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| UK coronavirus live: indoor mixing ban extended to Merseyside, Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough | UK coronavirus live: indoor mixing ban extended to Merseyside, Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Government recommends no social mixing between people from different households in these areas | |
| The Local Government Association says today’s test and trace performance figures show that its officials do a much better job than the national contract tracers working for NHS Test and Trace (a service provided by private contractors). This is from Ian Hudspeth, chair of the LGA’s community wellbeing board. | |
| Hudspeth is referring to the number of close contacts reached in so-called complex cases. See the final chart in the post at 12.59pm. The national contact tracers deal with normal cases (called non-complex ones), but when there are outbreaks in institutions like hospitals, local public health officials take over. (These are called complex cases but arguably they are less complex - because the contacts all tend to be in the same place.) | |
| NHS Test and Trace has published its weekly performance figures. They are here (pdf) and they show that, on two of its main indicators, performance is getting worse. Testing times are improving, but they are still way off the target set by the prime minister. | |
| Here are the main points. | |
| The number of people testing positive is now four time as high as it was at the end of August. In the week ending 23 September a total of 31,373 new people tested positive for Covid-19 in England. That was a 61% increase on the previous week, and four times the level in the last week of August. | |
| The service is still far away from delivering all test results within 24 hours, as Boris Johnson, although there has been a recent improvement. For all pillar 2 tests (ie, tests taking place outside hospitals - which means most tests) 16.9% of results were received within 24 hours in the week ending 23 September, up from 10.3% in the previous week. For in-person tests (local test sites, mobile testing units and regional test sites), 38.1% of results were received within 24 hours compared to 28.2% in the previous week. The government now prefers to focus on the percentage of test results delivered the following day, and in the latest week 70.6% of in-person tests results were received the next day, compared to 52.9% in the previous week. But Johnson did tell MPs on 3 June that he would get “all tests turned around within 24 hours by the end of June, except for difficulties with postal tests or insuperable problems like that”. | |
| The service is getting worse at reaching the people referred to it because they have tested positive. The contact-tracing service has two roles; it must contact the people referred to it because they have tested positive to ask about their close contacts, and it must then speak to those contacts to ask them to self-isolate. In the week ending 23 September only 71.3% of people referred to the system were reached. That is the second week in a row that this figure has gone done - last week it was 80.8% - and it is now close to the proportion achieved when the service launched. The target is 80%. The graph illustrates the scale of the problem. | |
| The service reached 71.6% of the close contacts of people who tested positive in the week ending 23 September. This is down from 76.3% in the previous week, but above the 69.9% for the week to September 2, which is the lowest weekly figure to date. The target is 80%. | |
| The archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop of Durham have urged the government to extend free school meals to every child whose family is on universal credit, and expand holiday provision to all children on free school meals, saying the number of families who could be destitute by Christmas is “harrowing”. | The archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop of Durham have urged the government to extend free school meals to every child whose family is on universal credit, and expand holiday provision to all children on free school meals, saying the number of families who could be destitute by Christmas is “harrowing”. |
| The food bank charity the Trussell Trust says 46,000 food parcels will need to be provided by their network to people in crisis between October and December 2020 – an increase of 61% on last year. It estimates an additional 670,000 people will be destitute by the end of the year. | The food bank charity the Trussell Trust says 46,000 food parcels will need to be provided by their network to people in crisis between October and December 2020 – an increase of 61% on last year. It estimates an additional 670,000 people will be destitute by the end of the year. |
| Writing in TES, Justin Welby and Paul Butler say: | Writing in TES, Justin Welby and Paul Butler say: |
| At present, beyond infant school, free school meals are strictly means-tested, and only available to universal credit claimants with a household income of less than £7,400. | At present, beyond infant school, free school meals are strictly means-tested, and only available to universal credit claimants with a household income of less than £7,400. |
| A single alert to public health officials in Cornwall from the national NHS test and trace service led to the identification of 170 Covid-19 cases at a food factory. | A single alert to public health officials in Cornwall from the national NHS test and trace service led to the identification of 170 Covid-19 cases at a food factory. |
| The vast majority of workers at Pilgrim’s Pride Ltd in Pool who proved positive did not have coronavirus symptoms and had no idea they had the virus. | The vast majority of workers at Pilgrim’s Pride Ltd in Pool who proved positive did not have coronavirus symptoms and had no idea they had the virus. |
| Cornwall council’s public health team, along with Public Health England SW and the NHS, is working with the factory to try to stop the outbreak spreading into the community. | Cornwall council’s public health team, along with Public Health England SW and the NHS, is working with the factory to try to stop the outbreak spreading into the community. |
| Meanwhile, the 2021 World Pilot Gig Championships on the Isles of Scilly have been cancelled. | Meanwhile, the 2021 World Pilot Gig Championships on the Isles of Scilly have been cancelled. |
| The event attracts thousands of rowers but the organisers said in a statement: | The event attracts thousands of rowers but the organisers said in a statement: |
| The event had been due to begin at the end of April. | The event had been due to begin at the end of April. |
| Matt Hancock has finished his statement to the Commons. | Matt Hancock has finished his statement to the Commons. |
| Turning back to Brexit, this is from Bloomberg. | Turning back to Brexit, this is from Bloomberg. |
| And this is from Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator. | And this is from Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator. |
| But in the UK government sources are playing down the significance of the EU’s decision to launch legal proceedings. They say it is normal for the EU to be engaged in infringement proceedings against member states. There were 800 of these cases open last year, they say, and on average there are 29 against each member state. | But in the UK government sources are playing down the significance of the EU’s decision to launch legal proceedings. They say it is normal for the EU to be engaged in infringement proceedings against member states. There were 800 of these cases open last year, they say, and on average there are 29 against each member state. |
| In the Commons the SNP MP Steven Bonnar asked Matt Hancock if he accepted that the decision by Dominic Cummings, the PM’s chief adviser, to ignore lockdown rules earlier this year was encouraging more people to break the rules now, with the result that more people were at risk. | In the Commons the SNP MP Steven Bonnar asked Matt Hancock if he accepted that the decision by Dominic Cummings, the PM’s chief adviser, to ignore lockdown rules earlier this year was encouraging more people to break the rules now, with the result that more people were at risk. |
| Hancock said he did not accept that there was a link. | Hancock said he did not accept that there was a link. |
| In the Commons Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has received repeated complaints, from MPs from all sides, about the way the compulsory 10pm closing time operates. Several have asked him to provide the scientific justification for the rule. In response to Greg Clark, the Tory chair of the Commons science committee, Hancock said that people were less likely to obey social distancing in pubs after 10pm. But he told Clark the policy was being kept under review. He said: | In the Commons Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has received repeated complaints, from MPs from all sides, about the way the compulsory 10pm closing time operates. Several have asked him to provide the scientific justification for the rule. In response to Greg Clark, the Tory chair of the Commons science committee, Hancock said that people were less likely to obey social distancing in pubs after 10pm. But he told Clark the policy was being kept under review. He said: |
| Another Conservative, Jeremy Wright, suggested that hotel bars could be exempt for residents, because bars were a valuable source of income. Hancock said he would look at the idea, but that there were advantages in ensuring “clarity” in the way the rules operated. | Another Conservative, Jeremy Wright, suggested that hotel bars could be exempt for residents, because bars were a valuable source of income. Hancock said he would look at the idea, but that there were advantages in ensuring “clarity” in the way the rules operated. |
| Hancock also told MPs there enough flu jabs were available for everyone in a priority group who needed one. But people did not need to get them before December, he said. | Hancock also told MPs there enough flu jabs were available for everyone in a priority group who needed one. But people did not need to get them before December, he said. |
| Here is a statement from Angela Eagle, the Labour MP for Wallasey, on the new restrictions for the Liverpool city region. She said: | Here is a statement from Angela Eagle, the Labour MP for Wallasey, on the new restrictions for the Liverpool city region. She said: |
| Yesterday local authorities in the region said in a joint statement that so far the coronavirus crisis had cost them more than £350m. | Yesterday local authorities in the region said in a joint statement that so far the coronavirus crisis had cost them more than £350m. |
| Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth also asked Matt Hancock about today’s Guardian story about how Deloitte, which is involved in helping to run the NHS Test and Trace service, is selling separate contact-tracing services directly to local health officials in the UK. Robert Booth’s story is here. | Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth also asked Matt Hancock about today’s Guardian story about how Deloitte, which is involved in helping to run the NHS Test and Trace service, is selling separate contact-tracing services directly to local health officials in the UK. Robert Booth’s story is here. |
| Ashworth said councils should be getting this anyway and the fact that Deloitte was seeking to sell these services was “an utter scandal”. | Ashworth said councils should be getting this anyway and the fact that Deloitte was seeking to sell these services was “an utter scandal”. |
| But Hancock said: | But Hancock said: |
| In his response to Hancock, Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said he was concerned about the way the 10pm compulsory closing time was working. He said: | In his response to Hancock, Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said he was concerned about the way the 10pm compulsory closing time was working. He said: |
| In his opening statement Hancock told MPs that today React study from Imperial College (see 10.04am) showed there were early signs that the R number (the reproduction number) may be falling. | In his opening statement Hancock told MPs that today React study from Imperial College (see 10.04am) showed there were early signs that the R number (the reproduction number) may be falling. |
| He also said he was not willing to allow the virus to “let rip”. He said: | He also said he was not willing to allow the virus to “let rip”. He said: |
| Hancock said there would be no changes to measures in West Yorkshire, West Midlands, Leicester, Lancashire or the rest of Greater Manchester. | Hancock said there would be no changes to measures in West Yorkshire, West Midlands, Leicester, Lancashire or the rest of Greater Manchester. |
| Hancock also told MPs that the rules for Bolton would be aligned with the rules for Manchester. | Hancock also told MPs that the rules for Bolton would be aligned with the rules for Manchester. |
| That implies that pubs will be allowed to reopen in Bolton. Hancock is addressing an anomaly highlighted by, among others, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester two days ago. | That implies that pubs will be allowed to reopen in Bolton. Hancock is addressing an anomaly highlighted by, among others, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester two days ago. |
| Here is the EU’s press notice about its decision to launch legal action against the UK over the internal market bill. | Here is the EU’s press notice about its decision to launch legal action against the UK over the internal market bill. |