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UK coronavirus live: 7,500 former medics to rejoin NHS, Hancock says, as death toll rises across the country UK coronavirus live: 7,500 former medics to rejoin NHS, Hancock says, as death toll rises across the country
(32 minutes later)
First patients enter UK treatment trial; Sturgeon says too many non-essential businesses still open; Raab would take over from Johnson if PM gets sickFirst patients enter UK treatment trial; Sturgeon says too many non-essential businesses still open; Raab would take over from Johnson if PM gets sick
Road safety charity, Brake, is warning drivers to steer clear of risky rural roads unless essential, so that they don’t increase the burden on the NHS by being involved in a fatal or serious crash.
The warning comes after people across the UK flocked to the countryside over the weekend, increasing traffic levels on the roads which carry the most risk of death and serious injury.
To avoid any extra burden on the NHS, Brake is warning people not to travel unless absolutely essential and urging those that do have to travel to stay well within the speed limit and be aware of unexpected hazards and other road users at all times.
Joshua Harris, director of campaigns for Brake, said:
Charities have stepped up calls for an urgent emergency financial aid package to bail out voluntary organisations struggling to maintain services as billions of pounds in fundraising income dries up.
Hospices, social care providers, refuges, homelessness services, and cancer and other medical research charities are among those preparing to reduce services after coronavirus bans on social gatherings wiped out donated income for fundraising events.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) estimates that charities will lose around £4.3 billion over the next 12 weeks as a result of spring and summer events like the London marathon being cancelled. Retail income is also under threat if high street charity shops are forced to close.
Over 100 MPs have signed a letter calling on ministers to provide an emergency injection of cash to keep charities afloat.
Heidi Travis, chief executive of Sue Ryder, said the “devastating” financial impact of coronavirus had put vital palliative care services provided by the charity at risk, even as it was preparing to care for additional patients so that the NHS could free up beds as Covid-19 spreads.
Children’s cancer support charity CLIC Sargent, which relies on donations and fundraised money for 100% of its annual income, said it had seen a 40% fall in donations over the past three weeks and was currently projecting a 50% loss in turnover.
Rachel Kirby-Rider, CLIC’s director of income told the Guardian:
The NCVO has called for a three point support package:
Emergency funding for frontline charities and volunteers supporting the response to the coronavirus crisis, especially where they are alleviating pressure on the health service or providing support to people suffering from the economic and social impact of coronavirus.
A ‘stabilisation fund’ for all charities to help them stay afloat, pay staff and continue operating during the course of the pandemic.
Confirmation that charities should be eligible for similar business interruption measures announced by the Chancellor for businesses
NCVO chief executive Karl Wilding, said:
In his speech Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth said the government should take action to stop profiteering during the coronavirus crisis. Earlier, during the business statement, his Labour colleague Liam Byrne gave a striking example. He said a chemist in his constituency had increased the price of children’s medicine by ten-fold. Byrne said, since he first raised this case, he had been flooded by other examples of shops doubling, trebling or quadrupling prices. He said that two thirds of American states had powers to impose price caps in emergencies and that the government should introduce similar powers here.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, told Byrne that profiteering of this kind was “extremely disagreeable” and that in the past, during some periods, it had been illegal. He said he would pass Byrne’s point on to ministerial colleagues.
According to the Ministry of Defence, 250 MoD personnel are now deployed helping the civil authorities with the coronavirus response. In total 20,000 service personnel are on standby to join in.
Some 150 servicemen and women have today started training so that they can start driving oxygen tankers if required to help the NHS. And 50 servicemen and women have started to help the NHS distribute personal protective equipment.
Water companies are asking people to stay at home for the good of their health rather than visit popular water company sites like reservoirs, Water UK has said.
To help the public keep themselves, their families and their communities protected from the spread of Covid-19, water companies are closing most of their leisure facilities.
These include normally busy places like sailing centres, bird-watching hides, wildlife havens and water parks, along with the car parks, cafes and toilets linked to them.
A limited number of sites will remain partially open, but they will have strict physical distancing rules enforced by on-site staff and their opening will be reviewed on a daily basis.
In the Commons Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, is speaking now in the debate on the coronavirus bill on behalf of Labour. Earlier Labour said it wanted the government to enforce social distancing. (See 12.15pm.) Ashworth said the statistics suggest that the coronavirus outbreak in the UK is now worse than it was in Spain and France when they announced a “lockdown” approach. He went on:
Ashworth also said he thought the greatest problem facing people being made to stay at home was not boredom but economic hardship. He said:
From the BBC’s Laura KuenssbergFrom the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg
Boris Johnson has spoken to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, today about coronavirus. A Downing Street spokesman said:Boris Johnson has spoken to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, today about coronavirus. A Downing Street spokesman said:
Greggs will close its entire store estate from the end of business on Tuesday, saying operating a takeaway service was not enough to maintain physical distancing.Greggs will close its entire store estate from the end of business on Tuesday, saying operating a takeaway service was not enough to maintain physical distancing.
Here is a thread that is worth your time. From an NHS Blood and Transplant worker detailing their experience of an NHS shopping hour on Sunday – and how potentially dangerous it is:
Snowdonia’s National Park Authority has announced it will close its main carparks “following the busiest visitor weekend in living memory”, in order to discourage visitors and protect rural communities from the spread of coronavirus.The park authority said it was working with the police and local councils to explore options to close down the most popular mountains and sites if the situation continues.There will be no parking available for access to the most popular sites in Snowdonia including Snowdon, Ogwen, Cadair Idris, Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake), the two Aran, Carneddau and Glyderau and the Nantlle Ridge.Emyr Williams, chief executive of Snowdonia National Park said:
Caravan parks and campsites in Wales are being closed to visitors from today, Mark Drakeford, the Welsh first minister, has announced. And some beauty spots are effectively being “closed” to tourists too. In a statement he said:
According to the Welsh government, people in caravan parks or campsites in Wales on holiday will be asked to return home from today, unless there are exceptional reasons why they should stay. People who live permanently in park homes are not affected.
Among the beauty spots being “closed” are Snowdon in north Wales and Sugar Loaf and Pen-y-Fan in the Brecon Beacons. Access to these mountains is being restricted.
The historic Grand Hotel in Brighton will close its doors today until further notice to “help prevent the spread of coronavirus” and its rooms will be offered to NHS staff.
A statement on the hotel’s website says:
It follows similar announcements last week from Gary Neville and Chelsea FC.
Bread Ahead, the bakery school based in Borough Market, is running free baking tutorials every day at 2pm on Instagram. This week’s classes include brownies, breadsticks and carrot cake.
In the Commons Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has just told MPs that 7,563 former clinicians have answered his call to return to the NHS to help out during the coronavirus outbreak. He said that some of those returning medics were MPs.
In the Commons Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is opening the debate on the coronavirus bill, the emergency legislation giving the government a wide range of sweeping that it might need to handle the crisis. There is a summary of the measures in the bill here.
Hancock says he hopes he won’t have to use some of the powers in the bill.
The number of coronavirus-related deaths announced today in Great Britain is 54, after a further 46 were recorded in England, and Scotland and Wales each recorded a further four.
The UK needs a lockdown to enforce social distancing and needs to rapidly to expand testing for coronavirus, Helen Ward, a professor of epidemiology at Imperial College London, has warned.
In a video posted on Facebook, she said:
MPs might be sitting greater distances from each other in the Commons, but a cross-party group led by Caroline Lucas has suggested a more drastic social-distancing effort – a virtual parliament, using video debates and electronic voting.
Around two-dozen MPs from Labour, the Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid and SDLP, as well as Lucas, the sole Green MP, and a smaller number of peers, having written to the Speakers of both the Commons and Lords saying this would allow the government to be held to account without putting people together. In their letter they say:
“For as long as MPs and peers continue to sit at Westminster, workers including those in security, cleaning staff, canteen staff, clerks and assistants are all being put at increased risk of catching, and spreading, Covid-19,” the letter notes, saying MPs are a particular risk in terms of spreading the virus to their constituencies.
Video debates could be streamed via the Parliament TV website, with voting done electronically, the letter suggests.
Lucas, who was due to raise the idea in the Commons during a debate on Monday on the government’s emergency coronavirus bill, said parliament meeting as usual would be “completely failing to set an example to the rest of the country”. She said: