Call for mass testing of taxi drivers, airport arrivals and NHS staff
A member of the armed forces directs people to deposit their self-tests into a container
Taxi drivers, people arriving at airports and NHS staff could be subject to mass coronavirus testing in efforts to identify asymptomatic people and their contacts, Jeremy Hunt has suggested.
The former health secretary said certain groups within the population, as well as people in particular parts of the country, could be tested to try to better track Covid-19 infections.
Mr Hunt has previously warned that the Government’s test and trace system “will fail” unless a way of reaching infected people is found.
Speaking on Wednesday during an online conversation with Prof Sir Simon Wessely, the Royal Society of Medicine president, he said: “I think looking at healthcare staff, looking at taxi drivers is another group, airport arrivals is another group.
“I think we need to think about mass testing amongst groups of the population as well as parts of the country like Leicester and so on, as our best way of finding out where the asymptomatics are and feeding them into the system so that their contacts can be isolated.”
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11:42 PM
Bob Marley song reimagined to raise money for Unicef fund
Members of Bob Marley’s family have reimagined the late reggae star’s song One Love to raise money for Unicef’s coronavirus fund.
Tuff Gong International, the label and recording studio founded by Marley in the 1970s, and global record company Amplified Music will release the recording on July 17.
Proceeds from the song will go to Reimagine, Unicef’s global campaign to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic from becoming a lasting crisis for children.
Originally recorded in 1977 by Bob Marley And The Wailers, the new version of One Love features Marley’s daughter Cedella, son Stephen and grandson Skip, as well as musicians from conflict zones and children living in vulnerable communities.
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11:31 PM
Attenborough appeals for donations to save charity behind zoos
Veteran broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough has appealed for donations to save the conservation charity behind two leading British zoos, London and Whipsnade, which has been hammered financially by the pandemic.
The short video clip, which will air on British television on Thursday, draws attention to the scientific work of the Zoological Society of London and features images of animals both in the two zoos and their native habitats.
“The Zoological Society of London has made an outstanding contribution to conservation and our understanding of wildlife for 200 years,” said Attenborough, noting that the two zoos are home to over 20,000 animals, some of them endangered.
“The national institution is now itself at risk of extinction,” said Attenborough, 94, who is famed worldwide for his documentaries on the natural world.
The ZSL has lost vital income after the pandemic forced its zoos to close for the first time since WWII, he said, urging people to make donations via the link zsl.org/justgiving.