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UK coronavirus live: Rishi Sunak says government will pay self-employed up to £2,500 a month | |
(32 minutes later) | |
Rolling coverage of all the latest UK coronavirus developments | Rolling coverage of all the latest UK coronavirus developments |
First Sunak covers other coronavirus developments. | |
The government is supporting the NHS, he says. It is vital people stay at home to save lives. | |
He says he has put forward a comprehensive economic plan to save jobs. It is already having an impact. Big employers have said they will protect jobs. This evening the Treasury will publish more details of how that scheme works. | |
Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, is holding his press conference now. He says he is announcing support for the self-employed. | |
According to the Times’ Chris Smyth, we may not get a UK figure for coronavirus deaths today. | |
The UK is now spending £544m of its international aid money on the fight against coronavirus, according to No 10. Most of that is new funding announced today. | |
There are have been four announcements today. | |
£210m on developing a vaccine, with the funding to going through the the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. (See 4pm.) | |
£40m on developing affordable treatments, with the funding going through the Therapeutic Accelerator, a fund for the rapid development of anti-retrovirals or immunotherapies against coronavirus which is already backed by the UK-based Wellcome Trust, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Mastercard. | |
£23 on developing easily manufactured test kits, with the funding going through the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, a partnership between academic organisations and pharmaceutical companies. | |
£50m on a joint campaign with Unilever to promote the importance of hand washing. | |
These announcements follow other commitments already made, which are: | |
£71m on researching vaccines and testing kits. | |
Up to £150m for the International Monetary Fund to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on the world’s most vulnerable countries. | |
The first rescue flight for British travellers stranded abroad has landed in Heathrow with 171 passengers including up to 20 vulnerable EU citizens. | The first rescue flight for British travellers stranded abroad has landed in Heathrow with 171 passengers including up to 20 vulnerable EU citizens. |
The government is seeking permission for three more flights, the first one expected this weekend, to help repatriate up to 1,000 Britons it believes are abroad. | The government is seeking permission for three more flights, the first one expected this weekend, to help repatriate up to 1,000 Britons it believes are abroad. |
It is also working with the authorities to try and resolve the situation that has arisen in a hostel in the Andean city of Cusco, the gateway to Machu Picchu, where 140 guests including nine Britons and one Irish national, have been quarantined for at least a month because two guests have caught coronavirus. | It is also working with the authorities to try and resolve the situation that has arisen in a hostel in the Andean city of Cusco, the gateway to Machu Picchu, where 140 guests including nine Britons and one Irish national, have been quarantined for at least a month because two guests have caught coronavirus. |
It is understood there are currently around 12,000 EU nationals in the country which is under one of the world’s strictest lockdowns with no travel permitted. | It is understood there are currently around 12,000 EU nationals in the country which is under one of the world’s strictest lockdowns with no travel permitted. |
The Foreign Office has also doubled the number of staff at the call centre in Malaga, Spain through which 90% of the calls to embassies are routed. It will be doubling numbers again in the coming days. | The Foreign Office has also doubled the number of staff at the call centre in Malaga, Spain through which 90% of the calls to embassies are routed. It will be doubling numbers again in the coming days. |
Sources say there are rigorous efforts under way to get six elderly Britons out of Kerala and active work to get others home from abroad, but efforts are hampered by lockdowns. | Sources say there are rigorous efforts under way to get six elderly Britons out of Kerala and active work to get others home from abroad, but efforts are hampered by lockdowns. |
Some of the 4,000 beds at the new emergency NHS Nightingale hospital being set up at the ExCeL centre in Docklands, London, will be equipped with ventilators, it has emerged. Avensys, a firm that provides medical equipment and trains engineers in how to use it, has told the Guardian it has been asked to put together a training programme for engineers at the Nightingale so they can repair the ventilators there. Dan Sullivan from Avensys said: | |
Around 100 animals face an indefinite stay at Battersea Cats and Dogs Home after the shelter shut its doors to the public during the coronavirus pandemic. | Around 100 animals face an indefinite stay at Battersea Cats and Dogs Home after the shelter shut its doors to the public during the coronavirus pandemic. |
Staff across the home’s sites in London, Berkshire and Kent had launched a campaign to find foster homes for around 130 animals in the run-up to the lockdown. | Staff across the home’s sites in London, Berkshire and Kent had launched a campaign to find foster homes for around 130 animals in the run-up to the lockdown. |
Because re-homing has now been suspended, many animals will be stuck in the shelter’s kennels and cattery pens for the foreseeable. | Because re-homing has now been suspended, many animals will be stuck in the shelter’s kennels and cattery pens for the foreseeable. |
Rob Young, its head of centre operations, told PA news agency: “They’re receiving the same, if not better, care and attention than they normally would do. | Rob Young, its head of centre operations, told PA news agency: “They’re receiving the same, if not better, care and attention than they normally would do. |
“We have as few staff on site as we possibly can but we do have enough to make sure their needs are met. | “We have as few staff on site as we possibly can but we do have enough to make sure their needs are met. |
“All the dogs are taken out at least twice a day, the cats are well looked after and given lots of cuddles.” | “All the dogs are taken out at least twice a day, the cats are well looked after and given lots of cuddles.” |