UK coronavirus LIVE: Boris Johnson to hold 4pm Downing Street TV briefing after Rishi Sunak pledges billions in Covid support
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Rishi Sunak has unveiled billions of pounds of extra help for firms and workers hit by coronavirus restrictions
The package includes making the Job Support Scheme, which replaces the current furlough system, more generous. There will also be grants of £2,100 available for firms in Tier 2 areas of England, including London, primarily aimed at helping hospitality and leisure venues which have seen takings plummet due to a restrictions on households mixing.
It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to hold press conference at 4pm regarding the coronavirus situation. Mr Sunak and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance will also be answering questions at the event.
Meanwhile, figures show that just 59.6 per cent of close contacts of people who tested positive were reached through the Test and Trace system, its worst performance yet.
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What about Tier 3?
Matt Hancock added that Warrington may be moved into Tier 3.
He told MPs: “We are also formally beginning discussions with Warrington about moving into the very high alert level due to a continuing rise in cases there.”
Mr Hancock added: “I hope that with everybody supporting these measures and taking the actions that are necessary, we can keep these restrictions in place for as little time as possible.
“But I am absolutely convinced that we do need to make progress and what I have announced today is that we will formally start the talks and I hope that we can reach an agreement and a resolution soon.”
More on those three new Tier 2 entries
Matt Hancock outlined new measures for Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry and Slough, where he said there has been a rising rate of infections.
He told the Commons: “Unfortunately, we’re seeing rising rates of infection in Stoke-on-Trent, in Coventry and in Slough.
“In all of these areas, there are over 100 positive cases per 100,000 people. Cases are doubling around every fortnight and we’re seeing a concerning increase of cases among the over-60s.
“So we’ve agreed in partnership with local leaders to move these areas into the high local alert level, coming into force at one minute past midnight on Saturday.
“The central change is that people cannot now meet other households socially indoors. This applies in any setting, at home or in a restaurant or any other venue.
“The rule of six still applies to any outdoor setting and although you may continue to travel to open venues, you should reduce the number of journeys where possible.”
Young, fit and asymptomatic can still suffer from long Covid
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it “would be catastrophic” to let Covid-19 “unleash its full force”.
During a Commons debate on Covid-19, he said: “I reject the false choice that says we must pick a side and choose between a healthy economy and a healthy nation, because the two are intrinsically linked.
“If we were to, God forbid, let the virus unleash its full force, then the damage not just to the NHS – and hundreds of thousands of lives – but to our livelihoods too would be catastrophic.”
On long Covid, Mr Hancock said: “We have already seen worrying numbers of young, fit, healthy people suffering debilitating symptoms months after contracting Covid.
“Yesterday, a study by King’s College London showed that one in 20 people with coronavirus is likely to have virus symptoms like fatigue, breathlessness, muscle pain and neurological problems for eight weeks or more.”
He also told MPs that the NHS Nightingale Hospital in Manchester is set to start taking patients.
Three new regions join ‘high risk’ Tier 2
Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry and Slough will move into the Tier 2 “high” coronavirus level at one minute past midnight on Saturday, Matt Hancock has confirmed.
In a brief aside from the action in the Commons:
More London councils today revealed they have launched their own coronavirus test and trace teams because the national system is “simply not working well enough”.
Tower Hamlets and Harrow have followed eight other boroughs and started to track residents who have received a positive Covid-19 test or come into contact with someone who has.
Last week leaders in both Hammersmith and Fulham and Hackney said their teams were outperforming the Government operation and called for local tracers to take over.
The fight isn’t over – Hancock
Health Secretary Matt Hancock, opening a general debate on Covid-19, told the Commons: “The fight is not over and the virus continues to spread, and cases and hospitalisations and tragically deaths are all rising.
“Yesterday we learned Liverpool hospital trust is now treating more Covid patients than at the peak in April.
“And across the UK, the number of deaths has doubled in under the fortnight.
“And yet, just as the situation we face is grave, so too is hope of a solution growing.
“And with every day my confidence in the ingenuity of science to bring resolution grows, but until that moment we must have resolve.”
Second wave isn’t as bad as first – Hancock
The Health Secretary has opened this afternoon’s Commons debate by saying his confidence in the ability of science is growing by the day.
He then stressed that the country is better equipped to deal with the second wave than it was during the first peak.
First, it is more regional, Mr Hancock told MPs, this means not all parts of the NHS are under the same pressure.
Secondly, we now know a lot more about the virus, he said.
“The central message across all parts of the UK is that the NHS remains open.”
Matt Hancock has begun his statement to the Commons
Minister hits out at anti-vaxxer campaigns
Kemi Badenoch said she had been “particularly disappointed” by the number of disinformation campaigns by anti-vaccination groups.
Tory MP Philip Hollobone (Kettering) said: “Given the high level of concern about the impact of Covid-19 on ethnic minorities and given that a vaccine is going to be a very large part of the solution to the pandemic, why does (Ms Badenoch) think there’s been such a disproportionately low number of ethnic minority people coming forward to volunteer for the NHS vaccine registry?”
Ms Badenoch responded: “It’s an excellent question and I must say that I have been particularly disappointed at the amount of anti-vaxxer disinformation campaigns that are out there. I have received three separate messages myself from people telling ethnic minorities not to take part in vaccines.
“And I’m really sorry to say that in this House, a member on the opposite side of the House said that the Government was using ethnic minorities as cannon fodder in its battle against coronavirus, one of the worst things that I’ve ever heard said in this House that really, really causes division and tension.
“We need people to have faith in the Government, we need people to have faith in our health service and trust it in order to take part in things like vaccine trials and I hope the work that we’re doing will go some way to remedy some of the scaremongering.”
Scottish pub and hospitality associations sue government
Five hospitality bodies in Scotland have threatened legal action against the Scottish Government.
The Scottish Beer and Pub Association, the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, UK Hospitality (Scotland), the Scottish Hospitality Group and Night Time Industries Association Scotland served the Scottish Government with notice of action on Wednesday.
Following an opinion from Aidan O’Neill QC which said a judicial review into restrictions place on the industry by the Scottish Government would be warranted, the group decided to take action.
A deadline of 4pm on Wednesday has been set for a response from the Scottish Government, with a petition for a judicial review being submitted if none is forthcoming.
Paul Waterson, spokesman for the group, said: “It is with regret that we now commence with this first stage in the legal process. We understand and entirely support the goal of suppressing the virus but our sector is at breaking-point.
“Despite having more mitigation measures than other sectors and the vast majority of operators going above-and-beyond in ensuring customer safety, our sector has been repeatedly targeted without consultation and without the evidence. “
Northern Ireland records more than 1,000 new cases overnight
There have been five further Covid-19 linked deaths in the last 24-hour reporting period in Northern Ireland and 1,042 new cases of the virus, the country’s Department of Health has announced.
This bring’s the country’s official death toll to 634.
There have been 31,034 confirmed cases in total since the start of the pandemic – of which 6,753 were recorded in the last seven days.
There are currently 291 patients with Covid-19 being treated in hospital, with 33 in intensive care.
Khan: Sunak’s measures are just a ‘sticking plaster’ solution
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the measures announced by Rishi Sunak were a “sticking plaster” rather than a solution to the problems faced by the economy.
He said: “The changes announced today are a welcome improvement to the flawed and narrow Job Support Scheme announced last month.
“These should have been in place from the start – instead, businesses and workers have been put through weeks of uncertainty.
“This latest announcement is just a sticking-plaster solution that still fails to match the true scale of the problem.
“The collapse of tourism into London has impacted heavily on footfall and left many hospitality, retail and leisure businesses without any prospect of returning to normal levels of business for many months to come.
“The Government needs to get its act together and provide a functioning test and trace system so the economy can be further reopened, safely.”
‘Covid shows no disproportionate impact across ethnic groups’
Women and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch told the Commons the reason some groups are worse hit by Covid-19 “remains unexampled”.
She said: “According to the latest evidence, part of the excess risk remains unexampled for some groups and further analysis of the potential risk factors is planned for the coming months.
“What has emerged is that interventions across the entire population are most likely to disproportionately benefit ethnic minorities and are least likely to attach damaging stigma.
“This is best captured through our experience of the national lockdown and shielding programme.”
She added: “As the CMO has said, we must assess the impact of Covid-19 based on all-cause mortality to incorporate its indirect impact.
“On this specific metric, early evidence suggests that there is no disproportionate impact across different ethnic groups.”
‘Community champions’ to spread health guidance
Kemi Badenoch outlined a £25 million fund for “community champions” to help drive public health messages to groups hardest hit by Covid-19.
She told the Commons: “This will help to improve the reach of official public health guidance and other official messaging or communications about the virus into specific places and groups most at risk from Covid-19.”
Ms Badenoch said the Government should appoint two new Covid and ethnicity experts from the fields of medicine, epidemiology and clinical research, so that “new evidence uncovered during this review relating to the clinically extremely vulnerable is incorporated into health policy”.
She also said there will be a “rapid light-touch review” of the approach taken by councils, adding: “I want to us to capture the good work being done by local authorities and directors of public health so we can learn the lessons of what works at the local level.”
Another region looks set for Tier 3
Discussions about Warrington becoming a Tier 3 area have been held with the Government, council leader Russ Bowden said.
Mr Bowden said the local authority had initiated talks about the alert level increasing from Tier 2 as coronavirus cases in the Cheshire borough were “not decreasing”.
He said: “I do have concerns about the impact on local businesses and jobs if Warrington goes into Tier 3, and I’m particularly worried for our hospitality sector and those whose businesses are connected to the industry.
“The discussions we have held with Government so far, however, have been honest and realistic.
“If Warrington is to enter Tier 3 restrictions, I will do all I can to ensure there is an acceptable level of financial support made available for our businesses and their staff. This is an absolute priority for me.
“We cannot ignore the stubbornly high case numbers of coronavirus in the town, with more people being admitted to hospital and, distressingly, more people being taken by the virus.”
Ethnicity should be added to death certificate – Minister
Women and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch has told the Commons that ethnicity should be recorded on death certificates to help track the impact of Covid-19 on different communities.
In a Commons statement, she told MPs: “In my report to the Prime Minister I outlined a number of recommendations and next steps.
“These include mandating the recording of ethnicity data as part of the death certification process as this is the only way we will be able to establish a complete picture of the impact of the virus on ethnic minority groups.”
North faces difficult winter – PM
The Prime Minister has warned that northern England faced tough months ahead.
Boris Johnson told the Great Northern Conference: “I have to be honest with you, this winter is not going to be easy but I am certain that the people of northern England will confront this crisis with the fortitude and selflessness we have seen throughout.”
Can business lunches go ahead?
Asked about business meetings being able to be held in a hospitality venue in areas with Covid restrictions, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It is guidance and, in the guidance, there is an exemption for work meetings to take place in hospitality settings.
“Our intention when providing that exemption had been to provide the opportunity for freelancers, or for the self employed, who didn’t have an office space which they could work in to use hospitality if necessary. That remains the case.
“But, more broadly, I think what we would ask people to do is, wherever possible to hold meetings remotely via phone or via video conference.”
Stoke-on-Trent asks to move up to Tier 2
Stoke-on-Trent council has asked the Health Secretary to place the city under harsher Tier 2 restrictions amid rising Covid infections.
City council leader Abi Brown said in asking for the tougher high-risk area measures and not “dithering for a week” she hoped to stem infections and head off “further escalation” to Tier 3 controls.
The city of 250,000 people is currently in Tier 1 or medium-risk category, but if its application is granted by Matt Hancock there would be a ban on household mixing indoors, with a 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants.
Latest NHS Digital figures showed the number of new cases in the city rose to 210 per 100,000 in the week to October 19.
Amid the fall-out over tiered support, here’s a look at man-of-the-moment Andy Burnham:
For some it’s the single dark curl on his forehead, for others it’s the straight-talking way he is holding the government to account. And then there’s the unexpected thrill of finding a man in the sort of mid-market cagoule your geography teacher would wear so attractive. Whatever it is, it is undeniable – thousands of people, of all ages and political persuasions, have developed a serious crush on the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.
Just as you thought this year couldn’t surprise you anymore, the sex symbol of the moment is a 50-year-old father of two who looks like his wife bought his clothes for him.
The Debenhams Dad aesthetic never looked so good. He may be an unlikely person to fancy – he’s like your dependable friend who is always there for a spontaneous pint or your flatmate who always buys milk – but after decades of being overlooked, this is Burnham’s moment.
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