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.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/mar/20/uk-coronavirus-live-confusion-over-key-workers-list-as-schools-close
The article has changed 19 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 10 | Version 11 |
|---|---|
| UK coronavirus live: government discussing new London clampdown on pubs, cinemas and gyms | UK coronavirus live: government discussing new London clampdown on pubs, cinemas and gyms |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| All the day’s developments as schools across the UK close their doors | All the day’s developments as schools across the UK close their doors |
| Northwick Park Hospital has declared a “critical incident” due to a surge in patients with coronavirus, the Health Service Journal reports. | |
| In a message to staff seen by the HSJ, the hospital in Harrow said it has no critical care capacity left and has contacted neighbouring hospitals about transferring patients who need critical care to other sites. | |
| The hospital is run by London North West University Healthcare Trust, which has since reported six deaths related to coronavirus, all at Northwick Park. | |
| The news comes on the same day the Daily Telegraph reported (paywall) that Covid-19 patients were being turned away by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust as demand for lifesaving treatment surges. | |
| The death toll in London has risen more sharply than the rest of the country, with figures revealing yesterday that four in 10 coronavirus-related deaths so far in the UK have been in London. | |
| You can read the full HSJ story here. | |
| A further 39 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in England to 167, NHS England said. | |
| The patients were aged between 50 and 99 years old and had underlying health conditions. | |
| They died at hospitals run by the following NHS Trusts: | |
| Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Trust - 2 Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust - 1 South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - 1 Medway NHS Foundation Trust - 1 Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust - 2 Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust - 1 Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust - 2 Great Western Hospital NHS Trust - 1 Torbay & South Devon NHS Foundation Trust - 2 Royal Gloucester NHS Foundation Trust - 1 Royal United Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - 1 Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - 4 Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust - 1 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - 4 University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust - 1 Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust - 3 London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust - 1 Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - 4 St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - 3 University College London Hospitals NHS Trust - 1 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust - 2 | |
| Total: 39. | |
| WhatsApp is in talks to set up a dedicated NHS chatbot to allow people to access basic information about the coronavirus pandemic, sources with knowledge of the discussions have told the Guardian, as the messaging service seeks to shed its growing reputation as a hub for disinformation about the pandemic. | |
| Any NHS chatbot is likely to follow the same pattern as the one the World Health Organization launched on Friday, which gives people access to up-to-date information about the virus, and emoji-laden guidance on how to combat its spread, through the messaging service. | |
| WhatsApp sources said separately that it had also considered whether it should further limit the number of people and groups to whom a single message can be forwarded, but that no change was imminent. The service introduced a limit last year that prevents a single message or piece of content from being forwarded to more than five people or groups at a time in an attempt to reduce the spread of fake news. | |
| You can read the full story here. | |
| The government needs to introduce food rationing urgently to prevent key workers and disadvantaged families going hungry, leading food experts have said in a letter to the prime minister today. | |
| Tim Lang, a former government adviser and professor of food policy at London’s City University, said a major food crisis was rapidly unfolding. Rationing is already taking place unofficially in supermarkets but in a way that takes no account of people’s need, he has told Downing Street along with fellow authors, Prof Erik Millstone of Sussex University, and Prof Terry Marsden of Cardiff University. | |
| They warn that food banks and food share schemes that give food to those on low incomes are reporting serious shortages, while key workers who can only shop at the end of their shifts are finding shelves empty and nothing to eat. | |
| Lang said: | |
| The food bank was unable to source food and essentials such as tinned meat and vegetables, long-life milk, and toiletries such as toilet paper and soap even though it had funding to buy them. | |
| Kris Gibbon-Walsh, head of operations at Fareshare, a charity that supplies food manufacturing and retail surplus to charities that would usually feed 1 million people a week, said it too was struggling to get supplies. He called for the government to step in immediately with funding and mandatory allocation of supplies: | |
| The experts’ letter to the prime minister says “there is a dangerous tendency to blame consumers” and that the problems only arise because of panic-buying. In the absence of clearer planning, with market mechanisms failing, consumers are only acting rationally in preparing for being confined at home, the authors add. | |
| Before coronavirus struck, nearly 8bn meals a year in the UK were being eaten out of home. Suddenly people are having to make nearly all their meals at home. | |
| Gibbon-Walsh said supermarkets were struggling to adapt their algorithms quickly enough. These limit the amount delivered to stores to the amount of shelf space, number of people available to stack them, and number of drivers, so even though retailers have surplus at distribution centres, they cannot get it to stores to meet current demand. | |
| Parking app JustPark has launched a nationwide appeal to increase the number of free parking spaces near hospitals by allowing the general public to list spaces for free via their app. | Parking app JustPark has launched a nationwide appeal to increase the number of free parking spaces near hospitals by allowing the general public to list spaces for free via their app. |
| The aim is to ease pressure on NHS staff and patients with more parking options and to help them avoid using public transport to and from the hospital. | The aim is to ease pressure on NHS staff and patients with more parking options and to help them avoid using public transport to and from the hospital. |
| The app will not be levying any fees from the listings, in order to say a huge thank you to NHS workers and a ‘get better soon’ to patients. | The app will not be levying any fees from the listings, in order to say a huge thank you to NHS workers and a ‘get better soon’ to patients. |
| Details here. | Details here. |
| When Boris Johnson says we’ll turn the Covid-19 tide in 12 weeks, it’s just another line for the side of a bus, writes columnist Marina Hyde. | When Boris Johnson says we’ll turn the Covid-19 tide in 12 weeks, it’s just another line for the side of a bus, writes columnist Marina Hyde. |
| Read the full piece here. | Read the full piece here. |
| Television channels are scrambling to commission new programmes suitable for a stay-at-home audience, with Channel 4 today announcing that it has commissioned Jamie Oliver to present a daily show providing tips for cooking simple recipes in a crisis. | Television channels are scrambling to commission new programmes suitable for a stay-at-home audience, with Channel 4 today announcing that it has commissioned Jamie Oliver to present a daily show providing tips for cooking simple recipes in a crisis. |
| The programme, entitled Keep Cooking and Carry On, will be broadcast every weekday next week at 5.30pm – with Oliver pledging to teach people “how to make the most from kitchen staples and how to be creative with whatever ingredients they’ve got at home”. | The programme, entitled Keep Cooking and Carry On, will be broadcast every weekday next week at 5.30pm – with Oliver pledging to teach people “how to make the most from kitchen staples and how to be creative with whatever ingredients they’ve got at home”. |
| The BBC is already preparing its own new public service programming slate, including daily educational programmes and recipes for people with limited food supplies. | The BBC is already preparing its own new public service programming slate, including daily educational programmes and recipes for people with limited food supplies. |
| The Department for Education has announced more details on how assessments will replace the cancelled A-levels and GCSE exams in England this year, with pupils to be told their grades before the end of July. | The Department for Education has announced more details on how assessments will replace the cancelled A-levels and GCSE exams in England this year, with pupils to be told their grades before the end of July. |
| The DfE says the exam regulator Ofqual will set grades using national criteria, with each student’s individual grades then ratified by their teachers. Pupils will have the option of sitting an exam early in the next academic year.The statement reads: | The DfE says the exam regulator Ofqual will set grades using national criteria, with each student’s individual grades then ratified by their teachers. Pupils will have the option of sitting an exam early in the next academic year.The statement reads: |
| The government is investigating a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus deaths in the West Midlands, with one of the region’s NHS trusts reporting nine deaths from the illness, the highest number for any trust in the country. | The government is investigating a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus deaths in the West Midlands, with one of the region’s NHS trusts reporting nine deaths from the illness, the highest number for any trust in the country. |
| The health secretary, Matt Hancock, confirmed this morning that the government was looking “very, very closely” at why a hotspot seems to have emerged in the region, where 28 deaths have been recorded so far. The majority of deaths have been of elderly and at-risk patients. | The health secretary, Matt Hancock, confirmed this morning that the government was looking “very, very closely” at why a hotspot seems to have emerged in the region, where 28 deaths have been recorded so far. The majority of deaths have been of elderly and at-risk patients. |
| Following suit, Aldi has announced a recruitment drive to hire 9,000 new workers, including 4,000 permanent jobs, to help keep shelves filled during the coronavirus outbreak. | Following suit, Aldi has announced a recruitment drive to hire 9,000 new workers, including 4,000 permanent jobs, to help keep shelves filled during the coronavirus outbreak. |
| The supermarket added that all nappies and paper products, including toilet and kitchen roll, will now be restricted to two items per customer. All other products will remain restricted to four items per customer, with a few exceptions. | The supermarket added that all nappies and paper products, including toilet and kitchen roll, will now be restricted to two items per customer. All other products will remain restricted to four items per customer, with a few exceptions. |
| The government has banned the parallel export of 80 crucial medicines – including adrenaline, insulin, paracetamol and morphine – to protect supplies during the coronavirus outbreak. | The government has banned the parallel export of 80 crucial medicines – including adrenaline, insulin, paracetamol and morphine – to protect supplies during the coronavirus outbreak. |
| The government describes parallel exporting as “when companies buy medicines meant for UK patients and sell on for a higher price in another country, potentially causing or aggravating supply problems”. | The government describes parallel exporting as “when companies buy medicines meant for UK patients and sell on for a higher price in another country, potentially causing or aggravating supply problems”. |
| The department of health said that any company found to be parallel exporting could face tough action from the country’s drug regulator, including the removal of their trading licence. The full list of medicines is here. | The department of health said that any company found to be parallel exporting could face tough action from the country’s drug regulator, including the removal of their trading licence. The full list of medicines is here. |
| Car giant Jaguar Land Rover is to suspend production at its UK plants because of the coronavirus crisis. | Car giant Jaguar Land Rover is to suspend production at its UK plants because of the coronavirus crisis. |
| The company said production will be temporarily halted over the course of next week, with the intention to resume on 20 April, subject to review of the “rapidly-changing circumstances.” | The company said production will be temporarily halted over the course of next week, with the intention to resume on 20 April, subject to review of the “rapidly-changing circumstances.” |
| The firm has plants across the UK, including Castle Bromwich, Solihull, and Halewood. | The firm has plants across the UK, including Castle Bromwich, Solihull, and Halewood. |
| Other firms including BMW, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Vauxhall have already halted production in the UK. | Other firms including BMW, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Vauxhall have already halted production in the UK. |
| Farnborough International Airshow, which had been due to take place in July, has been cancelled. | Farnborough International Airshow, which had been due to take place in July, has been cancelled. |
| Hotel Chocolat is the latest retailer to announce all NHS workers will get a 50% discount in stores on presentation of their staff pass during the coronavirus crisis. | Hotel Chocolat is the latest retailer to announce all NHS workers will get a 50% discount in stores on presentation of their staff pass during the coronavirus crisis. |
| All performances at “major commercial” West End theatres are cancelled until 26 April, according to the Society of London Theatre. | All performances at “major commercial” West End theatres are cancelled until 26 April, according to the Society of London Theatre. |
| The leader of Cornwall council, Julian German, and the Cornish MP Steve Double have asked people not to travel to the far south west of England. | The leader of Cornwall council, Julian German, and the Cornish MP Steve Double have asked people not to travel to the far south west of England. |
| Politicians and doctors fear an influx of people to Cornwall from London and other cities could put pressure on the health service in the area – and spread the virus. | Politicians and doctors fear an influx of people to Cornwall from London and other cities could put pressure on the health service in the area – and spread the virus. |
| In an open letter they said: | In an open letter they said: |
| Asda has announced plans to hire more than 5,000 temporary employees who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19. | Asda has announced plans to hire more than 5,000 temporary employees who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19. |
| The supermarket is working with more than 20 companies nationally to bring in staff from industries including food and travel. | The supermarket is working with more than 20 companies nationally to bring in staff from industries including food and travel. |
| Chief executive Roger Burnley said: “During these difficult times everyone has to work together to help people most affected by Covid-19 and Asda is pleased to play its part. | Chief executive Roger Burnley said: “During these difficult times everyone has to work together to help people most affected by Covid-19 and Asda is pleased to play its part. |
| “That is why today we have committed to hiring more than 5,000 employees who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19 and have been left with deep concerns about their household budgets.” | “That is why today we have committed to hiring more than 5,000 employees who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19 and have been left with deep concerns about their household budgets.” |
| Earlier, Lidl announced plans to recruit 2,500 workers on four-week contracts to help keep up with high demand in stores as customers continue clearing shelves over the coronavirus outbreak. | Earlier, Lidl announced plans to recruit 2,500 workers on four-week contracts to help keep up with high demand in stores as customers continue clearing shelves over the coronavirus outbreak. |