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/may/12/uk-coronavirus-live-sunak-expected-to-extend-furlough-scheme-as-lockdown-confusion-continues
The article has changed 23 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 13 | Version 14 |
|---|---|
| UK coronavirus live: Sunak extends furlough job retention scheme until end of October | UK coronavirus live: Sunak extends furlough job retention scheme until end of October |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| UK coronavirus death toll passes 40,000, official figures say; Health secretary dodges questions over people’s legal right to refuse return to work; further lockdowns inevitable without stronger plan, scientists warn | UK coronavirus death toll passes 40,000, official figures say; Health secretary dodges questions over people’s legal right to refuse return to work; further lockdowns inevitable without stronger plan, scientists warn |
| A total of 42 Transport for London workers have died with Covid-19, the transport secretary said. On Network Rail, including the train operating companies, the number is 10, Shapps told the Commons. He added that it isn’t currently known if this was “through their jobs”. | |
| As a precautionary measure, people should wear face coverings on public transport, Shapps said, urging people to think about the needs of others. He told the Commons: | |
| In his statement to the Commons, Grant Shapps said it was crucial that those who can’t do their jobs from home should travel to work by walking or cycling if possible, or even by car if necessary, in order to avoid public transport. | |
| Shapps said: | |
| Shapps referred to the government’s £2bn investment related to walking and cycling, adding the first stage worth £250m would include pop-up bike lines, wider pavements and cycling and bus-only corridors. | |
| He added: | |
| An attempt to overturn the judiciary’s freeze preventing evictions and home repossessions during the pandemic has been rejected by the court of appeal. | |
| Lawyers for an insolvency firm had lodged an emergency application over the alleged failure to pay mortgages on two houses in Hertfordshire which were already the subject of a legal dispute. | |
| They challenged an emergency ‘practice direction’, made by the Master of the Rolls Sir Terence Etherton, who is head of the civil judiciary in England and Wales, which ensured that no one would lose their homes during the outbreak or be the subject of legal action that could result in them being made homeless. | |
| In the hearing last week, Philip Rainey QC, acting for Mehmet Arkin, an insolvency practitioner, argued that the rules were ‘ultra vires’ - having not been made in accordance with the law. | |
| But Sir Geoffrey Vos, chancellor of the high court, dismissed the appeal. Giving the court’s reason on Monday, he said: | |
| He added: | |
| Transport is undoubtedly going to “play a very central role” in the UK’s “gradual” recovery from the pandemic, the transport secretary Grant Shapps has told MPs. | |
| Making a statement in the Commons on Covid-19 guidance for transport users and operators, he said: | |
| Outlining the two new pieces of guidance, he added: | |
| There have been a further nine deaths of patients who tested positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health said, bringing the total related fatalities there to 447. | |
| In a Commons statement earlier this afternoon, the business secretary Alok Sharma said he believed “consensus” had been reached in developing guidance on how firms should safely reopen. | In a Commons statement earlier this afternoon, the business secretary Alok Sharma said he believed “consensus” had been reached in developing guidance on how firms should safely reopen. |
| He told MPs: | He told MPs: |
| This includes ensuring people work from home if they can, but he added: | This includes ensuring people work from home if they can, but he added: |
| On the use of face masks, Sharma said it is an “option” for workers but is “not required by law in the workplace”. | On the use of face masks, Sharma said it is an “option” for workers but is “not required by law in the workplace”. |
| The owners of Hampstead Heath have ruled out reopening bathing ponds in the park despite Boris Johnson’s pledge to allow outdoor swimming. But a return to bathing in Hyde Park’s Serpentine lake is being considered. The Corporation of London, which runs the north London park, said it could not reopen its three swimming ponds or its Lido and maintain physical distancing rules. The Royal Parks, which runs Hyde Park, said it is reviewing whether it can reopen the park’s Serpentine lake for swimming in a way that is safe and allows for physical distancing. | |
| The prime minister was challenged in the Commons on Monday to say more about swimming by the Tory MP Desmond Swayne, a well-known wild swimmer who regularly bathes in the Serpentine. Johnson said: | The prime minister was challenged in the Commons on Monday to say more about swimming by the Tory MP Desmond Swayne, a well-known wild swimmer who regularly bathes in the Serpentine. Johnson said: |
| But there is no mention of swimming in the government’s road map on easing the lockdown. And it said ticketed outdoor venues will remain closed. It says: “ | But there is no mention of swimming in the government’s road map on easing the lockdown. And it said ticketed outdoor venues will remain closed. It says: “ |
| Screening hospital workers for Covid-19 is crucial researchers have stressed after a study in a Cambridge hospital found 3% of more than 1,000 staff without symptoms and who turned up for work had the virus. (See 1.03pm.) | Screening hospital workers for Covid-19 is crucial researchers have stressed after a study in a Cambridge hospital found 3% of more than 1,000 staff without symptoms and who turned up for work had the virus. (See 1.03pm.) |
| The study, published in the journal e-Life, reports how healthcare workers at Addenbrookes hospital were tested over the course of April for the disease, revealing 3% of those reporting for duty tested positive, with 17 of the 30 truly asymptomatic or showing very few, mild symptoms. Others who tested positive had symptoms more than a week before the test, during which most had self-isolated. | The study, published in the journal e-Life, reports how healthcare workers at Addenbrookes hospital were tested over the course of April for the disease, revealing 3% of those reporting for duty tested positive, with 17 of the 30 truly asymptomatic or showing very few, mild symptoms. Others who tested positive had symptoms more than a week before the test, during which most had self-isolated. |
| The team behind the study, which includes researchers at Public Health England, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, the National Institutes for Health Research and the University of Cambridge, said the work suggests up to 15,000 NHS workers across the UK could have been working while infected during April - possibly more due to PPE shortages. | The team behind the study, which includes researchers at Public Health England, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, the National Institutes for Health Research and the University of Cambridge, said the work suggests up to 15,000 NHS workers across the UK could have been working while infected during April - possibly more due to PPE shortages. |
| Prof Daniel Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London who was not involved in the research, said the study showed why more testing is necessary. He said: | Prof Daniel Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London who was not involved in the research, said the study showed why more testing is necessary. He said: |
| Prof Charles Swanton of the Crick Institute in London, who has previously spoken out on the need for testing in hospitals, agreed, noting many studies have shown the coronavirus can be transmitted by both infected individuals before symptoms occur and by asymptomatic infected individuals. The new study, he said, suggested that in each hospital there could a significant number of healthcare workers who could be transmitting the virus to both their colleagues and to patients. | Prof Charles Swanton of the Crick Institute in London, who has previously spoken out on the need for testing in hospitals, agreed, noting many studies have shown the coronavirus can be transmitted by both infected individuals before symptoms occur and by asymptomatic infected individuals. The new study, he said, suggested that in each hospital there could a significant number of healthcare workers who could be transmitting the virus to both their colleagues and to patients. |
| “There is really a very clear mandate based on this study and several other studies over the last two, three months to initiate healthcare worker testing at scale to keep hospitals Covid protected,” he told the Guardian. | “There is really a very clear mandate based on this study and several other studies over the last two, three months to initiate healthcare worker testing at scale to keep hospitals Covid protected,” he told the Guardian. |
| The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished. Here are the main points. | The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished. Here are the main points. |
| The prime minister’s spokesman refused to confirm that the government remained committed to publishing its usual daily slides, including the global deaths comparison chart. The government did publish slides yesterday, but not the usual ones including a slide showing a global deaths and another showing transport use. The spokesman said he could not say whether these slides would be used again. The government would be showing slides about the roadmap to recovery, he said. The transport use slide was moderately awkward for the government because last week it showed a small but steady increase in people travelling at a time when that was not being encouraged. Here is the one from Saturday last week. | The prime minister’s spokesman refused to confirm that the government remained committed to publishing its usual daily slides, including the global deaths comparison chart. The government did publish slides yesterday, but not the usual ones including a slide showing a global deaths and another showing transport use. The spokesman said he could not say whether these slides would be used again. The government would be showing slides about the roadmap to recovery, he said. The transport use slide was moderately awkward for the government because last week it showed a small but steady increase in people travelling at a time when that was not being encouraged. Here is the one from Saturday last week. |
| But ministers were particularly embarrassed by the global deaths comparison chart. Even though it compares countries that compile their figures in different ways, and it gives total deaths not deaths per head, it looked damning because it showed the UK as having the worst death rate in Europe - and, as the days went on, this became more prominent. Here is the chart from Saturday. | But ministers were particularly embarrassed by the global deaths comparison chart. Even though it compares countries that compile their figures in different ways, and it gives total deaths not deaths per head, it looked damning because it showed the UK as having the worst death rate in Europe - and, as the days went on, this became more prominent. Here is the chart from Saturday. |
| The spokesman backed what Matt Hancock said this morning about how foreign holidays this summer might not be possible. He said that the current advice was against travelling abroad apart from for essential reasons. Those reasons did not include holidays, he said. | The spokesman backed what Matt Hancock said this morning about how foreign holidays this summer might not be possible. He said that the current advice was against travelling abroad apart from for essential reasons. Those reasons did not include holidays, he said. |
| The spokesman confirmed that the government was committed to having 18,000 contact tracers in place by the week commencing 18 May. Expanding on what the PM said about this target in the Commons yesterday, the spokesman said: | The spokesman confirmed that the government was committed to having 18,000 contact tracers in place by the week commencing 18 May. Expanding on what the PM said about this target in the Commons yesterday, the spokesman said: |
| The spokesman said that work was ongoing to look at how sewage could be used to map the spread of coronavirus through the country. Asked to elaborate on what Boris Johnson said about this yesterday, the spokesman said that water companies are working with universities in mapping the spread of coronavirus by examining sewage. He said Water UK had issued a statement on this, saying that non-infectious traces of coronavirus can remain in sewage. | The spokesman said that work was ongoing to look at how sewage could be used to map the spread of coronavirus through the country. Asked to elaborate on what Boris Johnson said about this yesterday, the spokesman said that water companies are working with universities in mapping the spread of coronavirus by examining sewage. He said Water UK had issued a statement on this, saying that non-infectious traces of coronavirus can remain in sewage. |
| NHS England has announced 350 new deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 23,709. The full details are here (pdf). | NHS England has announced 350 new deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 23,709. The full details are here (pdf). |
| Of the 350 new deaths announced today, 44 occurred on 11 May, 90 occurred on 10 May and 44 occurred on 9 May. | Of the 350 new deaths announced today, 44 occurred on 11 May, 90 occurred on 10 May and 44 occurred on 9 May. |