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UK coronavirus live news: Boris Johnson remains in intensive care as Michael Gove self-isolates UK coronavirus live news: Boris Johnson 'stable' in hospital and does not have pneumonia, Downing Street says
(32 minutes later)
Follow the latest developments as we wait for updates on the condition of the prime minister after his coronavirus symptoms worsenedFollow the latest developments as we wait for updates on the condition of the prime minister after his coronavirus symptoms worsened
The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished. It took place by conference call, as is normal now.
Here are the top lines.
Boris Johnson does not have pneumonia, Downing Street has said. Until now ministers and No 10 have refused to give a clear answer to this question. But asked if the PM has been diagnosed with pneumonia, the spokesman said: “That is not the case, no.”
The spokesman said that Johnson was “stable” overnight and “remains in good spirits”. In a statement about his condition in intensive care, the prime minister’s spokesman said:
Downing Street has signalled that it does not want to take up Donald Trump’s offer of experimental coronavirus drugs for Boris Johnson. Asked about this, the spokesman said:
Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, would take over if Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary who is deputising for the PM, got ill, the spokesman said.
Raab does not have the authority to “hire and fire” people in government while he was deputising for the PM, the spokesman said.
I will post a full summary of the briefing shortly.
From Derbyshire Police
Another major domestic abuse charity has reported a surge in activity during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Women’s Aid is reporting a 41% increase in users visiting their Live Chat between 26 March and 1 April, compared with the previous week, as well as a marked increase in visitors across all digital support services.
The Women’s Aid Covid-19/Coronavirus advice page for domestic abuse survivors has had 27,000 page views since its launch.
The figures come after the charity Refuge reported a 25% increase to the national domestic abuse helpline, which provides advice and facilitates referrals to refuge accommodation.
Women’s Aid and others have raised concerns that during this period, domestic abusers and their partners are self-isolating together at home and close proximity for extended periods may cause an increase in abusive incidents.
Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket, has this morning become the latest to lift purchasing restrictions in its stores – on all but a few product areas including toilet rolls, eggs and home baking. A Tesco spokesperson said:Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket, has this morning become the latest to lift purchasing restrictions in its stores – on all but a few product areas including toilet rolls, eggs and home baking. A Tesco spokesperson said:
The three items per customer limit will remain in place on; toilet rolls and paper goods such as tissues; household and personal cleaning products including hand sanitisers; packets and tins of food, including pasta and rice; fresh eggs; home baking including flour.The three items per customer limit will remain in place on; toilet rolls and paper goods such as tissues; household and personal cleaning products including hand sanitisers; packets and tins of food, including pasta and rice; fresh eggs; home baking including flour.
The government is to make extra funding available for schools to cover additional costs during the coronavirus outbreak, including free school meals over the Easter holidays. After an outcry by council leaders, teachers and campaigners, ministers confirmed that free school meals - through vouchers or other local schemes - should continue to be available during the two-week holiday for all eligible children.The government is to make extra funding available for schools to cover additional costs during the coronavirus outbreak, including free school meals over the Easter holidays. After an outcry by council leaders, teachers and campaigners, ministers confirmed that free school meals - through vouchers or other local schemes - should continue to be available during the two-week holiday for all eligible children.
Ordinarily schools would be closed over Easter, but many are staying open to look after vulnerable children and those of key workers in the fight against Covid-19. The government is offering £25,000-75,000 per school as additional funding to cover the cost of keeping schools open and additional cleaning costs during the crisis in cases of suspected coronavirus.Ordinarily schools would be closed over Easter, but many are staying open to look after vulnerable children and those of key workers in the fight against Covid-19. The government is offering £25,000-75,000 per school as additional funding to cover the cost of keeping schools open and additional cleaning costs during the crisis in cases of suspected coronavirus.
The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, said:The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, said:
The government has also published a list of recommended online education resources to help children learn at home, which can be found here.The government has also published a list of recommended online education resources to help children learn at home, which can be found here.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has added his name to the list of world leaders (see 7.43am) sending good wishes to Boris Johnson, the Telegraph’s Roland Oliphant reports.The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has added his name to the list of world leaders (see 7.43am) sending good wishes to Boris Johnson, the Telegraph’s Roland Oliphant reports.
Doctors’ lives are still being put at risk by a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), with some calling the current provision “useless”, the British Medical Association (BMA) has warned. As PA Media reports, more than two-thirds of doctors (69%) questioned by the BMA said they did not feel protected from Covid-19 infection, while some feel forced to work in high-risk areas without the right equipment.Doctors’ lives are still being put at risk by a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), with some calling the current provision “useless”, the British Medical Association (BMA) has warned. As PA Media reports, more than two-thirds of doctors (69%) questioned by the BMA said they did not feel protected from Covid-19 infection, while some feel forced to work in high-risk areas without the right equipment.
The snapshot survey of almost 2,000 medics showed that large numbers of doctors are still expected to care for Covid-19 patients with little or no PPE, the BMA said. Just 12% of 1,124 hospital doctors questioned said they felt fully protected from the virus at work, while 27% reported their trust was running low on basic supplies such as soap, PA Media reports.The snapshot survey of almost 2,000 medics showed that large numbers of doctors are still expected to care for Covid-19 patients with little or no PPE, the BMA said. Just 12% of 1,124 hospital doctors questioned said they felt fully protected from the virus at work, while 27% reported their trust was running low on basic supplies such as soap, PA Media reports.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the BMA’s council, said:Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the BMA’s council, said:
Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, has tweeted about his decision to self-isolate. (See 11.04am.)Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, has tweeted about his decision to self-isolate. (See 11.04am.)
Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Matthew Weaver.
Turning away from Boris Johnson and coronavirus for a moment, Labour has just released a statement about a video meeting that its new leader, Sir Keir Starmer, and his deputy, Angela Rayner, had earlier with representatives of the UK Jewish community from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council, the Community Security Trust and the Jewish Labour Movement.
After it was over Starmer said that he had used the meeting to stress his commitment to setting up an independent complaints process for the party, cooperating fully with the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s inquiry into Labour and getting reports on all outstanding cases sent to him personally on a weekly basis. He added:
In a joint statement after the meeting Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl, JLC chair Jonathan Goldstein, CST chair Gerald Ronson and JLM chair Mike Katz,said:
After that round of broadcast interviews, Michael Gove is now reported to be self-isolating because a member of his family has displayed symptoms of coronavirus.
Gove is not currently displaying any symptoms of coronavirus and he has not been tested.
Backdated weekly figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown an increase in the percentage of deaths in England and Wales caused by Covid-19, writes Alexandra Topping and the Guardian’s data team.
In the week ending 27 March, 4.8% of all deaths in England and Wales were related to Covid-19, up from 1% the previous week, according to new figures from the Office of National Statistics.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, which are based on death certificates, show there were 539 deaths where Covid-19 was listed in the week to 27 March, compared with 103 (1.0% of all deaths) up to 20 March.
The figure includes deaths outside hospitals, including those in homes and care homes, and includes patients who have not tested positive for the virus but are suspected of having the disease.
The number of new deaths connected to Covid-19 registered in England and Wales is slightly lower than that reported by the Department of Health and Social Care due to delays in reporting and registering news deaths.
The ONS figures are based on mentions of Covid-19 in death certificates, while the government’s daily statistics are taken from NHS Trusts.
According to the ONS figures, up to 27 March 92.9% (501 deaths) involving Covid-19 occurred in hospital with the remainder happening in hospices, care homes and private homes.
We also know the disease is more dangerous for older people. Today’s ONS data provides a demographic breakdown for 647 deaths which were registered before 27 March. This shows that more than two thirds (69%) occurred among those aged 75 and over.
The former lawyer and vocal Brexit supporter was born in 1974, and is the son of a Czech refugee who fled the Nazis in 1938. He studied at both Oxford and Cambridge, and when working for the Foreign Office his job was to lead a team attempting to bring suspected war criminals to justice at The Hague.
A vocal supporter of Britain’s move to leave the European Union, Raab was briefly the Brexit secretary under Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, but resigned after saying he could not agree to the withdrawal deal that had been struck between her government and the EU.
The 46-year-old returned to government in July 2019, when Boris Johnson became prime minister. Even outside a health crisis, Raab holds the title of first secretary of state, as well as foreign secretary – and is in effect the prime minister’s deputy.
The new Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has spoken to Dominic Raab, offering to work “constructively” with ministers to get through the crisis.
Speaking to the BBC, Starmer said:
Nine prisoners have died after contracting coronavirus, according to figures seen by the BBC’s home affairs correspondent, Danny Shaw.
Last week an 84-year-old sex offender become the first British prisoner to die after contracting coronavirus.
The deceased was an inmate at HMP Littlehey, a category C prison in Cambridgeshire that only holds male sex offenders.
The Queen has issued a message to healthcare workers to mark World Health Day.She said in a statement:
If you’ve tested positive for coronavirus and recovered, we’d like to hear about your experience. You can get in touch by contributing to our form or via WhatsApp by clicking here or adding the contact +44(0)7867825056.
The doctors union, Doctors in Unite, has condemned guidance issued last week that suggested some coronavirus patients could be taken off ventilators in favour of those more likely to survive.
A document issued by the British Medical Association, set out guidelines to ration care if the NHS becomes overwhelmed with new cases as the outbreak moves towards its peak.
Under the proposals, designed to provide doctors with ethical guidance on how to decide who should get life-saving care when resources are overstretched, hospitals would have to impose severe limits on who is put on a ventilator. Large numbers of patients could be denied care, with those facing a poor prognosis losing the potentially life-saving equipment even if their condition is improving.
A strong-worded statement issued by Dr Jackie Applebee, chair of Doctor in Unite, challenged such guidance.
It said:
The statement also said it was “immoral” to request health and social care workers to look after patients without appropriate personal protective equipment.
WhatsApp is to impose a strict new limit on message forwarding as the Facebook-owned chat app seeks to slow the dissemination of fake news, the company has announced.
If a user receives a frequently forwarded message – one which has been forwarded more than five times – under the new curbs, they will only be able to send it on to a single chat at a time. That is one fifth the previous limit of five chats, imposed in 2019.