Evening summary
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Face coverings are to be mandatory in shops and supermarkets in England from 24 July, Matt Hancock confirmed. The health and social care secretary said a store can refuse someone entry if they aren’t wearing one and call the police if there’s a problem. People who don’t wear one will face fines of up to £100. Children under 11 and those with disabilities will be exempt from the new rule.
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The government will reach a decision about the future of Leicester’s local lockdown this week. The latest coronavirus data from the 14 days since lockdown was reimposed will be examined to determine whether restrictions can be eased. Data released on Monday suggested the rate of new cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 population in Leicester had fallen slightly.
- Blackburn with Darwen has introduced stricter measures to try to avoid a local lockdown after a rise in coronavirus cases. Wearing face coverings in all enclosed spaces, including workplaces and beauty salons, bumping elbows and limits on the number of people who can visit a household are among the measures, after 70 cases were recorded in the week to 11 July.
- The UK’s death toll rose by 138 to 44,968.
Thank you to everyone who got in touch today and to all of you for reading along. If you would like to continue following the Guardian’s coronavirus coverage, head over to the global live blog.
Updated
Coronavirus outbreaks are up to 20 times more likely in large care homes, according to a major study seen by the Guardian, prompting calls to divide them into “bubbles” before any second wave hits.
My colleague Rob Booth reports that in research that will increase scrutiny of private care chains, which often operate the largest facilities, NHS Lothian and Edinburgh University found the likelihood of infection getting into a home tripled with every additional 20 beds.
It comes amid pressure on ministers to draw up stricter guidelines to prevent further outbreaks in care homes. Of more than 55,500 people to have died with Covid-19 in the UK according to their death certificates, nearly 40% (21,600) were care home residents, despite ministers’ claims to have “thrown a protective ring” around them.
In case you missed it, here is the moment Rojo made everyone’s day.
As MP John Nicolson was asking about the use of subtitles on children's TV, his cat Rojo decided it was the perfect moment for a Zoom star turn https://t.co/SW7zr9xoxE
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) July 14, 2020
Updated
Extra measures introduced to try to avoid local lockdown in Blackburn with Darwen after rise in Covid-19 cases
Extra measures including a limit on the number of people allowed to visit a household have been announced in Blackburn with Darwen after a rise in coronavirus cases.
On Tuesday, the Lancashire authority’s director of public health Dominic Harrison announced the new measures to be followed for the next month with the aim of avoiding a local lockdown.
The restrictions include a limit of two people from the same household allowed to visit another home.
Figures published today showed Blackburn had 47 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to 11 July, up from 31.6 cases per 100,000 in the seven days to 4 July.
The authority is third on the list of highest weekly rates, behind Leicester, which has a rate of 118.2 cases per 100,000 and is subject to a local lockdown, and nearby Pendle, with a rate of 76.6.
Harrison said, if rates were continuing to rise in a few weeks, the council would consider reimposing some lockdown restrictions.
Residents are being told to wear face coverings in all enclosed public spaces, including workplaces, libraries, museums, health centres and hair and beauty salons.
Harrison also called for people only to bump elbows with anyone outside of their immediate family, instead of shaking hands or hugging, and said public protection advice for small shops was being stepped up to ensure measures including social distancing and increased ventilation were being followed.
Targeted testing is taking place in the borough, with a mobile testing unit at Witton Park Academy as well as a facility at Royal Blackburn Hospital, and residents have been told they do not need to have symptoms to be tested.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: New local measures announced to control spread of #coronavirus
— BwD Council (@blackburndarwen) July 14, 2020
We are asking ALL residents to start following these new guidelines immediately.
They’re part of our efforts to prevent a local lockdown.
Full story: https://t.co/IJYM7yWYLp
PLEASE RT 👇 pic.twitter.com/XoxVpoqemj
Harrison said:
If we don’t [follow these steps], a local lockdown, like in Leicester, becomes a very real possibility.
The council is working with the NHS and the wider community on this, it’s up to us all to help each other stick to the advice that’s been given.
We can only avoid further lockdown measures if we work together.
In the next week to 10 days, we will see a rise in the number of cases in the borough due to the increased targeted testing we are doing in communities most at risk, and because we have opened a Pillar 2 testing site next to the hospital last week.
In another two weeks, if the rates are continuing to rise, we will have to consider reversing some of the national lockdown lifting measures locally one by one until we see a reversal in the current rising trend.
It’s up to everyone to make sure we don’t have to do that.
Another 70 cases of coronavirus were recorded in the local authority in the seven days to 11 July, up from 47 in the previous seven days.
Council leader Mohammed Khan said:
I can reassure all local residents that the council is working with different agencies and organisations across the borough to help get the message out to everyone that life cannot go back to normal just yet, and we must all make sacrifices to avoid a local lockdown.
We are doing everything we can to get a grip on the virus, and we need everyone in Blackburn with Darwen to pull together to help us.
Please continue to do your bit to stick to the rules to protect yourself and your family.
Updated
Another 138 deaths recorded across UK, bringing toll to 44,968
The Department of Health and Social Care said 44,968 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Sunday - up by 138 from 44,830 the previous day.
The figures do not include all deaths involving Covid-19 across the UK, which are thought to have passed 55,500.
The DHSC also said that in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Tuesday, there had been a further 398 lab-confirmed UK cases. Overall, a total of 291,373 cases have been confirmed.
Banksy has sprayed the inside of a London Underground train carriage with messages about the spread of the coronavirus.
The street artist uploaded a 59-second video captioned “If you don’t mask - you don’t get” to his Instagram and YouTube pages this afternoon.
It begins with a laptop playing PA Video footage showing the London Underground being deep cleaned in May. Banksy, wearing a white boiler suit, mask, goggles, blue gloves and an orange hi-viz jacket with the message “stay safe” printed on it, is then seen posing as a Transport for London worker.
He makes his way to a Circle Line train, carrying a yellow pump action spray bottle and stencils in cardboard on board. As an announcement states that “the next station is Baker Street”, the artist sprays blue droplets from the face of one of his famous rats, which has been stencilled on the carriage.
Banksy indicates for another masked passenger to move back, before stencilling a rat using a blue face mask as a parachute. Another rat has a blue mask over its face, while one holds a bottle of hand sanitiser.
The video finishes with a message sprayed on the wall of a tube station reading: “I get lockdown” with the doors of the tube carriage closing to reveal the message “But I get up again”. Chumbawamba’s song Tubthumping – also known as I Get Knocked Down – plays as the doors touch together.
Updated
Government to reach decision on Leicester lockdown later this week
The government will decide later this week whether to make changes to Leicester’s local lockdown after examining the latest coronavirus data, the health and social care secretary has said.
Matt Hancock said information covering the 14 days since the local measures were introduced will be looked at on Thursday followed by a public announcement “as soon as is reasonably possible”.
Leicester became the first place in the country to have tight restrictions reimposed on 30 June following a rise in coronavirus infections.
Speaking in the Commons earlier, Hancock said:
We will look at 14 days of data, it is today 14 days since the measures were introduced and we’ll look at that on Thursday of this week and make a public announcement as soon as is reasonably possible about whether and if any changes can be made to the situation in Leicester.
Thankfully the numbers have been coming down in Leicester and we’ve put in that extra testing, but the number of positive cases in Leicester is still well above the rest of the country and I won’t prejudge the decision that we’ll take on Thursday and we’ll take into account all of the data.
His comments follow claims from the Leicester mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, that data being provided to local health officials is not detailed enough and up to two weeks out of date.
But one of the government’s deputy chief medical officers, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, has said that “the local authority is getting absolutely granular postcode-level data”.
According to data released on Monday, the rate of new cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 population in Leicester had fallen slightly from 117.7 in the seven days to 3 July to 114.3 in the seven days to 10 July. It was 156.8 in the seven days to June 26.
Only two other local authorities had a rate of more than 40 new cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to July 10 - Pendle on 67.8 and Blackburn with Darwen on 41.0.
Updated
Face-to-face visits are resuming this week in youth prisons in England and Wales, a justice minister has told MPs.
Prisons and youth offender institutions (YOIs) have been under a heavily restrictive regime since mid-March to halt the spread of Covid-19 behind bars. YOIs house young male offenders aged between 15 and 17 and 18 to 20 in separate institutions.
Lucy Frazer told the justice committee face-to-face meetings had started at Wetherby YOI and would be restarted across the public YOIs “in the next seven days”.
Face-to-face education was taking place in “some form” in the youth estate. “We have to be cautious,” she said.
We do not want to see spikes in our prisons which will affect our young people and affect our staff, will therefore affect our staff ratio, will affect visitors who come.
So we need to do this cautiously, we are doing it cautiously. But we’ve already started to reopen our YOIs.
Updated
Police chiefs were not warned of the government’s announcement on face coverings in shops in England, one of the country’s most senior officers has revealed.
National Police Chiefs’ Council chairman, Martin Hewitt, said the organisation was unaware that the plan was to be revealed on Monday.
While the government has urged retailers and the police to get involved in enforcing the rules, Hewitt insisted that any police involvement should be a “last resort”.
While we were unaware that the announcement was to be made last night, we have the time to work closely with the Home Office, retailers and trade bodies on the implementation of new regulations on the wearing of face coverings in shops, which are due to come into effect on 24 July.
We will expect retailers to manage entry to their stores and compliance with the law while customers are inside, with police involvement as a last resort.
As with other coronavirus regulations, we will follow an approach of engaging, explaining, encouraging and only enforcing where encouragement has been unsuccessful.
Experience shows that compliance with the regulations to manage the spread of coronavirus is high and this must continue to be a joint effort between the retail sector, customers, Government and police.
This is particularly important as demand on the police increases as the lockdown eases.
John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said the announcement would add “pressure to police officers who are already being stretched to the limit”, and called on the government to force shops to make face coverings a condition of entry.
Enforcement must be the very last resort and involve only those few individuals who blatantly ignore guidelines and are a clear health risk to others.
Only as this last resort should the police get involved. To expect my colleagues to be policing the supermarket aisles, looking for those shoppers not wearing a face covering, is unrealistic and unfair.
We simply don’t have the resources, and this would fundamentally undermine the model of policing which is to police by consent.
Of course, there will be occasions where police will have to get involved, and that shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody.
However, this should be the exception as police officers have more than enough to deal with by policing the pandemic and responding to the many other calls they receive.
Updated
Ministers have faced a backlash from Conservative party members and a senior MP over Boris Johnson’s move to make face coverings mandatory in shops in England.
Some grassroots members cut up their membership cards, while a former minister, Sir Desmond Swayne, challenged the health and social care secretary, Matt Hancock, about the issue in the Commons.
The hashtag #NoMasks and the word “muzzles” were both trending on Twitter this morning, while several people posted pictures of chopped-up cards or cancelled registrations.
Many said the order – which will come into effect from 24 July and carries fines of up to £100 for non-compliance – was incompatible with their libertarian values.
Others claimed there was insufficient evidence to suggest that the measure has meaningful health benefits.
A recent modelling study from the Universities of Cambridge and Greenwich found that the widespread use of face masks keeps the coronavirus reproduction number below 1.
Researchers found that even homemade masks with limited effectiveness can dramatically reduce transmission rates if worn by enough people, regardless of whether they show symptoms.
In the Commons, Swayne branded face masks a “monstrous imposition”, adding:
Nothing would make me less likely to go shopping than the thought of having to mask up.
Hancock replied:
The balance in the need to restrict the spread of the virus, whilst also allowing the ancient liberties of a gentleman to go shopping, is a difficult balance to strike and we have made the judgment that the best way to strike it is to allow a gentleman to go shopping, but require him to wear a face mask.
And of course, enforcement is for the police, but the enforcement, I think, will largely be undertaken by the British people themselves, who have been remarkable in their fortitude, sticking with these rules even whilst they may be a frustrating imposition.
Updated
Working conditions could be leaving people exposed to coronavirus, Greater Manchester’s mayor, Andy Burnham, has said as he suggested the government risked not observing its own laws by not providing full testing data to councils.
In a joint press conference with Steve Rotheram, the metro mayor of the Liverpool city region, Burnham called on the government to work in partnership with local authorities by providing more information on those who had tested positive for Covid-19.
He said the government was “at risk of not observing their own law” by not providing daily data, which identified patients, to councils. He also called for clarity on the threshold for government intervention if there was an outbreak.
The metro mayor said a high number of cases in Rochdale may be linked to a warehousing operation which had been the “focus of some extra work with regards to testing”.
I think what we have seen through this is some of the lowest paid jobs have some working conditions which are, I’m afraid, leaving people exposed to picking up the virus. That seems to be the common theme in some of the communities.
The former health secretary said testing data which included a person’s work and home postcodes would help get to the “root cause” of any outbreak.
Working conditions remain a big concern. Many people who work in these places simply cannot afford to self-isolate.
Rotheram said a rise in cases in south Liverpool involved people aged between 15 and 24 and work was ongoing to establish links between them.
The only way we can do this, or the way we can be helped in doing this, is for the government to work collaboratively with us.
Burnham added:
We want to be in a position to take every possible measure we can to avoid a local lockdown.
It’s in everyone’s interest that councils have all the information they need to identify potential outbreaks then if they identify them, to respond quickly and effectively to them.
The health and social care secretary, Matt Hancock, has previously said Manchester did have access to data, after Burnham called for more “track and tracing” information to be shared.
Updated
Here is the moment the health and social care secretary confirmed in a Commons statement that shoppers would be required to wear face coverings while in shops and supermarkets in England.
Doing so will protect workers and give the public greater confidence to shop, Matt Hancock said. Those who do not comply with the new rules will face fines of up to £100.
A further 26 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths in hospitals to 29,103, NHS England said.
The patients were aged between 49 and 94 and one 71-year-old patient had no known underlying condition. Another five deaths were reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.
The Department for International Development (soon to be merged with the Foreign Office) has said it will match the first £5m of donations from the British public to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s (DEC) coronavirus appeal.
The appeal is aimed at helping people in countries such as Syria, Yemen and South Sudan, who are at increased risk of contracting the virus because they are living in crowded camps, having fled conflict.
Millions of people who’ve fled their homes because of conflicts in Syria and Yemen are now at risk from coronavirus.@DFID_UK will match the first £5m of public donations to @decappeal so that aid workers can provide clean water, soap and support medics https://t.co/6MR3xcSzl3
— James Cleverly (@JamesCleverly) July 14, 2020
Updated
Sir Desmond Swayne, the Conservative MP for New Forest West, is distinctly off-message describing wearing face masks while shopping as a “monstrous imposition”, and saying his constituents are “outraged”.
Hancock raises some laughs, replying that curtailing the spread of the virus while allowing “the ancient liberties of a gentleman to go shopping is a difficult balance to strike”.
"Nothing would make me less likely to go shopping than the thought of having to mask up," says Conservative Sir Desmond Swayne who calls the new rule for shoppers in England a "monstrous imposition"https://t.co/iKXtspO6TU pic.twitter.com/e0dVtoH3K0
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) July 14, 2020
Updated
Back in the Commons, in response to a question from Labour’s Chris Elmore about social media giants facilitating the spread of – and profiting from – anti-vaxx propaganda and other misinformation about Covid-19, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, says he is meeting Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice-president of global affairs and communications, on Thursday to discuss the issue. He stresses that Facebook is not the only culprit.
Updated
Public Health Wales said a further two people have died after testing positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of deaths to 1,543.
There were 21 new cases. The revised total for confirmed cases in Wales stands at 16,836, 209 fewer than the previous day’s figures because of “de-duplication”.
People with non-life-threatening conditions are to be asked to make an appointment before attending Wales’s biggest A&E unit, reports PA Media.
Cardiff and Vale University health board is introducing a “phone first” triage system for its emergency unit at the University hospital of Wales.
Patients requiring urgent care will be assessed and signposted to the “most appropriate medical help”, the board said.
Those suffering life-threatening emergencies such as symptoms of a stroke, loss of breath or a suspected heart attack should still call 999.
The health board said that returning to how patients accessed the emergency unit before the coronavirus pandemic was not “deemed safe for our patients or staff”.
Emergency unit consultant Dr Katja Empson said:
By introducing this system, we believe it will help keep our patients and staff safe as it helps reduce overcrowding in the waiting room, allows us to socially distance, and patients can wait in the comfort of their own homes for their scheduled time slot.
We aim to go live with this system at the end of July but will keep our staff, patients and the public informed nearer the time.
It’s important to emphasise that this will not replace 999 calls; if you have an emergency that is life-threatening such as symptoms of a stroke, loss of breathing or a suspected heart attack then you must still call 999. This process will not change.
A similar system is in operation in Denmark, where all but the most ill patients must ring ahead and make an appointment at an A&E unit.
Updated
This was the health secretary announcing the decision to make face masks mandatory:
"The liability for wearing a face covering lies with the individual... police have formal enforcement powers and can issue a fine"
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) July 14, 2020
Health Secretary Matt Hancock says "enforcement is of course a last resort" and expects "public to comply with these rules"https://t.co/hY6tAVrmu1 pic.twitter.com/mYl6007kWJ
And this was the response from the shadow health secretary:
"After days of ministerial muddle, we finally have a decision," says shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) July 14, 2020
He asks why it is taking the government 11 days to require people to wear face masks in shops in Englandhttps://t.co/lHZqdA85Vy pic.twitter.com/BcWS1YwbE0
Richard Holden asks how many people across the country have been tracked and traced.
Hancock says 144,000 people have been asked to isolate.
Martyn Day asks about public health messaging regarding face coverings and for a confirmed introduction date for the new rules.
Hancock says the scale of the increase in testing will be large enough and there is a risk-based testing regime in place for NHS staff.
Updated
The Tory former health secretary Jeremy Hunt asks what plans are in place to increase test and trace to establish whether people have coronavirus or seasonal flu, and if they plan to introduce routine testing for frontline NHS staff.
Updated
Hancock says he won’t pre-judge the decision to be made on Thursday regarding Leicester.
The shadow health and social secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, is speaking now.
Why has it taken two months to make face coverings mandatory, he asks.
And why the 10-day delay before it comes into effect, he adds.
He asks Hancock to clarify the government’s position on workers returning to offices.
And he asks if Leicester will be able to ease out of lockdown later this week and how this will be communicated.
Face coverings to be mandatory in shops and supermarkets in England, Hancock says
They want to give people more confidence to shop safely and protect shop workers, he says.
A way to do this is through use of face coverings, he says.
Face coverings should be mandatory in shops and supermarkets, Hancock confirms.
People who don’t wear one will face fines of up to £100 in line with those on public transport, he says.
Children under 11 and those with disabilities will be exempt, he says.
A shop can refuse people entry if they don’t have a face covering, and call police if there is a problem, he says.
Wearing a face covering doesn’t mean ignoring other measures, including washing your hands and social distancing, Hancock adds.
Updated
Hancock is speaking now on the “substantial progress” being made against the virus.
Yesterday’s figures show 530 new cases, down 90% since the peak, he says.
The latest number of deaths across the UK is 11, the lowest since 13 March, he adds.
This progress can’t lead to complacency, he says.
Matt Hancock's Commons statement
The health and social care secretary is due to give a statement on coronavirus shortly.
Scientists call for masks to be made freely available
Members of the Independent Sage group set up by Sir David King, a former chief scientific adviser, said on Tuesday that face masks must be made freely available to those who cannot afford them.
Prof Stephen Reicher at the University of St Andrews said masks could be posted to every household along with information on how they can help and how to wear them. Another option, he said, was to hand masks out on public transport and other places where needed.
In a public briefing, the committee, which was established amid concerns over the transparency of advice reaching ministers from the government’s official Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), called for a “light touch” when it came to policing the wearing of masks. Shoppers who fail to wear one could face a £100 fine under amended legislation, a move the experts said went too far.
While children under 11 and those with certain physical and mental conditions will be exempt from the rules, the threat of fines could make some groups feel under attack, Reicher said.
I don’t think fines are necessary. You don’t start off by being punitive, you don’t start off by attacking people, you start off by trying to understand and seeing how you can help them. If people can’t wear masks they can’t wear masks. We’re not going to get to 100% compliance, but if we can get to where Italy and Spain are, which is mid-80%, that will make a huge difference.
Dr Zubaida Haque at the Runnymede Trust, a race equality thinktank, said:
This is all about keeping people safe. It shouldn’t be perceived as penalising people, it doesn’t require a criminal justice response, it requires a strong, public information campaign and a strong engagement campaign.
We have seen that enforcement during Covid-19 has had a very detrimental impact on Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, they have been almost twice as likely to be fined under Covid-19, especially in London and that is a huge concern.
Updated
Updated
The Guardian is interested to hear from retailers about how they feel about the policy of mandatory masks in shops. Do you think it will be effective? How will you encourage shoppers to wear masks, and will you contact the police if they don’t?
Also, if you’re a retailer in Scotland, which has already made face masks mandatory in shops, we’d like to hear how it’s gone, and what advice you might have for English retailers on managing the wearing of masks.
Please get in touch using the form below:
Nicola Sturgeon has said that the UK government’s decision to exclude social care staff from a post-Brexit fast-track visa system for health workers could have “a potentially devastating impact” on the care workforce in Scotland, which includes 6-8% of care home workers who come from other countries within the European Union.
Particularly now when we owe [care workers] so much, to exclude them from this visa risks sending a message that we are not grateful.
She said she would “continue to make very strong representations to the UK government to change that”.
She added that the exclusion risked “doing huge practical damage to our economy ... and sending the message [post-lockdown] that we don’t want people to come and settle here from other countries”.
Scotland remains an open and welcoming country, and we would never want to see a message sent from the UK government that contradicts that in any way.
Sturgeon added that the reopening of Scotland’s hospitality sector tomorrow represents the “biggest and highest risk” of exiting lockdown so far. Referencing the new lockdowns imposed in Melbourne and California recently, she reiterated that the most immediate risk to Scots is not a second wave in the autumn but continuation of the first wave right now.
Updated
The Welsh government has suggested people in tourist areas of Wales might be required to wear face masks to address the concerns of local people.
From 27 July people in Wales will be required to wear face coverings when they are on public transport but so far the Welsh administration has not followed the move from the UK government to make them compulsory in shops in England.
At the Welsh government’s daily press conference, finance minister Rebecca Evans said:
We need to keep this matter under constant monitoring and review particularly in the case of tourist areas, where we know there is greater concern amongst people living locally when they are in an area where the number of people mushrooms for a small part of the year. We need to recognise the concerns.
We are having constant discussions with the retail sector to make sure we take into account their particular perspective.
Asked about comments from her Labour colleague in England, the shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, that the UK government had been “slow and muddled” over coverings, Evans said Covid-19 was at its “lowest ebb” in Wales since the pandemic began.
It’s important we take a proportionate response. There will be places where it becomes difficult or impossible to maintain that two metre rule. In those cases it is appropriate to consider the use of face masks.
Evans also announced there will be no stamp duty payable on property sales below £250,000 in Wales from 27 July.
Updated
Ryanair has announced it will remove up to 1,000 flights from its UK-Ireland routes in August and September as Ireland “maintains a defective quarantine restriction on EU visitors”.
The airline said in a statement:
Last week when the UK and Northern Ireland removed travel restrictions on short-haul flights to/from the European Union, Ireland became the only country in the EU with a blanket 14-day quarantine restriction on all arrivals from EU countries, most of which have lower Covid case rates than Ireland.
Air travel between Ireland and the UK is being badly damaged by this ineffective 14-day quarantine.
Ryanair will significantly reduce its flights between Ireland and the UK in August and September, to reflect this suppressed demand.
No new coronavirus deaths have been reported in Scotland for the sixth day in a row, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
The first minister told the Scottish government’s coronavirus briefing that 2,490 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for Covid-19, no change on last Wednesday’s figure.
She said 18,368 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by three from 18,365 on Monday.
A total of 668 patients are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, up 67 from 550 the previous day, she added. Of these 12 were in intensive care, up six in 24 hours.
Deaths registered in England and Wales dipped below the five-year average for the third consecutive week, according to the Office for National Statistics.
There were 9,140 deaths registered in the week ending 3 July, which was 0.5% lower than the five-year average. Of these, 532 were Covid-related, accounting for 6% of the total.
However, the number of deaths at home remain above the five-year average, prompting concerns people may not be getting medical help if they fall ill. There were 755 more deaths in private homes during week 27 than in an average week, most of which were not Covid-related.
The total number of deaths registered mentioning Covid-19 in England and Wales is now at 50,548, the latest figures show.
The north-west had the highest number of Covid-19 deaths for the sixth consecutive week, with 100 deaths in the week to 3 July. Deaths in the region have not declined as swiftly as they have in other parts of England.
The number of deaths involving the virus only increased in the east of England and London. Fatalities rose 23% in London (35 to 43 deaths) and up 14% in east (59 to 67 deaths).
Updated
Contact tracers in England locked out of accounts
Contact tracers in England have been locked out of their accounts this morning, hindering their ability to reach people who may have contracted the coronavirus, Sky News is reporting.
A Tier 2 contact tracer (which means they have a clinical background) told Sky that those whose account with Amazon Web Services (who provide the infrastructure for the test and trace system in England) was activated on 13 May has been unable to login due to the sudden expiration of their passwords.
It isn’t known how many contact tracers have been affected by the issue. A source told Sky that the password reset site, run by Sitel, has also crashed.
You can read the full Sky News story here.
Updated
As we reported earlier, the Natural History Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Science Museum are to reopen in August - but are planning for around a fifth of the usual number of visitors.
The three institutions are opening their doors again with new safety measures. Timed, free tickets will be needed to enter the museums.
The V&A is initially opening from Thursday to Sunday each week. Its director, Tristram Hunt, said it will see what the “appetite” is from the public for visiting.
Finances are still very precarious so there is little point having very extended opening hours if no-one is coming through the door. At the moment, we haven’t got the demand we would necessarily hope for but that will grow and we will go with it.
The V&A and the Natural History Museum said they are expecting around an 80% reduction in visitors initially.
The Natural History Museum will reopen on 5 August, the V&A on 6 August, and the Science Museum on 19 August.
Hunt said that “reopening is only the first phase to our recovery, which is set to last well into next year”.
Natural History Museum director Sir Michael Dixon said he is looking forward to reopening “our wonderful cathedral to nature”. The “period of lockdown” has inspired new exhibition ideas, he added.
The museum will open Wednesday to Sunday. Face coverings will be recommended but are not yet mandatory, although museums will look at the latest government guidance.
The Science Museum will open seven days a week until 6 September, after which it will be open Wednesday to Sunday.
Museum bosses said they were “impressed” with the government settlement but long-term viability would be more of an issue, and they are expected to need more government support to survive long term if social distancing continues.
The government is to issue new guidance for patients and their families on “do not attempt resuscitation orders” (DNARs) after a woman threatened legal action, PA Media reports.
Kate Masters instructed law firm Leigh Day to take the government to court over its failure to provide consistent advice on DNARs in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the pandemic, concerns have been raised by care organisations that elderly people and others are being pressured into signing DNAR forms.
Masters said she was concerned that DNARs were being imposed in “seemingly blanket ways”, without consultation with patients or their families. In her legal letter to the government and the health secretary, Matt Hancock, she provided examples of DNARs being made without consultation and said concerns about blanket DNARs were a result of Hancock delegating resuscitation policies to a local level during the pandemic.
The government has now said it will publish two documents to ensure patients and families understand how DNAR decisions are made in light of the current coronavirus pandemic.
One document will be for patients and their families setting out matters such as the right to be involved in the decision and how to request a review, while the other is for NHS staff. Both will be published on the NHS website.
Davina Hehir, director of policy and legal strategy at Compassion in Dying, which supported the move, said:
This is a victory for common sense.
Coronavirus has highlighted and exacerbated ongoing problems concerning accurate and accessible national guidance regarding CPR, the lack of which has contributed to a proliferation of poor and unlawful practice during the pandemic.
We know that many patients who express a wish to protect themselves from potentially harmful or futile CPR are not supported to do so, and equal distress is caused when a DNACPR decision is not thoroughly and sensitively explained to a patient and their family.
Both scenarios completely undermine person-centred care at the end of life, and risk jeopardising sensible efforts to demystify CPR decisions and improve communication between doctors, patients and families around end-of-life decisions.
Updated
Experts have been reacting to the government’s U-turn on the wearing of face coverings.
Dr David Strain, clinical senior lecturer at the University of Exeter and also chair of the British Medical Association’s medical academic staff committee, said that masks should be used until there is less than one new case per million of population per day:
England is one of last countries in Europe to mandate the use of face coverings to reduce the risk of the spread of coronavirus from asymptomatic carriers in order to facilitate the safer easing of lockdown. Even now, they wish to wait another 10 days before implementing the change.
Yesterday more than 500 people tested positive for the virus, which the ONS figures suggest is only about one-third of the true number of new cases in the UK. The remaining two-thirds of the population with the virus are the ‘silent spreaders’, people who carry and can potentially spread the virus despite having no symptoms themselves. The mandatory use of face coverings will reduce the risk to the population at large from these individuals. There is clear evidence that a cloth face covering will reduce up to 84% of droplet spread, the main source of transmission of Covid. Additionally, in other pandemics the use of masks have actually promoted safer activity such as hand washing and physical distancing, acting as a reminder of the severity of the pandemic.
We must carefully consider how we introduce masks. In several locations, such as pubs and restaurants, the use of masks will not be feasible or even possible. In these locations strict physical distancing of more than 2m and/or physical barriers should be used in order to protect the staff and other customers from the risk of asymptomatic carrier...
An incidence of less than one new case per million population per day is widely accepted as “viral eradication” and we would suggest this be the point that masks can safely be removed.
Dr Rachel McCloy, associate professor in applied behavioural science, University of Reading, said:
Where it is most likely to fail is if the changes contain illogical exceptions or continue to promote mixed messages (eg shoppers must wear masks but they are not compulsory for retail staff; the rules apply to retail settings but not to other indoor settings where potential for contact is the same or similar), and where there are failures to consistently model the required behaviour from key public figures (as has happened with previous restrictions), which can promote an attitude of ‘if they can opt out, so can I’.
Based on the current evidence base, wearing masks in situations where we cannot easily adhere to strict social distancing is a vital part of our efforts to avoid a second wave of Covid-19 – other countries around the world have been very successful in adopting masks, and there is no reason why, with clear policies and consistent messaging from the government that the UK cannot show similar levels of success.
Updated
The head of the British Chambers of Commerce has urged the government to provide “absolute clarity” to retailers on the new rules around wearing face coverings in shops and supermarkets.
The government announced the U-turn on Monday night that face coverings will be made mandatory in these spaces as of 24 July.
Adam Marshall, director general of the BCC, told the PA Media news agency:
It is very important for businesses to have clear guidance on what the requirements are going to be, and its important for them to know as well that they will not be responsible for enforcing these requirements - that that will be a job for the police.
Business have asked repeatedly for clarity on this, and a range of other matters, and I think many will probably have been confused by the range of mixed messages that they have heard over recent days.
So getting some absolute clarity on what is required - and when - is important.
He said the BCC was supportive of the new rules around face coverings, and said they would help to “restore consumer confidence” and encourage more people to head into their town centres to shop.
Restoring consumer confidence to use towns and city centres safely is enormously important to the restart and recovery of the UK economy and taking measures, sensible measures like the use of face masks in enclosed businesses, is one step that can help rebuild that confidence.
Marshall added:
The evidence that we see from other countries is that when the rules are clear people’s confidence goes up and their ability to go and use shops, to use towns and city centres also improves.
We don’t believe that the use of coverings will stop people going into these establishments - in fact we believe it will probably help many more to do so.
Updated
Good morning! I’m Lucy Campbell, joining the blog for the rest of the day to bring you all the latest developments in UK politics and all things coronavirus. Please feel free to get in touch with me as I work. Your tips and feedback are always welcome!
Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_
Summary
Here’s a roundup of the latest developments:
The government defends face covering U-turn
The environment secretary, George Eustice, has defended the government’s U-turn on making face coverings compulsory, saying its approach had been “evolving”. The rules on English shops will come into force on 24 July, over a month after face coverings became a requirement on public transport in England on 15 June. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, will officially announce the measures in the Commons on Tuesday afternoon. The Metropolitan Police Federation has warned that requiring the public to wear face masks in shops will be almost impossible for police to enforce.
Hopes for V-shaped recovery fade
The British economy returned to growth more slowly than expected in May as coronavirus lockdown restrictions were gradually relaxed after the sharpest plunge on record a month earlier. The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1.8% in May as the economy staged a modest recovery from April’s crash. The Office for Budget Responsibility warned that the UK economy won’t return to its pre-crisis levels until the end of 2022.
Lord Browne to step down from Huawei UK
The former BP chief executive, Lord Browne, is to step down as Huawei’s UK chairman ahead of the Chinese tech giant being barred from playing any role in Britain’s 5G network. Browne has warned that Britain risks damaging a “very long relationship” with China if ministers choose to ban Huawei from Britain’s 5G network.
Coronavirus deaths exceed 50,000 in England and Wales
The number of deaths in England and Wales when Covid-19 was citing on the death certificate has exceeded 50,000, according to the latest weekly statistics from the ONS. A total of 50,548 deaths involving coronavirus were registered in England and Wales between 28 December 2019 and 3 July 2020, it said.
London museums to reopen
London’s Natural History Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Science Museum will all reopen in August. The three institutions held a joint virtual event to announce their plans to reopen. The Natural History Museum will reopen on 5 August, the V&A on 6 August, and the Science Museum on 19 August.
Updated
Retailers and police must both play a role in enforcing the use of face coverings by shoppers in England, a cabinet minister has said after officers warned the law would be unenforceable.
The environment secretary, George Eustice, also defended the government’s U-turn on making face coverings compulsory, saying its approach had been “evolving” and noting that it advised the public to wear them in crowded places in May to limit the spread of coronavirus.
The rules on English shops will come into force on 24 July, over a month after face coverings became a requirement on public transport in England on 15 June. Anyone who disregards the rule for shops can be fined up to £100 by the police, reduced to £50 if they pay within 14 days.
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, will officially announce the measures in the Commons on Tuesday afternoon.
Updated
Lord Browne is stepping down as Huawei’s UK chairman ahead of the Chinese tech giant being barred from playing any role in Britain’s 5G network.
A Huawei spokesman said:
When Lord Browne became chairman of Huawei UK’s board of directors in 2015 he brought with him a wealth of experience which has proved vital in ensuring Huawei’s commitment to corporate governance in the UK.
He has been central to our commitment here dating back 20 years, and we thank him for his valuable contribution.
Browne, the former boss of BP, has warned that Britain risks damaging a “very long relationship” with China if ministers choose to ban Huawei from Britain’s 5G network.
Updated
Black workers’ deaths are going “unmeasured and unmanaged” in the pandemic according to Unison, Scotland’s largest union.
The claim is made in response the National Records of Scotland (NRS) analysis of Covid-19 deaths by ethnic group, and signals continuing frustration about data recording on the impact of coronavirus on BAME communities.
As in England and Wales, NRS found a heightened Covid-19 risk for Asian and Chinese communities. However, NRS were unable to make any finding in relation to Black, African or African-Caribbean people in Scotland due to weaknesses in data recording.
The Unison analysis argues:
The inability of Scottish public records to expose discrimination was well known before the pandemic and the desire to seek a Scottish slant on a known, global phenomena only served to delay action on equality and wider public health.
National organiser Peter Hunter told the Guardian:
One of things the pandemic has taught us is that bad jobs kill. It may be that, once infected, black workers are more likely to have adverse health outcomes but they are also in positions where they are more at risk.
Unison is calling on all organisations, including private contractors delivering public services, to be compelled to publish coronavirus race equality plans as a matter of urgency and longer term wants the Scottish government to address the issue of poor quality data on Scotland’s BAME communities. Last week the Guardian reported on similar calls about data on the Irish community in Scotland.
Updated
Labour has called on the government to release better data to help councils combat coronavirus.
The shadow health minister, Justin Madders, said:
Councils are getting testing data which is sometimes nearly a fortnight old and has such little information in it that it is virtually useless in being able to spot and stop local outbreaks.
The government needs to be much more open and transparent with local councils so that together we can catch local outbreaks earlier and stop transmission of the virus.
In a letter to Dido Harding, who leads the government’s testing and tracing programme, Madders sets out four specific requests:
- Data is transmitted to local authorities on a daily basis, in real time if possible.
- There is reference to ethnicity in the data.
- That each positive test also identifies by name, postcode and workplace (if any) of the individual.
- That the proportion as well as the number of positive tests is provided.
Updated
Doctors in France have reported what they believe to be the first proven case of Covid-19 being passed on from a pregnant woman to her baby in the womb.
The newborn boy developed inflammation in the brain within days of being born, a condition brought on after the virus crossed the placenta and established an infection prior to birth. He has since made a good recovery.
The case study, published in Nature Communications, follows the birth of a number of babies with Covid-19 who doctors suspect contracted the virus in the womb. Until now, they have not been able to rule out the possibility that the babies were infected during or soon after delivery.
“Unfortunately there is no doubt about the transmission in this case,” said Daniele De Luca, medical director of paediatrics and neonatal critical care at the Antoine Béclère hospital in Paris.
The British economy returned to growth more slowly than expected in May as coronavirus lockdown restrictions were gradually relaxed after the sharpest plunge on record a month earlier.
The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1.8% in May as the economy staged a modest recovery from April, when GDP crashed by a fifth during the first full month of lockdown.
After the biggest collapse in activity since records began, economists had expected some recovery in activity in May as the government eased restrictions on movement. However, the bounce back was weaker than growth of 5.5% forecast by City economists.
London museums to reopen
London’s Natural History Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Science Museum will all reopen in August, PA Media reports.
London’s South Kensington museum district - usually a tourist and school holiday hotspot - has been closed since March.
The three institutions held a joint virtual event to announce their plans to reopen. The Natural History Museum will reopen on 5 August, the V&A on 6 August, and the Science Museum on 19 August.
We’re excited to announce that we’re re-opening our doors on 19 August 2020! Find out more about how we’re welcoming you back safely and plan your visit here: https://t.co/oiDz0hJGFq pic.twitter.com/pPR7kk6nkS
— Science Museum (@sciencemuseum) July 14, 2020
V&A director Tristram Hunt said:
The V&A’s galleries flourish in dialogue with visitors, and, after so many months, I am delighted we will be reopening our doors to the world.
Our seven miles of galleries in South Kensington will open in phases, and we have a range of exciting exhibition and gallery openings to come in the next few months.
The V&A has ample space for social distancing, and all safety measures are in place for our visitors to enjoy 5,000 years of ingenuity in art, design and performance.
Reopening is only the first phase to our recovery, which is set to last well into next year, and we remain hugely grateful to all our visitors, members and supporters - now more than ever.
Updated
The Office for Budget Responsibility doesn’t believe a V-shaped recovery is likely.
Its new central forecast is that the UK economy won’t return to its pre-crisis levels until the end of 2022. In other words, it would take more than two years to recover the output lost in March and April.
But the OBR also says the pace of the recovery is “highly uncertain”.
It depends on several factors: the amount of scarring suffered by the economy, such as unemployment; whether (and when) effective vaccines and other treatments to crush Covid-19 are developed; how fast the lockdown is lifted; and whether government action to protect the economy works.
There’s more on Business live blog:
Updated
Making face coverings mandatory in shops, should help reduce the spread of the virus, according to Keith Neal, emeritus professor of the epidemiology of infectious diseases, at the University of Nottingham.
Prof Neal said:
Lack of strong evidence of their effectiveness should not be considered a problem but the evidence is accumulating that they have a part to play in reducing transmission and also in protecting the wearer.
Issues may arise on exemptions apart from age as people can claim to meet one of the exemption categories without obvious evidence. Exemptions like for anxiety can easily be used as an excuse given the apparent reluctance from too many people.
Exempting young children is supported by the increasing evidence that they have a more limited role in transmission than adults. Many children could be encouraged to wear masks especially if they had their favourite characters on them.
Enforcement need not be an issue as shops can simply refuse to serve non mask wearing customers.
Updated
Opposition MPs have rounded on government for the delay and muddle over face coverings.
‘New evidence’ about face covering emerging all the time?
— Wera Hobhouse MP 🔶 (@Wera_Hobhouse) July 14, 2020
It was known for months that face coverings reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
The government was just ideologically against it. Or behind the curve, as with everything concerning Covid19 pic.twitter.com/jcC0MMRx3u
What a total shambles this Tory Government’s response to #Covid19UK has been. Five months into the pandemic, well beyond the first peak, they make face masks compulsory now, when most other countries have mandated them in enclosed public spaces for months.
— Ben Bradshaw (@BenPBradshaw) July 14, 2020
After mixed messages and mess-ups, Johnson bows to the inevitable
— Debbie Abrahams MP (@Debbie_abrahams) July 14, 2020
How long can this mess continue?https://t.co/1ZuUztvl6u
The World Health Organsiation updated guidance on face-coverings on 6th June
— Jim McMahon MP (@JimfromOldham) July 14, 2020
By the time new rules on #Facecoverings come into force, 48 days would have passed
Confused messages, dither and delay has been the hallmark of the handling of this crisis pic.twitter.com/4hSBJvorM0
Mandatory face masks in shops in England?
— JOHN NICOLSON M.P. (@MrJohnNicolson) July 14, 2020
Sunday. No. Rely on the common sense of the people.
Monday. Maybe.
Tuesday. Absolutely & £100 fines if they don’t.
UK Government chaos.
Coronavirus deaths exceed 50,000 in England and Wales
The number of deaths in England and Wales when Covid-19 was citing on the death certificate has exceeded 50,000 according to the latest weekly statistics from the ONS.
A total of 50,548 deaths involving coronavirus were registered in England and Wales between 28 December 2019 and 3 July 2020, it said.
For Wales our data show that of all deaths that occurred up to 3 July (registered up to 11 July), 2,470 deaths involved #COVID19.
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) July 14, 2020
For the same period
▪️ @DHSCgovuk reported 1,530 #COVID19 deaths
▪️ @PublicHealthW reported 1,533 #COVID19 deathshttps://t.co/mCxBGxZbLw pic.twitter.com/PBE6evNDWy
Only two days ago, the cabinet office secretary, Michael Gove, appeared to rule out compulsory face coverings in shops.
Speaking on the the BBC’s Andrew Marr show he said:
I don’t think mandatory, no, but I would encourage people to wear a face mask, where they are inside, in an environment where they are likely to be mixing with others and the ventilation may not be as good as it might. It is basic good manners, courtesy and consideration to wear a face mask if, for example, you’re in a shop.
"I trust people's good sense"
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) July 12, 2020
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove says he does not think face coverings should be compulsory in shops in England
https://t.co/zSmgRQ5QyU pic.twitter.com/KmSns1XjEt
The Metropolitan Police Federation has warned that requiring the public to wear face masks in shops will be almost impossible for police to enforce.
Its chairman, Ken Marsh, told Today:
Shopkeepers need to step up to the plate and take some responsibility. They can quite easily put signs up on their doors: ‘No mask on, no entry, this is private property.’
That’s the first point we need to get across because this cannot all be laid on the shoulders of the police yet again.
The second point is it will be nigh-on impossible for enforcement because you won’t have a police officer on every shop door because there isn’t enough of us.
If a shopkeeper calls the police because someone hasn’t got a mask on, they haven’t got the power to detain them so that person can just walk away.
We’ll be driving around and around London looking for people who aren’t wearing masks, it’s absolutely absurd.
Chairman Ken Marsh tells @BBCr4today on Government's facemask plan. "This cant all be laid on the shoulders of police yet again. It's nigh on unenforceable. We can't have an officer on every shop door. We can't drive around looking for people not wearing masks. Would be absurd." pic.twitter.com/I3fWcjT4qm
— Met Police Federation (@MPFed) July 14, 2020
Updated
Politico’s Charlie Cooper wonders whether Matt Hancock will mask up when he announces the mandatory face coverings measures in the Commons this afternoon.
An aide says only that he will ‘as always, be following the guidance’. Currently that guidance says: ‘If you can, you should also wear a face covering in … enclosed public spaces where social distancing isn’t possible and where you will come into contact with people you do not normally meet.’
Does the House of Commons chamber fit that description?
Updated
Former Tory party leader, Iain Duncan Smith, has insisted that Huawei’s kit should be stripped from UK telecommunication networks within the lifetime of this parliament.
Speaking to Sky News, Duncan Smith, said he was prepared to fight the government on the issue if it proposed a longer time frame for phasing out the Chinese company.
He said:
If the government is talking about seven years for 5G I think that is simply too long. I think we can get it done within this parliament [by] extracting existing 5G masks - which the government didn’t authorise originally. The government must get that accelerated. It has to be within this parliament.
China’s ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, has warned the UK against trampling on the basic norms of international relations over Huawei.
Asked about the comments, Duncan Smith said:
That’s a bit rich from an ambassador who spent his whole time threatening everybody and China has been trampling on every single international norm. This is a country and the government that doesn’t doesn’t agree with the rule of law, human rights, it has oppressed not just Tibetans but the Uigars, Christians. It’s having huge border disputes, it’s taken over the South China Seas against the objections of the countries that live in that area. We don’t need any lessons or are trampling on the norms of normal behaviour, they, they don’t accept many of those rules themselves.
Updated
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has welcomed government’s U-turn on making face coverings mandatory in shops in England.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said the evidence from experts was the measure could make a “massive difference” in helping to tackle coronavirus.
He said:
The advice is, where it’s not possible to keep your social distance, particularly if you’re in confined spaces indoors, shops, supermarkets and the like, gyms is another good example, this small measure can make a massive difference along with other measures.
Clearly, if it’s not practical to do so, think of a pub, a bar, or restaurant, in those places, it shouldn’t be mandatory.
Khan argued that “Londoners by and large will follow the rules” on wearing face coverings inside shops. He said police officers “may be around”, but added:
I don’t think you’ll come to many examples of the police having to enforce the rules. The problem is not the issue of enforcement, the problem is the mixed messages and the confused communications.
He gave a similar message to Sky News:
“This small thing with other measures can make a big difference.”
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) July 14, 2020
Mayor of London @SadiqKhan welcomes the news that face coverings in shops in England will become mandatory, but questions why it doesn’t start from today.#KayBurleyhttps://t.co/p7Eg4m2hH6 pic.twitter.com/pS22DQgiDm
Updated
The environment secretary, George Eustice, has defended the delay to ordering the mandatory use of face coverings in shops in England.
He told Sky News:
The evidence, the understanding, has been evolving. So the World Health Organization changed their guidance back in June and following that the government changed its guidance and we recommended that people wear face coverings in enclosed spaces when they’re out and about.
We then sharpened that and made it compulsory for public transport in the middle of June and what we’ve really got here is, as we loosen the lockdown and allow more venues to open, we need to consider the mix of measures we have in place to limit the transmission and control the virus.
And that’s why we’re making this next step, which is to say it’s mandatory to wear masks in retail environments.
Eustice said the mandatory use of face masks in England would apply to all shops, but not pubs and restaurants, as he appeared to contradict guidance for hairdressers.
“Hairdressers, you’ve always required a mask to go to,” he told Sky News. But the government guidance says: “There is no requirement for the client to wear any additional protection such as a mask or face covering, when the practitioner is wearing a visor.”
Eustice added:
We’re not for instance mandating the wearing of masks in pubs and restaurants, because obviously people have got to eat.
We’ve been evolving the measures we’ve had as we come out of lockdown and we’ve been strengthening the guidance progressively on masks making it mandatory first on public transport and now we’re going to that next step to make it mandatory in retail environments.
Updated
Summary
Welcome to our UK coronavirus live blog, where we’ll try to keep up with the government’s changing stance on two big issues: face coverings and Huawei.
Last night, Boris Johnson announced masks will be mandatory in shops from the end of next week following months of opposition to the idea and days of mixed messages from ministers.
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, is expected to give details of how the policy will be implemented, with fines of up to £100 for for non-compliance expected.
Later today, Johnson is also poised to unveil a climbdown on the role of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei in the UK’s 5G and broadband network.
But rebel MPs on the issue may not be placated. They had wanted ministers to ban the purchase of new Huawei kit in the next 12 months across Britain’s phone networks, and to eliminate it entirely by 2026.
Instead, Johnson is expected to ban new Huawei kit from January, but only offer to remove 5G Huawei kit from 2027 while other 3G and 4G mobile equipment would remain in place until the 2030s.
Experts have also warned the UK to start “intense preparations” for a second wave of coronavirus that has the potential to kill as many as 120,000 hospital patients in a worst-case scenario.
Senior doctors and scientists convened by the Academy of Medical Sciences said that, without urgent action, a resurgence of cases this winter could overwhelm the NHS when services are already stretched because of flu and other seasonal pressures.
The experts were commissioned by Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, to model a “reasonable worst-case scenario” for Covid-19 this winter. Their report, which has been shared with ministers and local health authorities, calls for immediate efforts to prepare for a second wave.
Updated
