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UK Covid live news: ‘no sign’ people are deleting NHS Covid app to avoid isolating, says minister | UK Covid live news: ‘no sign’ people are deleting NHS Covid app to avoid isolating, says minister |
(32 minutes later) | |
Latest updates: Grant Shapps says ‘lots of people are still downloading app’; around 1 in 160 people in households in England had Covid, says ONS | |
The World Health Organization has said that it is not clear whether Covid-19 booster vaccines would be useful to maintain protection against the virus, as Pfizer-BioNTech said people’s immunity starts to wane six months after they have been vaccinated with their jab. | |
Pfizer plans to ask US regulators to authorise a booster dose of its Covid-19 vaccine within the next month, the drugmaker’s top scientist said today, based on emerging evidence of greater risk of reinfection six months after inoculation and the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. | |
The WHO said in a reply to a Reuters query: | |
Pfizer’s chief scientific officer, Mikael Dolsten, said early data from the company’s own studies shows that a third booster dose generates antibody levels that are five to 10-fold higher than after the second dose, suggesting that a third dose will offer promising protection. | |
In a statement emailed to CNN, Pfizer-BioNTech said evidence was building that people’s immunity starts to wane six months after they have been vaccinated. | |
Pfizer said: | |
The absence of long term data, as is usually customary with vaccines, means that only now are Pfizer learning about these issues with their two-shot vaccine. | |
In a joint statement the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) pushed back against the Pfizer announcement and said Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot. | |
Children’s risk of dying from Covid, or severe illness, is extremely low, according to three of the most comprehensive studies to date which suggest the threat may be lower than initially thought. | |
One study found that 99.995% of the 469,982 children in England who contracted Covid during the first 12 months of the pandemic survived, the Wall Street Journal reports, with 25 under-18s dying in that time. | |
Of the 61 child deaths linked to a positive Covid-19 test in England, 25 were actually caused by the illness, it said. Fifteen had serious underlying illnesses, while four had chronic underlying conditions. The other six did not appear to have an underlying health condition. | |
Researchers estimate that with a population of some 12 million children in England, there was an overall mortality rate of 2 per million children during the year studied, the BBC reports. | |
Ministers are to pave the way for an overhaul of university funding, with tuition-fee cuts, a cap on student numbers for certain courses and minimum qualifications among the options being considered in a soon-to-be-published consultation. | |
The long-awaited consultation document, intended as a response to the Augar review of tertiary funding, is to list potential policies designed to lower the cost to the government of financing England’s student loan system, after ministers and advisers failed to settle on a central option. | |
Divisions between No 10, the Department for Education and the Treasury over alternative policies means the consultation is to include what one sector leader called “a menu of unpalatable options” that have been argued over behind the scenes for several months. | |
The options include a return to student-number controls, abandoned in 2015, as well as setting minimum entry requirements such as barring school-leavers without GCSE passes in maths or English from accessing student loans. | |
The cut in undergraduate tuition fees recommended by the review conducted by Philip Augar in 2017 – from £9,250 down to £7,500 – is also among the options, including differential fees for certain courses such as nursing, sciences and maths, to encourage greater uptake. | |
Another option is freezing fees at their current level and letting inflation erode their value. When tuition fees were set at £9,000 in 2012 the intention was for increases to keep pace with inflation. But since being raised to £9,250 in 2016 ministers have refused to go further, meaning their real value has declined by 12%. | |
The Treasury in particular is keen to lower its exposure to student loans by directly cutting fees and increasing repayments, while No 10 and the DfE appear to favour more indirect means such as minimum entry requirements and course caps. | |
Read more here: | |
Reducing the sensitivity of the NHS Covid app to cut the number of people self-isolating is like “taking the batteries out of the smoke alarm”, Keir Starmer has said as he raised questions about the decision to press ahead with reopening on 19 July. | |
Speaking as he completed a three-day visit to Northern Ireland, the Labour leader said he had been alarmed by reports that ministers have decided to “tune” the app. | |
He said: | |
The decision to tune the app to cut its sensitivity was made amid reports that people were removing it from their phones because of fears about being repeatedly asked to self-isolate. | |
Dr Jenny Harries, the head of the UK Health Security Agency, told MPs on Thursday: “We have a piece of work ongoing at the moment because it is entirely possible to tune the app to ensure that it is appropriate to the risk. | |
“When the app came into action, we know it has been hugely successful, but it has been utilised in a world where we did not have vaccinations. So working through what a vaccinated population using the app means is something that we are actively doing at the moment.” | |
Ministers are expected to make a final decision on Monday about whether to go ahead with lifting almost all restrictions on daily life on “freedom day”, 19 July. | |
They will do so on the basis of new modelling from experts on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) about the likely impact on hospitalisations and deaths of allowing infections to rise sharply. | |
Starmer said he did not want to pre-empt the data, which is expected to be published on Monday, but underlined his concerns about the risks of the government’s no-holds-barred plan. | |
He said: | |
Read the full story here: | |
In Scotland, around one in 100 people are estimated to have had Covid-19 in the week to July 3 - up from one in 150 in the previous week, and the highest level since the week to January 16. | |
For Wales, the latest estimate is one in 340 people, up from one in 450 in the previous week and the highest level since the week to February 27. | |
In Northern Ireland the latest estimate is one in 300 people, up from one in 670 and the highest since the week to April 3. | |
All figures are for people in private households. | |
The percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 is estimated to have increased in all regions of England, the ONS said. | |
North-east England and north-west England had the highest proportion of people of any region likely to test positive for coronavirus in the week to July 3: around one in 80. | |
Eastern England had the lowest estimate: around one in 350, PA news reports. | |
When modelling the level of infection among different age ranges in England, the ONS said rates have increased for all groups. | |
Around one in 45 people from school year 12 to age 24 are estimated to have had Covid-19 in the week to July 3, the highest positivity rate for any age group. | |
Around one in 160 people in private households in England had Covid-19 in the week to July 3, up from one in 260 in the previous week, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). | Around one in 160 people in private households in England had Covid-19 in the week to July 3, up from one in 260 in the previous week, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). |
This is the highest level since the week to February 19, PA news reports. | This is the highest level since the week to February 19, PA news reports. |
Here’s transport secretary Grant Shapps saying he would be keeping a ‘close eye’ on the app as it remained an ‘important tool’ in monitoring Covid-19 amid concerns people are deleting it to avoid self-isolation after close contact with coronavirus cases. | Here’s transport secretary Grant Shapps saying he would be keeping a ‘close eye’ on the app as it remained an ‘important tool’ in monitoring Covid-19 amid concerns people are deleting it to avoid self-isolation after close contact with coronavirus cases. |
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has urged against an amnesty being offered over events in Northern Ireland’s troubled past. | Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has urged against an amnesty being offered over events in Northern Ireland’s troubled past. |
The UK and Irish governments recently announced “intensive engagement” to take place on legacy matters. | The UK and Irish governments recently announced “intensive engagement” to take place on legacy matters. |
It was reported earlier this year that London is considering a statute of limitations which would ban all prosecutions for Troubles-era offences. | It was reported earlier this year that London is considering a statute of limitations which would ban all prosecutions for Troubles-era offences. |
Starmer urged the prime minister to talk to victims. | Starmer urged the prime minister to talk to victims. |
He told the PA news agency during a visit to Londonderry: | He told the PA news agency during a visit to Londonderry: |
Starmer has been undertaking two days of official engagements in Northern Ireland. | Starmer has been undertaking two days of official engagements in Northern Ireland. |
On Thursday he met a number of victims of the Troubles at the Wave Trauma Centre in north Belfast. | On Thursday he met a number of victims of the Troubles at the Wave Trauma Centre in north Belfast. |
He said: | He said: |
Starmer and shadow secretary of state Louise Haigh met with Sara Canning, the partner of journalist Lyra McKee who was killed by dissidents in the city in 2019. | Starmer and shadow secretary of state Louise Haigh met with Sara Canning, the partner of journalist Lyra McKee who was killed by dissidents in the city in 2019. |
After walking across the peace bridge he was greeted by SDLP leader and Foyle MP Colum Eastwood before visiting the Guildhall. | After walking across the peace bridge he was greeted by SDLP leader and Foyle MP Colum Eastwood before visiting the Guildhall. |
He told the PA news agency it had been very special to meet Canning and talk to her about her fight for justice for McKee. | He told the PA news agency it had been very special to meet Canning and talk to her about her fight for justice for McKee. |
Public Health England’s latest data bulletin shows that numbers of the Delta variant in the UK have risen by 54,268 since last week. | Public Health England’s latest data bulletin shows that numbers of the Delta variant in the UK have risen by 54,268 since last week. |
This represents a 32% increase in total cases, and a slight rise on the number of new cases recorded the previous week. | This represents a 32% increase in total cases, and a slight rise on the number of new cases recorded the previous week. |
Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK health security agency, said: | Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK health security agency, said: |