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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow and Amy Walker

UK Covid-19 death toll reaches 578 after biggest recorded daily rise – as it happened

Evening summary

  • The UK experienced the largest daily increase in deaths from coronavirus. The total now stands at 578, up by 115 on the previous figure. The Department for Health and Social Care also confirmed that 11,658 people across the UK have tested positive for the virus.
  • A new self-employed income support scheme will allow those with average profits of £50,000 or less to benefit from up to £2,500 in support a month. The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, said the government would pay self-employed people a taxable grant based on their average monthly profits over the last three years, worth up to 80% of earnings. The scheme will come into effect in June, and cover a minimum of three months.
  • Downing Street announced a U-turn over the EU-wide ventilator procurement scheme. A spokesman for No 10 said the UK did not receive an invitation in time to join in the first effort to procure ventilators and other equipment “owing to an initial communication problem”.
  • UK aid spending on the fight against coronavirus has reached £544m, according to No 10. Much of the new funding, from its international aid budget, was announced today. It includes: £210m to the key international fund to find a coronavirus vaccine, £40m on developing affordable treatments including immunotherapies against the virus and £23m on developing easily manufactured test kits.
  • The Crown Prosecution Service said people “coronavirus coughing” at emergency workers could be imprisoned for up to two years. The statement followed reports that police officers, shop workers and others had been coughed at by people claiming to have the disease.
  • More sites across the country could be converted into makeshift coronavirus hospitals similar to the ExCel exhibition centre. During a Downing Street lobby briefing a government spokesperson did not rule out the report by Sky News that 10 sites had been identified.
  • New police powers to enforce the coronavirus lockdown will allow officers to use force to make people go back home if they are in breach of the emergency laws. According to the Home Office, police can “instruct” people to go home, leave an area or disperse, and may use “reasonable force” to return a person home in some circumstances.
  • Boris Johnson is hoping to get 750,000 people to sign up for the NHS volunteer responders scheme, the prime minister’s spokesman has said. About 560,000 members of the public have already expressed their interest.

Updated

Rishi Sunak's press conference – summary

Yesterday in the House of Commons Boris Johnson said he shared Ian Blackford’s desire to get “parity of support” for the self-employed with the employed in the coronavirus rescue package. The reference to parity was taken as implying that they could get 80% of earnings up to £2,500 a month, but because Johnson only talked of his “desire” to achieve this, no one could be sure. Today this is what Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, did announce. That was more generous than some people expected, although of course there is a catch.

Here are the main points.

  • Sunak said that the 95% of the self-employed would be able to get 80% of their average monthly profits over the last three years up to £2,500 a month under his scheme to help those who have lost work because of coronavirus. The people who are not covered are the self-employed who make more than £50,000 a year. Sunak said people in this group had average incomes of £200,000. He claimed his scheme was very generous by international standards. He ended his opening statement saying:

By any international standards, the package we’ve outlined today represents one of the most generous and comprehensive ways to support those in self-employment anywhere in the world.

I would conclude by saying this: to all those who are self-employed, who are rightly anxious and worried about the next few months, you haven’t been forgotten, we will not leave you behind and we are all in this together.

But the self-employed will have to wait until June until they get their money. And there is no help available for those who have only just become self-employed.

Labour reaction to the scheme has been mixed. This is from Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester

The Labour MP David Lammy is much more critical.

  • Sunak hinted that he could ask the self-employed to pay more in national insurance once the crisis is over. In his opening statement he said:

I must be honest and point out that in devising this scheme in response to many calls for support, it is now much harder to justify the inconsistent contributions between people of different employment statuses. If we all want to benefit equally from state support, we must all pay in equally in future.

Asked to clarify what he meant in the Q&A, he said:

Rather than be too specific right now about future tax policy, it’s just an observation that there’s currently an inconsistency in contributions between self-employed and employed.

And the actions taken today, which is very significant tens of billions of pounds of support for those who are self-employed treating them the same way as those who are employed, it does throw into light the question of consistency and whether that is fair to everybody going forward.

Rishi Sunak at his press conference.
Rishi Sunak at his press conference. Photograph: Pippa Fowles/10 Downing Street/AFP via Getty Images

Updated

The government’s text alert on Tuesday announcing the imposition of a lockdown was sent to more than 84m mobile devices, the Guardian has learned.

At BT alone, which serves 43m devices through the mobile networks it owns and operates, the network was sending out 1,000 alerts a second from 8am – but it wasn’t until 8.30pm that every single customer had received the alert.

Updated

UK death toll from coronavirus rises to 578, up 115 from previous total

The Department of Health says the coronavirus death toll has risen to 578, up by 115 on the previous figure.

But the department is changing the way it releases the figures so the death toll figure is a change from the figure at 9am yesterday to the figure at 5pm yesterday, not a change over 24 hours.

UPDATE: The department is changing the way it presents the figures. It explains how here.

Updated

The number of people who have died from coronavirus in UK hospitals has risen by 115 in a single day to 578, as of 5pm on Thursday. It is the biggest daily rise in deaths across the country since the outbreak began.

As of 9am this morning, 11,658 out of 104,866 people who have been tested for the virus were confirmed as positive cases.

Updated

Here is the Treasury press release with full details of Rishi Sunak’s package of help for the self-employed.

No 10 in U-turn over EU-wide ventilator procurement scheme

Just as the press conference was about to start, Downing Street announced what amounts to a U-turn over participating in the EU-wide effort to procure ventilators and other medical equipment. A Downing Street spokesman said:

Owing to an initial communication problem, the UK did not receive an invitation in time to join in four joint procurements in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

As the commission has confirmed, we are eligible to participate in joint procurements during the transition period, following our departure from the EU earlier this year.

As those four initial procurement schemes had already gone out to tender we were unable to take part in these, but we will consider participating in future procurement schemes on the basis of public health requirements at the time.

We are working round the clock with industry, the NHS, social care providers and the army to ensure the supply of PPE over the coming weeks and months and will give our NHS and the social care sector everything they need to tackle this outbreak.

According to one government source, the UK did not participate in the first procurement schemes launched by the EU because the emails sent to the UK inviting it to take part were somehow missed. The source claims this was nothing to do with the government making some point about Brexit.

Updated

Sunak ends saying he thinks this is a very generous package by international standards. And he ends with a message to the self-employed:

You have not been forgotten, you will not be left behind, we are all in this together.

I will post a summary of the press conference shortly.

Harries says the government may want to test a sample of the population, once an antibody test becomes available, to get a sense of how coronavirus has spread.

Harries says there may be “measures of lockdown” in the coming months.

But she says “flexing” the measures may be an option.

She says the whole country will want to get back to normal as soon as possible.

She says success means lessening the spike of the curve and putting it forward.

Updated

Q: Is this open to fraud? And do you accept people might try to cheat?

Sunak says he has taken the view that the perfect should not be the enemy of the good. He says checks will be carried out.

Q: Smaller companies are saying they cannot get access to your Bank of England loans because they do not have investment-grade rating. Will you help?

Sunak says he is aware of this issue. He says they are looking at means to construct a credit rating from information about firms’ relationships with their banks.

He says 80% of UK employment and 80% of UK turnover will be covered by the government’s loan schemes.

Q: Can you explain why the UK, unlike some other countries, gave up testing all people with symptoms?

Harries says the World Health Organization said “test, test, test”. But they are the World Health Organization. They have to advise countries with very different health systems. The UK has a very developed health system, she says.

She says initially the UK had some success with containment. But there comes a point in a pandemic where that is no longer appropriate, although she says “contact and trace” strategies still work in some contexts, such as in prisons and care homes. “Contact and trace” is still used there, she says.

Updated

Q: What are the self-employed meant to live on until June?

Sunak says he has looked hard at the quickest way to deliver this. The employment scheme covers 90% of the population. That will be up and running by April. This scheme uses the same system, so some of the work will have to be done later. He has also given some people another four weeks to file a tax return.

In June people will get three months’ worth of money in one go.

In the meantime, other support is available.

Q: Are you saying the self-employed will have to pay more tax?

Sunak says he is just making the point that, given that the self-employed are now being treated the same, it is hard to justify the tax system treating them differently.

Q: Are you worried about the health impact of people staying at home?

Harries says she is worried about that. Those told to shield at home have been given advice about their health.

But she says people now don’t have to travel to work. They may have more time for exercise, she says.

Updated

Q: What about people who do not have three years’ worth of accounts? They might just have entered the workforce recently.

Sunak says, for those without three years’ worth of accounts, the Treasury will look at what they do have. For those who do not have accounts, there is nothing they can do. He says they will have to go with the information they have.

For those how are very recently self-employed, it is not possible to operate a scheme like this, he says. He says there is too much fraud risk. But this will cover the vast, vast majority of people, he says.

Q: What is the estimated cost of the scheme? And how long will it run?

Sunak says this is equivalent to the scheme for the employed.

Q: After this is over, are you saying you will equalise the tax treatment of the employed and the self-employed?

Sunak says he is just making a point today that this intervention does make the case for consistency.

Q: Chris Whitty said yesterday the problem with testing was a global shortage of material. Why didn’t we order this months ago?

Harries says the UK “has ordered and we have planned ahead”. But every single country has ordered at the same time, she says.

She says this is not an issue of lack of forethought. It is about this being a brand new event, she says.

Updated

Q: People won’t get this money until June. You say they can get universal credit, but they do not get money for the first five weeks. Can you guarantee that if people apply for UC, they will get an advance payment?

Sunak says the government has made UC more generous.

And he says the DWP does pay advance payments, almost immediately, certainly within days.

Councils also have money to help families with council tax bills, he says.

At the press conference Jenny Harries, the chief medical officer for England, says it is too early to predict when the epidemic will peak.

She says “we must not take our foot off the pedal”.

Updated

The Treasury has posted details of the scheme in a Twitter thread starting here.

Sunak says he is treating the self-employed like the employed.

But in return, everyone must pay in, he says.

He is implying that he will reform the tax system so that the self-employed lose some of their tax advantages.

Sunak says self-employed could benefit from help worth up to £2,500 per month

Sunak says he knows many self-employed people are deeply anxious. They are not covered by the employment support packaged announced on Friday last week.

He says he is announcing a new self-employed income support scheme.

The government will pay self-employed people a taxable grant based on their previous earnings over the last three years, worth up to 80% of earnings, and capped at £2,500 a month.

It will run for a minimum of three months, he says.

He says that is equivalent to the support available to the employed.

He says this will be open to anyone with average profits of £50,000 or less.

It will be open to people who make the majority of their income from self-employment.

And, to avoid fraud, it will only be open to people who are already self-employed and have a tax return from 2019.

He says 95% of the self-employed will be covered.

It will be available by June.

And anyone who missed the deadline for their tax return will get an extra four weeks, he says.

Updated

First Sunak covers other coronavirus developments.

The government is supporting the NHS, he says. It is vital people stay at home to save lives.

He says he has put forward a comprehensive economic plan to save jobs. It is already having an impact. Big employers have said they will protect jobs. This evening the Treasury will publish more details of how that scheme works.

Rishi Sunak announces support for self-employed

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, is holding his press conference now. He says he is announcing support for the self-employed.

A giant screen over the A57 in Manchester today urging people to stay at home.
A giant screen over the A57 in Manchester today urging people to stay at home. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

According to the Times’s Chris Smyth, we may not get a UK figure for coronavirus deaths today.

Updated

People observing social distancing measures as they queue outside an Iceland store in London.
People observing social distancing measures as they queue outside an Iceland store in London. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

Updated

UK aid spending on fight against coronavirus reaches £544m

The UK is now spending £544m of its international aid money on the fight against coronavirus, according to No 10. Most of that is new funding announced today.

There have been four announcements today.

  • £210m on developing a vaccine, with the funding to go through the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. (See 4pm.)
  • £40m on developing affordable treatments, with the funding going through the Therapeutic Accelerator, a fund for the rapid development of anti-retrovirals or immunotherapies against coronavirus which is already backed by the UK-based Wellcome Trust, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Mastercard.
  • £23m on developing easily manufactured test kits, with the funding going through the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, a partnership between academic organisations and pharmaceutical companies.
  • £50m on a joint campaign with Unilever to promote the importance of hand washing.

These announcements follow other commitments already made, which are:

  • £71m on researching vaccines and testing kits.
  • Up to £150m for the International Monetary Fund to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on the world’s most vulnerable countries.

Updated

Boris Johnson taking part in the video-conference G20 summit earlier today.
Boris Johnson taking part in the video-conference G20 summit earlier today. Photograph: Andrew Parsons/10 Downing Street/AFP via Getty Images

The first rescue flight for British travellers stranded abroad has landed in Heathrow with 171 passengers including up to 20 vulnerable EU citizens.

The government is seeking permission for three more flights, the first one expected this weekend, to help repatriate up to 1,000 Britons it believes are abroad.

It is also working with the authorities to try and resolve the situation that has arisen in a hostel in the Andean city of Cusco, the gateway to Machu Picchu, where 140 guests including nine Britons and one Irish national, have been quarantined for at least a month because two guests have caught coronavirus.

It is understood there are currently around 12,000 EU nationals in the country which is under one of the world’s strictest lockdowns with no travel permitted.

The Foreign Office has also doubled the number of staff at the call centre in Malaga, Spain through which 90% of the calls to embassies are routed. It will be doubling numbers again in the coming days.

Sources say there are rigorous efforts under way to get six elderly Britons out of Kerala and active work to get others home from abroad, but efforts are hampered by lockdowns.

Updated

Some of the 4,000 beds at the new emergency NHS Nightingale hospital being set up at the ExCeL centre in Docklands, London, will be equipped with ventilators, it has emerged. Avensys, a firm that provides medical equipment and trains engineers in how to use it, has told the Guardian it has been asked to put together a training programme for engineers at the Nightingale so they can repair the ventilators there. Dan Sullivan from Avensys said:

We’ve been asked to provide training for engineers at the Nightingale to get them up to speed on ventilator maintenance. Which is a pretty big deal. You’ve got people who know how to fix a syringe pump but maybe don’t know how to fix a ventilator. The training will be on site. It will cover defibrillation, ventilation, monitoring of equipment.

A tank of liquid oxygen being installed at the ExCeL London exhibition centre in London, where a new emergency hospital, NHS Nightingale, is being set up.
A tank of liquid oxygen being installed at the ExCeL London exhibition centre in London, where a new emergency hospital, NHS Nightingale, is being set up. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images

Updated

Around 100 animals face an indefinite stay at Battersea Cats and Dogs Home after the shelter shut its doors to the public during the coronavirus pandemic.

Staff across the home’s sites in London, Berkshire and Kent had launched a campaign to find foster homes for around 130 animals in the run-up to the lockdown.

Because re-homing has now been suspended, many animals will be stuck in the shelter’s kennels and cattery pens for the foreseeable.

Rob Young, its head of centre operations, told PA news agency: “They’re receiving the same, if not better, care and attention than they normally would do.

“We have as few staff on site as we possibly can but we do have enough to make sure their needs are met.

“All the dogs are taken out at least twice a day, the cats are well looked after and given lots of cuddles.”

UK contributes £210m to international effort to find coronavirus vaccine

Boris Johnson has called on governments around the world to work together to create a vaccine as quickly as possible and make it available to anyone who needs it.

Speaking after a virtual summit of G20 leaders, Johnson said that a race to find a vaccine for coronavirus will be boosted by £210m of new British aid funding.

The UK, like many other states, is channelling funding to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) which is supporting the development of vaccines. It said earlier this month that it needed $2bn to do so.

The new British funding is the largest single contribution by any country to the key international fund to find a coronavirus vaccine, according to the UK government.

Johnson said in a statement:

While our brilliant doctors and nurses fight coronavirus at home, this record British funding will help to find a vaccine for the entire world. UK medics and researchers are at the forefront of this pioneering work.

My call to every G20 country and to governments around the world is to step up and help us defeat this virus.

Today’s video call between G20 leaders also discussed international efforts to protect the global economy from the long-term effects of the virus.

A further £40m of new British funding will meanwhile go towards to developing affordable treatments for coronavirus patients and will support the Therapeutic Accelerator, a fund for the rapid development of anti-retrovirals or immunotherapies against coronavirus.

The fund is already backed by the UK-based Wellcome Trust, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Mastercard.

Boris Johnson and other G20 leaders taking part in a G20 video-conference summit. Johnson and others are on the screen. Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, who is seen from behind, is watching. Handout photo from Brazilian presidency.
Boris Johnson and other G20 leaders taking part in a G20 video-conference summit. Johnson and others are on the screen. Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, who is seen from behind, is watching. Handout photo from Brazilian presidency. Photograph: Reuters

Police in west and mid Wales have begun stop checking drivers to check that only those who need to travel do so and are also patrolling public spaces and tourist hot spots.

Dyfed-Powys roads policing inspector Andy Williams said:

We appreciate that the situation over the last week has changed rapidly but it is vital that people understand what we are doing and why.

Our main priority remains the same – keeping everyone safe. But we are calling on people across the force to help us do that.

More people on the roads means a greater likelihood of vehicles breaking down or being involved in an accident, which puts extra strain on the emergency services.

These extra interactions also increase the chances of the virus spreading and putting more people’s lives in danger.”

On Wednesday North Wales police sent a family home after they were caught heading for a day out at the beach.

In a Facebook post, the force’s Conwy coastal unit said: “Officers are out patrolling and it is pleasing to see that most people are sticking to the government advice.

“But Inspector Daf Curry and PCSO Sara Owen did speak to a family of five who’d travelled from Merseyside to Llanfairfechan for a day at the seaside, to advise them this was not essential travel and to go home.”

The economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic is set to plunge the UK into a deeper recession than that of the 2008 financial crisis, experts have warned.

As activity grinds to a halt, economists are predicting declines in gross domestic product (GDP) that would dwarf the 6% decline seen during the last recession.

The most recent survey data from the main sectors of the economy was so alarming, it prompted experts to warn of a recession on a scale “not seen in modern history”.

Samuel Tombs, at Pantheon Macroeconomics, predicted a shortfall in GDP between 15% and 20% during the lockdown.

He believed output would shrink by around 1.5% in the first quarter of 2020, but plummet by 13% in the following three months. He said:

In normal recessions, many businesses report relatively small incremental declines in output.

By contrast, many firms now likely are reporting huge declines in activity.

The Bank of England has stressed the impact is likely to be temporary with economic activity rebounding strongly as social distancing measures are lifted.

This morning John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, called for employers who were forcing people to go to work unnecessarily to be named and shamed. See 9.11am. His Labour colleague, Louise Haigh, the shadow Home Office minister, has had a go herself, in a Twitter thread starting here.

Northern Ireland’s Public Health Agency have confirmed 32 new positive cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of recorded cases to 241.

The number of patients who have died also rose by three to 10 on Thursday.

So far, 3,716 people have been tested for coronavirus in the region.

Belfast has the highest number of confirmed cases in Northern Ireland, at a total of 75.

Updated

The government has published new powers for police to enforce the coronavirus lockdown. They will allow officers to use force to make people go back home if they are out in breach of the emergency laws.

According to the Home Office, police can “instruct” people to go home, leave an area or disperse.

The government says the new law makes parents ensure their children obey the lockdown, while police can issue a fixed penalty which is £30 if paid within 14 days, then rising to £60.

Second-time offenders face a fine of £120. Refusal to pay will see prosecutions in magistrates courts, where unlimited fines can be imposed.

A key section of the new law says that the police may use “reasonable force” to return a person home, although which physical measures may be used is not spelled out.

The Home Office said: “If an individual continues to refuse to comply, they will be acting unlawfully, and the police may arrest them where deemed proportionate and necessary.

“However, in the first instance the police will always apply their common sense and discretion.”

In the government press release, the home secretary, Priti Patel, said:

The prime minister has been clear on what we need to do: stay at home to protect our NHS and save lives.

All our frontline services really are the best of us and are doing an incredible job to stop this terrible virus from spreading.

That’s why I’m giving the police these new enforcement powers, to protect the public and keep people safe.

Updated

Emergency services faced a test of their ability to cope against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic as firefighters fought to contain a major blaze at a flat above a supermarket in London, Ben Quinn reports. His full story is here.

Greater Manchester police have confirmed that members of the public are allowed to travel to and from allotments as part of their daily exercise set out by the government.

The clarification comes after a BBC Radio Manchester listener asked the chief constable, Ian Hopkins, if they could still tend to theirs.

Residents working on their allotments in Hertford on Thursday, during the coronavirus lockdown.
Residents working on their allotments in Hertford on Thursday, during the coronavirus lockdown. Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Reuters

Updated

Almost half of all childminders and early years care providers in England and Wales have closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a poll.

Many have shut their doors because they are not needed while parents work from home, as well as because their staff are sick or self-isolating.

The Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (Pacey), the charity which carried out the survey, said it feared the number of providers would “reduce drastically” unless finanical support was made available soon.

Pacey’s chief executive, Liz Bayram, said:

Before the coronavirus, we had a high-quality childcare and early years sector - one that struggled with government underfunding but was vibrant and with a wide variety of choice of provision for families.

“We can return to that in the future but only if government support for childcare businesses, including registered childminders, is urgently put in place and, rapidly following on from this, government works with the sector to define the support and advice all childcare providers will need to recover from this disaster and build up their childcare services once more.”

The poll of around 6,200 childminders, nurseries, and other early years workers, found that 46% were currently closed, while 54% were only partially open.

A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting early years providers at this time – including by confirming that we will continue to fund free entitlements even if children are not attending, a business rate holiday for private providers, and the coronavirus job retention scheme to support workers.”

Updated

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, has also criticised the government’s decision not to join the EU-wide procurement effort for ventilators and other medical equipment. (See 2.33pm.) He said Labour raised this with ministers in the Commons, but did not get a satisfactory explanation. He went on:

With widespread concerns about our ventilator capacity and the urgent need to scale-up that capacity, we should be co-operating through international schemes to ensure we get these desperately needed pieces of kit.

Updated

The ExCel centre in London, where the MoD is involved in establishing an emergency, temporary hospital.
The ExCeL centre in London, where the MoD is involved in establishing an emergency, temporary hospital. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Updated

Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, has joined those expressing support for the Clap for our Carers event planned for 8pm tonight. (See 11.28am.) In a statement provided to LBC, he said:

The NHS expresses everything that is best in what has made this country what it is. It expresses our Christian values and hopes. It expresses the values of people of faith and no faith. It is a place of hope and giving. Thank you, NHS. Let us applaud the NHS.

At the Downing Street lobby briefing this morning the prime minister’s spokesman indicated that Boris Johnson was backing the initiative. (See 12.37pm.) Jeremy Corbyn does too, and he has given this statement to LBC.

I applaud the NHS, I clap for the NHS, I love the NHS. Well done everyone who works for the National Health Service and our care services and all the GP practices and everywhere else. You’re doing a fantastic job and I think the whole country has begun to realise how much we rely on you and on each other to get through this particular crisis. Thanks a lot and well done.

Sir Ed Davey, the acting Lib Dem leader, has criticised the government for refusing to take part in in the EU’s joint procurement scheme for ventilators and other NHS equipment. (See 12.37pm.) Davey said:

There is no reasonable justification for Boris Johnson’s refusal to participate in the EU’s procurement of ventilators. Surely we should be trying every possible means to get people seriously ill with coronavirus the ventilators they need ...

Of course we want factories in the UK manufacturing ventilators and let’s source them from abroad where we can, but it looks deeply irresponsible not to work with our European neighbours on this too.

A notice today stating that Hive Beach car park is closed at Burton Bradstock in Dorset.
A notice today stating that Hive Beach car park is closed at Burton Bradstock in Dorset. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

Deaths from coronavirus in Wales rise by six to 28

There have been 113 new coronavirus cases in Wales and six new deaths, bringing the total number of deaths in Wales to 28, Public Health Wales has said in a statement.

A care home in Hove where around three-quarters of the residents have symptoms of Covid-19 has been refused protective equipment by the government.

It was only after the local MP intervened that the prime minister apparently promised to distribute protective equipment for all the care home staff by tomorrow. Peter Kyle, the Labour MP for Hove, said he will “be watching the situation and ensure this materialises”.

About three-quarters of residents and seven members of staff at Oaklands nursing home, in Hove, East Sussex, are reportedly displaying symptoms of Covid-19, with one resident testing positive yesterday.

Despite the symptoms first appearing 15 days ago, the government has so far failed to issue the home the proper protective equipment it has asked for.

The local newspaper, the Argus, reported that three residents were tested on Saturday. One tested positive, another negative and the last result has yet to be returned.

Kyle told the Argus:

I’m so upset for the families and staff that the worst possible result has come in as regards this resident who has tested positive; it’s an incredibly worrying time and I’m hoping for the very best recovery.

This has now highlighted the urgent need for more testing and quicker testing. A 10-day wait to be tested is not acceptable and I hope lessons can be learned, and learned quickly.

I also spoke directly to the prime minister and asked for protective equipment for key workers like those in the care home. He promised me this would happen by Friday so I will be watching the situation and ensuring this materialises.

Updated

Our North of England editor Helen Pidd has noted that Derbyshire Police are using drone surveillance to spot those flouting essential travel rules under the coronavirus lockdown.

Updated

The NHS nurse who posted a tearful video of herself outside a supermarket with empty shelves after she was unable to buy food, has developed coronavirus symptoms and is self-isolating.

Dawn Billbrough’s emotional plea for people to stop panic buying went viral last week, and has now been shared over 28,000 times on Facebook.

On Monday she posted another video to say she had woken up with coronavirus symptoms so had decided to stay off work.

“My chest has been quite tight, which is unusual because I don’t have any problems with my chest usually, I’ve got a really bad headache, I just feel a bit nauseous, so I’ve contacted work to say I won’t be in and I will be self-isolating,” said Billbrough, a critical care nurse in York. “I’m just feeling a little apprehensive right now.”


Speaking on Good Morning Britain this morning she said doing stuff around the house makes her breathless, and she has persistent nausea and headaches.

“I do believe that I have Covid, but obviously I haven’t been tested so it’s hard to confirm,” she said.

She went on to say: “The cases are beginning to get more and more each day.

“My colleagues, my friends, we’re all quite worried that we don’t think people in the United Kingdom are taking this seriously.

“People are going to die. You need to stay indoors, you need to protect the NHS and you need to save lives.”

Updated

Productions by the National Theatre are heading to YouTube after the venue was forced to close.

One Man, Two Guvnors, with James Corden, will be the first play to be broadcast on the streaming site for free.

The theatre said it “is facing a devastating impact from coronavirus” and appealed for donations.

Other screenings will include stage adaptions of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, and Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night featuring Tamsin Greig.

The deserted National Theatre building on the South Bank, London, during the coronavirus outbreak.
The deserted National Theatre building on the South Bank, London, during the coronavirus outbreak. Photograph: Vianney Le Caer/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

'Coronavirus coughing' at emergency workers could lead to two years in jail, says CPS

The Crown Prosecution Service has put out a statement today saying that anyone using “coronavirus coughs” to threaten emergency workers could face serious criminal charges. It follows reports that police officers, shop workers and others have been coughed at by people claiming to have the disease.

The CPS says that using coughing in this way as a threat could lead to someone being charged with common assault. And it says that assaults specifically against emergency workers are punishable by up to two years in prison.

Max Hill, the director of public prosecutions, said:

Emergency workers are more essential than ever as society comes together to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

I am therefore appalled by reports of police officers and other frontline workers being deliberately coughed at by people claiming to have Covid-19.

Let me be very clear: this is a crime and needs to stop. The CPS stands behind emergency and essential workers and will not hesitate to prosecute anybody who threatens them as they go about their vital duties.

Max Hill QC.
Max Hill QC. Photograph: Home Office/PA

Updated

Scotland: 175 new cases and three further deaths

At her daily briefing, Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that as of 9am there are a further 175 cases of coronavirus in Scotland, taking the total to 894 positive tests, and a further three deaths, taking that total to 25.

Setting out the enforcement measures that stem from the passing of the Covid-19 legislation, which was given legislative consent in Holyrood on Tuesday, Sturgeon said that Police Scotland could now direct people to return home if they were not complying with the guidance on public gatherings, and also use prohibition notices and on-the-spot fines. The details of these will be set out later today.

She said that the measures, “which would have been unimaginable a few weeks ago”, were essential but that the police would be taking a “soft” approach to enforcement.

As with elsewhere in the country, medical staff have been expressing concern about supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE). The health minister Jeane Freeman says that 1.5m masks that had an expiry date of June 2019 have now been retested and made available today, and that she is “taking every step we can with orders in the pipeline”.

Dr Catherine Calderwood, Scotland’s chief medical officer, said that there had been discussion about possible sites for field hospitals to cope with increasing numbers of patients, but that the key was to expand capacity in existing intensive care units.

Calderwood says the numbers announced are a very significant underestimate, and that she believes that there could be 40,000-50,000 people in Scotland who are infected, many of whom don’t yet know they are infected.

Updated

Covid-19 deaths

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested after a doctor was robbed on his way to hospital last night.

The victim was forced to withdraw a “two-figure” sum from a cash machine after being approached by two people on foot and one on a bicycle in Harlow, Essex.

Police said the robbery, which began at around 9.25pm in Market Square, was one of three incidents in the town within an hour last night which have been linked.

Updated

Sturgeon says 1.5m masks past expiry date now in use in Scotland after tests showed they still work

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, is currently holding her daily coronavirus briefing. Here are some of her main points.

The National Education Union, which represents almost half a million teachers and education workers, has called for greater support for supply teachers who play a vital role in schools.

Commenting before the chancellor’s briefing on support for self-employed workers during the Covid-19 crisis, Mary Bousted, NEU joint general secretary, said: “In these unsettling times it is imperative that the government gives support to those who need it. Sadly, their response to the plight of self-employed workers in recent days has been far from adequate.

“There is currently a lack of clarity in existing guidance about whether the coronavirus job retention scheme applies to supply staff. Rishi Sunak has previously stated that all workers employed via PAYE are eligible for 80% cover up to a cap of £2,500 per month, but we believe this should be extended to the self-employed. The chancellor must be explicit on this point.

“Supply teachers, agency teaching assistants and others working in the education sector must have proper financial stability, on a genuine like-for-like with their PAYE counterparts.”

Updated

Downing Street lobby briefing - Summary

Here are the main points from today’s Downing Street lobby briefing.

  • Boris Johnson is now hoping to get 750,000 people to sign up for the NHS volunteer responders scheme, the prime minister’s spokesman revealed. (See 11.54am.)
  • Banks have received a formal warning from the government not to profiteer from the coronavirus crisis, the spokesman said. Under the business interruption loan scheme announced by the Treasury last week the government was covering the first 12 months of interest costs, he said. But banks also needed to play their part. They should be ensuring that the benefits of the scheme were passed through to businesses and consumers. He said the chancellor, the governor of the Bank of England and the head of the Financial Conduct Authority wrote to the major banks yesterday to emphasise this point. He went on:

The Bank of England and the FSA will be monitoring the situation closely and will be in regular contact to discuss developments.

The letter has been prompted by concerns that banks are charging excessive rates of interest.

  • The spokesman did not rule out reports that the government is planning to set up more emergency hospitals around the UK like the one being established in the ExCeL centre in London. According to Sky News, around 10 more sites have been identified for these hospitals. Asked about these reports, the spokesman said:

NHS England is actively preparing for a number of scenarios and is working with clinicians and teams of military planners to support the health service around the country.

  • The spokesman said that the ExCeL hospital, NHS Nightingale, would have 500 beds available next week. Eventually it is due to have 4,000 beds available.
  • The spokesman defended the government’s decision to commit to buying 3.5m antibody tests even though their reliability is not yet proven. Asked to justify this, he said:

What I stress is, if we are able to find an antibody test that works, that could be a game changer. For that reason, you will understand why the government is doing everything it can to get a test that works.

It is understood that the 3.5m tests do not all come from the same supplier.

  • The spokesman said that Dyson would only be paid for the 10,000 ventilators ordered by the government (see 9.25am) if they passed the required regulatory tests. He said that there had been an “overwhelming response” from firms offering to make ventilators and that the government was now testing “proof of concept” with a number of suppliers. He went on:

New orders are all dependent on machines passing regulatory tests.

  • The spokesman dismissed suggestions that it was hard to understand why the government was not participating in the EU-wide procurement scheme for ventilators. Asked why the government was not doing this, he replied: “We are no longer members of the EU.” In fact, because the UK is in the post-Brexit transition period, the UK would have been able to participate. When it was put to him that people would find it hard to understand this decision, particularly in the light of the fact that the PM has called for international cooperation in the fight against coronavirus, the spokesman said: “I’m not sure that it is.” He also stressed that the UK was making its own efforts to procure ventilators. He said:

You can see the efforts that we are making to secure ventilators ... We are working hard to ensure that we get extra ventilators into the NHS as far as possible.

  • The spokesman confirmed that the way UK coronavirus deaths are recorded and made public is changing (see 11.07am), but he was unable to give details of how. He said Public Health England was moving to a different reporting time. Yesterday was “a crossover day” in the way they were recording the numbers, he said. But he was unable to explain what would change.
  • The spokesman said that workers worried that they would not be able to comply with the two-metre rule at work, if they were not working from home, should raise their concerns with their employer. And he said the government was also urging bosses to listen to the concerns of their staff.
  • The spokesman confirmed that the lockdown measures could be extended. He said:

We have always said if there were further steps that need to be taken, we are not going to rule anything out.

  • The spokesman insisted that the government was still committed to doing 10,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of this week. On Wednesday there were 6,643, he said, up from 6,491 on Tuesday and 5,605 on Monday. On personal protective equipment, he said that more than 15m face masks had been delivered to the frontline in the last two days, as well as 24.6m gloves and 1.9m eye protectors yesterday.
  • The spokesman said Johnson’s call would take place at 12pm, and was scheduled to last for 90 minutes. Saudi Arabia would be chairing it, he said. He said Johnson thought international cooperation was essential. An announcement might be coming after the call.
  • The spokesman was unable to say whether Johnson had any plans to work from Chequers during the Easter recess. For now he would be working from No 10, the spokesman said. In normal circumstances the PM does go to Chequers at Easter. But, with the government advising people not to travel to their second homes, such a move might look hypocritical.
  • The spokesman hinted that the PM might take part in the Clap for our Carers event planned for 8pm tonight. (See 11.28am.) Asked whether he would, the spokesman said:

The PM will take every opportunity that is available to express his support for the NHS.

  • The spokesman confirmed that Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, would hold this afternoon’s press conference. Johnson is not due to attend.
  • The spokesman said that the government’s daily press conferences would continue during the parliamentary recess.
10 Downing Street.
10 Downing Street. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Updated

The Isle of Wight festival is the latest annual event to have been cancelled due to concerns about the spread of Covid-19.

The festival was scheduled to take place between 11 and 14 June in Newport, with performances expected from Lionel Richie, Lewis Capaldi, Duran Duran and the Chemical Brothers.

Updated

Childline has given more than 900 counselling sessions to children worried about coronavirus, with the majority taking place over the last week.

Almost two thirds – 597 – of sessions relating to the Covid-19 outbreak took place between March 16 and March 22, as school closures were announced.

Of these remote sessions, the service said more than 50 were with children whhose suicidal thoughts had been exacerbated by fears over the virus.

The government has given Childline staff and volunteers key worker status so they can continue to keep the service running throughout the outbreak.

The price farmers are getting for selling lamb has collapsed due to the coronavirus shutdown, according to the chief executive of the National Sheep Association.

Phil Stocker said:

It is the number one priority that the health of society is protected at this time. However, the result is proving highly damaging for many businesses, and industries, and the sheep farming sector is now amongst these.

The trade collapsed at the start of this week with prices down by £1 per kg liveweight – on a 45kg lamb that’s between £40 and £50 a head less, on a value that was maybe just over the £100 mark. The main underlying reason is the closure of the restaurant and catering trade, both here and in the EU.


Half of UK food normally goes to out-of-home eating – restaurants, bars and canteens – with the other half sold to shoppers. Businesses are struggling to repackage trade products into retail products.
“You have just pushed all of that [catering trade] into retail,” said Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers Union on Tuesday. “All of those supply chains, we absolutely have to make sure they are maintained and they are diverted into retail. It is critical this happens this week.”

Updated

Cyclists ride past graffiti reading ‘good luck and stay safe’ underneath Waterloo Bridge in Westminster, London, during the UK lockdown on Thursday.
Cyclists ride past graffiti reading ‘good luck and stay safe’ underneath Waterloo Bridge in Westminster, London, during the UK lockdown on Thursday. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA

Pest control technicians have warned of potential rat infestations due to the stockpiling and hoarding of food during the Covid-19 outbreak.

The National Pest Technicians Association (NPTA) said people buying huge quantities of perishable goods coupled with rubbish piling up due to missed bin collections could lead to the problem.

John Hope, the NPTA’s technical manager, appealed to the public to be more vigilant than usual to combat the risks posed by current circumstances.

He said “good housekeeping” was vital to combat the threat of pests such as rats, cockroaches, and houseflies. Hope told the PA news agency:

Move any rubbish to an outside bin as soon as possible and try and ensure that this is tightly sealed.

“Inspect your home or office for cracks or holes in walls, unfilled voids around pipework etc, and remember that mice can squeeze through gaps as small as 5mm. If you find any, fill or seal them as soon as possible.

“Inspect dried food packages for pest signs or activity before use, particularly where excess food is stored.”

North Yorkshire Police have said they will use checkpoints to stop vehicles and ask drivers if their journey is essential during the lockdown.

Officers will ask motorists where they are going and why, and remind them of the message to stay at home.

The force’s assistant chief constable, Mike Walker, said:

The new and significant restrictions announced by the prime minister on Monday evening spell out very clearly what each and every one of us must do to save lives. The message is clear and the warning stark. Stay at home, save lives.

“These are the lives of the people we know and love. Our partners, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, grandparents.”

Checkpoints will be not be signposted and could appear anywhere at any time, the force added.

Updated

Johnson now sets target for 750,000 people to sign up for NHS volunteer responders scheme

The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished. Here are two of the top lines.

  • Boris Johnson is now hoping to get 750,000 people to sign up for the NHS volunteer responders scheme. Some 560,000 people have expressed an interest already, the prime minister’s spokesman said. He went on:

If we can reach 750,000, that would be fantastic.

When Matt Hancock, the health secretary, announced the scheme on Tuesday, his target was to get 25,000 people to sign up.

  • Banks have received a formal warning from the government not to profiteer from the coronavirus crisis, No 10 revealed. The spokesman said that a letter has been sent to the banks from the chancellor, the governor of the Bank of England and the head of the Financial Conduct Authority saying that they will be monitored to ensure that benefits of the cheap loans being made available by the government do get passed on to businesses. The letter has been prompted by concerns that banks are charging excessive rates of interest.

I will post a full summary of the briefing soon.

Updated

Shoppers queue outside an Aldi store in Peterborough on Thursday amid new social distancing measures.
Shoppers queue outside an Aldi store in Peterborough on Thursday amid new social distancing measures. Photograph: Terry Harris/REX/Shutterstock

More than 1,000 people have contacted MPs to raise concerns about being told to continue travelling into work despite the government’s plea for them to stay at home.

Office and call centre workers, TV engineers, and estate agents are among the workers who have replied to an appeal for information by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committee (BEIS).

Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves, who chairs the committee said:

“From the evidence we’ve received it’s clear that many businesses are still not doing the right thing. This must change now. This is a health emergency - it cannot be business as usual.

“Workplaces, even those deemed essential, should be doing all they can to ensure that their workers are able to work from home or, if they do have to attend work, that they can undertake social distancing.

While we await confirmation of the government’s plan to pay the self-employed whose incomes have collapsed during the virus outbreak, the Royal Society of Arts has run the numbers and thinks the chancellor’s widely trailed strategy is not as effective as it could be.

Rishi Sunak, who has said working out a solution for the self-employed has been “extremely complicated”, is expected to offer the self-employed payments equivalent to 80% of their earnings over the last three years up to £30k. But the RSA thinks a temporary basic income of £1,500 initially to help manage immediate cashflow, followed by a weekly payment of £100 per week for three months would leave more people better off. It says:

For people earning £17,000 – the average earnings for a self-employed person, according to the ONS – they would be better off under the scheme. This would therefore cover people in vulnerable roles like Deliveroo riders and Uber drivers. For people earning more than £17,000, the benefits of this proposal compared to the government programme would taper off progressively.

Anthony Painter, the thinktank’s chief research officer, added:

Our worry is that basing grants on 80% of average earnings over three years, or even one, will throw up too many anomalies given the changeable nature of year-to-year earnings of this segment of the workforce, leaving some with very low incomes short. It may also prove to be too slow and bureaucratic. It will also mean that some who are fit and healthy to work would be discouraged from doing so.

Updated

Members of the public are being urged to take part in a national round of applause for NHS employees at 8pm this evening.

The Clap for our Carers campaign is trying to get as many people as possible to take part in the event from their gardens, front doors, balconies and windows to show their appreciation and support for health workers.

A group of youths spat in the face of an RSPCA officer and shouted “have corona bitch”, as she tried to rescue a swan, the animal charity have said.

Leanne Honess-Heather was helping the bird, which had become tangled in a fishing line, when five teenagers – aged around 16 – approached her close to Rush Lyvars Fishing Lake in Hedon, Hull.

Honess-Heather said she asked them to stand back before the “really upsetting” incident occurred.

“They seemed to take offence to this, which led to two of the group spitting directly into my face, going in my mouth and eyes, as they yelled ‘have corona bitch’ at me,” she said.

“Like many other frontline services, most of my team are still out during this crisis, trying our best to continue to do our job, tending to, collecting and rescuing injured animals.”

The swan, which had no long-term injuries after being cut free from the line, was released after being checked over by a vet.

The RSPCA is providing an emergency-only service to animals during the coronavirus pandemic.

Updated

The NHS in Wales has issued around 3.5m extra pieces of PPE (personal protective equipment) to staff from its pandemic supplies, the chief executive of NHS Wales, Dr Andrew Goodall, said. This includes face-masks, gloves and clothing.

Goodall told a press conference in Cardiff this had gone to hospitals, GP surgeries and social care workers.

The Welsh chief medical officer, Dr Frank Atherton, said PPE was a “scarce resource” and added: “We can’t afford to misuse it.”

Atherton said that from tomorrow 800 people a day in Wales would be tested for Covid-19. This would increase to 1,100 by next week and from 2,000-3,000 by the end of April.

Atherton also restated that most people would get the virus. “The estimates were and still are that 80% of us will get the infection at some point,” he said.

Updated

The mayor of London’s press office has said early-morning tube use was down by another 13% on Thursday compared with yesterday, while early-morning bus usage in the capital was down by a further 8%.

It added that compared with this time last year, tube passengers were down by a whopping 92%.

Deserted Bond Street underground station in central London on Wednesday.
Deserted Bond Street underground station in central London on Wednesday. Photograph: Vianney Le Caer/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

In the comments some readers have been asking about the fact that the government released the UK coronavirus death figures yesterday much later than usual, and that the increase on the previous day (41) was much lower than the previous day’s increase (87).

According to Newsnight’s Nicholas Watt, that is because the government is changing the way it is compiling the figures.

The Royal Manchester children’s hospital is asking for donations of food, drink and toiletries for its workforce during the coronavirus outbreak.

Requested donations from the hospital’s charity include tea, coffee, snacks, deodorant and toothpaste for those who may have to sleep over.

The supplies will go to those working around the clock at the children’s hospital, as well as Manchester Royal Infirmary, Wythenshawe hospital and Trafford general hospital.

A statement posted on the charity’s website said: “We are calling on businesses across our region to donate specific items to support the wellbeing of our committed NHS workforce during these unprecedented times.

“Royal Manchester children’s hospital is part of Manchester University NHS foundation trust. Our trust is one of the largest in the country, with more than 20,000 staff working across nine hospitals and community services across the City of Manchester and Trafford. We are all working together to make sure our extended hospital family can continue to care for yours.”

They asked those who could donate items to contact the charity on 0161 276 4522 or charity.office@mft.nhs.uk.

Updated

Self-employed must get help 'quickly' from today's support package, says McDonnell

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, is saying that the Treasury employment support package for the self-employed being announced by the government this afternoon must include measures that can be delivered quickly. In a statement he said:

Many self-employed people have been hit hard in the pocket by the coronavirus crisis and have been calling for proper protection of their incomes by the government ... After days of delay and uncertainty the government must announce a package today that can be delivered quickly, giving the self-employed the same level of security as other workers.

As McDonnell knows, the Treasury is unlikely to be able to meet this condition. In the Commons on Tuesday, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, said that although he planned to announce a scheme for the self-employed this week, implementing it would take longer because it might require a new system to be constructed.

According to a preview in today’s Times, the scheme being announced today is likely to be targeted at those who earn less than £50,000 a year. The Times (paywall) reports:

Officials have discussed plans which will mean people’s income being assessed on the basis of a “blended” mixture of their revenues and profits over the past three years. They would then be paid a significant proportion of their usual income up to a capped amount, which some in industry have suggested should be £1,700 a month.

The scheme will be designed to ensure that wealthier people who are self-employed such as lawyers and TV presenters are not able to take advantage. There are an estimated 5 million self-employed workers in the UK, but not all will have been directly affected by the outbreak. The bailout is expected to be means-tested, with discussions that those earning over £50,000 a year should not be able to benefit.

The scheme will be administered by HM Revenue & Customs, which will set up a website to ask people for their bank details. They will not be expected to provide proof that their incomes have been reduced by the coronavirus outbreak. It is likely to be ready by the end of April.

But the Sun has had a different steer. It reports:

An eligibility cap is expected to be set at around the median income level – £30,353 last year – meaning it will include cleaners, childminders and cab drivers but not high-earning professions like lawyers or tech programmers.

One likely option being studied last night is to use January’s tax return for the financial year 2018-19 as the new scheme’s benchmark.

Before the announcement, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has published a briefing explaining why the self-employed are particularly vulnerable. It says:

That the self-employed are far less protected from temporary job loss is particularly worrying in light of the jobs they do. Figure 3 [see below] shows the share of self-employed workers in sectors that are directly affected by social distancing measures. It shows that 22% of the self-employed work in sectors that are badly hit, compared to 17% of employees (note that the total number of employees affected is still much larger). This is because the self-employed are much more likely to work in personal services (eg cleaning and hairdressing), arts and leisure (eg performing arts or fitness instruction) and passenger transport (eg taxi services).

In total, nearly a million (0.9 million) self-employed people work in sectors that will be mostly shut down during the crisis period. If restrictions are tightened further, the 0.8 million self-employed workers in the construction sector may also be affected (if they haven’t been already). And on top of the 0.9 million workers in badly hit sectors, a further 0.4 million self-employed workers have a young child (aged 0-9) and no key workers or non-working adults in the family, such that they may have to disrupt their work to provide childcare.

Proportion of self-employed working in jobs most affected by social distancing measures
Proportion of self-employed working in jobs most affected by social distancing measures Photograph: IFS

Updated

A rise in the number of domestic abuse incidents during the lockdown has already been observed, according to a Greater Manchester police leader.

Beverley Hughes, the deputy mayor for policing and crime, said there had been cases of abuse linked to the coronavirus outbreak and the force was anticipating more serious incidents.

Speaking during an online press conference with the region’s Covid-19 emergency committee, Lady Hughes said:

I think we are beginning to see a rise in domestic abuse incidents. We anticipated this might happen in the very stressful circumstances for many families.

The potential for tension to arise in the home as a result of what we are asking people to cope with, in order to suppress the virus, is going to increase and therefore we would be right to think this might display itself in an increase in the number of domestic incidents we are called to.

She added that Greater Manchester police had also noted a small rise in the number of hate crimes.

Updated

Rick Stein has refused to to pay his workers’ wages for over a month while his restaurants are closed, according to the Daily Mail.

The Mail reports that the celebrity chef and TV presenter told staff across the 14 sites they would not be paid until the end of April when the government is scheduled to pay wage subsidies to businesses that have shut down.

The news comes after Gordon Ramsay came under fire for laying off more than 500 staff members at his string of restaurants amid the coronavirus crisis.

Updated

The proximity of south-east Wales to the English border is believed to be one of the reasons behind a cluster of Covid-19 cases there, the Welsh chief medical officer has said.

Frank Atherton added that there may be more cases in the area because more testing has been done there. He said: “As the epidemic unfolds, there will be areas that will flare up and calm down.”

Atherton was responding to a warning by Dr Sarah Aitken, the director of public health at the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.

In Gwent, we are seeing a rapidly rising increase in the number of cases of coronavirus in all our communities and a daily increase in the number of people being admitted to hospital and the number of people dying from the virus.

The pattern we are seeing in Gwent is the same pattern as was seen in Italy, where their healthcare system is now overwhelmed.

There have been 309 cases in the board’s area compared with 628 for the whole of Wales.

Asked about Aitken’s warning at a Welsh government press conference on Thursday morning, Atherton said: “It is closer to England. The hot spot in the UK is around London and so being on the border with England is an issue. The second reason is there has been a lot more testing in that health board. The fact that we have been doing more testing has led to an increase in the number of cases identified.

“The virus is circulating in all parts of Wales. At the moment it may be circulating to a higher degree in south Wales but that may change over time.”

Updated

A deserted Piccadilly Circus during morning rush hour in central London on Thursday.
A deserted Piccadilly Circus during morning rush hour on Thursday. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA

The Department for Work and Pensions has published a report today (pdf) on households living in poverty, looking at the trends going up to 2018-19. Its headline finding is that “median household income before housing costs (BHC) decreased slightly between 2017/18 and 2018/19 and was flat after housing costs”.

Pascale Bourquin, a researcher at the Institute for Fiscal Studies who has published an analysis of the figures (pdf), said:

The current crisis will almost certainly result in a sharp, if hopefully temporary, fall in living standards. It comes on top of a desperately disappointing decade for living standards, and most recently three years of essentially stagnant incomes.

Incomes were starting to rise again before 2016. That rise was choked off by the higher inflation caused in part by the depreciation of sterling following the Brexit referendum. There are signs from other sources of data that income growth had just begun to pick up again during 2019–20. The coronavirus crisis will have abruptly put a halt to that recovery.

Co-op has announced new measures to enforce social distancing in its stores.

The retailer has introduced tactics including floor markers which will define a one-metre distance throughout the store, and two-metre spacing for customer queues across its 2,600 stores.

It will also aim to limit the number of customers in stores at any one time as well as reducing the number of tills open, to encourage greater distance between shoppers.

Chris Whitfield, the Co-op’s chief operating officer, said: “The safety and wellbeing of our colleagues is our priority and we fully support the need for social distancing.

“We have introduced a number of measures in store, which will be reviewed on a daily basis, and we thank our customers for their understanding and support.”

Updated

A lorry making a delivery at the ExCel centre in London, which is being made into a temporary hospital - the NHS Nightingale hospital.
A lorry making a delivery at the ExCeL centre in London, which is being made into a temporary hospital - the NHS Nightingale hospital. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Updated

Banks are under pressure to revise the fineprint of emergency coronavirus loans that mean business owners could be personally liable for government-backed debts.

The government and banking industry have been criticised after it emerged some company owners had been told they must give personal guarantees to access the taxpayer-backed loans.

The terms of the loans mean that banks can seek to seize assets owned by directors if their business fails and they cannot pay back the emergency loan.

Although it is believed this would not include their personal home, banks could seize other business or personal assets including second homes.

The coronavirus business interruption loans scheme is designed to offer hard-hit companies up to £5m interest-free for the first year to help support their businesses.

The government has pledged to guarantee 80% of the risk of the bank loans as an incentive for banking giants to lend to those in difficulty.

Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns Natwest, raised pressure on rivals including Barclays and HSBC to follow suit, after it said it would not be asking for personal guarantees for business interruption loans.

Updated

According to Matt Hancock, the health secretary, more than 500,000 people have now expressed interest in joining the NHS volunteer responders scheme. Yesterday afternoon the figure was 405.000.

NHS leaders are identifying staff to be imminently deployed to the new 4,000-bed temporary hospital being set up to treat seriously ill coronavirus patients.

Health secretary Matt Hancock announced earlier this week that the ExCeL centre in east London would become a field hospital. The site will have two wards of 2,000 beds to cope with any dramatic increase of patients in the capital.

On Wednesday, the Health Service Journal (HSJ) reported that leaders were “urgently” locating staff who could be posted at NHS Nightingale.

An email from a London trust chief executive to staff, seen by the news service, said a response was needed within hours and accommodation would be provided to workers if necessary.

It added: “The urgency in identifying staff is to allow time for training to take place before opening to patients.”

Required workers at the hospital include consultants, GPs and critical care nurses, as well as non-clinical staff such as porters and administrators.

The Today programme also interviewed Prof Neil Ferguson, the lead author on the Imperial College paper that persuaded the government to drastically escalate its social distancing strategy. Repeating a point he made in evidence to the Commons science committee yesterday, he said he thought the NHS would now be able to cope with the peak of the coronavirus epidemic, which he said would come in about three weeks’ time. He told the programme:

We are going to have a very difficult few weeks, particularly in hotspots - London for instance.

But we think, overall, with the capacity which is rapidly being put in place across the country, that whilst the health system will be intensely stressed, particularly in areas of London, it won’t break.

Perhaps in about three weeks we hope these current measures will start flattening that curve and start bringing numbers down.

Prof Neil Ferguson.
Prof Neil Ferguson. Photograph: J-IDEA

London hospitals seeing 'continuous tsunami' of ill patients, says health leader

London hospitals are facing a “continuous tsunami” of seriously-ill patients because of coronavirus, a health service leader said this morning. Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, used the phrase in an interview on the Today programme. Commenting on the situation in London, he said:

They are struggling with two things. The first is the explosion of demand they are seeing in seriously ill patients. They talk about wave after wave after wave - the word that’s often used to me is a continuous tsunami.

We are now seeing 30%, 40% and indeed in some places 50% sickness rates as staff catch the virus or are in vulnerable groups or have to self-isolate. That’s an unprecedented absence rate.

So what we have got is a really wicked combination - trusts trying to deal with a lot more demand than they have ever had before with a lot fewer staff than they have had before.

Hopson said that, while extra capacity was being brought in - including 4,000 beds at the ExCeL centre in London’s Docklands - hospital chief executives are concerned that it will be used up “very, very quickly”.

Updated

Dyson gets order to produce 10,000 newly-designed ventilators for NHS

The government has ordered 10,000 ventilators to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic, billionaire entrepreneur Sir James Dyson has said. As PA Media reports, in an email to staff, the inventor said his eponymous company designed the “CoVent” at the request of Boris Johnson, and promised to donate 5,000 to the international relief effort. Dyson said teams of engineers had been working solidly on the design since receiving the call from PM 10 days ago, and the UK government had placed an initial order of 10,000 units. He added:

We have received an initial order of 10,000 units from the UK government, which we will supply on an open-book basis.

We are also looking at ways of making it available internationally.

The company is now waiting for the design to receive regulatory approval so manufacturing can commence.

Created in partnership with Cambridge-based science engineering firm TTP, the new ventilator had to be safe, effective, efficient in conserving oxygen and portable, Dyson said. It also had to be bed-mounted, easy to use and not require a fixed air supply. The battery-powered machine has been designed for use in different settings, including field hospitals and when patients are being transported, PA reports.

In his email Dyson went on:

The core challenge was how to design and deliver a new, sophisticated medical product in volume and in an extremely short space of time. The race is now on to get it into production.

Ventilators are a regulated product so Dyson and TTP will be working with the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory products Agency and the government to ensure that the product and the manufacturing process is approved.

Handout photo issued by Dyson of their CoVent ventilator on a hosptal bed.
Handout photo issued by Dyson of their CoVent ventilator on a hosptal bed. Photograph: Dyson/PA

Updated

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, wants the government and the media to name and shame companies that are forcing people to go into work for non-essential business.

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has been criticised by ministers in recent days for not running more services on the tube (leading to some carriages being crowded, increasing the coronavirus transmission risk). This morning he has been tweeting to say that he cannot run more services, and to thank Londoners for reducing their uses of buses and the tube this week.

A sign at an entrance to the underground station at London’s Paddington station this morning.
A sign at an entrance to the underground station at London’s Paddington station this morning. Photograph: Pete Clifton/PA

Hospital car parking charges waived for NHS staff in England

Hospital car parking charges are to be waived for all NHS and social care staff in England while they tackle the coronavirus outbreak, health secretary Matt Hancock announced last night.

The move follows huge public support for an online petition calling on the government to suspend charges for frontline staff during the Covid-19 outbreak, which attracted over 415,000 signatures in four days.

The government has now given funding to all NHS trusts in England allow charges - typically between £50 and £250 a month - at their hospitals and sites to be dropped.

Dr Anthony Gallagher, who started the petition, told signatories:

This is a HUGE announcement and it would not have been possible without you. The momentum you created and the clarity in the message that you delivered have brought about this change.

I am in no doubt that our government did not begin this week intending to cover the cost of all parking charges for NHS staff. This is a massive success, thanks to the hundreds of thousands of you who signed this petition. I would like to pay special thanks, directly and sincerely to the secretary of state for health and social care, Matt Hancock. I cannot overstate how refreshing it feels as a doctor to have somebody in that position actually listen and respond.

Hancock said:

Our NHS is facing an unprecedented challenge, and I will do everything I can to ensure our dedicated staff have whatever they need during this unprecedented time. So we will provide free car parking for our NHS staff who are going above and beyond every day in hospitals in England. My enormous gratitude goes out to the many NHS trusts and other organisations already providing free car parking and I urge other trusts to do the same with our backing.

Updated

Good morning. Today we’re expecting the Treasury to release details of its plan to support the self-employed who are losing work because of the coronavirus crisis. Here is an extract from our overnight preview story.

The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is expected to announce that the taxpayer will pay self-employed workers up to 80% of their recent earnings to help contain the economic impact of coronavirus, as 470,000 extra benefits claims sparked warnings of an “unemployment crisis”.

Sunak has been under growing pressure to do more for the UK’s 5 million self-employed after announcing an unprecedented job retention scheme for employees last Friday, that will see thousands paid to stay at home ...

Details of the support package were still being finalised last night, but sources with knowledge of the plan suggested it would echo the promise of covering 80% of recent earnings that Sunak made to employees last week.

It could be subject to a lower cap than the £2,500 in monthly pre-tax income available in that scheme, however – because the self-employed tend to pay less tax. Some groups, including those already claiming universal credit, could be excluded.

And here is our full story.

Here is the agenda for the day.

Morning: The Commons health committee is taking evidence via video conference from Public Health England, the BMA, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and from care sector representatives about coronavirus. The hearing is not being screened live, but it is due to be broadcast on the Parliament Live TV channel at some point after 11.30am.

Afternoon: Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, is expected to announce details of his plan to offer income support to the self-employed at the government’s daily press conference.

At some point today Boris Johnson will also be taking part in a video-conference summit with other G20 leaders.

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 @AndrewSparrow and Amy is on @amyrwalker.

I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter.

Updated

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