Evening summary
- NHS frontline workers may refuse to work if there is not enough PPE to ensure their safety, the UK’s largest union said. The warning came in response to new guidance from Public Health England, revealed by the Guardian on Friday, which instructs healthcare workers to reuse disposable PPE and recommends that medics wear aprons if they are unable to access full-length gowns. There are growing concerns that some PPE supplies are dangerously close to running out.
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The UK’s hospital death toll rose by 888 in the last 24 hours to 15,464. Broken down by devolved administration, the figures stand at 13,918 in England, 893 in Scotland, 534 in Wales and 193 in Northern Ireland.
- The Queen’s 94th birthday on Tuesday will not be marked in any special way because the monarch felt it would be “inappropriate in the current circumstances”, a Buckingham Palace source said. It is thought to be the first time the occasion will go unmarked by gun salutes.
- Councils across England are to receive an extra £1.6bn in funding to help them cope with increased pressures brought about by the pandemic, the local government secretary Robert Jenrick announced. The funds would help councils fund services including adult social care, children’s services, waste collection and care for the most vulnerable people. An additional £300m would also go to the devolved administrations using the Barnett formula.
- Close family must be able to attend funerals and cemeteries and graveyards must remain open, Jenrick said. As long as physical distancing was adhered to, family member must have the opportunity to say goodbye to their loved ones, he said.
- All parks are to remain open, but people must continue to abide by physical distancing rules, Jenrick said. Parks were vital for maintaining the mental and physical health of people for whom the lockdown was even harder, such as those with less living space or without a garden.
- Arcadia Group may permanently shut stores closed by lockdown. Sir Philip Green’s fashion group, whose brands include Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge, has served notice on its landlords to walk away from stores whose leases have rolling breaks or are due to expire.
Thank you so much to everyone who got in touch throughout the day with tips and stories, advice and suggestions, poems and love letters. We couldn’t do this without you.
That’s it from us on the UK side. If you’d like to continue following our coronavirus coverage head over to our global live blog.
Updated
In more positive news, inmates at HMP Guys Marsh in Dorset are sewing 500 items for nurses at Yeovil hospital, following donations of materials and sewing machines from local villagers.
In need of a project for the prisoners, who are under even stricter confinement than usual due to lockdown and physical distancing measures, and wanting to help the NHS, the prison contacted Yeovil hospital to ask what they needed. Delighted, the hospital asked for 500 items including nurses scrubs and laundry bags.
With there being only one sewing machine between the men, the local community was called upon to get involved with the project. People from the village of Marnhull donated several machines and local businesses donated fabric in the form of spare duvets and sheets, binding, buttons and elastic to get the initiative started.
The Honesty Jar, a local second-hand share shop, also set up a marquee outside the store – of course closed during lockdown – so people could help themselves to fabric which was then delivered to the men at Guys Marsh.
Updated
Jenrick was asked about concerns over undocumented migrants who have developed symptoms and are too afraid to seek medical help, either because of their immigration status or fears of deportation.
Asked whether the government would respond to calls for NHS immigration checks to be dropped, he said:
I have heard a number of representations about those people who do not currently have recourse to public funds, who have come in undocumented ways from other countries. The government policy on that hasn’t changed.
But there is the ability for local councils to make sensible decisions based on the risk to life that there may be in a small number of cases, and that’s the way I know many councils regularly treat real concerns, for example with rough sleepers in winter, it’s the way that those councils would approach this situation as well.
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Powis says the falling number of hospital admissions is encouraging, but that is only happening because people are following physical distancing measures.
This is not the time to rest on our laurels, to think that we got on the front foot and therefore can stop complying with instructions. I don’t think we’re there yet.
Updated
Jenrick says Boris Johnson continues to rest and recuperate at Chequers. He has had “some contact with ministers” but mainly with his office in Downing Street.
Updated
Jenrick says be believes the NHS currently has 10,606 ventilators, of which 190 have come from new UK suppliers.
Updated
Powis says getting the real number of infections in the community is best done by testing for antibodies to find out how many people have had the virus and developed an immune response.
He says these tests are still being worked out and that we still don’t understand how antibodies are produced in people who have had Covid-19.
Updated
Powis says he understands we now have a good supply of FFP3 face masks.
Updated
Jenrick maintains he did not break physical distancing rules when he visited his parents to drop off medical supplies and food. He also says he returns to Westminster for work and stays with his family in Herefordshire.
Here is the story if you need refresh yourself of the claims:
Updated
Jenrick says more needs to be done to get the PPE required to the frontline. He cited “global demand” as making this a challenge.
He says a significant consignment of PPE is due to arrive in the UK from Turkey on Sunday, which will include 400,000 gowns.
As well as large brands such as Burberry and Barbour, many small and medium-sized companies were also rising to the challenge of helping the NHS by producing PPE. Any businesses that feels they “have not been listened to” in terms of offering to produce PPE should “get back in touch” with the government, he says.
Powis says PPE is a very personal issue for him as a doctor. He says the guidance was professionally agreed two weeks ago for that stage of the epidemic. He says he knew the government was working hard but it is absolutely critical “above anything else” to get supplies of PPE to the frontline.
Updated
They are taking questions from the media now.
Jenrick says the virus does appear to be having a disproportionate impact on BAME communities in the UK, as in the US. He said research must be done swiftly and action taken.
Powis says he is very concerned about the issue and supports the move by Public Health England to investigate the matter. He notes that a significant number of NHS staff come from ethnic minorities and it’s important that work is done as quickly as possible.
Updated
Prof Stephen Powis, the national medical director for NHS England, is speaking now.
He says the use of transport continues to decline, both in public transport and private vehicles.
He says the number of new infections is “stabilising” and that the number of people admitted to hospital with Covid-19 was beginning to fall.
He says these are encouraging signs “but still early”, and that it is critical we all continue to comply with physical distancing measures.
The number of deaths will be the last to change, but will do so if distancing measures continue, he says.
Updated
Close family can attend funerals
Jenrick said families must have the opportunity to say goodbye to loved ones and that close members could attend funerals providing they adhere to physical distancing measures.
Cemeteries and graveyards must remain open, he said, not for people to congregate but for them “to seek solace” or lay flowers.
He said these were small mercies that made life more liveable and more humane in the current circumstances.
Updated
All parks must remain open but people must adhere to physical distancing
Jenrick said there had been examples of parks across the country closing. He acknowledged that the lockdown was harder for people with less living space, or without a garden.
“People need parks,” he said. “For the health of the nation, people must abide by social distancing rules and not congregate in those parks.”
Updated
Jenrick said more than 90% of rough sleepers had been offered accommodation, and thanked local councils, charities and others.
He said there was “a small number, regrettably, still rough sleeping”.
Updated
He paid tribute to “heroic” Capt Tom Moore who has raised £23m for the NHS. He will be a guest of honour at the opening of the NHS Nightingale in Harrogate next week.
Updated
Jenrick said three weeks after the initial announcement, 250,000 packages of essential items had been delivered to “the most clinically vulnerable people”.
He also said 300,000 more boxes were expected to be delivered this week to those who are shielding.
The department’s call centre is making up to 330,000 calls a day to check on those who are shielding and see if they need a priority slot with their local supermarket.
Updated
Councils across England to receive an extra £1.6bn
Jenrick announced an additional £1.6bn to help councils cope with increased pressures caused by the coronavirus crisis in areas including adult social care, children’s services, care for the most vulnerable and waste collection.
The funding takes the total given to councils to help them through the pandemic to £3.2bn, he said.
He also said £2.6bn in business rates payments would be deferred to central government.
He added an extra £300m will go to devolved administrations through the Barnett Formula, with Scotland getting £155m, Wales £95m, and Northern Ireland £50m.
Updated
Robert Jenrick, the local government secretary, is speaking now.
460,437 tests have now been carried out across Great Britain, including 21,389 tests carried out yesterday.
114,217 people have tested positive, an increase of 5,526 cases since yesterday.
17,759 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus in Great Britain, down from 18,711 yesterday.
Of those admitted to hospital, 15,464 have died, an increase of 888 fatalities in 24 hours.
Updated
More than 100,000 reusable face masks are being flown into Yorkshire from Vietnam for the NHS, the Yorkshire Post reports.
The MP for Wakefield, Imran Khan, used his own connections to arrange the delivery, which will go to the three hospitals covered by the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust when they arrive in the UK this week. It is understood 10,000 will also be distributed by the trust to care homes and hospices.
Wakefield MP arranges delivery of 110,000 reusable face masks from Vietnam for NHS | @Geri_E_L_Scott https://t.co/Sq4WwjIxnU
— The Yorkshire Post (@yorkshirepost) April 18, 2020
Updated
Daily news conference
The government’s daily press briefing is due to begin shortly and will be fronted by the local government secretary, Robert Jenrick. He is expected to be joined by Prof Stephen Powis, the national medical director of NHS England.
An NHS nurse has criticised Matt Hancock after her eight-year-old daughter begged her not to continue working in A&E during the coronavirus pandemic.
Kate, who did not want her surname published, has worked in the NHS for 25 years and in February returned to a more hands-on role. However, since the coronavirus outbreak unfolded in the UK, the 44-year-old has campaigned against Public Health England’s guidance during the crisis, and her daughter is concerned for her mother’s safety.
Kate tweeted the health secretary on Friday that her child had gone to bed “sobbing and begging me not to work in A&E”, adding: “Her words broke me, ‘Mummy I’m only eight and I need you, I don’t want you to die’,” Kate told the PA news agency:
I was so angry. How dare he put us in this position. I can’t even reassure her without lying that I’ve got enough equipment to keep me safe at work. Actually the reality is I’ve been going to work for weeks in a crap plastic pinny and a basic surgical mask. I can’t even reassure her effectively without lying that we’ve got everything that we need.
A British Medical Association survey of more than 6,000 doctors across the country said a significant number are still without the protection they need to guard against Covid-19. Another survey by the Royal College of Nursing found that 50% nurses had felt pressure to work without appropriate protective equipment during the crisis. Kate added:
I’m very careful to not expose my children to anything. However, they listen to the radio, news is out there, they see the 5pm briefing, they understand. They know they’re all off school because of the massive risks of [the virus], so it’s weighing heavily on their minds anyway.
I’ve stopped sharing a bed with my daughter, I considered moving out, I thought ‘is that the best thing?’
I’ve moved downstairs into the spare room, and then when I put her to bed last night she’s sobbing her little heart out.
Updated
A farmer is raising money for the NHS by walking 91 laps around his bungalow on his 91st birthday.
Rhythwyn Evans had completed 21 laps of the property in Ceredigion before breakfast on Saturday. The grandfather, who uses a walking stick, has already raised more than 11,000 for his local health board charity. He said he had lived to a “ripe old age” and wanted “to give something back to the community”.
Evans was inspired by Captain Tom Moore, who has raised more than £23m for NHS Charities Together by walking laps of his garden to mark his 100th birthday.
Money raised by Evans will go to the Hywel Dda NHS Covid-19 Appeal, organised by Hywel Dda Health Charities. He originally aimed to raise £1,000 but quickly passed this target.
Sarah Jennings, director of partnerships and corporate services for Hywel Dda University Health Board, said they were “extremely grateful” for Evans’s support. She said:
This is such an incredible thing to do to celebrate a special birthday and we thank Mr Evans and his supporters for helping to fund vital items urgently needed for the welfare and wellbeing of staff and volunteers. Penblwydd Hapus (Happy Birthday) from all at Hywel Dda.
Here is his JustGiving page.
Updated
The Royal College of Surgeons has joined condemnation of new guidance which means doctors and nurses in England could be asked to work without full-length gowns and to reuse items when treating coronavirus patients.
Prof Neil Mortensen, president-elect of the college, echoed advice from the Royal College of Nursing that nurses should refuse to treat patients “as a last resort” if they are not provided with adequate PPE.
Mortensen said the NHS guidance, rushed out on Friday amid fears some supplies could run out this weekend, was deeply disturbing and was issued without consulting expert medical bodies. He added:
The new guidance implies that, even in the operating theatre, surgeons and their teams may not require proper PPE. This is simply unacceptable.
He said that, like all doctors, surgeons are committed to their patients and many will put themselves in the line of fire.
However, if fluid-repellent gowns or coveralls are not available, then surgeons should not risk their health.
Updated
A small group of independent designers and makers have launched an urgent crowdfunding campaign to produce 200 medical gowns for London medics. Each single-use, splash-proof gown costs £30 to make. You can find more information and donate to the cause here.
Here is some much-needed mid-afternoon positive news!
Capt Tom Moore and Michael Ball have topped the iTunes chart with their charity single You’ll Never Walk Alone, mere hours after the track was released.
The 99-year-old veteran has raised almost £23m for the NHS by walking lengths of his garden. He was aiming to reach 100 laps by his 100th birthday at the end of the month, but has since passed that target and plans to keep going as long as the donations continue.
Number 1 on the iTunes chart with @mrmichaelball and the NHS Voices of Care Choir, and 20 MILLION POUNDS for the @NHSCharities !
— Captain Tom Moore (@captaintommoore) April 17, 2020
If you haven’t downloaded yet, download here: https://t.co/vdCuR3o5HM#walkwithtom #TomorrowWillBeAGoodDay
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Updated
Further 784 deaths in England bring total to 13,918
NHS England has announced 784 more deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 13,918.
Of the 784 new deaths announced on Saturday:
- 150 occurred on 17 April.
- 320 occurred on 16 April.
- 101 occurred on 15 April.
- 187 occurred between 1 and 14 April.
- 26 deaths occurred in March, with the earliest being on 14 March.
NHS England releases updated figures each day showing the dates of every coronavirus-related death in hospitals in England, often including previously uncounted deaths that took place several days or even weeks ago. This is because of the time it takes for deaths to be confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19, for postmortem examinations to be done, and for data from the tests to be validated.
The figures published on Saturday by NHS England show 8 April currently has the highest total for the most hospital deaths occurring on a single day - 799 - although this could change in future updates.
Updated
Deaths in Northern Ireland rise by 17 to 193
A further 17 people in Northern Ireland have died in hospital settings with coronavirus in the past day, the Public Health Agency said.
This brings the total number of confirmed deaths in hospital settings in the region to 193.
Another 28 deaths in Wales bring total to 534
Public Health Wales has announced a further 28 deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed fatalities in Wales to 534.
The new deaths, by health board area, are: five in Aneurin Bevan, one in Cardiff and Vale, 19 in Cwm Taf Morgannwg and two in Swansea Bay, with one death elsewhere in Wales.
There have been a total of 6,936 confirmed cases in Wales, a rise of 292, while 24,114 tests have been carried out on 20,766 individuals.
Scotland records 56 more deaths as total rises to 893
A total of 893 people who tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland have died, a rise of 56 on Friday’s figure, according to the Scottish Government.
Across the country, 38,233 people have now been tested for Covid-19, with 7,820 testing positive.
As of Friday night, 1,793 patients were in hospital with either confirmed or suspected coronavirus, a decrease of six.
Of those, 182 were being treated in intensive care units, down seven from the previous night.
Further 888 hospital deaths bring UK total to 15,464
As of 9am on 18 April, 15,464 people have died in UK hospitals after testing positive for Covid-19, the Department of Health and Social Care said. That is a rise of 888, up from 14,576 the day before.
As of 9am on Saturday, 357,023 people had been tested, of which 114,217 proved positive. Overall, 460,437 tests have been done, with 21,389 tests on Friday, excluding data from Northern Ireland.
As of 9am 18 April, 460,437 tests have concluded, with 21,389 tests on 17 April.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) April 18, 2020
357,023 people have been tested of which 114,217 tested positive.
As of 5pm on 17 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 15,464 have sadly died. pic.twitter.com/yZmas1wSvS
Updated
Rachel Harrison, national officer of the GMB union, has said that faith in the health secretary, Matt Hancock, is “draining away” after Public Health England changed its personal protective equipment guidance on Friday.
Harrison told PA Media the union raised critical protective equipment supply issues with the government more than a month ago.
She said:
It took until last Friday for ministers’ PPE plan to be published, and it’s falling apart after just a week. It is key workers on the frontline who are paying the price for this litany of failure.
It appears government guidance is being hastily redrawn based on availability, not on evidence or best practice. This is downright dangerous territory and one that will amplify the concerns of NHS staff.
The health secretary now has serious and urgent questions to answer. Trust is draining away.
She added that the union would not tolerate a situation where its members are “pushed on to the frontline without the basic kit they need to do their jobs safely”.
Updated
A campaign to thank NHS staff for their work during the coronavirus crisis has raised £1m.
More than 200,000 people have supported the OneMillionClaps campaign in a week by donating £5 to send a personal message of support to NHS workers.
ITV, the official broadcast partner for the campaign, dedicated a day of broadcasting messages to frontline NHS staff.
OneMillionClaps is part of an appeal launched two weeks ago by NHS Charities Together, the official umbrella organisation for NHS charities.
Donations will be used to provide a range of supplies and support for NHS staff, volunteers and patients - including food, travel, accommodation, mobile devices to keep in touch with family and friends, and mental health support and counselling.
Updated
Arcadia Group may permanently shut stores closed by lockdown
Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group, whose brands include Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge, could permanently shut some of its shops as the coronavirus pandemic puts pressure on high street retailers.
The fashion group has served notice on its landlords to walk away from stores whose leases have rolling breaks or are due to expire.
Here is the full report:
Updated
Undocumented migrants are being deterred from seeking medical attention during the coronavirus pandemic for fear of being reported to immigration authorities, MPs have said.
A cross-party group of 60 MPs has written to the health secretary, Matt Hancock, calling for the suspension of healthcare charges for migrants and NHS data sharing with immigration enforcement.
The letter cites the case of a Filipino migrant, known only as Elvis, who died last week while self-isolating at home with Covid-19 symptoms.
He did not seek care “fearing that he would be charged thousands of pounds for his treatment, or that he would face immigration enforcement if he tried to access care,” it read.
MPs said that Elvis’s wife also had the virus and was not seeking help for the same reasons.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, one of three Labour MPs who coordinated the letter, said:
The government must listen to frontline health workers and medical organisations calling for immediate action to stop people being deterred from healthcare.
The NHS was founded on the idea that healthcare should be available to all who need it, regardless of where they’re from or their ability to pay.
The government’s hostile approach to migrants goes against these founding principles.
Updated
Unapproved antibody tests could increase people’s risk of becoming infected with coronavirus, the UK’s national testing coordinator has said.
Countries around the globe are scrambling to develop reliable antibody tests that can detect if people have had the virus and may be immune in the hope that it might allow lockdown restrictions to be eased, but efforts so far have been unsuccessful.
Reports have emerged that organisations and individuals are trying to acquire testing kits that are likely to yield false results.
John Newton, the national coordinator of the UK coronavirus testing programme, believes efforts to develop accurate tests look promising, but said that misleading results of unapproved tests could increase the risk of becoming ill or spreading the virus.
My colleague Jedidajah Otte has the full report:
Updated
Tributes have been paid to a staff member at Greater Manchester police who died after contracting Covid-19.
Marcia Pryce, 61, died on 2 April. She had worked for the force for more than 30 years, most recently in its intelligence bureau.
Her sister, Amira Asantewa, said:
Marcia was a powerhouse, a positive influence in my life and the lives of the many people she knew and loved.
She didn’t have children of her own, but she had more godchildren than we can count and they meant so much to her. Many are now adults but still refer to her lovingly as ‘Aunty Marce’.
She taught us how to be independent and pursue your goals, even if no-one believed in you or them; how to enjoy life and connect with people from all walks of life.
Updated
Hundreds of Britons stuck in Bangladesh will be repatriated after the government chartered four flights as part of a new push to to bring more than 7,000 UK citizens home from South Asia.
Those deemed most at risk from coronavirus, such as the sick and elderly, will be given priority, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said.
As many as 850 Britons are expected to board the flights, which will leave the capital, Dhaka, for London on 21, 23, 25 and 26 April, the FCO said.
Tickets will cost £600 a person and travellers will also be able to board transfer flights to the capital from Sylhet, in the north-east of the country.
The government had earlier announced 17 chartered flights from India and 10 from Pakistan, expected to bring home around 4,000 and 2,500 passengers respectively.
The services are being part-funded by the government’s £75m scheme to organise flights from countries where commercial flights have been stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Britons wanting to book a spot can do so here.
Booking is open for the first @UKinBangladesh flights from Dhaka, starting on Tuesday 21 April, to bring Brits back to the UK 🇬🇧 from Bangladesh 🇧🇩. All four flights next week have accompanying transfers from Sylhet. For booking details see: https://t.co/rQ0ZAVVLsu.
— Lord (Tariq)Ahmad of Wimbledon (@tariqahmadbt) April 17, 2020
Updated
This is from ITV’s Robert Peston.
This is the best measure I’ve seen of quite how few #COVID19 tests the UK has done. It is an international league table of countries ranked by percentage of population tested, compiled by Julian Ozanne (who was on FT with me in another life). The UK comes 20th out of 20 pic.twitter.com/pvJaMe3GH6
— Robert Peston (@Peston) April 17, 2020
Thank you so much to everybody who has been in touch throughout the morning with tips and suggestions. I love reading through them all, especially the ones thanking the Guardian for its coverage of this crisis. Please do continue to get in touch as the day goes on via the usual channels (below) and apologies if I cannot respond to you all individually.
Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_
Updated
This, from the FT’s Peter Foster, is one of the best things you will read today. In essence:
The government needs to show some HUMILITY. It needs to LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO KNOW STUFF. I think this is a clear example of where it did not.
NEW: The inside story of the Ventilator Challenge - the muddled thinking, the wasted time the political egoism. It's a mad tale. Stay with me. Me with my superb @ft colleague @Michael_Pooler 1/Threadhttps://t.co/5SNI7QbzAU
— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) April 18, 2020
DC John Coker has died in hospital after coming down with symptoms of coronavirus on 22 March, British Transport Police said.
In a statement, BTP Chief Constable Paul Crowther said his thoughts were with Coker’s family after the 53-year-old passed away last night following an “incredibly difficult” three weeks. He said:
John was taken ill on 22 March with symptoms of coronavirus. After his health did not improve he was admitted to hospital and transferred to an intensive care unit to receive critical treatment. Despite the best efforts of hospital staff, John’s health did not improve, and he passed away on 17 April.
John has been part of the BTP family for over a decade and became a detective constable within the CID department at Euston where he was much loved and respected by all those he worked with. His colleagues remember a man who was charismatic, kind and thoughtful and took everything in his stride. He will be greatly missed by all in the force.
He is survived by his wife and their three children.
It's with great sadness that we're reporting the death of an officer due to Covid-19.
— British Transport Police (@BTP) April 18, 2020
DC John Coker, 53, passed away last night. Our thoughts are with his loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.
John will be greatly missed across the Force 💙https://t.co/FU7pa534IG pic.twitter.com/nECnfVjaWg
Updated
NHS frontline workers may walk over lack of PPE, says union
NHS frontline staff may refuse to work if there is not enough personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure their safety, the UK’s biggest union has warned.
The warning came in response to new guidance from Public Health England, revealed by the Guardian on Friday, which instructs healthcare workers to reuse disposable PPE. The guidelines also recommended that medics wear aprons if they are unable to access full-length gowns, and there are concerns that some PPE supplies are close to running out.
Sara Gorton, the head of health at Unison, said:
If gowns run out, staff in high-risk areas may well decide that it’s no longer safe for them to work.
No part of the NHS should use this move as an excuse to ration supplies of gowns when they still have stocks. That would cause a damaging breakdown of trust at a time when staff are working under intense pressure.
Here is the full story.
Inappropriate to mark Queen's birthday in any special way, Buckingham Palace says
The Queen’s birthday on Tuesday will not be marked by gun salutes for what is believed will be the first time, due to the coronavirus crisis, PA Media news agency reports.
A Buckingham Palace source said the Queen’s 94th birthday will not be marked in any special way, adding that any calls with family will be kept private. The source said:
There will be no gun salutes - Her Majesty was keen that no special measures were put in place to allow gun salutes as she did not feel it appropriate in the current circumstances.
Updated
This is from the foreign secretary (or rather, his son).
Lockdown art from my 7 year old ... pic.twitter.com/TgcypTksmV
— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) April 18, 2020
The government’s programme to release up to 4,000 low-risk prisoners early to help jails cope with coronavirus has been paused after six inmates were freed by mistake.
The inmates were candidates for early release but were let out too soon because of an “administrative error”, the Ministry of Justice said. After the flaw was spotted, they all “returned compliantly to prison”, a spokeswoman added.
The scheme, designed to avoid thousands of often cell-sharing inmates becoming infected, was paused on Thursday and is due to resume next week.
Coronavirus cases have been confirmed in half of the prisons in England and Wales. A total of 255 prisoners had tested positive for Covid-19 in 62 jails as of 5pm on Thursday, the MoJ said, and 13 inmates had died.
Some 138 prison staff have also contracted the virus in 49 prisons, as well as seven prisoner escort and custody services staff. And 700 staff have been tested and 6,268 are self-isolating, according to the latest available figures.
The inmates were let out of two open category D prisons – Leyhill in Gloucestershire and Sudbury in Derbyshire – along with one inmate from the Isis category C prison for young offenders in south-east London.
The shadow justice secretary David Lammy said the error was “deeply troubling” and called for it to be “quickly understood and remedied”.
These errors must not be used as an excuse for inaction in the face on an oncoming public health disaster. Prisons are overcrowded, with thousands of cells containing more than one inmate, against the advice of Public Health England.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) April 18, 2020
If the Ministry of Justice does not take sufficient steps to move towards single cell occupancy, it is not only inmates and prison officers who will be put at risk. NHS Hospitals risk becoming overwhelmed and the virus will spread rapidly from prisons across the wider public.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) April 18, 2020
Updated
The culture secretary Oliver Dowden has asked the public to “add one small thing” to their to-do list and buy a newspaper as the press grapples “with the biggest existential crisis in its history”.
The newspaper business has come under increasing strain amid the coronavirus pandemic, with falling advertising revenue and declining circulation.
Two of the UK’s biggest publishers have cut wages for staff in the latest round of measures to mitigate the impact of the crisis. The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), which owns the Mail, Metro and the i newspaper titles, has imposed a pay cut on all staff earning more than £40,000 a year. And Reach, the owner of the Mirror and Express papers, said all staff will receive a pay cut of at least 10% due to heavy falls in advertising and circulation.
Dowden has also instructed brands including Sky, Amazon and Tesco to end “ad-blocking” on online news articles about the pandemic and allow their adverts to appear next to coronavirus news stories.
The Times (paywall) has the story.
Updated
Human trials of a potential vaccine have begun at Oxford University and trials could be completed by mid-August, Prof John Bell told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning.
Bell, who is a member of the government’s vaccine taskforce, said the possibility of a vaccine being produced by the autumn depended on efficacy. He said:
[The question is] will it protect people, and that has not been tested, and it will only be tested once you have vaccinated a significant number of people and exposed them to the virus and counted how many people have got the virus in that population.
So, we won’t even get a signal for that until May. But if things go on course and it does have efficacy, then I think it is reasonable to think that they would be able to complete their trial by mid-August.
He said it would be “game on” if they were to see evidence of a strong immune response by the middle or end of May, with the possibility of getting “across the finish line” by mid-August. However, there would then be the challenge of manufacturing at scale the billions of doses needed.
The push to develop a vaccine quickly was based on scientists wanting to test it on current cases, Bell added. He said:
One of the reasons that we were rushing is to try and catch this wave of the disease.
Because when the disease goes away there will be very, very few cases until we get a second wave.
The team developing the vaccine are very keen to get it out in its trial now so that we can catch the remainder of this wave.
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Good morning everybody. Thousands of doctors and nurses are concerned about inadequate supplies of personal protection equipment (PPE) amid fears some hospitals could run out entirely this weekend.
A British Medical Association survey of more than 6,000 doctors across the country said a significant amount of them remain without the protection they need to guard against Covid-19. Meanwhile another survey by the Royal College of Nursing found half of nurses have felt pressure to work without appropriate protective equipment during the crisis.
It comes after it was revealed that doctors and nurses in England will be asked to work without full-length gowns and to reuse items when treating patients with coronavirus ahead of expected shortages of protective garments, prompting outrage from unions.
Guardian front page, Saturday 18 April 2020: NHS staff told ‘wear aprons’ as protective gowns run out pic.twitter.com/ZHP8jnDt9a
— The Guardian (@guardian) April 17, 2020
The story, from our health editor Denis Campbell, is on the Guardian’s front page today. The U-turn on Public Health England guidelines saw doctors and nurses told to work without full-length protective gowns – and to use flimsy plastic aprons instead – when treating patients with Covid-19, as hospitals came within hours of running out of supplies. The full story is here.
On Friday, the health secretary Matt Hancock told the Commons health committee that he would “love to be able to wave a magic wand” to increase PPE supplies. He said the equipment was a “precious resource” and that maintaining supplies was challenging due to the very high global demand.
At least 50 NHS workers have now died after contracting the virus. Here are some of their stories.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest UK coronavirus developments as the day unfolds. As ever, if you’d like to get in touch with a story, comments, tips or suggestions, please feel free to email me at lucy.campbell@theguardian.com or message me on Twitter, I’m on @lucy_campbell_.
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