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UK coronavirus live: Raab gives daily Downing Street briefing as death toll rises by 759 UK coronavirus live: social distancing measures likely vital until vaccine, says Whitty
(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-19 UK hospital death toll rises to 18,100 as health secretary says 15 social care staff are among those to die with Covid-19
Nicola Sturgeon said she was increasingly optimistic Scotland has passed the peak in cases after “really encouraging” data showed a continuing fall in hospital admissions and intensive care cases.
The number of intensive care patients in Scotland fell for the seventh day running to 155, the lowest number since 1 April. Covid-19 hospital admissions by ambulance fell to 156 on Tuesday, the lowest level since 18 March, down from a peak of 363 on 6 April. Sturgeon said:
The first minister warned, however, it was too early to start relaxing the strict lockdown and social isolation rules.
After disclosing 77 further deaths were recorded in hospitals over the last 24 hours, taking Scotland’s hospitals fatalities total to 1,062, Sturgeon said she believed the number of fatalities would start to fall “very soon.”
She admitted, however, she was distressed by new data showing a sharp 60% increase in care homes deaths last week.
The National Records of Scotland said 1,616 people had died from confirmed or suspected Covid-19 by Sunday in hospitals or in the community since the start of the outbreak.
By last Sunday a third of those, 537, had died in residential homes, echoing the experience in other parts of Europe. The same data last week showed 25% of deaths occurred in care homes.
Opposition parties said those figures raised challenging questions about whether enough had been done to prevent the virus overwhelming care homes. Residents’ families claim in some cases GPs have refused to hospitalise the ill or refused to visit care homes.
Sturgeon and Jeane Freeman, the Scottish health secretary, said extra emergency measures were being introduced, including extra deliveries of gowns and masks, and setting up an NHS rapid reaction unit.
But they said care homes had been told in March to introduce strict isolation and shielding protocols for their residents, and it was the homes’ responsibility to ensure staff were properly trained and equipped.
Pharmacists have voiced growing concerns about contracting Covid-19 at work due to lack of PPE and difficulties maintaining physical distancing.
Some said vital community dispensaries may be forced to close if the risk of infection became too great, and that more than “warm words” were needed to keep staff safe.
A survey conducted by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) found that almost over a third (34%) of respondents were still unable to access continuous supplies of PPE, and almost 95% said they could not maintain the recommended two-metre distance from colleagues, due to the size of their workplace.
The RPS said there should be “no compromise” when it came to the safety of its staff.
Ash Soni, who owns Copes pharmacy in Streatham, south-west London, told the PA news agency he had been forced to pay for PPE supplies personally and questioned why he was not considered “front-line enough” to be given access to sufficient equipment.
Others warned that if dispensaries were forced to close, entire communities could lose out. Raj Matharu, a locum pharmacist in Bexleyheath, south-east London, told PA that local pharmacies needed to remain open as they were in the “unique position” to serve deprived communities.
And Ade Williams, a pharmacist in Bristol, told PA local people had donated masks and gloves in a show of support to staff putting themselves at risk. He said:
RPS president Sandra Gidley said:
There were bound to be some teething problems when it came to realising parliament via Zoom – and who better than senior politicians to demonstrate how not to do it.
During a virtual plenary session with up to 28 Assembly Members, the Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething made a major boo-boo when he forgot his microphone was on and launched into a rant about fellow Labour AM Jenny Rathbone.
Gething dropped a certain four-letter word as he criticised his colleague, who had asked a question after his finishing statement. The Llywydd, Elin Jones, swiftly weighed in:
The meeting had to be paused after the incident.
The reactions speak for themselves.
The blooper called into question Gething’s professionalism and Plaid Cymru called for the minister to resign claiming he does not have the “right attitude, skills or temperament”.
Writing of his feeling “obviously embarrassed” over the incident later on Twitter, the minister said he had reached out to Rathbone to apologise.
Q: Could the lockdown measures be lifted early in somewhere like Bristol?
Raab says it would be counter-productive, or dangerous, if the government eased up on the restrictions too early.
And that’s it. The press conference is over.
Q: Matt Hancock says the UK has reached the peak. Does that cover places like Bristol, where cases are lower? Or will it peak later? And will its Nightingale hospital still be needed?
Whitty says the south-west has has probably the least impact from Covid. That applies to care homes too, he says.
But he says this is not the natural peak of an epidemic without the government doing anything.
It is a peak generated by the lockdown. So it is an artificial peak. He says this means you would expect the peak to hit everywhere at about the same time.
On the Nightingale hospitals, he says that has created new capacity. That means the government has more options as it plans ahead.
The NHS is going to be under pressure from Covid “for really quite a long period of time”, he says.
Q: Will you rely on this new app for contact tracing? Or are you going to use other techniques too?
Raab says two things will help the government as it moves to the next phase: getting the infection level down, and testing with contact tracing.
Whitty says they will be doing a lot more population testing, so that they find out at the earliest point if the R is heading above 1 in any part of the country.
Q: What about people who do not have a smartphone, or do not want to use the app?
Raab says the public would expect the government to innovate.
Whitty says he is very hopeful that they get vaccines with “proof of concept” well within a year.
But there is a long way to go between having a vaccine, or a drug, and widespread immunity, he suggests.
That is why social distancing measures are so vital, he says.
Whitty says, until a vaccine is available, the government will have to rely on social distancing measures.
Raab rules out publishing the findings of the government exercise a few years ago that modelled a pandemic of this sort.
Q: Sage have looked again at masks, and we are told that wearing maks would be a good idea for people who are asymptomatic. What is your advice to people going out tomorrow?
Raab says Sage always looks at the evolving evidence. He says it has not come back with new advice yet. When it does, the government will look at it.
Q: What work are you doing on lifting the restrictions, and avoiding a second peak?
Whitty says the government cannot allow the R, the reproduction number, to go above 1 for any sustained period of time. That would lead to exponential growth. And it would not be long before you moved from “bad numbers to really bad numbers”, with the NHS at risk of being overwhelmed.
He says this disease will not be eradicated. So it will be with us for the foreseeable future.
He says it is “wholly unrealistic” to think that the restrictions will be largely relaxed any time soon.
The government will have to maintain a lot of measures for a long period of time, he says.
Q: Does R have to go well beyond 1, or just slightly below 1?
Whitty says getting it below 1 is essential,
But there are other ways in which coronavirus could harm people’s health.
What optimises outcomes for one group (ie, those who die directly) might not optimise it for those in other groups (ie, those who might die because other health procedures are being affected).
Whitty says the government does not yet have an antibody test that is as good as they want. This is critical. He is hoping they will soon have a test that wil give them a “ranging shot” as to what proportion of people, of different ages and in different parts of the country, have had the virus.Whitty says the government does not yet have an antibody test that is as good as they want. This is critical. He is hoping they will soon have a test that wil give them a “ranging shot” as to what proportion of people, of different ages and in different parts of the country, have had the virus.
Q: Are you underusing the MoD?Q: Are you underusing the MoD?
Raab says the government is always considering what more can be done.Raab says the government is always considering what more can be done.
It has to deploy resources where they are most useful.It has to deploy resources where they are most useful.
Carter says the MoD has deployed all the personnel it needs to deploy.Carter says the MoD has deployed all the personnel it needs to deploy.
Q: Will the armed forces be more involved in drive-through centres?Q: Will the armed forces be more involved in drive-through centres?
Carter says the armed forces are trying to design the right sort of testing model. That is why they have tried mobile “pop-ups”. Some really good people are working on this.Carter says the armed forces are trying to design the right sort of testing model. That is why they have tried mobile “pop-ups”. Some really good people are working on this.
Q: When will PPE shortages be resolved. A day? A week? Or can’t you say?Q: When will PPE shortages be resolved. A day? A week? Or can’t you say?
Whitty says he is not an international procurement expert. So he is saying what he is told, he says. He says the NHS has been “tight” for different items at different times.Whitty says he is not an international procurement expert. So he is saying what he is told, he says. He says the NHS has been “tight” for different items at different times.
But there may be “local issues”, he says.But there may be “local issues”, he says.
To promise that in two or three days this would all be sorted would be a mistake, he says. He says the government is trying to manage this as best it can.To promise that in two or three days this would all be sorted would be a mistake, he says. He says the government is trying to manage this as best it can.
Q: Matt Hancock said we have reached the peak. Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Will some measures be eased on 7 May?Q: Matt Hancock said we have reached the peak. Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Will some measures be eased on 7 May?
Raab says there is light at the end of the tunnel. But we are not there yet. We are at the peak, he says.Raab says there is light at the end of the tunnel. But we are not there yet. We are at the peak, he says.
Q: The Irish PM has said he will give the Irish people at least a roadmap for exiting the lockdown. Can’t you at least give people some idea of what is planned?Q: The Irish PM has said he will give the Irish people at least a roadmap for exiting the lockdown. Can’t you at least give people some idea of what is planned?
Raab says he has set out the five tests for easing the lockdown. The government needs more data, he says.Raab says he has set out the five tests for easing the lockdown. The government needs more data, he says.
Q: The TSSA transport union has been told to prepare for more people using the rail service between 11 and 18 May. Is that when the lockdown might be eased?
Raab says he does not recognise those figures. He says it would be a mistake to take the eye of the ball at this point.
That is not a government timetable, he says. He says he does not know where the union got those dates.
Q: Why should foreign workers have to pay a surcharge for NHS use?
Raab says the home secretary has already outlined measures to ensure that foreign workers have their interests protected.
Q: There are figures suggesting a doubling of care home deaths. (See 1.19pm) Is that inevitable?
Raab says he does not see anything as inevitable.
Whitty says the CQC figures have not been published yet.
But he says he expects to see a high mortality rate for care homes. The people in care homes are a very vulnerable group, he says.
Whitty is now presenting the daily slides.
First, the transport one. Whitty say this is a proxy for compliance with the lockdown.
Here are the hospital figures numbers. Whitty says they are either stable or improving (in London).
Carter is speaking now. He says he has been asked to give an update on what the armed forces are doing.
They have concentrated on supporting the “heroic” frontline NHS staff, operating with “humility”, he says.
He says there is an established system for using the military to provide help to the civilian authorities. He says decision-making is decentralised. That has proved “extraordinarily successful”, he says.
He says this has been the single biggest logistical challenge the MoD has faced in his 40 years of service. He quotes figures highlighting what has been involved.
The armed forces are also in involved in testing, both in designing the tests, manning the test centres and providing innovative initiatives, like mobile testing.
The armed forces have helped with repatriation. And its 77 Brigade (its cyber warfare component) has been involved in tackling disinformation, he says.
As an example, he cites a reservist, a major who works for Google’s supply network in his day job. He has been involved in designing the coronavirus distribution effort.
Carter says the armed forces are still defending the UK, and are still involved in operations abroad.
He says 99-year-old Capt Tom Moore illustrates the sense of service everyone in the armed forces shares.
Raab says there have been problems.
But he says he has been on the phone every day pursuing PPE deliveries from abroad.
As the government works with partners to get PPE, it is also working with other countries to bring home stranded Britons. Over 13,000 people have been brought home on charter flights, he says.
Raab pays tribute to the work of the armed forces.
He says people used to joke in this country that the UK could never build a hospital as quickly as the Chinese built theirs.
But, with the help of the military, the UK built not just one, but seven, he says.
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 Gen 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.