This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen
on .
It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
UK coronavirus live: death toll rises to 137; health officials get powers to detain
UK coronavirus live: Queen urges country to unite; death toll reaches 137
(30 minutes later)
Rolling coverage of the latest coronavirus developments in the UK
Rolling coverage of the latest coronavirus developments in the UK
Boris Johnson is due to start his daily coronavirus press conference within the next few minutes.
Around four in 10 coronavirus-related deaths in the UK so far have been in London, the Press Association reports. Its analysis goes on:
The BFI & Radio Times Television Festival has been cancelled.
The festival had been scheduled to take place from April 17 to 19 at BFI Southbank in London, but the venue has been closed because of Covid-19.
The Queen has issued a message to the nation about coronavirus. She is urging everyone to play their part, saying the nation’s history has been shaped by people “coming together to work as one”. She says “we all have a vitally important part to play”.
Here is the message in full.
Perhaps “people and communities coming together” is not quite the best way of putting it in this era of social distancing, but you know what she means ...
Britons stranded in Peru have expressed fury that foreign secretary Dominic Raab said there was no way out of the country because of travel restrictions when the British embassy in Lima sent out a communication last night asking hundreds of stranded Britons to register interest in a rescue charter flight put on by Colombian airline Avianca, at a cost of £3,000 a ticket.
“This is the only charter option that we are aware of at this moment for a direct flight to London,” said the communique asking people to register their interest. Edd Webster, who has organised a WhatsApp group involving hundreds of stranded Britons said he was deeply disappointed that after three days of pleading with MPs and the embassy they have come up with such a solution.
Duncan Sharples, whose 22 year old son is among a small group of medical students from Sheffield stranded in Cusco said Raab should not be denying the existence of the Lima embassy’s efforts to get people signed up to such an exploitative venture. He said:
The Foreign and Commonwealth office was approached for comment. It is understood efforts are being made to put on rescue flights in the coming days.
A social enterprise restaurant in London Bridge is pledging to give out 500 freshly cooked meals each day to vulnerable and disadvantaged members of the local community affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.
Following a very busy first day and donations from local kitchens, Brigade Bar + Kitchen confirmed the initiative will go ahead tomorrow and, it hoped, would continue for the foreseeable future.
Sky’s Sam Coates has more on the coronavirus emergency powers bill.
Sky’s Sam Coates has more on the coronavirus emergency powers bill.
Asda has said it will give full pay for 12 weeks to any of its workers if they need to self-isolate due to coronavirus.
Asda has said it will give full pay for 12 weeks to any of its workers if they need to self-isolate due to coronavirus.
The supermarket giant also said it had started working with a number of national companies to offer temporary jobs to people, in view of the “significant demands” being placed on supermarkets.
The supermarket giant also said it had started working with a number of national companies to offer temporary jobs to people, in view of the “significant demands” being placed on supermarkets.
Asda also announced it will be paying its small suppliers immediately to help them keep their business operating and is to provide a rent-free quarter to around 250 small business tenants in its stores who are struggling to operate during these unprecedented times.
Asda also announced it will be paying its small suppliers immediately to help them keep their business operating and is to provide a rent-free quarter to about 250 small business tenants in its stores who are struggling to operate during these unprecedented times.
Chief executive Roger Burnley said:
Chief executive Roger Burnley said:
Students and people who may have lost their jobs in the hospitality and catering sector in the UK are being urged to apply to make up a shortfall of workers on farms, just weeks before harvests begin.
Students and people who may have lost their jobs in the hospitality and catering sector in the UK are being urged to apply to make up a shortfall of workers on farms, just weeks before harvests begin.
Next month British strawberries will be ripe; blackberries arrive in May, and raspberries, blackcurrants and blueberries will be ready to be picked from June onwards. But the coronavirus pandemic will leave farmers facing a severe shortage of labour to help pick and pack them.
Next month British strawberries will be ripe; blackberries arrive in May, and raspberries, blackcurrants and blueberries will be ready to be picked from June onwards. But the coronavirus pandemic will leave farmers facing a severe shortage of labour to help pick and pack them.
More than 70,000 seasonal workers are normally required to harvest the UK’s fruit and vegetables. Domestic supplies are critical for soft fruits with around 90% of the strawberries and 60% of the raspberries we eat grown in the UK.
More than 70,000 seasonal workers are normally required to harvest the UK’s fruit and vegetables. Domestic supplies are critical for soft fruits with around 90% of the strawberries and 60% of the raspberries we eat grown in the UK.
There is now uncertainty that overseas workers will be able to travel to the UK over the next month to take up those jobs. There is also worry among the existing overseas labour force working on farms in the UK about whether to stay or travel back home.
There is now uncertainty that overseas workers will be able to travel to the UK over the next month to take up those jobs. There is also worry among the existing overseas labour force working on farms in the UK about whether to stay or travel back home.
HOPS has called for interested applicants to find out more and apply online.
HOPS has called for interested applicants to find out more and apply online.
The British Summer Fruits association said it would be mounting a large-scale recruitment campaign in the next few days aimed at that part of the UK population left out of work by the coronavirus. It said 98% of harvest staff last year were from outside the UK.
The British Summer Fruits association said it would be mounting a large-scale recruitment campaign in the next few days aimed at that part of the UK population left out of work by the coronavirus. It said 98% of harvest staff last year were from outside the UK.
The coronavirus emergency powers bill gives government sweeping powers to close premises and ban gatherings. The explanatory note accompanying the bill sets out how broad the power is.
It also extends the power to Scotland and Northern Ireland too, where there is no equivalent legislation.
Fast-food chain Leon will turn its restaurants into mini-supermarkets in a bid to ease food concerns caused by panic-buying in the UK, PA Media reports.
Shelves across the country have been stripped bare of essential items, as shoppers form lengthy queues outside stores – despite official government advice that this is not necessary.
Leon, which has more than 75 restaurants, will transform its shops and launch a new e-commerce platform that allows customers to book a delivery slot a few days in advance, similar to how other supermarkets do.
Both the restaurant and website will sell restaurant-quality ready meals, sauces, meats and other food that customers can store and eat at home.
The platform will launch by 25 March, while customers will also be able to buy food immediately using Deliveroo and JustEat.
Voters are more likely to approve of the Boris Johnson and the government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak than disapprove, according to some new polling from Ipsos MORI. Some 49% of people think the government is handling it well, against 35% who think it is handling it badly (a net rating of +14), and Johnson’s rating are 47% v 38% (a net rating of +9).
But the young, Labour supporters, public sectors workers and Londoners are likely to be significantly more critical of the government than other people, Ipsos MORI says. (These groups overlap quite a lot.) In its write-up Ipsos MORI says:
Coronavirus also seems to have affected the government’s overall approval rating, which is now at +7, with 48% of people saying they are satisfied with the government and 41% dissatisfied. Ipsos MORI says this is the the first positive net rating for a government since July 2010. As this chart shows, it is also the highest rating for any government at this stage in its term in office since Tony Blair’s.
The danger, of course, is that events in the coronavirus crisis are changing by the day, and opinion could flip very easily. The UQ in the Commons this morning illustrated how vulnerable the government will be if it does not come up with a huge package of employment support very soon. (See 11.48am.) But for the moment the politics of coronavirus seem to be working to Johnson’s advantage.
Weddings should be restricted to five people because of the coronavirus crisis, the Church of England has said.
The legal minimum for wedding ceremonies is the person officiating, the bride and groom, and two witnesses.
Weddings and baptisms need to be “very significantly scaled back to meet the need for social distancing”, the church says in new guidance. It will help families who prefer to rearrange ceremonies to a future date or proceed but hold a public blessing at a later date.
Those attending baptisms should be limited to the candidate, their parents (or guardians or carers), the godparents and the minister.
The priest should not hold the child, and water should be administered with an appropriate implement such as a shell.
David Walker, the bishop of Manchester, said:
A reminder of the official advice, from the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, as he said that the frequency of underground services was likely to significantly reduce over the days and weeks ahead.
The Labour MP Kate Osamor has been ordered to apologise by the Commons standards committee after it found that she broke parliamentary rules by using Commons notepaper to write a character reference for her son before he was sentenced in court for a drugs offence. The committee said in a report (pdf) that there was nothing wrong with Osamor supplying the reference, but that the use of Commons stationery implied her letter carried the authority of the house. But it was a relatively minor breach of rules, the committee suggested.
The committee also said Osamor broke the code of conduct by threatening a journalist who came to her house, and by then at first refusing to respond to contact from the parliamentary commissioner for standards.
In its report the committee said:
The NHS has announced that a further 29 people who tested positive for coronavirus in England have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in England to 128. It says the patients were aged between 47 and 96 years old and had underlying health conditions.
These are hospital where the latest patients died:
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust - 2
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - 1
Barts Health NHS Trust - 2
North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust - 2
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust - 3
Homerton University Hospital Foundation Trust - 1
Barking Havering and Redbridge University Hospital NHS Trust- 4
Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust - 2
Croydon Health NHS Trust - 1
The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust - 2
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust- 1
Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust - 3
Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust- 1
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - 1
Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust - 2
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - 1
Total: 29
It takes the total number of deaths in the UK to 137
The Co-op is to create 5,000 store-based posts which will provide temporary employment for hospitality workers who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus crisis.
The retail giant said it is simplifying its recruitment process so successful candidates can start work within days.
Permanent jobs will also be on offer at the Co-op’s 2,600 stores across the country.
Pharmacies were warned not to take advantage of people panic-buying medical supplies after reports emerged of independent stores profiteering.
Most supermarkets and large chain chemists have been out of stock of over the counter drugs such as paracetamol in recent days as people have stripped the shelves bare in anticipation of becoming ill with Covid-19.
Some smaller pharmacies have been filling the gap by breaking down larger prescription batches of paracetamol and selling them on at inflated prices. The Guardian found one small pharmacy in south London offering paper bags of 13 paracetamol at 15p per tablet and without labelling, compared to 4p per tablet in supermarket packs last week. The same store was also selling a sample-sized bottle of hand sanitiser for £4, when standard supermarket bottles of hand sanitiser are 300ml, roughly six times the volume, and were priced at £3.49.
The regulator, the General Pharmaceutical Council, told us that pharmacists may need to “depart from established procedures” given current exceptional circumstances and prepare smaller packs to keep families supplied, but should only sell them with the appropriate labelling and safety information. “The care of patients and the public should be the primary concern of pharmacy owners and professionals and they should not be exploiting the Covid-19 pandemic for financial gain,” a spokesperson said.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society, which represents pharmacists, said that splitting packs of paracetamol in this way was not normally within the rules, but that it was accepted that flexibility was needed. Its director of pharmacy Robbie Turner said:
