Early evening summary
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In a partial climbdown on the free school meals row, Boris Johnson is considering giving councils extra money for a holiday club pilot scheme to be extended so children could receive at least one free meal a day outside term time - a proposal made by the government’s food tsar, Henry Dimbleby. It comes as the government tries to mitigate the damaging impact of its refusal to accede to Marcus Rashford’s campaign without appearing to perform yet another U-turn.
- More than 50 Tory MPs wrote to the PM demanding a roadmap out of lockdown restrictions in the north of England, hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. In the letter, the 55 MPs - many of whom represent former “red wall” seats - expressed fears that the government’s “levelling up” strategy was being abandoned and warned of economic hardship “with no end in sight” without a regional recovery plan.
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A further 367 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, the highest daily figure since 27 May, according to figures from the UK government.
- Separate figures from the UK’s statistics agencies showed there have now been more than 61,000 deaths registered involving Covid-19, where the disease was mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days. Here are the stories behind six of the lives lost.
- Covid-19 registered deaths in England and Wales rose by more than half in the week to 16 October, data from the ONS revealed. It means the number of deaths registered continues to double every fortnight, from 139 in the week ending 18 September, to 321 two weeks later, and 670 today. Covid-19 deaths increased across all English regions but were highest in the north-west, with 229 deaths.
- One of the world’s leading Covid-19 experimental vaccines produces an immune response in older adults as well as the young, its developers said, raising hopes of protection for those most vulnerable to the coronavirus that has caused social and economic chaos around the world.
- The proportion of people in England with coronavirus antibodies dropped by more than a quarter in the space of three months, fuelling concerns over reinfection. Graham Cooke, co-author of the report and professor of infectious diseases at Imperial College London, said: “As a whole, these data suggest the possibility that decreasing population immunity will lead to an increased risk of reinfection as detectable antibodies decline in the population.”
- Structural racism led to the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus pandemic on BAME communities, a review by Dame Doreen Lawrence concluded. The report found ethnic minorities are over-represented in public-facing industries where they cannot work from home, are more likely to live in overcrowded housing and have been put at risk by the government’s alleged failure to facilitate Covid-secure workplaces.
- Only essential operations are going ahead at hospitals in Leeds after the number of patients with Covid-19 being treated rose to levels higher than in the first wave of the virus. The trust said that the hospitals currently have 263 patients who have tested positive for Covid-19, including 22 in intensive care, which is more than at the peak of the pandemic in mid-April.
- North and South Lanarkshire could move into the toughest restrictions at level 4 under the Scottish government’s proposed five-tier system on Monday. Nicola Sturgeon said she hoped the situation, where cases had surged in both areas, would stabilise during the week - she will decide which levels would be applied in which areas on Thursday.
- The latest government figures confirmed a further drop in school attendance for Covid-related reasons. Weekly attendance statistics published by the DfE revealed that more than half of secondary schools (55%) had one or more pupils who were self-isolating last week, up from 46% the week before. Overall, pupil attendance dropped to 86%, down from 89% a week earlier. Headteachers called on the government to urgently make more laptops available to pupils studying at home.
That’s it from me for today! Thank you very much for following our coverage and special thanks to everybody who got in touch to share tips and stories. Our coronavirus coverage continues over on the global live blog:
Updated
North and South Lanarkshire could move into most severe restrictions next week
Nicola Sturgeon has warned North and South Lanarkshire could be placed under the most severe restrictions on Monday, at level 4 under the new Scottish ranking system, after a surge in cases in both areas.
The first minister told Holyrood she hoped the situation in both areas would stabilise during the week, meaning they would escape that designation by the time she finally decided which levels would be applied in which areas on Thursday.
She said over the last 24 hours, 25 people with confirmed infections had died, another 48 people admitted to hospital and there had been 1,327 positive tests, taking Scotland’s total to 59,201. The number in intensive care fell by eight to 82.
While the rate of increase was subsiding, she warned that fatality and hospitalisation figures would continue to rise in the next few weeks but the imperative was to get cases down to as low as possible by Christmas.
After publishing Scotland’s five-tier controls system on Friday, Sturgeon gave MSPs an indication of which levels councils were likely to be in.
She said ministers had relaxed some of the proposed restrictions on bars, restaurants and cafes. All hospitality businesses could now open until 6pm at level 3, provided no alcohol was sold, and under level 2 restaurants and pubs could now serve alcohol with food until 8pm.
The Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland, Highland and Moray were the only councils likely to be in level 1, the second lowest tier. Most of Scotland outside the central belt would be level 2 while central Scotland would stay in level 3.
She said Dundee, where cases have been rising sharply, could be put into level 3, involving a ban on alcohol sales, no indoor socialisation, and restrictions on hotels and B&Bs.
A new postcode checker would become operational before Monday to allow people to see what levels applied to their areas, she added.
Updated
Further 367 people have died within 28 days of positive Covid test
The UK government said a further 367 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Tuesday. This brings the total to 45,365. That is the highest daily figure since 27 May, when 422 deaths were reported.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 61,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
The government said that, as of 9am on Tuesday, there had been a further 22,885 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK. It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 917,575.
Updated
Dr Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the National Education
Union, said the school attendance figures were “shocking” (see 2.31pm.) and raised concerns about remote learning with so many pupils out of the classroom.
At a critical moment, the education profession is faced with a Department intent on making life more difficult for schools and young people. Last week’s decision to ration laptops for disadvantaged children, while at the same time putting a legal duty on schools to provide remote learning for those who need to isolate, is shameful.
Gavin Williamson is making no serious effort to fix problems of his creation, nor does he support schools in a way that is fitting in a time of crisis. To refuse to provide free school meals in half term is a further insult.
Updated
Leeds hospitals cancel elective surgeries amid rising admissions of patients with Covid-19
Only essential operations are going ahead at hospitals in Leeds after the number of patients Covid-19 being treated rose to levels higher than in the first wave of the virus.
In a statement, Leeds Teaching hospitals NHS trust - which runs Leeds General infirmary and St James’s hospital - said:
Today we have 263 patients in our beds who have tested positive for Covid-19, including 22 in intensive care.
This means we have more Covid-19 patients in our hospitals now than at the peak of the pandemic in mid-April.
Over the next 48 hours we expect the number of people in critical care to increase.
The statement went on:
We are standing down some planned operations due to current pressures which means that some patients will have their treatment postponed; only essential operations are going ahead in most cases.
The trust said that the hospitals currently have 263 patients who have tested positive for Covid-19, including 22 in intensive care, which is more than at the peak of the pandemic in mid-April.
We have 263 patients in our beds who have tested positive for COVID-19, including 22 in intensive care. This means we have more COVID-19 patients in our hospitals than at the peak of the pandemic in mid-April. Please read and share this important update: https://t.co/yBttbcOUjj pic.twitter.com/2VsV755gnn
— Leeds Teaching Hospitals (@LeedsHospitals) October 27, 2020
Updated
Andy Burnham has accused Tesco of failing to be “Covid-safe” over the wearing of face coverings, accusing the supermarket giant of having failed to take a “responsible attitude”.
The Greater Manchester mayor told the Lords economic affairs committee that local leaders had called for the government to hand over powers to take targeted enforcement action against firms that fail to protect staff and customers.
We asked for summary closure powers of all premises that were not deemed to be Covid-safe. I’m not just talking about pubs and restaurants. There are large supermarkets in Greater Manchester who in my view have not properly implemented the requirements around face coverings.
And I’ll name one chain: Tesco. I don’t believe they’ve taken a responsible attitude to this issue, they’ve said it’s not for them to enforce. Well I do think it is for those organisations to enforce.
We have asked for targeted summary closure powers to be able to temporarily close venues which we do not believe are adhering properly to the protocols.
We think that would be a better approach than blanket restrictions that may or may not have the impact that the government wants on the virus.
Updated
The Duchess of Cornwall has said the health and social care secretary, Matt Hancock, was left “impressed” by a demonstration of Covid-19 detecting dogs trained by a charity she supports.
Camilla was joined by the secretary of state for the event staged by the Medical Detection Dogs where labradors, trained to sniff out the virus, were put through their paces in Paddington station.
Some of our #covid19 dogs swapped the training room for a train station today and demonstrated to our Patron, HRH Duchess of Cornwall and Secretary of State, Matt Hancock, what they could do to help in the battle against the virus.@ClarenceHouse @DHSCgovuk @LSHTM @durham_uni pic.twitter.com/QqtI1SsOsX
— Medical Detection Dogs (@MedDetectDogs) October 27, 2020
The Department of Health has helped to fund the clinical trials, which are being run as a collaboration between the charity and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Durham University.
Six times during the demonstration, labradors Bob and Basil picked out the person wearing an item of clothing impregnated with the scent of Covid-19 from five volunteers.
In the past, the dogs being trained have shown they can find a Covid-19 sufferer who is not showing symptoms within half a second.
It is hoped in the coming months the animals could be deployed at airports, train stations and sporting venues to assist with the rapid screening of people.
Camilla, who is patron of Medical Detection Dogs, described the dogs as “simply remarkable, so impressive”.
After watching our #covid19 dogs depict how they could passively screen people, our Patron, HRH Duchess of Cornwall, said in passing remarks: “We hope for more government support, fingers crossed, how could you not be impressed? @ClarenceHouse @DHSCgovuk @LSHTM @durham_uni pic.twitter.com/7LKoeB5fV6
— Medical Detection Dogs (@MedDetectDogs) October 27, 2020
Hancock held one of the dogs being trained and said:
These dogs can detect coronavirus in the same way that they could detect drugs, or you can detect other things - and I’ve seen it for myself, absolutely brilliant.
Lexi had an exciting morning showing Secretary of State @MattHancock how her nose could be a gamechanger in the fight against #COVID19 in public places.
— Medical Detection Dogs (@MedDetectDogs) October 27, 2020
Can you help us collect more samples to train our dogs with? https://t.co/KKOA8KRVqW@DHSCgovuk @LSHTM @durham_uni pic.twitter.com/JUghZ8nlAm
Updated
Parks and libraries should be closed as a “last resort” during any potential future lockdowns, researchers have said.
They found 75% of babies and toddlers have spent more time watching TV or playing with a tablet during lockdown. Those from disadvantaged backgrounds were more likely to have higher daily screen use, experts said.
Researchers from Oxford Brookes and the universities of Oxford, Leeds, Warwick and East Anglia set out to explore the disruption caused to families’ lives during lockdown, particularly due to the closure of libraries, playgroups plus parks and other outdoor spaces.
They polled 500 parents of children under three during the spring on the amount of time spent doing enrichment activities - such as reading, playing and singing - and screen time both before and during lockdown. Overall, 90% of families reported an increase in enriching activities during lockdown.
During lockdown, but not before, parents from more disadvantaged backgrounds were less likely to engage in enriching activities with their child, particularly activities requiring outdoor space and access to books.
Screen time increased for most children but the finding was even more true among those from disadvantaged backgrounds - those with a low income, lower levels of education or occupational status or from a deprived neighbourhood.
As a result, the authors have recommended communal outdoor spaces and libraries should be closed only as a last resort in lockdowns. Children from disadvantaged families should be given extra support to promote their early development, the authors added.
University of Oxford researcher Alex Hendry said:
Children depend on high-quality interactions to support all aspects of their development. It is heartening to see that most families have been managing to find time to talk, read and play with their babies during this critical time, even amongst everything else going on. But from what parents are telling us, it is clear that during lockdown some babies have been missing out.
Oxford Brookes University researcher Dr Nayeli Gonzalez-Gomez said:
While we know disadvantaged families often do not have access to the same opportunities for child development as their more well-off peers, these disadvantages were exacerbated by the UK lockdown. In particular, the closure of playgrounds and libraries has disproportionately impacted children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
In the event of continued local lockdowns, it is vital that disadvantaged families are given extra support to promote children’s early development. Access to communal outdoor spaces and shared resources such as libraries should only be restricted as a last resort.
Updated
A non-invasive Covid-19 breath test that delivers results “within one minute” is being developed by UK scientists, PA Media reports.
The technology, which is being worked on as part of a project known as TOXI-Triage, uses “breath signatures” to “rapidly distinguish Covid-19 from other respiratory conditions”.
The researchers said their findings, published in The Lancet’s EclinicalMedicine journal, could dramatically improve the experience of taking a coronavirus test as well as “play a part in restarting the economy”.
Emma Brodrick, systems application manager at the Imspex Group, a diagnostics company based in Wales and collaborating on the research, said the two current leading tests for Covid-19 - antigen detection and PCR - both utilise invasive means of taking samples, which can be uncomfortable for the patient and may discourage somebody from getting a test.
For that reason, developing a minimally invasive test that produces results rapidly was particularly compelling, she said.
Paul Thomas, professor of analytical science from Loughborough University’s department of chemistry, said the team was encouraged by the findings but added more data was required to develop the test.
If shown to be reliable, it offers the possibility for rapid identification or exclusion of Covid-19 in emergency departments or primary care that will protect healthcare staff, improve the management of patients and reduce the spread of Covid-19.
The researchers recruited 98 patients for the small study, of whom 31 had coronavirus. Their aim was to identify the biomarkers present in the breath of someone affected by Covid-19 and distinguish those signatures from other respiratory tract infections.
Led by Loughborough University, the project was launched four years ago with the aim to determine the most effective ways to give medical and toxic assessments to the casualties of a chemical, biological, radioactive or nuclear event. The team involved in the project repurposed some of the existing the technology to design a Covid-19 breath test.
Santi Dominguez, chief executive of the Imspex Group, said:
What will be needed now will be to rapidly acquire more data to continue to develop the test, and institutional and investor support to scale our manufacturing capability.
Updated
NHS England said a further 207 people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 32,117. The number of deaths of patients with Covid-19 by region are as follows:
East of England - 17
London - 17
Midlands - 26
North East & Yorkshire - 44
North West - 77
South East - 13
South West - 13
Leeds Teaching hospitals trust, one of the largest hospital trusts in England, is to cancel some elective operations as admissions of patients with Covid-19 rises steeply in Yorkshire, the Health Service Journal understands.
The HSJ, citing a well-placed source, reports that the trust has now entered its “surge” capacity - the repurposing of additional beds - and will cancel some routine surgical lists from Wednesday. The extent of cancellations has not yet been determined.
The trust is believed to be due to make an official announcement later this afternoon.
Amid rapid increases in the Yorkshire and North East region of patients in hospital with Covid-19, figures published by NHS England showed the total number in South Yorkshire was set to exceed the spring peak. This has already happened in the North West in Lancashire and Liverpool.
The HSJ reported last week that several hospital trusts in the region, including in Rotherham and Bradford, had already suspended non-urgent surgeries.
Updated
Headteachers have called on the UK government to make more laptops available to pupils studying at home as a matter of urgency, as the latest government figures confirmed a further drop in school attendance for Covid-related reasons.
Weekly attendance statistics published by the Department for Education revealed that more than half of secondary schools (55%) had one or more pupils who were self-isolating last week, up from 46% the week before. Overall, pupil attendance dropped to 86%, down from 89% a week earlier.
Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the latest figures painted “a grim picture” of the increasingly challenging situation facing schools with attendance falling amid rising infection rates.
He also criticised the government for suddenly and dramatically reducing the allocation of laptops last week, just as the majority of schools broke up for half term. Head teachers were told their allocation was being cut by up to 80% in order to prioritise devices for areas of highest need.
In this turbulent context, it is crucial that schools are able to provide disadvantaged pupils with laptops so they can work from home if they have to self-isolate and do not have access to these devices.
Our impression is that the government has never fully grasped the scale of the challenge, both in terms of the numbers of devices that are needed and over ensuring that families have the connectivity they require.
According to the DfE, last Thursday between six and seven per cent of all pupils in England did not attend classes for Covid-related reasons, up from four to five per cent a week earlier.
More than a quarter (26%) of all state schools in England, excluding those on half term last week, had one or more pupils self-isolating due to potential contact with a positive Covid case, compared to 21% the week before.
And about 82% of secondary school pupils were in class last week, compared with 86% the week before, while in primaries attendance dropped from 92% to 90%.
Updated
The sound of the phone ringing once filled 49-year-old Rivka Gottlieb with dread. Her father was admitted to hospital in late March after contracting coronavirus but, unable to be with him because of lockdown, she nervously awaited every piece of news on his condition.
In mid-April, the phone rang and the news she feared came. She was devastated – but even then she couldn’t say goodbye in the way she wanted.
Gottlieb’s father is one of more than 60,000 people across the UK to have died from or with the deadly virus, the vast majority of them elderly, with partners, sons, daughters and other loved ones.
For many touched by these deaths, the strangeness of life in lockdown is made stranger and more isolating still by the numbness of grief. And by the knowledge that they were unable to say farewell in the way they would have imagined and wished. This is one of the reasons the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group is calling for pandemic bereavement support.
Here my colleague Aamna Mohdin tells the stories behind six of the more than 60,000 lives lost to Covid-19 – and the difficult goodbyes their relatives had to make.
Updated
There have been a further 1,207 cases of Covid-19 diagnosed in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 45,046. Public Health Wales said seven further deaths had been reported, with the total rising to 1,790.
The Rushcliffe Borough council leader, Simon Robinson, told the PA Media news agency he believes the new tier 3 measures in Nottinghamshire are supported by a “majority” of residents.
He said people were showing “a lot of resilience because people understand we need to get on top of the virus”.
Detailed control measures for areas like the hospitality industry are expected to be announced by the government sometime after 5pm, he added, following days of negotiations with councils.
Robinson said: “The restrictions are currently being detailed now with government. Then there will be an announcement this evening - I’m not quite sure how that will be done because parliament is in recess.”
Updated
Updated
Oxford vaccine works in all ages, trials suggest
One of the world’s leading Covid-19 experimental vaccines produces an immune response in older adults as well as the young, its developers say, raising hopes of protection for those most vulnerable to the coronavirus that has caused social and economic chaos around the world.
The Guardian’s health editor, Sarah Boseley, reports.
Updated
A peer told of the “mounting panic” his family had faced ahead of school holidays when he was a child as he shared his experiences of receiving free meals.
Labour’s Lord Griffiths of Burry Port told the House of Lords: “I was in receipt of free meals throughout my entire school career. My mother, a single woman, her only income was the contributions of the National Assistance, we lived in one room.
“I remember very clearly, I can still taste and smell it, the mounting panic ahead of school holidays because the income we had could not stretch to feeding two boys and a mother in that day.
“Marcus Rashford and I have this, and probably only this, in common. We remember not in our heads but in our whole bodies. An old Etonian, of course, can’t be expected to have had the same experience.”
Griffiths said children faced a “postcode lottery” given different councils and communities would act in different ways, to which education minister Baroness Berridge replied: “Many noble lords of all parties and none can recall circumstances in which their own needs - whether that be housing or food - were not met through the circumstances of their family.
“It’s not a postcode lottery - 1.4 million children in England are entitled to free school meals, saving their families over £400 a year, and in addition to that, particularly through the soft drinks levy, the government has in nearly 2,500 schools been funding breakfast clubs to provide children with healthy food.
Updated
Hi everyone. I am a news reporter from the Guardian, taking over the live feed for the UK coronavirus blog. Please do get in touch to share any thoughts, comments or news tips with me as I work. Thanks so much.
Twitter: @sloumarsh
Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalist
Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
Supermarkets have issued a statement calling on the Welsh government to relax a ban on selling non-essential items during the 17-day firebreak lockdown.
Groups representing supermarkets made a series of recommendations to Welsh ministers on Tuesday following confusion over what can and cannot be sold during the 17-day firebreak period.
The joint statement by CBI Wales, the Welsh Retail Consortium, and the Association of Convenience Stores called on the Welsh government to “resolve the confusion”.
Here’s part of the statement:
We recommend the individual customer is trusted to make their own decision as to whether a product is non-essential or not, taking into account the notices displayed throughout the store and their immediate needs.
If the customer goes ahead with the purchase of the item the final liability ought to rest with the customer.
These recommendations would mean non-essential items are not removed from shelves, or cordoned off in stores, but large notices are placed in front of the products and in communal spaces informing customers of the Welsh government’s regulations and the Welsh public are trusted to make the right decision.
I’m handing over to my colleague Sarah Marsh now.
Updated
On a day when the UK Covid death toll passed 60,000, there is a glimmer of good news. The chance of surviving the virus for those admitted to critical care units rose during the first wave of the pandemic, researchers have revealed.
Writing in the journal Critical Care Medicine, researchers at the University of Exeter report how they analysed the outcomes for over 21,000 adults with Covid-19 admitted to 108 critical care units in England from March to the end of June this year.
The results, based on survival at 30 days after admission, reveal that at the end of March 72% of patients in high dependency units survived, compared with 58% for those in intensive care. By the end of June there had been a “substantial improvement”, with survival at 93% and 80% respectively.
Crucially, the team said, the improvement in survival was still seen even when the team took into account factors such as age, ethnicity and sex of the patients, suggesting the change is not simply down to a shift in the demographics of people being admitted to critical care units as the months have gone by.
Indeed even taking such factors into account, the team found that compared with the situation at the end of March, survival improved by almost 13% per week for those in high dependency units and 9% in intensive care by the end of June. That said, there was no clear improvement in survival in some particular groups, including black people in intensive care.
Among other reasons for the overall improvements, the team suggest growing experience of the disease among healthcare professionals could play a role, as could a reduction in the numbers of people being admitted to critical care units, reducing the number of patients being cared for. However, they also suggest other reasons, including the use of drugs such as dexamethasone to tackle Covid.
“Temporal changes in Covid-19 disease severity at admission, patient selection for critical care management, critical care treatment, hospital capacity, and Covid-19 testing all offer potential explanations for our findings,” the team write.
Updated
Lady Doreen Lawrence, author of a Labour-commissioned review of the impact of coronavirus on minority groups, has been speaking to the BBC about her findings. She says that the government has acted “too late” to mitigate those impacts.
“From the time the government knew about Covid, nothing was done,” she said. “When the deaths started going up around black and ethnic minorities, even then I don’t think anyone took much notice of that, and so for us to actually hear these voices and hear people and from their families and people within professions whose colleagues have died … to me that’s quite important.”
One nurse told the review: “I don’t come to work to die.” Lawrence said: “That was such a telling thing for me, that sort of choked me … nothing’s changed. How on earth have they prepared [for the second wave]? They have not prepared.”
Updated
My colleague Mark Sweney reports on one of the economic winners of the pandemic: publishing.
Bloomsbury has reported its most profitable first half since 2008, he writes, with profits surging 60% to £4m in the six months to the end of August. Revenues grew 10% to £78.3m. The better-than-expected performance sent Bloomsbury shares 15% higher, to 242p, at midday on Tuesday.
Nigel Newton, the company’s chief executive, said:
It is a complete surprise because we had as grim a beginning to the pandemic as everyone else in March when 100% of our customers shut down worldwide.
And then we found that early on people showed short attention spans and were watching TV. But then reading reasserted its power and people found they could escape through books, and sales have been booming ever since.
You can read Mark’s story here:
Updated
This is Archie Bland, covering UK coronavirus live until 1.30pm.
The latest ONS data reveals an interesting detail on infection rates: people who have been on holiday appear to contract the virus at a similar frequency to those who have not.
A major long-term study to track Covid-19 in the population had previously found that there were higher positivity rates among people who had travelled abroad. But the new figures, covering September 25 - October 8, show there is “no longer a difference”.
Just 3% of participants had travelled abroad. Of those who said they had not travelled abroad in the last 30 days, 0.49% tested positive for the virus, compared with 0.58% who had travelled.
Other key findings in the latest data set:
• Urban areas in England have higher positivity rates than rural areas.
• 34% of those who tested positive had no symptoms when they were tested.
• 32% of those who tested positive had a cough, fever or anosmia (a loss of their sense of smell) at the time of their test.
• Those aged 17 to 24 had higher rates of positive Covid-19 swabs both in areas where there were high levels of infection and in areas with low levels of infection.
Updated
This morning David Mellen, the leader of Nottingham city council, said it was “difficult to tell” whether the city had the government support it needed for tier 3, adding that all areas had been given a “flat rate”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
I think we have additional responsibilities of running a big city, and the city centre in particular has additional needs. I’m not sure that all of that will be covered in what we’ve been promised from the government.
Mellen said costs and lost income from the first wave of Covid-19 “were not fully met as was promised”, meaning that budgets were “strained and stretched”.
Updated
Visitors to Nottingham city centre have been reacting to the announcement of forthcoming tier 3 measures on Thursday.
Carl Bellamy, who is retired, told PA he believed the “necessary” measures would be effective “if people obey the bloody rules”.
Obviously, time will tell and if there are changes in whatever is happening. It’s like anything: you push the idea out, tweak it a bit, tweak a little bit more until you get the idea working.
On the possibility of a four-week review of the measures, Bellamy said:
The hard-stop date to review it is quite right. Statistically, you have to have that amount of time to show any real result don’t you, but I think to review it after a month is quite right.
Nottingham resident Carl Green said the tier 3 restrictions were the right move for the city at present:
I think it is something we’ve got to do, isn’t it, really? I think they’re about right for the position we’re in at the moment. If everybody does it - what we’re asked to do - it should sort out the problem. If half of us do it and some of us don’t then it could be a waste of time. If we all pull together, we can go a long way; if you all pull in different directions, you won’t go anywhere.
Jason Weliczko, who has run the popular Robin Hood baked potato shack in the city centre for 29 years, said he fears the R number will simply rise again after the restrictions lift.
I don’t think much is going to change because a lot of our customers are shop and office staff. As far as I know it’s pubs that mainly don’t serve food that have got to close.
Will people abide by the rules? At the moment, I don’t see social distancing - when they’re queuing up for shops and the bank, that’s completely out the window. Even if we have this tier 3 for 28 days, the R rate might come down a fraction maybe, but what’s going to happen after 28 days? It’ll come back up again.
Updated
The majority of secondary schools in England sent home at least one student because of coronavirus last week, UK government figures show.
Around 6-7% of state school pupils - excluding schools on half term - did not attend class for Covid-19-related reasons on 22 October, the Department for Education statistics suggest.
More than a quarter (26%) of schools said they had one or more pupils self-isolating due to potential contact with a case of coronavirus inside the school. This equates to 55% of secondary schools and 20% of primary schools.
Overall, approximately 86% of students on the roll in state schools, excluding schools on half-term breaks, were in attendance on 22 October.
Around 82% of secondary school pupils and 90% of primary school pupils were in school last week, the figures show.
Updated
This is from Wythenshawe, Manchester.
Love this Wythenshawe ♥️ https://t.co/olm08DNBPr
— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) October 27, 2020
A health watchdog has raised concerns about patients who were sent home from hospital before they got the result of their Covid-19 test, PA Media reports.
A new investigation by Healthwatch England and the British Red Cross found that 30% of those who were tested for Covid-19 while in hospital did not receive their test results before they left, according to a poll of 500 patients and carers.
Experts said more must be done to improve hospital discharges as the second wave of Covid-19 hits alongside traditional winter pressures.
The poll also found that 82% of respondents did not receive a follow-up visit and assessment at home after being discharged. Of these, 18% had some form of unmet need. Some told researchers they did not feel ready to leave hospital and 35% said they did not get a contact for further advice.
Healthwatch England and the British Red Cross have made a number of recommendations to help manage hospital discharges during a second peak of the crisis. These include: post-discharge check-ins and assessments, discharge checklists and giving patients a single point of contact for further support.
Sir Robert Francis, chairman of Healthwatch England, said it was essential to learn the lessons from March, “when hospitals were asked to discharge patients with little or no notice and the speed with which this took place was important but led to mistakes”.
It’s essential that we learn from what people have shared with us about the impact that a poorly handled discharge can have on them and their loved ones. Taking action now will not only reduce the risk to patients but will also help improve the way people leave hospital in the future.
The British Red Cross chief executive, Mike Adamson, said simple interventions, such as getting equipment and medicine delivered, or follow-up visits “can make the difference between good recovery or someone regressing to the point of readmission - precisely at the time we want people to stay well and stay at home”.
Prof Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said:
There has long been a wide consensus about the benefits for patients of being able to return home as soon as their specialist hospital care is complete. And it is good that delays have been reduced in recent times. While this is a very small snapshot survey, local hospitals will want to take account of the points it makes.
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A hospital in Northern Ireland has run out of beds and is asking patients to not attend its emergency department, in the latest sign that Covid-19 may overwhelm the region’s health system.
On Tuesday, 33 patients were awaiting a bed in Antrim Area hospital, which said it was operating “beyond capacity”.
The Northern Health Trust said 180 to 200 staff were self-isolating across the trust, leaving gaps that further strained the system. On Monday, Northern Ireland reported 342 inpatients with Covid-19, exceeding the previous daily peak of 322 recorded on 8 April.
Tom Black, the chair of the British Medical Association in Northern Ireland, said a Nightingale hospital could supply more intensive care beds but that the system was experiencing a “triple whammy” of rising cases, staff shortages and threat of further winter pressures.
“This second wave seems to be much worse than the first wave,” he told BBC Radio Foyle.
We’re not seeing the same mortality because the doctors have become very good at keeping people alive with the use of steroids and other drugs, but the concern that we have is does the health service become overwhelmed?
GPs had experienced a lot of pressure over the last two months, now it was the turn of emergency departments, said Black.
They are under fierce pressure … it’s not just about having the number of beds, but it’s having the number of staff.
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Structural racism led to worse Covid-19 impact on BAME groups - report
Structural racism led to the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus pandemic on black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, a review by Dame Doreen Lawrence has concluded.
The report, commissioned by Labour, contradicts the government’s adviser on ethnicity, Dr Raghib Ali, who last week dismissed claims that inequalities within government, health, employment and the education system help to explain why Covid-19 killed disproportionately more people from minority ethnic communities.
Lawrence’s review found BAME people are over-represented in public-facing industries where they cannot work from home, are more likely to live in overcrowded housing and have been put at risk by the government’s alleged failure to facilitate Covid-secure workplaces.
She demanded that the government set out an urgent winter plan to tackle the disproportionate impact of Covid on BAME people and ensure comprehensive ethnicity data is collected across the NHS and social care.
In the report’s foreword, Lawrence said minority ethnic people have been “overexposed, under protected, stigmatised and overlooked”.
This has been generations in the making. The impact of Covid is not random, but foreseeable and inevitable – the consequence of decades of structural injustice, inequality and discrimination that blights our society. We are in the middle of an avoidable crisis. And this report is a rallying cry to break that clear and tragic pattern.
My colleague Rajeev Syal has the story:
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We asked readers what they wanted to know about the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. From the ins and outs of exiting local lockdowns to why Dominic Cummings wasn’t sacked, the Guardian’s political correspondent, Peter Walker, has the answers.
Drivers are being warned to expect a rise in collisions with deer due to the latest coronavirus restrictions, PA Media reports.
The British Deer Society and the AA said the combination of quieter roads, a twilight rush-hour and seasonal migrations has led to a “new danger”. Empty roads are believed to lull animals into a false sense of security.
The latest government figures show that car traffic is down to 85% of pre-pandemic levels, amid measures such as the 10pm curfew for hospitality venues.
In May, emergency services in the south-west warned of more deer activity on the roads during the first coronavirus lockdown.
An AA poll of 13,800 drivers suggested that 16% had seen an increase in deer or other wildlife on roads during or since lockdown. This figure rises to 42% for 18- to 24-year-olds, who are the most likely to drive in the evening for sport and social activities.
The British Deer Society’s chief executive, David McAuley, urged drivers to be careful, particularly on roads with wildlife warning signs and when driving through rural areas, as road traffic accidents involving deer are especially frequent in autumn and winter during the breeding season.
The quieter roads due to Covid-19 restrictions have also made this year’s statistics more concerning and we would especially urge all drivers to be more deer-aware as the evidence shows an increase in collisions during the first Covid-19 lockdown.
Motorists are advised to reduce their speed and watch out for deer on the edges of roads, especially at dawn and dusk. If they see a deer crossing in front of their car, they should slow down and expect more to follow.
The AA’s president, Edmund King, warned early-morning and evening drivers to be on their guard, as during lockdown there was a greater incidence of deer and other wildlife “being spotted on roads you would not normally expect to see them, such as closer to and even within villages and other places of human population”.
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UK deaths involving Covid-19 pass 61,000
The Covid-19 death toll across the UK has passed 61,000.
The total number of deaths registered by the three statistical agencies across England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland now stands at 59,927.
However, more up-to-date UK government figures show that 1,189 deaths have occured within 28 days of a positive test since the figures were registered in each nation: 1,044 in England, 62 in Scotland, 47 in Wales and 36 in Northern Ireland.
This brings the number of deaths across the four nations of the UK to 61,116.
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Covid-19 registered deaths rise by half in a week - ONS
There were 670 Covid-19 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to 16 October, new data from the ONS revealed.
This is an increase of 53% on the previous week, when 438 deaths were reported, and indicates that the widespread rise in new coronavirus cases seen in recent months is leading to a rise in fatalities.
It means the number of deaths registered in England and Wales continues to double every fortnight, from 139 in the week ending 18 September, to 321 two weeks later, and 670 today.
Deaths involving Covid-19 in hospitals as a proportion of all deaths in hospitals increased from 8.4% in week 41 to 12.0% in week 42.
Covid-19 deaths increased across all English regions but were highest in the north-west, with 229 deaths.
The numbers of deaths from all causes in hospitals remained below the five-year average, but deaths in private homes remained high, with 776 excess deaths. Care homes reported 90 more deaths than the 5-year average.
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Government could fund 'holiday clubs' in free school meals climbdown
Boris Johnson is preparing to give councils extra money for a holiday club pilot scheme to be extended so children could receive at least one free meal a day outside term time, the Daily Telegraph (paywall) reports.
Ministers are examining the proposal made by the government’s food tsar, Henry Dimbleby, and reports suggest the government could combine the scheme with extra study time for children still catching up on learning after schools were closed during the spring.
This political manoeuvring would, my colleague Sally Weale reports, enable the government to mitigate the damaging impact of its refusal to accede to Marcus Rashford’s campaign without appearing to perform yet another U-turn.
The holiday activity and food programme (HAF) was trialled across 17 local authorities over the summer, catering for 50,000 disadvantaged children.
Rashford has backed some of the recommendations made by Dimbleby, who leads the National Food Strategy and has called for the HAF to be extended across England to help an additional 1.1 million children.
Dimbleby told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the government wasn’t doing enough to address the issue of child hunger and called for urgent action:
This problem is real. It should go without saying it’s serious. It’s immediate and it’s going to get worse as employment gets worse and the government isn’t doing enough. One in seven families already are reporting not being able to afford enough food.
He said that “in-kind support” through holiday clubs, providing food and education, had been shown to have a better impact than putting the same “small amount of money” into universal credit.
I haven’t been backward in coming forward with ideas that I have been feeding in to Treasury, to [the Department for] Education and to No 10, ideas of how they could rapidly implement this by Christmas. But ... the dark centre of government is invisible to me and I have no idea exactly what they’re working on as we speak.
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Levels of antibodies wane 'quite rapidly' after infection - study
Nicola Davis reports that the proportion of people in England with coronavirus antibodies dropped by more than a quarter in the space of three months, fuelling concerns over reinfection.
The findings come from the React-2 study, which is based on home finger-prick antibody test results from random participants across all 314 local authorities.
The first results, based on data from 100,000 people, were released in August, revealing that about 6% of the population of England had the antibodies – protective proteins produced in response to an infection – although the team say that could be a slight underestimate.
The new work – not yet peer-reviewed – extends this with more testing in two fresh cohorts, each yielding results from more than 100,000 adults.
The results reveal that just 4.4% of those tested in the most recent round, between 15 and 28 September, had detectable coronavirus antibodies.
Graham Cooke, co-author of the report and professor of infectious diseases at Imperial College London, said:
As a whole, these data suggest the possibility that decreasing population immunity will lead to an increased risk of reinfection as detectable antibodies decline in the population.
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The Liverpool mayor, Joe Anderson, has said he would back tier 4 restrictions “if necessary” to bring infection rates down.
The city is one of five northern locations currently under the nation’s strictest level of lockdown measures due to a surge in coronavirus cases.
In an interview with BBC Breakfast, Anderson, whose brother Bill died recently after contracting the virus, said he was not opposed to the introduction of “tougher measures if necessary”.
He told the programme:
[The pandemic] has taken untold damage on people’s wellbeing and a huge toll on families where people have died. If anything was required to bring it down faster I would do that. However, I want to make sure that we are giving tier 3 a chance to see if the measures have an impact.
Anderson added he would review the results of the current tier 3 restrictions in 14 to 16 days’ time to determine whether they had gone far enough in halting the spread of the virus.
“Somebody that gave more to this world than he ever took out”
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) October 27, 2020
Speaking exclusively to #BBCBreakfast Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson says his brother, who died from Covid-19, will be sadly missed.https://t.co/YZQA0xidR8 pic.twitter.com/shbkZiNPM9
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Boris Johnson faces Tory demands for exit strategy out of northern lockdown
Good morning. Leading the front pages today is the letter sent to the prime minister by more than 50 Conservative MPs in parts of the north of England - many from former “red wall” seats won in the last election - that have been hardest hit by the pandemic. They are demanding a “clear roadmap” for exiting lockdown restrictions and arguing that Covid-19 “has exposed in sharp relief the deep structural and systemic disadvantage faced by our communities”.
More regions were placed under the toughest coronavirus restrictions on Monday, meaning 8.2 million people in England – one in seven – will soon be living under tier 3. Of these, 92% are in the north of England. In the letter, the 55 MPs express fears that the government’s “levelling up” strategy is being abandoned and they warn of economic hardship “with no end in sight” without a regional recovery plan.
Here is our north of England editor Helen Pidd’s report:
Throughout the day please feel free, as always, to get in touch with me as I work if you have a tip or story to share. Your thoughts for coverage are always welcome!
Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_
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