Top story: £7bn in limbo from Covid-19 cancellations
Good morning, Warren Murray here – keep calm and carry on reading.
All of the UK’s biggest airlines and most big holiday companies are breaking the law by denying refunds within 14 days for travel cancelled during the pandemic, according to Which? Most have instead offered vouchers or credit notes. Ryanair has started telling customers they will have to wait until “the Covid-19 emergency has passed” for a refund. Passengers booked with easyJet and British Airways have told the Guardian they could not get their money back. Which? says customers of holiday companies, including Love Holidays and Tui, are in a similar boat. It is estimated up to £7bn could be owed for cancelled trips but the airlines body Iata and travel company association Abta say firms would be bankrupted by repaying it now when they have no income. Which? has backed calls for the government to extend the processing deadline to 28 days and for vouchers to be guaranteed against insolvency and eventually redeemable for cash.
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has given an address announcing that human trials of an experimental vaccine are to begin at Oxford on Thursday.
The government has missed opportunities to secure at least 16m face masks for NHS staff in the past four weeks, amid growing frustration that Britain is losing equipment to other countries. Downing Street has weighed in behind Hancock, who has been forced to deny explosive claims by a top civil servant that ministers made a political decision to opt out of bulk-buying ventilators and protective equipment with the EU. However, a spokesman for the European commission rebutted a suggestion by Hancock that the UK had joined the EU group buy efforts, adding: “They are most welcome to participate in future rounds.” The head of the VentilatorChallengeUK consortium has said it made the right choice in deciding to boost production of existing models by collaborating with big manufacturers such as Airbus, Rolls-Royce and McLaren – rather than trying to get new designs approved. The consortium has supplied 250 ventilators to hospitals, with “hundreds” to follow this week and maximum output slated for early May.
In our latest global wrap: the prospect of a prolonged worldwide impact from the pandemic has hardened after business leaders warned of a drawn-out recession and US health chiefs highlighted the prospect of a second wave of cases there in winter. The World Food Programme has warned the pandemic could cause a “famine of biblical proportions” affecting up to 265 million people in the developing world. David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme, urged governments to bring forward about $2bn (£1.6bn) of aid that has been pledged, so it can get to the frontline as quickly as possible. Head to our live blog for further developments.
There’s more in our Coronavirus Extra section further down … and here’s where you can find all our coverage of the outbreak – from breaking news to factchecks and advice.
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Midweek catch-up
> Spanish police have arrested a former London rapper turned Isis extremist, Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, one of the most wanted militants in Europe. He joined Isis in Raqqa, Syria, in 2013. He is the son of Adel Abdel Bary, who was convicted of US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 213 people.
> The official death toll in the Nova Scotia shootings has been increased to 23 including the gunman after more victims were publicly identified. Heidi Stevenson, a Mountie and mother of two, was among those murdered.
> Coca-Cola and Pepsi are still not doing enough to meet promises to reduce plastic waste globally, according to a report from the charity Tearfund. Unilever and Nestlé scored highest on meeting commitments to reduce their plastic footprint in developing countries.
> The widow of PC Keith Palmer has said she is disappointed with the Met after it disclosed she is suing the force over her husband’s murder by a terrorist as he guarded an entrance to the Palace of Westminster in March 2017.
Coronavirus Extra
Mosques will be deserted, daylong fasts will be broken in isolation and in some places the call to prayer will end with a different exhortation: worship from where you are. Ordinarily during Ramadan, which commences this week, Muslim community life swells with special prayers and crowded, night-long iftar dinners. But that kind of socialising now risks spreading coronavirus – and bans on religious and family gatherings will affect observances in much of the Islamic world.
The advertising watchdog has cracked down on three companies for implying they could provide immune-boosting IV drips to prevent or treat coronavirus. The adverts and marketing claims were made by the Private Harley Street Clinic, REVIV and Cosmetic Medical Advice UK. Sellers of other similar products are also being targeted by the ASA.
For our science podcast, Sarah Boseley speaks to Dr Dipesh Patel about the effects of Covid-19 on people with diabetes, including the role that glucose levels and a high body mass index might play.
Things are tough right now, and the potential for tempers to flare lurks in many human encounters. Eleanor Gordon-Smith gives her advice on how to keep conflict at bay.
Today in Focus podcast: How 5G conspiracy theories took hold
The Guardian’s media editor, Jim Waterson, looks at why conspiracy theories linking 5G technology to coronavirus have taken hold in the UK, with dozens of phone masts vandalised over the past few weeks.
Lunchtime read: ‘Slim and privileged – I get the mistrust’
Jameela Jamil, star of The Good Place, is alternatively adored and vilified for speaking out. She talks about attention-seeking, body hair, Twitter feuds with Piers Morgan – and why no one should ever shake hands again.
Sport
The Premier League has been asked to block a Saudi-backed consortium’s attempt to purchase Newcastle United by one of the league’s major media partners due to concerns over pirate broadcasts. Former Real Oviedo striker Diego Cervero talks to Sid Lowe on why ‘medicine is a vocation’ and how he will do anything to help fight Covid-19. While Agustín Pichot offers something different and perhaps more democratic, the old-school diplomacy of Bill Beaumont remains favourite ahead of this weekend’s World Rugby elections.
The IOC has been rebuked by Tokyo 2020 organisers and the Japanese government after saying the country’s prime minister had agreed to bear the brunt of the costs of delaying the Olympics to 2021. In golf, Rory McIlroy would rather postpone the Ryder Cup until 2021 than play it this year without fans. And here’s a sporting teaser to help while away the lockdown hours: which club among England’s 92 football league clubs can claim to be the oldest? Crystal Palace anyone?
Business
Asian share markets have slipped to two-week lows after the floor fell out from under crude prices, exposing the deep economic damage wrought by the global coronavirus health crisis. Skittish investors sought the safety of government debt as Brent oil futures plunged for a second day to a low last seen almost two decades ago, fuelled by the glut of crude. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.8% while Japan’s Nikkei slumped 1.3%. The pound has been trading around $1.229 and €1.132 overnight. The FTSE is about a third of a percent higher as we go to press.
The papers
Hope springs on to the front pages today. “UK vaccine trials on humans to start” says the Metro. “Hope as first human vaccine trials start” says the Express, and the Times has “British human vaccine trials to start tomorrow”. Here is Matt Hancock talking about the fast-tracked Oxford testing programme.
“Revealed: UK missed chances to buy 16m face masks in past month” – that’s the Guardian, while the Mirror says it is “Scandalous” that the government won’t buy PPE made by a Nottingham firm. “Home sew army’s 25,000 scrubs – DARN BUSTERS” – the Sun praises “amateur stitchers” who are making medical garments for NHS staff.
The FT says “Political decision kept Britain out of joint EU ventilator pact” – paraphrasing the senior civil servant who was later forced to row back. “NHS workers given flawed virus tests” – the Telegraph on kits that Public Health England centres have been told to stop using. “2,700 cancers missed each week” – the Mail on the knock-on effects in the health system as people miss GP appointments.
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