Live updates: University of Notre Dame pauses in-person learning after reporting more coronavirus cases

On Wednesday, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock denied that the United Kingdom would follow France’s decision to make face coverings mandatory in the workplace but stressed the importance of mass testing, adding that it was the government’s priority to screen as many Britons as possible using a service that would provide faster results.The British government has been criticized for its handling of the pandemic, with many believing its lockdown came too late, front-line workers were not adequately protected and that testing did not happen quickly or consistently enough.Hancock told BBC radio that the government wants to begin testing the population regularly to prevent a second severe outbreak of the virus.Italy and Spain ordered nightclubs to close this week amid rising infection levels among young people, as Germany reported a rise in cases linked to people returning from high-risk vacation hot spots.Spurred by growing evidence that being overweight increases the risk of serious illness with an infection by the novel coronavirus, a number of Mexican states are moving to ban the sale of junk food to children. On Tuesday, Morrison said the goal is to manufacture the vaccine “under our own steam.”Stay safe and informed with our free Coronavirus Updates newsletter.MANILA — Philippine authorities on Wednesday eased lockdown restrictions in and around Manila despite record daily infection numbers in recent days, amid rising concern over the economic damage caused by stay-at-home measures.Public transportation has resumed, and some businesses in the Manila area will be allowed to restart operations — providing a much-needed boost to an economy mired in deep recession and record unemployment.The capital region and its neighboring provinces had ramped up restrictions earlier this month after more than 80 medical organizations called for the government to rethink its pandemic response.The Philippines has reported some 173,000 coronavirus cases — the highest in the region — and more than 2,700 deaths. But those guidelines clash with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which states that critical infrastructure workers may be able to return to their jobs “provided they remain asymptomatic and additional precautions are implemented to protect them and the community.” School districts implementing the controversial teacher quarantine policy say they are following the CDC guidance.Gov. Bill Lee (R) said Tuesday that school districts are free to enact such policies, and that the state will provide guidance on the precautions that potentially exposed teachers should be taking, the Tennessean reported.Stay safe and informed with our free Coronavirus Updates newsletter.The World Health Organization warned Tuesday that young people are becoming the primary drivers of the spread of the novel coronavirus in many countries — a worrisome trend experts fear may grow in the United States as many colleges and schools begin to reopen.The global health agency’s warnings come amid intense debate in the United States about whether to bring students back to classrooms. So far, at least 168,000 people in the United States have died of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to a Washington Post analysis.For colleges and universities, where students in their late teens and 20s live in tight quarters and mingle at off-campus gatherings, the problem has proved particularly vexing.Read the full story here.A new advisory board, created to review the ethics of proposed fetal tissue research grants, is urging the Trump administration to block government funding for nearly all of the applications — essentially seeking to ban support for most such scientific work.Many scientists consider fetal tissue an invaluable research tool that has led to advances in understanding and treatment of several major diseases and could be useful in developing cures and vaccines for the coronavirus.Social conservatives aligned with Trump regard such research as unethical because it hinges on small amounts of tissue from aborted fetuses, and they have long argued against using taxpayer money to support it.Read the full story here.Fueled by a surging stock market, CEO compensation climbed to its highest level in seven years last year and could rise again in 2020, despite the widespread layoffs and pay cuts of the coronavirus recession.The Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, found that chief executives of the 350 largest U.S. companies earned an average of $21.3 million in realized compensation in 2019, setting the ratio of CEO-to-worker pay at 320 to 1, up from 293 to 1 in 2018 and more than five times as high as the 61-to-1 ratio in 1989.Details about CEO pay lag, because they are shared in corporate proxy statements, which are typically released early in the following year before many companies’ spring annual meetings.