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.
UK coronavirus live: Boris Johnson to lead Downing Street briefing; official death toll rises by 137
UK coronavirus live: Boris Johnson says local outbreaks will be feature of our lives for some time
(32 minutes later)
Government publishes list of 59 countries whose travellers won’t have to quarantine in England; official UK death toll rises by 137; English pubs can open from 6am on Saturday
More local lockdowns should be expected; official UK death toll rises by 137, government publishes list of 59 countries whose travellers won’t have to quarantine in England
The Department of Health and Social Care said 44,131 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Thursday, up by 137.
Hena from Leeds asks about what contingency plans are in place in case of a second wave.
The government figures do not include all deaths involving Covid-19 across the UK, which are thought to have passed 55,000.
Johnson says the government will keep looking at other ways of controlling the virus and avoiding a second wave. More detail will come shortly, he says.
The DHSC also said in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Friday, 205,673 tests were carried out or dispatched, with 544 positive results. Overall, a total of 10,120,276 tests have been carried out and 284,276 cases have been confirmed positive.
Whitty says everyone realises a second wave is a possibility and will be for a very long time.
After the kind of shambolic delay once more associated with Eurovision judging than crucial policy decisions, the government unveiled its 59 travel corridor nations, to the relief of the travel industry – but yet more head-scratching from some.
As the economy opens up, everyone taking it responsibly (including adhering to 1-metre plus, hand-washing, face masks) will influence the probability of a second wave, he says.
Most importantly for summer, the big three outbound destinations – Spain, France and Italy – are approved. Greece is also on the list, despite blocking UK arrivals for now.
We have to be ready for the possibility of local outbreaks escalating, he says.
Meanwhile, anyone flying in from Singapore, which has recorded only a few dozen deaths from coronavirus, will still need to quarantine. Britons can now holiday in Macau, but not Montenegro, without spending 14 days in isolation on return.
Vallance says the Covid-secure approach needs to be stuck to by everyone across society.
Among the key tourist destinations whose fate was in the balance, Croatia has made it on the safe list for travel. Portugal, where local outbreaks have been recurring, stays out for now. Israel, Egypt and Tunisia remain off limits, as does Canada, which is regarded as safe but doesn’t want visitors.
Keeping to the rules, especially with the risk of winter coming, will suppress the chances of an upswing in the country, he adds.
Overall, most of the Caribbean returns, and much of the Mediterranean, allowing some kind of holiday season to be salvaged. Airlines believe they have extracted a promise for the rationale to be published, and an understanding that more destinations will be cleared soon – and that the policy of blanket quarantine has finally been put to bed.
David from Milton Keynes asks about support for the events and arts industry which has been decimated by the long period of enforced closure.
Pubs in England have been forced to cancel post-midnight reopening events following a government announcement that regulations enforcing their closure will remain in place until 6am.
Johnson says he knows it’s been a tough time for the sector.
Some landlords – including the pub chain BrewDog – had planned to reopen their venues in England as the clock ticked past midnight.
Next week, the government will set out a timetable for getting these businesses as Covid-secure as possible, he adds.
But several hours before they were due to welcome customers, No 10 said on Friday afternoon the ban would now remain in place until later on Saturday morning.
Don’t gather in groups of more than six outside or two household in any settings, Johnson says. Keep your distance from others and wash your hands.
Pub owners and the Police Federation of England and Wales have since criticised the timing of the announcement.
He finishes by saying: “Enjoy summer safely.”
Adam Snowball, managing director of the Showtime sports bar in Huddersfield, said it was “massively disappointing” to have to cancel his reopening event.
Tomorrow there will be a moment of remembrance for those lost before their time, Johnson says. And on Sunday, there will be a clap for the NHS on its anniversary.
The 35-year-old said about 50 people had booked a table at his venue on Zetland Street, which would have remained open until 3.30am.
Supporting local businesses should be a focus as lockdown measures ease tomorrow. The economic health of the whole country depends on every single one of us acting responsibly, Johnson says. We must not let them down.
He told the PA news agency:
Reopening “will only succeed if everyone works together, as we are not out of the woods, as Leicester has shown”.
Snowball said customers were being notified that the bar would not be open until 10am on Saturday.
This government won’t hesitate in reimposing restrictions if needed.
Meanwhile, a BrewDog spokeswoman said the chain had also been required to tell customers that its planned ticket-only events in Manchester, Newcastle and Shoreditch would no longer be going ahead.
“Anyone who flouts the rules is putting us all at risk but also letting down business owners who have prepared for this new normal,” Johnson says.
John Apter, the national chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said while he welcomed the decision to keep pubs shut until 6am, the timing of the announcement was “very unhelpful”.
If these measures prove not to be enough, local lockdowns will be extended across communities as in Leicester, Johnson says.
He said:
This could include closing schools and businesses and telling people to stay at home.
Apter said the federation, which represents thousands of rank and file officers, had “raised concerns” about some pubs planning to open after midnight.
If the virus continues to spread, targeted restrictions will see individual premises closed and contact tracing used, he says.
He said:
Testing capacity will be targeted at local outbreaks and make use of NHS contact tracing, Johnson says.
While regulations allowing for the reopening of pubs and bars comes into force from 6am, licensing conditions will still apply – so venues can only open at the time they normally have permission for.
The local community will be kept informed about what’s happening and what actions they need to take, he says.
The publication of the full list of “travel corridors” (see 3.17pm.) came as Britain’s biggest airlines were attempting to force a judicial review of quarantine rules in the High Court.
Public Health England and the Joint Biosecurity Centre will examine and monitor the spread of the disease across the country, Johnson says. Local data has been made available to all directors of public health in local authorities so they can monitor what’s happening in their area.
British Airways, Ryanair and EasyJet have dropped their action, reaching an agreement in principle with the government on Friday when it decided to finally publish the list of approved countries for travel.
This will be available on the .gov website, he adds.
The airlines are understood to have been assured that the government will continue to undertake country-by-country risk assessments and publish the rationale.
It made sense to take action locally in the cases of Weston-super-Mare, Kirklees and Leicester, he says.
In a statement issued after the hearing, the airlines said:
Going forward, with each local outbreak, five principles will guide the approach: monitoring, engagement, testing, targeted restrictions and finally, as a last resort, lockdown.
According to data from the International Air Transport Association (Iata), the quarantine rules saw more refunds paid out than new bookings made in the weeks after its imposition on 8 June, and was as big a deterrent as an outright travel ban, in polling of passengers.
Targeted measures will be put in place going forward, Johnson says. Only schools where there is an outbreak will be closed, for example.
The travel and airline industry welcomed the list of exempt countries, but warned it remained in crisis, with thousands of job cuts announced even this week.
This progress is why we can begin to ease the national lockdown, Johnson says. Social distancing is still essential.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said:
Indoor gyms, nail bars, swimming pools are still closed and mass gatherings are still prohibited. He says he wants these restrictions lifted as soon as possible, and task forces are exploring how to do this in a Covid-secure way.
The latest figures for the R value for Covid-19, and growth rates, have been released by the government.
Good progress is being made, he says. Next week, a timetable will be set out for their reopening.
R is the average number of people one person infects: if it rises above 1, infections could increase exponentially. Growth rates reflect the change in the number of infections each day; a growth rate of below 0 suggests the prevalence of the disease is shrinking.
The prime minister is speaking now about the “progress” the country is making against the coronavirus pandemic.
Once again R for the UK is just below 1, at 0.7 to 0.9. For England alone the range is slightly different at 0.8 at 0.9.
Regularly, fewer than 1,000 new cases are being reported each day, he says. Sage assess that the R rate remains between 0.7 and 0.9 across the UK. In England, the number of new infections is shrinking by 2%-5% every day, he adds.
Within England there remains regional variation in R, with London the only region where, according to the statistics, R might have edged above 1 – the range for the capital is 0.8 to 1.1.
Local outbreaks and lockdowns were always to be expected, he says, and will be part of our lives for some time.
The figures reveal that, for the UK as a whole, the growth rate per day is -6% to 0%, with the range at -5% to -2% for England alone.
Ahead of the reopening of pubs, restaurants and hairdressers on Saturday for the first time in three months, the prime minister will lead a special news briefing this afternoon, due to begin shortly.
But once again there are regional variations, with London and the south-west both showing ranges that span 0, at -4% to +2%, and -7% to +2% respectively.However, the number of infections also matter. If infections are widespread, a rise in R could see cases boom. But if infection levels are low, a large R may reflect a local outbreak or cluster of infections that can be more easily controlled.
Boris Johnson is expected to urge the public not to “blow” the progress that has been made in tackling the pandemic when lockdown restrictions are further eased tomorrow, and to enjoy themselves in a careful, “safe way”.
Another issue is that as infections fall, it becomes harder to estimate R, meaning the range of values can become wider – a situation also seen if R is calculated for a small geographical area. Similar limitations apply to growth rates.
He will be joined by the chief medical officer for England, Prof Chris Whitty, and the government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance.
Prof Rowland Kao, an epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh, said:
Kao added that R would not be expected to decline unless new measures were put in place, the virus changed, or immunity was prevalent and rapidly growing.
Eligibility for the flu vaccine will be extended amid fears that an outbreak could coincide with a second surge of coronavirus cases, No 10 has confirmed.
Downing Street said on Friday that ministers were trying to secure a “significant additional supply” of vaccines, with the seasonal illness having the potential to wreak havoc because of the similarity of its symptoms with Covid-19.
Currently the flu vaccine is available for free to those deemed most at risk, including those who are pregnant, over 65, carers and primary school children.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for this to be extended to everyone over 50, warning an outbreak this winter could create a “perfect storm”.
The prime minister’s official spokesman told the lobby this afternoon:
Earlier in the day, Starmer said in an interview with Sky News that the flu vaccine must be “ramped up” and given to all over-50s, adding:
As far back as 30 April, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) recommended that ministers formed a clear plan for the upcoming flu season, including “consideration of whether to vaccinate the entire UK population”.
Not only could an outbreak coinciding with a surge of Covid-19 put an immense strain on the NHS, it could force a significant number of people into self-isolation with suspected coronavirus infections when they in fact have the flu.
The Scottish and Welsh governments have both hit out at the UK government’s “shambolic” handling of air travel and quarantine rules.
Here is a clip of Nicola Sturgeon criticising the UK government’s attempt to push forward an agreement on relaxing quarantine rules and opening air bridges between Britain and other countries.
Scotland’s first minister refused to immediately adopt proposals from UK government ministers to lift quarantine rules for travellers from Spain, Italy, France and Germany, and relax them for up to 60 others from 10 July, pending a review during the next few days.
The government has published the list of 59 countries and territories that will form travel corridors with England.
From 10 July, people arriving in England from these destinations by train, ferry, coach, air or any other route will not have to self-quarantine for 14 days.
But if people have been to or stopped in a country that’s not on the travel corridor list they will have to self-isolate until 14 days have passed since they left that country.
The places on the travel corridor list are:
AndorraAntigua and BarbudaArubaAustraliaAustriaBahamasBarbadosBelgiumBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaCroatiaCuracaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDominicaFaroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench PolynesiaGermanyGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeHong KongHungaryIcelandItalyJamaicaJapanLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacauMaltaMauritiusMonacoNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNorwayPolandReunionSan MarinoSerbiaSeychellesSouth KoreaSpainSt BarthelemySt Kitts and NevisSt LuciaSt Pierre and MiquelonSwitzerlandTaiwanTrinidad and TobagoTurkeyVatican CityVietnam
The 14 British overseas territories will also be exempt.
Public Health Wales said a further two people have died in Wales after testing positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of deaths to 1,525. The total number of positive tests there has increased by 26 to 15,841.
Gyms in England could be allowed to reopen “in a couple of weeks”, the prime minister has said.
While businesses including pubs, restaurants and hairdressers will be allowed to reopen from Saturday, gyms – which have been closed since the UK went into lockdown in March – have been largely left in the dark.
Speaking on LBC radio this morning, Boris Johnson also vowed to get theatres reopened as soon as possible:
