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/world/live/2020/apr/20/uk-coronavirus-live-boris-johnson-against-lifting-lockdown-over-second-wave-fears
The article has changed 24 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 10 | Version 11 |
|---|---|
| UK coronavirus live: No 10 says priority is avoiding second peak of infections when it considers easing lockdown | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Scotland death toll rises; anger mounts over PPE shortages; culture secretary says official minute’s silence for NHS workers ‘a very good idea’ | Scotland death toll rises; anger mounts over PPE shortages; culture secretary says official minute’s silence for NHS workers ‘a very good idea’ |
| Here is a summary of the main points from the Downing Street lobby briefing. | |
| The prime minister’s spokesman said that avoiding a second peak of infections was the “big concern” as ministers approached the decision about easing the lockdown. (See 12.58pm.) | |
| The spokesman said that Boris Johnson is getting daily written updates on coronavirus policy as he recuperates at Chequers, but that he was not engaged in government work. The spokesman said: | |
| The spokesman said the PM would be “guided by the advice of his medical team” as to when to return to work and that Raab was deputising in his absence. Asked about the PM’s meeting with Raab and others on Friday, the spokesman said that this was a chance to update the PM, and not a decision-making meeting. | |
| The spokesman refused to elaborate on what options for the easing of the lockdown were being considered, or over what timescale they might be implemented. | |
| The spokesman said the government now has the capacity to carry out 36,000 coronavirus tests per day. But the latest daily figure for the number of tests carried out, in the 24 hours up to 9am yesterday, was just 21,626. More than 16,000 of those tests were carried out in NHS laboratories, and the rest by commercial partners in drive-through centres. More than 88,000 NHS and social care staff and their relatives have now been tested, the spokesman said, up from 66,000 at the end of last week. | |
| Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, will hold this afternoon’s press conference, the spokesman said. Prof Dame Angela McLean, the government’s deputy chief scientific adviser, will also be attending. | |
| Downing Street supports the idea of a minute’s silence for NHS workers who have died from coronavirus, the spokesman said. | |
| The spokesman confirmed that Dominic Raab is due to deputise for Johnson at PMQs this week. But the exact details of how PMQs will work remain to be decided, he said. | |
| The spokesman said there had been no change from last week when ministers were saying they had no plans to follow their New Zealand counterparts, who have taken a 20% pay cut. | |
| The daily Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished. And while the prime minister’s spokesman claimed (not entirely convincingly) that Boris Johnson is not doing any government work while he continues to recuperate at Chequers, he confirmed that the government’s priority is now to avoid a second peak - a line that Johnson reportedly stressed when he discussed the coronavirus crisis with Dominic Raab and his closest aides at the end of last week. (See 9.07am.) The spokesman said: | |
| The spokesman also reminded journalists that Raab, the foreign secretary and first secretary of state, said last week that a second peak of infections would be damaging not just for people’s health, but for the economy too. | |
| For an illustration as to what a second peak might look like, here is a graph from a paper (pdf) produced by Sage, the scientific advisory group for emergencies, for the government last month. | |
| I will post more from the briefing shortly. | |
| Here is a Guardian video explaining how coronavirus testing works. | |
| As my colleague Severin Carrell reports, Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has been giving the latest coronavirus case numbers and death figures for Scotland. | As my colleague Severin Carrell reports, Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has been giving the latest coronavirus case numbers and death figures for Scotland. |
| Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has restated his call for the government to give more details about its coronavirus exit strategy. He made that point in a briefing with Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, this morning also involving other opposition leaders. After it was over a spokesperson for Starmer said: | Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has restated his call for the government to give more details about its coronavirus exit strategy. He made that point in a briefing with Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, this morning also involving other opposition leaders. After it was over a spokesperson for Starmer said: |
| The Duke of Edinburgh, 98, has issued a rare public message to pay tribute to all those carrying out “vital and urgent” work in the coronavirus pandemic. Prince Philip, who along with the Queen, is being shielded at Windsor Castle, retired from public life in 2017, and has lived privately since. In his statement he said: | The Duke of Edinburgh, 98, has issued a rare public message to pay tribute to all those carrying out “vital and urgent” work in the coronavirus pandemic. Prince Philip, who along with the Queen, is being shielded at Windsor Castle, retired from public life in 2017, and has lived privately since. In his statement he said: |
| Philip is affiliated to more than 750 organisations , including scientific and technological research, healthcare and infrastructure sectors which have been responding to the outbreak. | Philip is affiliated to more than 750 organisations , including scientific and technological research, healthcare and infrastructure sectors which have been responding to the outbreak. |
| The Dragon’s Heart hospital, an emergency hospital set up at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, is opening today, WalesOnline reports. | The Dragon’s Heart hospital, an emergency hospital set up at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, is opening today, WalesOnline reports. |
| Oliver Dowden, the culture secretary, told ITV’s Good Morning Britain this morning that firms should only use the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme - the furlough initiative, which opened for business this morning - if they could not afford to keep paying staff themselves. He made the point when asked about a story saying Victoria Beckham is using the scheme for staff at her fashion company. Dowden would not comment on the Beckham story, but speaking generally he said: | Oliver Dowden, the culture secretary, told ITV’s Good Morning Britain this morning that firms should only use the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme - the furlough initiative, which opened for business this morning - if they could not afford to keep paying staff themselves. He made the point when asked about a story saying Victoria Beckham is using the scheme for staff at her fashion company. Dowden would not comment on the Beckham story, but speaking generally he said: |
| Muslims are being told to “pray at home and share Ramadan digitally” because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Muslim Council of Britain has published guidance showing how this can be done ahead of the holy month, which begins on Thursday (April 23). | Muslims are being told to “pray at home and share Ramadan digitally” because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Muslim Council of Britain has published guidance showing how this can be done ahead of the holy month, which begins on Thursday (April 23). |
| Dexter Blackstock, the former Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest striker, now runs a medical technology firm that is involved in a project enabling people to donate to help provide more PPE (personal protective equipment) for NHS staff, my colleague Jacob Steinberg reports. | Dexter Blackstock, the former Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest striker, now runs a medical technology firm that is involved in a project enabling people to donate to help provide more PPE (personal protective equipment) for NHS staff, my colleague Jacob Steinberg reports. |
| A list of essential workers has been published by the Stormont administration, PA Media reports. They include food and personal protective equipment producers in Northern Ireland. Utilities, water and waste treatment and construction supporting the health service and food industry are also permitted to continue. | A list of essential workers has been published by the Stormont administration, PA Media reports. They include food and personal protective equipment producers in Northern Ireland. Utilities, water and waste treatment and construction supporting the health service and food industry are also permitted to continue. |
| The list was drawn up in consultation with a forum including the Chamber of Commerce, CBI, trade unions and Northern Ireland’s Public Health Agency (PHA). The economy minister, Diane Dodds, said: | The list was drawn up in consultation with a forum including the Chamber of Commerce, CBI, trade unions and Northern Ireland’s Public Health Agency (PHA). The economy minister, Diane Dodds, said: |
| Yesterday the Sunday Times (paywall) said that Boris Johnson missed five meetings of the government’s Cobra emergency committee and that this was unusual because Cobra meets “at moments of great peril” and it “normally chaired by the prime minister”. In its rebuttal the government said that this was wrong and that it was normal for Cobra to be chaired by a relevant secretary of state. | Yesterday the Sunday Times (paywall) said that Boris Johnson missed five meetings of the government’s Cobra emergency committee and that this was unusual because Cobra meets “at moments of great peril” and it “normally chaired by the prime minister”. In its rebuttal the government said that this was wrong and that it was normal for Cobra to be chaired by a relevant secretary of state. |
| The matters because the “five missed Cobra meetings” anecdote encapsulates a much wider argument - that Johnson was negligent in his early handling of coronavirus because he did not take it seriously enough. No 10 is working on the basis that, if it can discredit this anecdote, it might stop the wider narrative gaining credence. | The matters because the “five missed Cobra meetings” anecdote encapsulates a much wider argument - that Johnson was negligent in his early handling of coronavirus because he did not take it seriously enough. No 10 is working on the basis that, if it can discredit this anecdote, it might stop the wider narrative gaining credence. |
| On the very narrow point about whether it is normal for Cobra to be chaired by the PM, Tony Blair seemed to back up the Sunday Times’ claim. (See 10.03am.) Gordon Brown has not commented, but Damian McBride, his communications chief, has in tweets that argue that, if Cobra was convened, the PM should have been in the chair. | On the very narrow point about whether it is normal for Cobra to be chaired by the PM, Tony Blair seemed to back up the Sunday Times’ claim. (See 10.03am.) Gordon Brown has not commented, but Damian McBride, his communications chief, has in tweets that argue that, if Cobra was convened, the PM should have been in the chair. |
| However, what these interventions from the Blair/Brown years miss is the extent to which there seems to have been Cobra-inflation over recent years. Partly because of what happened in the New Labour years, governments discovered that if they wanted to persuade the media they were taking a crisis serious, they had to convene Cobra, journalists started expected Cobra meetings to take place as a matter of course and over time less-urgent Cobra meetings, chaired by officials or ministers, because more common. Richard Benyon, a former junior environment minister under David Cameron, made this point on Twitter yesterday. | However, what these interventions from the Blair/Brown years miss is the extent to which there seems to have been Cobra-inflation over recent years. Partly because of what happened in the New Labour years, governments discovered that if they wanted to persuade the media they were taking a crisis serious, they had to convene Cobra, journalists started expected Cobra meetings to take place as a matter of course and over time less-urgent Cobra meetings, chaired by officials or ministers, because more common. Richard Benyon, a former junior environment minister under David Cameron, made this point on Twitter yesterday. |
| So the government is correct in saying it is not unusual for the PM not to chair Cobra. | So the government is correct in saying it is not unusual for the PM not to chair Cobra. |
| But one of the paradoxes of journalism is that it is not unusual for a story to be wrong on a narrow point of detail or interpretation but nevertheless accurate in that it conveys a broader truth. And the Sunday Times Insight report is probably a good example. On 5 March, in an interview about coronavirus, Johnson was still arguing it should be “business as usual for the overwhelming majority of people in this country”. The evidence that Johnson (like many others, including some government scientists) was slow to grasp the seriousness of the coronavirus threat is strong. | But one of the paradoxes of journalism is that it is not unusual for a story to be wrong on a narrow point of detail or interpretation but nevertheless accurate in that it conveys a broader truth. And the Sunday Times Insight report is probably a good example. On 5 March, in an interview about coronavirus, Johnson was still arguing it should be “business as usual for the overwhelming majority of people in this country”. The evidence that Johnson (like many others, including some government scientists) was slow to grasp the seriousness of the coronavirus threat is strong. |
| Sir Richard Branson has warned that the survival of airline Virgin Atlantic depends on it receiving government support. | Sir Richard Branson has warned that the survival of airline Virgin Atlantic depends on it receiving government support. |
| The Virgin Group boss wrote in a blog post: | The Virgin Group boss wrote in a blog post: |
| Tony Blair, the former Labour prime minister, has been giving interviews this morning to promote a report on how to ease the lockdown written by his thinktank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Broadly he has been trying to avoid criticising the government, but in an interview with the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire he got sucked into the argument about whether Boris Johnson was at fault for missing five meetings of the Cobra emergency committee on coronavirus in the early weeks of the crisis. | Tony Blair, the former Labour prime minister, has been giving interviews this morning to promote a report on how to ease the lockdown written by his thinktank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Broadly he has been trying to avoid criticising the government, but in an interview with the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire he got sucked into the argument about whether Boris Johnson was at fault for missing five meetings of the Cobra emergency committee on coronavirus in the early weeks of the crisis. |
| This was the central allegation in a Sunday Times Insight investigation published yesterday (paywall). That prompted the government to publish a 2,000-word rebuttal last night that said, among other things, that the Sunday Times was wrong to say Cobra was normally chaired by the PM. | This was the central allegation in a Sunday Times Insight investigation published yesterday (paywall). That prompted the government to publish a 2,000-word rebuttal last night that said, among other things, that the Sunday Times was wrong to say Cobra was normally chaired by the PM. |
| Asked if Johnson should have attended those Cobra meetings, Blair largely avoided the invitation to criticise the PM - although he did insinuate that Johnson might have been somewhat negligent. Blair said: | Asked if Johnson should have attended those Cobra meetings, Blair largely avoided the invitation to criticise the PM - although he did insinuate that Johnson might have been somewhat negligent. Blair said: |
| But Derbyshire came back to the topic towards the end of what was a long interview, and this time she did get Blair to come out with a more direct criticism. He said: | But Derbyshire came back to the topic towards the end of what was a long interview, and this time she did get Blair to come out with a more direct criticism. He said: |
| Scotland’s emergency hospital for Covid-19 patients, the NHS Louisa Jordan, will be ready to receive patients from today after construction on the £43m facility was finished. | Scotland’s emergency hospital for Covid-19 patients, the NHS Louisa Jordan, will be ready to receive patients from today after construction on the £43m facility was finished. |
| The facility was built in around 18 days in exhibition halls at the Scottish Events Campus in Glasgow, and will initially offer 300 beds with the potential to expand capacity to 1,036 beds. | The facility was built in around 18 days in exhibition halls at the Scottish Events Campus in Glasgow, and will initially offer 300 beds with the potential to expand capacity to 1,036 beds. |
| Although the majority of emergency coronavirus hospitals in the UK are named after Florence Nightingale, a pioneer of professional nursing who ran field hospitals in the Crimean War, the Scottish site is named after a nurse who died treating troops in Serbia in 1915, during a typhus outbreak. | Although the majority of emergency coronavirus hospitals in the UK are named after Florence Nightingale, a pioneer of professional nursing who ran field hospitals in the Crimean War, the Scottish site is named after a nurse who died treating troops in Serbia in 1915, during a typhus outbreak. |
| Its completion comes amid growing confidence the facility will not be needed as the number of critical cases in Scotland shows signs of plateauing. | Its completion comes amid growing confidence the facility will not be needed as the number of critical cases in Scotland shows signs of plateauing. |
| Although weekend data does not cover all fatalities, it emerged yesterday that 10 more people had died in hospital in Scotland from Covid-19, bringing the death toll to 903. | Although weekend data does not cover all fatalities, it emerged yesterday that 10 more people had died in hospital in Scotland from Covid-19, bringing the death toll to 903. |
| There has been a further drop in the numbers being treated in intensive care, down by eight, to a total yesterday of 174. In all, 1,797 people are in Scottish hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a rise of four. | There has been a further drop in the numbers being treated in intensive care, down by eight, to a total yesterday of 174. In all, 1,797 people are in Scottish hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a rise of four. |
| Non-British key workers who are on the coronavirus frontline in the NHS and elsewhere should be granted British citizenship, Plaid Cymru is proposing. In a letter to the home secretary, the Plaid MP Hywel Williams said: | Non-British key workers who are on the coronavirus frontline in the NHS and elsewhere should be granted British citizenship, Plaid Cymru is proposing. In a letter to the home secretary, the Plaid MP Hywel Williams said: |
| Williams also pointed out that 25% of UK hospital staff were born overseas. | Williams also pointed out that 25% of UK hospital staff were born overseas. |
| A ‘good news’ tweet from NHS England | A ‘good news’ tweet from NHS England |