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| UK coronavirus live: launch test and trace or risk second wave, NHS leaders warn | UK coronavirus live: launch test and trace or risk second wave, NHS leaders warn |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Government told it is running out of time to kick off testing system | Government told it is running out of time to kick off testing system |
| The number of people with coronavirus in England has remained stable since the end of April, according to new data, with nearly 140,000 people infected in the last two weeks. As Frances Perraudin reports, the second snapshot of Covid-19 rates in the community, taken by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), found that 137,000 people – 0.25% of the population – had coronavirus at any given time during the two weeks from 4-17 May. | |
| The full story is here. | |
| Preparing for the impact of a no-deal Brexit later this year would overwhelm local emergency response teams exhausted by the Covid-19 pandemic, a leaked Whitehall report has warned. My colleagues Patrick Butler and Dan Peters have the full story here. | |
| Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has posted this on Twitter ahead of the publication this afternoon of the Scottish government’s roadmap for easing the coronavirus lockdown. | |
| She says she will be presenting a four-phase plan. | |
| By contrast, the UK government’s plan (pdf) (which in most respects is just the English plan) is based on a three-step approach, with measures being relaxed on 13 May, from 1 June and from 4 July. Confusingly, the plan also talks of three phases, which are different. The three steps are all within phase two; phase three is essentially the vaccine, and phase one is the lockdown. | |
| The Welsh government’s plan (pdf) also describes how the lockdown could be relaxed in three stages. It describes red, amber and green easing measures, but without dates for when these will happen. | |
| By contrast, he Northern Ireland executive has a five-step routemap (pdf) out of lockdown - again, with no dates attached. | |
| Here’s the queue for a drive-through McDonald’s that opened in Sutton yesterday. | Here’s the queue for a drive-through McDonald’s that opened in Sutton yesterday. |
| My colleague Joanna Partridge has more on the excitement generated by the return of McDonald’s here. | My colleague Joanna Partridge has more on the excitement generated by the return of McDonald’s here. |
| Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, told the Today programme this morning that he was worried about complacency leading to a second wave of infection. He said: | Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, told the Today programme this morning that he was worried about complacency leading to a second wave of infection. He said: |
| He also said he did not want to see a “a car-led recovery” in London. | He also said he did not want to see a “a car-led recovery” in London. |
| Expanding on what he said in his letter to Matt Hancock (see 7.24am), the NHS Confederation chief executive Niall Dickson told the Today programme that the government’s new contract tracing system, which is due to be up and running a week on Monday (1 June) had to involve local government. He explained: | Expanding on what he said in his letter to Matt Hancock (see 7.24am), the NHS Confederation chief executive Niall Dickson told the Today programme that the government’s new contract tracing system, which is due to be up and running a week on Monday (1 June) had to involve local government. He explained: |
| AstraZeneca has said today that it now has secured the the capacity to manufacture 1bn doses of the potential coronavirus vaccine being developed at Oxford University. In a news release it said that data from a trial of the vaccine involving more than 1,000 volunteers is expected shortly. If the results are positive, there will be further late-stage trials in a number of countries. “AstraZeneca recognises that the vaccine may not work but is committed to progressing the clinical program with speed and scaling up manufacturing at risk,” the news release says. | |
| The Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye also told the Today programme that he supported the idea of “air bridges” - a plan floated by the transport secretary Grant Shapps earlier this week that would allow exemptions for travellers from certain countries when quarantine for new arrivals to the UK gets introduced. Holland-Kaye said: | The Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye also told the Today programme that he supported the idea of “air bridges” - a plan floated by the transport secretary Grant Shapps earlier this week that would allow exemptions for travellers from certain countries when quarantine for new arrivals to the UK gets introduced. Holland-Kaye said: |
| Heathrow airport has now started trialling thermal screening for some arrivals at the airport. The cameras identify people with a high temperature. | Heathrow airport has now started trialling thermal screening for some arrivals at the airport. The cameras identify people with a high temperature. |
| John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow’s chief executive, told the Today programme this morning that he hoped this system “could be part of a future common international standard to get people flying again”. He explained: | John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow’s chief executive, told the Today programme this morning that he hoped this system “could be part of a future common international standard to get people flying again”. He explained: |
| EasyJet will resume a small number of mainly domestic flights from 22 European airports from 15 June. As PA Media reports, EasyJet will serve a number of UK airports including Gatwick, Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Belfast. The airline said it was “introducing new measures to help ensure safety and wellbeing, including enhanced aircraft cleaning and disinfection and requirement for passengers and crew to wear masks”. | EasyJet will resume a small number of mainly domestic flights from 22 European airports from 15 June. As PA Media reports, EasyJet will serve a number of UK airports including Gatwick, Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Belfast. The airline said it was “introducing new measures to help ensure safety and wellbeing, including enhanced aircraft cleaning and disinfection and requirement for passengers and crew to wear masks”. |
| Britain’s economy continued to suffer an unprecedented contraction this month, my colleague Graeme Wearden reports. Both the manufacturing and service sectors are shrinking extremely rapidly as the lockdown continues, according to the latest survey of purchasing managers by IHS Markit. Graeme has more on his business live blog. | Britain’s economy continued to suffer an unprecedented contraction this month, my colleague Graeme Wearden reports. Both the manufacturing and service sectors are shrinking extremely rapidly as the lockdown continues, according to the latest survey of purchasing managers by IHS Markit. Graeme has more on his business live blog. |
| And the Office for National Statistics has also published the results of a survey looking at the social impact of coronavirus. It shows that, at least until the end of last week, people were continuing to observe the stay-at-home rules - although there was a fall in the number of people self-isolating. | And the Office for National Statistics has also published the results of a survey looking at the social impact of coronavirus. It shows that, at least until the end of last week, people were continuing to observe the stay-at-home rules - although there was a fall in the number of people self-isolating. |
| The ONS figures for the infection rate in the community have not yet been published, although they are due out today. | The ONS figures for the infection rate in the community have not yet been published, although they are due out today. |