LONDON: One of the UK’s most prestigious boarding schools has closed after a pupil tested positive for coronavirus.
Harrow School in north-west London, which teaches boys aged 13 to 18, has stopped all lessons and the 830 pupils who board are being sent home, the Daily Mail reported.
Students will instead be taught online until the end of the current term.
The headmaster of the £41,000-a-year school said in a letter to parents that a student who returned home to avoid a quarantine restriction had tested positive for COVID-19.
Some members of the teaching and non-teaching staff are also self-isolating at home in line with UK government advice.
The letter also stated that a number of students were showing symptoms related to coronavirus.
“The number of boys presenting with the symptoms associated with COVID-19 and the nature of boarding life at Harrow have led us to conclude with regret that the school cannot continue to operate until the end of term,” the letter said.
“This decision has been taken exclusively because it is no longer possible to adequately operate the support necessary for full boarding.”
Harrow is considered one of the most elite boarding schools in the UK.
King Ghazi bin Faisal, who ruled Iraq from 1933 to 1939, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II are among it’s alumni.
The closure comes as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that the government would be taking decisions imminently on the possible closure of schools, with some forced to partially or fully close due to the spread of coronavirus.
Currently, head-teachers are being forced to make unilateral decisions about closing as they struggle to cope amid rising staff and student absences.
Harrow School in London closes after pupil tests positive for coronavirus
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Harrow School in London closes after pupil tests positive for coronavirus
- King Ghazi bin Faisal, who ruled Iraq from 1933 to 1939, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II are among the school's alumni
- The headmaster of the £41,000-a-year school said in a letter to parents that a student who returned home to avoid a quarantine restriction had tested positive for COVID-19
US allows oil majors to broadly operate in Venezuela, new energy investments
- Treasury Department issues general license allowing Chevron, BP, Eni, Shell and Repsol to operate oil and gas operations in Venezuela
- Move is the most significant relaxation of sanctions on Venezuela since US forces captured and removed President Nicolas Maduro
WASHINGTON: The US eased sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector on Friday, issuing two general licenses that allow global energy companies to operate oil and gas projects in the OPEC member and for other companies to negotiate contracts to bring in fresh investments. The move was the most significant relaxation of sanctions on Venezuela since US forces captured and removed President Nicolas Maduro last month.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a general license allowing Chevron, BP, Eni, Shell and Repsol to operate oil and gas operations in Venezuela. Those companies still have offices in the country and stakes in projects, and are among the main partners of state-run company PDVSA.
The authorization for the oil majors’ operations requires payments for royalties and Venezuelan taxes to go through the US-controlled Foreign Government Deposit Fund.
The other license allows companies around the world to enter contracts with PDVSA for new investments in Venezuelan oil and gas. The contracts are contingent on separate permits from OFAC.
The authorization does not allow transactions with companies in Russia, Iran, or China or entities owned or controlled by joint ventures with people in those countries.
The licenses “invite American and other aligned companies to play a constructive role in supporting economic recovery and responsible investment, ” the US State Department said in a release. Additional authorizations may be issued “as necessary,” it said.
A spokesperson for Chevron, the only US oil firm currently operating in Venezuela, said the company welcomed the new licenses.
“The new General Licenses, coupled with recent changes in Venezuela’s Hydrocarbons Law, are important steps toward enabling the further development of Venezuela’s resources for its people and for advancing regional energy security,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Eni said it is assessing the opportunities in Venezuela that the authorization opens up.
Oil law reform
The US licenses follow a sweeping reform of Venezuela’s main oil law approved last month, which grants autonomy for foreign oil and gas producers to operate, export and cash sale proceeds under existing joint ventures with PDVSA or through a new production-sharing contract model.
The US has had sanctions on Venezuela since 2019 when President Donald Trump imposed them during his first administration. Trump is now seeking $100 billion in investments by energy companies in Venezuela’s oil and gas sector. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Thursday, during his second day of a trip to Venezuela, that oil sales from the country since Maduro’s capture have hit $1 billion and would hit another $5 billion in months.
Wright said the US will control the proceeds from the sales until Venezuela stands up a “representative government.” Since last month, the Treasury issued several other general licenses to facilitate oil exports, storage, imports and sales from Venezuela. It also authorized the provision of US goods, technology, software or services for the exploration, development or production of oil and gas in Venezuela.
The Venezuelan government expropriated assets of Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips in 2007 under then-President Hugo Chavez. The Trump administration is trying to get those companies to invest in Venezuela as well. At a meeting at the White House with Trump last month, Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods said Venezuela was “uninvestable” at the moment.
Wright said on Thursday that Exxon, which no longer has an office in Venezuela, is in talks with the government there and gathering data about the oil sector. Exxon did not immediately comment.
