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UK coronavirus live: Hancock says contact tracing system in place 'in weeks' as death toll rises by 759 UK coronavirus live: Raab gives daily Downing Street briefing as death toll rises by 759
(32 minutes later)
Today’s rise takes UK hospital death toll to 18,100, as health secretary says 15 social care staff are among those to die with Covid-19Today’s rise takes UK hospital death toll to 18,100, as health secretary says 15 social care staff are among those to die with Covid-19
Raab summarises the government’s strategy.
It has been tough going, he says, for businesses, for families and for vulnerable people.
It has been a mental strain on people too, he says.
We are making progress through the peak of this virus, he says. But we are not out of the woods yet.
He says the biggest risk is a second spike.
He says the government has set out the five conditions that must apply before the government moves to the next phase.
Raab starts by reading out the latest testing and mortality figures.
Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary and first secretary of state, is holding the daily government press conference. He is appearing with Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, and General Sir Nick Carter, the chief of the defence staff (ie, the head of the armed forces).
It is the first time Carter has appeared at one of these press conferences.
An increasing number of Premier League clubs are actively discussing the possibility of bringing the season to an early end, with concerns growing over the feasibility of a return even behind closed doors.
The league is suspended indefinitely and, last week, a meeting of the 20 clubs reaffirmed the intention to complete the season when it is “safe and appropriate”.
However, the Guardian has spoken to clubs who have raised a range of concerns, the most immediate of which is a fear over the medical safety of playing a full contact sport while there is the risk of contracting Covid-19.
The full story is here.
During PMQs (see 12.30pm) the Labour MP Barry Gardiner (who briefly considered standing for the leadership) said the government’s scientific advisory group for emergencies (Sage) recommended an urgent lockdown to save lives on 26 February. But the government did not implement that for another three and a half weeks, he said. He said that showed the government was not following scientific advice - a claim Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary and first secretary of state rejected.
Gardiner was referring to this paper (pdf), one of several Sage papers published in a batch when the government was under pressure to reveal the scientific advice it was getting.
The document does indeed show that the government has failed to follow the scientific advice (or at least the advice set out by Sage in that 26 February). However, it shows the scientists arguing against the hard lockdown measures subsequently announced by Boris Johnson on 23 March.
Here is the key extract. (I’ve added the bold type, to highlight the key passage.)
The four interventions were, in order: school closures; home isolation for people with symptoms; voluntary household quarantine when someone in a family has symptoms, and “social distancing” (described as people reducing contacts outside the home and workplace by 75%).
The document does not call for any of these measures to be introduced immediately. And it stresses that ultimately what should happen is a “political decision”, although the paragraph quoted above clearly implies that at that point the Sage scientists favoured measures 1 to 3, but not 4 (social distancing).
In the same document they argue that there might be advantages to allowing “the majority of the population ... [to] develop immunity, hopefully preventing any second wave, while reducing pressure on the NHS”.
Johnson did reject this proposal. He abandoned “herd immunity” (the concept endorsed here) and opted for a hard lockdown that went much further than the “social distancing” plan outlined in this document.
Buckingham Palace has announced the postponement of investitures due to be held in June and that the annual Garter Day service at Windsor Castle has been cancelled.
In a statement, the palace said this was “for practical reasons in the current circumstances”. It added:
Garter Day involves a grand procession of garter knights in ceremonial dress walking through Windsor Castle grounds to the service, accompanied by a marching band, and is a colourful highlight of the royal year.
It takes place the day before Royal Ascot. Ascot Racecourse has already announced the “difficult but unavoidable” decision not to hold Royal Ascot (16-20 June) as an event open to the public.
The race meeting is one of the highlights of the Queen’s calendar. Organisers are examining if there is a way to run the Royal Ascot races behind closed doors.
There have been a further eight deaths of patients in Northern Ireland who tested positive for Covid-19, the Public Health Agency has said.
The eight, along with a number of other deaths in previous days that have now been added to the official record, brings the total who have died with coronavirus in the region to 250, the agency added.
Labour says it has been approached by 36 British companies who say they have offered to help the government with the supply of PPE (personal protective equipment) and who say they have not had a reply. According to Labour, the 36 include:Labour says it has been approached by 36 British companies who say they have offered to help the government with the supply of PPE (personal protective equipment) and who say they have not had a reply. According to Labour, the 36 include:
In an open letter to Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, his Labour shadow, Rachel Reeves, has given details of all 36 companies (some of whom have asked not to be named). She told Gove:In an open letter to Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, his Labour shadow, Rachel Reeves, has given details of all 36 companies (some of whom have asked not to be named). She told Gove:
Prince Charles has urged the world to reshape and reset towards a “green recovery” and more sustainable future once the coronavirus crisis has passed.Prince Charles has urged the world to reshape and reset towards a “green recovery” and more sustainable future once the coronavirus crisis has passed.
In a message to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, he said the slowdown of human and industrial activity during the pandemic showed how quickly the Earth could heal itself, highlighting improved air quality in some of the world’s major cities and the return of wildlife to communities and waterways.In a message to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, he said the slowdown of human and industrial activity during the pandemic showed how quickly the Earth could heal itself, highlighting improved air quality in some of the world’s major cities and the return of wildlife to communities and waterways.
He added:He added:
Hundreds of people have become homeless during the coronavirus lockdown, the mayor of Greater Manchester has said.Hundreds of people have become homeless during the coronavirus lockdown, the mayor of Greater Manchester has said.
Speaking at a weekly briefing on the region’s response to the pandemic on Wednesday, Andy Burnham said 344 people had been recorded as newly homeless and requiring accommodation since the strict restrictions were implemented.Speaking at a weekly briefing on the region’s response to the pandemic on Wednesday, Andy Burnham said 344 people had been recorded as newly homeless and requiring accommodation since the strict restrictions were implemented.
He added that the Greater Manchester combined authority had helped 1,140 homeless people to be housed safely during the crisis but 115 people were still sleeping rough in the region. He said:He added that the Greater Manchester combined authority had helped 1,140 homeless people to be housed safely during the crisis but 115 people were still sleeping rough in the region. He said:
Burnham said government funding was only available to provide support for pre-identified homeless people during the pandemic, but those who were newly homeless did not qualify. He added:Burnham said government funding was only available to provide support for pre-identified homeless people during the pandemic, but those who were newly homeless did not qualify. He added:
In the latest episode of our Science Weekly podcast, the Guardian’s health editor, Sarah Boseley, speaks to Dr Dipesh Patel about the effects of Covid-19 on people with diabetes, including the role that glucose levels and a high BMI might play. Have a listen here.In the latest episode of our Science Weekly podcast, the Guardian’s health editor, Sarah Boseley, speaks to Dr Dipesh Patel about the effects of Covid-19 on people with diabetes, including the role that glucose levels and a high BMI might play. Have a listen here.
Downing Street has rejected suggestions that Sir Simon McDonald, the head of the Foreign Office, was pressurised into withdrawing his statement to a select committee yesterday saying the government took a political decision not to participate in the EU’s ventilator procurement scheme. Asked who put pressure on McDonald, the prime minister’s spokesman said: “Nobody.”
Asked to explain McDonald’s surprise decision to issue a statement saying that his original evidence had been based on a “misunderstanding” (see 9.37am), the spokesman said:
The government’s current position is that it failed to take part in the EU procurement scheme because of a communications error, which meant ministers were not aware of the opportunity available.
As my colleague Daniel Boffey reports, the European commission has challenged this account, saying the UK was well aware of what was on offer.
But, as the Guardian reported last month, before the government started arguing that the UK did not participate in the scheme because of a communications problem (one source claimed the problem was to do with emails being missed), Downing Street said it was not taking part in the scheme because the UK was “no longer a member [of the EU]” and was “making our own efforts”.
The health of construction workers is being “threatened by watered-down advice” on physical distancing on building sites, Unite has said.
The union said the latest guidance being given to building workers – issued to coincide with a return to work at a large number of sites this week, particularly in the London area – was unsafe and placed them at unnecessary risk.
The guidance now states that where workers are required to work within two metres of each other, they should “work side by side, or facing away from each other, rather than face to face”, the union said.
When this is not possible and workers have to work “face to face” within two metres of each other, workers should “keep this to 15 minutes or less where possible”.
Unite has written to the business secretary, Alok Sharma, warning that workers’ lives are being endangered and asking that the “defective procedures” be withdrawn immediately.
The union has also launched a hotline so that workers can report concerns and provide evidence of unsafe working practices.
Unite national officer Jerry Swain said:
Liz Truss, the women and equalities minister (and international trade secretary), has dismissed concerns over the number of female ministers leading the daily Downing Street coronavirus press conference as “tokenism”. At a committee hearing this morning, Truss said “excessive focus” on the gender of the politician leading the televised briefing “does a disservice to women”. Our colleague Frances Perraudin has the full story.
There have now been 309,000 applications for the government to pay the wages of furloughed staff through its coronavirus job retention scheme, Downing Street has said. That means 2.2m workers could benefit, it says. The scheme opened on Monday.
Hundreds of asylum seekers in Glasgow have been given less than an hour’s notice to pack up their flats before being moved into city centre hotels, where they claim social distancing is “impossible”, our colleague Libby Brooks reports.
The day after announcing limited prisoner release to ease pressure in Scotland’s jails, the justice secretary, Humza Yousaf, has been challenged on emergency amendments that extend 24-hour-a-day detention and lift requirements for clean clothes.
The head of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, Judith Robertson, and the Scottish prisons inspector, Wendy Sinclair, met Yousaf earlier today to raise significant human rights concerns about the amendments to prison rules.
Robertson told the Guardian:
The pair also raised issues around oversight and scrutiny, as well as inconsistent practice around different prisons.
There are already serious concerns about prisoners’ wellbeing after family visits were suspended and exercise and other activities severely restricted because of social distancing. The Scottish government announced plans to provide phones in cells last week, with some necessary security restrictions.
The Department for Health and Social Care has just published the latest daily UK coronavirus hospital death figures. There have been 759 new deaths, taking the total to 18,100.
The full details are here.
Yesterday the daily rise was 823.
The Guardian’s latest Politics Weekly podcast is out. Jonathan Freedland and guests discuss a historic week in parliament, as prime minister’s questions goes “virtual”, and Larry Elliott speaks to the Enlightened Economist, Diane Coyle, about the potential for economic reform post-pandemic.