The prime minister is facing a revolt from members of his own party after the majority of the country was placed under tough new measures to control coronavirus.
Health secretary Matt Hancock outlined which areas would be placed under which tiers in Parliament yesterday.
Just three places in England managed to avoid being placed in either Tier 2 or Tier 3, which both include tougher controls on the hospitality industry.
Now, a number of MPs have said they will not support the new measures when they are brought before the House of Commons next week.
In Greater Manchester, mayor Andy Burnham has said he hopes the region will be able to move from Tier 3 to Tier 2 when the measures are reviewed two weeks after they come into force on December 2.
Meanwhile, the UK could be a step closer to rolling out a Covid-19 vaccine after the government officially asked the regulating body to assess the Oxford vaccine.
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Prime minister faces Tory revolt over post-lockdown tiers
Boris Johnson is facing a Tory revolt over post-lockdown plans to put the majority of the country in the top two tiers of restrictions.
More than 55 million people will be placed into Tier 2 and Tier 3 measures when the second national lockdown ends on December 2, meaning mixing between households indoors will effectively be banned for the vast majority of the country.
Only the Isle of Wight, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly – accounting for little more than 1 per cent of England’s population – face the lightest Tier 1 coronavirus restrictions.
Large swathes of the Midlands, North East and North West, including Greater Manchester, are in the most restrictive Tier 3, while the majority of authorities – including London – will be in Tier 2.
Out of the areas to go into Tier 3, only eight of 119 have reported a rise in cases.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the influential 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs, said the decision would make it “harder” to push the measures through Parliament, while the Daily Mail suggested up to 70 Government backbenchers were prepared to rebel in a vote on the regulations next week.
Some MPs were left angered after seeing their areas escalated up two tiers compared to their status before the November lockdown.
The government has promised to publish an impact assessment of the measures before MPs vote on them on December 1, following complaints economic harm and the knock-on health impacts of restrictions were not being properly considered – a point made by the Covid Research Group formed of lockdown-sceptical Tories.
Mr Johnson told a Downing Street press conference that “your tier is not your destiny” and cited the planned extension of mass community testing, as seen in Liverpool, as a possible “escape” from the toughest measures.
A review of the tiers is scheduled to take place by December 16, meaning some areas may be able to move down a tier before Christmas.
Tier 3 a 'kick in the crotch' for Greater Manchester's restaurants and pubs
Greater Manchester will be under the highest level of restrictions from next week, with much tougher controls on the hospitality industry.
The government's decision to place all 10 boroughs in Tier 3 will mean all hospitality venues will have to remain closed - except for for takeaway and delivery services.
The news has been met with dismay across the region, with many hoping that Greater Manchester's rapidly falling infection rates would see the region placed into Tier 2.
Mayor Andy Burnham has already stressed that he will be making the case for a move down the tiers in a fortnight, provided infection rates continue to drop.
The Tier 3 announcement comes as 'yet another hammer blow' for hospitality and its wider supply chain, industry insiders have said today.
It's also been described as 'a kick in the crotch', even if businesses are allowed to open up again after the next review on December 16, as the Christmas trading period will have largely been missed.
The government has been accused of making 'knee-jerk' decisions with a 'complete lack of comprehension'.
While financial concerns are, obviously, rife, it's the toll on hospitality professionals' mental health that is really coming to the surface.
After months of changes and 'moving goalposts', people are beginning to lose hope.
Local DJ and music producer Liam Hyphen - a familiar face behind the decks at the city centre's nightlife hotspots - said: "It feels like I’m back at school and we’ve been put in detention for talking back to the teacher.
"I haven’t worked since March and probably won’t until well into next year by the looks of it.
"People are struggling financially and mentally. We can’t go on like this.
"I’ve lost friends throughout this pandemic to suicide and I fear I may lose more. There’s no help and not enough being done to protect those who need it.
"The hospitality industry is NOT to blame. There is no evidence for this attack on hospitality whatsoever and it’s a completely blind misjudgment from the government.
"People are losing hope, money; and in reality, their lives. Something has to be done."
Regulator formally asked to assess Oxford University and AstraZeneca vaccine
A coronavirus vaccine rollout in the UK could be a step closer after the regulator was formally asked by the government to assess the Oxford University and AstraZeneca jab.
The move “marks a significant first step in getting the vaccine approved for deployment” if it meets safety, efficacy and quality standards, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.
It comes a week after the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) was formally asked by the government to assess the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “We are working tirelessly to be in the best possible position to deploy a vaccine as soon as one is approved by the independent regulator the MHRA.
“We have formally asked the regulator to assess the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, to understand the data and determine whether it meets rigorous safety standards.”
British scientists have defended Oxford University and AstraZeneca after questions were raised about the results of their vaccine trial.
AstraZeneca said it will most likely carry out a further global clinical trial to assess the efficacy of the jab after a surprise result found 90 per cent protection was achieved when people were given a half dose followed by a full dose.
The pharmaceutical giant has acknowledged the finding was as a result of a dosing error, but said it did not expect any new trial to delay regulatory approval in countries including the UK.
US scientists questioned a lack of detail in the trial results published last week, and the scientific head of the US’s Operation Warp Speed – the programme to supply America with vaccines – told US reporters the half-dose regime was only given to people aged 55 and under.
Scientists across the globe are hoping to find vaccines that work in older people – the group who are most at risk from Covid-19.
Helen Fletcher, professor of immunology at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), said of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine: “It’s not surprising if some manufacturing issues were still being ironed out when they started clinical trials but early stage trials are all about safety and the safety data we have seen has been very robust.”
She said it was important to wait for the full dataset to be published.
Inhaled steroid to be trialled as a potential at-home treatment for coronavirus
An inhaled steroid will be investigated as a possible treatment for coronavirus as part of a national trial.
Budesonide will form part of the UK’s priority platform trial for Covid-19 treatments that can be taken at home.
Led by the University of Oxford, the Principle (Platform Randomised trial of INterventions against Covid-19 In older peoPLE) trial is evaluating treatments that can help people aged over 50 recover more quickly from coronavirus and prevent the need for hospital admission.
Inhaled corticosteroid budesonide is commonly prescribed as part of the long-term management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with no serious side-effects associated with short-term use.
In some patients with Covid-19, the body mounts a significant immune response to fight the virus, causing high levels of inflammation that can damage human cells in the airways and lungs.
Research suggests inhaling budesonide into the airways targets anti-inflammatory treatment where it is needed most and can potentially minimise any lung damage that might otherwise be caused by the virus.
Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, binds to ACE2 receptors lining cells in the airways, gaining entry to human cells and replicating within.
Laboratory studies suggest inhaled corticosteroids reduce the number of these receptors in the airways and so may block entry of the virus into human cells.
Professor Chris Butler at the University of Oxford, who led the Principle trial, said: “Budesonide is relatively inexpensive, safe and easy-to-administer drug for respiratory conditions that may have a role to play in treating Covid-19.
“It is only through enrolling volunteers on a randomised controlled trial like Principle that we can assess whether there are clear benefits or harms associated with potential treatments like budesonide.
“We need many more volunteers to join the trial so we can get the answers we really need to keep people with Covid-19 out of hospital."
German coronavirus cases now above one million
Germany hit another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, ticking above one million confirmed cases of Covid-19.
The Robert Koch Institute, the country’s disease control centre, said that Germany’s 16 states reported 22,806 cases overnight for a total since the start of the outbreak of 1,006,394.
Despite the high number of infections, Germany has seen fewer deaths than many other European countries, with 15,586 — compared with more than 50,000 in Britain, Italy and France, for example.
A rapid response to the initial outbreak, massive testing and a robust hospital system have been credited with helping keep the fatalities down.
A total of 696,100 people have recovered from the virus, according to the Robert Koch Institute’s figures.
The country is almost a month in to a so-called “wave-breaker” shutdown instituted on November 2 after an alarming rise in daily figures to new record highs.
