UK coronavirus live: draft rules on post-lockdown workplaces leaked

7.54am BST07:54

Guardian political correspondent Kate Proctor reports on today’s front page that tech firms are in talks with ministers about creating health passports to help Britons return safely to work using coronavirus testing and facial recognition.

Facial biometrics could be used to help provide a digital certificate – sometimes known as an immunity passport – proving which workers have had Covid-19, as a possible way of easing the impact on the economy and businesses from ongoing physical distancing even after current lockdown measures are eased.

The UK-based firm Onfido, which specialises in verifying people’s identities using facial biometrics, has delivered detailed plans to the government and is involved in a number of conversations about what could be rolled out across the country, it is understood.

Its proposals, which have reached pilot stages in other countries, could be executed within months, it says. The firm could use antibody tests – proving whether someone has had the virus – or antigen tests, which show current infections.

7.25am BST07:25

Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s UK coronavirus live blog. I’m Frances Perraudin and I’ll be bringing you the latest updates in the country’s response to the pandemic.

A draft government plan to ease the coronavirus lockdown has been seen by the BBC. It includes the suggestion that employers should minimise the number of people using equipment, stagger shift times, reduce hot desking and maximise home-working. The guidance also states that – where the 2m physical distance between employers can’t be maintained – PPE, screens and additional hygiene procedures should be used.

Director general of the British Chambers of Commerce Adam Marshall told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning that businesses needed the government to be as specific as possible in its guidance.

We need as much specificity as possible so businesses can ensure they’ve taken all the steps they can in order to protect their people.

And as much as possible we want to see consistency across the UK it would be very confusing and costly for businesses if we saw different nations going in very different directions.

They (bosses) will want to know that they’re not going to be held liable to horrible things that may unfortunately happen if they’ve done everything in their power to keep their people safe.

Whereas by contrast you’d want to see those employers who didn’t take adequate steps face the consequences of that so the question of legal liability is extremely important.

Elsewhere, a request by UK universities for a £2bn bailout has been rejected by the government. Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, has instead said that institutions could continue to charge the full £9,250 annual tuition fee for undergraduates while campuses remained closed and face-to-face classes were suspended, as long high standards of online teaching were maintained. The government will also bring forward £2.6bn in tuition fees that universities would have received at the start of the next academic year, as well as £100m in research funding. You can read the full story from our education Richard Adams here –

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