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Coronavirus in UK

Death rate hovering around fifty per day now. The vaccine rollout is a colossal success.

Still need to push on and vaccinate as many as possible.
 
1.1 million in the UK recently reported having long COVID

Around 1.1 million people in the UK have reported suffering long COVID, new government figures show.

Of those affected, 674,000 people said the condition was "adversely affecting" their day-to-day lives, with 196,000 of these saying their activity had been limited a lot.

The figures, which are for the four-week period up to 6 March, relate to self-reported long COVID, as experienced by study participants, rather than by a clinical diagnosis.

There is no universally agreed definition of long COVID, but it covers a broad range of symptoms such as fatigue, muscle pain, and difficulty concentrating.

A report out last week revealed that seven in 10 people taken to hospital with COVID-19 had not fully recovered after five months.

https://news.sky.com/story/long-covid-affecting-11-million-people-in-uk-new-figures-reveal-12262509
 
Firebat said:
1.1 million in the UK recently reported having long COVID

Around 1.1 million people in the UK have reported suffering long COVID, new government figures show.

Of those affected, 674,000 people said the condition was "adversely affecting" their day-to-day lives, with 196,000 of these saying their activity had been limited a lot.

The figures, which are for the four-week period up to 6 March, relate to self-reported long COVID, as experienced by study participants, rather than by a clinical diagnosis.

There is no universally agreed definition of long COVID, but it covers a broad range of symptoms such as fatigue, muscle pain, and difficulty concentrating.

A report out last week revealed that seven in 10 people taken to hospital with COVID-19 had not fully recovered after five months.

https://news.sky.com/story/long-covid-affecting-11-million-people-in-uk-new-figures-reveal-12262509
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Horrible. A lot of people will be on permanent disability because of this thing. Which will push even more people into poverty.
 
Robert said:
Horrible. A lot of people will be on permanent disability because of this thing. Which will push even more people into poverty.
Click to expand...

I also hope people won't take advantage of this.
Unfortunately I've seen far too many people take advantage of our benefits system.
 
I’ve got a slight idea of what Long Covid could potentially be like.

The most poorly that I have ever been was when I was hospitalised and diagnosed with atypical pneumonia 12 years ago. I was living with an undiagnosed thyroid disorder at the time, which weakened my immune system and made me susceptible to infection. (Worth mentioning here of course that pneumonia is a common complication in serious cases of Covid.)

After being prescribed antibiotics for 2 weeks in order to kill the bacterial growth in my left lung that was causing the pneumonia, and then having a further 2 weeks of bed rest, I returned to work, but despite my chest x-rays having cleared up by then, I didn’t “feel myself” for an extended period of time. Bear in mind I was in my early 20s, supposedly the prime period of my life.

The reported symptoms of Long Covid sound hauntingly similar to what I suffered for a good six months or so after having atypical pneumonia. Dreadful rashes, crippling fatigue, feeling pale and washed out, shortness of breath, chest tightness, heart palpitations, brain fog (massively!), and severe depression.

I eventually made a full recovery, just naturally really, and returned to good health. I did however have one more uncomfortable and embarrassing recurrent symptom for about another six months after this, namely the constant spontaneous coughing up of excess sputum, particularly in the mornings.

Did I have “Long Pneumonia”? Perhaps.

Not pleasant. Not pleasant at all.
 
Covid-19: Care home residents in England allowed two visitors from 12 April

Care home residents in England will be allowed two regular visitors indoors from 12 April, the government has said.

Currently people in care homes can have just one face-to-face visitor, but as part of the next step of lockdown easing it will be extended to two.

They will be able to hold hands- but visitors must be tested and wear PPE.

Visitors will also be able to bring babies and young children with them, meaning some residents could meet grandchildren for the first time.

People living in care homes were first allowed one regular, nominated visitor again in early March - leading to many loved ones finally being reunited after lockdown.

The government has now said that from 12 April - which is the date for the planned next step of lifting lockdown - visitor numbers can be increased because of a drop in community infection rates and the vaccine rollout.
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56620645.
 
Covid: Passports showing vaccine status would be time-limited, says minister

Any "Covid passport" scheme to prove people in England are safe to attend mass-audience events would be "time-limited", the government said.

A "Covid status certification" scheme is being developed to enable concerts and sporting matches to take place.

It would record whether people had been vaccinated, recently tested negative or had natural immunity, having already had a bout of coronavirus.

The government is also trialling other ways of holding mass events safely.

Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said the trials would be a "learning experience" and no decisions had been made about processes or vaccine certification.

Improved ventilation and testing before and after events are among the other approaches being tested for mass gatherings and indoor events, including sports matches and nightclubs.

Mr Huddleston said the PM would receive a report on all the trial events at the end of May.

The pilot events - which include the FA Cup final, the World Snooker Championship, cinema screenings and nightclub events - will take place up until mid-May.

The NHS is said to be working on a system to allow people to demonstrate their Covid vaccination status through an app or paper certificate.

For people who have not yet been vaccinated, it could record any recent negative tests, or whether they have tested positive in the last six months and are likely to have natural immunity.

The FA Cup final will require certification but some of the venues stressed they would not be involved in trialling the so-called Covid passports proposed by the government.

Paul Blair, co-owner of the Hot Water Comedy Club in Liverpool which is due to host the very first event, said his club faced the "worst negative press we've ever had" when it was wrongly reported certification would be used at his event.

He told the BBC that one person sent a message saying they hoped the owners would "catch Covid and die", while several messages seemingly organised by a conspiracy theorist group accused the club of practising "medical apartheid".

Instead of using Covid passports, his event will involve testing audience members before and after the show as part of a scientific experiment to ensure that it will be safe to reopen without social distancing after 21 June.

"The sole reason we are doing this is to help prove it's safe for live venues to open," he said, adding that it would apply to people regardless of their vaccine status.

Another series of events to be piloted in Liverpool will be three open-air cinema nights put on by Luna Cinema, with around 1,000 people expected each time.

George Wood, the cinema's founder, told the BBC they would aim to run the screenings "in a way that will be allowing people not to think about social distancing".

"For just those few hours when they come to the event, it'll be back to pre-Covid restriction levels, where people will be able to sit next to each other and enjoy a film on a big screen," he said.

He added that detail on how testing will work at the events will come out in the next few days.

More than 31.5 million people have received a first dose of a Covid vaccine and nearly 5.4m have received both jabs, but most people vaccinated so far are over 50.

The government said it was also working with clinical and ethical experts on exemptions for people for whom vaccination is not advised and repeat testing would be difficult.

Businesses in England which can reopen in the coming weeks, including pubs, restaurants and non-essential retail will not have to use the system for now.

However, sources say requiring a certificate to access hospitality further down the line - perhaps to reduce the need for social distancing - has not been ruled out.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the government was doing everything it could to ensure people could return to events and travel "as safely as possible".

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, who is leading a review into the use of Covid passports, has called certification for international travel an "inevitability".

It could also be a "valuable aid" in reopening parts of the domestic economy faster, he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.

However, critics, including more than 40 Tory MPs and privacy campaigners, have suggested a Covid passport scheme could be "discriminatory and counterproductive".

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who now sits as an independent, and senior Tory Iain Duncan Smith are among a broad coalition of MPs who have pledged their opposition.
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56634176.
 
Pubs and restaurants serving outside can reopen as planned next Monday, along with non-essential shops, gyms and hairdressers, as England's lockdown is further eased, the PM has said.

But Boris Johnson urged caution, saying: "We can't be complacent."

Officials were examining the potential role of Covid status certificates, he told a Downing Street briefing.

Pilot events will take place from mid-April to trial the system, with later events checking vaccinations.

Speaking in Downing Street, the prime minister also said the government was "hopeful" international travel could resume in the next stage of lockdown easing on 17 May, but cautioned against the effects of the surge of coronavirus in other parts of the world.

He said the government would set out "well before 17 May what is reasonable" and aim to give the aviation industry "as much notice as possible".

It comes as the government has published an update on a series of reviews into Covid certificates, the safe return of mass events, international travel and social distancing rules.

In the document, the government says it cannot yet confirm international travel can resume on 17 May "given the state of the pandemic abroad", and advises people not to book summer holidays abroad "until the picture is clearer".

It also confirms further details on a risk-based "traffic light" system for foreign travel will be published in a report later this week.

On Covid status certification, the paper says such a scheme could have an important role to play both domestically and internationally and "is likely to become a feature of our lives until the threat from the pandemic recedes".

A certification scheme could record whether people had been vaccinated, recently tested negative or had natural immunity and is seen as a possible means of enabling mass-audience events to take place in the future.

The NHS is working on digital and non-digital ways for individuals to demonstrate their Covid status, according to the government paper, but there were no details on whether this might include using an app.

More than 40 Conservative MPs have signed a cross-party letter opposing the use of vaccine passports for access to jobs or services, with critics calling such a move "discriminatory".

The BBC's political correspondent Iain Watson said vaccine passports had managed to "achieve the remarkable political feat of uniting a former Labour leader and a former Conservative leader against them", as he asked the prime minister if there would be a vote in Parliament on their introduction.

Mr Johnson said the question of a Commons vote was "taking too many fences at once", and that the government needs to work out its proposal.

He stressed that certification would not be introduced either for the 12 April lockdown easing or for the planned further changes from 17 May that would see pubs and restaurants serving customers indoors.

But he said: "The idea of vaccination status being useful for international travel is something that all countries are looking at. I do think that's going to be part of the way people deal with it and we need to think about that."

The government's review said that public transport and essential shops and services would never require Covid status certification, but it could play a role in allowing people to return to theatres, nightclubs, and mass events such as festivals or sports fixtures.

It is also possible that requiring customers to prove their status could "play a role in reducing social distancing requirements in other settings which people tend to visit more frequently" such as pubs and restaurants, the document states.

The government said this would be considered in consultation with the industry, and that businesses should continue to plan to reopen in line with the latest guidance.

Tory former chief whip Mark Harper, leader of the Covid Recovery Group of lockdown-sceptics, has called for Parliament to be given a vote on vaccine passports, warning they would lead to a "two-tier Britain".

Meanwhile, the Confederation of British Industry said firms would need help to navigate "ethical, legal and practical implementation challenges" around status certificates.

What is changing from 12 April in England?
Hospitality venues can serve food and alcohol to customers sitting outdoors, with no curfew
Spas can reopen, as can zoos, theme parks, drive-in cinemas and drive-in performances events
Members of the same household can take a holiday in England in self-contained accommodation
Public buildings such as libraries and community centres will also reopen
And other close-contact services such as beauty and nail salons can reopen
Weddings attended by up to 15 people can take place
The number of care home visitors will also increase to two per resident

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56641596
 
UK air industry calls for travel corridor with US

The chief executives of British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Heathrow Airport have called for a travel corridor with the US to be opened as soon as next month, in a push to reopen the industry’s most lucrative routes following more than a year of disruption.

In a rare joint plea to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the heads of the three companies said rapid vaccination programmes meant restarting transatlantic flights should be a priority when borders open.

“There is a great opportunity here to focus on the corridor between the US and the UK … the US has a hugely successful vaccination programme,” Virgin’s chief executive Shai Weiss said.

Johnson on Monday warned that it was still too early to book a foreign holiday, and non-essential international travel is banned until May 17 at the earliest.

When borders do reopen, the UK will introduce a traffic-light system to grade destinations based on vaccination progress, Covid-19 infections and the prevalence of virus variants.

The travel industry is pushing for the US to be put on the green list immediately, which would mean returning passengers would not have to quarantine, although they would still need to take Covid-19 tests before departure and after arrival.

Any reopening would also require a shift in Washington, where a Trump-era ban on most passengers arriving from the UK is still in force.

https://www.ft.com/content/a4cf97fe-e350-4c31-8837-2fb6b6e47f6e
 
Covid: Moderna vaccine rollout to begin in Wales

A third Covid-19 vaccine will be rolled out across Wales from Wednesday with patients in Carmarthenshire becoming the first in the UK to receive it.

The Moderna vaccine was approved as safe and effective for use in the UK in January this year.

Supplies arrived in Wales on Tuesday, with 5,000 doses sent to Hywel Dda University Health Board vaccination centres.

The first doses will be administered at Carmarthen's Glangwili Hospital.

The UK has ordered 17 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, with Wales receiving a proportion of that number.

The jab is the third of seven vaccines that the UK has ordered. Like the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs which are already in use, the Moderna jab is given in two doses several weeks apart.

It has not yet been confirmed when the rest of the UK can expect to start using it. Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed they have received their first batch, while the UK government's vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Tuesday that the Moderna vaccine would be deployed "around the third week of April".

Across the whole of the UK, more than 31.6 million people have now had a first dose - about three in five adults - while 5.4 million have been fully vaccinated.

In Wales, more than 1.49 million people (47.4% of the population) have had a first dose, while more than 469,000 people have had both doses.

But the UK's Covid vaccine supplies are set to be delayed by "up to four weeks" in April and Wales expects to have 250,000 fewer Oxford-AstraZeneca jab doses.

Wales' chief pharmacist, Andrew Evans, has said he hopes the Moderna vaccine rollout will help make up the shortfall.
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-56657038.
 
James said:
I’ve got a slight idea of what Long Covid could potentially be like.

The most poorly that I have ever been was when I was hospitalised and diagnosed with atypical pneumonia 12 years ago. I was living with an undiagnosed thyroid disorder at the time, which weakened my immune system and made me susceptible to infection. (Worth mentioning here of course that pneumonia is a common complication in serious cases of Covid.)

After being prescribed antibiotics for 2 weeks in order to kill the bacterial growth in my left lung that was causing the pneumonia, and then having a further 2 weeks of bed rest, I returned to work, but despite my chest x-rays having cleared up by then, I didn’t “feel myself” for an extended period of time. Bear in mind I was in my early 20s, supposedly the prime period of my life.

The reported symptoms of Long Covid sound hauntingly similar to what I suffered for a good six months or so after having atypical pneumonia. Dreadful rashes, crippling fatigue, feeling pale and washed out, shortness of breath, chest tightness, heart palpitations, brain fog (massively!), and severe depression.

I eventually made a full recovery, just naturally really, and returned to good health. I did however have one more uncomfortable and embarrassing recurrent symptom for about another six months after this, namely the constant spontaneous coughing up of excess sputum, particularly in the mornings.

Did I have “Long Pneumonia”? Perhaps.

Not pleasant. Not pleasant at all.
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Horrible. Mrs Robert had it once, took a long time to recover.

Down to twenty deaths per day in the UK. We’ve nearly got this thing licked.

51% have had the first vaccine, 8% the second.

It just shows what medical science can achieve given funding, and how brilliant the NHS is, supported as it is currently by HM Armed Forces.
 
UK sets new record for Covid jab second doses

More than 400,000 second doses of Covid vaccines have been given in the UK for the fourth consecutive day, according to the latest government data.

A record total of 475,230 second doses were administered on Saturday - along with 111,109 first doses.

On Friday, 450,136 second doses and 106,878 first doses were received.

There were 1,730 new infections recorded in the past 24 hours and a further seven deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

That is the lowest daily death toll by this measure since 14 September 2020. However, there can be a lag in reporting coronavirus statistics during weekends.

The total number of people to die within 28 days of a positive Covid test is 127,087, according to government figures.

Separate figures published by the UK's statistics agencies show there have been 150,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

The latest figures show that of the 39,587,893 vaccinations administered in the UK so far, 32,121,353 were first doses and 7,466,540 were second doses.

It comes as England and Wales prepare to reopen non-essential retail stores on Monday, as the next step in easing lockdown.

Stage two of the plan to ease restrictions in England will allow pubs and restaurants to serve food and alcohol to customers sitting outside from midnight.

Hairdressers, beauty salons, gyms, theme parks, libraries and community centres will also be able to open their doors in England.

In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all pupils and students will start returning to school, college and other education on Monday depending on term dates.

The wider stages of lockdown easing in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are earmarked for no earlier than 26 April.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56709870
 
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-britain/uks-johnson-warns-lockdown-not-vaccines-behind-drop-in-covid-deaths-idUSKBN2C00PZ

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Tuesday that the rapid drop in COVID-19 deaths was largely down to a three-month lockdown, not the vaccination programme, and that cases would rise once again as restrictions ease. The United Kingdom launched its inoculation drive in December and has already offered a first shot to all over-50s, the clinically vulnerable and health workers. The country is behind only Israel in the proportion of its population to have received at least one dose.

That rollout was however followed a month later by a third lockdown in early January to tackle surging infections driven by the “Kent” variant of the virus. Since February, daily infection numbers, hospitalisations and deaths have all dropped sharply.

“The bulk of the work in reducing the disease has been done by the lockdown,” Johnson said on Tuesday, adding there was no reason to change the roadmap for reopening the economy.

“As we unlock the result will inevitably be that we will see more infections and sadly we will see more hospitalizations and deaths.”

With conditions improving, England reopened all retail, hairdressers, gyms and pub gardens on Monday and Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are due to reopen different elements of their societies in the coming weeks.

The vaccine rollout also got a boost on Tuesday when Moderna became the third vaccine to be offered in England after AstraZeneca and one from Pfizer-BioNTech.

That will help keep Britain on track to hit its target of offering all adults a vaccine by the end of July.

Moderna, already offered in the United States and Europe, uses the same mRNA technology as Pfizer’s shots but can be stored at normal fridge temperatures unlike its rival U.S. vaccine, which must be kept and shipped at ultra-low temperatures.

On Tuesday, NHS England said that people aged 45 or over could now book appointments to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. For those categories already offered a vaccine, it said that 95% of people who were eligible had taken up the offer.

However, in another note of caution to the optimism, the government announced an expansion of so-called surge testing in the south London boroughs of Lambeth and Wandsworth to detect cases of the variant first found in South Africa.

There have been 74 confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus variant, known as B.1.351, in the boroughs, and there is concern that vaccines are less effective against it.

“The important thing will be to watch: If the South African variant has really taken off, and we’ll probably know in about two to three weeks, then we may need to pause re-opening a little bit,” James Naismith, professor of structural biology at the University of Oxford and director of Rosalind Franklin Institute, told BBC Radio.

With more than 127,000 fatalities, the United Kingdom has the fifth-highest death toll in the world from COVID-19.
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LONDON: The UK Government’s decision to put Pakistan on its 'red list' of countries — a move that disrupted the travel plans of thousands of British Pakistani families — has been legally challenged.

The legal claim, seeking judicial review of the harsh decision, has been launched on behalf of a stranded British-Pakistani family in Pakistan. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matthew Hancock MP has been asked to review and reverse the red list categorisation or face a London High Court challenge.

Barrister Rashid Ahmed has launched the claim on behalf of British Pakistanis Mohammed Fiaz, 51, his wife Sabeen Fiaz, and their two minor children Adawiyah Fiaz and Mujtaba Fiaz, who are currently stranded in Pakistan and unable to return to their home in the UK due to rise in fares, difficulty in securing bookings, and expensive quarantine costs.

In the legal letter, a copy of which is available with Geo News, Barrister Rashid Ahmed wrote that on February 2, 202, Sabeen Fiaz travelled to Pakistan, along with her two minor children, to see her father who had suffered a stroke. At that time, her husband and third child Bilal Fiaz remained in the UK. In early March, their flights were cancelled by the airline due to difficulties. Thereafter, Mohammad Fiaz travelled to Pakistan in late March to assist his family’s return to the UK.

Flights were already "extremely expensive" and sparsely available, the letter said, adding that Mohammad Fiaz had tried to book an indirect flight from Pakistan to England via Afghanistan, Turkey, and France, but was unable to board the flight, as he had no visa for Afghanistan, despite only needing to transit.

He received no refund and his situation has now been made even worse due to Pakistan being placed onto the red list of countries as flights have become even more expensive and even more sparsely available.

There are no direct flights available anymore, with only indirect flights available with journey times of between 20 to 40 hours.

Barrister Rashid Ahmed has told the Health Secretary that the Fiaz family cannot afford to pay the charges associated with the mandatory hotel quarantine on arrival to England, which costs around £1,750 per person for ten days — and as such the family are stuck in Pakistan for an unknown period.

The legal claim says that the UK Government has expressly said on numerous occasions that it is being led by Scientific Data but no such data has been published to justify a ban on travel from Pakistan and no facts have been provided on Pakistan.

The legal letter reminds the Health Secretary that the World Health Organisation has reported on Pakistan’s relative success and noted that it has “fared well” in its fight against COVID-19 with it having far fewer cases per 100,000 as compared to neighbouring and many western countries.

The claim added: "Other countries around the world, such as New Zealand, have not added Pakistan to their red list, whereas they have placed a ban on all arrivals from countries such as India as of April 11, 2021. It has recently been reported that a new variant of COVID-19 (B.1.617) from India has been detected in the UK with over 70 reported cases so far. However, at the time of writing this letter, India is not on the red list.”

The legal claim has been launched on the grounds that the decision to ban all travel from Pakistan was made without any legal authority; the addition of Pakistan as a red-list country within Schedule B1 of the International Travel Regulations is unlawful, irrational and disproportionate; the mandatory requirement for all persons from Pakistan travelling to the UK to quarantine in a government-designated facility is a breach of Articles 5,8, and 14 ECHR and is discriminatory; and the imposition of charges for being on the wrong side of the regulations is in violation of the family's rights under the Immigration Act 1971.

Barrister Rashid Ahmed said that the addition of Pakistan to the red list cannot, in any way, "be said to achieve any of the desired results set out in the government policy and cannot be said to be necessary."

The legal claim has demanded of the UK government to remove Pakistan from the red list and waive all charges for the mandatory hotel quarantine for those who cannot afford it; release any documents showing the criteria for a country to go onto the red list, and reveal the Scientific data/evidence used to determine that Pakistan should be added to the red list.

The Health Secretary has been told that he will be taken to the court in case of failure to comply.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/346027-co...y-challenged-for-putting-pakistan-on-red-list
 
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/19/coronavirus-india-to-go-on-englands-covid-travel-red-list-on-friday

India will be added to England’s travel “red list” from 4am on Friday, Matt Hancock has announced, amid the growth of cases in the UK of a variant first discovered in the country.

The health secretary said scientists were working to see if the variant has any “concerning characteristics” such as being more transmissible or resistant to vaccines, but the move had been taken on a “precautionary basis”.

The decision means most travel from India will be banned, with only UK citizens and residents allowed into the country, and all those who do must quarantine in a hotel.
Click to expand...
 
MenInG said:
LONDON: The UK Government’s decision to put Pakistan on its 'red list' of countries — a move that disrupted the travel plans of thousands of British Pakistani families — has been legally challenged.

The legal claim, seeking judicial review of the harsh decision, has been launched on behalf of a stranded British-Pakistani family in Pakistan. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matthew Hancock MP has been asked to review and reverse the red list categorisation or face a London High Court challenge.

Barrister Rashid Ahmed has launched the claim on behalf of British Pakistanis Mohammed Fiaz, 51, his wife Sabeen Fiaz, and their two minor children Adawiyah Fiaz and Mujtaba Fiaz, who are currently stranded in Pakistan and unable to return to their home in the UK due to rise in fares, difficulty in securing bookings, and expensive quarantine costs.

In the legal letter, a copy of which is available with Geo News, Barrister Rashid Ahmed wrote that on February 2, 202, Sabeen Fiaz travelled to Pakistan, along with her two minor children, to see her father who had suffered a stroke. At that time, her husband and third child Bilal Fiaz remained in the UK. In early March, their flights were cancelled by the airline due to difficulties. Thereafter, Mohammad Fiaz travelled to Pakistan in late March to assist his family’s return to the UK.

Flights were already "extremely expensive" and sparsely available, the letter said, adding that Mohammad Fiaz had tried to book an indirect flight from Pakistan to England via Afghanistan, Turkey, and France, but was unable to board the flight, as he had no visa for Afghanistan, despite only needing to transit.

He received no refund and his situation has now been made even worse due to Pakistan being placed onto the red list of countries as flights have become even more expensive and even more sparsely available.

There are no direct flights available anymore, with only indirect flights available with journey times of between 20 to 40 hours.

Barrister Rashid Ahmed has told the Health Secretary that the Fiaz family cannot afford to pay the charges associated with the mandatory hotel quarantine on arrival to England, which costs around £1,750 per person for ten days — and as such the family are stuck in Pakistan for an unknown period.

The legal claim says that the UK Government has expressly said on numerous occasions that it is being led by Scientific Data but no such data has been published to justify a ban on travel from Pakistan and no facts have been provided on Pakistan.

The legal letter reminds the Health Secretary that the World Health Organisation has reported on Pakistan’s relative success and noted that it has “fared well” in its fight against COVID-19 with it having far fewer cases per 100,000 as compared to neighbouring and many western countries.

The claim added: "Other countries around the world, such as New Zealand, have not added Pakistan to their red list, whereas they have placed a ban on all arrivals from countries such as India as of April 11, 2021. It has recently been reported that a new variant of COVID-19 (B.1.617) from India has been detected in the UK with over 70 reported cases so far. However, at the time of writing this letter, India is not on the red list.”

The legal claim has been launched on the grounds that the decision to ban all travel from Pakistan was made without any legal authority; the addition of Pakistan as a red-list country within Schedule B1 of the International Travel Regulations is unlawful, irrational and disproportionate; the mandatory requirement for all persons from Pakistan travelling to the UK to quarantine in a government-designated facility is a breach of Articles 5,8, and 14 ECHR and is discriminatory; and the imposition of charges for being on the wrong side of the regulations is in violation of the family's rights under the Immigration Act 1971.

Barrister Rashid Ahmed said that the addition of Pakistan to the red list cannot, in any way, "be said to achieve any of the desired results set out in the government policy and cannot be said to be necessary."

The legal claim has demanded of the UK government to remove Pakistan from the red list and waive all charges for the mandatory hotel quarantine for those who cannot afford it; release any documents showing the criteria for a country to go onto the red list, and reveal the Scientific data/evidence used to determine that Pakistan should be added to the red list.

The Health Secretary has been told that he will be taken to the court in case of failure to comply.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/346027-co...y-challenged-for-putting-pakistan-on-red-list
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why were they in pakistan in the midst of a pandemic anyway, and they have money for a barrister but not to stay in a hotel for 10 days. The invoice can be paid in installments as well so if you cant pay it straight away you can defer it.
 
Its going to be another mad dash as British Indians scamper for the airports to beat the red list deadline! They have less time than the people trying to get back from Pakistan had.

UK must be having a good laugh over these shenanigans. Taking revenge on all the desis who thought it would be a good idea to go on a jolly despite stay at home orders. :))
 
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LongHorn said:
Maybe because it was legal?
That is no license for these people to be mistreated

Next people like you will call for jailing anyone flying during a pandemic
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Can i just ask Where have they been mistreated?

Im not asking for anyone to be jailed, just simply to follow rules. UK only allowed essential travel and now it is the law that anyone coming from a red list country go into managed quarantine for 10 days. Whilst i may not agree, i do not understand what they are trying to achieve by taking the British government to court?
 
Robert said:
It just shows what medical science can achieve given funding, and how brilliant the NHS is, supported as it is currently by HM Armed Forces.
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Agree, it also shows that the vaccine program and the speed at which it was implemented was only possible because we were out of the EU.
 
Technics 1210 said:
Agree, it also shows that the vaccine program and the speed at which it was implemented was only possible because we were out of the EU.
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Why? Each sovereign state was free to do what they liked. They chose to comply with the Commission’s procurement programme, but they didn’t have to.

Plus, we have the highest COVID death rate in Europe due to our incompetent government. So while the vaccine roll out had been faster here, every EU nation (except Belgium) has handled the pandemic better than us. Faster and more effective lockdowns, track and trace down on the cheap that works instead of our hugely wasteful system that does not.
 
Robert said:
Why? Each sovereign state was free to do what they liked. They chose to comply with the Commission’s procurement programme, but they didn’t have to.

Plus, we have the highest COVID death rate in Europe due to our incompetent government. So while the vaccine roll out had been faster here, every EU nation (except Belgium) has handled the pandemic better than us. Faster and more effective lockdowns, track and trace down on the cheap that works instead of our hugely wasteful system that does not.
Click to expand...

Why? Did you see what happened in the EU with the vaccine approval, all the red tape, politics, not to mention the delay in approving the vaccine roll out for EU states, and of course the humiliating NI stunt pulled by the EU through sheer jealousy of the UK?

You probably did but are ignoring it.

Please don't call them sovereign states, they are not, most don't even have their own currency.

Number of deaths is irrelevant, as you were refering to the vacinne rollout, though if we were in the EU, more would have died while the EU decided which vaccine was fit for approval.
 
Technics 1210 said:
Why? Did you see what happened in the EU with the vaccine approval, all the red tape, politics, not to mention the delay in approving the vaccine roll out for EU states, and of course the humiliating NI stunt pulled by the EU through sheer jealousy of the UK?

You probably did but are ignoring it.

Please don't call them sovereign states, they are not, most don't even have their own currency.

Number of deaths is irrelevant, as you were refering to the vacinne rollout, though if we were in the EU, more would have died while the EU decided which vaccine was fit for approval.
Click to expand...

The point is that being in the EU wouldn't have had to have changed any way in which the UK has gone about it's vaccination programme.
 
Now Boris is saying, there will be another wave this year in the UK.

Looks like another lockdown sometime, possibly near Autumn.

Indian variant may also escape the vaccines.

Enjoy your summer while it lasts.
 
KingKhanWC said:
Now Boris is saying, there will be another wave this year in the UK.

Looks like another lockdown sometime, possibly near Autumn.

Indian variant may also escape the vaccines.

Enjoy your summer while it lasts.
Click to expand...

Yup, and the 3rd wave isn't a wave, it's a tsunami from India.

Boris reprimanded for not adding India to the red list earlier.
 
Twelve countries have been placed on England's green list for travel - it means people will not have to quarantine upon their return. They will still need to take tests before departure and when they get back

The countries include Portugal, Israel, Iceland and Gibraltar - but popular holiday destinations like Spain, France and Italy are not on the list

Three more countries have been added to the red list, from which travel is banned

They include Turkey, which is due to host the Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea - talks are under way about the UK hosting it instead
 
COVID-19: 'Britain will be free of the coronavirus by August', says outgoing vaccine taskforce chief

The coronavirus will no longer be circulating in Britain by midsummer, according to the government's departing vaccine taskforce chief, Clive Dix.

Mr Dix, who was appointed as interim leader of the taskforce in December and stepped down last week, said it was his belief there would be no circulating virus "sometime in August".

He also told the Daily Telegraph that he expects everyone in the UK to have been vaccinated at least once by the end of July, by which time "we'll have probably protected the population from all the variants that are known".

"We'll be safe over the coming winter," he added.

More than 35 million people have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as the UK reported another 15 deaths related to the virus.

On Friday, there were 2,490 new cases reported in the latest 24-hour period, according to government figures.

Earlier this week, vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said scientists are looking at a range of options for an autumn vaccine booster programme to protect against a third wave of the virus.

But Mr Dix said he believed this could be pushed back to early 2022.

He told the paper: "We may decide that we need to boost the immune response, and we've got the vaccine to do that. Whether we'll need to or not, I would think probably not, but we might still do it in case.

"I really don't think it should be autumn. We should be thinking about boosting in maybe January or February, because the immune response will be strong."

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19...ays-outgoing-vaccine-taskforce-chief-12300112
 
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/10/uk-downgrades-covid-19-alert-threat-level

The UK’s four chief medical officers have agreed the Covid-19 alert level should move from level 4 to level 3, thanks to the success of the vaccination programme and social distancing restrictions.

This means the epidemic is in general circulation but transmission of the virus is no longer deemed to be high or rising exponentially.

Boris Johnson will hold a press conference in Downing Street later on Monday to announce the next steps in England’s roadmap out of lockdown.

A statement from the chief medical officers for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, as well as the NHS England national medical director, Prof Stephen Powis, said: “Following advice from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and in the light of the most recent data, the UK chief medical officers and NHS England national medical director agree that the UK alert level should move from level 4 to level 3. “Thanks to the efforts of the UK public in social distancing and the impact we are starting to see from the vaccination programme, case numbers, deaths and Covid hospital pressures have fallen consistently.

“However Covid is still circulating with people catching and spreading the virus every day so we all need to continue to be vigilant. This remains a major pandemic globally.

“It is very important that we all continue to follow the guidance closely and everyone gets both doses of the vaccine when they are offered it.” Johnson is expected to confirm that England can press ahead with the next phase out of lockdown from 17 May, which allows more freedoms in and outdoors.

Azra Ghani, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London, said “The reduction from alert level 4 to level 3 is appropriate because transmission of the virus is now being maintained at a low level – due to the combined effect of a high uptake in vaccination and the restrictions that have been in place. It will however be important to monitor carefully as the next stage of unlocking occurs to ensure that virus circulation does not increase.

“The remaining focus as we go forwards into the summer and look to next autumn will be to ensure that variants of concern are not able to establish and grow, particularly if these may threaten the efficacy of the vaccines.

“Longer term, it is likely that booster vaccines that address the main mutations can be given to reduce any further risk.”

Others also urged caution, noting that cases remained higher than in early September and there were areas of the country where infection levels were high. The rapid rise in cases of a “variant of concern” first detected in India, called B.1.617.2, has also caused consternation: on Thursday the Guardian revealed clusters of this variant have been found across England, with some linked to community transmission, while Public Health England has said there is evidence to suggest B.1.617.2 is at least as transmissible as B.1.1.7, the “Kent variant” that currently dominates in the UK.

Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, experts said it was too soon to be sure just how problematic B.1.617.2 may be.

“At the moment there is just not enough information to say whether this causes more severe disease or not, but there is no reason for me at the moment to think that it does,” said Prof Sharon Peacock of the University of Cambridge, who is executive director and chair of the Covid-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium. More data is needed to be sure just how transmissible the variant is compared with others, she added.

However, Prof Ravi Gupta of the University of Cambridge said it was possible the Indian variant, or even the South African one, could become dominant in the UK – although he noted CogUK was now able to sequence specimens rapidly, aiding detection and action.

“We have very low transmission in the UK, so there is an opening in a way for a virus that is better adapted to vaccinated people to start transmitting,” he said, although he noted this would not cause severe disease, or death, in the majority of people. “It all depends on the dynamics of transmission and how quickly we can detect them and close them off.”
Click to expand...
 
The UK is "anxious" about the Indian COVID variant and the government is "ruling nothing out" when it comes to tackling its spread, the prime minister has said.

Boris Johnson said the COVID-19 variant "has been spreading" and the UK wants to "grip it".

"We want to make sure that we take all the prudential, all the cautious steps now that we could take," he said.

"So there are meetings going on today to consider exactly what we need to do."

His concern comes as people aged 18 and over will be able to receive a coronavirus vaccine in some areas of Blackburn from next week, following a rise in cases of the Indian variant.

The PM's spokesman said there were "no plans" to reintroduce the tiered system of virus restrictions used in England towards the end of last year.

New figures from Public Health England are expected to show a big rises in cases of the variant, with the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) holding a meeting on Thursday to discuss its spread.

Three types of the variant have been identified in the UK, one of which has been designated as a variant of concern.

The European Medicines Agency has said it is "pretty confident" that current vaccines will be effective against the variant, an opinion that has been echoed by some British scientists.

Despite concerns about the Indian variant, the PM said he "can see nothing that dissuades me from thinking we'll be able to go ahead on Monday and indeed on 21 June everywhere" in terms of easing coronavirus restrictions in England.

Next Monday will see step three of the country's roadmap out of lockdown come into effect.

Pubs and restaurants will be able to reopen indoors and people will be allowed to mix indoors as two households or under the rule of six.

People will also have the choice whether to socially distance with close family and friends they meet up with.

On 21 June, step four, the government wants to end "all limits on social contact".

The future of things like social distancing and mask-wearing is less clear, although Mr Johnson did say more announcements would be made before the end of the month.

"I think we have to wait a little bit longer to see how the data is looking but I am cautiously optimistic about that and provided this Indian variant doesn't take off in the way some people fear, I think certainly things could get back much, much closer to normality," he said.

SKY
 
Indian variant: Second jabs could be brought forward to tackle rise


Second vaccine doses could be brought forward and local restrictions introduced to help tackle the India variant in the worst-affected areas, the government has said.

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said the UK would "flex" its jabs programme to where it was best utilised.

This could also include vaccinating younger people in multi-generational households, he told BBC Breakfast.

Public Health England has recorded 1,313 UK cases of the India variant.

The figures released on Thursday are more than double the 520 cases recorded by PHE up to 5 May.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said there was "no firm evidence yet to show this variant has any greater impact on severity of disease or evades the vaccine".

But it also said ministers "cannot rule out reimposing economic and social restrictions at a local or regional level if evidence suggests they are necessary to contain or suppress a variant which escapes the vaccine".

It said ministers were also considering bringing forward second doses for people who are eligible.


Asked whether local lockdowns were being considered, the vaccines minister said nothing was "off the table", including further regional or national measures.

However, he said surge testing was the "most effective way" of dealing with variants.

Surge testing is already taking place in 15 areas across England. This is when increased testing and enhanced contact tracing is carried out in specific locations to try to prevent the spread of outbreaks.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there was no evidence to suggest England's planned lockdown easing could not go ahead.

The next major easing of restrictions is due to take place on 17 May.

On Thursday, the UK reported another 11 deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test and a further 2,657 cases.

Almost 36 million people have also received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine and on Friday PHE said vaccines had saved 11,700 lives and stopped 33,000 people becoming seriously ill with the disease in England.

Government statistics show 127,651 people have now died, up 11 in the latest 24-hour period. In total 4,444,631 people have tested positive, up 2,657 in the latest 24-hour period. Latest figures show 1,098 people in hospital. In total, 35,906,671 people have received their first vaccination. Updated 13 May
The DHSC said additional measures where "clusters" of cases are detected would include increased genome sequencing of cases to monitor variants, increased community engagement and encouraging uptake of the vaccine for those who are eligible.

Prof Nick Loman, a genomics adviser to PHE, said vaccines were working "really well", adding: "Personally I think that there's certainly a role for using vaccines to target particularly affected areas."

The variant that was first detected in India, which may spread more quickly, is causing mounting concern.

Numbers are relatively low, but they are rising and the planned unlocking from Monday in England would accelerate that spread.

Meanwhile, the hugely successful vaccination campaign is not yet complete.

So the worry is there is still the possibility of a surge in cases and, because the vaccines are not perfect, a rise in the numbers of people in hospital. This would be much smaller than it would have been without vaccination.

The other issue is the number of confirmed cases tells us what happened between one and two weeks ago, rather than what is happening now. That's because there is a delay between someone catching the virus, it causing symptoms and then being confirmed as the India variant.

One of the four tests for the roadmap out of lockdown has always been the role of new variants.

The key question is whether local approaches in variant hotspots - such as expanded testing and vaccination - will be enough, or if there needs to be a change to the overall plan.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57109660
 
Indian Variant is going to hold us back.
I really hope we can control this thing because, and like I said a few weeks back, in a year or two it won't be known as the Wuhan China Covid but the dominant Indian Variant which by then may have spread across the world.

I know I'm talking doom and gloom here but I've heard through acquaintances how some people are bypassing the quarantine rules by entering via a different country.
 
IMMY69 said:
I know I'm talking doom and gloom here but I've heard through acquaintances how some people are bypassing the quarantine rules by entering via a different country.
Click to expand...

Still got to spend as long in the other country as they would in hotel quarantine in the UK in addition to quarantining at home when they arrive back in the UK.
 
HitWicket said:
Still got to spend as long in the other country as they would in hotel quarantine in the UK in addition to quarantining at home when they arrive back in the UK.
Click to expand...

Well put it this way, not every country gives the same confidence as say the UK or a Hong Kong when it comes to quarantining. People find ways.

Anyway, I hope this is false because the Indian variant scares the bejesus out of me. My friend from Delhi said men in their 30's and 40's have died from this so it may well be more contagious and dangerous than the other variants.
 
Those aged over 50 and those considered clinically vulnerable will be able to get a second vaccine dose after eight weeks, the prime minister has announced.

Boris Johnson said plans to accelerate vaccinations for priority groups would not affect the scheduled easing of lockdown in England from Monday.

But the prime minister said it could cause "serious disruption" to the next stage of lockdown easing on 21 June.

It comes amid fears of the Indian coronavirus variant being "more transmissible".

However, he did say there was "no evidence" to suggest the vaccines currently in use would be less effective against the B.1.617.2 strain.

It comes as four people in the UK died with the Indian variant of COVID-19 - the first known domestic deaths from the new variant of the virus.

The four deaths from the strain of the virus, now designated a "variant of concern", took place between 5 May and 12 May.
 
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COVID-19: Indian coronavirus variant expected to become most dominant in UK, says Professor Chris Whitty

The Indian coronavirus variant is expected to become the most dominant in the UK and is more transmissible than the one that originated in Kent, government scientists have said.

England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty told a Downing Street news conference on Friday: "We expect over time this variant will overtake and come to dominate in the UK in the way that B117 took over and other variants have taken over prior to that."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson added that due to high rates of variant cases in Bolton and the North West, England's final easing of restrictions on 21 June could be delayed.

According to modelling, there is a "realistic possibility" that the B.1617.2 variant first detected in India could be "50% more transmissible" than the one that emerged in Kent at the end of last year.

The government's Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M-O) warned it could cause a "significant resurgence" of the virus, as "there are still too few adults vaccinated" to stop its progress.

On Thursday, Public Health England (PHE) published data that showed Indian variant cases had doubled in the past week from 520 to 1,313.

http://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-...nt-in-uk-says-professor-chris-whitty-12306549
 
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The Indian variant could pose "serious disruption" to lockdown easing in England on 21 June, Boris Johnson says.

The PM said if it was found to be "significantly" more transmissible "we are likely to face some hard choices".

The wait between jabs will be cut from 12 weeks to eight for the over-50s and clinically vulnerable because of concern over the variant, he said.

Cases of the Indian Covid variant have more than doubled in the past week, Public Health England figures show.

Surge testing is already taking place in 15 areas across England, including Bolton, Blackburn, London, Sefton and Nottingham.

According to Friday's government figures, a further 17 people have died in the UK within 28 days of a positive test and another 2,193 coronavirus cases have been recorded.

Speaking at a Downing Street briefing alongside the UK's chief medical adviser, Prof Chris Whitty, Mr Johnson said first Covid vaccine doses will also be prioritised "for anyone eligible who has not yet come forward". Currently, England's vaccination rollout is open to people over the age of 38.

The prime minister said he did not believe that the "present evidence" showed a need to delay the next stage in the easing of lockdown in England on Monday - which is when people can meet in groups of up to 30 outdoors and six people or two households can meet indoors.

But Mr Johnson warned: "I have to level with you that this new variant could pose a serious disruption to our progress and could make it more difficult to move to step four in June."

He said he did not believe it was "impossible" to go ahead with step four of England's roadmap to ease coronavirus restrictions, but "we have to be utterly realistic" and there was "the risk of disruption and delay".

The government's aim with the fourth and final step of the roadmap is to remove all legal limits on social contact on 21 June - meaning there will be no limits on gatherings indoors or outdoors - and nightclubs will be allowed to reopen.

The government has said easing restrictions on 21 June depended on its four tests being met - including that vaccines continue to be effective and the risks are not fundamentally changed by new variants.

Mr Johnson added that there was "no evidence to suggest that our vaccines will be less effective in protecting people against severe illness and hospitalisation".

The Army would be deployed on the streets of Blackburn and Bolton to give out tests to help the surge testing efforts, he said.

There will be an acceleration of the vaccine rollout there, Mr Johnson said, including longer opening hours at vaccination centres.

Prof Whitty said delays to the vaccination programme for younger people were not expected with the prioritisation of second doses for older age groups.

He warned that if the Indian variant proved to be more transmissible than other variants, the UK could see "a really significant surge" in Covid-19 cases, adding: "That's a really critical question to which we do not yet have the answer."

"We expect over time this variant will overtake and come to dominate in the UK in the way that the Kent variant did," he added.

Public Health England figures released on Thursday have risen from 520 cases up to 5 May to 1,313 cases.

Most of the cases - 1,255 - are in England, while there are 35 in Scotland, 12 in Northern Ireland and 11 in Wales, according to PHE.

It said four people have now died with the Indian variant of concern as of 12 May.

Mobile testing units have been set up in Bolton, PHE said, and door-to-door PCR testing had been offered to 22,000 residents. A PCR test is the most accurate way to check for Covid.

More doses have been delivered to the town, which has also set up a vaccine bus to increase uptake among those who are eligible.

Extra clinics will open in Blackburn and Darwen in Lancashire from next week to offer the vaccine to those who are eligible under national guidelines.

But the area's public health director, Prof Dominic Harrison, said he was "furious" the government had refused a request to extend vaccinations in Blackburn.

On Thursday, the council initially said all over-18s would be offered a jab, before later stating only those with underlying conditions could book an appointment.

Meanwhile, the R number - or reproduction number - in England is estimated to have risen slightly from between 0.8 and 1.0 to between 0.8 and 1.1, according to the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.

If the R number is above one then the number of cases keeps increasing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57122817
 
IMMY69 said:
Indian Variant is going to hold us back.
I really hope we can control this thing because, and like I said a few weeks back, in a year or two it won't be known as the Wuhan China Covid but the dominant Indian Variant which by then may have spread across the world.

I know I'm talking doom and gloom here but I've heard through acquaintances how some people are bypassing the quarantine rules by entering via a different country.
Click to expand...

Few months ago it was Brazilian variant and before that it was SA variant. How is it going to be any different from them?
 
UK has no one to blame but themselves. The political delay in banning travelers from India has caused this mess.
 
iRfaN_LA said:
UK has no one to blame but themselves. The political delay in banning travelers from India has caused this mess.
Click to expand...

I was surprised that India wasn't on the red list much earlier, but there again sometimes these decisions are political and there's things going on behind the scenes that affect them.
 
As we've heard this morning, the government has come under criticism for not banning travel from India, amid concern that the coronavirus variant first discovered there is now spreading quickly in parts of the UK.

No 10 has defended its decision not to ban travel from India sooner, saying the UK has "some of the toughest border measures".

India was reporting more than 100,000 cases a day by 5 April, but was not added to the red list until 23 April.

Asked why the borders were not closed sooner, a government spokesman told the BBC: "We took precautionary action to ban travel from India on 23 April, six days before this variant was put under investigation and two weeks before it was labelled as of concern.

"Prior to India being placed on the red list in April anyone coming to the UK had to test negative and quarantine for 10 days."

By the time the travel ban came into force, daily Covid cases in India had risen above 330,000.
 
MenInG said:
As we've heard this morning, the government has come under criticism for not banning travel from India, amid concern that the coronavirus variant first discovered there is now spreading quickly in parts of the UK.

No 10 has defended its decision not to ban travel from India sooner, saying the UK has "some of the toughest border measures".

India was reporting more than 100,000 cases a day by 5 April, but was not added to the red list until 23 April.

Asked why the borders were not closed sooner, a government spokesman told the BBC: "We took precautionary action to ban travel from India on 23 April, six days before this variant was put under investigation and two weeks before it was labelled as of concern.

"Prior to India being placed on the red list in April anyone coming to the UK had to test negative and quarantine for 10 days."

By the time the travel ban came into force, daily Covid cases in India had risen above 330,000.
Click to expand...

These guys are idiots.
So then the question should be why were other countries such as Pakistan on the red list when their infections rates were negligible compared to India's?
Where is data behind this?

16 flights a day continued to arrive from India until India was officially on the red list. They need to explain this properly
 
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Who will hold that fraud Modi accountable? Who will hold Boris accountable?
 
Boris is an incompetent leader whos action or lack of has resulted in thousands of death and billions of pounds of economic disaster for this country

The sooner hes ousted the better
 
Thousands set to fly as travel ban lifts tomorrow

Thousands of Britons will fly abroad tomorrow as the ban on international travel is lifted.

There has been a surge in demand for trips to Portugal after it was placed on the "green list" by the government, with the country saying it is ready to accept British tourists.

EasyJet has added 105,000 extra seats to its flights serving green list destinations, while travel giant Tui will use planes which normally operate long-haul routes to accommodate the surge of people booked to fly to Portugal.

People are being urged to travel responsibly and not make any non-essential trips to destinations on the amber list - but that advice will largely be ignored.

Arrivals from amber list destinations (France, Spain, Italy etc) will have to quarantine in the UK, while travel to red list destinations is banned.

Earlier, Oxford’s Emeritus Professor of Medicine Sir John Bell said that he doesn't think anyone should be taking holidays abroad this year.

Speaking to Times Radio, he said: "I don't want to be a party pooper but the most important thing is not to prolong this any longer than we absolutely have to".
 
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-make-final-lockdown-easing-decision-june-14-2021-05-16/

Ministers will make a decision on June 14 about whether or not to proceed with the final phase of lockdown easing in England, health minister Matt Hancock said on Sunday, describing the pandemic as "under control".

On Friday Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that Britain would accelerate its COVID-19 vaccination programme to try to contain a fast-spreading variant first identified in India, warning that Britain's reopening could be knocked off track by the Indian variant.

"We'll make a final decision for step four, which is the biggest step on the roadmap. We'll make that final decision on the 14th of June," Hancock told Sky News.

Any delay to the reopening could affect the country's predicted recovery from its worst economic slump in three centuries and spark fresh criticism of the government's management of the crisis.

Britain, which has one of the world's highest official deaths tolls at 127,675, currently has low overall rates of infection thanks largely to the success of its vaccine rollout.

Official data shows the seven-day average of daily infections is about 2,200 and that nearly 70% of the adult population has received at least one vaccine dose.

The British government manages lockdown restrictions for England, while devolved authorities for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland take their own decisions.

In England, the last of four stages in the removal of lockdown restrictions that have been in place since early January is scheduled for June 21 and could ditch social distancing measures entirely.

The planned third stage of easing starts on Monday. Among other measures, people will be allowed to hug each other again and pubs and restaurants will be able to serve customers inside.

"The whole pandemic is currently under control," Hancock told the BBC. "But the Indian variant, it does appear, transmits more easily from person to person and so we have to be careful."

Hancock rejected criticism from political opponents that the government had been too slow to shut its borders to arrivals from India while cases there were surging. He said the decision had been taken before the variant had been officially designated as one of concern.

The minister said there were slightly more than 1,300 cases of the Indian variant in Britain and early data showed that vaccines should still be effective against this variant.

"There is new, very early data out from Oxford University, and I would stress that this is from the labs, it's not clinical data, and it is very early, but it does give us a degree of confidence that the vaccines work against this Indian variant," Hancock said.

He said that five people who had received their first dose of the vaccine had been hospitalised with the Indian variant and one - whom he described as "frail" - had been hospitalised after having both doses.
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COVID-19: Indian variant can 'spread like wildfire' among those not vaccinated, Health Secretary Matt Hancock warns


Those who are eligible for a COVID vaccine but have not yet booked an appointment are urged to come forward to get their jab.


There is a "high degree of confidence" that vaccines protect against the Indian variant of COVID-19 - but it can "spread like wildfire" among those who haven't had a jab, Matt Hancock has told Sky News.

The health secretary urged those who are eligible for vaccination - but have not yet booked an appointment - to come forward to get their vaccine as he warned against the possible impact of the Indian COVID variant.

Live coronavirus updates from the UK and around the world


Mr Hancock said it can "spread even faster" than the Kent variant, which drove the UK's deadly second wave of infections this winter, with a total of just over 1,300 cases found in the country so far.

He said it was "becoming the dominant strain in some parts of the country" such as Bolton and Blackburn.

In Bolton, where a number of people have ended up in hospitals with the Indian variant, the "vast majority" of those patients had been eligible for a COVID jab but had not yet had one, Mr Hancock said.

He likened the current situation facing the country to "a race between the vaccination programme and the virus", with the Indian variant having "given the virus some extra legs in that race".

There have been concerns that the spread of the Indian variant in the UK could derail the government's roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions.

But Mr Hancock said tomorrow's planned easing to stage three of the roadmap - allowing indoor mixing between households - would still go ahead.

And a decision would be announced on 14 June as to whether the country would proceed to stage four a week later, when ministers aim to remove all legal limits on social contact.

"We need to be cautious, we need to be careful, we need to be vigilant and we've said - at each step - we will look at the four tests that we have," Mr Hancock told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday show.

"We assessed those last week for the move we're making as a country tomorrow and our assessment was all four are met. The fourth of all those four tests is if a new variant knocks us off course.

"We'll, of course, be assessing that over the weeks to come and we'll make a final decision for the step four, which is the biggest step on the roadmap.

"We'll make that final decision on 14 June. We've always said we want this to be cautious, we really want it to be irreversible. New variants are one of the biggest risks to this opening.

"Because of the speed of transmission of this one, it can really spread like wildfire amongst the unvaccinated groups - hence we need to get as many people vaccinated as possible, particularly among those who are most vulnerable to ending up in hospital."

Mr Hancock highlighted early data from an Oxford University study as he said there was "a high degree of confidence" that existing COVID vaccines work against the Indian variant.

"The main message I've got for everybody this morning is: get vaccinated," he said. "If you're in one of the eligible groups, come forward and get a jab."

But the health secretary warned against allowing an "explosion in cases", adding: "Because this variant can spread even faster than the Kent variant - we saw what happened with that in December - it means if it gets out of hand we'll have a very, very large number of cases.

"And so even with the protection that the vaccine gives you - the vaccine protection is very high but it is not absolute."

Mr Hancock defended the timing of the government's decision to put India on the UK's travel "red list" on 23 April, which some have criticised as coming too late.

"This variant was notified as a variant under investigation after we'd already put India on the red list," he said.

"The decision to put India on the red list was taken because of the high positivity rate of people coming from India and looking at the epi-curve in India.

"When we put Pakistan on the red list at the start of April that's because the proportion of people testing positive coming in from Pakistan was three times higher than the proportion coming from India,

"And it was only after we put India on the red list that this variant went under investigation, and then earlier this month it became a variant of concern."

Asked if Prime Minister Boris Johnson's planned trip to India in late April - in a bid to boost trade talks - had impacted the government's decisions on travel restrictions for India, Mr Hancock replied: "We take these decisions based on the evidence."

Surge testing is under way in Bolton, where the India variant is 'becoming the dominant strain'
In a later broadcast interview, Mr Hancock admitted it is "quite likely" the Indian variant of will become the dominant variant in the UK.

"We don't know exactly how much more transmissible it is but I think it is likely it will become the dominant variant here," he told the BBC.

Meanwhile, asked about the risk of importing new variants to the UK, Mr Hancock said Britons should only plan holidays abroad to countries on the UK's "green" list for foreign travel.

"People should not travel to amber or red list countries unless it's absolutely necessary," he told Times Radio.

"And certainly not for holiday purposes."

https://news.sky.com/story/indian-variant-can-spread-like-wildfire-if-people-not-jabbed-but-confidence-vaccines-work-12307777
 
Covid-19: Lockdowns ease in England, Wales and most of Scotland

People must continue to play their part in stopping coronavirus, Boris Johnson has said, as lockdown rules ease in England, Wales and most of Scotland.

Millions can now socialise indoors in limited numbers, hug loved ones and visit pubs and restaurants inside.

The ban on foreign travel has also been lifted and replaced with new rules.

Mr Johnson said: "We have reached another milestone in our road map out of lockdown, but we must take this next step with a heavy dose of caution."

The rule changes come as the variant first identified in India continues to spread in the UK, with mass testing rolled out to hotspots including Bolton in Greater Manchester and parts of London and Sefton.

Mr Johnson said the government was keeping the variant "under close observation" and "taking swift action where infection rates are rising".

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was "very confident" the government would be able to lift England's remaining restrictions on 21 June "but can't guarantee that".

He said: "There is flexibility here because we have another five weeks till the reopening and we will be revisiting the data.

"There will be different data - the variant will spread, perhaps, in different ways, we will have more information about the efficacy of the vaccine rollout, and then... a week before the 21st, we will take the decision."

Mr Kwarteng said he did not want to "stigmatise people" over vaccine hesitancy, but added: "We're not exactly where we want to be among certain communities but I think the take-up has been much greater in the last few months, and more and more people are convinced that this is the way to keep themselves and their families safe."

More than 6,200 people were vaccinated in Bolton at the weekend, where the Indian variant now makes up the majority of new cases. Prior to the push, about 10,000 people in the highest priority groups were yet to be vaccinated.

'Finely balanced'
Scientists believe the variant does spread more easily, but early data suggests vaccines still work. However, the exact impact on vaccine efficacy - if any - is still to be firmed up.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the government's independent scientific advisory group Sage, said the lifting of the rules was the "most difficult policy decision of the last 15 months or so."

He told Today: "It is very, very finely balanced".

Sir Jeremy said the variant "is becoming dominant in parts of the UK, and yet vaccination across the country has been extraordinary successful".

"I think we will see an increase of cases and infections over the coming weeks as some of the restrictions are lifted, but the key question is whether we have decoupled increased transmission in the number of people who do get infected from the number of people who get ill and need to go to hospital."

The British Medical Association - which represents doctors - said it was a "real worry" that the easing was still going ahead while the Indian variant was spreading and many younger people were not vaccinated.

While lockdowns are easing across England, Scotland and Wales, the changes are different in each nation.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: "This is a long awaited moment but remember that the virus still poses a big threat, so please continue to be cautious & very careful."

Two areas of Scotland - Glasgow and Moray - will not have their rules eased after a spike in cases. People in Glasgow between the ages of 18 and 39 are being invited to get their vaccinations sooner than previously planned to cope with the upsurge.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock is due to make a statement on Covid to MPs in the House of Commons at 16:30 BST.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57136140
 
A total of 2,323 cases of the Indian coronavirus variant have been reported in the UK, the health secretary has said.

Delivering a COVID-19 statement in the Commons, Matt Hancock said 483 cases have been confirmed in Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen, where the variant is now the dominant strain.
 
Surge testing has started in Bedford due to an increase in coronavirus cases linked to the Indian variant.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the town was the "next biggest cause of concern" after Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen.

Bedford has the second-highest rate of Covid-19 in England, with cases doubling every five days.

"I would urge everybody in Bedford to exercise caution and engage in testing," Mr Hancock said.

He told the House of Commons early evidence suggested the Indian variant was more transmissible than the Kent variant.

At present there is no evidence that the Indian variant is resistant to current vaccines.

Mr Hancock said there were 2,323 confirmed cases of the variant in the UK - of which 483 were in Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen.
 
Daniel Heera, 23, says he has no plans to be vaccinated.

"I'm Christian you see and I believe Jesus Christ is my lord and saviour and when you accept Jesus into your life, he is your operator and your medical assistant and is everything you need to get you through your days."

Mr Heera is one of almost 180,000 residents who live in the borough of Bedford, which in the past week saw the rate of coronavirus cases more than double from 56 per 100,000 people to 122.

"I believe whatever happens, happens, and I believe God is with me and I will be safe," he says.

"I think people need to stick to the guidelines and the rules and if you feel the need to get vaccinated then get vaccinated."

The government is urging people to take up the vaccine offer, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock saying 86 council districts have recording at least five cases of the Indian Covid variant, which is thought to be more transmissible.

==

Richard Daniel says he was eager to get vaccinated so he could see his elderly mother

Richard Daniel, 51, has just had his second vaccine. He has not seen his mother for nearly two years.

"It was the only way I could see my mum who is in her late 70s, so it would not have been fair with me not being treated," he says.

"I'm still wearing a mask everywhere because I think you have to take precautions.

"I think it is one of the things we are just going to have to put up with.

"There will be another variant after the Indian one. I think it will be ongoing.

"Since the vaccine has come out I've noticed a lot of people not wearing a mask. But you can only do what you can do."

==

Elizabeth Galpin says she is not worried about the rising infection rate in Bedford

Elizabeth Galpin, 52, has also been visiting the Guru Nanak Gurdwara Temple for her second vaccine shot.

"I'm not too worried to be honest - everybody is getting their vaccinations," she says. "I think we just have to keep going with it and be sensible.

"There will be pockets [of heightened infection rates] around Britain; it is just the way it works and it is going to continue."

She says she had no reticence about getting the vaccine.

"I think it is worth having it because otherwise you can get incredibly ill."

==

Linda and her partner Oskar did not want to give their full names.

The couple, originally from Latvia, are aware of the latest coronavirus statistics in Bedford. Yet both say they do not want to be vaccinated.

"Maybe if I see in the future that people who are vaccinated cannot catch the coronavirus, then yes." says Linda.

"But for the moment, no. I don't trust this vaccination."

The rise in cases and the emergence of the Indian variant, she says, does not change her view on whether or not to have the vaccine.

Her partner Oskar's scepticism does not stop at the vaccine.

"I don't believe all this corona thing and I don't want to be vaccinated at all," he says.

"We need to look at and observe the vaccine which was only introduced a few months ago.

"We are just like experimental bodies."

==

Susanna Swift says getting vaccinated is "good for the community"

Attitudes such as those of Oskar and Linda are considered "selfish" by driving instructor Susanna Swift.

The 53-year-old, who lives in Bedford, got her second vaccine shot on Tuesday.

She says the rising cases in the town make vaccinations more urgent.

"I'm not happy with the way cases are going up," she says.

"I think people should be a bit more sensible and actually stop being selfish and go and get the injection done because it is good for our community at the end of the day and we are all here to look after one another.

"I feel really good that I have had the second injection.

"I feel a sense that I am doing something good for my community in protecting others, especially the older people."

==

Louise Jackson, Bedford Council's health portfolio holder, urged people to take up the vaccine when it is offered

Louise Jackson, Bedford Borough Council's portfolio holder for health and public affairs, says: "We are very concerned here in Bedford.

"We have the second-highest rate in the country right now and the Indian variant does seem to be the dominant strain here, so we've got to do a lot of things really to try and bring that under control.

"It's really important that you do take your vaccine when it is offered to you."

BBC
 
Covid: Concern as Indian variant cases double in Wales

People are being warned "not to become complacent" after confirmed cases of an Indian variant of Covid-19 more than doubled in Wales in under a week.

Public Health Wales (PHW) said 25 cases of the "variant of concern" had now been confirmed, with most linked to international travel.

With numbers up from 11 in less than a week, PHW urged people to take precautions as lockdown eases.

Wales dropped to alert level two on Monday.

Pubs and restaurants were able to reopen indoors with social distancing, while cinemas, theatres, visitor attractions and indoor play centres could open for the first time in months.

However, as the lockdown changes were announced, the first minister said he had "held back" on easing measures further due to concerns about the Indian variant.

And although people are allowed to travel to a limited number of countries, Mark Drakeford has advised people to stay in the UK this year.

On Monday, England's health minister Matt Hancock told the House of Commons there were now 2,323 confirmed cases of the Indian variant in the UK, meaning a 77% increase of the variant in less than a week.

Figures published last Thursday showed there were 11 confirmed cases of the variant of concern, which originated in India, in Wales.

Dr Giri Shankar, who is leading PHW's response to the pandemic, confirmed on Tuesday this had now increased to 25.

He said the majority were associated with travel, and "robust contact tracing processes" were in place.

"The emergence of another transmissible new variant is a reminder that we should not become complacent, even as rates of the coronavirus across Wales remain low," he said.

"Protect yourself and others by remaining at least two metres away from everyone else, washing your hands regularly, and by wearing a face covering where required.

"Self-isolate and get a test if you or anyone in your household develop symptoms."

New health minister Baroness Eluned Morgan previously said she had not ruled targeted vaccination programmes if cases continued to rise in communities.

It comes after more than 6,200 people were vaccinated in Bolton, at the weekend after a spike in cases of the variant, with Mr Hancock not ruling out a local lockdown in the area.

The weekly case rate for Wales now stands at 9.5 for every 100,000 people, while over 2m people have now had their first dose of a vaccine.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-57164337.amp
 
There is a "danger of unrest" if Bolton were to be placed into local lockdown, a council leader has warned.

David Greenhalgh, a Conservative and head of the local authority, said that previous implementations of the coronavirus measures were ineffective in the region.

Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, Mr Greenhalgh was asked if it was true he had warned health secretary Matt Hancock about civil unrest in the event of local COVID restrictions.

The councillor said: "I do think there is a danger of unrest.

"There was a great deal of resentment. Bolton was...disproportionately affected, really since July last year, and even when our rates were coming down, we still remained in lockdown when other areas rates were higher than ours."

Bolton is currently one of the hotspots of the Indian variant of the coronavirus.

Cases have doubled in the last week, and 19 people are in hospital, according to Mr Hancock.

Mr Greenhalgh added: "We are putting all the measures in that we can at the moment. We have community spread, there's no doubt about that, and we're holding back a variant that would appear - although the evidence is still being gathered - to be a little bit more transmissible, easily transmissible.

"The majority of our cases are in very much our younger age groups - primary school, secondary school and in their 20s.

"We still haven't got an increase in hospitalisation and severe illness, which is hugely welcome, those figures still remain low.

"We're doing everything we can, the government has sent in surge vaccinations, surge testing… We're doing everything we can, but I think the next two weeks we will still see our cases rising."

SKY
 
Increasing numbers of the Indian variant especially in areas of high Asian population - and experts reckon this is down to people refusing to have the vaccine.

Are people thick or just plain ignorant.
 
There are now almost 3,000 cases of the Indian variant in the UK, the health secretary has told MPs.

Matt Hancock said 2,967 cases of the COVID-19 variant have now been recorded, having stood at more than 2,300 on Monday - a 28% increase.
 
Saj said:
Increasing numbers of the Indian variant especially in areas of high Asian population - and experts reckon this is down to people refusing to have the vaccine.

Are people thick or just plain ignorant.
Click to expand...

Combination of both.
 
UK increasingly confident COVID-19 vaccines work against Indian variant

Britain is increasingly confident that vaccines work against the coronavirus variant first found in India, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday, with a leading epidemiologist saying it may be spreading less quickly than first feared.

Johnson has warned that the emergence of the B.1.617.2 variant might derail his plans to lift England's lockdown fully on June 21, but on Wednesday he said the latest data had been encouraging.

"We have increasing confidence vaccines are effective against all variants, including the Indian variant," he told parliament.

British health minister Matt Hancock told a media conference there had been 2,967 cases of the variant, and reiterated that a decision on the next stage of easing of social restrictions would not take place until June 14.

England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said the best estimate was that the Indian variant was somewhere between a few percent and 50% more transmissible, and data should provide a clearer picture next week.

"I think most people feel it is going to be somewhere in the middle, rather than at the extremes of that band," Van-Tam told a media conference.

Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London, said there was a "glimmer of hope" from the latest data that the transmissibility of the variant might be lower than first feared.

"The magnitude of that advantage seems to have dropped a little bit with the most recent data," he told BBC radio, adding more data was needed.

He said that while it was likely vaccines would continue to protect against severe disease, the variant might lead to reduced vaccine efficacy against infection and transmission.

Ferguson said the initial rapid growth of B.1.617.2 had been among people who had travelled, were more likely to live in multi-generational households or in deprived areas, and that the ease of transmission might not be replicated in other settings.

Graham Medley, a professor of disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a member of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), said that while the variant was growing quickly in some hotspots, "we haven't yet seen it take off and grow rapidly everywhere else".

"One of the key things we'll be looking for in the coming weeks will be: how far does it spread outside of those areas," he told Reuters.

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/in...-be-smaller-than-feared-uk-expert-2021-05-19/
 
Saj said:
Increasing numbers of the Indian variant especially in areas of high Asian population - and experts reckon this is down to people refusing to have the vaccine.

Are people thick or just plain ignorant.
Click to expand...

Asian areas, but more Indian centric areas given the travel patterns and they are rapidly spreading - remember the genome sequencing takes around a week so current numbers are probably a lot higher.

Govt incompetence and selfish Asian travellers during the last lockdown to blame if UK goes through another wave - while other countries really open up.

Govt is getting stick but really should call out the British Asian (particularly Indian) citizens who thought they were too good for the national lockdown and went for their big weddings and holidays 'back home'.
 
Saj said:
Increasing numbers of the Indian variant especially in areas of high Asian population - and experts reckon this is down to people refusing to have the vaccine.

Are people thick or just plain ignorant.
Click to expand...

Wilful ignorance. They say they do “research” when what they do is check out a few YouTubes for confirmation bias purposes.
 
Britain's Prince William Gets First Dose Of Covid Vaccine


The Prince tweeted that he had received the shot earlier this week, alongside a picture of the moment he had the injection at London's Science Museum.

Britain's Prince William, who contracted COVID-19 last year, revealed on Thursday he had received his first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
Prince William, 38, the grandson of Queen Elizabeth and second-in-line to the British throne, revealed on Twitter he had received the shot earlier this week, alongside a picture of the moment he had the injection at London's Science Museum.

"On Tuesday I received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine," he said. "To all those working on the vaccine rollout - thank you for everything you've done and continue to do."

Prince William fell ill with the disease last April, at about the same time as his father, heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, although he kept the news secret until November.

Media reports said he had not wanted to alarm anyone and he had been hit pretty badly by the virus.

Other members of the royal family have also disclosed that they have received their vaccine doses, including the 95-year-old monarch and Charles.

The Queen said having the shot was very quick and did not hurt, and she encouraged the public to follow suit, saying those who were wary should think of others.

Britain has delivered the first shot of a vaccine to almost 37 million people in one of the world's fastest rollouts, with all those over 34 now eligible to receive a vaccination.


https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/britains-prince-william-gets-first-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine-reveals-that-he-got-infected-in-2020-2445570
 
https://news.sky.com/story/indian-variant-cases-recorded-in-uk-rise-to-3424-12312152?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter

There are now 3,424 cases of the Indian variant in the UK, according to the latest figures from Public Health England.

The B.1.617.2 variant of concern, which is believed to be more transmissible than the Kent variant that had become dominant in the country, has resulted in surge testing and vaccinations in many areas.Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Wednesday that 2,967 cases of the COVID-19 variant had been recorded, having stood at more than 2,300 on Monday.

These latest figures are up to 19 May and represent a rise of 2,111 from the previous week.

A total of 3,245 cases have been recorded in England, 136 in Scotland, 28 in Wales and 15 in Northern Ireland.

PHE said most cases are concentrated in the North West and London, but it was seeing "clusters of cases" across the country. Dr Meera Chand, PHE's COVID-19 incident director, said it was vital that people in the worst-affected areas who had yet to be given their second vaccine dose came forward as soon as it was offered.

"This is vitally important in the light of our current assessment that (B1617.2) has grown rapidly in England and may be highly transmissible," she said. "PHE will continue to monitor all variants closely, paying particular attention to the impact on hospitalisations and deaths which will help us to understand the protective effects of the vaccine."

The spread of the variant has raised fears that England's roadmap out of COVID restrictions could be delayed, but a postponement of step four, due on 21 June, is far from certain at this stage.

Boris Johnson has said there is "increasing confidence" that the current coronavirus vaccines will be effective against all variants, including the Indian one.

The PM said earlier this week there was "nothing conclusive" at this stage to say step four of the roadmap - lifting all legal limits on social contact - could be pushed back.

Mr Johnson said "we will know a lot more in a few days' time" and promised to "keep people informed" and "continually updated". The expectation is that a clearer picture of how much more transmissible the variant is will emerge next week as more data is collected.

Speaking at a Downing Street news conference on Wednesday, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam suggested it may end up being less transmissible than first feared.

Professor Van-Tam, one of England's deputy chief medical officers, said: "We have a credible range that goes from a few percent more transmissible through to 50% more transmissible - I think most people feel it is going to be somewhere in the middle... but it is just too early."
Click to expand...
 
Boris Johnson's former senior adviser says UK fell 'disastrously short' on Covid-19

London (CNN)The man who served as Boris Johnson's most senior adviser at the height of the coronavirus pandemic has apologized publicly for the UK government's response to the crisis, which he has said fell "disastrously short" of what the public should expect.


Dominic Cummings, who quit his post in Downing Street last November, told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday that "when the public needed us most the government failed. And I'd like to say to all the families of those who died unnecessarily that I am sorry." To date, more then 127,000 British citizens have died within 28 days of a positive Covid test.

Throughout his evidence, Cummings appeared eager to paint himself as being alert to the seriousness of the pandemic in January 2020, long before many others in government were taking it seriously. He claimed his former colleagues "failed to see the smoke" when Asian countries, notably Taiwan, hit the "panic button" around the turn of the year.

He said that senior government officials were occupied with other activities, be they professional or, in Cummings' words, "literally skiing," which meant the government was not on a "war footing" early enough.

Cummings claimed that Johnson believed coronavirus to be little more than a scare story and would say things like he wanted to have England's chief medical officer "inject him with Covid" live on air to prove it was nothing to worry about.
Central to Cummings's criticism of Johnson and his government is a lack of preparedness, leading to lockdowns being delayed and policies like herd immunity being pursued.

Cummings claimed that he first told Johnson the UK needed to be put under hard lockdown measures on March 11, 2020. National lockdown was not imposed until March 29.

Cummings listed numerous reasons for this delay, ranging from a belief that the British public would not go along with "Wuhan-style" measures, to external distractions. These ranged from then-US President Donald Trump wanting the UK to join a bombing mission in the Middle East, to stories about Johnson's fiance, Carrie Symonds, being upset about stories in newspapers about the couple's dog. But ultimately, his main accusation was that the government was simply unprepared and the plan in place at this time was based on falsehoods.

Boris Johnson's own affection for Dominic Cummings was well known in Downing Street.

On herd immunity, Cummings claimed that the government was working on an assumption that nothing could be done to stop the virus spreading and that vaccines would not be "relevant in 2020." He said that UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock was "completely wrong" when he said on March 15, 2020, that herd immunity wasn't part of the government's plan, because "herd immunity was regarded as an unavoidable fact."

Downing Street has yet to respond to Cummings' criticism.

Critics of Cummings have already questioned his legitimacy as a witness. During the period of time that his evidence concerns, he was arguably the most senior person working inside Downing Street, aside from Johnson.

He repeatedly won battles with other government officials, cementing his absolute authority as the most important person in Johnson's inner circle. Johnson's own affection for Cummings was well known. The Prime Minister had on more than one occasion called his former chief adviser a "genius" who he "loved" during private events at which CNN was present. During Cummings' time in government, he would frequently attend press briefings and lurk at the back, watching his subordinates at work, much to their discomfort. Meanwhile, journalists would flock around a man who had come to be an almost mythical creature.

It's therefore extremely unlikely that the views of Cummings were ignored or sidelined at the height of the pandemic.
It's also worth noting that Cummings is discredited for other reasons, most notably the time he drove his wife and child hundreds of miles across the country during a national lockdown after coming down with Covid-like symptoms.

According to Ben Page of public research firm IPSOS Mori, "Cummings was the number one reason people gave when explaining why they broke lockdown restrictions. He is a very unpopular and discredited man."
Also affecting the legitimacy of this evidence is that fact that Cummings quit his position in the midst of a factional battle at the heart of Downing Street that he and his allies are believed to have lost. This, critics have argued, could be the key motivating factor behind any attacks on Johnson's inner circle that do not relate to the pandemic.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/26/uk/dominic-cummings-boris-johnson-pandemic-handling-intl-gbr/index.html
 
The number of cases of the Indian COVID variant in England has risen by 3,535 to 6,959 since last week, according to official figures.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the variant is spreading and the latest estimates show it makes up more than half - and possibly as many as three quarters - of all new COVID cases.

==

UK coronavirus cases increase by 3,542 in latest 24-hour period, with 10 more deaths
 
UK approves single shot Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine

The United Kingdom approved single shot Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine on Friday.

Last week, on May 19, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain is increasingly confident that vaccines work against the coronavirus variant first found in India, with a leading epidemiologist saying it may be spreading less quickly than first feared.

Johnson has warned that the emergence of the B.1.617.2 variant might derail his plans to lift England's lockdown fully on June 21, but on Wednesday he said the latest data had been encouraging.
 
‘Things could get bad very quickly’: Scientist urges caution over easing lockdown

A review of what measures will be relaxed on June 21 has been delayed due to the Indian variant.

Caution is needed in determining whether England’s coronavirus restrictions can be lifted next month or the situation could turn bad “very, very quickly”, a professor whose argument against herd immunity helped trigger England’s first lockdown has warned.

Sir Tim Gowers, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, told The Guardian the downside of being “a bit more cautious” was a lot smaller than the downside of getting it wrong.

Asked about the next step in lockdown easing in England, due on June 21, Prof Gowers said he did not believe the plans were necessarily at risk, but urged caution.

“Because Boris Johnson has made a big thing about all the steps being irreversible, I think he’s put himself in a position where once he takes a step, he’ll be extremely reluctant to reverse because that would be a big U-turn, an embarrassing climbdown,” he said.

“So I think if that’s the way you’re going to play things, then you should be very, very cautious about every step you take … And maybe everything [will] be OK, maybe the number of people who are vaccinated will be just enough … ‘R’ will broadly speaking stay below one even with Indian variants.

“But if it’s not OK, we know, because of mathematics, that things will get bad very, very quickly. Or at least, maybe it won’t look that quick to start with, but it’ll grow exponentially.

“So it’ll pick up speed and become a big problem.”

The Guardian said Prof Gowers sent the Prime Minister’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings a five-page document warning of the need to “move urgently to extreme containment measures” in March last year.

Other experts on Friday argued restrictions should remain in place until more of the population had received both vaccine doses. Professor Christina Pagel, a member of Independent Safe from University College London, said reopening should be delayed a few more months.

The Prime Minister told reporters on Thursday he “didn’t see anything currently in the data” to divert from the June reopening target before adding: “But we may need to wait.”

The Times reported face coverings and work from home guidance may remain in place after June 21, when all legal limits on social contact are due to be lifted in England.

Read complete article here : https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/indian-scotland-prime-minister-dominic-cummings-people-b937893.html
 
Anti-lockdown protesters caused one of the UK's biggest shopping centres to close early on Saturday after forcing their way inside.

Demonstrators clashed with police as they pushed to get into Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush, west London.
 
Reports in the Times today that the UK authorities kept a lid on news of the Indian variant despite officially putting neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh on the red list very quickly.

Yet no action was taken to prevent travel from India, and now this is threatening the lifting of restrictions in June. I am absolutely furious that we have gone through a year of developing vaccines and rolling out administration, and it could all be brought crashing down because presumably we were currying favour with Indian politicians.
 
Covid-19: 'Very few' Covid hospital patients had two jabs, NHS boss says

Vaccine minister: "Irresponsible" not to consider compulsory NHS staff vaccination
The head of NHS Providers has said "very, very few" Covid patients in hospital in England have received two coronavirus jabs - showing the vaccines provide "very high" levels of protection.


Chris Hopson said patients tended now to be younger - meaning there was a lower need for critical care.

But he said it was "incredibly striking" how busy hospitals were, as they deal with non-Covid backlogs.

Trusts were going "full pelt", he said.

Meanwhile, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi has confirmed that the government is considering making coronavirus vaccines compulsory for NHS staff.

NHS staff have been eligible to receive a jab since the first phase of the vaccine rollout - but the fact that there is no requirement for them to take up the offer has become a widely-debated issue.

Mr Zahawi told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "It would be irresponsible of us as government and ministers not to ask that question."

He added that surgeons have to be vaccinated for Hepatitis B "because there is a responsibility to protect those that are most vulnerable".

Mr Hopson said that trusts are seeing more patients who put off treatment in the pandemic - and who now require more complex care and longer stays.

There are 870 coronavirus patients in hospital in the UK, latest government figures show, compared to the peak of 39,249 in January.

Call for surgery hubs to tackle NHS backlog
"More informed debate" was needed over ending coronavirus restrictions in England on 21 June, Mr Hopson added.

Mr Hopson said he had spoken to heads of NHS trusts in hotspot areas in the past 48 hours, with one trust seeing 47 coronavirus patients on Saturday, compared to 49 the day before.

In comparison, the trust had 170 coronavirus patients during last November's peak.

A "handful" of patients in hospital had received both vaccination doses, but they usually have additional conditions, he added.

About five million patients were waiting for surgery in England in March - the highest figure since modern records began.

NHS England figures show that more than 436,000 people were waiting for more than a year, compared with 1,600 before the pandemic.

Total numbers on waiting list
Meanwhile, writing in the Observer, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said government "incompetence" is putting the end of restrictions at risk - after "weak, slow decisions" allowed the Indian variant to gain a foothold in several UK hotspots.

Boris Johnson and ministers were too distracted by "covering their own backs" and "civil war" following accusations by former adviser Dominic Cummings, Sir Keir said.

He said Mr Johnson's refusal to take action before the second wave led to "avoidable and unforgivable" deaths and "mistakes were being repeated" as cases begin to rise again.

The prime minister has previously denied that people died needlessly, saying the government faced "incredibly difficult" decisions but always aimed to protect lives.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the UK was making "fantastic progress" in vaccination, with 53% of 30 to 39-year-olds having had their first dose in just over two weeks.

He said the research on the vaccine's effectiveness against variants was also "encouraging". "Vaccines are saving lives, are safe, effective and our way out of this devastating global pandemic," he said.

On Saturday it was revealed the Duchess of Cambridge is among the 39 million people in the UK who have now received at least one jab.

Nearly three-quarters of the adult population have had their first dose, while almost 25 million people have received their second dose.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57294438
 
Newspaper headlines: Jabs 'ramped up' and Covid passport 'scrapped'

On their front pages, the Times, the i newspaper, and the Daily Express focus on the race to give every over 50-year-old in England a second vaccine dose by 21 June - the date when social distancing restrictions are due to be lifted.

The papers pick up on the words of Vaccine Minister Nadhim Zahawi on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show yesterday when he said the aim was to "vaccinate at scale".

The Daily Telegraph highlights NHS data, which suggests that fewer than half of people in their 50s have had their second jab.

According to the Daily Express, Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the vaccine rollout may be accelerated. But analysis by the Times concludes that the target should be met, even at current rates.

Ministers want to give second doses to all over-50s before the next stage on the roadmap out of lockdown, the papers say
The Daily Telegraph reports that plans to make Covid passports a legal requirement at large events are to be scrapped. The paper says it's been told by a well-placed source that the proposal has been killed off.

The Telegraph suggests this may, in part, be because foreign visitors can't use the NHS app and people with certain medical conditions can't be vaccinated.

According to the Guardian, combustible cladding may have been put on 70 schools since the Grenfell Tower fire. The suggestion comes from a study by the insulation manufacturer, Rockwool.

The education department has put forward plans that would allow such cladding on school buildings under 69ft.

The Guardian says firefighters, politicians and the Construction Industry Council want combustible cladding banned. A Whitehall spokesperson insisted that all materials had to pass tough safety checks.

The Sun reports that British holidaymakers are missing their flights home because of delays by one Covid-19 test provider.

Some customers using the government-approved firm, Qured, complain that they have waited hours for their fit-to-fly certificates after a negative test.

Qured told the Sun that the timings of delivery and results were generally accurate, but could change due to circumstances out of its control.

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-the-papers-57302716
 
COVID-19: Government urged to delay 21 June reopening by a month until schools break up

There is growing doubt over whether the prime minister will be able to keep to his 21 June date due to the Indian variant.

The full lifting of restrictions in England should be delayed by a month beyond 21 June due to the impact of the Indian variant of coronavirus, a leading scientist advising the government has told Sky News.

Stage four of Boris Johnson's roadmap for easing coronavirus rules - when the prime minister aims to remove all legal limits on social contact - is scheduled to take place from 21 June.

But there is growing doubt over whether the prime minister will be able to keep to that date due to the spread of the Indian variant - now renamed as the Delta variant by the World Health Organisation - within the UK.

Live COVID updates from UK and around world


Professor Ravi Gupta, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), told Sky News that a further easing of measures on 21 June was "a bit early".

"I think we need at least a few weeks - probably a month until schools have closed, when the risk of transmission within schools falls during summer holidays," he said.

"It then gives us another four weeks' worth of data to collect about how the [Indian variant of the] virus is growing in the population, what sort of rate it is growing at, how it is doing relative to the previous strain B117.

"All of that information is coming in weekly and it will enable us to build up a better picture whilst staying safe and maintaining the gains we made through that really painful three of four months we had."

Prof Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology of the University of Cambridge, warned the Indian variant offered a "real risk now of generalised transmission in young people who are not vaccinated and, of course, school age children as well as those who are vulnerable and haven't responded to the vaccine".


He added: "We've got to a really good position and the easing has been well done so far.

"But we've obviously got this complicating factor which is this new virus that was identified in India... which has a new set of properties that we did not anticipate happening.

"We really should be making sure we think about what we're doing in the context of this new, unknown virus."

Other scientists advising the government have also sounded warnings about the planned full reopening on 21 June.

Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), has suggested going ahead with the 21 June reopening would be "a bad decision".

Meanwhile, British Medical Association (BMA) council chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul has said the country is at a "pivotal moment" in the fight against coronavirus.

"A premature ending of all legal restrictions which then resulted in a surge of infections would undermine our health service's efforts to tackle the biggest level of backlog of care it has ever faced," he said.

"It would also add further demands on staff who are exhausted, both mentally and physically."

Dr Nagpaul called on the government to "hold off making a final decision on whether lockdown is fully lifted on June 21 until latest data can be scientifically considered".

The Royal College of Nursing also urged caution on the 21 June reopening.

"As the NHS starts the road to recovery now is the time to take cautious steps and not take an unchecked leap to freedom," said chief executive Pat Cullen.

"Taking the right steps now will prevent this from becoming a wave that could threaten the recovery we have all worked so hard to deliver."

Small business minister Paul Scully told Sky News that ramping up the vaccination programme could yet see the 21 June reopening take place.

"We're taking a careful view on where any increase in infections with the Indian variant are happening and that's why we're looking at surge testing in those areas and really making sure we're getting on the front foot," he said.

"But by accelerating the vaccination programme and making people get their second jabs... those vaccinations can help us break that cycle of people having to go to hospital if they get COVID.

"And that's what's going to keep us on the roadmap."

The government has promised to announce a decision on whether the 21 June reopening will take place with a week's notice - on 14 June.

And Mr Scully dismissed "speculation" ahead of that timetable, adding: "This isn't fudge. What we've said is we'll look at the data, we'll make a decision by 14 June as to what's happening on 21 June.

"Clearly, we know the fact that case numbers are going up. We do want to make sure we'll only open up based on data not those dates.

"So we'll use the latest information. This isn't fudge, this is making sure that we just don't speculate and that we use the latest information and the most accurate information to make a really, really important decision."

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-scientists-urge-delay-to-21-june-reopening-but-minister-says-ramping-up-jabs-could-keep-roadmap-on-track-12321953
 
So Portugal gets green listed just before the Champions league final and red listed just after 5 days after the final?
What a coincidence....

Are people in the UK not expected to travel any more except if they are rich (to afford the 1750 GBP)
 
COVID-19: Pfizer jab approved for 12 to 15-year-olds by Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency

The UK's medicines regulator has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the decision followed a "rigorous review" of safety and effectiveness in that age group - and that the benefits of having the COVID jab outweighed the risks.

Dr June Raine, MHRA chief executive, said: "We have in place a comprehensive safety surveillance strategy for monitoring the safety of all UK-approved COVID-19 vaccines and this surveillance will include the 12- to 15-year age group."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the next step was for the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to advise whether routine vaccination should be offered to those aged 12 to 17.

"We will be guided by the expert advisors and will update in due course."

The Pfizer/BioNTech jab was approved for use in the UK for 16 and 17 year olds in December 2020.

The JCVI's current advice is that those aged 16 - 18 should be offered vaccination if they are in a priority Phase 1 group or they are the household contacts of someone who is immunosuppressed.

There is no routine vaccination of under 18s currently under way.

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-medicines-regulator-approves-pfizer-jab-for-12-to-15-year-olds-12324656
 
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