THE VIRUS IN BRIEF
BBC newsreader George Alagiah has shared a message of encouragement with fellow cancer sufferers after testing positive for coronavirus. He said: “if I can live with cancer, I can certainly live with Covid-19.”
Alagiah, right, who has bowel cancer, last month stopped going on air from the studio after advice from doctors. He told BBC News At Six’s Sophie Raworth: “I don’t want to trivialise because I seem to have had a mild dose.
“But the fact that we are living with cancer I think gives us an edge. We’ve confronted those difficult, dark moments in our life.”
SHOPPERS can spend £45 using their contactless card from today in a move to help combat coronavirus.
The limit is rising by £15 and means more payments can be made without handling cash or touching a card machine to input a Pin number.
Not all shops will be ready because software has to be updated on hundreds of thousands of terminals.
The move had been considered before the virus outbreak but trade association UK Finance said it was decided to speed it up after talks with retailers.
Andrew Cregan, the British Retail Consortium’s head of payments policy, said: “Some shops will take longer to make the necessary changes, given the strain they’re under.”
FOREIGN medics helping the NHS will have their visas extended so they can “focus on fighting coronavirus”.
It will apply to around 2,800 migrant health professionals whose right to work in the UK was due to expire before October 1.
They will be renewed automatically for a year, free of charge so they and their families can remain working in the country.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “Doctors, nurses and paramedics from all over the world are playing a leading role in the NHS’s efforts. We owe them a great deal of gratitude.”
CABINET minister Grant Shapps was slapped down by Downing Street yesterday after he wrongly told people to only shop once a week.
The Transport Secretary was accused of sending “mixed messages” as he said on BBC Breakfast: “People know the rules that have been set, try and shop just once a week.”
But a No 10 official later said Mr Shapps went beyond official guidance, which tells people to go shopping for essentials “as infrequently as possible” but does not set a limit.
The new lockdown law also sets no limit on number of trips people are allowed to take. Instead they are asked to use common sense.
Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine said: “Mixed messages from ministers only add to the chaos and fuel anxiety.”