Police forces in the UK have been told they must prepare for a “more volatile and agitated society” after the country lifts its coronavirus lockdown.
After restrictions were extended until at least 7 May, there have been concerns about the effects of unemployment, mental health issues, abuse inside homes and a general need for “release”, Chief Superintendent Paul Griffiths told The Independent.
Meanwhile, the government has been accused of “rewriting history” after Downing Street issued a furious 2,127-word rebuttal of a newspaper article which accused Boris Johnson and his administration of dragging their feet in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
And the government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, has warned vaccines are “long shots” and people should not rely on the swift development of one to combat Covid-19, as a group of Oxford University researchers said it will begin clinical trials next week.
There have been more than 2.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide, and more than 165,000 people have died.
Here are the day's events as they happened
UK must prepare for ‘volatile and agitated society’ after lockdown lifted, senior police officer warns
Police must prepare for a “more volatile and agitated society” after the end of the UK’s coronavirus lockdown, a senior officer has warned, Lizzie Dearden reports.
With the restrictions extended until at least 7 May, there are concerns about the effect of unemployment, mental health issues, abuse inside homes and a general need for “release”.
The president of the Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA) called for leaders to prepare for what might happen when the current restrictions are lifted.
UK must prepare for ‘volatile and agitated society’ after lockdown is lifted
Exclusive: ‘Unintended consequences’ of lockdown feared, including rising mental health issues and unemploymentLuxembourg delivering free facemasks to citizens
The Luxembourg government is delivering five facemasks per citizen for everyone in the Grand Duchy’s capital city, Simon Calder writes.
The Luxembourg Times reported that more than 100 volunteers from the nation’s postal service will deliver 600,000 masks to 122,000 residents.
In addition, businesses with more than 50 employees will get a delivery of five facemasks per worker.
Wearing a facemask will become mandatory for citizens in situations where it is hard to avoid close contact, such as supermarkets.
“With the gradual reopening of the country, contact between people will increase, raising the risk of a second wave of infections, and the country is taking a range of measures to prevent hospitals from overloading,” the newspaper said.
Vaccines are 'long shots,' chief scientific adviser says
Vaccines are "long shots" and people should not rely on the swift development of one for Covid-19, the government's chief scientific adviser has warned.
A group of Oxford University researchers will begin clinical trials for a coronavirus vaccine next week but Sir Patrick Vallance says expectations need to be tempered.
Writing in The Guardian, Sir Patrick wrote: "All new vaccines that come into development are long shots; only some end up being successful, and the whole process requires experimentation."
"Coronavirus will be no different and presents new challenges for vaccine development," he added.
"This will take time, and we should be clear it is not a certainty."
Lockdown likely to do more damage than government itself, GP says
Professor Carl Heneghan, director of the centre for evidence-based medicine at Oxford University, said the Government lockdown was likely to do more damage than coronavirus itself.
The practising GP told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that too much attention had been paid to prediction models that often proved to be "some way out" and that not enough testing had been carried out.
He said: "The key is no-one has really understood how many people actually have the infection.
"You could do that really quickly with random sampling of a thousand people in London who thought they had the symptoms.
"You could do that in the next couple of days and get a really key handle on that problem and we'd be able to then understand coming out of lockdown much quicker.
"In fact, the damaging effect now of lockdown is going to outweigh the damaging effect of coronavirus."
One-minute silence to be held for NHS workers who have lost lives
The government has confirmed it is looking into having a one-minute silence for NHS workers who have lost their lives on the front line of the coronavirus struggle.
It follows a campaign by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to recognise the sacrifice health workers have made during the pandemic.
The culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, told the BBC: "I think it is a very good idea. We are looking into it.
"Actually, as Culture Secretary, I have responsibility for ceremonials and things like minute-silences, and we are actively looking into that and think it is a good idea."
Asked whether it could be an official government-led event, he said: "Yes, I think it could be but we will make an announcement on that at an appropriate time."
When asked about reports suggesting pubs could remain closed until Christmas, he said that was "pure speculation".
He added: "We're all desperate to end this lockdown.
"But we need to do it in a sensible way because the worst thing we could possibly do is to prematurely ease the restrictions and then find a second peak, and have to go right back to square one again with potentially even more draconian measures."
Clinical trials of vaccine to begin this week
Professor Sarah Gilbert has said her team hopes to begin clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of this week.
The professor of vaccinology at Oxford University told BBC Breakfast that with the virus still circulating there was a lot of pressure to go as quickly as possible.
She added: "Unfortunately we are under a lot of pressure now because we need to be testing the vaccine at a time when there is still virus circulating in the community and that means we need to go as quickly as possible.
"We are actually hoping to start testing at the end of this week not next week."
Prof Gilbert said she had used the same vaccine technology before and it had performed well.
When asked if she was confident it will work, she added: "We have used this vaccine technology before and we have seen it perform very well. We think it is the best thing to use."
Prof Gilbert said her team had been developing the vaccine since January 11 and it would normally take five years to get to the stage they are now at.
However, she said that none of the normal safety steps had been missed out and added: "We are just doing it very at risk - that's not at a safety risk, it means we start paying for work before we know that the the first part has been successful.
"That's why we are able to go faster but it doesn't mean we have missed any of the steps to ensure the vaccine's safety."
Prof Gilbert said that there were about 140 vaccines in development but not all of them will be successful.
She said that the government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance's comments that all vaccines were "long shots" did not pour cold water over her work.
She added: "We have always said this will not be the only vaccine.
"We think multiple vaccines can be successful, but there now I think about 140 different vaccines in development and not all of them will be successful by any means."
Many parts of UK ‘just past the peak’ of outbreak, says leading expert
Britain’s deputy chief medical officer has said the coronavirus outbreak is starting to plateau, after a government adviser claimed the country may have passed the peak of the disease.
Jenny Harries said the latest figures showed the spread of the virus was “heading in the right direction”, with the curve of new infections flattening across the last week.
However, she fell short of agreeing with Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the medical research charity Wellcome Trust, who said many parts of the UK are “probably just past the peak” of the virus.
Many parts of UK 'just past the peak' of coronavirus outbreak, says leading expert
’I think the number of new infections stabilised maybe a week or two ago,’ Sir Jeremy Farrar saysGovernment 'hopeful' 84-tonnes of PPE will arrive from Turkey today
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the culture secretary Oliver Dowden said countries across the globe were facing “challenges” in securing protective equipment for health care staff, Ashley Cowburn reports.
Pressed on a delayed delivery of 84-tonnes of PPE equipment from Turkey, he added: “Well, the latest information I have is we are hopeful that the flight will take place this afternoon, but obviously I want to be very cautious about making promises on this than can’t be kept.
“There are some challenges at the Turkish end in terms of getting the relevant paperwork and other related issues. But we are very hopeful that later today we will get that flight from Turkey.
“But remember that is not in isolation, for example we’ve secured over 25 million gowns from China – those are coming later this week. We are also continuing to work across offers of support from within the United Kingdom, to get additional capacity.”
Public wants Brexit extension to allow for focus on pandemic, poll suggests
A majority of the public would rather see the government extend its Brexit deadline than deal with negotiations while coronavirus continues to rage through Europe, a poll has suggested, Vincent Wood reports.
Officials in Westminster and Brussels have insisted on continuing to negotiate the UK’s future relationship with the EU despite the impact of the virus that has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people across the continent.
However, a poll conducted by Focaldata for Best for Britain and Hope Not Hate has suggested a majority of the public would prefer it if officials kept their eyes on the crisis at hand, with two-thirds saying the government should focus all its energy on dealing with Covid-19 for the rest of the year.
Public wants Brexit extension to allow for focus on coronavirus, poll suggests
Survey finds support from both Conservative and Brexit Party voters for extension of transition periodHospitals running low on PPE
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said some hospitals were now running low on personal protective equipment (PPE).
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There is no doubt that at the moment, we have now got trusts who have definitely got shortages of gowns.
"Trust leaders are doing absolutely everything they can to try and address that problem."
Some trusts had taken to washing fluid-repellent gowns at 60C and had found, when washed a maximum three times, they remained resistant.
Others had staff in boiler suit-type outfits that also passed PPE guidelines, he said.
Mr Hopson said PPE supplies would have been fine if early orders had been delivered "to time and quality".
He added: "PPE is always likely to run out when you get through your pandemic stock reserves.
"We know for a fact that the first orders of additional PPE were placed on January 30.
"If those orders had actually come in to time and quality, then we wouldn't have been in this position.
"A great example would be that, last week, there was an order for 200,000 gowns due to come in from China but only 20,000 actually arrived.
"We know that with other orders, when the boxes were opened up and it said on the outside 'Gowns', when you opened it up, they were actually masks.
"We also know that some consignments have failed.
"But I suppose the question we will need to ask when all this is over is, actually, was the pandemic stock reserve that was meant to tide us over, was it correctly configured?"
Coronavirus news you may have missed overnight
The coronavirus pandemic continues to impact every aspect of life across the world, and has infected 120,067 people in the UK, with over 16,000 deaths.
Here is your morning briefing of everything you may have missed overnight, from Kate Ng.
Coronavirus news you may have missed overnight
Covid-19 infections in UK rise to 120,067, with over 16,000 deathsGovernment accused of 'grotesquely' underplaying number of coronavirus deaths
The government has been accused of "grotesquely" underplaying the number of people who have died in the NHS and in care homes as a result of coronavirus.
Culture secretary Oliver Dowden said government records showed 43 people had died while working in the NHS and care homes.
But he was told by ITV's Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan that "it is not, is it?" while showing him a double-page spread in the Daily Mail with the faces of 80 people who are said to have died while treating patients with Covid-19.
Mr Dowden also said data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested 217 people had died in care homes, but accepted the figure "was much greater than this because there is a time lag".
Mr Morgan said the figure was "believed to be 7,500", and asked Mr Dowden: "Why are you so grotesquely underestimating the scale of what is going on on the front line?"
Mr Dowden said: "I'm using the most up-to-date figures I have been given, and the figure I was given this morning is the one I quoted to you. I have told you the figures we currently have. Of course there is a time lag with non-hospital figures.
"With hospitals, we get those figures out very rapidly and that gives you a snapshot, and that is comparable with other countries around the world."
Frontline workers wearing 'skimpy little plastic aprons' due to lack of PPE
Addressing the issue of PPE, palliative care doctor Rachel Clarke said "what's happening in the community is so much worse than what's happening in the hospitals".
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, she said: "The gowns are rightly being preserved for the people who are most at risk, so those are the people in intensive care more than anything because they are exposed to more of the virus particles than anyone else.
"But all the other frontline workers - and that's not just the NHS of course, there are 1.5 million care workers who from the outset seem to have been completely forgotten by this government - they should be wearing gowns, but instead we wear skimpy little plastic aprons. So they don't cover your arms and your neck and the top of your chest they're not covered either.
"That means you're at an increased risk of catching coronavirus and - crucially - at increased risk of spreading it to your patients.
"We are using a pinny essentially - a skimpy, plastic pinny. And even now, as the Government focuses on the problem of gowns, we can't even get the pinnies everywhere they need to be in the country."
Virgin Australia 'in administration'
Twenty years after Richard Branson launched a low-cost Australian airline, then called Virgin Blue, the carrier is reported to have gone into voluntary administration, Simon Calder writes.
Virgin Australia, which has a network of domestic and international flight, is around A$5bn (£2.55bn) in debt.
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen passenger numbers collapse, the carrier applied for a A$1.4bn (£715m) bail-out from the Australian government – which was refused.
The government of Queensland offered $200m (£102m) in aid, but it was contingent on federal funding.
Virgin Australia ‘in administration’
The airline had applied for £715m government bail-out but was refusedBoris Johnson warns against relaxing coronavirus lockdown prematurely over fears of ‘second wave of infections'
Boris Johnson has urged caution over relaxing the UK-wide coronavirus lockdown prematurely due to fears of a second damaging wave of infections.
The prime minister, who is still recuperating from a covid-19 infection at his countryside Chequers residence, made the intervention in a meeting with senior aides on Friday.
Boris Johnson warns against relaxing lockdown prematurely over fears of ‘second wave of infections’
PM met with foreign secretary Dominic Raab and senior aide Dominic Cummings at his Chequers residenceSpain's confirmed cases pass 200,000
The number of people diagnosed with the coronavirus in Spain has surpassed the 200,000 threshold, the country's health ministry has said.
The ministry said the number of cases rose to 200,210 from 195,944 cases yesterday.
Spain has the second highest number of diagnosed cases in the world after the United States, according to Reuters data.
The cumulative death toll from the coronavirus rose to 20,852 today from 20,453 yesterday, the ministry said.
Hezbollah launches its newest war, this time against coronavirus
Lebanon’s powerful Shiite militia and political organisation Hezbollah has during its 35-year existence fought against Israel, rival factions inside the country and Syrian rebels opposed to Bashar al-Assad.
Now the Iran-funded group says it is gearing up for an entirely new but equally tough battle: against the coronavirus.
Bel Trew has the full story:
Hezbollah launches its newest war, this time against coronavirus
Dismissing accusations it inadvertently brought the deadly virus to Lebanon, Hezbollah has rolled out a battle plan to tackle the spread of the diseaseAll coronavirus vaccines are ‘long shots’, says UK’s chief scientific adviser
All new vaccines are “long shots” and coronavirus will be “no different”, the UK government chief scientific adviser has warned as scientists prepare to start clinical trials into a Covid-19 jab as early as next week.
Sir Patrick Vallance has said people should not rely on the swift development of one for the virus, Zoe Tidman reports.
All new coronavirus vaccines are 'long shots', says UK's chief scientific adviser
‘We should be clear it is not a certainty,” Sir Patrick Vallance saysIran's death toll over 5,200
The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in Iran reached 5,209 with 91 deaths in the past 24 hours, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said in a statement on state TV.
The total number of diagnosed cases of the new coronavirus in Iran, the Middle Eastern country hardest hit by the outbreak, has reached 83,505, he said.
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