Covid-19: England's school bubbles to go and Germany lifts UK traveller ban

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Tuesday morning. We'll have another update for you this evening.

England's schools will find out later about plans to relax rules that have led to "bubbles" of pupils being sent home if a single child tests positive for Covid. "The way forward is with testing," Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated yesterday, when promising a system to "greatly reduce the impact on schools". Last week saw more than 375,000 children confined to their homes, causing headaches for parents juggling work and childcare.

Germany is lifting a ban on people travelling from the UK, imposed because of the Delta variant's spread, with fully vaccinated visitors not required to quarantine from Wednesday. Others will still have to quarantine for 10 days, although this can be reduced with a negative test on the fifth day.

The prime minister's announcement around lifting many of the remaining coronavirus restrictions in England has sparked intense debate. But our health correspondent Nick Triggle says what is unarguable is that the nature of the pandemic in the UK has changed - and with it so should many of our assumptions. Read his analysis here.

It has been dubbed "Freedom Day" but for some people, 19 July - the scheduled end of England's lockdown rules - is a day to dread. Retired NHS worker Rosie Duffin, who is considered clinically extremely vulnerable because of secondary breast cancer, says: "It might be freedom for others, definitely not for us. It's 'Becoming a Hermit Day' once again."

Singer Richard Ashcroft has pulled out of a Sheffield music festival after it became part of the government's pilot events programme. He had been due to headline the Sunday night at Tramlines, which takes place from 23-25 July in front of 40,000 people. The former Verve front man apologised to fans via Twitter but added, alongside laughing emojis: "The words government experiment and festival..." Tramlines say they respect his decision and will find a new headliner.

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You can find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page.

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