The University of Lincoln is offering support and guidance to students and staff with connections to China and Wuhan, in response to the Coronavirus outbreak.
Although there are not yet any confirmed cases in the UK, the deadly virus has killed around 80 people in China at the time of writing and is also understood to have infected nearly 3,000.
There are 44 confirmed cases outside of China.
The University of Lincoln is home to hundreds of international students, including just over 200 from China (according to the Complete University Guide 2017-18).
Students have been advised against any non-essential travel to Wuhan, the city at the epicentre of the outbreak, The Lincolnite has been told.
The University of Lincoln will support students when needed and it also said the Student Union’s celebrations for the Chinese Lunar New Year will still go ahead as planned.
A University of Lincoln spokesperson said: “Currently there are no confirmed cases of the Coronavirus in the UK and the risk to the UK population has been assessed as low by Public Health England.
“The University of Lincoln has informed students and staff that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against any non-essential travel to Wuhan.
“We have advised that if there are any staff or students who have recently returned from Wuhan and who are experiencing flu like symptoms, they should contact their GP as per the Public Health England guidance.
“Celebrations for the Chinese Lunar New Year which have been organised by our Students’ Union are planned to go ahead.
“Our Student Wellbeing and International teams are both on hand to support students if needed.”
According to reports, China’s National Health Commission minister Ma Xiaowei said the incubation period for the virus can range from one to 14 days and is infectious during this time.
The virus is likely to already be in the UK according to Dr Yvonne Doyle, England’s director for health protection, who told Sky News: “The most likely place that we’re going to find a case is someone who is in the country already.”
When asked if there could be cases already in Britain, she said: “I would expect so.”
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust confirmed it is taking advise from Public Health England about the virus.
Public Health England previously said it is carefully monitoring the situation in Wuhan and is ready to in place proportionate, precautionary measures. This includes enhanced monitoring from all flights from Wuhan to the UK.
The Chinese government has extended the Lunar New Year holiday by three days to next Sunday in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. Several Chinese cities have also imposed significant travel restrictions.
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A man has been seen selling eggs next to the recently-erected Margaret Thatcher statue in Grantham, just two days after the monument was pelted by a passer-by at the unveiling over the weekend.
The £300,000 statue of Thatcher has been the talk of the town since it was erected in Grantham, the birthplace of Britain’s first female Prime Minister.
In light of this, a stall has been set up by a national journalist in a spoof stunt, selling eggs for £10 next to the statue.
Oli Dugmore, the head of news and politics at JOE.co.uk, set up his stall on Thursday afternoon, inviting the people of Grantham to “come say hi” by the controversial Margaret Thatcher statue.
It didn’t take long for the authorities to get involved, as a community support officer quickly came to speak to Oli about the stunt, as he amusingly described in a Twitter thread.
The stunt has been received some famous attention online, with Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker saying: “She always said she was a supporter of small businesses.”
The topic of egg throwing and this statue has been well documented for a significant period of time now, as many have argued the controversy and divisiveness surrounding the Iron Lady put the legitimacy of having a statue of her into question.
Greater Lincolnshire’s export market decreased by nearly a fifth in 2020 compared to pre-pandemic, a report before Lincolnshire County Council will say next week.
The report also reveals that Greater Lincolnshire received £467 million of imports from Russia in 2020.
The authority’s Economy and Environment Committee on Tuesday will examine new plans to support greater “internationalisation” and improve the county’s import and export market.
The report has been put together the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, the Department for International Trade and other partners.
“The Greater Lincolnshire economy has an international presence driven by the manufacturing and service sectors of the economy, with businesses exporting and importing goods and services across the globe,” it said.
The aim is to create a Greater Lincolnshire Internationalisation Strategy and Action Plan for 2022-2024 which helps business in the region access and improve their own import and export markets.
Statistics included in the report show that in 2020 the region exported around £4.19billion of commodities, down from £5.18billion pre-pandemic – a drop of 19.11%.
It imported £7.49billion of product, down from £8.55billion – down 14.15%.
Documents supplied to the council, noted that 2020 was seen as an “anomoly year” due to the Covid-19 pandemic and so looked at previous years data as well.
However, it also noted that Leaving the EU was also a factor “impacting upon confidence levels of all exporters”.
“The EU is a key market for GLLEP, many business owners have confirmed that they have temporarily stopped exporting due to actual, and in some case perceived, issues related to new regulation,” said the reports.
A breakdown of Greater Lincolnshire’s exports in 2020. | Image: GLLEP
Across the strategy there are five references to Brexit and three to the pandemic.
Data examined by the authors, shows that the county exports more goods to EU countries compared to the rest of the world, with a 63:37% split in 2015.
In 2017, 43.9% of Lincolnshire’s products and services were exported to the EU.
In 2020 our biggest export trade partners were the Netherlands (£548m) , Germany £353m), USA (£331m), Belgium (£299m)and Ireland (£295m).
Our greatest imports were from Norway (£949m), Netherlands (£732m), China (£711m), Germany (£617m) and Russia (£467m).
Council bosses will more than likely welcome the Chinese imports as they have looked to court the country to invest in the county in recent years.
However, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine business leaders will likely be keeping a wary eye on the figures around the Vladimir Putin’s state.
Measures in the report before councillors next week lay out how the GLLEP and the DIT will arrange advisors for local businesses, take advantage of freeports such as those in the Humber, create Peer to Peer networks and utilise technology to share market information easier.
“The enclosed draft is considered a robust, forward thinking and effective plan to support Greater Lincolnshire’s exporters and importers (both existing and aspiring) over the next two financial years,” said officers.
“It brings together both the best of existing support, and in addition strategically coordinates the extensive range of internal and external resources and partners to provide and effective, efficient, and well promoted support to Greater Lincolnshire’s importers and exporters.”
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