Here are the latest coronavirus updates:

  • Health Secretary Matt Hancock has defended the level of compensation payments for people who have to self-isolate, but a council leader in one of the pilot areas has branded them "a slap in the face".
    The Government has confirmed payments of up to £182 will be given to people in areas with high incidences of Covid-19, with a trial beginning in Blackburn with Darwen and Pendle in Lancashire, as well as Oldham in Greater Manchester.
    As of Tuesday September 1, people in those areas on either Universal Credit or Working Tax Credit, who are required to self-isolate and are unable to work from home will benefit from the new payment scheme.
    Eligible people who test positive for the virus will receive £130 for their 10-day period of self-isolation, while other members of their household, who under the current rules have to self-isolate for 14 days, will be entitled to a payment of £182.
  • Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Switzerland, Jamaica and the Czech Republic had been removed from the list of travel corridors, meaning people travelling from those countries must quarantine for 14 days if they arrive in the UK after 4am on Saturday.
    He said Cuba has been added to the list of countries from which arriving travellers are not required to quarantine.
  • Passengers arriving in the UK from Croatia, Austria and Trinidad and Tobago will now have to quarantine for 14 days, while Portugal has been added to the travel corridor list.
  • A passenger was taken off a Ryanair flight at a London airport after receiving a text saying he tested positive for coronavirus.
    The passenger, who has not been identified, and his travel companion were on a flight to Pisa, Italy, from London Stansted airport on Wednesday when he received the text message before departure.
    Ryanair said in a statement that they were both seated for only 10 minutes before they were taken off the plane and taken to an isolation area at the airport.
    The flight to Pisa went ahead after a delay of one hour and 20 minutes while seats and overhead cabins were disinfected.
  • The number of asylum applications almost halved as the coronavirus pandemic took hold of the UK.
    Some 8,455 claims to be granted asylum in the UK were submitted in the first three months of the year, compared with 4,850 from April to June, figures from the Home Office showed.
    The department's report said: "The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the UK immigration system, both in terms of restricting migrant movements to and from the UK and the impact on operational capacity."
  • Dozens of food processing plants are dealing with coronavirus outbreaks, with one chicken factory forced to partially close after seeing a rise in the number of positive cases.
    The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said as of Tuesday there are around 40 food processing plants in England, both meat and non-meat, with active outbreaks - but assured that the number "remains very low".
    One of those factories includes Banham Poultry in Attleborough, Norfolk, where 75 workers tested positive for coronavirus.
  • Three-quarters of close contacts of people who tested positive for Covid-19 were reached through the NHS Test and Trace system, once again falling short of the Government's target, the latest figures show.
    Some 75.5% of close contacts in England were reached in the week ending August 19.
    While this is up from 71.6% in the previous week, it is the ninth week in a row where the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) target of isolating 80% of contacts of coronavirus cases within 48-72 hours has been missed.
  • An insect repellent company has urged people not to use its products for coronavirus protection after seeing a surge in customer interest of more than 1,000%.
    Preliminary findings were published by the Ministry of Defence on Wednesday which claimed such substances could kill off the causes of Covid-19.
    Pyramid Products, owned by the Scotmas Group, has since witnessed a staggering increase of more than 10 times the usual daily inquiries for its range of insect repellents - used for ticks and midgies.
  • Almost 100% of schools plan to welcome back all pupils full-time at the start of the autumn term, figures suggest.
    In the 3% of cases where schools are not doing this, it is because they are planning transition periods for new pupils or phasing entry to alleviate pupils' anxieties, according to the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT).
    The school leaders' union conducted a survey with a week to go before the first day of term and more than 4,000 school leaders responded - 4,090 in total, mostly in England, with 143 in Wales.
    The NAHT data shows that 96% are organising regular additional cleaning of classrooms and school premises, 96% are creating and maintaining pupil bubble groups, 93% are staggering lunchtimes and break times, and 87% are staggering start and finish times for pupils.