Early evening summary
- Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has hinted that the government will impose tough new hotel quarantine rules for people arriving in the UK. For some days ministers have been discussing plans for people arriving in the UK to be forced to quarantine in hotels, but there has been disagreement about whether the new conditions should just apply to people visiting from countries where the Covid risk is particularly high, or whether they should apply more broadly. Asked if he favoured the hotel quarantine rules applying to all arrivals, Hancock said the “precautionary principle” should apply - implying he favoured stricter rather than looser rules. He said:
I think it is incredibly important that we are cautious at the border ...
It is important that we protect from new variants should they have vaccine evasion.
And it is also reasonable to take a precautionary principle to protect this country whilst we work on the science and the analysis of the different variants that are discovered around the world.
Earlier Boris Johnson also hinted that he favoured more comprehensive rather than more limited restrictions, saying the policy should provide “the maximum possible protection against reinfection from abroad”. (See 11.49am.) Ministers are expected to take a decision tomorrow.
- The UK has recorded the lowest number of new Covid cases for more than a month, although the number of people on mechanical ventilation in hospital with the illness has hit a record high. (See 4.36pm.)
That’s all from me for today. But our coverage continues on our global coronavirus live blog. It’s here.
Q: What is happening about the future of NHS Test and Trace?
Hancock says the National Institute for Health Protection, which will take over test and trace, is due to launch in April.
On the ground this is all being pulled together, he says.
As soon as a new chair is appointed, an announcement will be made, he says.
And that’s it. The press conference is over.
Q: Why does Scotland has the slowest vaccination rate in the UK?
Hancock says Scottish colleagues have been working incredibly hard to roll this out.
Q: Do you think your performance, and the performance of the government, has strengthened the case for the union?
Hancock says he thinks what the government has done has shown the strength of the union.
He says the UK has the fastest vaccine rollout in the world, apart from Israel and the UAE. He says that shows what happens when we pull together. It has been an example “of this country firing on all cylinders”.
We all rely on each other as one UK, he says.
Hopkins says Public Health England expect that dexamethasone will still be effective with the new variant.
Hancock backs 'precautionary principle' for border controls, implying strict hotel quarantine rules likely
Q: Do you now favour quarantining new arrivals in hotels?
Hancock says it is “incredibly important that we are cautious at the border”.
He says we should protect the country against new variants.
And he says it is right to take a “precautionary principle” to protect the country at the border.
Vaccines work against UK variant of coronavirus, says Hopkins
Hopkins says there are four laboratories in the UK working on the new variant. They have all concluded that the current vaccine works against it.
She says they are starting to do this work now on the South African variant.
There are four laboratories in the UK doing detailed vaccination and convalescent studies - and that is Imperial, Oxford and two PHE laboratories, Porton Down and Colindale.
The consensus view from those four laboratories, which have all done different experiments, is that the current vaccine works against the variant that was first discovered in the UK. That is very, very reassuring.
We are starting to do that work on South Africa - the variant that was first found in South Africa. That hasn’t reported yet.
But we will continue to look and watch this and we expect each of those sites to publish that data in its final format independently.
Harries says it is common for viruses to mutate, and it is “quite unlikely” that vaccine would not have “some degree of effectiveness” against a new variant.
Updated
Hancock says it is “so important that we get those new variants from abroad under control”.
He says, for the purposes of the vaccine rollout, it does not matter whether you have had the old variant or the new one. You still need to get vaccinated.
He says it is illegal for most people to travel abroad. Travel rules were changed to stop the new variants from abroad coming to the UK.
Q: How will measures be lifted?
Hancock says there are 37,000 people in hospital, and more people on ventilation than at any time in the crisis.
He knows why people want a timeline. But it depends on the facts on the grounds.
He says the PM said the death rate, hospital cases, whether there are new variants and the success of the rollout when deciding when to lift restrictions.
Harries says “we are not out of this by a very long way”. Case rates, the success of the vaccine programme and even the weather, which affects the vaccination programme and hospital numbers, are all relevant she says.
Q: Will the UK be able to develop its own vaccines to deal with the new variants?
Hancock says this is a “very live point”. He cites the Moderna announcement (see 2.34pm), but he says a lot of work is going on in government on this.
Hopkins says the government is working with its global partners on what future vaccines might need to look like.
Q: When the lockdown ends, will we revert to the old tier system? Or will a new one be put in place?
Hancock says the government is looking at this now. It will be driven by the science.
Hopkins says the death rates and numbers of people in ICU need to decline. She says Public Health England will advise the government on what should happen next.
Hancock ends by warning about the threat posed by the new variant, which may by 70% more infectious, and may also be more deadly, he says.
We must continue to be careful, he says.
We’re making progress with the vaccine, and the end is in sight. We cannot put that progress at risk.
Hancock says almost four out of five people over the age of 80 have now been vaccinated.
Today a further 32 large-scale vaccination centres have opened, he says.
And he thanks the 80,000 people who have volunteered to help. They have been doing things like standing in car parks “in the freezing cold” for eight hours a day. This “selfless attitude” is “truly heart-warming”, he says.
Hancock praises the NHS staff for their work.
And he particularly praises ambulance staff. At the weekend he says the Scottish ambulance service asked for help, and staff from the other nations’ ambulance services were able to help, he says.
We are stronger together, and the UK is stronger together in the fight against this pandemic.
(We have heard that No 10 wants to step up its campaigning against Scottish nationalism, but it is unusual to hear a minister use this setting to make an anti-independence argument - albeit in muted terms, as Hancock is doing.)
Hancock starts with the latest data.
On average there have been 37,258 cases per day in the last week, he says.
There are 37,899 people in hospital, he says.
And he says there have been 592 further deaths.
Hancock is appearing with Dr Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer for England, and Prof Susan Hopkins from Public Health England.
Matt Hancock's press conference
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is about to start his press conference.
Here is a useful chart on the vaccination figures from the UK Covid-19 Statistics website.
🇬🇧 7,044,048 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have now been administered in the United Kingdom.
— UK COVID-19 (@UKCovid19Stats) January 25, 2021
+221,067 doses in the latest 24hr period.
6,573,570 people have received their first dose, with 470,478 of those having a second dose (fully vaccinated). pic.twitter.com/uJY1omMaWc
This is from PA Media on the regional vaccination figures for England.
The NHS England data shows a total of 667,301 jabs have been given to people in London between December 8 and January 23, including 612,045 first doses and 55,256 second doses.
This compares to 1,081,988 first doses and 67,194 second doses given to people in the Midlands, a total of 1,149,182.
The breakdown for the other regions is as follows:
North-east and Yorkshire - 927,119 first doses and 71,744 second doses, making 998,863 in total
North-west - 796,059 first doses and 63,593 second doses, making 859,652 in total
South-east - 910,450 first doses and 76,383 second doses, making 986,833 in total
South-west - 654,546 first doses and 53,604 second doses, making 708,150 in total
East of England - 712,511 first doses and 53,615 second doses, making 766,126 in total.
UK records lowest number of new cases for more than month - as Covid hospital ventilation numbers hit record high
The UK government has just updated its coronavirus dashboard. Here are the key figures.
- The UK has recorded 592 further Covid deaths - the lowest daily total recorded for a fortnight. Recorded deaths are often relatively low on a Monday. The total number of deaths over the last seven days (8,671) is still above the total for the week before, by 9.8%, but there are some signs the rate of increase is starting to slow.
- The UK has recorded 22,195 further cases - the lowest daily for recorded cases for more than a month. The numbers have not been this low since 20,263 new cases were recorded on 14 December. Week on week, new cases have fallen by 25% - even though the amount of testing being carried out remains broadly flat.
- UK hospital admissions on Thursday last week (the most recent date for which a figure is available on the dashboard) were 3,547 - the lowest daily figure since 2 January (3,431). Week on week, hospital admissions are down 7.3%.
- But on Friday last week there were 4,076 hospital patients in the UK on mechanical ventilation - the highest total at any stage in the pandemic.
-
There was a sharp fall in the number of people in the UK getting the first dose of a vaccine on Sunday. On Saturday 491,970 people received a first dose, but on Sunday it was 220,249. The snow may have played a part in this, as the Welsh health minister, Vaughan Gething, said at his news conference earlier. (See 2.02pm.)
Updated
The Science Media Centre has published a comment on the Moderna announcement about its vaccine and the UK and South African variants (see 2.34pm) from Prof Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick Medical School. He says it means the vaccine is likely to be less effective against the South African variant.
In the comments BTL (below the line) a reader has asked for data on child hospital admissions for Covid. Here are two sources that can help.
The Public Health England Covid surveillance report, which is published every Thursday, contains charts showing hospital cases by age. This is from last week’s report (pdf). It covers the period up to the week ending 17 January (week 2).
And Sage, the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, regularly publishes, alongside its minutes, reports from the Covid-19 Clinical Information Network (CO-CIN) giving data on Covid patients. Here is the most recent one (pdf), with data covering more than 40,000 patients who have been in hospital with Covid. And here is one of the charts in it.
Northern Ireland has recorded 17 further coronavirus deaths (down from 19 a week ago today) and 422 more cases (down from 640 a week ago today), the Department of Health in the region has announced.
The Department of Health #COVID19 dashboard has been updated.
— Department of Health (@healthdpt) January 25, 2021
422 individuals have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Sadly, a further 17 deaths have been reported (5 outside the 24 hour period).https://t.co/YN16dmGzhv pic.twitter.com/DHhkFYn2Y4
This chart, from the department’s dashboard, shows how the seven-day average for new cases in Northern Ireland has been falling sharply.
Updated
The Financial Times’ Sebastian Payne has posted a good thread on Twitter looking at some of the pros and cons of an extensive hotel quarantine policy of the kind Boris Johnson signalled is likely to be announced by the government. (See 11.49am.) It starts here.
The UK is heading for mandatory hotel quarantine - likely to be signed off for all arrivals to the UK by ministers tomorrow.
— Sebastian Payne (@SebastianEPayne) January 25, 2021
But it’s an incredible complex policy that is far from cost free. Much will depend on how tough the government decides to act. Some thoughts:
And here is one of his conclusions.
It’s a quid pro quo that may prove popular with Brits: clamp down on borders and travel to open up society more quickly at home. But hotel quarantine is complicated, costly and has to be v carefully thought through. Hence why ministers are taking an extra 24 hours to decide.
— Sebastian Payne (@SebastianEPayne) January 25, 2021
Updated
NHS England has announced 609 further coronavirus hospital deaths. The details are here.
On Monday last week the equivalent figure for Covid hospital deaths in England was 532.
HM Revenue and Customs has announced that taxpayers will not receive a penalty if they file their self-assessment tax return by 28 February. Normally fines apply if people fail to file their tax return by 31 January.
Announcing the change, Jim Harra, the chief executive of HMRC, said:
We recognise the immense pressure that many people are facing in these unprecedented times and it has become increasingly clear that some people will not be able to file their return by 31 January.
Not charging late filing penalties for late online tax returns submitted in February will give them the breathing space they need to complete and file their returns, without worrying about receiving a penalty.
We can reasonably assume most of these people will have a valid reason for filing late, caused by the pandemic.
Updated
English schools not expected to start fully reopening until at least March
Schools in England are not expected to start fully reopening until at least early March, Downing Street has indicated, as Tory MPs and children’s advocates pressed Boris Johnson to set out a timetable for the process, my colleague Peter Walker reports.
Updated
Moderna says its vaccine works against UK and South African new variants
Moderna has announced that its vaccine works against the new variant of coronavirus first identified in Kent and now dominant in much of the UK, and also against the South African variant.
A study showed “no significant impact” on neutralising activity when the vaccine was dealing with the B117 variant (the UK one) compared with the original variant, Moderna says.
And although there was an impact when the vaccine was dealing with the B1351 variant (the South African one), this was not enough to stop the vaccine being protective, the study suggests. But Moderna does admit that this means the immunity provided by the vaccine against this variant could wear off more quickly than otherwise.
We just announced that the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine retains neutralizing activity against emerging variants first identified in the U.K. and the Republic of South Africa. Read more: https://t.co/UCCvX0PrKV pic.twitter.com/nCGl3hfhlU
— Moderna (@moderna_tx) January 25, 2021
The Moderna vaccine is one of three approved for use in the UK, and the government has ordered 17m doses. But it was not one of the original vaccines pre-ordered by the UK and supplies are not due to arrive until the spring.
Updated
Head teachers have warned against an unplanned rush back to school as the prime minister came under mounting pressure to outline a route map to full school reopening.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said vaccination for school staff should be a priority and any national plan for schools should also allow for local flexibility to take account of different infection rates across the country. He said:
The government elected to close schools to the majority of pupils in order to stem the spread of Covid in the community. An unplanned rush back to schools could easily drive community transmission back up, and force the school gates shut again, which nobody wants to see happen.
It is essential now that the government clearly sets out the conditions that would allow pupils to return. Risk needs to be acknowledged, quantified and mitigated. A national plan of this kind must include local flexibility to take account of varying levels of the virus in different parts of the country.
There is evidence that staff absence due to Covid is higher than in other professions. Staff absence also has a huge impact on pupils, who can lose a teacher due to self-isolation even if they are not sick themselves. For this reason, vaccinations for school staff should be a priority.
Vaccination programme in Wales affected by snow, says health minister
The snowfall at the weekend has had an impact on the vaccination programme in Wales, the country’s health minister, Vaughan Gething, has said. Speaking at the Welsh government press conference, he said:
We saw significant snowfall across large parts of Wales. This has had an impact on the vaccination programme.
Four vaccination centres were closed in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg area [in south Wales] yesterday and one mass vaccination centre was closed in the Swansea Bay health board area for safety reasons.
A number of GP practices around Wales also postponed clinics to today.
Some people decided, quite understandably, that they did not want to go out in the snow for their vaccination appointments yesterday.
Everyone who has had their appointment postponed will be contacted and will be offered a new appointment in the first half of this week.
Gething said the data was not yet in to establish whether the government had hit its target of vaccinating 70% of people over 80 by the end of the weekend just gone. He went on:
We will know in the next day or so if we have reached 70%. We do know that more than 70% of care home workers have been vaccinated.
Gething said the latest figures showed almost 271,000 people in Wales had had their first dose of the Covid vaccine – 8.7% of the population in seven weeks.
But he warned the public shouldn’t expect a significant unlocking of Covid restrictions in Wales any time soon.
He said the first minister, Mark Drakeford, would announce on Friday the findings of the three-week review into coronavirus restrictions. But he added: “No one should expect a significant unlocking of the current lockdown measures.”
Updated
At the Downing Street lobby briefing the prime minister’s spokesman sought to clarify what Boris Johnson said this morning about how the government would be looking at the “potential of relaxing some measures” before mid-February (see 11.49am). The spokesman said Johnson was just referring to the government’s previously-stated intention to review lockdown measures at that point. He said:
The prime minister was just making clear that ... we continue to look at the latest evidence in terms of the transmission of the virus, the number of people hospitalised, and the number of people who sadly go on to die.
And he was making the point that ahead of February 15, which as you know is the review point, we will look at that evidence closely, and that will inform what we may or may not be able to ease from the 15th onwards.
The spokesman also refused to deny a report (see 9.18am) saying the government could replace the £20-per-week uplift in universal credit with a one-off £1,000 lump sum payment when the uplift come to an end, as scheduled, at the end of March. Asked about the report in the Sunday Telegraph, the spokesman said:
It is a matter for the chancellor, but again I would point to the support that we have provided to people on low incomes and those who are the most vulnerable in society throughout the pandemic.
Sturgeon sees 'cautious grounds for optimism' in Scottish Covid hospital figures
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, said there are “cautious grounds” for believing the current Covid outbreak is subsiding after reporting 752 new cases detected in the last 24 hours.
She said there were 2,016 people in hospital, an increase of six, and a fall of six in the number in intensive care patients, down to 151. There had been four deaths of people with confirmed Covid infections overnight - a figure likely to be low due to lower registrations on a Sunday, with a total of 81 since Friday.
Speaking at her daily briefing, she said:
We think we may have cautious grounds for optimism that admissions to hospital are beginning to tail off slightly.
The latest data shows hospital cases peaked on Friday at 2,053, the highest on record, with 161 people in intensive care.
Dr Gregor Smith, Scotland’s chief medical officer, said that while “movement of travel for the number of cases is certainly going in the right direction” the country’s lockdown would remain in force for “a bit longer.”
Although the R number, the rate of community infection, was also dropping to below 1, about two-thirds of all new cases involved the new highly-infectious B117 variant, he said. As a result, “we need to be really, really careful, really cautious before we open up the country again”, he told the briefing.
Updated
Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
And while we’re on the subject of Scotland, the Sun’s Kate Ferguson says Boris Johnson is planning to visit the country this week to make “an impassioned plea for Scots to reject narrow separatism”.
The SNP will be thrilled. They believe that ensuring Scotland never gets governed again by Johnson, or anyone like him, is one of their best arguments for independence.
EXCL: Boris Johnson is expected to visit Scotland this week as he ramps up his bid to save the UK from Nicola Sturgeon's indyref2 threat https://t.co/0ty7l2d10I
— Kate Ferguson (@kateferguson4) January 25, 2021
Scottish Tory leader urges unionists to boycott any independence referendum not approved by Westminster
Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tory leader, has said his party would boycott a Scottish independence referendum set up without the approval of Westminster.
Ross said Scottish National party proposals for Holyrood to empower itself to stage a fresh referendum if Nicola Sturgeon’s party wins a majority in May’s election should not be seen as credible or legitimate.
He urged Labour and the Lib Dems to reject any attempt by the SNP to sidestep the current legal arrangements. Under the Scotland act 1998, Holyrood can only hold an official referendum after being granted a section 30 order by Westminster.
Speaking to reporters on Monday morning, Ross said Sturgeon had until now promised she would only support a fresh vote on that basis; it was the process in the 2014 referendum, and one she had described as the “gold standard”.
Describing any other route as a “wildcat referendum”, Ross said:
Anything that constitutes [an] unofficial referendum should be boycotted. It shouldn’t be given any credibility. It is again a divisive tactic by the SNP to split our country apart.
I would take no part in that. And I would hope anyone - not just unionist supporters - but people who support democracy, should not take part in these wildcat, unofficial referendums.
So, yes, I would make that plea to Scottish Labour, the Scottish Liberal Democrats and anyone who believes in democracy in Scotland.
Updated
ONS report on which occupations have highest Covid death rates - Summary
As promised earlier, here are some more of the findings from the ONS’s report on Covid deaths in 2020 by occupation. It covers people aged between 20 and 64, and the figures relate to England and Wales.
- Amongst people of working age, men have been almost twice as likely to die after getting Covid as women. There were 31.4 Covid deaths per 100,000 on average amongst men, and 16.8 deaths per 100,000 amongst women.
- Men doing unskilled, caring and other service jobs have been more than three times as likely to die as professionals. (See 10.02am.) Men who worked in what the ONS calls elementary occupations (jobs like labouring, cleaning or security) had the highest rates of death involving COVID-19, with 66.3 and 64.1 deaths per 100,000 males, respectively.
PA Media has filed a story with more details of Covid death rates for particular occupations. Here is an extract.
Of all the male deaths involving Covid-19 registered in England up to December 28 2020 where an occupation was listed, the ONS found that 120 deaths were of people who worked in process plants (a rate of 143.2 deaths per 100,000 males), while 140 deaths were among security guards and related occupations (100.7).
Both of these rates were more than three times the rate for deaths involving Covid-19 among all men aged 20 to 64 (31.4).
Other occupations with high rates of death for males included:
- Restaurant and catering establishment managers and proprietors (119.3 deaths per 100,000 males; 26 deaths)
- Chefs (103.1 deaths per 100,000 males; 82 deaths)
- Taxi and cab drivers and chauffeurs (101.4 deaths per 100,000 males; 209 deaths)
- Bus and coach drivers (70.3 deaths per 100,000 males; 83 deaths)
Among women, plant and machine operatives accounted for 57 deaths (33.7 deaths per 100,000 females).
Of these, assemblers and routine operatives - such as sewing machinists - accounted for 21 deaths (39.2)
By comparison, the rate for deaths involving Covid-19 among all women aged 20 to 64 was 16.8.
Other occupations with high rates of death for females included:
- Sales and retail assistants (26.9 deaths per 100,000 females; 111 deaths)
- Social workers (32.4 deaths per 100,000 females; 25 deaths)
- Managers and directors in retail and wholesale (26.7 deaths per 100,000 females, 24 deaths)
Rates of death involving Covid-19 among male and female social care workers in 2020 were “statistically significantly higher” than those for the wider working population, the ONS said.
A total of 469 Covid-19 deaths among social care workers were registered in England and Wales, with rates of 79.0 deaths per 100,000 males and 35.9 deaths per 100,000 females.
Among healthcare workers - including doctors, nurses, ambulance staff and hospital porters - men had a statistically significant higher rate of death involving Covid-19 (44.9 deaths per 100,000 males), while for women the rate was not significantly different (17.3 deaths per 100,000).
The ONS dataset, with the full tables for occupations, is here.
And here is the Guardian story on the figures.
Public Health Wales has reported 872 further coronavirus cases (down from 1,332 a week ago today) and 23 further deaths (up from 20 a week ago today).
The rapid COVID-19 surveillance dashboard has been updated
— Public Health Wales (@PublicHealthW) January 25, 2021
Personal computer https://t.co/zpWRYSUbfh
Mobile phone https://t.co/HSclxpZjBh
Read our daily statement here: https://t.co/u6SKHz0zsG pic.twitter.com/dll30Pxxsl
Updated
Less than half of over-80s in Shropshire have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine - the lowest rate in the country - with a local council leader blaming “a catalogue of errors” that continue to hamper the vaccine rollout.
The latest data from NHS England shows 14,031 over-80s in Shropshire - including Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin council areas - had their first dose of the vaccine by 17 January, the lowest number in England and equating to 49% of over-80s in the county.
In the market town of Ludlow, no over-80s in the community had been vaccinated as of last week, with some GPs in the area offering the vaccine for the first time from Monday morning.
Across England more than 75% of over-80s have now had their first dose of vaccine.
Shaun Davies, Labour leader of Telford and Wrekin council, said:
It’s hugely concerning for many people. I’ve been contacted by lots of families with people who are in their 90s and they haven’t had the jab, yet in other areas of the country people in their 70s are getting vaccinated. We’re so far behind, over-70s who have been invited to get their vaccine will now be competing with over-80s for vaccination appointments.
A vaccine hub at Telford International Centre opened its doors for the first time today, although problems with the booking system mean appointments for over-80s won’t start until Thursday.
NHS England has been contacted for comment.
Updated
On the Today programme this morning Prof Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, defended the decision to delay giving second doses of the vaccine - so that more people can get a first dose more quickly.
Although Pfizer has said that it does not have data showing that only one dose of its vaccine remains effective after three weeks (when the second dose is supposed to be administered - not 12 weeks, as is now happening), Finn said “what we know from other vaccines and from the human immune responses is that they don’t plateau and fall in that kind of time period”.
He told the programme:
What we are expecting to see first of all is that the impact is as was shown in the studies done by Pfizer - that by around two weeks we see protection. Actually, I would anticipate that we will see that protection continue to rise over subsequent weeks rather than fall.
Finn also criticised the British Medical Association for questioning the decision to delay the second dose. He said:
I must be careful what I say about the BMA, but I would say that it would be a good idea to really understand the issues before you make public pronouncements.
Other countries are looking at what the UK is doing with enormous interest and this may well turn out to be another example of a long tradition in us being innovative, creative with our resources and producing a much better way of using the vaccine.
He also rejected claims there was no evidence to justify the government’s new approach, saying there was “absolutely rock-solid evidence that if you give a dose of the vaccine to more people you give them protection and save lives”.
UK at risk of becoming failed state, says Gordon Brown
The UK is at risk of becoming a failed state and breaking up unless there are deep reforms of the way the country is governed, the former prime minister Gordon Brown has said. My colleague Damien Gayle has the story.
Downing Street sources are saying Boris Johnson’s comment about looking at the “potential of relaxing some measures” before mid-February (see 11.49am) has been “misinterpreted”. The spokesman claims that 15 February is the earliest point at which the government could change the rules.
Ministers have set 15 February as a benchmark because it marks the point at which the 15 million people in the top four priority groups for the vaccine should have been offered a vaccine. But if the government did want to ease lockdown restrictions before then (it doesn’t), it could easily change the secondary legislation to allow this.
Updated
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, will hold a press conference this afternoon, No 10 has announced.
Here is an extract from the Boris Johnson interview.
Johnson says hotel quarantine plan should offer 'maximum protection', implying wide range of arrivals to be covered
Boris Johnson’s interview this morning for broadcasters has now been shown on Sky News. (See 10.52am.) Having heard the whole thing, his overall message was definitely more in “plays down hopes of early lockdown easing” territory (see 10.52am) than the opposite (see 10.31am). Here is a fuller summary.
- Johnson said people should not assume that schools in England will remain closed for most pupils until Easter - although he refused to say when they would reopen. When asked if they would reopen before Easter, he said he could not give a timetable. (See 10.52am.) When the interviewer said that, from Johnson’s refusal to answer the question, parents would assume that schools would not reopen before Easter, he replied forcefully: “You mustn’t assume that.” But he stressed that he wanted to lift restrictions “in a responsible and cautious way”. He said:
Now this massive achievement has been made of rolling out this vaccination programme, I think people want to see us making sure that we don’t throw that away by having a premature relaxation and then another big surge of infection.
- He thanked parents who have been looking after children at home during the lockdown and said he appreciated how stressful it had been for them.
- He said that the government would be looking at the “potential of relaxing some measures” before mid-February. Here is the full quote:
As you know, the JCVI [Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation] groups one to four are going to be vaccinated by 15 February. Before then, we’ll be looking at the potential of relaxing some measures.
But don’t forget that this country has made huge progress in reducing infection. I don’t think people want to see another big surge in infection.
Hearing the quote in its context, it sounded more as if Johnson was referring to the possibility of announcing a plan before 15 February to lift some restrictions, rather than actually lifting some restrictions by that point. We may get some clarification later at the No 10 lobby briefing (although, given the opacity of the information we often get there, it is quite possible we won’t.)
- Johnson hinted that a wide range of people arriving in the UK would be forced to quarantine in hotels under plans being considered by ministers. Asked about the plans for arrivals to be made to stay in hotels, Johnson said that, given the progress being made in vaccinating people, it was important to protect the population from reinfection. He said:
If we’re going to make that effort, which we are, we want to make sure that we protect our population, protect this country, from reinfection from abroad. So that idea of looking at hotels is certainly one thing that we’re actively now [working on].
Johnson was then asked if he wanted the new hotel quarantine conditions to apply to just some arrivals, or to a much wider group, potentially covering all arrivals, including Britons. Johnson has until recently been thought to favour a targeted approach. But he replied:
We need a solution that gives us the maximum possible protection against reinfection from abroad because you can see the risk; we have to realise there is at least a theoretical risk that there is a new variant, that is a vaccine-busting variant, coming in. We’ve got to be to get it under control.
- He said, with the UK going through a pandemic, it was wrong for the SNP to propose a second independence referendum. Asked about the SNP announcement at the weekend, he said:
The whole UK is going through a pandemic, I think what the people of the UK want to see is everybody focusing on beating that pandemic, which we are, rolling out the vaccine, and getting ready to bounce back from that pandemic and have the strongest possible economic recovery.
I think people also can see everywhere in the UK the visible benefits of our wonderful union.
A vaccine programme that is being rolled out by a National Health Service, a vaccine that was developed in labs in Oxford and is being administered by the British army, so I think the strengths and advantages of the union speak for themselves.
Updated
Johnson refuses to say when schools in England will be able to reopen
According to the ITV report of Boris Johnson’s comments this morning, his overall tone was relatively downbeat about the prospect of lockdown being lifted any time soon.
This is what he said when asked if he could give a firm date for schools reopening. He replied:
Daily we’re looking at the data and trying to work out when we’re going to be able to lift restrictions.
Schools obviously will be a priority but I don’t think anybody would want to see the restrictions lifted so quickly while the rate of infection is still very high so as to lead to another great spread of infection ...
We’ve now got the R down below 1 across the whole of the country, that’s a great achievement, we don’t want to see a huge surge of infection just when we’ve got the vaccination programme going so well and people working so hard.
According to the report, Johnson also stressed that he understood why MPs are demanding a timetable for school reopening. He said:
I understand why people want to get a timetable from me today. What I can tell you is we’ll tell you, tell parents, tell teachers as much as we can as soon as we can.
But Johnson would not guarantee that schools would reopen before Easter. He said:
Believe me, there’s nothing I want to do more than reopen schools. I’ve fought to keep schools open for as long as I possibly could.
We want to see schools back as fast as possible. We want to do that in a way that is consistent with fighting the epidemic and keeping the infection rate down.
(Of course, schools in England are still open for the children of key workers and for vulnerable pupils. Johnson was using “reopen” in the sense of “reopen for everyone”, as news reports often do too.)
The ITV report does confirm that Johnson said the government will be “looking at the potential of relaxing some measures” before mid-February.
But it does not explain what this might mean, and so it is hard to know whether Johnson was referring to well-developed plans, or whether this was just another example of his optimism getting the better of him.
This is from Sky’s Joe Pike.
NEW: @BorisJohnson tells broadcast pool he is 'looking at the potential of relaxing some measures' before mid-February.
— Joe Pike (@joepike) January 25, 2021
This is all we’ve got on this so far. It is not clear yet what Boris Johnson might be referring to, and talking about relaxing lockdown measures is hard to square with the tone of what Johnson was saying at his press conference on Friday. I’ll post more as soon as I get it.
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Starmer self-isolating this week after being in contact with someone testing positive
Sir Keir Starmer says he has been told he has to self-isolate this week after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive. This is the third time he has had to do this, having had to isolate in September when a family member developed symptoms and in December when a member of his staff tested positive. That means he will have to do PMQs on Wednesday by video link.
He has posted this explanation on Twitter.
This morning I was notified that I must self isolate after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) January 25, 2021
I have no symptoms and will be working from home until next Monday.
Men in low-skilled, caring or service jobs more than three times as likely to die from Covid as professionals, ONS figures show
The Office for National Statistics has just published a report on Covid deaths in 2020 by occupation. And its key conclusion, illustrated by this table, is that, among the working age population, men who were working in low-skilled jobs, in the care sector or in other service jobs were most at risk. They were more than three times as likely from Covid as professionals, the ONS says.
Overall 7,961 people between the ages of 20 and 64 died in England and Wales after getting Covid between 9 March and 28 December 2020 last year.
Among this age group there were 31.4 deaths per 100,000 on average amongst men, and 16.8 deaths per 100,000 amongst women.
Commenting on the findings, Ben Humberstone, head of health analysis and life events at the ONS said:
Today’s analysis shows that jobs with regular exposure to Covid-19 and those working in close proximity to others continue to have higher Covid-19 death rates when compared with the rest of the working age population. Men continue to have higher rates of death than women, making up nearly two thirds of these deaths.
As the pandemic has progressed, we have learnt more about the disease and the communities it impacts most. There are a complex combination of factors that influence the risk of death; from your age and your ethnicity, where you live and who you live with, to pre-existing health conditions. Our findings do not prove that the rates of death involving Covid-19 are caused by differences in occupational exposure.
I will post more from the report shortly.
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Coffey says decision on extending support for people getting universal credit uplift due 'shortly'
Good morning. Only seven days ago Boris Johnson ordered his MPs to abstain in a Commons vote on a Labour motion saying the £20-per-week uplift in universal credit, introduced as a temporary measure during lockdown, should be extended beyond March. In the debate Will Quince, the welfare minister who was speaking for the government, said that while the government was not ruling out preserving the uplift in some way, the government had to wait for “more clarity on the national economic and social picture” before it could take a decision.
A week later, it seems the government now has all the clarity it needs, because Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, has been giving interviews this morning and she hoped a decision would be announced shortly on extending support for people who have been receiving the £20 per week.
On the Today programme Coffey said that universal credit over the last year had been “a lifeline to people who may have never been on benefits ever before” and that she had been “really pleased” about the help that it had been able to offer.
Asked if she was “absolutely clear” that the kind of support that was currently in place, like the £20-per-week uplift or something similar, would remain for the rest of the year, she replied:
I’m in active discussion with the chancellor, and, of course with the prime minister, about how we continue to make sure we support families during this difficult time. We’ve done a variety of things as a government - whether it’s been furlough, self-employed, the element for people who aren’t working or have had significantly reduced hours and are on universal credit as well - and I can assure you this is under very active consideration.
Originally the government said it would wait until the budget in March before announcing whether the £20-per-week uplift would continue, or what might replace it. But Coffey told BBC News that she hoped a decision would now be announced “shortly”. She said:
I can assure you that we are in active consideration of the options on how to best support people during this time and I hope we will be able to come to a decision soon. We are working very closely with the Treasury so that we can make sure that we have the best decision which I hope the prime minister will be able to announce shortly.
Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, has been reluctant to extend the uplift because it costs around £6bn a year and he does not want that to become a permanent, annual addition to the welfare budget. Yesterday the Sunday Telegraph reported that his alternative proposal is for a universal credit claimants to get a one-off payment of £1,000 instead (which would be worth about the same amount as the uplift over the course of the year, but that would not amount to a permanent increase). “One of the motivations of the Treasury is they think people will go out and spend it and help stimulate the economy,” a government source told the Sunday Telegraph.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: The ONS publishes a report on Covid deaths by occupation.
12pm: Downing Street is expected to hold its daily lobby briefing.
12.15pm: Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, is expected to hold a coronavirus briefing.
12.15pm: The Welsh government holds its coronavirus briefing.
2.30pm: Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
Politics Live is now doubling up as the UK coronavirus live blog and, given the way the Covid crisis eclipses everything, this will continue for the foreseeable future. But we will be covering non-Covid political stories too, and when they seem more important or more interesting, they will take precedence.
Here is our global coronavirus live blog.
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.
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