Coronavirus in UK

[Saj]

The UK government has been accused of missing a number of opportunities to lessen the impact of the coronavirus.

The Sunday Times reports that Boris Johnson missed five meetings of the emergency Cobra committee as the health crisis was looming and the government is accused of losing weeks in the fight against Covid-19.

The government is facing criticism over its preparedness for the crisis, over testing, the timing of the lockdown and personal protective equipment.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove told Sky there were aspects of the newspaper report that were "slightly off", and would not be drawn on accusations that the UK sent 266,000 pieces of protective equipment to China.

Shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, was damning of the senior minister's comments.

Mr Ashworth told Sky: "Michael Gove's line that one or two aspects of this story are off beam is possibly the weakest rebuttal of a detailed expose in British political history."

 

[Robert]

Missing five COBRA meetings is unacceptable. You can’t be a part-time PM, especially not in time of national emergency. The man has no work ethic.

 

[Saj]

Missing five COBRA meetings is unacceptable. You can’t be a part-time PM, especially not in time of national emergency. The man has no work ethic.

It's all coming out the woodwork now.

And it's not looking pretty.

 

[Manunited18]

Missing five COBRA meetings is unacceptable. You can’t be a part-time PM, especially not in time of national emergency. The man has no work ethic.

Give the guy a chance, tabloids are full of bluff, just like tabloids suggesting schools to open 11th may, but been completely denied by government, as for boris I think he will go down as the best prime minister in a long time .

 

[The Viper]

99-year-old British war veteran raises more than £25m for UK carers
Captain Tom Moore, a 99-year-old British war veteran, has now raised more than 25 million pounds for the health service by walking 100 laps of his garden.

The World War Two veteran, who has used a walking frame with wheels since breaking his hip, set himself the target of walking the 25 metres around his garden 100 times before his 100th birthday on April 30.

 

[Saj]

A consignment of personal protective equipment (PPE) is not expected to arrive in the UK today after all.

The government had said on Saturday that 84 tonnes of PPE, including 400,000 gowns, would arrive in the UK from Turkey today, following concerns that hospitals would run out of protective garments this weekend.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick had described the extra resources as "very significant".

The UK Foreign Office said they were working to ensure the PPE from Turkey was delivered "as soon as possible".

 

[Rana]

Michael Gove has said that reports the UK is looking to gradually lift some lockdown restrictions, such as re-opening schools and allowing some small social gatherings, are "not correct".

"It would be wrong to get ahead of ourselves here," the senior minister told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday, insisting the country must maintain the current measures until death rates begin to fall.

He said the facts and advice were "clear" that we should not be lifting the restrictions yet.

No smoke without a fire.

There has to be some reality to this report. Gove is doing what Tory Government ministers have been doing so well, that is to play down any idea of the lockdown lifting. Whilst they fully acknowledge the pressure that is mounting.

 

[Saj]

The Department of Health says a further 596 people with COVID-19 have died in hospital which brings the total number of deaths to 16,060

 

[MenInG]

A total of 16,060 people hospitalised with coronavirus have now died in the UK

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove says the government will take a “balanced judgement” on when to lift lockdown measures

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has dismissed reports schools will re-open in May, saying “no decision has been made”

A delivery of 84 tonnes of PPE from Turkey that was supposed to arrive on Sunday has been delayed, the government says

New data from the National Care Forum adds to growing evidence the number of deaths in UK care homes may be far higher than those recorded

The opposition Liberal Democrats have called for NHS staff to be given a £29-a-day bonus for their service

 

[MenInG]

TORY MP Iain Duncan Smith raged at a TV host this morning, after the Sky News anchor repeatedly interrupted him while he was trying to hit back at criticism of Boris Johnson's coronavirus response.

Iain Duncan Smith blasted Sky News' anchor Gamal Fahnbulleh for repeatedly cutting him off during a heated interview this morning. The former Tory leader became embroiled in a war of words with the TV news host, after he was interrupted during a response. During the interview he urged caution against this morning's "leaks and suggestions" that the Prime Minister botched the country's crisis preparation.

Reports in the Sunday Times today revealed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is currently recovering from COVID-19, had missed five meetings of the COBRA emergency committee in the run-up to the outbreak.

According to a wide-ranging report, which criticised the government's response to the outbreak, the government ignored calls to order more personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare staff, as well as sending some stock to China.

Iain Duncan Smith said: "I would advise caution on this news story. We have to get this into context.

"The world did not realise the extent of the pandemic in China because it is quite clear now that China suppressed and hid information for whatever reason."

Iain Duncan Smith blasted Sky News' anchor Gamal Fahnbulleh for repeatedly cutting him off (Image: SKY NEWS)
IDS

He added: "WHO, which has serious questions to answer, did not tell the rest of the world that this was a pandemic that was more than likely to spread."

At this point, Fahnbulleh tries to interject, prompting Iain Duncan Smith to say: "Wait wait, can I just finish this point?"

When the Sky News host forecefully says "I am asking the questions," the Tory MP hits back: "No, you ask the questions. Let me finish my point!

"You've asked me a question, let me swiftly answer."

Fahnbulleh retorted: "The WHO did tell the world about the threat in January. What you said is not true, is it?"

Mr Duncan Smith said: "That is wrong. The reality is the WHO did not interrogate China as they should have done about the realise of the data and most of the world in the West believed that this was under control in China."

"It turns out that it was not. That is the biggest problem."

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1...oris-Johnson-Sky-News-coronavirus-response-UK

 

[MenInG]

An explosive Sunday Times piece has claimed that the Government sent 279,000 items of personal protective equipment to China in February. Michael Gove was confronted with the report by BBC's Andrew Marr after frontline staff complained of a lack of PPE as they work to fight the coronavirus outbreak. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster admitted that protective equipment was sent, but also revealed that the Chinese authorities had provided the UK with "far more" than was given.

He told Mr Marr: "We did send protective equipment to China, but I think it's important to stress two things there.

"The first is that the PPE that we sent to China was to help with the most extreme outbreak in Wuhan. That PPE was not from our pandemic stock.

"Also we've received far more from China in PPE than we've given.

"So again if you take that single fact and say 'oh look we've been running down our stocks', then you create a particular narrative."

At this difficult time for frontline doctors and nurses, sign up here to show your support now to our brave NHS Heroes.

Mr Gove continued: "What it doesn't do is it doesn't do justice to the fact that the Chinese authorities and the Chinese Government have responded very generously to our support by giving us far more PPE than we gave them.

"If you wrench facts out of context in order to create a particular, as I say, prosecution case, you can do that, but it doesn't do justice to the whole story.

"The particular thing that I've found grotesque was the idea that our Prime Minister should be portrayed as not caring about this when anyone who has seen him in response to this crisis will know his focus, his energy, his determination, his passion has been to beat this virus.

"That's why I was, as an understatement, a wee bit concerned about it."

The Sunday Times report also claimed that Boris Johnson skipped five COBRA meetings on coronavirus, with unnamed sources claiming the Prime Minister didn't do urgent crisis planning.

The cabinet minister addressed it: "This is the wildest offbean element of the Sunday Times piece.

"The idea that the Prime Minister skipped meetings that were vital too our response to the coronavirus, I think, is grotesuqe."

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1...k-coronavirus-latest-ppe-china-covid-19-cases

 

[MenInG]

 

[Saj]

The UK government's daily briefing has just come to a close, so what have we learnt?

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson began by thanking schools, nurseries and children's services for the "vital role" they are playing

But he said he could not give a date for when schools would re-open

Williamson listed a number of measures the government was introducing for disadvantaged children trying to learn at home, including buying laptops for those preparing for exams and giving 4G routers for those without internet

The minister said there was a "national effort" to ensure NHS staff and careworkers got the PPE they need

He also said PM Boris Johnson has been leading from the front, despite criticism that he missed early meetings on the pandemic

Dr Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer, said it was difficult to make like-for-like comparisons with other countries

She said the UK would need to wait 12 months or more to look back and examine what led to the differences in death rates

 

[KingKhanWC]

If I put a tweet out saying KKWC is an orangutan and then another poster herw says 'according to reports, KKWC is an orangutan" then suddenly it does not become something people should be quoting to make an argument.

You dont live in the UK, you are an immigrant to the west so I will allow you the benefit of doubt. The point was there is no trust in the government, it has a history of being proven liars and is daily being found to be liars. People will in doubt Boris didn't have Covid19 because he himself is also a liar.

Boris missing 5 Corbra meetings is a disgrace, he should be forced to resign.

 

[MenInG]

The government has published a lengthy rebuttal to a damning newspaper article that claimed the UK "lost a crucial five weeks" to tackle the threat posed by the coronavirus.

In an unusual move, the Department of Health picked apart allegations made in The Sunday Times one by one - describing elements of its investigation as "plainly untrue" and "ridiculous".

The article had claimed that Boris Johnson missed five key COBRA meetings as the COVID-19 crisis gathered pace, with government whistleblowers and scientists alleging there was complacency at the heart of government in late January and February.

These claims have been fiercely rejected, with Downing Street insisting the UK "was taking action and working to improve its preparedness from early January".

Officials said it is "entirely normal and proper" for COBRA meetings to be chaired by someone other than the prime minister - rather than "unusual" as The Sunday Times suggested.

And allegations that Number 10 displayed an "almost nonchalant attitude" towards coronavirus were dismissed as "wrong".

The government also took issue with an excerpt of the newspaper report that said "the virus had sneaked into our airports, our trains, our workplaces and our homes" by the time Mr Johnson chaired a COBRA meeting on 2 March.

"This virus has hit countries around the world," the Department of Health said. "It is ridiculous to suggest that coronavirus only reached the UK because the health secretary and not the PM chaired a COBRA meeting."

Elsewhere in the rebuttal - which is over 2,000 words long - the government defended sending 279,000 items of personal protective equipment to China.

"The equipment was not from the pandemic stockpile," it said. "We provided this equipment at the height of their need and China has since reciprocated our donation many times over.

"Between 2 April and 15 April, we have received over 12 million pieces of PPE in the UK from China."

And the newspaper's claim that lessons were not learned from a pandemic rehearsal in 2016 were also dismissed by the Department of Health, which said it had been "extremely proactive" in implementing recommendations.

The emphatic denials came hours after Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said it was "grotesque" to suggest that the prime minister had skipped meetings "that were vital to our response to the coronavirus".

He told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday: "I think that anyone who considered what happened to the prime minister not long ago, nobody can say the prime minister isn't throwing heart and soul into fighting this virus."

Despite Mr Gove's dismissal of The Sunday Times report, shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the investigation "suggests that early on he was missing in action".

He told Ridge: "There are serious questions as to why the Prime Minister skipped five COBRA meetings throughout February, when the whole world could see how serious this was becoming.

"And we know that serious mistakes have been made, we know that our frontline NHS staff don't have the PPE, that they've been told this weekend that they won't necessarily have the gowns which are vital to keep them safe. We know that our testing capacity is not at the level that is needed.

"We know that the ventilators that many hospitals have received are the wrong types of ventilators and there are big questions as to whether we went into this lockdown too slowly, and now we hear the Prime Minister missed five meetings at the start of this outbreak."

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...er-claims-it-sleepwalked-into-crisis-11975703

 

[BoomBoomCricket]

A UK government pay scheme to keep millions on payrolls despite not working has gone live.

Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has been extended until the end of June, the government will cover 80% of workers' wages, up to £2,500 a month, if they are put on leave.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: "We promised support would be available by the end of April - today, we deliver our promise."

Millions of workers are expected to be "furloughed" because of the lockdown.

Jim Harra, head of the UK's tax authority, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) told the BBC the system had dealt with 67,000 claims in its first 30 minutes of operation and can accommodate “up to 450,000 claims per hour".

"If every employer tries to use it this morning some will be asked to queue or come back later, that doesn’t mean the system has crashed, it simply means it’s full.

"Employers can claim any time between now and Wednesday, and we will have the money in their bank account by 30 April.”

 

[Saj]

Coronavirus deaths in the UK

Across the UK, 16,060 people have died with coronavirus in hospitals, as of 5pm on 18 April - the latest official UK-wide figures available.

This figure, and the numbers below, are expected to be higher when non-hospital deaths are taken into account.

In England the total number of coronavirus deaths in hospitals is 14,400

A total of 575 people have died in WalesThere have been 194 deaths reported in Northern Ireland

In Scotland, 903 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died

The tallies for individual nations can differ from the UK-wide total, because they are calculated on a different time-frame.

In terms of testing, 372,967 people have been tested across the UK, of which 120,067 tested positive.

 

[Kroll]

Police call for end to 'lockdown-shaming' as a weapon in feuds

Police chiefs have urged the public to stop exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to settle vendettas, after forces reported that many people have been “lockdown shaming” as part of ongoing domestic disputes.

As forces have been inundated with thousands of daily allegations of people breaching coronavirus restrictions, the police’s professional standards body has intervened to ask the public to curb “deliberate false reporting” and spreading misinformation to punish nuisance neighbours or settle long-running feuds.

“Some are ongoing neighbour disputes and nothing to do with coronavirus. People have had pops at each other and are using this as an opportunity to try to cause more grief and get officers around to their address,” said a senior police source, who asked for their force not to be named.

This development has prompted the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) to urge the public to “exercise common sense and only report well-meaning concerns”. A statement from the NPCC, which is coordinating the policing response to the pandemic, said: “This will help to protect police resources during these demanding times and ensure they are only called upon to deal with legitimate issues.”

The police’s professional standards body, the College of Policing, which along with the NPCC drew up last week’s updated guidance on how to enforce the lockdown, echoed the concerns. “Deliberate false reporting, obstruction or misinformation at a time of crisis helps nobody, and risks public safety. In those cases police will use their discretion in determining whether enforcement action is appropriate,” it said.

he statement came as West Midlands police, the second largest force in England and Wales, revealed it had been receiving as many as 1,000 Covid-19-related calls a day – up to half of its daily total – before launching an online form for reporting suspected breaches.

The majority of reports, said the force, were for low-level incidents, such as neighbours reporting someone they had seen walking the dog twice in a day. “The ones that are reporting really, really serious breaches are probably quite a small number,” said a West Midlands police spokesperson.

Police have praised the vast majority of the public for adhering to the government’s rules, which were clarified on Thursday with a list of reasonable excuses for Britons to leave their homes during the lockdown.

But many have also enthusiastically embraced “corona shaming”. In Norfolk, for instance, police received 1,261 calls from the public reporting breaches over the Easter bank holiday weekend. In response, Norfolk police issued 536 warnings, mainly to individuals gathered in groups in public or inside homes.

The Metropolitan police is processing several hundred fines against Londoners. The force says that, overall, “fewer people are making non-emergency calls” but will not disclose how many are Covid-19 related.

In Manchester, police received more than 1,000 reports of people holding parties or barbecues over the Easter bank holiday, and even claims that more than 50 pubs were serving customers. Many calls, police said, stemmed from over-zealousness rather than attempts to deliberately misinform officers. Often, key workers, who are allowed to travel for work purposes, were mistakenly reported.

“People have reported key workers, phoning us to say they are in and out of the car several times a day. Genuine calls, made with good intent, but false,” said a police source. One force said officers had even been called to a property where a child had died from non-Covid causes because five people had gathered there.

Some members of the public told the Observer that they had repeatedly called police about neighbours who appeared to be breaking lockdown rules or, in one instance, had “different lovers round”.

Former paramedic Paul Goodwin, who earlier this month set up the Facebook group Covidiots UK for a few friends “to highlight some of the unbelievable behaviour of people” now has nearly 200 members.

On the Mumsnet website, one user was considering naming and shaming her husband in the village Facebook group for “going out at least once a day” in his sports car.

Police have also been accused of being overly keen. Last week, The chief constable of Northamptonshire police, Nick Adderley, backtracked after threatening that his officers would start to look in people’s shopping trolleys and baskets for non-essential items if they continued to flout the rules.

The policing approach is to engage with people, explain the rules, encourage them to go home and use enforcement as a last resort. So far more than 3,200 fines have been issued by police in England for alleged breaches.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-end-to-lockdown-shaming-as-a-weapon-in-feuds

 

[MenInG]

The UK is creating another 30,000 extra mortuary spaces to store the bodies of people who die with coronavirus.

Officials have expressed hope in recent days that the number of deaths related to COVID-19 are flattening, but the emergence of details around the latest contingency planning reflects ongoing fears of a more pessimistic scenario.

The government insists the decision is precautionary and not an indication of how many people it believes will die during the pandemic.

Simon Clarke, housing, communities and local government minister said: "We all hope these contingencies will not be needed and that requires everyone to play their part in the national effort.

"We're trying to strike an appropriate balance."

As of Monday, more than 16,000 coronavirus patients have died in UK hospitals, meaning the country is on track to exceed the 20,000 deaths officials had hoped to limit the toll to.

Regional officials had already begun planning for additional storage for the bodies of coronavirus victims, with a temporary facililty at Birmingham Airport becoming operational this month.

Government adviser and infectious diseases expert Sir Jeremy Farrar admitted last week that the UK could end up being the "worst affected country in Europe".

But while the government has faced growing criticism over its delay in imposing lockdown measures when compared with most European countries, Mr Clarke said the restrictions it did introduce were now showing their effectiveness.

"We have started to see a flattening of the curve because people are following the measures," he said.

"We have started to see a flattening of the curve because people are following the measures, and by staying at home people are protecting the NHS and saving lives.

"We need to make sure that we have the right resources in place for a range of outcomes but we all hope these contingencies won't be needed.

"But we do want to make certain that we are not caught without enough capacity, and that is why we are taking all necessary precautions.""

Among the most prominent critics of the government's approach in the early stages of the pandemic was former regional health director Professor John Ashton.

And responding to news of the extra mortuary places, he told Sky News: "I think it's quite interesting that they're telling us that the situation is levelling off but at the same time they're creating 30,000 extra mortuary spaces.

"Given the large numbers of people who could die, this is undoubtedly a sensible decision.

"However, it would be ironic if this was one of the only things the government had got right."

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...-spaces-created-for-covid-19-victims-11975815

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This compilation is the must shocking thing you will watch today. If you think it should be broadcast on every UK news channel RT <a href="https://t.co/V2NHoNybL4">pic.twitter.com/V2NHoNybL4</a></p>— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1252151182254059520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Robert]

Give the guy a chance, tabloids are full of bluff, just like tabloids suggesting schools to open 11th may, but been completely denied by government, as for boris I think he will go down as the best prime minister in a long time .

He blew his chance already. He went on holiday instead of attending critical meetings, then got himself infected and nearly killed through bravado. He’s irresponsible and should let someone with a public service ethic and willingness to work hard take over.

 

[MenInG]

70 UK healthcare workers have died with Covid-19, BBC analysis shows

At least 70 healthcare workers have died in the UK since the start of the outbreak, ongoing BBC News analysis has shown.

Further analysis suggests healthcare workers with black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are disproportionately represented among the dead.

Out of 60 deaths where we have been able to establish ethnicity and occupation, 42 have BAME backgrounds.

About one in five of the NHS's 1.2 million workforce are from BAME backgrounds, government figures show.

Public Health England is set to start recording the ethnicity of those to die with coronavirus, after research suggested people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are at greater risk of becoming seriously ill.

 

[MenInG]

A further 429 people have died with coronavirus in hospitals in England, latest figures show.

NHS England said that 348 of these deaths were reported over the weekend, while the others took place at earlier dates.

The new figures take the total number of confirmed deaths in hospitals in England to 14,829.

In Wales, a further nine deaths have been announced, taking the total number of hospital deaths reported by Public Health Wales to 584.

 

[MenInG]

The Department of Health says the total number of patients who have died in hospital in the UK after testing positive for COVID-19 has risen by 449 to 16,509

 

[MenInG]

 

[Uzi]

He blew his chance already. He went on holiday instead of attending critical meetings, then got himself infected and nearly killed through bravado. He’s irresponsible and should let someone with a public service ethic and willingness to work hard take over.

Don't forget, he also went to watch the rugby at Twickenham. That is clearly more important.

 

[BoomBoomCricket]

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the number of deaths in care homes has doubled in the four weeks since COVID-19 was first registered on a death certificate and 16.8% of all deaths occurring in care homes involved COVID-19 in the week ending 10 April

 

[BoomBoomCricket]

More than three in 10 deaths in England and Wales are linked to coronavirus, figures show.
The Office for National Statistics said in the week ending 10 April, the virus was mentioned on 6,213 death certificates.
It pushed the total number of deaths in that week to over 18,000 - the highest weekly total since the start of 2000.

 

[MenInG]

Deaths in England and Wales have risen sharply above what would be expected, hitting a 20-year high.

The Office for National Statistics said there were 18,500 deaths in the week up to 10 April - around 10,000 more than is normal at this time of year.

More than 6,200 were linked to coronavirus, a sixth of which were outside of hospital.

But deaths from other causes also increased, suggesting the lockdown may be having an indirect impact on health.

Nick Stripe, head of health analysis, said they were trying to understand what had been happening with this increase in non-coronavirus deaths.

He said it could be that people with other illnesses were avoiding going to hospital treatment - visits to A&E have halved since the pandemic started.

But he added it could "take years to work out".

Mr Stripe said you have to go back to January 2000 to see a higher number of deaths in one week - and he said the true figure may have been even higher as the week includes Good Friday when some death registration facilities were closed.

"Each one is a person. Each one has a family. We must always remember this," he added.

A similar trend is being reported in Scotland where there were nearly 2,000 deaths in the week up to 12 April.

Deaths in Northern Ireland are also up.

What does this tell us about coronavirus deaths?
This data is different from the daily death figures which are announced by government.

That looks at deaths in hospital where a person is infected with coronavirus, which does not tell us to what extent the death is caused by the virus.

The ONS figures rely on death certificates where the cause or contributory factors are listed.

As a result, the figures lag behind the government figures but give a more accurate picture of what is happening.

They cover deaths in all situations - care homes and the community as well as hospitals - and so the figures are about a fifth higher than the government figures show.

Since the pandemic started, more than 1,000 deaths have been seen in care homes.

Overall a third of deaths during the week up to 10 Aril were linked to coronavirus.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-523...ign=64&at_custom2=twitter&at_custom3=@BBCNews

 

[MenInG]

Coronavirus-related deaths were 41% higher in England and Wales than the government's hospital-only figures in the week to 10 April.

The new statistics, revealed in an Office for National Statistics report, take into account deaths outside of hospitals.

Overall, 13,121 deaths involving COVID-19 have occurred in England and Wales up to 10 April, and registered up to 18 April, which is 41% higher than the 9,288 people who died in UK hospitals during the same period reported by the Department of Health.

Vice-chair of National Care Association says the government needs to be giving more thought to care homes

The figures have been labelled "sad and shocking", with Labour saying they were "only scratching the surface of the emerging crisis in social care".

Ministers have promised to ramp up testing for social care workers and residents, pledging tests for all those who need them, as well as improving access to vital protective equipment.

And following demands for the government to set out daily figures for care home deaths, the ONS will from next week publish totals of deaths involving COVID-19 in care homes, with the figures based on deaths reported by care home operators to the Care Quality Commission.


The latest ONS weekly total shows that there were 1,662 deaths involving the coronavirus in England and Wales registered up to 10 April that happened outside of hospital.

Of the deaths outside hospitals 1,043 happened in care homes, up from 217 the week before.

A further 466 occurred in private homes, 87 in hospices, 21 in other communal establishments and 45 elsewhere.

Minister for local government says PPE is a 'core priority'

Minister admits PPE supply is 'hard'

According to the ONS, the numbers are based on where the coronavirus is mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, including in combination with other health conditions.

The previous weekly figures, up to 3 April, showed that a total of 406 registered deaths involving COVID-19 happened outside of hospitals, around 10% of the total.

A total of 217 were registered in care homes, 33 in hospices, 136 in private homes, three in other communal establishments and 17 elsewhere.

This week's figures show that the proportion of deaths outside of hospitals now stands at 16%, with 83.9% (8,673) occurring in hospitals.

A review is underway as to the value of everyone wearing masks

Masks for public 'could put NHS at risk'

According to the ONS, there were 12,516 deaths involving the coronavirus in England up to 10 April (and which were registered up to 18 April).

NHS England reported 10,260 deaths in hospitals in England for the same period, with the ONS total 22% higher.

This disparity is because the ONS statistics include all mentions of COVID-19 on a death certificate and deaths in the community, while NHS England only include deaths in hospitals where a patient has been tested for the virus.

Labour's shadow social care minister Liz Kendall said the figures demonstrate the "terrible toll" that the virus is having on elderly and disabled people in care homes.

"Yet these awful figures are only scratching the surface of the emerging crisis in social care, because they are already 11 days out of date," she said.

"The government must now publish daily figures of COVID-19 deaths outside hospital, including in care homes, so we know the true scale of the problem.

"This is essential to tackling the spread of the virus, ensuing social care has the resources it needs and getting vital PPE and testing to care workers on the frontline."

Two-thirds of businesses questioned have made use of the furlough scheme

More than 140,000 firms apply for wages help

Cllr Ian Hudspeth, chairman of the Local Government Association's Community Wellbeing Board, described the latest statistics as "sad and shocking".

He said they "highlight just what a severe challenge we face in care homes and other community settings".

Cllr Hudspeth added: "Council social care staff and care homes need urgent access to reliable and ongoing supplies of quality PPE [personal protective equipment], increased rapid and comprehensive testing and greater support with staffing and other equipment, on an equal footing with the NHS.

"Data on all deaths from COVID-19 needs to be published promptly and accurately, so we can have full confidence and transparency in these figures as part of our plan to defeat this deadly virus."

Of the deaths that were registered in the week up to 10 April, 6,123 mentioned "novel coronavirus (COVID-19)" - around a third of all deaths.

In the week up to 3 April, this figure stood at 3,475 deaths (21.2% of all deaths).

The ONS said a steep rise in coronavirus-related care home deaths had seen the overall number of deaths in that setting double in four weeks.

From when the first COVID-19 deaths were registered and the week ending 10 April, the number of deaths in care homes has doubled from 2,471 to 4,927.

Overall, care home deaths comprised more than a quarter (26.6%) of all deaths registered in the week ending 10 April.

Meanwhile, there has been a 72.4% increase in hospital deaths (4,975 to 8,578) and a 51.1% increase in deaths happening in private homes (2,725 to 4,117).

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...overnments-hospital-only-figures-ons-11976357

 

[Saj]

Testing available for every UK frontline worker, health chief says

Any front line worker who needs to be tested for the virus should now be able to be tested, the government's coronavirus testing co-ordinator, Professor John Newton, has told the BBC.

In an interview with BBC health editor Hugh Pym, Prof Newton said 27 drive-in testing centres were now up and running in the UK and more were planned.

But he acknowledged some key workers were finding it difficult to get to drive-in testing centres.

Government scientists are also now delivering testing swabs to hospitals and other work places so testing can be carried out there. In addition they are delivering test kits to people's homes so people can take their own swab.

Professor Newton says the testing scheme has been extended to all front-line workers. As well as NHS staff and care home workers, this includes police officers, prison officers, teachers and other front line key workers.

Health secretary Matt Hancock has set a target of 100,000 tests per day by the end of April.

Asked whether this would be met Professor Newton said: "You would need to talk to the secretary of state about his target. But we are confident we have the lab capacity to deliver the testing service the country needs."

 

[Firebat]

Captain Tom, 99, receives more than 25,000 birthday cards

Captain Tom Moore, who has raised more than £27m for the NHS by completing 100 laps of his garden, has been sent more than 25,000 birthday cards ahead of his 100th birthday on 30 April.

Stephen James, manager at the South Midlands Mail Centre, said: "None of the team have ever known one person receive so much mail."

Meanwhile, British Formula 1 driver Lando Norris has spoken to Capt Moore via a video chat and offered him a tour around the McLaren F1 factory.

"Nothing would give me more pleasure - it would be absolutely phenomenal to go around McLaren because I've always been a McLaren fan and still am," said Capt Moore.

Norris, 20, added: "I want to say a big congratulations for everything you have achieved - it's my honour to speak to you."

 

[Firebat]

BREAKING: England death toll rises by 778

A further 778 people who tested positive for coronavirus in hospitals in England have died over a 24-hour period, NHS figures show.

It takes the total number of hospital deaths to 15,607.

The latest death figures do not include those in the community, or in places such as care homes.

Daily figures for the entire UK are expected later.

 

[Firebat]

BREAKING: Wales death toll rises by 25

A further 25 people have died with coronavirus in hospitals in Wales, taking the total number to 609, according to the latest daily figures.

Public Health Wales (PHW) said there were an extra 304 new cases since the last count, taking the total to 7,850.

The true number is likely to be higher as most people with symptoms are not tested.

Daily updates for Northern Ireland and across the whole UK are expected shortly.

 

[Technics 1210]

Breaking BBC:

Twitter says it does not currently see evidence that the UK government has tried to manipulate coronavirus conversations using fake accounts.

It comes after claims began circulating on social media implying the Department of Health and Social Care was behind a network of Twitter accounts pretending to be NHS staff.

These accounts, which were allegedly posting in support of the government, appear to have been deleted.

The Department of Health tweeted that the claims were “categorically false”.

Twitter adds that it “will remove any pockets of smaller coordinated attempts to distort or inorganically influence the conversation”.

The BBC also currently has no evidence to support the suggestion these allegedly fake accounts had anything to do with the UK government.

Our teams are fact-checking some of the most popular fake and misleading coronavirus stories on social media. Take a look at some of that work here. And read our top tips for tackling misleading information here.

-------

Oh dear, the UK government accused of propagating fake news.

 

[Firebat]

Coronavirus: New working arrangements for MPs as Commons returns

The House of Commons has returned in "exceptional and unprecedented" circumstances, the Speaker says.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle opened the first day back since the Easter recess amid the coronavirus crisis.

A motion allowing a "hybrid" Parliament - with some MPs in the chamber and others connected via video link - is expected to be approved.

Leader of the House, Jacob Rees-Mogg, said the Commons could not let "perfect be the enemy of the good".

Some MPs were present in the Chamber - sitting socially distanced from each other - and after the motion is approved, the number of members allowed inside is expected to be limited to 50.

Sir Lindsay led a rehearsal on Monday in which ministers faced questions via video link.

Screens have been installed in the chamber to allow MPs to speak remotely while the limited number attending in person will be signposted where to sit.

The new practices will initially operate until 12 May although could remain in place for longer.

They are part of a raft of changes designed to allow Parliament to continue to operate during the coronavirus outbreak, including reduced sitting hours, virtual committee meetings and strict social distancing measures within the Palace of Westminster.

The measures will then come into force on Wednesday.

It is hoped the Zoom video-conferencing tool will allow up to 120 MPs to respond to ministerial statements and urgent questions while also allowing ministers not able to attend in person to participate.

Prayer cards normally used to reserve places for MPs on the Commons benches have been replaced by green and red symbols indicating where they should and should not sit in order to keep the recommended six feet apart.

Business on Tuesday and Wednesday is likely to focus exclusively on the government's response to the pandemic.

Speaking from the front bench, Mr Rees-Mogg said while business would be limited to oral questions, statements and urgent questions to begin with, the government was looking into "extending virtual ways of working and more substantive business, including legislation".

Shadow leader of the House, Valerie Vaz, who was also in the chamber, said Labour "wants to engage with the government at this extraordinary time".

Chair of the Procedure Committee, Karen Bradley, said: "There is no substitution for members being in the Chamber and being able to hold the executive to account."

She said the new virtual Parliament would "lack the spontaneity" and "the ability to feed off each other" compared to normal proceedings, and it must be a temporary measure.

But the Tory MP said it "reflected the situation the country finds ourselves in".

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-52362667

 

[MenInG]

UK hospital death toll rises by 828

A further 828 people have died in hospitals across the UK in a day, taking the total to 17,337 - latest government figures show.

The number of cases has also increased by 4,301 in 24 hours, bringing the total of 129,044.

Meanwhile, 18,206 tests were carried out on Monday, the government said. Ministers have set a target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of April.

The latest death figures do not include those in the community, in places such as care homes. There is a longer time lag in that data but you can find the latest here.

Health officials have previously warned against over-interpreting daily figures of people dying, with many hard-pressed hospitals understandably not reporting deaths over a weekend until the middle of the following week.

 

[MenInG]

Flight containing 19 tonnes of medical equipment to land in the UK shortly

While we wait to hear more about the consignment of PPE that is expected to leave Turkey for the UK, there's news that another consignment of personal protective equipment from Shanghai, China, is expected at Heathrow Airport shortly.

The cargo-only Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 flight contains 19 tonnes of medical equipment and PPE and 28,000 individual items including approximately 6,000 protective gowns and more than 20,000 ventilators.

The airline says it is operating eight cargo-only flights this month, in partnership with the NHS and Department of Health and Social Care. Since 3 April five flights have already arrived, carrying more than 80 tonnes of PPE, including 3.5 million individual items.

Virgin Atlantic says the consignments have included 50 ventilators, 1.8 million face masks, 600,000 face shields and visors, a million disposable gloves, 38,000 items for eye protection, and 75,000 protective coveralls and isolation gowns.

Yesterday, Virgin Group boss Sir Richard Branson said in an open letter to staff he was asking for a commercial loan, believed to be £500m, from the UK government to save the airline from collapse.

Virgin Australia has also entered voluntary administration - making it Australia's first big corporate casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

[MenInG]

For the past few weeks it has looked like the number of deaths may be slowing, but it has been hard to call with deaths going down one day, then up the next.

But a new analysis now suggests the peak may have been passed nearly two weeks ago.

The daily figures released by government represent when deaths are recorded, not when they happened.

On Monday the figure announced was less than 500, but on Tuesday it jumped to over 800.

But some of those deaths relate to fatalities that happened weeks ago. NHS England has started compiling deaths by date they happened.

A clear trend emerges – at least in England - the peak seemed to have happened on 8 April.

 

[MenInG]

Today's briefing was led by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

He started by addressing the key area of pressure facing the government: the provision of PPE for health and social care workers. He said the government was working with suppliers and manufacturers, including 159 in the UK.

But Mr Hancock faced more questioning on PPE. He denied that the government had made a political decision not to be involved in a EU scheme on ventilators, a claim made by a top Foreign Office official earlier today. Sources have since said the official misspoke.

Mr Hancock said the UK had put more money into an international vaccine fund than any other country.

A vaccine developed in Oxford will begin trials in people this Thursday; a stage which can often take years to reach.

Asked whether Britain was on course to have one of the worst outcomes in Europe, Mr Hancock said that it was important, when looking at international comparisons of death rates, to look at the populations of the countries.

Prof Jonathan Van Tam updated us on the data. On the number of new virus cases, he says we still are not seeing a downward trend, and so we remain in a "dangerous time."

While there has probably been a peak of people in hospital in London, this is not true for other nations and regions; instead the numbers have plateaued. He says we must continue to push these numbers down. We also need to see a fall in the number of deaths, he said.

 

[MenInG]

 

[MenInG]

 

[James]

My faith in this government is rapidly falling away now.

 

[Saj]

My faith in this government is rapidly falling away now.

Hancock looked very shaky today, very unconvincing.

 

[Robert]

My faith in this government is rapidly falling away now.

They are incompetent. A bunch of spivs and chancers with no respect for the truth. Careerists with no public service ethos. They lie and lie and lie. Johnson purged the effective MPs and replaced them with yes men, then he went on holiday with his new squeeze instead of chairing the meetings. They don’t have a jot of responsibility between them.

That’s what we elected.

 

[Rana]

Hancock looked very shaky today, very unconvincing.

Rishi Sunak yesterday was almost about to break with his approach. Clear signs of nerves when he completely forgets to ask tough journalists for a follow up to their questions, or is told by his editors in the earpiece to just move on.

On the other Hand, you have Dominick Raab who has this very taunting smirk during the question and answer time on his face. I feel that these guys have no clue about what difficulties people are going through in this lockdown

 

[Manunited18]

For heaven sake we are witnessing a once in a century pandemic, give the guys a chance.

 

[MenInG]

Transport for London (TfL) will run out of money by the end of the month unless the government steps in, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said.

TfL runs the UK capital's public transport systems, including the London Underground, but services have seen a dramatic drop in passengers because of coronavirus .

Khan said TfL is in discussions with the government about a grant but said it would not be able to pay staff and may have to cut services if that was not possible.

Khan told BBC London TfL is currently using cash reserves to keep running

 

[MenInG]

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday faced a call for an inquiry into his government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis after failing to fully explain partial death data, limited testing or the lack of equipment for hospitals.

The novel coronavirus outbreak, the worst health crisis since the 1918 influenza pandemic, has left governments across the world grappling with stressed populations, a stalled global economy and overloaded health services.

Johnson initially refrained from approving the stringent controls that other European leaders imposed but he later closed down the country when projections showed a quarter of a million people could die in the United Kingdom.

Since the lockdown, though, the government has given conflicting explanations of why it failed to join a European Union ventilator scheme and admitted there have been problems getting health workers enough protective equipment.

“Once we are through this crisis, there will of course need to be an independent inquiry to officially review the government’s response to the pandemic,” Ed Davey, acting leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, said in a statement.

“The inquiry must have the strongest possible powers given the shocking failures on protective equipment for staff and the slow response of the government - to get to the truth and to give Boris Johnson the opportunity to answer the increasingly serious questions.”

Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer has also said the government was slow to respond and that at some point the United Kingdom will have to look back at the crisis.

Johnson battled grave COVID-19 complications in intensive care earlier this month. He has been recuperating but making some calls and holding some meetings.

The true extent of Britain’s COVID-19 death toll was more than 40% higher than the government’s daily figures indicated as of April 10, according to official data that put the country on track to become among the worst-hit in Europe.

The latest hospital death data show 17,337 people had died after testing positive across the United Kingdom.

The Financial Times said an analysis of the latest data from the statistics office showed the outbreak had caused as many as 41,000 deaths in the United Kingdom.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told reporters that the 40% gap between the daily data and the more comprehensive ONS data was “not an accurate representation of those figures”.

There was also confusion over ventilators.

The top official in Britain’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday he had been mistaken when he told a committee of lawmakers the government had made a political decision not to participate in a European scheme to buy ventilators to fight the coronavirus.

On testing too, Britain is far behind some European peers such as Germany.

Hancock has faced questions about a pledge to get to 100,000 tests per day done by the end of this month. So far just over 18,200 tests are being done per day.

The Daily Mirror said in an editorial: “(Johnson’s) inept government is plunging incompetence to dangerous depths.”

“Those responsible must be held to account if people are dying needlessly,” the left-wing newspaper said

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-handling-of-coronavirus-crisis-idUSKCN2240JK

 

[Rajdeep]

Big day tomorrow with Oxford vaccine trial will be done on humans for first time. If this is successful it will be a fantastic achievement.

 

[King-Misbah]

Big day tomorrow with Oxford vaccine trial will be done on humans for first time. If this is successful it will be a fantastic achievement.

When will the results show? Is there a set time frame to analyse the impact of this vaccine? Plus, this vaccine will only be for the UK as each country has different corona strains.

 

[Firebat]

Coronavirus: 'We are at the peak' of COVID-19 outbreak, Matt Hancock tells MPs

The UK is "at the peak" of the coronavirus outbreak, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has told MPs.

Delivering an update on the government's COVID-19 response in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Mr Hancock thanked the British public for their "steadfast commitment" in following lockdown rules.

"It is making a difference, we are at the peak," he said.

But the health secretary added that social distancing measures would not be relaxed or changed until the government's five tests for exiting the lockdown are reached.

It was later announced that another 665 people had died in English hospitals after testing positive with coronavirus, bringing the total to 16,272.

In Scotland, another 77 hospital patients had died with coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 1,062.

And, in Wales, another 15 people died in hospitals with COVID-19, bringing the total to 624.

In the Commons, Mr Hancock also revealed to MPs that 15 social care staff have died with coronavirus, although he did not give a figure of how many care workers have been tested for COVID-19.

In addition, he told MPs there are currently 10,000 spare beds across the NHS, with 3,000 spare beds in critical care wards.

"We want to open the NHS to non-coronavirus symptoms and to patients with non-coronavirus conditions safely and carefully as soon as it is safe to do so," Mr Hancock said.

He added: "If you think that you might have a lump that might be a cancer, then you should come forward now and you will be safely and properly treated in the NHS."

Mr Hancock, who has set a target of reaching 100,000 coronavirus tests per day by the end of this month, said he was "delighted" that expansion of testing capacity is "ahead of plans".

But he admitted demand for tests has "thus far been lower than expected".

In the 24 hours to 9am on Tuesday, 18,206 tests were carried out despite the government having said they now have capacity for double that number.

The health secretary said the government would be allowing more people to be eligible for tests and would make tests easier to access.

Mr Hancock explained how contact-tracing would now play a key role as the UK overcomes the peak of the coronavirus outbreak, with a new NHS app "in development".

"As we reach - have reached the peak - and as we bring the number of new cases down, so we will introduce contact tracing at large scale," he said.

Conservative former health secretary Jeremy Hunt - who is now chair of the Commons health committee - asked whether it would be possible to track and trace every new COVID-19 case in the community in the next two weeks, when ministers are again due to review the lockdown.

Mr Hancock replied: "We are ramping up our testing capacity and our capacity for contact-tracing in a matter of weeks, and we'll have it ready to make sure that we can use that as and when the incidence of transmission comes down.

"It isn't as tied to the specific decision that we're required by law to take in just over two weeks time.

"The effectiveness of test, track and trace to keep the reproductive rate of this virus down is determined by the incidence in the community and our goal is to get to a point where we can test, track and trace everybody who needs it."

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...d-19-outbreak-matt-hancock-tells-mps-11977088

 

[Firebat]

BREAKING: UK death toll rises by 763

A further 763 people have died with coronavirus across UK hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus as of 17:00 BST on Tuesday, government figures show.

It takes the total number to 18,100.

These figures do not include deaths in the community, in places such as care homes.

In England, daily figures show a further 665 people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died in hospitals. The NHS England update takes the total to 16,272.

In Scotland, latest figures released earlier showed the daily death toll increased by 77, taking the total number of hospital deaths to 1,062.

In Wales, another 15 hospital deaths have been reported, taking the total number to 624.

Wednesday's update has not yet been released for Northern Ireland.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">As of 9am 22 April, 559,935 tests have concluded, with 22,814 tests on 21 April. <br><br>411,192 people have been tested of which 133,495 tested positive. <br><br>As of 5pm on 21 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 18,100 have sadly died. <a href="https://t.co/gFFpwZe1gl">pic.twitter.com/gFFpwZe1gl</a></p>— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSCgovuk/status/1252957313524215809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Firebat]

Review: Virtual PMQs sort of worked

It sort of worked.

The new, virtual, House of Commons opened an unprecedented day with the first-ever remote Welsh Questions - with Secretary of State Simon Hart answering from home.

Sound quality was occasionally ropey, questions had occasionally to be guessed at, with Mr Hart revealing previously unsuspected lip-reading skills.

The pace was deliberately leisurely, with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle spinning out the way he called MPs to speak, to allow the technical crews behind the scenes to get the right face up on the screens.

And the close-ups from the home cameras gave a new dimension.

We could see the play of emotions across Mr Hart's face, full screen. Every twitch or semi-grimace was there. You don't normally see the tensions and emotions of parliamentary questions displayed so raw.

By the time PMQs began, the routine was established…but it was an unfamiliar cast of characters, with First Secretary Dominic Raab deputising for his convalescing boss, and Sir Keir Starmer making his debut as the Leader of the Opposition.

Oh to have seen their faces so close - but both were appearing in the old-fashioned way - in the flesh, in the chamber.

In normal times, the Leader of the Opposition does not deign to debate anyone other than the prime minister, but Sir Keir, wisely, was not standing on ceremony, and so he made his debut in his new role in circumstances he could hardly have imagined when he began his leadership bid.

In a ritual as time honoured as the Speaker's daily procession with the Mace, he promised "constructive opposition" although, mercifully, he didn't deploy the usual soundbite about "an end to Punch and Judy politics".

Not politics as usual

Instead, he dropped into prosecuting counsel mode, putting Dominic Raab through a gruelling inquisition which ran through the numbers being tested, the supply of PPE and the death rate among NHS staff and care workers.

Woundingly, when the first secretary could not supply a figure for the care workers, Sir Keir promised he would ask every week, until he could. All this with only the barest flash of partisan steel.

This was clearly not the moment for a full-on party political slugfest. It was all too horribly serious for politics as usual, and Mr Raab responded with detailed answers where he could, highlighting progress and pointing out that the government was following the advice of the chief medical officer - did Sir Keir know better?

On and on the extended 45 minutes PMQs rolled.

Former Scottish Secretary David Mundell was unable to connect, the Speaker announced, moving on to the SNP's Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, with signed footballs positioned in shot behind him, asking about moving to a universal basic income system.

PMQs frequent flyer Peter Bone lambasted the banks for the overdraft rates they were charging, although his final words were cut off.

Labour's Stephen Kinnock appeared to be standing, rather than sitting before his computer, as he asked about support for the Port Talbot steelworks.

Lib Dem acting leader Sir Ed Davey highlighted that an NHS consultant who died at his local hospital was from Sri Lanka.

Normal heckling absent

He let that fact hang without comment, and then called for an independent judge-led inquiry into the handling of the pandemic. Mr Raab declined to promise that, saying his focus was on the crisis now.

It was all carefully non-partisan and extremely serious, and there were none of the jibes, the roaring and the heckling of PMQs in normal times.

But then again, it is doubtful that the systems underpinning the virtual parliament could allow roaring to manifest itself, if MPs ever decided to try.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-52383444

 

[Rajdeep]

When will the results show? Is there a set time frame to analyse the impact of this vaccine? Plus, this vaccine will only be for the UK as each country has different corona strains.

Though I am not sure but I think trials will last for 6month to a year. So people who will be vaccinated tomorrow will lead a normal life and if no one catches coronavirus for a year....the vaccine is successful.

I can be wrong though but thats my limited understanding of vaccines.

 

[shortbread]

UK coronavirus deaths more than DOUBLE official figure: FT

The coronavirus pandemic has already caused as many as 41,000 deaths in the UK, according to a Financial Times analysis of the latest data from the Office for National Statistics.

The estimate is more than double the official figure of 17,337 released by ministers on Tuesday, which is updated daily and only counts those who have died in hospitals after testing positive for the virus.

https://www.ft.com/content/67e6a4ee-3d05-43bc-ba03-e239799fa6ab

 

[GBK_Fan]

UK coronavirus deaths more than DOUBLE official figure: FT

View attachment 100581



https://www.ft.com/content/67e6a4ee-3d05-43bc-ba03-e239799fa6ab

This will probably be true for a lot of other countries as well. Home and care Home deaths are not being accounted

 

[MenInG]

 

[Rana]

Media upping the ante for the Government to lift lockdown restraints.

Bipolar British media!

 

[KingKhanWC]

When will the results show? Is there a set time frame to analyse the impact of this vaccine? Plus, this vaccine will only be for the UK as each country has different corona strains.

I will not be taking any vaccine.

Those who took the flu vaccine are now 35% + more of dying from this virus. Be careful what you wish for.

 

[PetroDollars]

When will the results show? Is there a set time frame to analyse the impact of this vaccine? Plus, this vaccine will only be for the UK as each country has different corona strains.

i heard it wouldnt be availble till september

 

[The Viper]

Stephen Hawking's family give his ventilator to UK hospital

The family of acclaimed physicist Stephen Hawking has donated his ventilator to a hospital that had treated him in Cambridge, the English university city where he lived and worked, to help care for COVID-19 patients.

The scientist died in March 2018 at age 76 after a lifetime spent probing the origins of the universe. He was diagnosed with a rare early-onset form of motor neurone disease at the age of 21.

“Professor Stephen Hawking’s family has donated his ventilator to Royal Papworth Hospital as we care for increasing numbers of COVID-19 patients,” the hospital said on Wednesday.

His daughter Lucy Hawking described the care her father had received there as “brilliant, dedicated and compassionate”, it said.

“We’d like to say a huge thank you to the Hawking family for supporting us at this challenging time,” said the hospital, which is a world-leading center for heart and lung transplants.

The medical equipment was bought by Hawking himself, the BBC reported, and after checks had been added to the hospital’s fleet.

Facing a potential shortage of ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients in Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson in March called on industry to help produce thousands of the devices.

The first of the new devices have been produced and numbers have also been boosted by imports, helping the state-run health service to treat all patients requiring ventilation during the pandemic.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...e-his-ventilator-to-uk-hospital-idUSKCN22436Y

 

[The Viper]

Some UK social distancing likely for next year: chief medic

Restrictions on everyday life in Britain to slow the spread of COVID-19 are likely to be needed for the “next calendar year” due to the time needed to develop and roll out vaccines or find a cure, the country’s top medic said on Wednesday.

Britain is in the fifth week of a lockdown that only allows people to leave home for essential work, food shopping, exercise and limited other reasons.

The government said last Thursday the full restrictions would remain in place for at least another three weeks, and its chief medical adviser, Chris Whitty, said on Wednesday some forms of social distancing would be needed for much longer.

Normal life will only return once an effective vaccine or treatment for COVID-19 is available, Whitty said at the government’s daily news conference.

“Until we have those - and the probability of having those any time in the next calendar year are incredibly small, and I think we should be realistic about that - we’re going to have to rely on other social measures,” he said.

The United Kingdom reported its highest daily hospital death toll on April 9, when fatalities peaked at 980, and since then the number of hospital deaths reported each day has oscillated between 449 and 917.

There were 763 new deaths reported on Wednesday, taking the total to 18,100.

Whitty said the descent in new cases and deaths was likely to be slow, given the experience of other European countries.

“If people are hoping that it’s suddenly going to move from where we are now, in lockdown, suddenly into ‘everything’s gone’, that is a wholly unrealistic expectation,” he said.

“We’re going to have to do a lot of things for really quite a long period of time.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ikely-for-next-year-chief-medic-idUSKCN2242T8

 

[MenInG]

2.8 million workers furloughed - UK business secretary

As of 16:00 BST on Wednesday, 2.8 million workers have been placed on the government's furlough scheme, Business Secretary Alok Sharma says.

Speaking to MPs on the Commons Business Committee, he said there had been 387,000 applications to the scheme, through which the government pays 80% of employees’ wages who have been placed on a leave of absence because of the pandemic.

He also gave an update on the government’s loan scheme, saying around 38,000 businesses had applied for finance, with 16,600 securing loans worth a total of £2.8bn.

 

[Rajdeep]

Is the weather in UK pure coincidence or covid19 had any impact? I mean it rains in UK whole year, let it be summer or winter. But since the day lockdown started...its glorious sunshine every single day.

Just co-incidence british folks?
[MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] [MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION] [MENTION=43583]KingKhanWC[/MENTION] [MENTION=2016]Rana[/MENTION]

 

[MenInG]

8 more coronavirus deaths in Scotland

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirms that a further 58 people who have tested positive for coronavirus have died, taking the total number of deaths in Scotland to 1,120.

She extends her "deepest condolences" to those who have lost a loved one.

 

[Rana]

Is the weather in UK pure coincidence or covid19 had any impact? I mean it rains in UK whole year, let it be summer or winter. But since the day lockdown started...its glorious sunshine every single day.

Just co-incidence british folks?

[MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] [MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION] [MENTION=43583]KingKhanWC[/MENTION] [MENTION=2016]Rana[/MENTION]

No we get these odd few days of unnecessary warm weather. And it will be followed by a week or 2 of rain and not much sun.

 

[MenInG]

Redesigned classrooms and changed working practices in offices could offer an exit from coronavirus lockdown measures, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The Scottish government published a new document on Thursday setting out how it will approach plans to lift the lockdown.

Ms Sturgeon warned that social distancing measures might be in place in some form beyond the end of this year, but outlined how schools and some businesses might reopen prior to that.

"It may be that some businesses in some sectors can reopen but only if they can change how they work to keep employees and customers two metres distant," she said.

"With schools, classrooms may have to be redesigned to allow social distancing so maybe not all children can go back to, and be at, school at the same time."

Ms Sturgeon stressed these were just options for the time being, and would be reassessed as necessary.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...end-to-lockdown-says-nicola-sturgeon-11977592

 

[Markhor]

Why is a 99 year old ex-soldier having to do laps around the garden raising funds for an institution that's paid for through our taxes ? The NHS is not akin to Comic Relief.

 

[Firebat]

BREAKING: Coronavirus deaths in England rise to 16,786

NHS England has announced 514 new coronavirus-related hospital deaths, bringing the total number of reported deaths in hospitals in England to 16,786.

Patients were aged between 31 and 100 years old. Sixteen of the 514 patients (aged between 37 and 92 years old) had no known underlying health condition.

 

[Firebat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">As of 9am 23 April, 583,496 tests have concluded, with 23,560 tests on 22 April. <br><br>425,821 people have been tested of which 138,078 tested positive. <br><br>As of 5pm on 22 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 18,738 have sadly died. <a href="https://t.co/0quyQMCheo">pic.twitter.com/0quyQMCheo</a></p>— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSCgovuk/status/1253321773480697856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Firebat]

Analysis: UK death figures suggest gradual decline from peak

Tuesday’s jump to 823 deaths reported in a day didn’t mean that the epidemic was growing again.

Today’s fall to 616 doesn’t mean that it’s disappearing rapidly.

The pattern in these data is still a gradual, bumpy decline from a peak of 980 on 10 April.

The peaks and troughs are exacerbated by reporting lags, especially at weekends.

The picture of decline is further supported by NHS England’s analysis of deaths on the day they actually occur – this shows a smooth rise to a peak in the week before Easter and a smoother, gradual decline since then.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Is the weather in UK pure coincidence or covid19 had any impact? I mean it rains in UK whole year, let it be summer or winter. But since the day lockdown started...its glorious sunshine every single day.

Just co-incidence british folks?

[MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] [MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION] [MENTION=43583]KingKhanWC[/MENTION] [MENTION=2016]Rana[/MENTION]

April used to be the rainy month, known as April showers but i've noticed over recent years May seems to be the rainy month.

UK weather is unpredictable as Afridi's batting.

 

[James]

Is the weather in UK pure coincidence or covid19 had any impact? I mean it rains in UK whole year, let it be summer or winter. But since the day lockdown started...its glorious sunshine every single day.

Just co-incidence british folks?

[MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] [MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION] [MENTION=43583]KingKhanWC[/MENTION] [MENTION=2016]Rana[/MENTION]

It has been a beautiful few weeks across the UK, no doubt about it. Every morning I wake up and the sun is beaming. Earlier this week I spent an afternoon sunbathing - it was extremely hot.

However it will now rain miserably for probably the first 2-3 weeks in May, before clearing up again once more.

Usually out of April-May-June-July-August-September we get 3 nice months and 3 rainy months. But it changes from year to year as to which months are the good ones and which ones are horrid.

 

[Robert]

Is the weather in UK pure coincidence or covid19 had any impact? I mean it rains in UK whole year, let it be summer or winter. But since the day lockdown started...its glorious sunshine every single day.

Just co-incidence british folks?

[MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] [MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION] [MENTION=43583]KingKhanWC[/MENTION] [MENTION=2016]Rana[/MENTION]

I have no doubt that people ignoring lockdown due to the unseasonal sunny weather have caused more transmission of the virus, if that’s what you mean.

 

[Robert]

It has been a beautiful few weeks across the UK, no doubt about it. Every morning I wake up and the sun is beaming. Earlier this week I spent an afternoon sunbathing - it was extremely hot.

However it will now rain miserably for probably the first 2-3 weeks in May, before clearing up again once more.

Usually out of April-May-June-July-August-September we get 3 nice months and 3 rainy months. But it changes from year to year as to which months are the good ones and which ones are horrid.

I’d say the seasons have lengthened since my boyhood. There were four but now there are two. We have a long warm moist season and a long moist chilly season now. Where I am there is a lot of rain, but October was sunny last year.

 

[MenInG]

Transport for London (TfL), which runs the Tube and other public transport in the capital, is to furlough 7,000 employees to save about £15.8m ($19.5m) every four weeks.

TfL fare revenue has dropped by 90% as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Mayor of London has warned transport "will not immediately return to normal" when lockdown measures are relaxed.

TfL's future is entirely dependent on a government bailout, says BBC London's Transport correspondent Tom Edwards.

 

[MenInG]

UK government apologises after testing website closes

The UK's Department of Health has apologised after its new coronavirus testing website closed to applications hours after it launched.

In a tweet, the department said there had been "significant demand" for the tests from essential workers, millions of whom are now eligible for coronavirus testing.

 

[MenInG]

Labour calls for 'public debate' over lifting lockdown

Labour is calling on the UK government to "urgently" tell the British public about the different options for easing the lockdown.

"I’d like to see a real public debate - looking at public health options and the economic impacts," shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He said public services also needed to be able to prepare for the different scenarios which could happen when restrictions were lifted.

He added that the Westminster government was an "outlier" compared to the more open approaches of the Scottish and Welsh governments.

 

[Rana]

Labour calls for 'public debate' over lifting lockdown

Labour is calling on the UK government to "urgently" tell the British public about the different options for easing the lockdown.

"I’d like to see a real public debate - looking at public health options and the economic impacts," shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He said public services also needed to be able to prepare for the different scenarios which could happen when restrictions were lifted.

He added that the Westminster government was an "outlier" compared to the more open approaches of the Scottish and Welsh governments.

Bang on!

These Tory clowns have been taking the sheep nation for a ride too long now!