Coronavirus live news: Turkey bans arrivals from Britain after variant cases confirmed; 53,285 new UK infections

Latest updates: 15 cases of UK variant confirmed in Turkey; 613 Covid-linked deaths recorded in UK; France to impose earlier curfews in 15 departments

All primary schools in London are set to close for the start of the new term after the UK government bowed to protests and legal pressure from the capital’s local authorities amid fears of Covid-19 infection rates, Richard Adams and Simon Murphy report.

The U-turn comes after the government initially named 50 education authorities in the south of England, including many of those in and around London, where primary schools would be closed to most pupils for the first two weeks of term.

Related: All primary schools in London to remain closed after U-turn

The US has become the first country to pass 20m lab-confirmed Covid cases, though the true number of infections is thought to be much higher.

Back in June, US public health experts said they believed more than 20 million Americans could have contracted the respiratory virus – 10 times more than official counts at the time.

Related: US surpasses 20m coronavirus cases on New Year's Day

Continue reading...