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UK Covid live: officials consider ‘surge vaccinations’ to combat spread of Indian variant | UK Covid live: officials consider ‘surge vaccinations’ to combat spread of Indian variant |
(32 minutes later) | |
Concern that spread of variant found in India, B1.617.2, may derail planned easing of lockdown restrictions in England | Concern that spread of variant found in India, B1.617.2, may derail planned easing of lockdown restrictions in England |
Bolton’s director of children’s services has written to parents, telling them pupils will still be required to wear face masks in schools “until further notice” because of the local Covid outbreak, despite the easing of the rules elsewhere in England from next Monday.The letter sent today states: | |
Back in the UK, nearly one in five pregnant women were forced to wear a face covering during labour, according to research by a charity, despite official health guidance saying they should not be asked to do so. | |
Women described feeling unable to breathe, having panic attacks or even being sick during labour because they were made to wear a face covering. | |
The research was carried out by the charity Pregnant Then Screwed, who surveyed 936 women who gave birth during December. It found that 160 of those who went into labour were made to wear a face covering. This goes against current joint UK guidance, published in July 2020 by the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. | |
Segueing briefly into the biggest unanswered question of the pandemic, the origin of the novel coronavirus remains unclear and there is still not yet enough evidence to say conclusively if it occurred naturally or was caused by a laboratory leak, a group of senior scientists say in a letter reported by Reuters. | |
“Theories of accidental release from a lab and zoonotic spillover both remain viable,” said the 18 scientists, including Ravindra Gupta, a clinical microbiologist at the University of Cambridge, in a letter to the journal Science which criticised the World Health Organization (WHO) report into the beginnings of the pandemic in Wuhan and called for further investigation. | |
GP patients must now be offered face-to-face appointments if they so wish, new NHS England guidance reported by health publication Pulse states. | GP patients must now be offered face-to-face appointments if they so wish, new NHS England guidance reported by health publication Pulse states. |
The Patients Association welcomed the new requirements, saying most patients prefer to see their doctor in person, but stressed how difficult people have been finding accessing GP services. | The Patients Association welcomed the new requirements, saying most patients prefer to see their doctor in person, but stressed how difficult people have been finding accessing GP services. |
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: | Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: |
The NHS’s new instructions to GPs require them to make, “a clear offer of appointments in person” and “respect preferences for face to face care unless there are good reasons to the contrary.” | The NHS’s new instructions to GPs require them to make, “a clear offer of appointments in person” and “respect preferences for face to face care unless there are good reasons to the contrary.” |
GPs will still be allowed to arrange a remote appointment in the first instance, if the patient reports having Covid symptoms. | GPs will still be allowed to arrange a remote appointment in the first instance, if the patient reports having Covid symptoms. |
The Indian coronavirus variant has been detected in a number of areas in England which are reporting the highest rates of infection, data suggests. | The Indian coronavirus variant has been detected in a number of areas in England which are reporting the highest rates of infection, data suggests. |
PA Media has the story: | |
Earlier this morning, vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said trials of vaccinating all adults in multi-generational households have been “successful” and could be a “tool” for use in areas where there is a surge of the Covid-19 variant first identified in India. | Earlier this morning, vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said trials of vaccinating all adults in multi-generational households have been “successful” and could be a “tool” for use in areas where there is a surge of the Covid-19 variant first identified in India. |
“The multigenerational household trials, in Luton and in Slough and elsewhere, have been good, they have been successful, which is why I think it’s a tool in our armoury,” he told BBC Breakfast. | “The multigenerational household trials, in Luton and in Slough and elsewhere, have been good, they have been successful, which is why I think it’s a tool in our armoury,” he told BBC Breakfast. |
Asked why this was not being implemented now, he said: “The clinicians will make those sorts of recommendations, the decisions, and we will flex the vaccination programme accordingly.” | Asked why this was not being implemented now, he said: “The clinicians will make those sorts of recommendations, the decisions, and we will flex the vaccination programme accordingly.” |
My colleagues Josh Halliday and Helen Pidd report on Lancashire’s director of public health, Sakthi Karunanithi, joining Blackburn with Darwen public health director, Dominic Harrison, in expressing frustration with national authorities in not rapidly surge vaccinating in badly hit areas. | My colleagues Josh Halliday and Helen Pidd report on Lancashire’s director of public health, Sakthi Karunanithi, joining Blackburn with Darwen public health director, Dominic Harrison, in expressing frustration with national authorities in not rapidly surge vaccinating in badly hit areas. |
“I share Dom’s fury,” he told BBC Radio Lancashire. Karunanithi said the region of 1.5 million people may only be “three or four weeks” away from seeing more widespread outbreaks of B.1.617.2, as in Blackburn with Darwen, where the infection rate is five times the UK average. | “I share Dom’s fury,” he told BBC Radio Lancashire. Karunanithi said the region of 1.5 million people may only be “three or four weeks” away from seeing more widespread outbreaks of B.1.617.2, as in Blackburn with Darwen, where the infection rate is five times the UK average. |
“At this point in time I’m having to painfully accept that we can’t move faster with the vaccines in Lancashire but we will continue to [ask the government] for us to move faster.” | “At this point in time I’m having to painfully accept that we can’t move faster with the vaccines in Lancashire but we will continue to [ask the government] for us to move faster.” |
Payments to allow people with Covid symptoms to self-isolate need to be increased sharply or a return to normal life could lead to a resurgence in infections and deaths, ministers are being warned. | Payments to allow people with Covid symptoms to self-isolate need to be increased sharply or a return to normal life could lead to a resurgence in infections and deaths, ministers are being warned. |
Two leading thinktanks have proposed that the government funds grants for employers and the self-employed, on a similar basis to the furlough scheme, to encourage more people to isolate. | Two leading thinktanks have proposed that the government funds grants for employers and the self-employed, on a similar basis to the furlough scheme, to encourage more people to isolate. |
Doctors, public health experts and opposition parties believe that low adherence to the request to self-isolate has been a major flaw in Britain’s response to the pandemic and allowed coronavirus to spread. | Doctors, public health experts and opposition parties believe that low adherence to the request to self-isolate has been a major flaw in Britain’s response to the pandemic and allowed coronavirus to spread. |
One recent study found that almost half of those displaying symptoms did not bother to stay at home, often because they could not afford to lose income from not working. | One recent study found that almost half of those displaying symptoms did not bother to stay at home, often because they could not afford to lose income from not working. |
British holidaymakers hoping to fly to Portugal as soon as UK travel restrictions lift are facing uncertainty after the country’s government decided to extend its “state of calamity” until at least the end of the month. | British holidaymakers hoping to fly to Portugal as soon as UK travel restrictions lift are facing uncertainty after the country’s government decided to extend its “state of calamity” until at least the end of the month. |
PA reports: | PA reports: |
Around 45,000 pubs will reopen next week across the UK when lockdown restrictions are further eased, serving more than 3m pints, it has been estimated. | Around 45,000 pubs will reopen next week across the UK when lockdown restrictions are further eased, serving more than 3m pints, it has been estimated. |
PA Media report: | PA Media report: |