Summary

  • Updates for Norfolk

  1. Return of some children to schools 'sensible'published at 11:24 British Summer Time 13 May 2020

    A consultant virologist and Cambridge University lecturer says the reintroduction of some children into schools is a "sensible" approach.

    Dr Chris Smith, a BBC radio representer on the Naked Scientists show, said it would see children "benefit enormously from the socialistation".

    The government has announced plans that would see some reception, year one and year six pupils return to school from June.

    Dr Smith, who lives in Essex, said: "I think it's a very sensible approach. It's a staged approach."

  2. FA outlines rules for Premier League football matchespublished at 10:04 British Summer Time 13 May 2020

    Dan Roan
    BBC Sports editor

    Measures to allow safe training for Premier League football teams, like Watford and Norwich City, have been revealed.

    Carrow Road stadiumImage source, Getty Images

    Tackling will be banned, pitches disinfected and players restricted to groups of five when the Premier League starts a first phase of team training.

    Official protocols sent to players and managers on Tuesday and obtained by the BBC reveal that social distancing must be "strictly observed".

    The BBC understands the Professional Footballers' Association has heard from a number of players, including those who have underlying health conditions like asthma or who are from black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, that they have real concerns about returning to playing.

    According to the Office for National Statistics, BAME people are twice as likely to die from Covid-19 as white people, and a group of public figures and the Labour Party have both called for a public inquiry to find out why.

  3. Buskers switch to live streams for Covid lockdownpublished at 06:24 British Summer Time 13 May 2020

    Some buskers in Norwich say they have found new ways to play their music and earn money.

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  4. Man 'who could not remember' child rape is jailedpublished at 18:14 British Summer Time 12 May 2020

    The judge praises the victim's "inner strength" in reporting the crimes which happened in January.

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  5. Fish and chip shop overwhelmed by orders for deliveriespublished at 16:19 British Summer Time 12 May 2020

    Nic Rigby
    BBC News

    The co-owner of a popular Norwich city centre fish and chip shop, which had to close due to the coronavirus lockdown, has said he has been inundated since re-opening for deliveries yesterday.

    Grosvenor Fish Bar

    By mid-afternoon on Monday, the Grosvenor Fish Bar on Pottergate had taken 400 orders in about five hours, and had to stop taking any more.

    Duane Dibartolomeo (pictured below), co-owner, said: "After six weeks of being bored - well, we steam-cleaned the place and things like that - it's been an amazing few days.

    "It was a lot of fun getting back into it. Athough with doing deliveries for the first time it has been a steep learning curve.

    "We had to stop at 16:00 because we'd had so many people ordering food."

    Duane Dibartolomeo
  6. Bygone times in nursingpublished at 15:27 British Summer Time 12 May 2020

    A glimpse back at bygone times has been revealed by a museum in Norfolk - a fitting tribute on International Nurses' Day.

    Norwich Castle has tweeted photos of a uniform worn on the wards at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital in the early 1900s.

    Its then-owner Alice Ottaway joined the procession at the funeral of Edith Cavell - the British nurse who worked with prisoners of war in World War One and was executed by the Germans.

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  7. High rate of Covid-19 infections in west Norfolkpublished at 15:06 British Summer Time 12 May 2020

    Nic Rigby
    BBC News

    West Norfolk has seen the highest rate of Covid-19 infections in the East of England with 420 cases per 100,000 of the population.

    King's LynnImage source, Rob Noble/Geograph

    The figures are for the King's Lynn (pictured) and West Norfolk Council area which has had 638 people infected, according to statistics released by the government.

    The whole of Norfolk has had 1,913 cases of people being infected. The rate of infection is 211 across the county is 100,000 of population.

    Coronavirus

    It compares to Norwich where there were 143 infections per 100,000 of the population.

    In the East of England the second highest is Hertsmere where there were 359 infection per 100,000 of population.

  8. Greater Anglia to run more trainspublished at 12:47 British Summer Time 12 May 2020

    Nic Rigby
    BBC News

    Railway company Greater Anglia, external is to change its reduced emergency timetable and increase train services after the government announced a slight easing of the lockdown.

    From Monday, it will run an amended timetable on weekdays with a "Saturday service" number of trains.

    It will see increased frequency of services on the Great Eastern Main Line from Colchester, Clacton and Southend to London and the West Anglia Main Line from Cambridge to Liverpool Street.

    CarriagesImage source, Getty Images

    Regional lines will remain as they are, but the hourly Norwich to Cambridge service will now run as a direct through service to Stansted Airport again.

    The Norwich-London intercity service, will continue to run once an hour, but during peak periods will not call at Colchester or Chelmsford as it runs non-stop between Manningtree and Stratford.

    Passengers at Colchester will be served by three trains per hour and at Chelmsford by four trains per hour on the Great Eastern Main Line.

    Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: "Government advice is still to avoid public transport, so please only travel with us if your journey is absolutely essential.

    "We have marked up our trains and stations to help customers to socially distance."

  9. Expert backs facemasks where distancing is difficultpublished at 10:41 British Summer Time 12 May 2020

    An expert in infectious diseases has backed government guidelines that facemasks should be worn on public transport and in shops, when social distancing is not always possible, to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

    Prof Paul Hunter, from the University of East Anglia, said the evidence was still "quite murky", but safety should come first.

    Mask

    Prof Hunter was concerned people wearing facemasks might stop thinking about social distancing and that could make matters worse.

    "But if people stick to the rules on those occasions when they can't avoid being out in public and wear them [facemasks] then that is certainly appropriate," he said.

  10. Football club to refund ticket holderspublished at 09:45 British Summer Time 12 May 2020

    Norwich City corner flagImage source, Getty Images

    Norwich City Football Club is to begin refunding season ticket holders and people who've bought tickets for individual matches.

    The club said about 36,000 supporters would be affected, external.

    The season has been postponed, and if it does resume, matches will be behind closed doors, so no fans would be able to watch.

  11. Fourteen dogs and puppies stolen from breederpublished at 17:27 British Summer Time 11 May 2020

    Cocker spaniels and cockapoos, some less than six weeks old, can be worth thousands of pounds.

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  12. Covid-19 lockdown is 'boost to bicycle trade'published at 16:03 British Summer Time 11 May 2020

    However, one retailer says he is "scrabbling around" to get hold of spare parts.

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  13. Passenger quarantine 'devastating' for regional airportspublished at 09:12 British Summer Time 11 May 2020

    Claire Gilbody-Dickerson
    BBC News

    An airport boss has written to the Prime Minister to warn that the potential move to quarantine passengers returning to the UK could deal a "devastating blow" to their business.

    Andrew Bell, chief executive of Regional & City Airports, called on the government to ensure it takes "appropriate safeguards around time-limiting the measures and supporting businesses affected during quarantine".

    The operator runs three airports in Norwich (pictured), Bournemouth and Exeter. In a letter seen by the BBC, Mr Bell said "blanket, open-ended" restrictions could damage the airports, on which 3,000 people's jobs rely.

    Norwich Airport

    Before Covid 19, up to 2.4m passengers travelled through its airports every year, the chief executive said.

    Mr Bell appealed for a "clear exit strategy" to be published in due time as a "protracted period of zero, or near zero passengers, is simply unsustainable".

  14. Historic windmill's celebrations on holdpublished at 08:24 British Summer Time 11 May 2020

    A windmill's 200th anniversary celebrations have been postponed due to the coronavirus lockdown.

    Thurne Windmill, external on The Broads in Norfolk was built in 1820 to help drain the marshes and provide farmland.

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    Owner Debra Nicholson and the Friends of Thurne Windmill had been organising a range of events in August to celebrate its double centenary.

    Mrs Nicholson said it was sad the events had been postponed but "important that everyone stays safe".

    See more on this story.

  15. Prison watchdog 'concerned' at health meeting banpublished at 01:28 British Summer Time 11 May 2020

    The Independent Monitoring Board at HMP Wayland says the ban makes it hard to monitor conditions.

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  16. Passenger quarantine 'devastating' for regional airportspublished at 11:58 British Summer Time 10 May 2020

    Claire Gilbody-Dickerson
    BBC News

    An airport boss has written to the Prime Minister to warn that the potential move to quarantine passengers returning to the UK could deal a "devastating blow" to their business.

    Andrew Bell, chief executive of Regional & City Airports, called on the government to ensure it takes "appropriate safeguards around time-limiting the measures and supporting businesses affected during quarantine".

    The operator runs three airports in Exeter, Norwich and Bournemouth. In a letter seen by the BBC, Mr Bell said "blanket, open-ended" restrictions could damage the airports, on which 3,000 people's jobs rely.

    Arrivals boardImage source, Getty
    Image caption,

    There have been reports the government intends to quarantine arriving passengers

    Before Covid 19, up to 2.4m passengers travelled through its airports every year, the chief executive said.

    Mr Bell appealed for a "clear exit strategy" to be published in due time as a "protracted period of zero, or near zero passengers, is simply unsustainable".

  17. Windmill postpones 200th birthday celebrationspublished at 10:18 British Summer Time 10 May 2020

    The historic mill, dating from 1820, is one of the landmarks on the skyline of the Broads.

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  18. Catch-up: ePL Invitational 2 finals day - Maddison, Egan, Davis & Aarons in actionpublished at 18:39 British Summer Time 8 May 2020

    Watch live coverage from the second ePL Invitational finals day as James Maddison, Keinan Davis, John Egan & Max Aarons take part.

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  19. Virtual choir performs Vera Lynn's song of hopepublished at 16:32 British Summer Time 8 May 2020

    A group of high school pupils have created a virtual choir of 30 voices to sing the World War Two hit 'When the Lights Go On Again'.

    BBC Radio Norfolk joined forces with Springwood High School in King's Lynn to record the song, which looks forward to the end of wartime blackout conditions and the end of the war.

    It was put together by the school's head of music, Peter Strudwick, for the anniversary of VE Day.

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  20. Catch-up: ePL Invitational 2 - Maddison, Taylor & Egan in quarter-final actionpublished at 18:47 British Summer Time 7 May 2020

    Watch live coverage from the second ePL Invitational as James Maddison, Charlie Taylor & John Egan take part.

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