Early evening summary
- Covid vaccine certificates will be made compulsory for crowded venues such as nightclubs in an attempt to boost jab uptake among young people, Boris Johnson has announced. Speaking at a new conference at No 10 he said:
Nightclubs need to do the socially responsible thing and make use of the NHS Covid pass, which shows proof of vaccination, a recent negative test or natural immunity – as a means of entry. As we said last week, we do reserve the right to mandate certification at any point, if it is necessary to reduce transmission.
And I should serve notice now that by the end of September, when all over 18s will have had their chance to be double jabbed, we are planning to make full vaccination the condition of entry to nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather.
Proof of a negative test will no longer be enough.
Johnson also said that he did not want a situation where people are asked to “produce papers” to get into pubs but did not rule it out. He said: We reserve to do a right to do what is necessary to protect the public.
- He defended the current isolation rules for contacts of people testing positive, saying they were “one of the few shots we have got left in our locker” following the easing of restrictions.
- But he said a small number of critical workers would be able to use regular testing as an alternative to isolation before 16 August, when all fully-vaccinated people will be able to do this. He said:
I want to assure you that we will protect crucial services including the staffing of our hospitals and our care homes, the supplies of food, water, electricity and medicines, the running of our trains, the protection of our borders and the defence of our realm, by making sure that a very small number of named, fully vaccinated, critical workers are able to leave their isolation solely for the work I have described.
- Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said hospitalisations could rise “quite a lot” higher than 1,000 per day over the summer. He said:
The models are saying it is very likely we will get to above 1,000 hospitalisations a day, it could be quite a lot higher than that, and there will be deaths associated with that.
He also said he would like to see case numbers falling by September, because the return of pupils to school then would put more pressure on the system.
- Johnson did not rule out raising taxes to pay for reform to social care. Asked about reports that he favours some sort of tax increase to fund a plan costing up to £10bn a year, he replied:
All I can say is we’ve waited three decades, you’re just going to have to wait a little bit longer. I’m sorry about that but it won’t be too long now, I assure you.
That’s all from me for today. But our coronavirus coverage continues on our global live blog. It’s here.
Updated
Johnson's press conference - snap verdict
Earlier in the Commons MPs were joking about the campaigners at Westminster today (see 2.58pm) who were protesting about the lockdown that is no longer in place. In the light of this press conference, perhaps the lockdown alarmism of the fanatics outside parliament might appear slightly less hysterical. Because this was the most downbeat press conference Boris Johnson has hosted, at least since he postponed the move to step 4 of the roadmap, and probably for much longer.
At least when the government postponed step 4 of lockdown easing in England for four weeks, Johnson was reasonably confident of the process being irreversible. Now he is actively planning to curtail a freedom that only became available to clubbers 18 hours ago. He is proposing not just mandatory Covid status certification, something previously ruled out, but a form of Covid status certification (only vaccination would count) that was seen as discriminatory when the idea was first discussed in government. Johnson also refused to rule out mandating these Covid passports for a much wider range of venues. (See 5.39pm.) And Prof Jonathan Van-Tam and Sir Patrick Vallance implied that, if cases are not under control by the end of August, the scientists will be calling for other restrictions to be reimposed.
This was not quite the government hitting the panic button. But it did sound like a government nervously fingering the panic button just to be sure it knows where it is.
Vallance says daily hospitalisations could rise 'quite a lot higher' than 1,000
Q: If rising hospitalisations do pose a risk to the NHS, what would be the first restrictions you would reapply?
Van-Tam says the NHS is not at the moment like anything under the pressure it was in January.
He says the knock-on effect for infections is seven to 10 days, meaning we won’t see the impact of today until then. And then it will take another seven to 10 days to assess the impact on hospitalistions.
He says hospitals are also trying to deal with the backlog of operations.
And hospital staff are tired people, he says.
As for what might be reimposed, he says that question would go to Sage. But we know that close contact indoors is what causes the problem.
That is why, if there is a sweet spot, it is now, in summer.
Q: No country is lifting restrictions with cases rising so much. Is this just an experiment?
Vallance says it is not possible to open up without cases going up.
And the Delta variant has made things worse.
We have high case levels, and opening up will lead to more.
If you go more slowly, then the size of the peak will be lower.
But there are risks. They are mitigated by vaccinations.
He says it is likely we will get to 1,000 hospitalisations per day, and it could be “quite a lot higher” than that.
Q: Is Jeremy Farrar right in saying the public inquiry should start now?
Johnson says it would not be right to start it now, when public health officials are still dealing with the pandemic.
But next spring will be the right time for it to start, he says.
And that’s it. The press conference is over.
Updated
Back at the press conference, Boris Johnson says some important sectors are included in the list of critical workers who will be allowed to use testing as an alternative for isolation.
But he says isolation is a valuable tool. That is why he wants to carry on using it.
US advises Americans not to visit UK because of Covid risk
The US is warning its citizens not to travel to Britain, the BBC’s Jon Sopel reports.
On #FreedomDay in England the US @CDCgov raises UK to highest risk level and warns Americans not to travel to Britain because of prevalence of #deltavariant pic.twitter.com/VpZCUvAhqX
— Jon Sopel (@BBCJonSopel) July 19, 2021
There’d been speculation that travel ban for Britons travelling to the US would be lifted at G7. It wasn’t.
— Jon Sopel (@BBCJonSopel) July 19, 2021
That was replaced by speculation it will be lifted by end of summer. It won’t, given latest CDC advice
Updated
Q: Why did you think you would be exempt from the isolation rules at the weekend?
Johnson says he did not think that.
Q: Can you definitely rule out vaccine passports for pubs?
Johnson says he certainly does not want to see passports for pubs. But the government reserves the right to do what is necessary to protect the public.
Q: Are you still committed to not raising tax or national insurance?
Johnson says this is a question about social care. For three decades this has bedevilled governments. But he says people will not have to wait long now for the government’s plans. But it “won’t be too long now”, he says.
Updated
Q: What is your reaction to the scenes of overcrowding we have seen recently.
Van-Tam says parks and beaches are outdoors. Nightclubs are different, because they are indoors and people are drinking alcohol.
It is really important to go slowly and gradually, he says.
Johnson suggests use of NHS Covid app could be compulsory for nightclubs
Q: Is early September, when schools go back, the moment when you might have to tighten restrictions again?
Vallance says most models suggest there will be a peak in August, followed by either a plateau or a decrease.
He says, with a doubling time of 11 days, that takes you to some worrying figures.
He says he would like to see case numbers falling by September.
Van-Tam says there is huge uncertainty about how high the peak will be, and how long it will take to get there.
That is because it will be driven by people’s behaviour.
If we are cautious, and we do not “tear the pants” out of this, we will lessen the peak, he says.
Johnson agrees with this.
Q: What other crowded venues might need to restrict access to people who have been vaccinated?
Johnson says other countries have had a particular problem with the opening up of nightclubs.
He says the government reserves the right to mandate the NHS Covid app for nightclubs.
- Johnson suggests use of NHS Covid app could be compulsory for nightclubs.
And he says he thinks it would be sensible to move to a certification system in September.
Johnson says he hopes the road map out of lockdown is irreversible. But he says he cannot guarantee that.
Q: Are you giving young people an ultimatum - get vaccinated, or don’t go to a club?
Johnson says he has boundless admiration for young people. He wants them to be able to bounce back.
What would help would be to reduce the time we are all living under this pandemic. He says getting everyone vaccinated would help.
He says there are 3 million people in the 18 to 30 age group who are not vaccinated yet. He says he is urging them to get it.
Vallance says nightclubs are an environment where spreading the virus is easier. He says he expects to see outbreaks linked to specific clubs.
Van-Tam says the Japanese talks about the three Cs posing risk: closed places, crowded places and places where people get close to each other.
He says he prefers to talk about those conditions than specific types of venue.
Updated
Q: Of the new Covid cases, what proportion have had none, one and two vaccine doses?
Johnson says the number of people fully vaccinated who get Covid has been rising, but he does not have those figures.
Vallance says 60% of people admitted to hospital are double vaccinated.
That is a reflection of how many people are vaccinated, he says.
If all people over the age of 18 had been double vaccinated, you would expect all adults catching it to be vaccinated, he says.
Q: I have been fully vaccinated in Italy. That means I cannot get the NHS Covid status for events, and cannot travel abroad and count as being fully vaccinated.
Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, says this is a reasonable point.
There is a great deal of awareness in government about this, he says. They are working hard to sort this out. But it has to be done in a rational way.
Vallance also says deaths are likely to increase. He suggests they could reach 100 per day.
At the press conference Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, says hospitalisations are expected to reach more than 1,000 per day over the summer. He is showing this slide.
Updated
From my colleague Heather Stewart
Pretty amazing to hear the PM say he's concerned by "the continuing risk posed by nightclubs," less than 18 hours after he ordered them to be opened.
— Heather Stewart (@GuardianHeather) July 19, 2021
Johnson says he does not want to close nightclubs.
But they have to do the socially responsible thing, and use the Covid pass as a test of entry, he says.
By the end of September, when all over-18s will have had the chance to be vaccinated, proof of vaccination will be necessary for people to go to nightclubs and other places where large crowds gather, he says.
Johnson says only small number of critical workers to be covered by new exemption from isolation
Johnson says people who are contacts of people who have tested positive are five times as likely to be infected as others.
That is why it is important to maintain the isolation rules for contacts of those people testing positive, he says.
He says this will change on 16 August, when the fully vaccinated will be able to use regular testing as an alternative.
In the meantime, a small number of fully vaccinated critical workers will be able to use testing as an alternative to isolation. (See 4.54pm.) This will only apply to a small number of people, he says. He stresses that he is isolating himself.
Boris Johnson is speaking now.
He says if the government did not open up now, it would be harder to do it in the coming months.
The nightclub announcement (see 5.02pm) marks quite a change from only a few weeks ago, when the government was ruling out the use of Covid-status certificates.
Even when the government was interested in the concept of Covid-status certificates, it stressed that proof of a negative test might be as acceptable as proof of vaccination.
Now the government is saying proof of a negative test will not be enough from September. (See 5.02pm.)
This is not quite what people were expecting to hear on so-called “freedom day”.
Zahawi says from end of September only fully vaccinated people to be allowed into nightclubs and other crowded venues
In his statement to MPs Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccine deployment minister, also said that from the end of September nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather would only be allowed to let in people who are fully vaccinated.
He said:
I encourage businesses to draw on support and use the NHS Covid pass in the weeks ahead. We will be keeping a close watch on how it is used by venues and we reserve the right to mandate it. By the end of September everyone aged 18 and over will have the chance to receive full vaccination and the additional two weeks for that protection to really take hold.
At that point we make full vaccination a condition of entry to nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather.
Proof of a negative test will no longer be sufficient. Any decisions will of course be subject to parliamentary scrutiny.
Updated
Boris Johnson’s press conference
Boris Johnson is about to hold his press conference. He will be participating from Chequers, where he is isolating.
He is likely to give more details of the announcement about alternatives to isolation for workers providing a public service.
Zahawi says wider group of workers providing public service to be allowed to use testing as alternative to isolation
Zahawi says the government is going to extend the scheme allowing people who are fully vaccinated to use regular testing as an alternative to isolation if they have been in contact with someone testing positive. (See 10.29am.) He says this new system will be extended so that it covers not just health and social care workers, but other people who provide a vital public service, like air traffic controllers and train station managers.
Updated
Zahawi confirms that only limited number of under-18s to be vaccinated, in line with JCVI advice
Zahawi turns to policy on vaccinating children, and he apologises to the Speaker for giving away the main points of his announcement on the radio this morning.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has just put out a news release summarising its recommendations. It says.
The JCVI is today advising that children at increased risk of serious Covid-19 disease are offered the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. That includes children aged 12 to 15 with severe neurodisabilities, Down’s syndrome, immunosuppression and multiple or severe learning disabilities.
The JCVI also recommends that children and young people aged 12 to 17 who live with an immunosuppressed person should be offered the vaccine. This is to indirectly protect their immunosuppressed household contacts, who are at higher risk of serious disease from Covid-19 and may not generate a full immune response to vaccination.
Under existing advice, young people aged 16 to 17 with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious Covid-19 should have already been offered vaccination.
The JCVI is not currently advising routine vaccination of children outside of these groups, based on the current evidence.
Zahawi tells MPs the government is accepting this recommendation.
Updated
Zahawi says the ratio between cases and hospitalisations is at its lowest level since the pandemic.
He says the government wanted to ensure that two-thirds of UK adults were fully vaccinated by today. It hit that target five days early, he says.
He says the government is drawing up plans for a booster vaccination programme in the autumn, subject to final advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
Updated
Nadhim Zahawi tells MPs cases and hospitalisations 'will get worse before they get better'
Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccine deployment minister, is making his statement to MPs.
We are not at the finish line yet, he says. He says instead we are moving to the next stage.
Cases and hospitalisations have risen, as predicted, he says. He says these numbers will “get worse before they get better”.
Daily new Covid cases outnumber daily first doses of vaccine administered for first time
The UK has recorded 39,950 new coronavirus cases, and 19 further deaths, according to the latest update to the government’s coronavirus dashboard.
The figures also show that only 18,186 first doses of vaccine were administered yesterday. That is the lowest daily total for first doses recorded on the dashboard, where the data for this measure goes back to 11 January. It is a reflection of the fact that 87.9% of UK adults have now already had a first dose.
This means that the total for new cases was yesterday higher than the total for first doses of vaccine administered. That has not happened before.
The number of second doses administered yesterday was 128,878.
Labour is planning to expel members who belong to one of four far-left factions, my colleague Rajeev Syal reports.
Momentum, the group set up to support Jeremy Corbyn and his agenda when he was leader, has put out a statement opposing the proposal. It said:
At a time when the Tory government is allowing the pandemic to rip through the country, the Labour leadership has once again turned inwards, creating a vacuum where real opposition is needed and distracting from the task of delivering a Labour government. The auto-expulsion of members that share this ambition and our party’s values only strengthens the Tories.
We oppose guilt by association. The Labour party has always been home to a wide range of political traditions and we have a responsibility to work with each other to build support for socialist ideas and policies.
Updated
In evidence to the Commons European scrutiny committee, Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, restated his call for fundamental changes to the way the Northern Ireland protocol operates. He told the committee:
At the moment, I think the only way it can be made sustainable is if we could find a way to hugely reduce or eliminate the barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, goods moving in that direction, and we need to - as we go forward - try and find a way of achieving that.
It remains the core of the problem that the boundary between Great Britain and Northern Ireland is too dissuasive, too complicated, too chilling of identity in various ways. And that’s what’s got to be solved, I think, in terms of direction of travel. So we’re keeping, obviously, all options on the table.
Northern Ireland records more than 1,700 daily new cases for first time since January
The daily Covid-19 case number in Northern Ireland has topped 1,700 for the first time since January, PA Media reports. PA says:
Case numbers have been rapidly increasing in recent weeks with the Delta variant of the virus now dominant in the region.
On Monday a further 1,776 cases of Covid-19 were reported by the Department of Health.
It comes after 537 new cases were reported on Sunday, 1,402 cases were reported on Saturday and 1,380 on Friday.
One further death of a patient who had previously tested positive for the virus was also notified on Monday, bringing the toll to 2,163.
Hospital patient numbers are also increasing.
On Monday morning there were 109 Covid-19 positive patients in hospital, with seven in intensive care.
And here are the new case figures from the Northern Ireland dashboard.
Updated
Covid staff absences force BBC London and BBC South East to merge bulletins
The BBC’s regional news output has been hit by a surge in Covid cases and a number of staff being advised to stay home by the NHS app.
On Sunday evening BBC One was forced to scrap its scheduled London regional news bulletin after the 10 o’clock news. Instead viewers in London were shown a “shared” regional bulletin broadcast from Tunbridge Wells. It featured news about people enjoying the sunshine on Brighton breach and queues to the Dartford tunnel in Kent.
A BBC spokesperson said:
Like lots of workplaces, our regional news services have been impacted by Covid. Providing viewers with the latest information is our top priority, alongside protecting our staff.
It is understood that BBC London will be sharing bulletins with BBC South East on a temporary basis. The shared bulletins will be aimed at reflecting news from both regions. A source said: “These are short-term measures and we will return to normal as quickly as we can.”
Updated
At the opening of proceedings in the Commons this afternoon Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, said he was strongly advising MPs to carry on wearing masks around the parliamentary estate and in the chamber. He said:
With the increasing infection levels in the community and people having to isolate, I strongly advise that everyone on the estate should wear face coverings when moving around - assessing catering venues and in the areas they consider crowded, including the chamber.
We have four sitting days before the house rises. I really want us to behave safely, responsibly, during these few days.
Last week the Commons authorities were criticised when it was revealed that staff at parliament were being told they had to carry on wearing masks while for MPs, from today, it was going to be voluntary. In response to a complaint about this from unions representing parliamentary staff, Hoyle told them:
I have no power to prevent democratically elected members from coming on to the estate when the house is sitting. As such, there is no meaningful way to enforce a requirement on members to wear a face covering.
Updated
The protest at Westminster by anti-lockdown campaigners has turned more confrontational.
Police have been responding to an anti-lockdown protest in Westminster, which saw demonstrators block a road and force traffic to a standstill on so-called “freedom day”, PA Media reports. PA says:
Protesters held signs and chanted “freedom” as they gathered in Parliament Square after all remaining coronavirus restrictions were lifted in England, including an end to social distancing rules.
The demonstration moved from Parliament Square to spread onto the road and up to the gates of the Palace of Westminster, leading Metropolitan police officers to urge protesters to move out of the road.
An officer was seen to put a lock on a gate at the entrance to parliament while those outside held signs with anti-vaccination and anti-police messages, with some chanting “shame on police” and “arrest Boris Johnson”.
Updated
There will be an urgent question in the Commons on Covid travel rules at 3.30pm before the oral statement from Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccine deployment minister, on vaccinating children.
1 UQ and 1 Ministerial Statement in the Commons Today from 3:30pm
— Labour Whips (@labourwhips) July 19, 2021
1) UQ - @JimfromOldham to @robertcourts - International Travel Rules
2) Statement - @nadhimzahawi / @JonAshworth - Covid 19 Update
Britain’s restrictions on travellers from France seem “excessive”, the French European affairs minister has said as France attempts to contain rising Covid cases – which stand at less than a third of the daily reported cases in the UK. My colleague Angelique Chrisafis has the story here.
No 10 seeks to quash claim PM went to Chequers already knowing he would have to isolate
Here are the main lines from the Downing Street lobby briefing.
- No 10 sought to quash allegations that Boris Johnson travelled to Chequers at the weekend knowing that he was likely to be told to isolate because Sajid Javid, who had been in a meeting with him, had coronavirus. One MP asking about this this morning was Labour’s Chris Bryant, who posted this on Twitter.
Have I missed something? Johnson was told he was a close contact on Friday? It wasn’t till Sunday at Downing St that he announced he was starting the pilot scheme? And then he was driven to chequers, thereby not self isolating at all? Hasn’t he broken the law several times over?
— Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) July 19, 2021
At the lobby briefing the PM’s spokesman said Johnson left for Chequers at 3pm on Friday, after his meeting with Javid. The spokesman would not say when the PM found out that Javid was feeling ill, but he said that Javid did not find out until he did a lateral flow test on Saturday that he had coronavirus. That result was confirmed by a PCR test on Sunday. The spokesman said:
The health secretary took his test on Saturday, so the correct process has been followed. Once contacted by NHS Test and Trace over the weekend, [the PM] has isolated and has not travelled subsequently because he did not want to travel across the country.
The spokesman would not say who else was isolating as a result of contact with Javid, and he would not say if the PM’s wife Carrie was with him at Chequers.
Although there have been claims on social media that Johnson went to Chequers already knowing he would have to isolate, the allegation that he did so because he wanted to spend the week isolating in the Buckinghamshire countryside does not square with No 10 saying early on Sunday morning that the PM would be working from Downing Street this week because he would be taking advantage of the pilot scheme allowing him not to have to isolate.
But, as the Mirror’s Pippa Crerar reports, it took a while at the briefing to get the spokesman to clarify the timings.
In space of 30 mins at lobby, PM’s official spox says:
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) July 19, 2021
- PM arrived in Chequers “at start of week”
- he travelled there “on Friday morning”
- he travelled at 3pm on Friday afternoon
Hard to escape feeling somebody not being entirely straight here. 🧐
“At the start of the week” is a typo in the tweet. The spokesman said at the start of the weekend.
- The spokesman said that Johnson has tested negative since his meeting with Javid.
- The spokesman confirmed that the government has ruled out altering the sensitivity of the NHS Covid app to reduce the chances of people being “pinged” by it and told to isolate.
-
The spokesman confirmed that Johnson will hold a press conference this afternoon. (See 1.07pm.) Johnson will participate remotely from Chequers. He is also due to take PMQs remotely later this week.
Updated
Starmer accuses PM of turning lockdown unlocking into 'reckless free-for-all'
Sir Keir Starmer has launched one of his strongest attacks yet on the Covid measures for England implemented by Boris Johnson today. Starmer described the lifting of most restrictions in England as a “reckless free-for-all”. Here are the top lines from his mini speech.
- Starmer said that the so-called freedom day amounted to a “reckless free-for-all”.
- He said that Boris Johnson had got “every big decision wrong” on Covid. He said:
The truth is the Tories have got virtually every big decision wrong either in substance or timing or both.
People have died.
Tragically, more will do so ...
The chaotic, incompetent way Boris Johnson conducts himself is dangerous.
It makes for bad government and has deadly consequences for the British public.
Wave one - more people died and more economic damage was done because the prime minister was too slow to act, stuck at Chequers when he should have taken charge.
Wave two - more people died and more economic damage was done because of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak’s decision to ignore the science and delay a lockdown in the autumn.
This deadly error was made worse by a failed Christmas gamble that caused heartache for so many.
Wave three – more people died and more economic damage was done.
Just as the NHS and the British public had given us light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccine programme, the prime minister threw the country into chaos once again by delaying border controls and allowing the Johnson variant into the country.
And now a reckless free-for-all.
- He said it was “crass and insensitive” for Johnson and Rishi Sunak to think it would be acceptable for them to take advantage of the pilot scheme that would allow them to use testing as an alternative to isolation having been in a meeting with Sajid Javid, the health secretary, who later tested positive. Starmer said:
When the prime minister and chancellor claimed they had miraculously been selected for a trial so that they could avoid isolation.
Isolation that hundreds of thousands of the rest of us have dutifully taken.
The Tories’ instincts were revealed yet again: one rule for them, and another for everyone else.
With family events cancelled, businesses having to close and workers having to go without pay, Johnson and Sunak’s attempts to dodge isolation were crass and insensitive.
- Starmer called for a new approach to opening up. He said:
The government urgently needs to change course, drop plans to lift all restrictions and rebuild public faith in the isolation system they have undermined at the same time.
But, despite Starmer urging the government to “change course”, Labour has only so far proposed a relatively small number of alternative policies to those being implemented in England today. It has said that wearing masks in shops and on public transport should have remained compulsory, and it has called for more action to improve ventilation, and it has said that support for people who have to isolate should be more generous, so it is easier for people to comply.
Updated
Boris Johnson to hold press conference this afternoon
Boris Johnson is to hold a press conference this afternoon at 5pm, Downing Street has announced. He will be joined by Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, and Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England.
According to Tom Edwards, BBC London’s transport correspondent, Transport for London data from this morning suggests the lifting of most remaining restrictions in England has not led to any increase in the number of people going to work in the capital by tube or bus.
He also says TfL reckons around 85% of passengers are wearing masks. It is no longer law to have to wear masks on public transport in England, but TfL is still keeping this as a rule for its network.
NEW: No rush back to work. Upto 10am tube travel 38% (0.78m entry/exits) of normal demand - unchanged from last week. Bus travel 68% (0.98m taps) - down 4% from last week. (Some schools have broken up). Mask compliance about 85% says Tfl.
— Tom Edwards (@BBCTomEdwards) July 19, 2021
Updated
One in six council areas in England now recording highest Covid case numbers since last summer
Around one in six areas in England are now reporting their highest rate of new Covid-19 cases since comparable records began last summer, when mass testing was first introduced in the UK, PA Media reports. PA says:
The list includes almost all local authority areas in north-east England, close to a half in south-west England and nearly a third in Yorkshire and the Humber.
Data also shows that every local area in England is now recording coronavirus rates above the symbolic level of 100 cases per 100,000 people - the first time this has happened since early January, at the peak of the second wave.
The figures have been compiled by the PA news agency, and come on the day that most remaining Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in England are finally lifted.
Face masks are no longer compulsory in shops and on public transport, limits on social gatherings have been scrapped, and work from home guidance has ended.
Many businesses and transport operators are still asking people to wear face masks, however.
Some 50 of the 315 local authority areas in England (16%) are currently recording Covid-19 case rates that are higher than any point since mass testing began, PA analysis shows.
Eight of these are in north-east England: Redcar & Cleveland (1,268.0 cases per 100,000 people - the highest anywhere in England); Middlesbrough (1,178.9); Hartlepool (1,061.3); Sunderland (1,036.7); Stockton-on-Tees (944.5); Darlington (863.3); County Durham (783.3); and Northumberland (674.6).
In neighbouring Yorkshire & the Humber, six areas currently have record rates: Doncaster (729.1), Wakefield (667.2), Leeds (599.4), Richmondshire (575.1), Hambleton (552.4) and East Riding of Yorkshire (517.9).
All rates are for the seven days to 14 July, with case data for 15-18 July excluded as it is incomplete.
The figures reflect the impact of the third wave of coronavirus, which began in the UK at the end of May and is now causing a sharp rise in new cases across the country.
England’s overall rate of new cases currently stands at 425.3 per 100,000 people: the highest since January 19.
As I pointed out earlier (see 11.58am), there was very little in the first wave of Covid, and so although actual case rates reached extraordinarily high levels in March, this was not reflected in the reported figures.
Updated
Updated
The spread of Covid has been ramping up in Westminster, as evidenced by the health secretary, Sajid Javid, recently testing positive.
In the final week before parliament breaks up for the summer recess, the Guardian has learned that one of the three Commons deputy speakers - the Labour MP Rosie Winterton – is isolating after being “pinged” by the Covid app.
Given her absence during a crucial week, another Labour backbencher, Judith Cummins, will be nominated to temporarily replace her.
Cummins, who is a member of the panel of chairs, will abstain from voting this week given speakers are meant to be impartial and not take part in divisions. She has been paired with a Tory MP, meaning they will also not vote as a courtesy to avoid the opposition suffering a disadvantage in votes.
Updated
Two-thirds of adults in Great Britain said they still plan to cover their faces in shops, following the lifting of most coronavirus legal restrictions in England from July 19, PA Media reports. PA says:
The same percentage - 64% - plan to wear masks on public transport, while 60% plan to avoid crowded places, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Statistics from the ONS’s weekly opinions and lifestyle survey also found nine out of 10 adults believe continuing to wear face coverings is important for slowing the spread of Covid-19, whilst 88% said social distancing from those not in their household remained key.
More than half who were surveyed between July 7 and 11 said they were worried about plans to remove legal restrictions, which come into force today. One fifth said they were “very worried”.
The TSSA transport union has said that today should be seen as disaster day not freedom day, because the government’s mixed messages about face coverings and other items have put public safety at risk. Manuel Cortes, the union’s general secretary, said:
Today – far from being ‘freedom day’ – has already been dubbed ‘disaster day’. The mixed messages and inconsistencies from government are deeply irresponsible and could prove to be deadly.
We are in the throes of another spike of coronavirus so everyone should continue to follow the modest safety measures of wearing face coverings, social distancing and hand washing.
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Prof Andrew Hayward, the head of the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care at University College London and a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), told Sky News this morning that the country was facing the biggest wave of Covid ever seen. He said:
We are heading into the biggest wave of Covid infection that we have ever seen and, even though the vaccine will substantially reduce the number of deaths and hospitalisations, it’s still likely that we will see somewhere in the low tens of thousands of deaths even if we are cautious.
And that could move into the mid and high tens of thousands of deaths if we just went back to normal activity.
So I think this remaining cautious is really a key thing in this unlocking of legal restrictions.
Yesterday Prof Neil Ferguson, one of the leading epidemiologists advising government, said Covid cases could reach 200,000 a day later this year. In the second wave recorded Covid cases peaked at just over 80,000 per day (by specimen date) at the end of December. The recorded numbers were much, much lower in the first wave, but that was because very little testing was taking place. The actual number of cases per week at the height of the first wave is thought to be in the hundreds of thousands.
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As Chester Live reports, Chester Cathedral has abandoned a plan to ring its bells to mark so-called freedom day after the proposal triggered a fierce backlash.
We thank you all for your feedback regarding an intention to ring the Cathedral bells tomorrow marking “Freedom Day”.
— Chester Cathedral (@ChesterCath) July 18, 2021
We apologise sincerely for the insensitivity of this plan and for any upset cause.
The bells will not ring tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/jiILf7na2G
Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, told LBC that the biggest issue that businesses were raising with him now was the impact of isolation rules on their staffing arrangements. (See 11.01am.) He said that it was creating “a difficult situation” for firms, but he said the government was sticking to its plan to make the fully vaccinated wait until 16 August before they can start using testing as an alternative to isolation. He said:
I said I would make representations in government, I said I would try and see what could be done.
We have taken a collective decision. There are lots of different views but we took a collective decision, I think this is the right decision.
Scotland has today moved to level 0 in its Covid control system. But, as Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, points out, that does not mean all restrictions in the country have gone. In Scotland the laws are still significantly tougher than they are in England.
Today in 🏴 there is a further gradual easing of Covid restrictions - but not a wholesale abandoning of restrictions. Please continue to stick to limits on gatherings, observe appropriate distance, wear face coverings, ventilate rooms and wash hands 🙏
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) July 19, 2021
Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, told Sky News this morning that he favoured turning off the NHS Covid app. He explained:
I would turn it off, I think it’s complete rubbish.
You’re pinging people many of whom who are double jabbed.
There’s apps pinging all over the place, we don’t need that type of caution, I think, when 60%-70% of the adult population have been vaccinated.
I would switch off the app, I don’t think it has any effect any more.
Many business organisations are saying that their staff should be allowed to use daily testing as an alternative to isolation if they have been in contact with someone testing positive. This is the rule that now applies to health and social care staff (see 10.29am) - and would have applied to the PM if had chosen to take advantage of the pilot for this scheme covering Downing Street.
Richard Walker, managing director of supermarket chain Iceland, told the Today programme that around 4% of his workforce were currently absent because of Covid - and that it could get a lot worse very soon. He said:
We have just announced employing an additional 2,000 people on top of that to give us a deeper pool of labour, because so many people are now getting pinged ...
A number of stores have had to close and the concern is that as this thing rises exponentially, as we have just been hearing, it could get a lot worse, a lot quicker. We have got a 50% increase week on week in terms of people off and it’s a 400% increase compared to mid-June.
Nick Mackenzie, chief executive of pub chain Greene King, told the programme that 33 of his pubs had had to close because of staff shortages. He said:
Across the industry we think it is about one in five of our team members who have been affected by this and therefore it is causing a real issue for us setting up business on a daily basis - we’re having to have shortened hours in some circumstances.
And Humphrey Cobbold, chief executive of PureGym, told the programme:
We’ve been talking for a while internally about living in the ‘United Pingdom’ and it has become a huge challenge for individuals and businesses.
Up to 25%, in some areas, of our staff have been asked to self-isolate - we’ve been able, through flexibility and sharing of labour, to keep sites open so far but it has been a very close call in certain circumstances, and I would echo that I think there is a different way of reacting to the pings for vaccinated people and using lateral flow tests that would help industries of all sorts a great deal and keep the economy functioning.
GMB union claims government decision to relax isolation rules for health workers could pose risk
Yesterday Downing Street performed one of the fastest U-turns on record when it said Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, would be isolating because they had been in contact with Sajid Javid, the health secretary who has coronavirus, only about two and a half hours after No 10 issued a statement saying they would not have to isolate because they were taking part in a pilot scheme to use daily testing as an alternative.
The U-turn means that Johnson is now isolating at Chequers instead of at No 10. Doubtless having to spend the week in a large mansion in beautiful countryside, instead of in a crowded terrace house in hot, stuffy London, will prove some consolation.
With millions of people at risk of having their work or social lives disrupted by an instruction to isolate, the notion that the prime minister and the chancellor were going to be exempt provoked understandable outrage.
Yet the overnight announcement from the Department for Health and Social Care that health and social care workers will also be allowed to skip isolation in some circumstances has prompted the opposite reaction from a union, which has described this offer as a risk to its members, not a perk.
Explaining the new rule, the DHSC said:
From today (Monday 19 July), double-vaccinated frontline NHS and social care staff in England who have been told to self-isolate will be permitted to attend work in exceptional circumstances and replaced by testing mitigations.
This will include staff who have been contacted as a close contact of a case of Covid-19 by NHS Test and Trace, or advised to self-isolate by the NHS Covid-19 app.
This measure is being introduced to alleviate pressure on NHS and social care services and will be contingent on staff members only working after having a negative PCR test and also taking daily negative lateral flow tests for a minimum of seven days, and up to 10 days or completion of the identified self-isolation period.
The DHSC also says health and social care workers who do go to work under this system should avoid people who are clinically extremely vulnerable.
This morning the GMB union, which represents health workers, has put out a news release describing this as “one rule for them, one rule for us”. It says health workers will be allowed to avoid isolation rules for work but not for non-work purposes, and it accuses ministers of putting their safety at risk.
Rachel Harrison, a national officer at the union, said:
Our NHS and ambulance service are operating under extreme pressure, with chronic staff shortages, fatigue and exhaustion.
Yet today – the government’s so called freedom day – they have had to issue exemptions for staff as services struggle to cope with rising cases.
Ministers have no regard for the welfare of staff at all. That’s apparent, as the guidelines only exempt staff from self-isolation to attend work, and not outside of work.
If this is a safe thing to do, why does it also come with the caveat of not being able to work with clinically extremely vulnerable people?
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Vulnerable UK children to be offered Covid jabs first, minister says
Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccine deployment minister, is making a statement to MPs this afternoon about vaccine policy for children. But, as my colleague Peter Walker reports, in morning interviews Zahawi seemed to disclose what will be the main announcement when he said that only clinically vulnerable children, those living with vulnerable adults and those approaching their 18th birthday should be vaccinated.
Photograph: Alberto Pezzali/AP
England lifts most remaining restrictions as poll suggests voters see it as ‘wrong’ by almost 2 to 1
Good morning. England has reached what the anti-lockdown media has been calling “freedom day” – the day when most remaining legal Covid restrictions disappear – but there is no sign of the mood of triumphalism anticipated a few weeks ago, and instead – in government, and amongst the public at large – there is growing concern that it might all go wrong. The Mail on Sunday claimed that Boris Johnson originally planned to give a speech today that would, in the words of a government source, “effectively declare victory over the virus by summoning the spirit of Churchill”. Obviously that is not happening, and instead yesterday Johnson issued a video message urging people to be cautious. He said:
So please, please, please be cautious. Go forward tomorrow into the next step with all the right prudence and respect for other people and the risks that the disease continues to present.
Given that experts from around the world are criticising Johnson for being the opposite of cautious – “dangerous and unethical” is the term used here – in his opening up policy, this might be a good example of why some have concluded that only the satirists describe this government properly, and why the Press Award for political commentator of the year last week went to my brilliant colleague Marina Hyde.
Johnson used to say he wanted lockdown easing to be cautious but irreversible. He has gone quiet on the “irreversible” bit recently and the news release issued by No 10 overnight confirms that the possible return of restrictions later this year is now a definite possibility. It says:
Data will be continually assessed and contingency measures retained if needed during higher risk periods, but restrictions will be avoided if possible.
Johnson was deemed to have won the 2019 general election because he was more in touch with public opinion than his rivals, but on Covid restrictions the public has consistently been much more pro-lockdown than Johnson himself and new YouGov polling for the Times today (paywall) suggests that, by a margin of almost two to one, people think lifting most restrictions in England today is wrong.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: The ONS publishes figures on the impact of Covid on the hospitality industry.
12pm: Downing Street holds its daily lobby briefing.
2.45pm: Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, gives evidence to the Commons European scrutiny committee.
3.30pm: Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccine deployment minister, gives a statement to MPs. He is expected to announce that the rollout of vaccination for children in England will be limited to those with underlying health conditions or children are about to turn 18.
Politics Live has been a mix of Covid and non-Covid news recently and that is likely to be the case today. For more coronavirus developments, do follow our global Covid live blog.
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