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| UK coronavirus live: Boris Johnson 'very concerned' about second wave of infections if lockdown lifted too soon | UK coronavirus live: Boris Johnson 'very concerned' about second wave of infections if lockdown lifted too soon |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Anger mounts over PPE shortages; culture secretary says official minute’s silence for NHS workers killed by virus ‘a very good idea’ | Anger mounts over PPE shortages; culture secretary says official minute’s silence for NHS workers killed by virus ‘a very good idea’ |
| 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. | |
| 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 |