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/25/coronavirus-uk-calls-for-transparency-over-scientific-advice-to-ministers-latest-updates
The article has changed 17 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Coronavirus UK: test slots run out for second day running – latest updates | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Questions over independence of Sage group come as UK death toll nears 20,000 | Questions over independence of Sage group come as UK death toll nears 20,000 |
| Coronavirus tests for key workers through the government’s new booking website have run out in England and Wales for a second day in a row. | |
| More than 10 million key workers and their households are now eligible for Covid-19 tests as officials race to hit their 100,000-a-day testing target by next Thursday. | |
| However, home testing kits were listed as “unavailable” on the government’s booking website just 15 minutes after it reopened on Saturday morning, according to the BBC. | |
| It was also not possible to book tests at drive-through regional sites in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by 10am. | |
| According to the site, tests at a drive-through regional site in Scotland are still available. | |
| A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said more will be made available from Sunday morning at 8am. | |
| Killing Eve writer Luke Jennings, actor Robert Webb and Booker prize winner Bernardine Evaristo are to take part in a virtual book festival to be broadcast over three days during the first bank holiday weekend in May. | |
| The Big Book Weekend will during 8-10 May “bring together the best of the cancelled UK literary festivals”, organisers said. It will feature video interviews, panel discussions and “in conversation” sessions. | |
| Former hostage Terry Waite will talk about how to cope with solitude, and it will also feature Alexander McCall Smith, Maggie O’Farrell, Marian Keyes, Neil Gaiman and Michael Morpurgo, while Sir Tim Rice discusses his life and career. | |
| The festival is part of BBC Arts’ Culture In Quarantine, “bringing the very best arts and culture to the homes of everyone in the UK”, and is supported by BBC Arts and Arts Council England. | |
| Author Kit de Waal, who co-founded the festival with Molly Flatt, said: | |
| You can find more information here. | |
| A government campaign has been launched to encourage people seriously ill with non-coronavirus conditions such as heart attacks to seek help amid concerns some are avoiding hospitals, my colleagues Sarah Marsh and Nazia Parveen report. | A government campaign has been launched to encourage people seriously ill with non-coronavirus conditions such as heart attacks to seek help amid concerns some are avoiding hospitals, my colleagues Sarah Marsh and Nazia Parveen report. |
| The campaign, which will be rolled out next week, aims to encourage people to use vital services – such as contacting their GP, dialling 111 for urgent care needs or 999 in an emergency, cancer screening and care, maternity appointments and mental health support – as they usually would.The NHS chief executive, Sir Simon Stevens, said delays in getting treatment posed a long-term risk to people’s health, and stressed that the NHS was still there for patients without coronavirus who needed urgent and emergency services for stroke, heart attack, and other often fatal conditions. | The campaign, which will be rolled out next week, aims to encourage people to use vital services – such as contacting their GP, dialling 111 for urgent care needs or 999 in an emergency, cancer screening and care, maternity appointments and mental health support – as they usually would.The NHS chief executive, Sir Simon Stevens, said delays in getting treatment posed a long-term risk to people’s health, and stressed that the NHS was still there for patients without coronavirus who needed urgent and emergency services for stroke, heart attack, and other often fatal conditions. |
| Council chiefs have been praised after heeding the communities secretary’s call to reopen parks and cemeteries to allow the public open space to exercise in during the lockdown, ITV News reports. | Council chiefs have been praised after heeding the communities secretary’s call to reopen parks and cemeteries to allow the public open space to exercise in during the lockdown, ITV News reports. |
| As the UK enters its fifth weekend of lockdown, 340 parks and green spaces across the country have been reopened. The government has also updated its guidance to make it clear that burial grounds and cemeteries, grounds surrounding crematoria and gardens of remembrance may remain open. Robert Jenrick said: | As the UK enters its fifth weekend of lockdown, 340 parks and green spaces across the country have been reopened. The government has also updated its guidance to make it clear that burial grounds and cemeteries, grounds surrounding crematoria and gardens of remembrance may remain open. Robert Jenrick said: |
| Here are a range of reactions to the Cummings story that came in last night: | Here are a range of reactions to the Cummings story that came in last night: |
| From Sir David King, the former chief scientific adviser | From Sir David King, the former chief scientific adviser |
| From the shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth | From the shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth |
| A thread from BBC Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall | A thread from BBC Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall |
| From HuffPost’s Paul Waugh | From HuffPost’s Paul Waugh |
| And from the Conservative MP and former first secretary of state Damian Green | And from the Conservative MP and former first secretary of state Damian Green |
| The Conservative former chancellor Philip Hammond has called on the government to begin easing the lockdown and focus on restarting the economy while accepting life alongside coronavirus. | The Conservative former chancellor Philip Hammond has called on the government to begin easing the lockdown and focus on restarting the economy while accepting life alongside coronavirus. |
| He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the country could not afford to wait until a vaccine had become available before resuming more normal economic activity. | He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the country could not afford to wait until a vaccine had become available before resuming more normal economic activity. |
| The Times (paywall) reports that the Treasury is drawing up measures to allow non-essential businesses to reopen and “get Britain back to work”. To achieve this in a “safe and practical way”, the measures include telling businesses to put up signs instructing workers to keep two metres apart and for staff to be sent home if they have coronavirus symptoms. | The Times (paywall) reports that the Treasury is drawing up measures to allow non-essential businesses to reopen and “get Britain back to work”. To achieve this in a “safe and practical way”, the measures include telling businesses to put up signs instructing workers to keep two metres apart and for staff to be sent home if they have coronavirus symptoms. |
| Companies will also be told to close “communal spaces” like canteens if people can’t physically distance and ensure widespread availability of hand-washing facilities and hand gel. | Companies will also be told to close “communal spaces” like canteens if people can’t physically distance and ensure widespread availability of hand-washing facilities and hand gel. |
| Good morning. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has been thrust into the limelight after the Guardian revealed that the prime minister’s chief political adviser, Dominic Cummings, has been taking part in meetings of the senior scientists advising the upper echelons of government on its response to the coronavirus crisis. It’s left the government facing ever growing calls for the scientific advice given to ministers on the pandemic to be published and for Sage’s secret membership to be disclosed. | Good morning. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has been thrust into the limelight after the Guardian revealed that the prime minister’s chief political adviser, Dominic Cummings, has been taking part in meetings of the senior scientists advising the upper echelons of government on its response to the coronavirus crisis. It’s left the government facing ever growing calls for the scientific advice given to ministers on the pandemic to be published and for Sage’s secret membership to be disclosed. |
| Elsewhere, the NHS is launching a new campaign to make sure people seek urgent care during a medical emergency after visits to A&E dropped by almost 50% this month. Prof Stephen Powis, the national medical director for England, told BBC Breakfast he was concerned that lives were being lost because fewer people were presenting themselves to doctors. He said: | Elsewhere, the NHS is launching a new campaign to make sure people seek urgent care during a medical emergency after visits to A&E dropped by almost 50% this month. Prof Stephen Powis, the national medical director for England, told BBC Breakfast he was concerned that lives were being lost because fewer people were presenting themselves to doctors. He said: |
| And, as the UK heads into its fifth weekend of lockdown, the public is being urged to stay at home and not be tempted by the warm, sunny weather. | And, as the UK heads into its fifth weekend of lockdown, the public is being urged to stay at home and not be tempted by the warm, sunny weather. |
| Please feel free to get in touch with me throughout the day to share news tips and suggestions. You can email me at lucy.campbell@theguardian.com or contact me via Twitter, I’m on @lucy_campbell_. | Please feel free to get in touch with me throughout the day to share news tips and suggestions. You can email me at lucy.campbell@theguardian.com or contact me via Twitter, I’m on @lucy_campbell_. |