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UK coronavirus live: Boris Johnson to lead Downing Street briefing amid growing backlash against new tiers UK coronavirus live: Boris Johnson leads Downing Street briefing amid growing backlash against new tiers
(32 minutes later)
PM gives update after large parts of England placed into tier 3 restrictionsPM gives update after large parts of England placed into tier 3 restrictions
Q: Are you confident that enough places are in tier 3?
Whitty says throughout this the government has had to do the least damaging thing. There are no ideal options.
He says there will be adjustments - hopefully downwards.
Q: Are you confident about the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine? (See 4.29am.)
Whitty says the key thing is to leave this to the regulator. They are excellent. They have access to data not in the public domain.
Vallance agrees. He says the headline results are excellent, but the regulator, which is excellent, must decide.
Q: What was the point of the lockdown if more people are moving into tougher tiers?
Johnson says the lockdown is not continuing. Shops and places like hairdressers will be open. This will be a very different thing.
He says he is convinced that in a few months we will have the vaccine, and that by April things will be very much better.
But it is important not to “take your foot off the throat of the beast” now, he says.
There is a “substantial relaxation across all tiers”, he says.
He also says people should take heart from the possibilities offered by mass testing.
Q: Will the vaccines work when the Covid virus mutates?
Vallance says we will end up with lots of vaccine options. Viruses do mutate. But this one does not mutate as much as the flu virus. This virus mutates, but it has not done so so far in such a way as to make the virus ineffective.
But in future that could happen, he says.
He says he does not think the vaccines we have at the moment will necessarily be the ones we use for ever.
Whitty says sometimes you need new vaccines because of mutations. But other vaccines you need to top anyway, because immunity wanes.
Q: Will the government consider moving to remote learning for schools?
Johnson says he wants to keep schools open. He favours remote learning in some circumstances. But he says he wants children in schools and he wants exams to go ahead.
Whitty now presents a slide showing the tier allocations.
He says tier 1 won’t hold the virus down. It only applies where cases are very low.
Tier 2 should be able to hold cases level, he says. And tier 3 should be able to get them down.
The next two slides from Vallance cover hospital cases and deaths.
Vallance is presenting the slides now.
The first one covers cases. On cases, we seem to have turned the corner, he says.
Johnson says testing in Liverpool has helped to reduce the number of cases by two thirds.
He says he wants to use mass testing more widely.
And he says that testing could allow individuals to be released from certain restrictions, even if they are living in tier 3.
Johnson says at least one in three people with Covid don’t have symptoms. They may be spreading it unwittingly.
That is why mass testing is so important, he says.
Johnson says he wishes he did not have to introduce these measures.
But they are essential if the government is going to keep schools open, he says.
He says these measures will be less intrusive than the lockdown.
Johnson starts by saying we have “reason to hope” that by spring vaccines and mass testing will bring an end to the need for restrictions.
But we face a hard winter, because winter favours the virus, he says.
He says it is vital not to let the virus take off again.
All around the world countries are taking different measures to keep the virus under control, he says.
And he summarises the government’s approach for England.
Data packs will be publishing explaining why particular areas are going in particular tiers.
Boris Johnson is about to hold a press conference.Boris Johnson is about to hold a press conference.
He will be appearing with Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser.He will be appearing with Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser.
Paul Foster, the Labour leader of South Ribble council in Lancashire, has issued a statement saying he is “bitterly disappointed” the whole of the county has gone into tier 3. And he has accused Matt Hancock, the health secretary, of falsely claiming to have engaged with local leaders. Foster said:Paul Foster, the Labour leader of South Ribble council in Lancashire, has issued a statement saying he is “bitterly disappointed” the whole of the county has gone into tier 3. And he has accused Matt Hancock, the health secretary, of falsely claiming to have engaged with local leaders. Foster said:
The Covid Recovery Group, which represents anti-lockdown or lockdown-sceptic Tories, has released some more quotes from Conservative MPs unhappy about the new restrictions.The Covid Recovery Group, which represents anti-lockdown or lockdown-sceptic Tories, has released some more quotes from Conservative MPs unhappy about the new restrictions.
This is from Harriet Baldwin, a former minister and MP for West WorcestershireThis is from Harriet Baldwin, a former minister and MP for West Worcestershire
From Tom Tugendhat, MP for Tonbridge and Malling in KentFrom Tom Tugendhat, MP for Tonbridge and Malling in Kent
From Greg Smith, MP for BuckinghamFrom Greg Smith, MP for Buckingham
Northern Ireland has recorded 442 further coronavirus cases. This is down from 533 yesterday and 487 a week ago today.
And there have been eight further deaths, up from seven yesterday but down from 12 a week ago today.
The BBC has a good graphic here showing what the three-tier map of England looked like before lockdown, and what it looks like now.
Nadhim Zahawi, a business minister and MP for Stratford upon Avon, says he is “hugely disappointed” that Warwickshire is in tier 3.
This is how Matt Hancock defended the decision to place Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull in tier 3 in his written ministerial statement.
AstraZeneca is saying that it is likely to conduct a further global trial of its coronavirus vaccine because of questions that have been raised about the first one, Bloomberg reports.
It is not clear from the Bloomberg report as to what impact, if any, this development might have on the potential UK rollout of the vaccine.
Tim Loughton, the Conservative former children’s minister, says he is “very disappointed” that Adur and Worthing in West Sussex have been placed in tier 2. He says that he will vote against the regulations next week unless ministers can show him evidence to justify the decision.
The most detailed explanation we’ve had from the government as to why Sussex is in tier 2 is in the written statement from Matt Hancock (which has now been cleaned up to remove all the question marks - see 11.59am). This is what it says about Sussex.
The UK government has updated its coronavirus dashboard. Here are the key statistics.
The UK has recorded 498 further coronavirus deaths. That is almost 200 below the total for yesterday (696), but it is still above the average for the past seven days (465). The death rate over the past week is 14% higher than for the previous week.
The UK has recorded 17,555 more coronavirus cases. That is down from the total for yesterday (18,213), but slightly above the average for the past seven days (17,329). Week on week, positive cases are down 26%.
Public Health Wales has recorded 1,251 more coronavirus cases. That is a big increase on the totals for yesterday (907), for a week ago today (1,048) or two weeks ago today (867).
And there have been 28 further deaths, down from 41 yesterday but up from 23 a week ago today.
Gavin Barwell, the former Conservative MP who served as Theresa May’s chief of staff when she was prime minister after losing his seat in the 2017 general election, has welcomed the appointment of Dan Rosenfield to do his old job. (See 2.10pm.)
Here is a statement from Dr Yvonne Doyle, medical director for Public Health England, on the figures in today’s weekly PHE Covid surveillance report. (See 3.08pm.)
Richard Drax, the Conservative MP for South Dorset, has said he is “astounded” that his constituency is in tier 2. In a statement released by the anti-lockdown Covid Recovery Group, Drax said: