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UK coronavirus live: Hancock says vaccine trials start this week but denies 'political decision' not to join EU ventilator scheme UK coronavirus live: Hancock says vaccine trials start this week but denies 'political decision' not to join EU ventilator scheme
(32 minutes later)
UK hospital deaths up by 823 to 17,337; MPs vote for virtual parliament sessions; Boris Johnson speaks to TrumpUK hospital deaths up by 823 to 17,337; MPs vote for virtual parliament sessions; Boris Johnson speaks to Trump
Allowing people to drive into the countryside to exercise causes “untold anxieties” for rural communities who fear it exposes them to a greater risk of coronavirus, rural groups have told the government, reports the Guardian’s crime correspondent Vikram Dodd.
Last week police said guidance to them from Crown Prosecution Service meant it was permitted for people to drive so long as they spent more time walking around than getting there in their cars.In a letter to justice secretary Robert Buckland, a coalition of rural groups says this stance needs to change.
The letter is from the National Farmers’ Union, Countryside Alliance, the Country Land and Business Association and The National Rural Crime Network, whose chair is Julia Mulligan, the police and crime commissioner for North Yorkshire, where police have carried out checkpoints stopping drivers.
News stories about nature and wildlife flourishing and air pollution dropping as the lockdown has stilled air and road traffic has left many people keen to retain some benefits.
Some politicians are already talking about how the future could look different -political leaders in northern England have urged the government not to return to “business as usual” after the coronavirus lockdown, but to embrace positive changes the measures have led to, such as the drop in UK air pollution, writes my colleague Amy Walker.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, and Steve Rotheram, the mayor of Liverpool city region, said building cycling and walking networks in cities and boosting internet connections so that more people could work from home could form part of a strategy to “keep some of the benefits that we’ve been experiencing”.
Hancock says there is a huge amount still to do.
But the UK has met its core goals, he says. He says it has managed to “bend down the curve” in terms of infections, and ensure that the NHS has not been overwhelmed.
And that’s it. The press conference is over.
Q: Yesterday Prof Yvonne Doyle from Public Health England said about 10% of coronavirus deaths were taking place outside hospital. Today the ONS figures show that is much higher. It says government figures could be 40% out. (See 10.50am.) That suggests your plan is not working.
Hancock says that 40% figure is not right. He says one of the slides shown earlier address this. (See 5.20pm.)
Hancock says NHS workers should feel free to talk about what is happening at their work. That sort of transparency is important, he says.
Q: Why won’t you introduce screening for people who arrive in the UK?
Van-Tam says screening won’t pick up people who have been infected but who are not yet showing symptoms.
He says there is widespread transmission in the UK. It is still there, although it has been turned down.
So any possible infection by people arriving from abroad would be “minuscule compared to the in-country infection.
He says that, once the infection rate has been turned down, all scientific options will then be considered.
Van-Tam hints that screening for people arriving at airports might be an option once the UK has got the infection rate down.
Q: The top diplomat at the Foreign Office says it was a political decision not to take part in the EU scheme. You say that is not right. Who is right?
Hancock says when the decision came to the health department, he said yes. But as far as he is aware, this scheme has not delivered any PPE.
He says there has been “zero” impact on the UK’s ability to procure PPE.
(Again, Hancock is talking about the PPE procurement scheme when Sir Simon McDonald was talking about a similar but different one, covering ventilators.)
From Sky’s Sam Coates
Newton says, in areas where social distancing is not possible, there is a need to do intensive testing to see how many people may be asymptomatic but still carrying the virus.
Q: How worried are you about asymptomatic transmission? Should asymptomatic health staff be tested?
Hancock says this is a good question. The existence of asymptomatic transmission is a particular problem with coronavirus, he says.
Van-Tam says at the start of the crisis the officials did not have enough information about whether pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic patients were shedding the virus.
Now they know this can happen, he says.
But he says they still do not know how symptomatic they are compared to people with symptoms.
He says it is impossible to rule out spread occurring from asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people.
But most of the spread is from people who do display symptoms, he says.
Q: There have been reports the China has run a global disinformation campaign to deflect the blame for its own responsibility for this. What is your response?Q: There have been reports the China has run a global disinformation campaign to deflect the blame for its own responsibility for this. What is your response?
Hancock says he has not seen that report. But he thinks there has been disinformation. He says it is vital that people are provided with accurate information about what has been happening.Hancock says he has not seen that report. But he thinks there has been disinformation. He says it is vital that people are provided with accurate information about what has been happening.
Hancock says some of the firms offering to supply PPE to the government have not been credible. Some have only just been formed, he says.Hancock says some of the firms offering to supply PPE to the government have not been credible. Some have only just been formed, he says.
He says, in trying to procure it worldwide, the government has tried to go direct to the source. It is more secure if you deal directly with the factory, he says.He says, in trying to procure it worldwide, the government has tried to go direct to the source. It is more secure if you deal directly with the factory, he says.
Van-Tam says Sage, the scientific advisory group for emergencies, has met today to discuss face mask policy. In time a recommendation will go to ministers, and they will make a decision.Van-Tam says Sage, the scientific advisory group for emergencies, has met today to discuss face mask policy. In time a recommendation will go to ministers, and they will make a decision.
But the government will not do anything that might jeopardise the supply of PPE to medical staff, he says.But the government will not do anything that might jeopardise the supply of PPE to medical staff, he says.
Q: Why did the most senior figure at the Foreign Office say it was a political decision not to join the EU’s ventilator procurement scheme, when the government claimed it was a communications mix-up?Q: Why did the most senior figure at the Foreign Office say it was a political decision not to join the EU’s ventilator procurement scheme, when the government claimed it was a communications mix-up?
Hancock says he has not seen what Sir Simon McDonald said. (See 4.17pm.) But he says he has spoken to Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary. Raab told him there was no political decision not to participate.Hancock says he has not seen what Sir Simon McDonald said. (See 4.17pm.) But he says he has spoken to Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary. Raab told him there was no political decision not to participate.
But no PPE has been delivered through that scheme, he says.But no PPE has been delivered through that scheme, he says.
(Hancock seems to be confusing the EU ventilator procurement scheme with a separate EU PPE procurement one.)(Hancock seems to be confusing the EU ventilator procurement scheme with a separate EU PPE procurement one.)
UPDATE: Here is the quote.
Van-Tam is now presenting the daily slides.Van-Tam is now presenting the daily slides.
Van-Tam says this next one is particularly important.Van-Tam says this next one is particularly important.
He says hospital cases in London did peak, probably on 10 April. Since then they have gone down. But in other regions it has been more of a plateau, he says.He says hospital cases in London did peak, probably on 10 April. Since then they have gone down. But in other regions it has been more of a plateau, he says.
This slide is a new addition. It shows the gap between hospital coronavirus deaths and all coronavirus deaths.This slide is a new addition. It shows the gap between hospital coronavirus deaths and all coronavirus deaths.
And here is the final slide, with global comparisons.And here is the final slide, with global comparisons.
Hancock turns to vaccines.
He says the UK will throw everything it has at trying to find one.
Two of the leading efforts around the world are taking place in the UK, he says.
He says today he is making £22m available to Imperial to support their phase two trials.
And he is making £20m available to the Oxford team to accelerate their trials. The vaccine from the Oxford project will be trialled on people from Thursday.
Normally it would take years to get to this point, he says.
And he says the government is investing in manufacturing capability so, if it works, it can be produced in scale.
He says nothing about this is inevitable. Vaccine production is a matter of trial and error, he says.
He says the benefits of getting a vaccine are so huge “that I am throwing everything at it”.
Hancock turns to PPE.
He says since the crisis started one billion items of PPE have been delivered.
He thanks firms that have offered to supply PPE.
He says some firms who have approached the government have been unable to provide equipment on scale.
But he says the government is now working with 159 potential UK suppliers.
The government is determined to get the equipment it needs, he says. He says it has been a huge procurement effort.
Hancock says the government will not relax the lockdown until certain conditions are met. Above all, there must be no second peak, he says.
Hancock says the government’s priority has been to stop the NHS being overwhelmed. That has happened. At no point has the NHS been unable to treat a patient needing treatment, he says.
He reads out the latest death and testing figures.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is holding the government’s daily press conference. He is appearing with Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, and Prof John Newton, director of health improvement at Public Health England.
A health board has pledged to look into the availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at its hospitals after staff appealed for help sourcing supplies, writes my colleague Ben Quinn. A post on a Facebook group, which has been widely shared, carried an image of a mask described as an Easimask Duckbill, and claimed that University Hospital of Wales (UHW) no longer had stocks.
It said:
Contacted about the claims, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said in a statement that it was aware of concerns raised by some staff in the media regarding the availability and or inaccessibility of PPE.It added:
It said that it had enough PPE equipment available and in stock, if the right level of PPE was used in the right circumstances.
As the mystery of the missing consignment of PPE from Turkey continues, the Guardian’s defence and security editor Dan Sabbagh writes that supplies are edging closer to the plane that will transport them back to the UK:
At last, some of the PPE bought by the NHS from Turkey is clearing customs at Istanbul airport, defence sources report. It’s not clear long it will take to get the single waiting RAF A400M transport plane, or whether it includes of all the 400,000 protective gowns badly needed by the NHS. But after days of delay and broken promises it is possible some PPE will be brought back from Turkey overnight.
Another nine people have died with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland in the last 24 hours, Stormont deputy fist minister Michelle O’Neill said.
She said the projected worst case scenario of 1,500 deaths in the first 20 weeks was still “shocking and harrowing” but that had been significantly reduced.“The reduction is because of you and your actions have saved thousands of lives,” she said.
First Minister Arlene Foster said the ministerial executive at Stormont would have more discussions about whether to reopen cemeteries during the coronavirus lockdown. She said visiting could be allowed over limited hours and making sure social distancing was in place, admitting other colleagues had “justifiable concerns”.
Downing Street has just released the read-out of the telephone call that Boris Johnson had with President Trump earlier. Here it is in full. A No 10 spokesperson said:
At the lunchtime Downing Street briefing the prime minister’s spokesman claimed that Johnson was still recuperating and that he was not “formally doing government work”. This is now sounding more and more like the sort of lie many of us tell our GPs (“definitely no more than 20 units a week, doctor”). If discussing a global crisis with the president of the US does not count as government work, it is hard to know what does.