THE VIRUS IN BRIEF
■ NAZANIN Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been temporarily released from prison in Iran because of the coronavirus outbreak, her husband says.
The British-Iranian mother of one must wear an ankle tag and stay close to her parents’ home in Tehran for the next two weeks.
In a statement, the charity worker said: “Being out is so much better than being in – if you knew what hell it is.”
The 41-year-old from London was jailed for five years in 2016 after being convicted of espionage charges she has always denied. The UK insists she is innocent.
Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe said yesterday: “The issue now is to make it permanent and bring Nazanin home.”
She is one of an estimated 85,000 prisoners in Iran who have tested negative for the virus and given temporary leave.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “We urge the government now to release all UK dual nationals arbitrarily detained in Iran.”
■ PANICKING parents are pulling pupils out of school in a bid to protect them.
Despite the Government and scientists advising there is no need to shut schools yet, 653,000 people have signed a petition demanding they do.
Some parents accused Boris Johnson of “playing Russian roulette” with children’s health.
Education experts suggested postponing upcoming GCSE and A-level exam season.
The Government says it is keeping the situation in schools under review.
There are fears that closing them would mean key workers in the NHS would have to drop their duties to look after children.
And chief medical officer Chris Whitty insists that evidence suggests children tend to be less badly affected than adults.
But Chris Keates, acting general secretary of teachers’ union NASUWT, said a lack of direction from the Government was “creating a sense of panic”.
■ GLOBAL markets recovered slightly as investors waited to see if the recent slide could result in a mass suspension of worldwide trading.
After a disastrous start to the week, the FTSE rallied as analysts watched to see how measures preventing movement impacted on business.
The index ended the day up 143.82 points at 5,294.90 – a rise of 2.79 per cent. The French Cac index also went up 3.5 per cent, while in the US, the Dow Jones rose 3.5 per cent.
Neil Wilson, an analyst at Markets.com, said: “There had been chatter that regulators would start to think it’s time to call a halt to this, that they will step in to shutter stock markets for a limited period in a bid to regain control of the situation.”
Travel firms saw major falls as the public switched to home working but Ocado shares were up 8.2 per cent as shoppers stocked up on groceries.