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UK coronavirus live: too early to reopen schools in Scotland, says Scottish government UK coronavirus live: too early to reopen schools in Scotland, says Scottish government
(32 minutes later)
Trial begins for new contact-tracing app while government’s top scientists are questioned by MPs and new Sage papers publishedTrial begins for new contact-tracing app while government’s top scientists are questioned by MPs and new Sage papers published
Immediate changes to Universal Credit are needed ahead of a potential second wave of claims when the government’s protection schemes come to a close next month, Citizens Advice has said. Q: What options will be available for parents who do not want to send their children back to school?
Data released on Tuesday by the Department of Work and Pensions showed that 1.9 million households have made a claim for Universal Credit in the last two months. This equates to just under one in ten working-age households in Great Britain. Sturgeon says she has to act in partnership with the public. She suggests there would be no point saying pupils should go back to school if parents did not have confidence in that decision.
While the rate of claims has tapered in recent weeks, the charity warns its frontline advisors are preparing for a potential spike in enquiries this summer. The job retention scheme is currently due to end on 30 June, which could precipitate further job losses. Q: The Irish government’s plan for relaxing lockdown includes specific dates. Yours doesn’t. Has the Irish taoiseach jumped the gun?
Frontline advisers at Citizens Advice warn many people they support with Universal Credit can face hardship as a result of the five-week wait until their first payment, or risk getting into debt by taking out an advance payment. Sturgeon says she does not know what advice the Irish government has had.
She says the government will have to make choices.
Sturgeon says Scotland is “at a critical moment”.
It can either continue making progress. Or else it might get to the point where lockdown measures have to be reimposed, she says.
Q: Could building sites be some of the first places to come out of lockdown?
Sturgeon says this is covered in the document. She will proceed at a pace that is safe.
Q: How do you respond to the Scottish secretary’s criticism of your approach? (See 11.17am.)
Sturgeon says she has sought to avoid partisan politics.
She says both the argument that Scotland has to follow the UK exactly, and the argument that it has to do its own thing, are wrong.
She will do what is right for Scotland, she says.
She says a Sunday paper (the Sunday Telegraph) said schools should open at the start of June.
She does not know what is right for England, she says.
But she says she cannot “hand on heart” say that would be safe for Scotland.
Q: The UK government has not published a document like this. Are they looking at ideas like this?
Sturgeon says she thinks governments around the world are all facing the same problems, and she says she thinks they are all looking at the same possible ways out.
But she says she does not know what Boris Johnson is considering.
She says she wants to come out of lockdown at the right pace. If that means doing it differently from the rest of the UK, that is what it should do. If that means doing it differently in different parts of Scotland, that would be right too.
Q: What advice do you have for businesses where social distancing is not possible?
Sturgeon says it has to be safe.
She says it might be possible to use PPE in some places where social distancing is not possible, like for hairdressers (an example cited by the questioner).
She says it may not be possible to introduce these measures now. But if they do the detailed work now, then relaxing measures later might be possible.
At her briefing Nicola Sturgeon is now taking questions.
Q: For how long do you need sustained evidence that R is below 1 before you can lift the lockdown measures?
Sturgeon says this is for the experts to advise on.
She says, whenever schools get opened, there will be an impact on the R number. But if R is 0.2, that won’t take you into the danger zone. If it is 0.8, it will.
She says in Denmark schools going back has led to the R number going up.
Q: What will the school year look like next year?
Sturgeon says the paper looks at options for different year groups.
There will need to be more social distancing, she says.
She says surfaces will have to be cleaned properly.
As for dates, she cannot say.
But, as soon as evidence develops, she will make that available to the public.
A total of 1,620 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 44 from 1,576 on Monday, Nicola Sturgeon announced.
The first minister said 12,437 people had now tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 171 from 12,266 the day before.
There were 104 people in intensive care with coronavirus or coronavirus symptoms, an increase of five on yesterday, she added.
There are 1,656 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a decrease of 64.
And since 5 March, 2,847 people who have tested positive for coronavirus have been able to leave hospital.
Here is the text of the new document (pdf) published by the Scottish government about its approach to relaxing the lockdown (or not).
Immediate changes to universal credit are needed ahead of a potential second wave of claims when the government’s protection schemes come to a close next month, Citizens Advice has said.
Data released on Tuesday by the Department for Work and Pensions showed that 1.9 million households have made a claim for universal credit in the last two months. This equates to just under one in 10 working-age households in Great Britain.
While the rate of claims has tapered in recent weeks, the charity warns its frontline advisers are preparing for a potential rise in inquiries this summer. The job retention scheme is currently due to end on 30 June, which could precipitate further job losses.
Frontline advisers at Citizens Advice warn many people they support with universal credit can face hardship as a result of the five-week wait until their first payment, or risk getting into debt by taking out an advance payment.
Dame Gillian Guy, the charity’s chief executive, urged the government to turn advance payments into grants to avoid putting people at risk of debt. She said:Dame Gillian Guy, the charity’s chief executive, urged the government to turn advance payments into grants to avoid putting people at risk of debt. She said:
The Scottish government has released a second framework document setting out plans for leaving lockdown, ahead of Nicola Sturgeon’s daily media briefing and emphasising the need for the public to engage with the ideas being considered.The Scottish government has released a second framework document setting out plans for leaving lockdown, ahead of Nicola Sturgeon’s daily media briefing and emphasising the need for the public to engage with the ideas being considered.
It underlines the need for continuing caution, stating it is “almost certain” that lockdown will be extended on Thursday, the next review date for the regulations, but sets out some “illustrative examples” about how changes could be made.It underlines the need for continuing caution, stating it is “almost certain” that lockdown will be extended on Thursday, the next review date for the regulations, but sets out some “illustrative examples” about how changes could be made.
It is particularly cautious about schools, stating:It is particularly cautious about schools, stating:
Illustrating the dangers of re-opening primary and nursery schools too early, it shares modelling which suggest that, given the current level of infections and reinfection rates, “in the ‘most likely’ scenario, full re-opening [in May] would cause a resurgence in the virus such that hospital capacity in Scotland would be overwhelmed in less than two months.” Illustrating the dangers of re-opening primary and nursery schools too early, it shares modelling which suggest that, given the current level of infections and reinfection rates, “in the ‘most likely’ scenario, full re-opening [in May] would cause a resurgence in the virus such that hospital capacity in Scotland would be overwhelmed in less than two months”.
Explaining that the R number – the reinfection rate of the virus – remains too high to conclude that the virus has been suppressed in Scotland, the document states:Explaining that the R number – the reinfection rate of the virus – remains too high to conclude that the virus has been suppressed in Scotland, the document states:
It adds that there is some evidence that the currently R number in Scotland is slightly above that elsewhere in the UK.It adds that there is some evidence that the currently R number in Scotland is slightly above that elsewhere in the UK.
The document also gives examples of some limited changes which could happen after the next review point, at the end of May, including allowing people to leave their home more often, or for longer; allowing people to meet with a small number of others in a self-contained “bubble”; resumption of some NHS screening services and social care support.The document also gives examples of some limited changes which could happen after the next review point, at the end of May, including allowing people to leave their home more often, or for longer; allowing people to meet with a small number of others in a self-contained “bubble”; resumption of some NHS screening services and social care support.
It also says the Scottish government is in talks with businesses and trade unions about safe return to work for employees in particular sectors, with the focus on construction, manufacturing and retail as well as outdoor and rural work.It also says the Scottish government is in talks with businesses and trade unions about safe return to work for employees in particular sectors, with the focus on construction, manufacturing and retail as well as outdoor and rural work.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, is making a short statement.
Referring to media reports that Boris Johnson plans to announce how he plans to start relaxing the lockdown on Sunday, Hoyle says it is “a matter of regret” that the PM is doing it in this way. Major announcements of government policy should be made in the Commons first, he says.
The University of Edinburgh is to cutback heavily on its spending, furloughing staff, freezing building projects and blocking pay rises for higher-paid staff, after forecasting it could lose up to £150m a year during the coronavirus crisis.
Prof Peter Mathieson, the university’s principal, emailed its 15,000 staff on Tuesday morning to say it faces a “very real financial challenge” from an expected collapse in overseas student numbers, and the loss of rents, catering and events income.
In addition, in common with the funding crises across the universities sector, it needed to invest in moving teaching online to cope with the effects of social distancing regulations.
He warned the university, one of the largest and wealthiest in the UK, needed £90m a month to pay its salaries and operational costs, as well as cash reserves of £90m. Losses from the pandemic were likely to be between £70m and £150m a year until at least 2025, he said.
To save money, staff unable to work from home would be furloughed, with the government’s £2,500 per month topped up by the university; staff earning above £100,000 would not get any pay increases; all non-essential buildings work has been postponed; all non-critical staff appointments had been frozen. Mathieson added:
These are from ITV’s political editor Robert Peston on one of the revelations in the latest batch of Sage papers published today.
There is some hope that UK cinemas could reopen as early as mid-July in time for the launch of the latest Christopher Nolan film, the boss of Vue has said.
Tim Richards, chief executive of the Vue Cinemas chain, said he is “hopeful” that cinemas can be open in time for the release date of Nolan’s new film, Tenet, on 17 July.
He told the BBC that the company is working with the government on ways the industry can operate while ensuring physical distancing. He said:
The chain said it has learned significantly from the impact of the Sars outbreak on its Taiwanese operations between 2002 and 2004, and is prepared for “every possible eventuality, ranging from social distancing to restricted access”.
He said there will be a “demand like we’ve never seen before” for cinemas when they are reopened, highlighting the releases of Tenet, Minions, Mulan and the latest James Bond film, No Time To Die, later this year.
In the Commons Rosena Allin-Khan, a shadow health minister and practising doctor, asks Matt Hancock if he is committed to maintaining testing at the level of 100,000 tests per day.
Hancock says he has been transparent about how he has achieved this. He says he wants to see the numbers continue to rise. He says capacity for testing is now at 108,000 per day.
In the Commons Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is currently taking questions.
The Conservative MP Bob Neill asked him why care home managers are told if residents test positive for coronavirus, but not if staff members test positive. Neill said this information was withheld from managers on privacy grounds.
Hancock said he would look into this.
A housekeeper who went “above and beyond” in his work is the latest of at least four frontline workers at a single hospital to have died after contracting coronavirus.
Momudou “Mo” Dibba, who worked on Watford general hospital’s Letchmore and Lengley wards, died on 29 April after testing positive for Covid-19.
Nurses Ate Wilma Banaag and John Alagos and healthcare assistant Khalid Jamil also died while working on the hospital’s front line, and Stephanie Willocks, a former matron and ward sister at the hospital, also died after contracting the virus. She retired in 2005 but had been supporting the trust as a nursing mentor.
West Hertfordshire hospitals NHS trust said Dibba would often work extra shifts on reception after finishing his main job in the ward, and at weekends. The trust said in a statement:
Reopening schools prematurely could risk creating a rise in the transmission of Covid-19, teaching union leaders have warned.
The general secretaries of 10 trade unions across the UK and Ireland have written to the education ministers in all five jurisdictions urging “significant caution in any consideration of reopening schools”.
The letter, sent by the British and Irish Group of Teachers’ Unions on behalf of teachers, warns of the “very real risk of creating a spike in the transmission of the virus by a premature opening of schools”. It says:
The coalition of union leaders argues that schools can only reopen and operate safely if there are “significant operational changes” in place to ensure effective physical distancing, as well as strong hygiene routines and appropriate PPE where required.
It follows speculation that schools could be asked to reopen their doors to more pupils before the summer holidays.
Boris Johnson promised to deliver a “comprehensive plan” this week on how the UK lockdown may be eased and suggested that he would set out efforts to get children back to school.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, said schools in Wales could be allowed to reopen their doors from the start of June in a phased approach. And the Westminster education secretary, Gavin Williamson, has said schools in England will reopen in a “phased manner” after the lockdown “when it’s the right time” based on scientific and medical advice, but he has yet to set a date.
At the start of the Commons health committee hearing this morning Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, sought to clarify the remarks he made in mid-March about about how not totally suppressing coronavirus could allow the build-up of “herd immunity”. (See 9.29am.) Vallance said: