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Forcing health and frontline social care staff to have the Covid-19 vaccine would be a “dangerous way to go”, an NHS hospital chief has said.
PA Media reports:
Prof David Loughton, chief executive of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS trust, which employs 10,500 people, said his organisation was having to have “one-to-one conversations” with staff about having the jab.
But he said it was “not unusual” for there to be vaccine reticence and followed a pattern already recognised within health bodies, from when the annual flu-jab season comes around.
He said: “Lots of people cannot wait to get their vaccination, but there will be others who will need to have more information and I am sure (will) get to a better place.”
Prof Loughton was speaking to journalists on Friday during a weekly regional Covid-19 briefing, alongside other political and health leaders. The hospital trust chief said it was “hard to believe” it was a year this week that the West Midlands suffered its first death from Covid-19.
The patient died on March 8, 2020 – at New Cross hospital in Wolverhampton. “That was the fourth death in the country,” said Prof Loughton.
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Summary
- Infection rates across England and Wales are decreasing while those in Northern Ireland and Scotland appear to be levelling off, an official survey suggests, with the rate in England the lowest since September. The Office for National Statistics estimates that just over 230,000 had Covid by the end of last week (see 12.26pm).
- Another 172 people were registered as dying after having Covid in the UK, as the number of weekly reported deaths continues to fall steeply, official figures show. It brought the total death toll to 125,343, according to Public Health England statistics (see 4.11pm).
- A World Health Organization expert advisory committee is currently looking at AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine after some countries paused distribution of it, but there is no reason not to use it, a spokesperson said (see 3.03pm).
- A coronavirus vaccine the UK has secured 60m doses of is 86% effective against the Kent variant, the company behind the jab, Novavax, announced (see 1.09pm).
- The Scottish health secretary, Jeane Freeman, described as “very encouraging”, a study of 300,000 people, led by Public Health Scotland and Glasgow University, which suggests there is at least a 30% reduction in transmission as a result of the first dose of the vaccine (see 12.58pm).
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The Isle of Man reported its first Covid-19 death since 5 November. The chief minister, Howard Quayle, said he knew the news would “come as a blow” to the Isle of Man’s 85,000 residents (see 4.03pm).
- YouTube removed over 30,000 videos which made “misleading or false claims about Covid-19 vaccines over the last six months”, news site Axios reported (see 3.28pm).
- The Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, defended plans to allow supermarkets to sell non-essential goods ahead of non-essential shops opening in Wales (see 2.12pm) as the nation prepares to gradually ease restrictions.
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The former health secretary Jeremy Hunt caught coronavirus just days after receiving the vaccine (see 10.49am).
Updated
Royal Mail is piloting a Sunday parcel delivery service for major retailers from this weekend, after the coronavirus pandemic sparked a boom in online shopping.
A number of retail brands will begin trialling the new Sunday parcel service across the UK, and Royal Mail is talking to other retailers about offering the service to their customers.
My colleagues Alfie Packham and Rachel Obordo speak to pupils and teachers about the return to school this week in England.
6,609 people test positive since yesterday; 23.3m have now had at least one vaccine dose
Another 172 people were registered as dying after having Covid in the UK, as the number of weekly reported deaths continues to fall steeply, official figures show. It brought the total death toll to 125,343, according to Public Health England statistics.
An additional 6,609 people tested positive for the virus over the last 24 hours, with a total of 40,983 new confirmed cases over the past week - a 7% reduction on the seven days prior.
As of 11 March, 23,314,525 people have had a first dose of a Covid vaccine. Some 1,445,078 have had their second dose.
Updated
First Covid death in Isle of Man since November
The Isle of Man has just reported its first Covid-19 death since 5 November.
Chief minister Howard Quayle said he knew the news would “come as a blow” to the Isle of Man’s 85,000 residents. “The death of a member of our Island community is a painful reminder of how dangerous this virus is,” he said.
It was only at the start of February that the Isle of Man came out of lockdown. Pubs, shops and restaurants reopened, social distancing measures were lifted and face coverings were no longer mandatory. Back then, Quayle said the reopening of society was possible because “there’s a collective determination, a sense of duty and community spirit. The public have followed all the rules.”
Just over a month later, on 3 March, the island went into a 21-day “circuit-breaker” lockdown to limit the spread of Covid-19 after a spike in cases, with some stemming from an infected ferry crew member.
The latest death takes the total number of people to have lost their lives to the virus on the Island to 26.
According to the BBC’s Isle of Man correspondent, Alex Bell, as of Thursday there were 12 people in hospital on the island with Covid.
A year on from the first minister confirmed to have contracted coronavirus, my colleague Jessica Elgot has this timeline on how the virus circulated through the Houses of Parliament – and seemingly caused the government to begin taking outbreak seriously.
And this rip-roaring feature on how coronavirus bloodied the nose of Westminster, an already infectious place due to its cramped nature.
Updated
A total of 20,807,385 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between December 8 and March 11, according to provisional NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 281,073 on the previous day.
Of this number, 19,798,473 were the first dose of a vaccine, a rise of 211,393 on the previous day, while 1,008,912 were a second dose, an increase of 69,680.
YouTube has removed over 30,000 videos which made “misleading or false claims about Covid-19 vaccines over the last six months”, news site Axios reports.
A spokeswoman said the videos did not square with vaccine information from the World Health Organization or health authorities such as the NHS, according to the BBC.
It comes after the video hosting site banned vaccine misinformation, with more than 800,000 videos for coronavirus misinformation in the past year. However, it remains a challenge to find and delete such content on a regular basis.
A World Health Organization expert advisory committee is currently looking at AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine after some countries paused distribution of it, but there is no reason not to use it, a WHO spokesperson has said.
Reuters reports:
Health authorities in several countries including Denmark, Norway, Iceland have suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine following reports of the formation of blood clots in some people who have been vaccinated.
Margaret Harris told a briefing that it was an “excellent vaccine” and that no causal relationship had been established between the shot and the health problems reported, calling the pause in use “a precautionary measure”. “It’s very important to understand that, yes, we should continue to be using the AstraZeneca vaccine,” she said.
The WHO’s global advisory committee on vaccine safety is currently reviewing the reports and will revert on its findings, she added, as it does with any safety issues. “It is very important we are hearing safety signals because if we were not hearing about safety signals that would suggest there is not enough review and vigilance”,” she said.
WHO data shows that more than 268 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from various developers have been administered worldwide and no deaths have been found to have been caused by them, Harris said.
Updated
TV doctor Amir Khan has urged people to have a Covid-19 vaccination, saying that finding trusted community leaders to spread this advice was vital.
PA reports:
Dr Khan was speaking as he volunteered at a vaccination centre in Leeds as part of his new role as the first-ever ambassador for the Leeds Hospitals Charity.
“I think it’s really important that people from all backgrounds come forward for the vaccine and there has been a certain amount of increased hesitancy from people from minority backgrounds,” he said. “The reasons for that are really complex and historical. We want the right information to get out there. We want people to get information from the right sources. And it’s a constant battle. I don’t think we’re there yet.
“If you look at the statistics, people from black communities in particular are less likely to come forward for the vaccine. We really need to make sure they get the right information because they’ve been hit really hard through this pandemic and we owe it to them to get them the right information and get them vaccinated.”
Dr Khan, who lives in Leeds and works at a GP practice in Bradford, said he has now had both his vaccine shots and is hoping his example will encourage people from a South Asian background to take up the invitation.
Updated
Here is some analysis from my colleague Nicola Davis on the official survey release earlier that suggested infection rates across England and Wales are decreasing while those in Northern Ireland and Scotland appear to be levelling off (see 12.26pm).
The latest ONS figures are welcome news: once again the proportion of people testing positive for Covid has fallen, with 1 in 270 people in the community in England thought to have had coronavirus between 28 February and 6 March, compared with 1 in 220 the week before.
The ONS data reveals that declines were seen across all age groups, except primary school aged children where the trend was unclear, and in the majority of regions – although early signs of a potential rise in rates in the south-east and south-west will no doubt be watched carefully.
A decline in the proportion of people testing positive for Covid has also been seen in Wales, while it appears to have levelled off in Northern Ireland and Scotland. The latest figure for England is the lowest since the end of September when around 1 in 240 people in the community were thought to have Covid. Data for confirmed cases also suggests current figures on a par with those from mid to late September.
But while, it is tempting to think we are almost out of the woods, rates remain far higher than in the summer: between 6 July and 12 July 2020 just 1 in 2,300 people in the community in England were estimated to have had the coronavirus. Indeed it was in mid-September, that the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) concluded that a two-week nationwide “circuit breaker” lockdown was necessary to reduce the spread of coronavirus – although at that point infections were rising rather than falling, and there were no vaccinations to help weaken the link between infections and hospital admissions or deaths.
The new ONS data does not capture the impact of the first steps in the government’s roadmap to ease restrictions, such as the return of children to schools; indeed this is unlikely to show up for some weeks. But as the the country prepares to unlock, all eyes will be on surveys such as this, to see whether we can stay on track, or will need a plan B.
Updated
Mark Drakeford has defended plans to allow supermarkets to sell non-essential goods ahead of non-essential shops opening in Wales (see 12.57pm.).
The first minister said Welsh households would be able to purchase non-essential goods in supermarkets from 22 March for the first time since before Christmas. He said:
It is safer to do it with shops that are open already because they are already having to comply with all the strict standards that we strengthened in the regulations we passed in the Senedd in January.
So we know that these are safe places to visit and I know that environmental health officers of local authorities will be visiting those settings in the coming week to make sure that they are ready to continue to operate in that way after 22 March.
Drakeford said the retail sector had advised that it needed time to reopen safely, to return staff from furlough and to demonstrate they could comply with standards in Wales. He added:
I was also anxious about opening non-essential retail in the full sense here in Wales while no shops at all for non-essential purposes are open in England because that acts as a perverse incentive for people to travel across the border.
That would be to break the rules in England and to break the rules in Wales but you don’t want to create the conditions in which it is more tempting for people to do that.
Updated
A “mixed picture” across the UK this week, with the number of people infected with Covid-19 continuing to fall across England, but appearing to be levelling off in Northern Ireland and Scotland, PA Media reports.
New estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that around one in 270 people in private households in England had coronavirus between February 28 and March 6 – the equivalent of 200,600 people.
This is down from around one in 220, or 248,100 people, for the period 21-27 February. It is the lowest figure since the week to 24 September when the estimate stood at one in 470, or 116,600 people.
However, the number of people infected in England is still high when compared to last summer. In the week to 25 August, around one in 2,000 people had coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the latest data for Wales shows around one in 365 people are estimated to have had Covid-19 between 28 February and 6 March – down from one in 285 the week before.
In Northern Ireland, around one in 310 people were infected, up from one in 325.
The estimate for Scotland was around one in 320 people, up from one in 335 the previous week.
The ONS said the percentage of people testing positive has decreased in a majority of regions in England but there were “early signs of a possible increase ... in the south-east and south-west.”
Sarah Crofts, senior statistician for the Covid-19 Infection Survey, said:
We are seeing a mixed picture across the UK this week. It’s reassuring to see infection levels in the majority of English regions also continuing to decrease - however, it’s important for us to remain cautious and closely monitor those regions that are not showing a clear decrease. These are in the south of England, Yorkshire and the Humber and the West Midlands.”
In England the estimates for the latest six-week period are based on 529,020 swab tests.
Meanwhile, government scientific advisers said the latest reproduction number (the R) estimate for the UK is between 0.6 and 0.8, down from 0.7 and 0.9 last week.
It comes after data on Thursday showed more than 23 million people have now had their first dose of a vaccine.
Updated
R-value across UK is between 0.6 and 0.8
The coronavirus reproduction number, or R value, across the UK is between 0.6 and 0.8, according to the latest UK government figures.
R represents the average number of people each Covid-19 positive person goes on to infect. When the figure is above 1, an outbreak can grow exponentially, but when it is below 1, it means the epidemic is shrinking.
An R number between 0.6 and 0.8 means that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between six and eight other people. The latest growth rate is between minus 7% and minus 4%, which means the number of new infections is shrinking by between 4% and 7% every day.
Updated
Afternoon! I’m Lucy Campbell, taking over the blog for the next hour while Mattha has a well-deserved break. Please feel free to get in touch with me as I work if you have a story or tips to share! Your thoughts on what we should be covering are always welcome.
Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_
Hammerson, the beleaguered owner of the Bullring and Brent Cross shopping centres, has warned it will need to sell more of its property empire to survive the coronavirus crisis, after reporting a £1.7bn loss for 2020.
The property group, which also owns the Bicester Village designer outlet, said the closure of non-essential shops during lockdowns and the suspension of rent payments for struggling retailers in 2020 fuelled the biggest annual fall in rental income in company history. Annual losses more than doubled from £781m in 2019 to £1.7bn last year.
A coronavirus vaccine the UK has secured 60m doses of is 86% effective against the Kent variant, the company behind the jab, Novavax, has announced.
PA reports:
The Novavax vaccine is also 96% effective in preventing cases caused by the original strain of the coronavirus. According to results of phase three trial in the UK, the jab offers 100% protection against severe disease, including all hospital admission and death.
Stanley Erck, president and chief executive officer at Novavax, said: “We are very encouraged by the data showing that NVX-CoV2373 not only provided complete protection against the most severe forms of disease, but also dramatically reduced mild and moderate disease across both trials. Importantly, both studies confirmed efficacy against the variant strains.”
The study in the UK enrolled more than 15,000 participants aged between 18 and 84, including 27% over the age of 65.
In participants 65 years of age and older, 10 cases of Covid-19 were observed, with 90% of those cases occurring in the placebo group. Novavax expects to use the data to submit for regulatory approval across the world.
Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health, University of Southampton, said:
One note of caution is the observed lower effectiveness against B.1.351 variant of concern, as first observed in South Africa. This shows the impact variants can have upon the pandemic response and thus is a strong argument for keeping cases as low as possible whilst the burden of Covid-19 is high.
However, there is still a clear protective effect there in the Novavax trial, and data from across all the Covid-19 vaccines suggests that they will be hugely protective against severe illness from all variants, which is still an excellent outcome.
Updated
A study into the impact of vaccination on transmission is “very encouraging”, the Scottish health secretary, Jeane Freeman, has said.
The study of 300,000 people, led by Public Health Scotland and Glasgow University, suggests there is at least a 30% reduction in transmission as a result of the first dose of the vaccine, while the second dose gives at least 54% (see 12.58pm).
Speaking at the coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh, Freeman said:
It’s obviously very encouraging data indeed. We’ve already seen the impact the vaccination programme is having on deaths in care homes and increasingly in the community.
Today’s study adds to the growing evidence that vaccination can also help reduce the transmission of the virus.
Updated
Non-essential retail to remain shut as Wales moves to 'stay local' measures
Most non-essential retail will remain shut in Wales until April 12, the first minister, Mark Drakeford, said earlier.
The announcement comes as a blow to parts of the industry that were expecting an earlier reopening date, with Drakeford previously saying the restart would be considered for this week’s review of coronavirus restrictions.
Businesses said the Welsh government had left them with “the impression of being marched to the top of the hill, only to be asked to walk back down again”, while the Welsh Conservatives claimed the move was a “U-turn” and Plaid Cymru accused Mr Drakeford of offering “false hope”.
It came as Drakeford confirmed Wales would move to a “stay local” period from Saturday for a fortnight before a further easing of travel rules in time for Easter, with self-contained holiday accommodation to be reopened from 27 March “if the public health situation continues to improve”.
Updated
Today’s top comment so far, courtesy of Lord_Snooty:
Yes, today is the first anniversary of Herd Immunity Day — Dominic Cummings’ pseudo scientific disaster plan, pumped out uncritically by pundits.
They claim that the delay to locking down was a key factor in Britain having one of the highest coronavirus death rates in the world.
On this day last year, ITV political editor Robert Peston wrote in the Spectator:
The key phrase we all need to understand is ‘herd immunity’ – which is what happens to a group of people or animals when they develop sufficient antibodies to be resistant to a disease.
The strategy of the British government in minimising the impact of Covid-19 is to allow the virus to pass through the entire population so that we acquire herd immunity, but at a much delayed speed so that those who suffer the most acute symptoms are able to receive the medical support they need, and such that the health service is not overwhelmed and crushed by the sheer number of cases it has to treat at any one time.
The kind of coercive measures employed by China in Wuhan and Hubei have simply locked the virus behind the closed doors of people’s homes. And just as soon as the constraints on freedom of movement are lifted there, the monstrous virus will rear its hideous face again.
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Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford is now taking questions at his press conference.
Updated
Covid infection rate in England lowest since end of September
Infection rates across England and Wales are decreasing while those in Northern Ireland and Scotland appear to be levelling off, an official survey suggests. The Office for National Statistics estimates that just over 230,000 had Covid by the end of last week.
In England, the number of people with Covid-19 in the week ending 6 March was 1 in 270 people, the lowest lowest since the week ending 1 October when it was 1 in 240.
Infection rates have continued to decrease in the majority of English regions in the week ending 6 March 2021 https://t.co/6W46waYDYV pic.twitter.com/eDQkoMhFrf
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) March 12, 2021
Updated
Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, has revealed that the pressures of his job extended to the bedroom, when he answered questions during the Association of School and College Leaders virtual annual conference this morning.
“My wife is a teaching assistant and it’s always interesting, because I obviously get quite a bit of lobbying, our pillow talk is maybe a little bit different, she is always highlighting various issues where maybe the Department for Education hasn’t always got it perfect all the time,” Williamson said. “It’s always good to hear it from the frontline,” he added.
“At every stage, I hear it from my wife, who is a teaching assistant, my brother, who is a teacher, about actually how schools have been so incredibly adaptable as well.”
Asked about his own well-being during lockdown, Williamson revealed: “Like a lot of families we seem to have made an investment in a puppy during that time. One thing about pets is that they always seem pleased to see you, especially dogs. So that combination, families and dogs, are probably the things that keep you sane.”
Confirming the old adage that if you want a friend in politics, get a dog. At least they don’t lobby you on your department’s failings on free school meals.
Williamson lavished praise on the teaching profession for its work during what he called “the single greatest disruption to our education system since the second world war”. He told the delegates: “I can’t thank you enough for what you have done.”
Updated
A government fund established to prop up the arts and heritage sectors during the coronavirus pandemic has handed over little more than half of the money it has allocated, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has discovered.
The National Audit Office said the culture recovery fund had budgeted for £830m in grants and loans funding so far, but only £495m had been paid out.
A recent study from the University of Washington found that 30% of Covid patients surveyed still had persistent symptoms at nine months, writes the founder of health justice organisation Body Politic, Fiona Lowenstein, as she asks whether vaccines protect against long Covid.
Early anecdotes from long Covid patients who have received the vaccine demonstrate that responses may be varied, with some patients reporting an alleviation of symptoms and others experiencing more intense side-effects. These reactions need to be studied, understood, and recommendations about the vaccine need to take long Covid patients into account.
The coronavirus pandemic has inspired more than a third (35%) of children to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem), new data suggests.
A survey of more than 2,000 parents of children aged five to 16 across the UK found that 50% of youngsters cited NHS frontline staff, the scientists behind the Covid-19 vaccine rollout (31%) and the Mars rover landing (24%) as events that have most inspired.
According to the figures, children in the UK are most inspired to be doctors or nurses (29%) and astronauts (25%).
Almost half of parents with dependent children have voiced concern about their return to school or college, Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows.
Some 47% of adults said they were very or somewhat worried about their child’s return, the ONS said. It analysed responses from 4,334 adults in Britain who were polled between 3-7 March as part of its Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, including 780 parents.
Three in 10 said they were not at all worried about their child returning to educational settings.
Transmission of Covid-19 drops by at least 30% after a person is vaccinated, a new study suggests.
Public Health Scotland and the University of Glasgow assessed 300,000 NHS workers between 8 December - the first day of vaccination in Scotland - and 3 March.
The researchers looked at the records of people who live with both vaccinated and unvaccinated healthcare workers, finding those who had a single dose were at least 30% less likely to pass the virus on.
Those who have had both doses of vaccine were found to be at least 54% less likely to pass on the virus.
The study, using record linkage, compared cases of Covid-19 and hospitalisations due to the virus in household members of both vaccinated, and unvaccinated health care workers.
Dr Diane Stockton, PHS Lead for Covid-19 vaccination surveillance programme, said:
The results from this study as part of our vaccine effectiveness work, are very encouraging because it suggests that the vaccine helps prevent people from passing on the virus to others - something that has been suspected but hasn’t previously been shown.
Updated
The former health secretary Jeremy Hunt caught coronavirus just days after receiving the vaccine.
Writing on a local news website, he said:
Having ducked the cursed virus for over a year, the dreaded news came through from NHS Test and Trace on Tuesday morning. Ironically, it happened to be half-an-hour before chairing a Select Committee at which Sir Simon Stevens was the guest witness, something I was able to do because my symptoms remain very mild.
But as someone who has complained loudly in the past about failings with NHS Test and Trace, I was amused to see my phone buzzing throughout the morning as they tried to get in touch with me with great diligence.
In fact, the success of Test and Trace is something that should be more talked about alongside the better-known achievements of the vaccine programme. Indeed, from my experience, it has become a model of efficiency.
He and his wife and their three children must now stay home and self isolate for 10 days. Last week, Hunt received his first dose of the vaccine, which takes time to kick in and is most optimal after both doses. It remains unclear whether it entirely prevents people from contracting and transmitting the virus, though there have been promising indications.
Jab done! Thanks to Penny O’Hara and the brilliant volunteers at the RHS Hall including Shreya who actually vaccinated me. Brilliantly organised programme - congrats @MattHancock & @nadhimzahawi pic.twitter.com/8c9BIfilHb
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) March 2, 2021
Updated
The number of Covid-related deaths in Northern Ireland has fallen for a sixth straight week, with the virus mentioned on 33 death certificates last week.
The BBC reports that is 22 fewer than the previous week and brings the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency’s total of Covid-related registered deaths to 2,839.
However, the Department of Health’s total for the same date, based on a recorded positive test result, was 2,069.
Wales first minister Mark Drakeford is having an action-packed morning touring the broadcasters and speaking to media.
He is now stressing that a further reopening of Wales’s tourism industry would be halted if holiday providers are found to be taking bookings from people in England over Easter.
People living under lockdown restrictions in England will not be able to holiday in Wales when self-contained accommodation in the country is allowed to reopen from 27 March 27.
He told the PA news agency:
People who let accommodation should not be taking bookings from people who live outside Wales. We will be talking with our local authority colleagues and with the police next week, just to see if there is anything we need to do to mobilise our own enforcement authorities.
If the industry were to act irresponsibly, the penalty would be we wouldn’t be able to carry on reopening the industry. I know there are rogues in any part of life. But I think that the industry will absolutely recognise that we want to go beyond self-contained accommodation. We want the tourism industry in Wales to have a longer and better season this year than we managed last year.
The government in England is doing nothing to prevent the preexisting crisis in social care from becoming a calamity, writes Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee.
Andrew Dilnot, author of the official government report on the issue 10 years ago, says: “We know how to do this, we just need to get on and do it.” What will it take? Social care collapse is already here in worsening council finances. While nurses’ pay is political dynamite, hundreds of thousands of frail people are denied the care they would have had a decade ago, left home alone and hidden from view.
Universities minister Michelle Donelan has said the number of people looking to go into medical careers has “rocketed”, partly due to the pandemic.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, she said:
Last year we saw an increase of applications into nursing of 34% and we’re expecting similar, if not higher, levels again this year. People have been so taken aback by the role of these individuals that they also want to play their part.
However, gruelling 12-hour shifts, exhaustion and burnout are leading growing numbers of nurses to quit the NHS within three years of joining, research has shown.
Donelan also said that increasing nurses’ pay by more than 1% would not be a U-turn as the review is a “process”, amid growing criticism on the government that the offer was “a slap in the face” and could amount to a real-terms pay cut due to inflation.
She also backed the police, after Reclaim These Streets – the group planning to hold a vigil on Saturday evening close to the spot where Sarah Everard disappeared – said it has been told that such action would be unlawful due to Covid restrictions and could bring criminal prosecution and thousands of pounds in fines.
“As a woman I also recognise that we’re in a global pandemic and restrictions are in place to safeguard the lives of women and men,” she told Sky News.
PC Wayne Couzens has been arrested on suspicion of the kidnap and murder of Everard. He has also been arrested on suspicion of an indecent exposure involving another woman some two weeks ago, amid suggestions the incident may not have been properly investigated at the time.
Universities Minister Michelle Donelan says 'as a woman I recognise the fact we're in a global pandemic' when she is asked whether a vigil for Sarah Everard should go ahead.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 12, 2021
She adds she 'welcomes' a debate on more formal education for young boys.https://t.co/ReL24n0pZ7 pic.twitter.com/NgVqIfnptE
Wales first minister Mark Drakeford has said that guidance for people to stay within five miles of their homes as part of “stay local” restrictions in Wales is “not a rule”.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live:
It is guidance and is to be interpreted in people’s individual circumstances. Of course there will be people, in rural Wales particularly, who don’t live five miles away from a shop - they would have to travel further, and they’ll be able to do that over the next two weeks. People can interpret it with some flexibility in their local circumstances.
Drakeford was asked to give an assurance that people would not be penalised if they travelled more than five miles to go to a shop or hairdressers.
Provided that they are not passing lots of shops in order to go to another one, then of course that will be consistent with the rule.
Wales to begin gradually easing measures from tomorrow
Some semblance of normal life will begin again in Wales from Saturday, with the country’s first minister, Mark Drakeford, expected to announce a change from the current “stay home” restrictions to more lenient “stay local” requirements.
This morning, he said coronavirus numbers in Wales were continuing to go in the right direction”, and that people from two households will be able to meet in gardens from Saturday, while hairdressers and barbers will be able to operate from Monday. Non-essential retail will begin to reopen from 22 March.
Drakeford told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
Provided things continue to go in the right direction, we hope to be able to reopen self-contained accommodation for the Easter period.
He said that in many Welsh homes, people would need to go through the house to access the back garden but “the idea is you walk straight through, out the back door into the garden”.
That will be a big step forward here in Wales, people haven’t been able to do that now for weeks and weeks. For many families that will allow grandparents to see grandchildren again and it’s a sign that cautiously, carefully and step by step, we’re now on the journey of reopening Welsh society.
Drakeford added that he has “anxieties” about the resumption of foreign travel from as early as 17 May.
I do not want to see all the hard work that people in Wales have put in over recent weeks being undermined by the reimportation of the virus.
The prime minister’s road map for England is very clear that these are indicative dates and when I’ve raised this with UK ministers they always emphasise that the decision would be made in the circumstances much closer to the time. I am saying that for me, that does look early.
I would want to be completely confident that we are not running the risk of a reimportation of the virus, particularly now that we know there are new variants of this virus in other parts of the world.
People in England will not be able to holiday in Wales when self-contained accommodation reopens at Easter, he said.
Here’s the full story:
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening to everyone reading. I’m Mattha Busby and I’ll be bringing you UK updates on the coronavirus pandemic. Please send me any tips or thoughts via my Twitter or over email on mattha.busby.freelance@guardian.co.uk
