The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has set the government a new target of carrying out 100,000 Covid-19 tests a day by the end of April as he sought to defend the government’s approach.
Evening summary
- Returning to work at Westminster after having Covid-19, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, set a new goal of delivering 100,000 tests per day by the end of April. He also confirmed the ultimate goal is to roll out mass community testing as soon as possible, so that “anyone who needs a test shall have one”.
- Hancock also announced that £13.4bn historic NHS debt would be written off and £300m made available to community pharmacies to help services deliver what is needed to fight the pandemic.
- All British Airways staff are to be retained on 80% pay, with no redundancies, Unite the union announced. The move is expected to impact some 28,000 workers.
- The number of UK hospital deaths rose to 2,921 as a further 569 patients who tested positive for coronavirus lost their lives.
- The comedian Eddie Large, of the double act Little and Large, died at the age of 78 after contracting coronavirus, his son said.
- Campaigners called for more prisoners to be released as positive cases of Covid-19 among inmates in England and Wales rose to 73. The Howard League and the Prison Reform Trust warned that failure to act immediately could lead to significant loss of life.
- Nissan announced it’s 6,000 employees at its Sunderland plant will be furloughed as the site will remain shut throughout April.
- The government is considering the possibility of introducing “immunity certificates” for people who have had Covid-19 and become immune, but maintain that the science is not yet advanced enough.
- The first known death of a patient with coronavirus in England was before March, new figures from NHS England revealed. The data shows a total of six deaths occurred before 5 March, which is the date the public was first informed of a coronavirus-related hospital death in England.
Hancock said more temporary hospitals like the new Nightingale hospital in London and the ones planned for Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow, could be needed in other parts of the country.
Powis said 8% of NHS staff nationwide are currently absent for Covid-19-related conditions.
Hancock said he would “look at all options” to keep women and children in abusive households safe.
Hancock confirmed the government is looking at “immunity certificates” for people who have had the disease and developed immunity. However, it is too early in the science to be able to put clarity on that at the moment.
Hancock confirmed mass community testing is the ultimate goal, but cannot put a figure on the timing because it depends on how quickly a home antibody test is developed and how quickly swab testing can be ramped up.
Hancock said the curve must be flattened (reducing the rate of infection) before the lockdown can be lifted.
Hancock said Premier League footballers at clubs were staff had been furloughed can indeed “play their part” by taking a pay cut.
Updated
Hancock gave “a firm commitment” that all NHS staff who need a test will get one by the end of the month.
Newton said testing will be crucial to differentiate between who has immunity and who has not been infected and therefore does not have immunity.
That information will inform the models and the strategy regarding the lockdown.
Hancock said testing is critical to ending the lockdown – i.e. pillar four in his strategy.
Number one at the moment must be that people continue to stay at home to control the spread.
Powis said there is still a lot to learn about the virus as it is a new virus that will inform the strategy, including:
We do not know how many people are asymptomatic.
We do not know how long immunity lasts.
We do not yet know what drugs are likely to work and vaccines take time to develop.
Hancock said the government is “currently confident” that the UK has the supply of medicines needed.
We have a very detailed plan for making sure that we have the full supply of medicines, including the ones that you mention, sedatives and all the medicines needed for those who have Covid-19 and people being ventilated.
We probably have one of the strongest understandings of the supply chain of anywhere in the world because of the preparations we did for a no-deal Brexit, and we keep them constantly under review.
In fact, I took a meeting on this question today. So whilst we, of course with the lockdowns around the world, we are highly vigilant, we are currently confident that we have the supplies of medicines that are needed.
Powis said NHS staff who are self-isolating at home because a member of their family has symptoms are the priority, because they may be able to go back to work.
Updated
NHS will be able to get tested 'absolutely before end of month'
Hancock confirmed the new goal of 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month is across all five pillars.
No test is better than a bad test.
He did not commit to a firm date by which every NHS worker can be tested as he did not want to “over-promise”, but he said “it will absolutely be before the end of the month”.
Updated
Prof Stephen Powis is speaking now.
Physical distancing is key to reducing the spread of the virus and the number of cases.
Transport usage has decreased, but motor vehicle use went up a few days ago – this needs to come down.
The number of new cases is increasing, but this is expected as before lockdown.
Hospital admissions rising most in London and the Midlands, but the level of increase is constant which is some indication it could flatten off in a week or two.
The number of deaths is rising and is expected to do so until physical distancing measures bear fruit.
Hancock sets goal of 100,000 tests a day by end of April
Hancock is outlining his five-pillar strategy, with the aim of carrying out 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month:
The first pillar is swab testing in PHE labs and within NHS hospitals, to find out if you already have the virus.
The second pillar is creating a swab testing capacity delivered by commercial partners. This will be a partnership with universities, research institutions and companies like Amazon and Boots to build a network of new labs and testing sites across the country. Trials have been completed and number of tests at this facility will significantly increase from this weekend. It will at first be solely for frontline workers and their families.
The third pillar is introducing antibody blood tests, to tell whether people have had Covid-19 and are now immune. These antibody tests could potentially be done at home.
The fourth pillar is surveillance to find out what proportion of the population already have the virus, using an antibody test by PHE. This will determine the infection rate and how the virus is spreading across the country.
The fifth pillar is to build an “at-scale” diagnostics industry to reach 100,000 per day tests by the end of April.
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Hancock is setting out his plan to boost testing, but first the government’s priorities, which is to test:
- patients who need it
- critical NHS staff and their families
- test critical key workers
- expand testing to the community
Our ultimate goal is that anyone who needs a test shall have one.
Hancock says he is going to “level with you” on the challenges we face and the government’s plan to drive things forward to increase testing significantly.
The UK has not gone into this crisis with a huge diagnostics industry, as Germany could.
Demand for materials has led to a shortage of both swabs and reagents. The swabs issue has been fixed but still tackling the reagents issue, which is a global challenge.
Prioritisation has to be the patients for whom the result of a test could be the difference between life and death.
I believe anybody in my shoes would have taken the same decision.
He says of course NHS staff need access to testing too.
Several tests being checked have failed. In one case a test missed three out of four cases of coronavirus.
Approving tests that don’t work is dangerous and I will not do it.
£13.4bn historic NHS debt written off and £300m made available for community pharmacies
Hancock has made £300m available for community pharmacies.
To help NHS trusts deliver what’s needed, Hancock has written off £13.4bn of historic NHS debt.
This landmark step will not only put the NHS in a stronger position to respond to the pandemic, but it will ensure our NHS has stronger foundations for the future too.
On PPE, Public Health England has issued upgraded guidance for health and care staff on the frontline.
The new guidance recommends the appropriate level of PPE to protect people in all circumstances. The standards are in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation and have been “welcomed” by trade unions and representative bodies.
Latest figures:
163,194 people have now been tested. 33,718 people have tested positive and the rate of infection has been doubling every three to four days.
12,949 people have been admitted to hospital with symptoms.
2,921 people who have contracted the virus have sadly died.
Updated
The health secretary Matt Hancock is speaking now.
He is joined by medical director for NHS England, Prof Stephen Powis, and professor of public health and epidemiology Prof John Newton.
Updated
Majority of Nissan's 6,000 Sunderland plant employees to be furloughed
Most of Nissan’s 6,000 employees at its Sunderland plant will be furloughed as the site will remain shut throughout April, the car maker said.
In a statement, Nissan Europe said:
Nissan is grateful for the financial assistance offered by national governments to support our 15,000 direct employees in Europe, our partner companies and suppliers.
Our goal is to navigate through this crisis while maintaining activities critical for business continuity and to make sure we are prepared for the time when business resumes in Europe and we can welcome the Nissan team back to work.
Jeremy Corbyn has described the lack of testing of frontline NHS staff as “ludicrous”, as the outgoing Labour leader took aim at the government for being too slow to scale up Covid-19 testing in the UK.
Corbyn, who will stand down as the Labour leader on Saturday, said Boris Johnson told him at a meeting three weeks ago the government was going to rapidly scale up coronavirus testing from 5,000 tests a day but had failed to follow through.
“It seems to me that the facilities of government to get that testing done have simply not been effective,” he told Sky News in his final sit down interview as Labour leader.
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Scottish death toll under-reported due to delays in reporting centrally
Nicola Sturgeon has admitted Scotland’s death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has been significantly under-reported because of mistakes in notifying the government of fatalities.
The Scottish government revealed on Thursday the number of Covid-19 deaths had jumped 66% in one day, up by 50 to 126 fatalities from the 76 reported on Wednesday.
The first minister said that 40 of those deaths were historic cases detected by one unnamed testing laboratory, which had only just been notified centrally, but 10 were fatalities in the last 24 hours.
She said there had been delays getting relatives’ consent before recording them centrally, but admitted it was still unclear why the delays had occurred.
Catherine Calderwood, Scotland’s chief medical officer, said every death meant there were roughly 1,000 coronavirus infections in the general population, implying that 40,000 more Scots have been infected.
Officials were now updating all recent daily fatalities figures to include the newly disclosed cases, and the government hoped to produce a more definitive list later on Thursday. Sturgeon said:
Part of the cruelty of this virus is that when people are in hospital and when they’re dying, family members are not able to be with them.
Therefore it has taken a bit longer for families to be informed and for them to give their consent to all of the things that are required.
Scottish Labour said the admission increased their concerns that deaths outside hospitals and “presumed deaths” were not being properly recorded after GPs and families warned that cases were being missed.
Monica Lennon, Labour’s health spokesman, said:
Irrespective of where people have died, be it in their own house, a nursing home or a hospital, we need the full facts about this virus. It’s clear that a lack of testing is contributing to the lack of information, which is unacceptable.
Pressed by reporters to explain why deaths had not been previously disclosed, Sturgeon said her officials were still investigating, but her efforts to answer the questions had led to a 90-minute delay to the start of her daily press briefing. She said:
This is an issue we are – that’s why this briefing is delayed today – still trying to verify [so] we can present this information absolutely clearly.
So I’m not going to stand here right now and try to give answers to questions when I don’t have all of the detail of the information.
Updated
No 10 daily news conference
The health secretary Matt Hancock will front today’s Downing Street press conference, due to begin shortly.
He will be joined by Public Health England’s director of health protection Prof Yvonne Doyle and NHS England’s national medical director Stephen Powis.
Updated
All British Airways staff to be retained on 80% pay, with no redundancies, Unite says
The Unite union, which represents thousands of workers employed by British Airways, said it has reached an agreement with BA about how 28,000 workers will be protected during the coronavirus crisis.
Unite has reached an agreement with British Airways about how workers will be protected during the coronavirus crisis.
— Unite the union (@unitetheunion) April 2, 2020
Key parts of the deal and Unite statement here ⬇️https://t.co/I7HU3bj0FP
Key parts of the deal include:
- BA will introduce a modified version of the government’s job retention scheme, so that workers will be furloughed on 80% of pay. However, unlike the government scheme, there will be no cap on earnings.
- Workers will be able to divert their pension contributions into their pay for a short period of time (contributions are between 9% and 18% of earnings).
- There will be no unpaid temporary lay-offs.
- There will be no redundancies during this period and the redundancy process that had already begun has been halted.
The full statement is here.
Updated
Mental health charity Calm’s first Friday Night Lock-In will launch this week with performances from Years And Years, Kurupt FM and Declan McKenna.
The event, hosted on Instagram Live by Vick Hope, will raise money to support the charity’s helplines, which have seen a 37% increase in daily call demand in the last week.
Love Island stars Kem Cetinay and Chris Hughes will lead a pub quiz, while viewers will be encouraged to cook along with comedians Ed Gamble and Phil Wang. There will also be a stand-up performance from Mark Watson and performances from BBC Sound Of 2020 nominees Arlo Parks and Joy Crookes.
The virtual event will run from 5pm until midnight on each performer’s own Instagram accounts, mirroring the hours Calm’s suicide prevention helpline is open each day.
Kerrang! Magazine has temporarily stopped publishing its print edition as it has become “virtually impossible” to distribute it, it was announced in a statement on its website.
The decision comes after “a period of unprecedented turmoil within the music industry and beyond”, the statement added.
The magazine will not be printed again until 8 July. Content will continue to be published via its website and other digital channels.
An important announcement from Kerrang! https://t.co/uIBuOkaQb9 pic.twitter.com/K2bmPgVNA8
— Kerrang! Magazine (@KerrangMagazine) April 2, 2020
The Scottish Prison Service has confirmed that it is contacting retired officers to return to work during the coronavirus pandemic as the Prison Officers’ Association in Scotland revealed it is facing staffing shortages of nearly 25%.
Scotland’s prisons had already seen a significant staffing shortfall with chronic overcrowding putting undue pressure on officers. The figure of 25% includes those off on sick leave and maternity leave, as well as those absent because they are self-isolating.
Earlier this week it emerged that a number of individual prison officers had been in touch with Holyrood’s justice committee to express concerns about the lack of availability of PPE for staff and the impact of staff shortages.
Emergency legislation voted through the Scottish parliament on Wednesday makes provision for the early release of some prisoners, but agencies are concerned that sufficient support must be made available for those coming out of jail, both in terms of practicalities of accommodation and preparing inmates for a society on lockdown.
While all Scotland’s prisons are enforcing physical distancing, it is challenging in restricted spaces and impacts, for example, during the time inmates have to exercise and socialise.
There are currently 99 prisoners in Scottish jails isolating because of the virus.
Today, the Scottish Prisoner Advocacy and Research Collective criticised the time it was taking to release inmates:
From our understanding, it will be three weeks at the earliest before the necessary secondary legislation to release prisoners can be considered. To leave prisoners waiting this long is to ignore everything we now know about this virus.
This inaction verges on being reckless: It will mean a death sentence for some.
Calls for release as positive cases among prisoners rise to 73
The two leading prison reform groups in the country have called on the government to release more prisoners, as official figures show a slight increase in the number of confirmed cases among prisoners and staff.
In an open letter, the Howard League for Penal Reform and the Prison Reform Trust have warned the justice secretary, Robert Buckland, that failure to act immediately could lead to significant loss of life.
The charities welcomed the government’s decision to release certain pregnant women and mothers in mother and baby units but urged the justice secretary to go further and release prisoners who are either medically vulnerable or present a low risk of harm.
The intervention comes as a daily update revealed as at Wednesday 5pm, there were 73 prisoners who have tested positive for Covid-19 across 27 prisons in England and Wales, a 6% rise on the previous day. Three prisoners who contracted Covid-19 have died.
There are around 83,000 prisoners in England and Wales across 117 prisons.
Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said:
The government is in a race against time to curb the spread of coronavirus in prisons and protect the wider public.
Many more lives will be lost unless urgent action is taken to reduce the number of people behind bars.
Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said:
All we are asking is that the government follow the science. That makes it very clear that reducing the number of people in prison is crucial to controlling the spread of infection, not just in prisons but in the communities to which prisoners return on release and staff return every day”
The number of infected prison staff as of Wednesday was 15 across nine prisons, up from 14 the day before. There number of Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (Pecs) staff who have tested positive remains at four.
Updated
NHS nurses are turning to online crowdfunding to ask for donations of everyday essentials including sanitary products, bedding and hand cream as some hospitals run low on basic items before the peak of the UK’s coronavirus outbreak.
Medics are using online wishlists to request thousands of products for staff and patients, ranging from teabags to sleeping bags and including iPads and chargers so families can speak to loved ones.
The Guardian found a growing number of NHS trusts using Amazon to ask for the most basic goods in recent days, as supplies of clean clothes, bedding and toiletries run low in part because of the cancellation of almost all hospital visits.
Full story here.
Motorists’ MoT garages are going to be converted into coronavirus test centres in Northern Ireland. Stormont’s minister for infrastructure, Nichola Mallon, has offered to make them available:
#COVID19:Good call with @RobinSwannMoH Reiterated that I'll continue to do all I can & offer whatever resources we have,to support our health workers. Be it free public transport & car parking,offer of all our MOT centres to ramp up testing, we are working together to save lives.
— Nichola Mallon (@NicholaMallon) April 2, 2020
The first centre in Balmoral, south of Belfast, is expected to be open from next week with 14 other centres made available if they get the go-ahead from health authorities.
The Belfast Trust said it was working with the local Department of Health and Department of Infrastructure to assess the suitability of using the MoT Centre at Balmoral for Covid-19 testing.
The BBC has reported that work is already under way at the site with lifts removed and under-chassis pits filled in to allow for a drive-through facility.
Updated
First known death of patient with coronavirus in England happened before March
The first known death of a patient with coronavirus in England occurred before March.
New figures from NHS England reveal that a patient died in a hospital in Liverpool University hospitals NHS foundation trust before March although no specific date is mentioned.
The data shows a total of six deaths occurred before 5 March, when the public was first notified of a death connected to the virus in hospitals in England.
However, the NHS figures indicate the death was previously reported in figures, although the actual date of death was not previously publicly known.
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The TV magician Dynamo has revealed that he has contracted Covid-19 and is at “high risk” from the disease because of his underlying health conditions.
Over the last few weeks I have experienced symptoms such as a persistent cough and lots of aches and pains.
I self-isolated for just over two weeks and took any necessary precautions.
I was advised to take a private test. Now I appreciate this is not possibly for everyone.
He urged people to “stay at home and keep away from others” and also praised the country’s key workers and healthcare staff.
hi guys, hope you’re all keeping safe and well. It’s been a bit of a rough couple of weeks so wanted to give you an update. As you know I’ve had some health issues over last few years and underlying conditions make this virus particularly dangerous and very real... 1/2 pic.twitter.com/9Y6A1cJ4Ib
— Dynamo (@Dynamomagician) April 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/Dynamomagician/status/1245648959718035457
I’m incredibly relieved to be over the worst of it but wanted to let you all know what’s been happening. Please take this virus seriously and remember that by staying home, you are protecting so many others. 2/2
— Dynamo (@Dynamomagician) April 2, 2020
Police officers in North Wales got a bit of a shock this morning when they stopped a car for a random check and discovered their chief constable at the wheel.
Carl Foulkes, the top cop in North Wales, tweeted his amusement:
This morning travelling to Wrexham to go out on patrol and pulled over by my own local policing officers, doing a great job, although their faces were a picture. Keep up the good work.
This morning travelling to Wrexham to go out on patrol and pulled over by my own local policing officers, doing a great job, although their faces were a picture. Keep up the good work.
— Carl Foulkes (@NWPCCFoulkes) April 2, 2020
Tate is to release free online tours of two major exhibitions that closed early because of the coronavirus lockdown.
Tate Modern’s Andy Warhol show and Tate Britain’s Aubrey Beardsley show were on the list of must-sees for many art-lovers. They both opened in early March to positive reviews before closing when the galleries abruptly shut down on 17 March.
On Thursday Tate said curators had made filmed tours of the exhibitions after the closure, but before current restrictions were implemented.
It is making its tour of the Warhol exhibition, which features more than 100 works across his career, available on its website and YouTube channel from 6 April. A tour of the Beardsley show, the biggest one for 50 years, will go up a week later on 13 April.
A similar exercise is going on at Compton Verney in Warwickshire which this month had to close its show about the 16th century German painter Lucas Cranach the Elder after five days. A tour by curator Amy Orrock is now on the gallery’s website.
Updated
British nationals remaining in Morocco are being offered a seat on a specially arranged commercial flight negotiated by the UK, the British ambassador has said.
#Morocco’s airspace is currently closed. However, we have negotiated a final flight back to the #UK from Morocco next week for all remaining #British tourists who wish to return to the UK. This will be a commercial flight and you will need to purchase a ticket.
— Thomas Reilly (@TSAReilly) April 2, 2020
Thomas Reilly warned people remaining in the country that airspace remained locked down and that this was “the absolute last flight back” before the state of emergency is scheduled to end on 20 April.
This is the absolute last flight back to the UK until at least the end of the Moroccan State of Emergency (currently 20 April). If you wish to leave, please make sure you are on that flight by emailing us, even if you have done so before.
— Thomas Reilly (@TSAReilly) April 2, 2020
Up to 7,500 people stranded in South Africa, where charter flights are being planned, have been warned it could “take a bit of time yet” to organise.
An update on special charter flights home for 🇬🇧 travellers in 🇿🇦 @ukinsouthafrica pic.twitter.com/fQnPZbPoZ2
— Nigel Casey (@NigelCaseyHC) April 2, 2020
In Asia there are no charter flights confirmed, with some criticism that the high commission in India is directing people to an Italian flight out of Goa to Rome on the condition that passengers have onward flights to London.
⚠️Update for Brits in Goa: Italy is running a flight from Goa - Rome at 0300, 3rd April. Limited seats open to Brits as long as you can show a ticket to your final destination. Onward connections to London offered by Air Italia.
— UK in India🇬🇧🇮🇳 (@UKinIndia) April 2, 2020
To book visit Air Italia https://t.co/Pq2Cis7vsw pic.twitter.com/dm0MtSdJNc
In Sri Lanka and Vietnam, embassies are also directing passengers to commercial flights today, while in Sierra Leone, the seat of the Ebola crisis five years ago, the embassy has notified workers, many of whom work in the NGO and charity sector, of a flight being organised by Germany.
Please see the following statement from the German Embassy in Freetown regarding a flight to Brussels. There is likely to be a very limited number of seats available for visiting British Nationals who have been unable to return home as planned.
— UK in Sierra Leone 🇬🇧🇸🇱 (@UKinSierraLeone) April 2, 2020
Updated
National Express is to temporarily suspend all coach services in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
The transport firm said it is halting its national network of scheduled coach services from midnight on 5 April.
It said it had kept a limited network of services running to help people with essential travel but that it was “no longer viable to continue to do so”.
All of our coach services will be temporarily suspended from 23:59 on Sunday 5 April. When the time is right, we look forward to welcoming you back on board.https://t.co/gmsu38k7Ry
— National Express (@nationalexpress) April 2, 2020
Stay home | Protect the NHS | Save Lives#StayHomeSaveLives pic.twitter.com/gnErjSvYr7
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Morrisons has launched a click-and-collect food box for NHS staff that will be available to collect from hospital carparks to allow easier access to essential groceries.
The boxes are priced at £30 and there are options for vegetarians and meat-eaters. A typical box includes vegetables, milk, dairy items, rice, pasta and more.
The vegetarian food box includes vegetarian proteins such as meat-free sausages and mince. The meat food box includes fresh meat such as chicken or beef.
The first click-and-collect service launched today at St James’s hospital and Leeds General Infirmary to help NHS staff who may be struggling to get the food they need.
NHS staff can place their orders via a dedicated website link that has been shared with them internally at their hospital. Collections will take place on Monday and Thursday between 6-8am for night shifts and 4-6pm for day shifts.
David Potts, Morrisons’ chief executive, said:
At this important time, the National Health Service is supporting the whole country so we need to support them, too. We will be taking this service to many more hospitals to help feed NHS staff as they face into the challenges of treating people affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
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The NHS has asked people to stop sending rainbow pictures to the new Nightingale hospital in London’s ExCel Centre by post after a social media request went viral, the BBC reports. The NHS has asked people to share them online instead, using #RainbowsForNightingale.
Full story here.
Unfortunately, a fake Facebook account has been set up for the Nightingale Hospital London asking people to share rainbow pictures. Please be aware of misinformation and only get your information from trusted sources, like https://t.co/R3azksNgt9
— NHS Nightingale London (@NightingaleLDN) April 1, 2020
Updated
Pharmacists will be permitted to hand out a raft of controlled drugs without prescription, including potentially addictive painkillers, under a proposed move to alleviate pressure on the NHS during the coronavirus outbreak.
The home secretary, Priti Patel, has written to the government’s official drug tsars asking them for advice on the risks of lifting restrictions on certain substances controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
The emergency changes proposed would allow pharmacists to hand out these substances without prescription.
Some of the substances are highly addictive and include barbiturates and opiates, such as morphine.
However, it will only apply only to patients who have been receiving the drug as part of ongoing treatment.
In her letter to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the home secretary asks the panel to consider the “risks of making these changes related to greater access to controlled drugs and risk of diversion or misuse which have been taken into account in developing the measures”.
She has requested the council respond by Friday as the government wishes to lay regulations as soon as possible.
In addition, the Home Office wants to apply a measure called a supply shortage protocol to certain controlled drugs, which would allow pharmacists to hand out alternatives without having to go back to doctors in the event that the prescribed drug is running low as there is a “significant risk” to supply due to the crisis.
Patel writes:
These measures help secure access to controlled drugs within the healthcare system in a pandemic and where there is a serious risk to human health. They will ensure patients continue to have access to medicines critical for ongoing treatment, build resilience and help relieve pressure elsewhere in the health system.
Updated
Muslims unable to visit their mosques during the coronavirus crisis can tune into their local BBC station from tomorrow.
Qari Asim MBE, a senior imam in Leeds, will lead reflections on 14 stations at 5.50am. This will become a weekly spot, led by a different imam each week.
Chris Burns, the head of BBC Local Radio, said:
Many Muslims will feel a void in their lives where prayers used to be – a feeling that will be magnified as we approach Ramadan.
Local radio is all about connecting communities and we hope these weekly reflections will go some way to helping Muslims feel a sense of community while they are isolating.
The stations broadcasting the reflections are Leeds, Sheffield, Lancashire, Manchester, WM (West Midlands), Leicester, Stoke, Derby, Nottingham, Coventry and Warwickshire, Three Counties, London, Merseyside and Berkshire.
Updated
NHS Digital has released figures on the number of 111 and 999 calls and online assessments in which the individual has been informed that, based on their symptoms, they potentially have the coronavirus.
Between 28 March and 1 April, more than a quarter of a million (259,069) 111 and 999 calls resulted in “potential Covid-19 triages”, meaning the caller was told that their symptoms were in keeping with the virus. There were more than 1.5m online assessments (1,565,782) with the same outcome in the same time period.
This does not mean these people actually had Covid-19, as only a test can confirm if someone has or has had the virus. The figures also do not reflect the number of callers, as one person could call or do an online assessment multiple times.
The number of calls with a potential outcome of Covid-19 peaked on 22 March at 20,532 contacts while the number of online assessments peaked a day later on 23 March, at 146,894.
Updated
An extra 6,000 hospital beds are being set up in Wales, doubling the usual capacity, with makeshift wards springing up in sporting arenas, a conference venue and even a film studios.
Huge sports hall in Neath, South Wales. Usually a training pitch for Ospreys rugby. Being turned into field hospital. pic.twitter.com/0G4y1KPdmh
— steven morris (@stevenmorris20) April 2, 2020
The chief executive of NHS Wales, Andrew Goodall, said the number of critical care beds had also been doubled to 331 – but that 45% of them were already occupied.
At a press conference in Cardiff he said there were almost 1,000 people with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 in hospital beds in Wales. He said:
We are of course preparing for more people to be admitted to hospital and there are many, many more people with coronavirus in the community who don’t need hospital treatment.
He confirmed that in one of the hotspots, in south-east Wales, patients were being cared for in operating theatres.
About 1,500 staff have been tested in Wales and 10% are off sick – double the usual rate for this year. Around 1,000 tests on patients and staff were carried out on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, people attending A&E departments are down by up to 60% and emergency admissions are down from an average of 420 a day to about 150.
Updated
Deaths in Scotland rise by 50 to 126
The Scottish government has said 50 more people have died from covid-19 taking the total number of deaths to 126 in Scotland, a 66% rise in the total given on Wednesday.
Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, said that ten people had died overnight but another 40 historic deaths had now been attributed to the virus and added to the overall figure. On Wednesday, the government said 76 people had died.
In a short update before Nicola Sturgeon’s daily briefing on the outbreak, the devolved government said that 2602 people had tested positive with the virus.
Update on #coronavirus testing
— Scottish Government (@scotgov) April 2, 2020
As of 2pm today 18,128 Scottish tests have concluded
15,526 confirmed negative
2,602 positive
126 patients who tested positive have sadly died.
Our latest update ➡️ https://t.co/kZjGNz2EDe
Health advice ➡️ https://t.co/l7rqArB6Qu#COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/KasOh2Pr2T
Updated
Further 19 deaths in Wales bringing total to 117
The number of people who have died in Wales after testing positive for coronavirus is 117, a rise of 19, health officials said.
Dr Robin Howe, the incident director for the Covid-19 outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said:
284 new cases have tested positive for Covid-19 in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,121, although the true number of cases is likely to be higher.
Nineteen further deaths have been reported to us of people who had tested positive for Covid-19, taking the number of deaths in Wales to 117.
We offer our condolences to families and friends affected, and we ask those reporting on the situation to respect patient confidentiality.
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Disclosure Scotland, the government agency that undertakes criminal records checks, is scrapping all fees for key workers and volunteers who are being drafted in to help the fight against the coronavirus.
This is a temporary measure which will be in place for an initial period of six weeks, before being reviewed and extended if necessary.
The Disclosure and Barring Service in England and Wales is offering accelerated checks for returning NHS workers.
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UK hospital deaths rise by 569 to 2,921
A total of 2,921 patients have died in hospital after testing positive for the coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Wednesday, the Department of Health said, up by 569 from 2,352 the day before.
As of 9am on Thursday, a total of 163,194 people have been tested of which 33,718 tested positive.
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Boris Johnson still showing symptoms and may need to stay in self-isolation
The prime minister is still suffering from mild Covid-19 symptoms, meaning he may not be able to leave self-isolation as intended on Friday, Downing Street has said.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said Johnson is still symptomatic, six days after he was diagnosed with the illness.
If he still has a temperature on Friday, he will not be able to leave self-isolation as planned. The spokesman said:
The guidelines say that if you still have a high temperature, for example, you should keep self-isolating until your temperature returns to normal.
The guidance is that you stay at home for seven days or for longer if [symptoms] persist.
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The Highland MP Ian Blackford has urged people not to travel to the Highlands for Easter, as locals raise concerns that travellers from other parts of the UK are continuing to self-isolate in the area in camper vans or second homes.
Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, warned potential visitors on Twitter:
With Easter almost upon us it is worth reminding everyone of the emergency powers that restrict non essential travel. That means in short no tourists should be coming to the Highlands and Islands area.
With Easter almost upon us it is worth reminding everyone of the emergency powers that restrict non essential travel. That means in short no tourists should be coming to the Highlands and Islands area. https://t.co/YzDaJmY5CK
— Ian Blackford (@Ianblackford_MP) April 2, 2020
Other Highlanders have told the Guardian about signs appearing in local shops warning that tourists will not be served food and drink there, and banners being slung across signs for local services warning visitors to “go home”.
Kirsteen Currie, an SNP councillor for Sutherland, said:
People are exceptionally concerned because a large number of people are continuing to trundle round in their camper vans or come up to second homes or boltholes to isolate.
The majority of these people are coming from inner cities where they have access to healthcare, food and petrol supplies. When there are only a few hundred residents in a village, adding just a few extra people significantly increases the likelihood of failure of the resilience effort.
Our communities will be ready with open arms to welcome visitors back once the pandemic passes, but until then they need to be protected.
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A Scottish ambulance driver who has just come out of two weeks of self-isolation has posted an emotional video offering advice about managing the toll the pandemic is taking on mental health.
It’s okay to feel anxious about what’s to come. It’s okay to feel low. It’s okay to feel anxious for your family.
Just take time to find time for yourself, to decompress, to just clear that head. The key is to just speak about it. I know I will.
Back to work with the @Scotambservice today after two weeks of isolation. Ready to support my colleagues and the wider NHS. Anxiety and mental health issues during this is Ok! It’s natural, it’s ok. I know I’ve been up and down during this but talking to friends helps. My advice pic.twitter.com/PGdvqeRX9p
— Darren Miller (@dazzmiller) April 2, 2020
No 10 daily lobby briefing
Here are the key points from this afternoon’s lobby briefing:
- Boris Johnson may not be able to leave isolation tomorrow as planned. The prime minister still has symptoms and people are advised to stay at home if they have a temperature.
- The health secretary, Matt Hancock, will give the government’s daily press conference later setting out an action plan for increasing testing, which is likely to include more private sector involvement. No 10 said:
We acknowledge that more needs to be done and we need to make progress quickly.
- No 10 “cannot stress enough the vital importance of staying at home wherever possible”, amid worries that an increase in car use could be an early sign of the lockdown breaking down already.
- Downing Street still will not confirm whether it used mobile phone data on people’s movements when it took decision to order the lockdown.
- On the Labour leadership election, the prime minister will want to have a “good and cooperative” relationship with the new leader of the opposition when they take over on Saturday.
- On the possibility of “immunity passports” to allow some people who have had coronavirus to leave the lockdown, No 10 said:
That is something other countries have done. We are always watching what other countries doing and looking to learn.
Updated
A coronavirus testing centre was on course to conduct roughly 1,000 tests on NHS workers on Thursday although confusion over who was eligible for the test was still evident.
Marshals navigating the traffic at the drive-in centre in the Ikea carpark in Wembley estimated they had seen 180 staff in the first hour and a half of testing.
However, the list of names they had on clipboards for pre-booked appointments numbered just 187. It meant some staff who didn’t have emails to show they qualified for the test were initially turned away.
Queues in double lanes at test centre in IKEA in Wembley. “There isn’t enough testing. It is definitely causing anxiety and stress” said on doctor, at the “heart of it” in Northwick Park Hospital, which was the epicentre of the outbreak in London at the outset pic.twitter.com/EDdx0PTCgT
— lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) April 2, 2020
A nurse at Chelsea and Kensington Hospital, Marites Vincencio, said she had phoned the testing “hotline” and told to show up at Ikea at 10am but was turned away because she did not have an email to back it up. Eventually the security team relented and let her and her husband in.
“There hasn’t been enough testing, and it is definitely causing stress and anxiety,” said a surgeon who said he was at the “heart of it” in Northwick Park hospital.
Calo Maila, a nurse at the Park Royal Centre for Mental Health, who had been self-isolating for the last 10 days said:
I’m really pleased this is being done at last because I want to get back to work.
While the system seemed to be working smoothly in Wembley with capacity for up to 1,000 swabs taken in one day, the controversy lies in the lack of capacity for laboratory testing with just 2,000 health workers tested so far.
NHS workers will not receive their results for three days raising the risk of infection in the intervening time.
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A leading prison charity has said the government faces a public health “public health catastrophe” if more isn’t done to release low-risk prisoners.
Dr Kate Paradine, chief executive of charity Women in Prison, said the government would have to release low-risk prisoners following news that a third British prisoner had died after contracting coronavirus.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour:
Our prisons have buckled already on critical staffing levels and (are) getting worse.
Prison governors have been calling for this for the last couple of weeks, this must happen.
So the plan just needs to get started now and we need to realise that this is for the benefit of all of us and it is the right thing to do, it’s the humane thing to do and if we act now, it will not be too late, but very soon it will be and a public health catastrophe will happen in our prisons and impact on all communities.
Paradine added the government response “has been far too slow” and said hundreds of organisations had been appealing to the government to reduce the prison population.
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The TUC is calling on the government to do more to protect pregnant women’s income, jobs and health during the coronavirus epidemic.
The trade union has raised concerns that some employers do not understand their legal responsibilities to keep pregnant staff safe, PA Media reports.
If pregnant women cannot work at home in their current role, employers must offer them other suitable work for the same rate of pay that can be done safely or suspend them on full pay, the union organisation said.
The TUC warned that putting pregnant workers who cannot work from home on sick pay, rather than suspending them on full pay, was legally wrong and has implications for maternity pay.
The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said:
No pregnant woman should be treated unfairly or be left out of pocket, or even out of a job, for doing the right thing.
Bosses need to comply with the law and protect the health and safety of pregnant women and their unborn baby.
Families with new babies can’t afford to lose out on vital cash. Ministers must protect working families and that means acting fast to protect pregnant workers.
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British Airways is expected to announce it will suspend up to 36,000 staff, from cabin crew to ground staff, engineers and head office employees, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The airline, which grounded its planes at Gatwick this week, has been negotiating with the Unite union for more than a week. The two sides have reached a broad agreement but still need to hammer out some details. A BA spokesperson said: “Talks continue.”
Under the agreement, up to 80% of BA’s 45,000 employees will have their jobs suspended, but it is thought that there will be no redundancies.
Tributes have flooded in for comedian Eddie Large, who has died after contracting the coronavirus.
Little Britain star Matt Lucas described Large as “lovely and kind”, while actor Kate Robbins remembered Large as a “great chap”.
Eddie Large (along with his supersonic friend Syd) was really lovely and kind and encouraging to me when I was a nipper on Shooting Stars. So sad to hear of his passing.
— realmattlucas (@RealMattLucas) April 2, 2020
Sorry to hear the comedian Eddie Large has died. What a great chap he was. A real pro. Rest in peace Eddie ❤️
— Kate Robbins (@KateRobbins) April 2, 2020
Manchester City football club, which Large supported, also tweeted a tribute to the comedian.
Everyone at Manchester City is sad to hear that lifelong City fan and celebrity Eddie Large has passed away aged 78.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 2, 2020
Our thoughts are with Eddie’s friends and family at this difficult time 💙 pic.twitter.com/QULhg8qudS
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National Express has announced it will temporarily suspend all coach services from midnight on Sunday April 5.
The operator said in a statement:
For those of you that have an upcoming journey with us before 31 May, if you would like to amend your booking, you can do so for free, for travel any time in the next 12 months.
The company had previously been running a reduced network for essential travel only.
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Eddie Large has died aged 78 after contracting coronavirus
Comedian Eddie Large, best known for being one half of the comedy duo Little and Large, has died aged 78 after contracting coronavirus, his son has said.
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Police and prosecutors are being urged to prioritise only urgent cases where suspects would normally be detained and those relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fresh advice published jointly in Thursday by the Crown Prosecution Service and the College of Policing, says that while the outbreak continues “careful consideration” must be given to what new offences are fed into the criminal justice system and” how those offences are progressed”.
It notes that courts are “currently unable to start any new jury or summary trials and most current trials have had to be stopped because of problems over the attendance of victims, witnesses, defendants, advocates and jurors”.
Cases deemed to be “immediate” are those where the police or investigators seek a charging decision that would lead to a remand in custody. The advice states:
All Covid-19 related cases will be dealt with as immediate cases for the purpose of obtaining a charging decision, whether they are custody or subsequently on bail.
There have been already several, swift prosecutions and convictions of people who have coughed on officers claiming to be infected with the virus.
Other non-priority cases can be listed with a summons up to 84 days ahead, relaxing previous prosecution deadlines.
A CPS spokesperson said:
We are facing unprecedented challenges to the criminal justice system but our message is clear – we have no intention of letting crime go unpunished.
However, priority must be given to the most serious cases to make sure dangerous offenders are dealt with quickly, this is why we have worked with police colleagues to give clear guidelines on this.
Offences which relate to Covid-19, including assaults on emergency workers, will be treated as high priority.
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The family of an NHS worker who died suddenly from Covid-19 after treating patients with only gloves for protection is appealing for help to pay for his funeral.
Thomas Harvey, a 57-year-old healthcare assistant who had worked for the NHS for more than 20 years, fell ill after treating a patient who later tested positive for coronavirus.
His family had called 999 twice the week before he died and were told it was “not an emergency” though he was breathing badly.
If you would like to make a contribution, his family’s GoFundMe page is here.
The BBC has more on this story.
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The Francis Crick Institute, a renowned research centre, which has been turned into a coronavirus testing facility for NHS staff, aims to conduct hundreds of tests every day.
The institute’s research laboratory has been repurposed so it can carry out Covid-19 tests at a rate of 500 a day by next week - rising to 2,000 a day in future.
It is hoped the testing will give NHS staff – who may have suspected symptoms or are self-isolating because family members are ill – the information they need to know whether they can safely return to work.
It comes after reports that offers of help from some of the UK’s leading scientific institutions to boost Britain’s rate of testing have been ignored by medical officials.
More information here.
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Bath City Farm is to use its Facebook page to broadcast live animal feeding from the farm every Saturday morning and keep people in touch with farm life as they stay at home.
The local charity’s buildings, cafe and toilets will be closed until further notice and all project groups, volunteering, bookings and events have been suspended.
But from 11am on Saturday fans of the farm will be able to see their favourite animals including Pam the pig and piglets and Shetland ponies Dougie and Dougal given brunch during a virtual tour.
Farm manager Helen Fisher said:
We know that the animals mean so much to our visitors and we wanted to give everyone the chance to see how they are doing. This weekly Facebook Live is a great way to keep in touch with your favourites, whether the goats or pigs, and have a unique insight into the life of the farm.
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Andrew Lloyd Webber is to stream a selection of his musicals online for free starting with Donny Osmond in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
The closure everywhere of theatres has led to an unprecedented range of initiatives to get plays and musicals out to people in new ways.
At 7pm on Thursday night the National Theatre will start its “at home” programme with a broadcast on YouTube of its hit comedy One Man, Two Guvnors starring James Corden.
Get the best seats in the house. We’re launching National Theatre at Home to give you access to theatre online.
— National Theatre (@NationalTheatre) March 26, 2020
A selection of much-loved @NTLive shows will be streamed on YouTube every week, free for everyone. https://t.co/eq6uwTKpud #NationalTheatreAtHome pic.twitter.com/OHcyzDXLjp
Lloyd Webber said he would also use YouTube to stream some of his shows. It begins on Friday 3 April at 7pm with a 1999 film of the stage show, directed by Maria Friedman and starring Osmond as Joseph, Richard Attenborough as his father, Jacob, and Joan Collins as Mrs Potiphar.
A week later, on Good Friday, the show will be the 2012 arena production of Jesus Christ Superstar with Tim Minchin as Judas, Mel C as Mary Magdalene and the radio DJ Chris Moyles as Herod.
Further productions in The Shows Must Go On series will be announced in due course.
The Guardian meanwhile will stream archive content from Hampstead theatre, currently Mike Bartlett’s 2016 Edward Snowden-inspired thriller Wild. It is available until 10pm Sunday 5 April.
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A Lake District police chief has expressed concern that isolation fatigue could be settling in for the public as the number of car journeys continues to rise.
Cumbria police last week declared the Lake District “closed” after there was a large increase in visitors despite the government warning against all but essential travel.
Thinking of coming to the #Lakedistrict? Don't it is CLOSED 🚫 By getting in your car & travelling to what you think may be a quiet, secluded area of the Lake District, can & will result in large gatherings of people. https://t.co/o3KjbuXU86#StayHomeSaveLives #Covid19UK pic.twitter.com/YWrhzVnT9W
— Cumbria Police (@Cumbriapolice) March 29, 2020
Now 10 days into the formal lockdown, Andy Slattery, the assistant chief constable who is leading the region’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, said he was concerned that “boredom and frustration” was setting in and people were getting back into their cars. Figures released by the government on Wednesday showed a recent rise in vehicle use across the UK.
He said the number of visitors to the Lake District had dropped but that police were still having to tell day-trippers to go home:
Our officers have spoken to people who are still coming into the area. We’ve stopped and spoken to day-trippers from the north-east and the north-west thinking it’s still okay to come up to the Lake District for the day – it isn’t.
People should exercise locally; they shouldn’t get into their car to go on day trips to the Lake District because that is against the government guidance.
He added:
It is of concern. The bit that concerns me is that people took the prime minister’s advice very seriously as soon as it was issued – I’m worried that the boredom and frustration factor comes into this.
I’m worried that people had decided to stay at home but now a week, 10 days in may bethinking they’ll just get in the car and go here or there.
Slattery said his force had only issued a “very small number” of fines – all for people who were “out without reasonable excuse and refused to return home” – and that enforcement was a “last resort”.
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The National Lottery has set up a £50m emergency fund for British heritage sites after almost 50% said they will not survive beyond six months if the coronavirus shutdown continues.
Grants of between £3,000 and £50,000 will be available to sites already funded by the organisation, primarily to train the workforce in digital skills to help them through the Covid-19 crisis.
A survey by the National Lottery Heritage Fund of more than 1,250 organisations in late March found 82% reported the shutdown was a high or moderate risk to their long-term viability. About 35% said their financial reserves would be depleted within four months, and 46% said they would not be able to survive more than six months.
It said priority will be given to sites where there is limited or no access to other sources of support, or where heritage is most at risk.
#COVID19 update: We are launching the Heritage Emergency Fund - a £50 million fund to support the heritage sector as an immediate response to the coronavirus outbreak: https://t.co/aRjhoXobQf
— National Lottery Heritage Fund (@HeritageFundUK) April 1, 2020
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The Labour MP and deputy leadership candidate Dawn Butler has shared that her uncle has died after contracting Covid-19 in hospital.
In a post on Twitter, the Brent Central MP urged the government to test everyone who works in hospitals “without delay”. She said:
My uncle had a fall, he didn’t have Covid-19. He caught it in hospital and has now sadly died from Covid-19.
Just a few weeks ago we buried his only son. We are devastated as a family but I’m also angry.
Government needs to test everyone who works in the hospitals without delay!
My uncle had a fall he didn't have COVID19. He caught it in hospital and has now sadly died from COVID19.
— (((Dawn Butler))) (@DawnButlerBrent) April 2, 2020
Just a few weeks ago we buried his only Son. We are devastated as a family but I'm also angry.
Government needs to Test everyone who works in the hospitals without delay!
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In a video shared on Facebook, Dr Anna Chiles, a partner at Stow Surgery in Gloucestershire, has shared her family’s experience of Covid-19 to raise awareness of how varied the symptoms can be for different people and why it remains paramount to stay at home.
Describing the variety of symptoms experienced in the family unit, she said:
A few of us had coughs. These varied from a dry cough, but also a wetter sounding cough.
My husband and I were both short of breath. We felt like it was like breathing at altitude, a little bit tight when we were breathing in. But the children didn’t seem to have any shortness of breath.
Only one of us had a fever and a couple of us had some aching, flu-like symptoms and a few of us also had a headache.
You can watch the full video here.
Updated
In case you missed it... here is a video from the prime minister where he stresses that testing is “how we will unlock the coronavirus puzzle”, as his government continues to face intense pressure over its policy.
Here's an update to bring you up to speed on some of the things that we are doing to protect our NHS.
— Boris Johnson #StayHomeSaveLives (@BorisJohnson) April 1, 2020
We will beat coronavirus together by staying at home, protecting our NHS and saving lives. #StayHomeSaveLives pic.twitter.com/FOYfvzlQPC
It came as Prof Paul Cosford, the emeritus medical director of Public Health England (PHE), who appeared on several programmes this morning, admitted that “everybody involved is frustrated” by the low number of tests being carried out.
He pointed to ongoing capacity issues and said the “core priority” until now has been testing hospital patients with suspected Covid-19.
PHE has come under fire over this policy on wider testing of the public with suspected Covid-19. It has said repeatedly that most adults who develop symptoms will fully recover and do not need to be tested, even as the World Health Organization (WHO) was urging countries to “test, test, test”.
Many scientists have disagreed with the PHE stance, saying it is only through widespread community testing that the UK will be able to track the virus and emerge from lockdown.
At the No 10 daily press briefing yesterday, Prof Yvonne Doyle, medical director of PHE, suggested to reporters the intention was to scale up this sort of testing:
In terms of mass testing, the testing strategy is to increase the amount of testing done not just in healthcare workers but in the population.
Updated
Single parents in Scotland have been stopped from shopping in some major supermarket chains after arriving with their children, as staff enforce strict physical distancing rules.
One Parent Families Scotland says that support workers have heard of a number of instances in Glasgow, Dundee and Ayrshire where single parents have been turned away from stores - usually if they have more than one child with them – or asked to leave their children outside while they do their shopping, with Tesco appearing to apply the new rules particularly strictly.
Satwat Rehman, director of One Parent Families Scotland told the Guardian:
This just requires a bit of common sense. If someone is coming along with their children, it’s usually because there’s nowhere else for those children to be. Parents don’t want to expose their children if they can help it, and most are terrified of becoming ill themselves because there’s no one else to look after their kids.
I can totally understand the need to get a balance with the new social distancing advice, but one in four families with dependent children in Scotland are headed by a single parent so there has to be a work around.
A spokesperson for Tesco insisted that there was no blanket policy banning children from stores, and that, while encouraging people to shop with no more than one other person in line with government guidance, staff were being asked to apply common sense in all circumstances.
Updated
Good morning. Following a week in self-isolation, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, returns to Westminster today and will unveil a new five-point plan for scaling up testing across the country, which the government calls its top priority. Hancock has recovered from a mild case of Covid-19 and will also front the daily news conference this afternoon.
His plan proposes to boost testing capacity by paying private firms to carry out swab testing, roll out antibody tests, conducting randomised sampling of the population and building up Britain’s long-term diagnostic capacity by working with pharmaceutical firms. However, the government’s ambition of testing 25,000 people a day may not be achieved until the end of this month, while antibody is still yet to begin because none of the nine different testing kits ordered have been approved for use yet. The Telegraph (paywall) has the story.
The government is absolutely lambasted across the front pages today, which includes a hammering from the usually doting Telegraph: “Questions but no answers” accusing ministers of being repeatedly unilluminating on even basic questions about how the UK’s testing regime is to be increased.
Absolutely brutal set of front pages #COVIDー19 #coronavirus - first the heavies. Even supportive media like @Telegraph piling in 1/2 pic.twitter.com/sM32vcFMKA
— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) April 1, 2020
And the tabs no better. Worst of all for the govt it doesn’t look like there are many quick fixes on testing/ventilators. 2/2 #coronavirus #COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/Jvu2acGKFD
— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) April 1, 2020
However, last night the deputy chief medical officer, Prof Jonathan Van Tam, maintained on ITV’s Peston that testing is ultimately a “side issue” when it comes to saving lives and maintaining physical distancing measures is king. ITV News has the full story. He said:
What matters is slowing the rate of new infections. And the only way you can slow the rate of new infections, irrespective of whether they’re tested or not — it’s a bit of a side issue to be truthful with you — what’s important is the social distancing, stopping people coming into contact, so that the rate of new cases slows.
On the evening when the Prime Minister talks up the importance of testing - Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Jonathan Van Tam, tells @AnushkaAsthana that when it comes to reducing deaths - it’s a “side issue”
— Peston (@itvpeston) April 1, 2020
Watch the full interview on @ITV or via @itvpeston at 22:45 #Peston pic.twitter.com/7ydcz7ILJ2
Elsewhere, the ballot in the Labour leadership contest (remember that?) closes at noon today. The winner – widely expected to be Keir Starmer – will be revealed on Saturday via video link.
We will be covering all UK coronavirus developments throughout the day. You can read all the latest Guardian coronavirus articles here, you can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here and here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news.
If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @lucy_campbell_.
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