Coronavirus: Threat of local lockdown looms in Birmingham

Latest updates and essential advice from the news source you trust Trouble viewing? [View in browser]( [Image]( [Image] Daily news briefing Latest updates and essential advice from the news source you trust Threat of local lockdown looms in Birmingham Officials in Birmingham have warned that England's second city [could be placed in lockdown within days]( if the number of coronavirus cases continue to rise. Birmingham’s director of public health, Dr Justin Varney, said he expected the city to be placed on the national “watch list” after infections rose from 22.4 to 30 per 100,000. The city council said the increase was “extremely concerning” while its leader, Ian Ward, urged residents to take immediate action. The development comes as the Royal College of Pathologists said it feared that Covid-19 antibody tests, intended solely for professional use, were being offered for sale to consumers “without the required reassurance of appropriate laboratory or professional back-up”. In the US, former vice president Joe Biden vowed to move the country beyond Donald Trump's "season of darkness" as he [formally accepted the Democratic Party's presidential nomination](. "The current president has cloaked America in darkness for far too long. Too much anger. Too much fear. Too much division," Mr Biden said on the final night of the Democratic National Convention. "I give you my word, if you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best, not the worst," he said. "United we can and will overcome this season of darkness in America." The Independent has learned, meanwhile, that Mr Trump once boasted he was [more in tune with the African-American community]( than a group of prominent civil rights activists, including the son of the movement’s slain leader Martin Luther King Jr. The meeting between Mr Trump and the activists, including Martin Luther King III, William Wachtel and Riverside Church pastor Dr James Forbes, was arranged by transition team aides days before his inauguration in January 2017 as a way to settle tensions between the incoming president and black Americans. But the event quickly became, in the words of one Trump aide, “the most disastrous outreach meeting in the history of presidential transition”. According to a recording and transcript of the meeting, Mr Trump spent far more time airing his own grievances and making outrageous claims than listening to the activists’ concerns. Podcast [Image]( The Independent Coronavirus Podcast Subscribe now wherever you listen for all the latest coronavirus news. [Listen now]( The Independent employs over 100 journalists around the world to bring you news you can trust. Please consider a [contribution]( or [subscription](. Top stories [I'm an image]( PREMIUM [How foreseeable was the A-level and GCSE fiasco, really?]( [I'm an image]( [Covid-19 patients still ill months later, study finds]( [I'm an image]( [Covid-19 may stick to young people ‘like a tornado with a long tail’]( More news [UK public debt reaches two trillion pounds for first time ever]( [Has Joe Biden proved he can defeat Donald Trump?]( [Analysis: Trump just tried out his Plan B re-election sales pitch]( [Quarantine latest: What's changed and what does it mean?]( [Millions could face harsh enforcement as bailiff collection resume]( //link.e.independent.co.uk/click/21269103.73342/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaW5kZXBlbmRlbnQuY28udWsvc3Vic2NyaWJlP3V0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmdXRtX3NvdXJjZT1lZGl0b3ItbmV3c2xldHRlciZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249Y2hhbmdpbmctd29ybGQlN0MwNjIwLTA2MjAlN0Nwcm9zcGVjdGluZyZ1dG1fY29udGVudD1uZXdz/583d2887487ccd777a8b7489C8a326d19 Suggested for you [I'm an image]( [Trump mocked for claim ID cards needed for virtual convention - live]( [I'm an image]( [Threat of local lockdown looms large in Birmingham]( [I'm an image]( [Hunter Biden, target of GOP inquiry, speaks at DNC]( [I'm an image]( [Boy with stutter shares advice Joe Biden gave and wins over viewers]( Follow us [Twitter]( [Facebook]( Please do not reply directly to this email You are currently registered to receive The Independent's News email. Add us to your safe list of senders. If you do not want to receive The Independent News email and Breaking News alerts, please [unsubscribe](list_name=IND_Headlines_Masterlist_CDP). If you no longer wish to receive any newsletters or promotional emails from The Independent, you can unsubscribe [here](. This e-mail was sent by Independent Digital News and Media Ltd, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5HF. Registered in England and Wales with company number 07320345. Read our [privacy notice]( and [cookie policy](.