ministers denying this was ever a serious proposition. If the UK government were to institute such a scheme we would of course expect to have an equivalent sum of money to allow us to do something here in Wales.
Here are the graphs that were shown in today’s press conference pic.twitter.com/YtE4WwBzRQ
Read the original article at The Guardian