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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Clea Skopeliti (now) and Andrew Sparrow (earlier)

UK Covid: 24,950 new cases, lowest daily total for more than three weeks – as it happened

Free NHS Covid-19 lateral flow test packs being given out to members of the public in Beaconsfield.
Free NHS Covid-19 lateral flow test packs being given out to members of the public in Beaconsfield. Photograph: Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock

We’ll be shutting this liveblog down shortly, but you can follow the latest, including UK developments, on our global blog. Thanks for reading.

Updated

Here’s a roundup of today’s Covid figures – while daily cases are down, hospital occupancy rates and admissions have risen over the last week:

The number of Covid-19 patients in hospital in England has passed 5,000 for the first time since mid-March. PA writes:

A total of 5,055 patients were in hospital on 26 July, according to the latest figures from NHS England. This is up 33% from the previous week, and is the highest since 18 March.

All regions of England have seen week-on-week increases in patients, with London up 48% from 647 to 957, and the Midlands up 31% from 730 to 959.

The combined area of north-east England and Yorkshire continues to record the highest number of any region, with 1,152 Covid-19 patients on July 26, up 36% week-on-week.

Updated

Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden, a senior intensive care registrar, said she had only come across one patient in critical care who had received both vaccination doses, and that the “vast majority” of people she was seeing were “completely unvaccinated”.

According to official statistics, about 60% of people being admitted to hospital with Covid are unvaccinated.

Batt-Rawden said it was difficult to witness the look of regret on patient’s faces when they became very unwell and needed to go on a ventilator. “You can see it dawn on them that they potentially made the biggest mistake of their lives [in not getting the vaccine], which is really hard,” she said, adding that she had overheard people telling family members about their remorse.

My colleague Sarah Marsh has spoken to Covid patients, as well as their relatives, who regret not getting vaccinated after becoming seriously ill with Covid.

This is Clea Skopeliti, taking over the blog for the remainder of the evening. You can reach me on Twitter.

Updated

Afternoon summary

  • The number of new coronavirus cases in the UK has fallen for the sixth day in a row, raising hopes that this might be the start of a sustained trend, and not just a temporary blip. (See 4.30pm.) The new case numbers for the UK have been falling even though England took a significant step towards further opening up only a week ago today. But Downing Street, in a briefing before today’s figure was announced, warned that the recent fall in new cases could be reversed. (See 1.49pm.)
  • Downing Street has said that 500 workplace testing sites should be operational by the end of the week to enable some essential workers to use testing as an alternative for isolation if they have been in contact with someone testing positive. (See 1.49pm.) But the RMT rail union has claimed there is “utter confusion” about these new arrangements. (See 9.29am.)
  • Sir Keir Starmer has said Labour would oppose limiting access to major sporting events to just the fully vaccinated. He said that he favoured Covid-status checks, but he thought that getting people to show proof of a negative test was more valuable than getting them just to show they had been fully vaccinated. (See 11.03am.)

That’s all from me for today. But our coronavirus coverage continues on our global live blog. It’s here.

Updated

This is from Prof Stefan Marciniak, professor of respiratory science at Cambridge University, on the new Covid case figures.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has said that reports (like this one and this one) claiming her government has missed one of its vaccination targets are wrong.

The Covid-19 Actuaries Response Group has posted these tweets about the latest Covid hospital figures for England.

UK records 24,950 new cases - lowest daily total for more than three weeks

The government’s Covid dashboard has still not been fully updated, but now it says that 24,950 new coronavirus cases have been recorded.

This means that cases have been going down now for six days in a row.

It is also the lowest daily total for more than three weeks (since Sunday 4 July, when 24,248 cases were recorded).

There are now more than 5,000 Covid-positive patients in hospital in England, Alastair McLellan from the Health Service Journal reports.

The government normally publishes the daily update to its Covid dashboard at 4pm. But today it is running late because of “technical difficulties in processing England deaths data”, it says.

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, has been on a visit in London today to promote the party’s “new deal for working people”.

The country was at a fork in the road, she said.

Under the Conservatives we have a broken economic model defined by insecure work, low wages and in-work poverty, and a lack of opportunity for people who want to get on and find good work to support themselves and their families.

Labour’s new deal for working people will fundamentally change our economy to make it work for working people and build a Britain where people in every part of our country can get good quality jobs that are a source of pride, security and dignity and pay a proper wage that people can raise a family on.

Angela Rayner (left) visiting a social enterprise hub in London.
Angela Rayner (left) visiting a social enterprise hub in London. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Northern Ireland has overtaken England to become the UK nation with the highest rate of new coronavirus cases, PA Media reports. PA says:

It is also the only one of the four nations that is recording a steady rise in rates.

A total of 9,832 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in Northern Ireland in the seven days to 21 July - the equivalent of 519.2 cases per 100,000 people.

This is up sharply from 253.4 one week earlier and is the highest rate for Northern Ireland since 9 January, according to analysis by the PA news agency.

By contrast, England now has the second highest rate of the four UK nations and is sitting just behind Northern Ireland on 499.1 cases per 100,000 people.

While this is up week-on-week, the figure is slightly below the rates recorded for England in recent days.

Wales is also starting to show a drop in rates, with a figure of 184.1 cases per 100,000 people for the seven days to 21 July - down from 192.8 one week earlier.

The rate for Scotland has been falling steadily for the past few weeks, and stands at 215.3, down from a peak of 427.3 on 3 July.

Poll suggests only under-24s have changed mask-wearing habits much since England moved to step 4

Young people seem to be wearing masks less since most remaining Covid restrictions were lifted in England last Monday (on so-called “freedom day”), according to new polling by YouGov. But most adults (ie, those over the age of 24) seem to have changed their mask-wearing habits very little since 19 July, the poll suggests. This supports Sir Jeremy Farrar’s claim that people are taking the move to step 4 cautiously. (See 2.16pm.)

The poll also suggests that the proportion of people saying the government has handled Covid well has fallen since 19 July. This has been driven by a sharp fall in support for the government on this measure among Conservative supporters; among Labour supporters, support for the government has nudged up slightly on this measure – albeit from a lower base. This may be because Johnson marked “freedom day” not by celebrating the lifting of all rules (something some libertarian-minded Tories favoured), but by stressing caution, and announcing new plans to limit access to nightclubs to people with vaccine passports from the end of September.

Updated

Sage expert Jeremy Farrar says UK may avoid further peak in cases because people taking unlocking cautiously

At his Q&A at the Institute for Government, which has just ended, Sir Jeremy Farrar, head of the Wellcome foundation, a member of Sage and author of a new book on the pandemic, was asked if he thought the recent drop in UK Covid case numbers meant the peak of the third wave had passed. (See 1.49pm.) He replied:

You can only celebrate a reduction in the caseload.

It is far too early, on 26 July, a week after restrictions were lifted, to know the impact of the final lifting of those restrictions. But I think people’s behaviour has changed; [they have taken Chris Whitty’s advice and are acting] much more gradually and much more cautiously than perhaps anybody could have imagined 10 days ago.

I think the big change, in terms of lifting restrictions was actually, the prior change [step 3] rather than 19 July.

And, to give credit to policymakers and government, that previous restriction was lifted, [they] waited five weeks, the data wasn’t really good enough, and it was extended for another period of time. I think that’s great decision-making. And that’s why I was in favour of the 19 July lifting with Chris Whitty’s caveat - [it should be] gradual and cautious.

And certainly when I go out of my house, I do see a more gradual and cautious lifting of restrictions and I would hope, therefore, we will not see a massive rebound if we continue to be gradual and cautious about what we do.

Schools have closed as well and that will have made a difference. We’re in the summer months; that makes a marginal difference. And I hope beyond hope that we don’t have to go back into lockdowns this autumn.

Farrar also said he thought the biggest risk now was posed by new variants.

Jeremy Farrar speaking to the IfG
Jeremy Farrar speaking to the IfG. Photograph: IfG

Updated

Downing Street warns recent fall in UK Covid case numbers could be reversed

Here are the main lines from the Downing Street lobby briefing.

  • Downing Street has warned that the recent fall in UK Covid cases could be reversed. Yesterday it was revealed that UK Covid case numbers, as recorded on the government’s dashboard, had fallen for the fifth day in a row, and that the total for the most recent week is now down (by 15.4%) on the total for the previous week. This is the first time this has happened since the end of April. But scientists do not know whether this means the cases have passed their their third wave peak, or whether they have just passed the peak generated by step 3 of lockdown unlocking in England. Number 10 implied the latter, saying that full the impact of step 4 of unlocking, which only started a week ago, has not yet fed through to the figure. Asked how the government interpreted the most recent figures, the No 10 spokesman said:

Obviously any reduction in cases is encouraging. But the PM has stressed many times before that the pandemic is not over and we are not out of the woods yet.

We said last week, when we moved to step 4, that allowing large numbers of people to meet in indoor settings would have an impact on case numbers, and it remains the case that we won’t have seen the impact of step 4 yet in terms of cases numbers. So, as we always do, we will continue to keep all the stats under the review.

Although the move to step 4 in England will almost certainly lead to cases rising, other factors - like the impact of ever-larger numbers of people being fully vaccinated, pupils no longer being in school, summer weather leading to more people spending time outside and the Euro 2020 events being over - may continue to push cases down.

  • No 10 was unable to say how many of the proposed workplace testing sites being set up to enable people in the food supply industry, and some emergency staff, to use testing as an alternative to isolation (see 9.29am) were already open. The government has said it will open 500 of these facilities for the food supply industry, and another 200 for emergency workers. But the Downing Street spokesman was not able to say how many were already open. He said:

We expect 500 sites to be able to test within this week and we said at the end of last week we have rolled out the workplace daily testing following the government’s close engagement with industries that have been affected by self-isolation. It’s obviously the case that we want to avoid any disruption in critical services.

  • The spokesman did not deny reports that students could be required to be fully vaccinated to attend lectures. “We are still looking at the scope for vaccination certifications,” the spokesman said, when asked about this proposal.
  • The spokesman declined to say the climate crisis was directly responsible for the flooding in London this weekend. Asked if the PM would make that link explicit, the spokesman said that Johnson agreed with scientists that extreme weather was more likely as a result of global warming, but that it was a matter for experts to decide whether individual events were down to the phenomenon. He added:

The prime minister completely agrees that climate change is going to lead to more extreme weather events, which is why we are doing what we’re doing to try and reduce greenhouse gases.

10 Downing Street.
10 Downing Street. Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/Zuma Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, has said government plans for vaccine passports are unworkable. Speaking on a visit to the co-working space Impact Hub in London, Rayner said:

We think it is unworkable actually and we should be encouraging people to get the vaccine as soon as they possibly can, and also encouraging people to take regular tests as well. Because that is how we keep control of the virus. Of course, even with the two vaccines you can still get Covid, so therefore testing has got to be an important part of that scheme.

The government has said that from the end of September it wants to make vaccine passports - ie, proof that people are fully vaccinated - mandatory for nightclubs. Ministers are also reportedly considering mandating the same rule for people going to Premier Football matches. (See 11.03am.) And it is also being considered as an option for students wanting to be allowed to go to lectures in person or to stay in a halls of residence.

Updated

Heathrow boss says UK should be opening up to travel from US like 'sensible' countries in Europe

Heathrow airport has called on the UK government to open up travel for fully vaccinated passengers as it said its losses because of the Covid-19 pandemic had reached almost £3bn. My colleague Joanna Partridge has the story here.

In an interview with Times Radio this morning John Holland-Kaye, the Heathrow CEO, said Britain should be emulating the “very sensible, well-run countries” on the continent that were opening up for passengers from the US. He said:

The European markets not only are open with each other, but they’ve also opened up to the United States, which they see as being a relatively low-risk country. They’re allowing people who have been double-vaccinated to come in from the US.

That’s seen a massive uplift in the number of travellers from there. They’re reaching about 50% of the levels they would normally have been pre-pandemic.

That compares with less than 10% with the UK, which is still completely closed with the US.

Where is the vaccine dividend?

Hospitals in Northern Ireland under pressure because of rise in Covid cases, chief nursing officer says

A Belfast hospital is opening up extra ICU beds to cope with a surge in Covid patients, Charlotte McArdle, Northern Ireland’s chief nursing officer, has said.

Belfast health trust is making the extra beds available at Belfast City hospital due to capacity issues at the Royal Victoria and Mater hospitals.

In an interview, McArdle also said that, although there were currently no plans to reopen Northern Ireland’s region-wide Nightingale facility at the City hospital, that would become a “very real possibility” if the surge continues.

McArdle told BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show that 15 new Covid ICU patients were admitted over the weekend. She went on:

The Belfast trust are planning to open additional Covid ICU beds in the BCH on the ground floor which would be for Belfast patients.

We haven’t yet made a decision to reopen regional Nightingale, but if this pressure continues that’s a very real possibility and, of course, that comes with complications and other decisions that need to be made around the balance in keeping surgery going.

All five health trusts in Northern Ireland were under increasing pressures, she said.

All our trusts are having extreme difficulties coping, the health and social care system across all our trusts are struggling to cope with the current levels of demand for care.

It’s impacting on the emergency departments, on GP services, on the ambulance service, and in all areas really. The five trusts today are in extreme escalation and at the moment across the five trusts there are 190 people waiting more than 12 hours for hospital admission.

Charlotte McArdle.
Charlotte McArdle. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA

Updated

Former Speaker John Bercow says MPs should be allowed to accuse each other of lying in Commons

In his LBC phone-in Sir Keir Starmer said Judith Cummins, the temporary deputy Speaker who ordered Labour’s Dawn Butler to leave the Commons last week after she called Boris Johnson a liar, was only enforcing the rules. He did not criticise Cummins for what she did, or condemn the rule itself (although he was not pressed on whether it should go). See 11.03am.

But John Bercow, the former Commons Speaker, has gone further. In a joint article for the Times’s Red Box (paywall) with Butler, Bercow said the current situation was “dangerous for democracy”. He and Butler said:

It is high time that the procedure committee envisaged greater scope for MPs who wish to highlight untruthfulness to [call out other MPs for lying]. The glaring weakness of the present system is that someone lying to tens of millions of citizens knows he or she is protected by an ancient rule. They face no sanction at all.

By contrast, an MP with the guts to tell the truth is judged to be in disgrace. It is absurd and people can see that it is absurd. It is unfair and people in the main do not like unfairness, so parliament looks and is weak. That is bad and dangerous for democracy at any time and never more so than when a government has an impregnable majority. Sooner or later, MPs of all parties who care for the truth, who care for our democracy, freedom and rights need to get off their bums and demand change. If we are going to take back control let’s start with doing that in the mother of all parliaments.

Bercow, who was elected to the Commons as a rightwing Tory MP and who was independent as Speaker, has recently joined the Labour party.

Updated

Rail firms reduce services in response to staff shortages caused by people isolating

Public transport services are being hit by staff self-isolating, PA Media reports. PA says:

Reduced timetables have been introduced on railways across England in an attempt to improve reliability after a recent spate of last-minute cancellations due to staff shortages. Passengers are being advised to check their train is running before they leave home.

Thameslink and Southern has cut its weekday timetables on five routes “until further notice”, and warned that further changes could be required.

Avanti West Coast has reduced the frequency of its services between London Euston and Manchester, Birmingham and North Wales to “manage staff shortages and ensure a reliable service”.

A revised timetable with fewer services was also launched by London Northwestern Railway on Saturday.

ScotRail said a “very limited number of trains” are being cancelled due to staff shortages, but it has not amended its timetables.

Transport for London closed the Circle and Hammersmith and City lines over the weekend due to more than 300 members of staff self-isolating.

It said control rooms are “very vulnerable” as “taking a small number of staff out of the equation at short notice can close an entire line”.

Bus operator Arriva said a number of its staff have been told to self-isolate, but it pledged to do “everything we can to minimise service disruption for our customers”.

Airline easyJet said its flights are not being affected by the issue.

Starmer says Labour would oppose limiting access to Premier League matches to fully vaccinated

Here are the main lines from Sir Keir Starmer’s LBC phone-in.

  • Starmer said he would oppose limiting access to major sporting events to just the fully vaccinated. He said that he favoured Covid-status checks, but he thought that getting people to show proof of a negative test was more valuable than getting them just to show they had been fully vaccinated. He said Labour would be “pragmatic”. But he went on:

I think that [vaccination] passports on their own aren’t enough because, as we know, sadly, you can be double jabbed and still get the new variant. So it’s got to be passports plus testing. And that would be for sporting events etc.

The government is already encouraging the organisers of events where large numbers of people congregate, like large sporting events, to use the NHS Covid pass, which allows people either to prove that they have been fully vaccinated or that they have recently tested negative. But at the weekend the Sunday Telegraph reported that, from October, the government may require people attending Premier League matches to be fully vaccinated - implying proof of a negative test on its own would not be enough. The government has already said that from September it wants to limit access to nightclubs to people who are fully vaccinated.

  • Starmer also said that he did not want to see vaccine passports used “on an everyday basis” for access to critical services. He said:

What I don’t want to see, just to be very clear about this, is I don’t want to see vaccine passports used on an everyday basis for access to critical things like health, dentistry, food, etc.

So, for sporting events, I’ll look at what the government puts on the table. I want to be pragmatic because we all want all business sectors and sporting sectors to return as quickly as possible. But not for everyday use, because I don’t want to see people denied health, dentistry, food if they haven’t got a vaccine passport.

In this passage it sounded as if Starmer was talking about not just vaccine passports but Covid passes too (people often confuse the two concepts) and saying neither should be used to deny people access to basic services. The government has no plans to use either to deny people access to things like shops.

  • Starmer said that if the schemes to allow some fully-vaccinated workers to use testing as an alternative to isolation are successful, the government should extend this to everyone before 16 August. That is the date when the scheme is meant to be coming in for all fully-vaccinated people. But, referring to the problem caused by people having to isolate, he said: “The sooner we can sort out this mess, the better.” He said he hoped the various schemes launched by the government to make some workers exempt (see 9.29am) would work. He went on:

So, if that works - data not dates - then we should support it, look again at 16 August, which is the day when the rules are supposed to change.

  • He also described the current system as “chaos”. He said:

I’m hoping we can do something because at the moment it’s absolute chaos, as you will know, in terms of keeping the economy going.

He said it would have been better if the government had taken more steps to keep case numbers down, such as keeping the requirement for people to wear masks in shops and on public transport.

  • He said he thought isolation rules should distinguish between people asked to isolate because they live with someone who has tested positive and people asked to isolate because they have been in contact with someone testing positive. He is isolating at the moment because his son has coronavirus, and he said he did not think someone in his position should be allowed to use daily testing as an alternative to isolation.

No I don’t think that’s the right way.

I think that if it is possible to show that, with a double vaccination and a negative test, critical workers can go back to work, I would support that.

Obviously we need to keep an eye on how safe it is, we need to be cautious.

But we need to keep our critical sectors working and I think we should support exemptions that allow us to do that.

  • Starmer said Boris Johnson was a “master of untruth”. He said the Labour MP Dawn Butler was right when she called him a liar in the Commons last week. But he also said the temporary deputy Speaker Judith Cummins was right to order Butler to leave for what she said, because Cummins was only enforcing parliamentary rules. Asked about the incident, he said:

I agree with what Dawn had to say. I think the prime minister is the master of untruth and half truths. Dawn was simply giving some examples of that. I think there’s a lot of people that feel that it’s the person who’s not telling the truth rather than the person who’s calling it out that ought to be on the hotspot. So I agree with Dawn on that.

But, in fairness to the temporary [deputy] Speaker, Judith Cummins, who was there, she did the right thing, she followed the rules, because parliament doesn’t allow you to call other parliamentarians liars in the chamber. So I don’t criticise the deputy Speaker for what she did. She was following the rules.

Of course have a system where victims get information, they’re consulted, they’re engaged. I’m absolutely in favour of that, I would actually put that in law.

This is just a gimmick by the prime minister - yet again, he loves soundbites, he loves slogans, he loves gimmicks - but every time you look beyond it, there’s nothing there. This one won’t work, it won’t improve [things], if anything it will make things worse because individual officers work shifts, they’re doing investigations, they’re off duty. It will actually slow things down. It’s an ill-thought-through gimmick.

  • Starmer said the proposed 3% pay rise for NHS was “not fair”. But he would not say what pay rise they should get. Asked if 15%, which is what some unions are demanding, would be appropriate, he replied:

I think it would have to be negotiated - 15% is high - but I think what the unions are doing now is right.

Asked if he would support strike action, he said: “Nobody wants to see strike action in the NHS.”

Starmer at PMQs in the Commons last week.
Starmer at PMQs in the Commons last week. Photograph: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/PA

Updated

Students in England may need to be fully vaccinated to attend lectures

Ministers have confirmed they could force students in England to be double vaccinated to attend lectures in person or stay in halls of residence, setting the government on a possible collision course with a number of its own MPs, my colleagues Peter Walker and Jane Clinton report.

Starmer says he hopes the police will investigate the anti-vaxxer former nurse who suggested at a rally that medical staff who administered vaccines should be hanged.

And that’s it. Starmer’s Q&A is over.

I will post a summary shortly.

Updated

Starmer says he supports Dawn Butler, the Labour MP, in what she said about Boris Johnson being a liar in the Commons last week.

He says Johnson is the master of untruths and half truths.

But he says he does not criticise the deputy speaker who ordered Butler to leave. She was only enforcing the Commons rules, he says.

Q: Why are you not doing more to address the injustice of the loan charge?

Starmer says there is an injustice. People set up their tax arrangements in good faith, in accordance with the rules at the time.

He agrees to speak to the questioner, a constituent who has been campaigning on this.

Starmer says PM's plan for crime victims to get named police officers to call 'ridiculous gimmick'

Q: What do you think of the Police Federation passing a vote of no confidence in Priti Patel?

Starmer says he is not surprised. The police have had no pay rise. Patel’s situation is “untenable”.

Q: And what do you think of Boris Johnson’s proposal to ensure all victims get a named officer who will deal with their offence?

Starmer says this is a “ridiculous gimmick”. Just look at how many officers there are, and how many offences there are.

Of course victims need information.

But this is just a gimmick. This idea won’t work. If anything, it will slow things down. Officers work shifts.

Q: Why have you sided with the unionists over the Northern Ireland protocol?

Starmer says he is a firm supporter of the Good Friday agreement.

Q: Why did you support the PM’s deal?

Because the alternative, leaving the EU with no deal, would have been 10 times worse, says Starmer.

Q: Do you think the NI protocol problems can be resolved?

Starmer says he thinks it can be made to work. But he does not think it is possible to reopen the protocol. Both sides need to be flexible, he says.

Starmer says he would consider backing the use of vaccine passports for sports events.

But he would not back their use for everyday events, like health or shopping, he says.

Q: Do you think a 3% pay rise for NHS staff is enough?

Starmer says he does not think it is fair.

He says he can see that this is bad for morale. Many hospitals are now trying to address the backlog in cases.

Q: The unions want 15%.

Starmer says that is high. The figure would have to be negotiated. But he supports the unions in their decision to consult their members.

Q: And would you support them if they wanted to strike.

Starmer says no one wants to see health workers go on strike.

But the fact that it is being talked about shows how “shoddily” health workers have been treated.

Q: Does that apply to Wales? Mark Drakeford, the Labour first minister, is also offering them 3%.

Starmer says the anger and frustration in the NHS is a result of the UK government proposing a 1% rise.

Keir Starmer's LBC phone

Sir Keir Starmer is holding his LBC phone-in.

Q: Do you think people who are fully vaccinated should not have to isolate if pinged?

Starmer says the best solution would be to keep cases down. Labour would have kept face masks mandatory, he says. It would also have told people to keep working from home, and done more on ventilation.

He says the government has introduced some measures to allow people to use testing as an alternative to isolation.

He suggests that, if that works, the date for introducing this for everyone - 16 August - could be brought forward.

But at the moment there is “absolute chaos”, he says.

Rail union boss claims there is ‘utter confusion’ over exemption from isolation rules

Good morning. Ministers are meeting today to consider extending the arrangements that will allow some workers to use daily testing as an alternative to isolation if they are pinged by the NHS Covid app, or contacted by test and trace, because they have been in contact with someone testing positive. But quite what the news arrangements will be is not yet clear and this morning a rail union boss described the situation as “utter confusion and chaos”.

To recap, at the end of last week the government announced two separate schemes to address this problem: workplace testing for the food supply industry, with about 10,000 people covered by the scheme; and possible exemptions for workers in 16 key industries, but only for named members of staff (the most vital ones) subject to their employees agreeing these names with the relevant government department.

On Saturday the government announced that workplace testing would be extended, with 200 testing sites opening so that frontline emergency service staff – some police, firefighters, Border Force staff and transport workers – would be able to use testing as an alternative to isolation.

But this morning Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the RMT rail union, said that it was “completely unclear” what was happening. He told the Today programme:

We’ve been trying to find out over the weekend exactly what’s happening. At the end of last week we had this very restricted exemption programme put to us where individuals had to be named. Then over the weekend we had this breaking news that it was going to be a more generalised exemption process.

I’ve tried to contact the employers to find out what they know that they know. They know as much as I do, which is very little. As far as they’re concerned, the only update they’ve had from the Department for Transport and the authorities is that it’s the limited exemption that we heard about for a limited number of signallers and people in control rooms last week.

So it’s utter confusion and chaos. Nobody knows what’s going on, and the authorities are simply not telling the employers, the trade unions, the workers, or the authorities what they should be doing.

No doubt things will get a little clearer as the day goes on.

Lynch also expressed concern that rail workers who did use testing as an alternative to isolation could be posing a risk to colleagues.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9am: Sir Keir Starmer holds his regular LBC Call Keir phone-in.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

1pm: Sir Jeremy Farrar, head of the Wellcome foundation and a member of Sage, speaks at the Institute for Government about his new book about the pandemic.

2pm: The Northern Ireland executive meets to consider further lockdown easing.

Also, at some point today the UK government’s Covid operations cabinet subcommittee is meeting to discuss opening more emergency testing sites for workplaces.

Politics Live has been a mix of Covid and non-Covid news recently and that will probably be the case today. For more coronavirus developments, do follow our global Covid 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.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com

Updated

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While eating out has become common with how busy people’s lives are, we sometimes forget how much trust we’re putting in strangers to make sure what we’re served is hygienic.
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Your Smart Fridge Is Tracking Your Habits — And Data Brokers Are Selling the Insights
Your refrigerator used to do one thing: keep your food cold. Today’s smart refrigerators can show you what’s inside while you’re at the grocery store,...
Saving Advice
Saving Advice
People are just discovering the truth about why turkey eggs are nowhere to be found
Have you ever wondered why turkey eggs aren’t a common sight in grocery stores, despite the bird’s huge popularity for meat, especially around holiday seasons like Thanksgiving and Christmas. You see chicken eggs everywhere, and even duck eggs pop up sometimes, but turkey eggs? Never.
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
I Had No Idea Kylie Jenner Blew Every Dollar She’d Earned On KUWTK (But It All Worked Out)
Easy come, easy go.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
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