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/28/uk-coronavirus-live-news-minutes-silence-to-commemorate-key-workers-who-have-died
The article has changed 24 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 9 | Version 10 |
|---|---|
| UK coronavirus live: Scottish government advises people to cover faces in buses, trains and some shops | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Minute’s silence held for key workers; more than 4,300 people in care homes die in two weeks; Hancock refuses to apologise to dead doctor’s son | Minute’s silence held for key workers; more than 4,300 people in care homes die in two weeks; Hancock refuses to apologise to dead doctor’s son |
| Sky’s Sam Coates has a Twitter thread with more from today’s No 10 lobby briefing. It starts here. | |
| No 10 also announced that Matt Hancock, the health and social care secretary, will take this afternoon’s press conference. | |
| There were reports in some papers this morning suggesting that Boris Johnson was going to announce his plans for starting to relax the lockdown at the end of the week. A story in the Daily Telegraph (paywall) said Downing Street sources had confirmed that the “prime minister was expected to share his plans with the nation by the end of the week” and the Times (paywall) quoted a No 10 adviser saying Johnson would “put flesh on the bones” of the plan by the end of this week | |
| Now it seems that either someone in Downing Street jumped the gun, or else there has been a change of heart, because at the Downing Street lobby briefing the prime minister’s spokesman strongly signalled that Johnson would not be announcing any plans this week. The spokesman said: | |
| It was also stressed that the government will not be announcing plans to relax the lockdown until the five tests set for this to happen have been met. | |
| At her daily briefing, the Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed a further 200 confirmed cases of coronavirus, taking the total to 10,721. | |
| There was also a decrease of 8 people in hospital, giving a new total of 1,754 patients, and a decrease of 8 patients in intensive care, reducing that total to 126. | |
| There were 70 more deaths recorded since yesterday, taking the death toll to 1,332. | |
| The Scottish government has published updated guidance on the use of face coverings during the pandemic. | |
| It doesn’t go as far as enforcing their use, but recommends that in “limited circumstances” there may be some benefit in wearing one when leaving the home and entering enclosed spaces with others where physical distancing is more difficult. | |
| Examples of this include on public transport or entering a supermarket where it’s not always possible to maintain a two-metre distance from others. | |
| The guidance reads: | |
| The guidance stresses that the wearing of face coverings must not be used as an alternative to physical distancing, hand washing and respiratory hygiene, which remain the most important and effective measures for preventing the spread of coronavirus. | |
| The Scottish government advice highlights that there is currently no evidence to suggest that the general wearing of a facial covering outdoors has any benefit, unless in an unavoidable crowded situation. It adds that face masks are not suitable for children under the age of two. | |
| It also specifies that face coverings should not be the same as those used by medical professionals: | |
| The UK government is not currently advising the public to wear face masks but has said it will consider the scientific evidence presented by Sage. | |
| The change in policy from the Scottish government will add to growing pressure on the UK government to follow suit, after the likes of the London mayor Sadiq Khan and the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer have already publicly backed the idea that non-medical face coverings should be recommended. | |
| Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, is making a Commons statement about coronavirus and the public services. | |
| He started by paying tribute to public sector workers. | |
| He said the ministerial group he chaired looking at the impact of the pandemic on public services had now met 30 times. | |
| They have been working to address the shortfall in the agricultural workforce, to protect the food supply, he said. | |
| Working with Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, the group had set up the free school meal voucher scheme, he said. He said 15,500 schools had placed orders for vouchers, and vouchers worth £29m had been redeemed. | |
| Since the end of March 90% of rough sleepers known to councils have been offered accommodation, he said. | |
| He said the armed forces had organised a 19,600-strong coronavirus support force. | |
| He said more than 150,000 key workers and their family members had been tested for coronavirus. | |
| More than 400 civil servants had been moved to the Department of Health and Social Care to help it operate, he said. | |
| More than 750,000 people have signed up to the NHS volunteers programme, he said. And he said more than 600,000 had had their ID verified so they could start volunteering. | |
| And he said a total of 3,203 fines had been handed out to people who flouted social distancing rules between 27 March and 13 April. | |
| Frontline “heroes” risk losing their jobs if the government fails to meet its promise to fully fund councils in their coronavirus crisis response, Labour has warned. | Frontline “heroes” risk losing their jobs if the government fails to meet its promise to fully fund councils in their coronavirus crisis response, Labour has warned. |
| The shadow communities secretary, Steve Reed, told the Commons that if councils face falling into debt because of the extra work created by the crisis they “will be forced to make cuts potentially totalling billions of pounds and that’ll mean job losses”. He said: | |
| The communities and local government secretary, Robert Jenrick, said he had been working closely with councils and that £3.2bn of additional money had already been committed, plus other support. He added: | |
| As a consequence of social and economic lockdown measures introduced by governments, the global economy is heading for what the International Monetary Fund believes is the worst recession since at least the Great Depression. | |
| The Guardian’s economics correspondent Richard Partington explains the unprecedented measures being taken to help protect individuals, households and businesses; how they are helping, and the costs they may involve. | |
| Alongside its report on the latest weekly death figures (see 9.42am), the Office for National Statistics has also published its latest dataset, a file that contains the figures in detail. This shows that in the week ending Friday 17 April, the latest week for which figures are available, almost a quarter of coronavirus deaths in England and Wales were in care homes. And around 70% were in hospitals. The rest were in private homes, hospices, or elsewhere. | |
| The exact figures are: 6,107 coronavirus deaths in hospitals, 2,050 in care homes, 416 in private homes, 103 in hospices, 41 in other communal establishments and 41 elsewhere. | The exact figures are: 6,107 coronavirus deaths in hospitals, 2,050 in care homes, 416 in private homes, 103 in hospices, 41 in other communal establishments and 41 elsewhere. |
| Following the publication of the figures Liz Kendall, the shadow social care minister, has written an open letter to Matt Hancock, the health and social care secretary, calling for action in six areas on social care. She said: | Following the publication of the figures Liz Kendall, the shadow social care minister, has written an open letter to Matt Hancock, the health and social care secretary, calling for action in six areas on social care. She said: |
| Here are Kendall’s six proposals. | |
| The Chartered Society of Physiotherapists is calling on the government to extend its automatic visa extension scheme to physiotherapists to protect staffing levels across health and social care at the height of the pandemic. | The Chartered Society of Physiotherapists is calling on the government to extend its automatic visa extension scheme to physiotherapists to protect staffing levels across health and social care at the height of the pandemic. |
| At the moment the one-year visa extension scheme applies to doctors, nurses and paramedics who are employed by the NHS on a Tier 2 visa that was previously due to expire before October 2020. But it does not cover NHS physiotherapists or other allied health professionals (AhPs) and their families. | At the moment the one-year visa extension scheme applies to doctors, nurses and paramedics who are employed by the NHS on a Tier 2 visa that was previously due to expire before October 2020. But it does not cover NHS physiotherapists or other allied health professionals (AhPs) and their families. |
| Physiotherapists and physiotherapy support workers are essential throughout the care of patients worst affected by Covid-19, from intensive care to community rehabilitation after discharge. Their work includes helping patients recovering from coronavirus to rehabilitate and return home, and freeing up capacity by helping patients with non-Covid-19 conditions rehabilitate and leave hospital. | Physiotherapists and physiotherapy support workers are essential throughout the care of patients worst affected by Covid-19, from intensive care to community rehabilitation after discharge. Their work includes helping patients recovering from coronavirus to rehabilitate and return home, and freeing up capacity by helping patients with non-Covid-19 conditions rehabilitate and leave hospital. |
| Rob Yeldham, the CSP director of strategy, said: | Rob Yeldham, the CSP director of strategy, said: |
| There are an estimated 3,000 physiotherapists working in the UK who qualified overseas, though not all will be affected by the visa issue. | There are an estimated 3,000 physiotherapists working in the UK who qualified overseas, though not all will be affected by the visa issue. |
| At a hearing with the Commons science committee this morning, Matthew Gould, the chief executive of NHSX, the health service’s digital innovation arm, said the contact-tracing app being developed by the government, which should tell people if they have been in contact with others who subsequently test positive for coronavirus, would be trialled in a “small area” before potentially being rolled out nationally next month, subject to its performance in those trials. He went on: | |
| He said people using the app could be “confident” their personal data would not be compromised. He explained: | He said people using the app could be “confident” their personal data would not be compromised. He explained: |
| But he also said it would be “tough” to get 80% of smartphone users to install the app. | But he also said it would be “tough” to get 80% of smartphone users to install the app. |
| Prof Christopher Fraser, senior group leader in pathogen dynamics at the University of Oxford Big Data Institute, told the committee that if roughly 60% of the population used the app, that would be enough to keep the reproduction number (the infectivity rate of the virus) below one, meaning the pandemic could be contained. | Prof Christopher Fraser, senior group leader in pathogen dynamics at the University of Oxford Big Data Institute, told the committee that if roughly 60% of the population used the app, that would be enough to keep the reproduction number (the infectivity rate of the virus) below one, meaning the pandemic could be contained. |
| But he said that number would rely on people paying heed to other warnings about sharing data with the app rather than simply downloading it, and self-isolating when symptoms developed. | But he said that number would rely on people paying heed to other warnings about sharing data with the app rather than simply downloading it, and self-isolating when symptoms developed. |
| The work of postal staff will be marked on Wednesday as they continue to play a huge role during the lockdown. | The work of postal staff will be marked on Wednesday as they continue to play a huge role during the lockdown. |
| National Postal Workers’ Day is an annual event organised by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) to promote the work its members do year-round, but is particularly pertinent this year. A union spokesman said: | National Postal Workers’ Day is an annual event organised by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) to promote the work its members do year-round, but is particularly pertinent this year. A union spokesman said: |
| The Labour MP Tony Lloyd is stepping down as shadow Northern Ireland secretary to focus on his recovery from coronavirus, the party has announced. He will be replaced by the shadow policing minister Louise Haigh, who had been covering for him in his absence. Lloyd, 70, was discharged from intensive care at Manchester Royal Infirmary last week. | The Labour MP Tony Lloyd is stepping down as shadow Northern Ireland secretary to focus on his recovery from coronavirus, the party has announced. He will be replaced by the shadow policing minister Louise Haigh, who had been covering for him in his absence. Lloyd, 70, was discharged from intensive care at Manchester Royal Infirmary last week. |
| Guardian Money is reminding readers who are no longer able to use their rail season tickets that they can now cash it in for a full refund online, which in many cases could be worth thousands of pounds. | Guardian Money is reminding readers who are no longer able to use their rail season tickets that they can now cash it in for a full refund online, which in many cases could be worth thousands of pounds. |
| In stark contrast to the airlines, the rail industry is refunding passengers – even those who bought non-refundable single tickets. Refunds are being backdated to 17 March, or the last day travelled. | In stark contrast to the airlines, the rail industry is refunding passengers – even those who bought non-refundable single tickets. Refunds are being backdated to 17 March, or the last day travelled. |
| In London, passengers have eight weeks from their last trip to cash in the Oyster card. | In London, passengers have eight weeks from their last trip to cash in the Oyster card. |
| Those who booked one-off rail trips for March and April are also being refunded. | Those who booked one-off rail trips for March and April are also being refunded. |
| Here is our full story on how to do it, and what you’re likely to receive back. | Here is our full story on how to do it, and what you’re likely to receive back. |