Coronavirus latest: England’s biggest cities bar London and Liverpool to go under toughest restrictions

Updated at 11/26/2020, 1: 59: 08 PM BST

President-elect Joe Biden urged Americans to forgo their traditional Thanksgiving customs during the pandemic, warning of the dangers of coronavirus “fatigue”. “This is the moment where we need to steel our spines, redouble our efforts and recommit ourselves to the fight,” Mr Biden said in a Thanksgiving speech.

ExxonMobil said it will sack up to 300 workers at its Canadian affiliates, including oil sands producer Imperial Oil, as it continues to reduce costs in the wake of the coronavirus-led crash this year. “The impact of Covid-19 on the demand for ExxonMobil’s products has increased the urgency of the efficiency work,” the company said.

Turkey is in the midst of a severe resurgence of coronavirus, the country’s health minister has confirmed as he announced a full figure for confirmed new daily cases after months of opacity. Health minister Fahrettin Koca said in a press conference that authorities had identified 28,351 confirmed cases of the virus in the past 24 hours.

The UK pub industry has outlined the desperate straits they face over the Christmas period in a letter to the prime minister that calls for the immediate publication of evidence of the virus spreading in pubs. The letter was signed by the British Beer and Pub Association alongside the majority of the UK’s large pub groups.

New York on Wednesday reported more than 6,000 coronavirus cases in a single day for the first time in seven months. A further 6,265 people tested positive over 24 hours, Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed at a press conference, up from 4,881 on Tuesday.

The US goods trade deficit swelled last month as a recovery in domestic demand has driven imports back above pre-crisis levels. The trade gap, which US president Donald Trump had vowed to slash during his four years in office, widened to $80.3bn in October, from $79.4bn in September, the Department of Commerce said.

More than £56m has been set aside to support an additional 1,000 loans for entrepreneurs under the start-up loans scheme administered by the state-owned British Business Bank. The government has said that £519m would be allocated for the broader Covid-19 loans schemes through 2021.

Global trade rose for the fourth consecutive month in September, narrowing the gap with last year’s level as China’s economic rebound fuelled global imports and exports. The volume of international goods trade rose 2.1 per cent in September compared with August, according to a widely watched world trade monitor published by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

Large minorities in “frugal” EU countries are concerned about the misuse of the bloc’s €750bn pandemic recovery fund. The EU sealed a deal on the recovery fund in July after resistance from Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, which were opposed to the idea of permitting the union to borrow money and hand it out as budgetary expenditure for member states.

Peter Wells in New York

California reported more than 18,000 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the biggest one-day increase of any state during the pandemic.

A further 18,350 people in the most populous US state tested positive, its health department revealed this afternoon, up from 15,329 on Tuesday.

The latest increase soars past its previous record from Saturday of 15,442 as well as the biggest jumps in Florida, Texas and Illinois.

Adjusted for population, the roughly 46 new cases per 100,000 people on the day, ranks among the bottom half of US states.

The record jump came from 168,988 tests reported, down from Tuesday’s record volume of 283,819, and below the state’s 14-day average of about 192,000. This pushed the 14-day positivity rate to 5.9 per cent, a three-month high.

Authorities attributed a further 106 deaths to coronavirus, up from 43 on Tuesday and compared with 61 on Wednesday last week. Today’s increase matches that of November 19, which was the biggest one-day rise in fatalities since late October.

The number of people currently in California hospitals being treated for coronavirus rose to 7,049, an increase of 408 over the past 24 hours and to the highest level since early August.

The recent surge in cases and hospitalisations in California prompted Governor Gavin Newsom to impose a curfew, which went into effect on November 21, that restricts late-night activities in the state’s coronavirus hotspots for the next four weeks. The designated hotspots cover 94 per cent of the state’s nearly 40m residents.

Guy Chazan in Berlin

Angela Merkel and the leaders of Germany’s 16 states have decided to extend the partial shutdown imposed for the month of November until December 20, saying more needed to be done to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.

In a government order agreed late on Wednesday evening, the leaders agreed to keep all restaurants, bars, theatres and gyms closed till late next month and to extend the ban on domestic tourism. Schools and most businesses will continue to function as normal.

A government scheme to compensate businesses affected by the “lockdown-lite” imposed at the start of November, which allowed them to claim 75 per cent of their normal monthly revenue, will be extended into December.

A statement said the November lockdown had succeeded in stopping the exponential growth in coronavirus infections and flattening the curve. But the number of cases was still too high: on November 20 a new daily record of 23,648 infections was recorded by the Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s main public health authority.

The order agreed on Wednesday evening also imposed further contact restrictions. Masks must now be worn in front of shops as well as in them. Smaller shops can only admit up to one person per 10 square metres of retail space, and larger ones one person per 20 square metres.

Districts that have succeeded in reducing the rate of new infections to 50 per 100,000 people within seven days will be able to deviate from the new rules.

The leaders also agreed that from December 1, social gatherings will be restricted to a maximum of five people from up to two households. This rule will, however, be relaxed from December 23 till January 1, when up to 10 people can come together socially.

People will be urged to reduce all social contact to an absolute minimum for five to seven days before family get-togethers at Christmas. People will be obliged to wear masks at work and in busy public areas, as will children at school from the age of 13. Universities will have to switch to digital learning. New Year’s Eve firework displays in crowded streets and public squares will be banned.

Peter Wells in New York

Texas reported more than 14,600 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, a record jump for the second-day running, and more than 200 deaths. A further 14,648 people tested positive, authorities revealed, easing past the previous one-day record set on Tuesday of 13,998.

Additionally, the health department revealed 961 historical cases stemming from backlogs of lab tests, including 771 from the region around Houston, to the statewide total. That took the total number of confirmed cases in Texas since the start of the pandemic to 1.13m, second only to the 1.14m in California, which also reported a record jump in cases today.

Texas attributed a further 200 deaths to coronavirus, up from 162 yesterday and compared with 187 on Wednesday last week. The state reported 230 fatalities on November 19, which was the biggest one-day jump since late August. Over the past week, Texas has reported an average of 152 deaths a day, the highest rate since the start of September.

The state’s overall death toll, at 20,950, is second only to New York. There are 8,585 people currently in Texas hospitals being treated for coronavirus, an increase of 90 over the past 24 hours. That is the highest level of hospitalisations since August 4.

Gary Jones

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that the city had amassed more than 150m items of personal protective equipment costing US$900m.

“A second wave is at our doorstep, and we’re taking zero chances on preparedness,” said Mr de Blasio. “New York City has stepped up so our frontline heroes and healthcare workers will have what they need to save lives.”

The city’s PPE stockpile now holds more than 45m isolation gowns, 58m surgical masks, 9m N95 masks, 5m face shields, 30m pairs of nitrile gloves and 900,000 pairs of goggles.

Alice Woodhouse in Hong Kong

Asia-Pacific stocks took a breather on Thursday following a pause for US equities after record highs earlier in the week.

In Japan, the Topix was down 0.1 per cent, the Kospi in South Korea was flat and the S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.1 per cent.

On Wall Street on Wednesday, the S&P 500 dipped 0.2 per cent, stepping back from an all-time high as US unemployment rose for a second straight week. The figures, which come amid a surge in coronavirus cases, provided more evidence of weakness in the country’s labour market.

US markets will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving.

Gary Jones

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday launched “LA Optimized”, a tech-driven initiative to help small businesses recover from the pandemic.

LA Optimized aims to help small businesses adapt to the shifts in consumer behaviour brought on by the pandemic by boosting their digital marketing skills and optimising their online presence.

“Covid-19 has changed everything — the way we communicate, work, socialise and shop — and our brick-and-mortar stores need to rapidly rethink how they reach their customers, market their goods, sell their products and thrive when so much business is happening online,” Mr Garcetti said.

“Our small businesses are the backbone of our economic strength, and LA Optimized taps into the power of partnerships to equip local enterprises with a larger digital footprint and the tools necessary to gain a competitive edge and lead our pandemic recovery.”

The mayor’s office plans to allocate over $1.5m to support the initiative.

Donato Paolo Mancini, Anjana Ahuja and Clive Cookson in London

Disquiet is growing over the way that Oxford university and AstraZeneca have handled the early readout from trials of their coronavirus vaccine, which much of the developing world may rely on to emerge from the pandemic.

The results were hailed a success for showing an average efficacy of 70 per cent — a figure reached by pooling the results from cohorts on two different dosing regimens.

A month apart, one set of participants received two identical doses, while the other group received a half-dose, and then a full dose. The efficacy for the first, larger group was 62 per cent. In the second subgroup, it was 90 per cent.

But on Tuesday, Moncef Slaoui, the head of Operation Warp Speed, the US government’s funding programme for vaccine development, disclosed that the second subgroup was limited to people aged 55 or below, a demographic with lower risk of developing severe Covid-19.

Read more here

Gary Jones

World Health Organization guidelines released on Wednesday warned that exercise was more important than ever during the pandemic, and that 5m deaths a year could be averted if the global population was more active.

WHO statistics show that one in four adults and four out of five adolescents do not get enough physical activity. This is estimated to cost US$54bn in direct healthcare globally, and another US$14bn to lost productivity.

With many people currently homebound due to Covid-19, the WHO’s new guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour recommend 150 to 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity per week for all adults, including people living with chronic conditions or disability, and an average of 60 minutes per day for children and adolescents.

“Being physically active is critical for health and wellbeing – it can help to add years to life and life to years,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Every move counts, especially now as we manage the constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic. We must all move every day – safely and creatively.”

Peter Wells in New York

The US on Wednesday reported more than 2,000 coronavirus deaths for the second day in a row, while hospitalisations have doubled in the past four weeks to a record of nearly 90,000.

State authorities attributed a further 2,284 deaths to coronavirus, up from 2,029 on Tuesday, according to Covid Tracking Project data. That was the biggest one-day jump in fatalities since May 7.

The country has averaged 1,584 deaths a day over the past week – the result of a record surge in cases and hospitalisations since the start of autumn that pushed up the overall death toll to a rate previously seen in mid-May.

There are 89,954 people currently in US hospitals being treated for coronavirus. That is a record high for the 16th day in a row and an increase of 99 per cent from the number of patients four weeks ago, according to an analysis of Covid Tracking Project data by the Financial Times.

Texas (200), Illinois (178), Ohio (156) and California (106) were the states that reported more than 100 new deaths on Wednesday. Ohio, Tennessee (92), Iowa (45) and Utah (26) had record jumps.

States reported 182,537 Covid-19 infections, the third-biggest daily jump since the start of the pandemic and about 10,000 more cases than the country’s seven-day average. Wednesday’s increase was still shy of the November 20 record of 192,805.

California and Texas separately reported record one-day increases in coronavirus cases — 18,350 and 14,648, respectively — but these were offset by the midwest, which has been at the forefront of the autumn surge but is now beginning to exhibit downward trends in daily cases.

Gary Jones

The UN launched “16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence” on Wednesday, saying that “as countries implemented lockdown measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus, violence against women, especially domestic violence, intensified — in some countries, calls to helplines have increased five-fold”.

Even before Covid-19 hit, the UN said, “violence against women and girls had reached pandemic proportions. Globally, 243m women and girls were abused by an intimate partner in the past year. Meanwhile, less than 40 per cent of women who experience violence report it or seek help.”

Formal reports of domestic violence have decreased as survivors find it harder to seek help and access support through the regular channels, the UN said. School closures and economic strains had also left women and girls poorer, out of school and out of work, and more vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, forced marriage and harassment.

The new initiative is part of the UN’s UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women campaign. It will continue until December 10, the global Human Rights Day, and calls for international action to bridge funding gaps, ensure essential services for survivors of violence during the pandemic, and encourage the collection of data that can improve life-saving services for women and girls.

Edward White and Kang Buseong

South Korea’s economic outlook has improved further despite the country facing its worst virus outbreak in eight months, according to the central bank.

South Korea’s coronavirus infection rate has hit its highest since March, prompting health officials to consider reinstatement of tougher social-distancing measures across the country.

However, bucking fears of worsening outbreak — locally and abroad — the Bank of Korea on Thursday issued an improvement in its economic forecast for 2020. The move underscores how Seoul continues to reap the rewards from its swift response to the pandemic.

The BoK raised its annual GDP outlook for 2020 to a 1.1 per cent contraction, from an earlier estimate of a 1.3 per cent decline. The improvement comes as robust foreign demand for South Korea’s technology exports helps offset the economic hit from earlier in the year and soft domestic spending. The central bank held interest rates at a record low of 0.5 per cent.

Still, health officials are grappling with the third serious virus wave to hit the country this year. Reflecting their risk-averse approach that has helped avoid strict lockdowns, officials have in recent days already strengthened distancing rules across the greater Seoul area in which about half the country’s 52m people live. Further restrictions are under consideration.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 583 new infections on Thursday, the worst daily total since the country’s initial outbreak linked to a massive cluster in a church group in late February and early March.

Alice Woodhouse in Hong Kong

Six members of the Pakistan cricket team who arrived in New Zealand for international fixtures have tested positive for coronavirus.

New Zealand Cricket said two of the six positive tests were classed as “historical” while four are thought to be new infections.

New Zealand imposes strict quarantine requirements on all arrivals, but allows sports teams to train together during the isolation period. The test results mean the team’s training will be put on hold until the cases have been investigated.

The Pakistan team had tested negative on four occasions before travelling to New Zealand. Games between the two countries are set to begin in the second week of December.

FT reporters

London looks set to avoid being placed under the tightest coronavirus restrictions as the government prepares to outline its new regime of measures for England.

Senior government officials on Wednesday said they expected London to remain in the looser tier two, with Rishi Sunak, chancellor, Sadiq Khan, London mayor, and Oliver Dowden, culture secretary, all pressing Mr Johnson not to close the capital’s pubs, restaurants, hotels and theatres, which would be required if the city was placed into tier three.

With the UK recording a further 696 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday, the highest daily total since May, ministers met during the evening to discuss which areas of England will enter into each of the three tiers when the new rules come into effect from December 2.

The final decision will be announced by health secretary Matt Hancock in parliament on Thursday.

Read more here

Jyotsna Singh in New Delhi

Several Indian states have tightened Covid-19 restrictions to curb the spread of infections as India’s caseload crossed 9.2m.

Punjab has become the latest to reimpose a night curfew after a fresh surge in cases in the festival and wedding season, joining Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan that have taken similar measures.

Punjab also doubled the fine for any violation of social-distancing norms, including failure to wear a mask to Rs1,000 ($13.54).

The hill state of Uttarakhand has also reordered mandatory testing for Covid-19 infection for visitors from Delhi. Maharashtra has also started testing travellers from Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Goa.

The restrictions came as the federal home ministry issued fresh guidelines on Wednesday, effective from December 1.

“The country is at a critical juncture in its fight against Covid-19,” the ministry said in a statement, emphasising that state governments must “promote Covid-19 appropriate behaviour” and take effective surveillance and containment measures.

India reported more than 44,000 new coronavirus infections and 481 deaths in the past 24 hours. During the peak in September, it recorded close to 100,000 single-day infections and more than 2,000 deaths.

Alice Hancock in London

Mitchells & Butlers, the UK pub group, has cut about 1,300 jobs since October as it warned that uncertainty over trading restrictions cast doubt over the group’s ability to continue as a going concern.

The group, along with rivals Fuller’s, has swung to a loss as coronavirus lockdown measures have devastated sales. Mitchells & Butlers does not expect sales to reach pre-Covid levels until 2021, it said on Thursday.

Uncertainty over whether it will meet its debt obligations “stems directly from a lack of clarity on both the extent and the duration of current tiering, local and national lockdowns and operating restrictions, such as social-distancing measures, limitations on party sizes and reduced opening times, all of which have an impact on consumers’ ability and willingness to visit pubs”.

Revenues in the year to the end of September were £1.48bn, down 34 per cent compared with 2019, while the group swung to a pre-tax loss of £123m from a profit of £177m last year.

Net debt, excluding lease liabilities, stayed flat at £1.56bn. Its complex financial structure, through which much of its debt is secured against its pub properties and future income streams, have prompted doubts over whether it could meet forthcoming covenant tests.

Simon Emeny, chief executive of Fuller’s, warned on Thursday that the industry was facing “a tough winter and a very different looking Christmas” as the company reported a fall in revenues of 73 per cent to £45.6m in the six months to the end of September.

The company fell to a pre-tax loss in the period of £24m, down from a profit of £176.2m, although it said that over the summer, when pubs had been allowed to open, it had achieved a £2m profit.

Jonathan Eley

Sales at luxury goods retailer Mulberry fell 29 per cent in the half-year to September as the Covid-19 pandemic turned many of Europe’s premium shopping streets into ghost towns, and the group said it expected disruption to continue for at least the rest of its financial year.

In the weeks since the half ended, sales are down 19 per cent. But the group’s half-year loss was lower than last year — £2.3m against £10.1m — because of cost cuts and receipts from the government’s job support scheme.

The company, which is 36 per cent owned by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, also said that its cash position was better than it had initially forecast, with its main lending facility still undrawn.

Thierry Andretta, chief executive, reiterated previous warnings that sales in the year to March would be less than last year but expected losses to reduce.

“Our expectations will undoubtedly be negatively affected by any further countrywide lockdowns,” he added.

Martin Arnold in Frankfurt

German consumer confidence has fallen for the second consecutive month, underlining how the country’s retailers face a harsh winter, after rising coronavirus infections prompted the government to warn its “lockdown light” was likely to last until March.

The GfK institute said its consumer confidence indicator had fallen more than expected by most economists, dropping 3.4 points to minus 6.7, with more people saying their economic and income expectations had declined in the past month.

“Although the retail stores remain open, the renewed closure of hotels, restaurants and events — as well as tourism, which is still sluggish — has a hard time affecting the consumer climate,” said Rolf Bürkl, a consumer analyst at GfK.

“Propensity to save, which has risen again as a result of the increasing uncertainty, has also contributed to the decline in the consumer climate,” he added. The decline in GfK’s consumer confidence indicator takes it to its lowest point since July, but it remains well above the level of minus 23.1 it reached in May.

The German government this week reduced its limit on social gatherings from 10 to five people and extended the restrictions — including closure of restaurants, bars and leisure facilities — to December 20. Berlin indicated on Thursday that the restrictions were likely to last until March.

Coronavirus infections in Germany have remained stubbornly high, increasing by 22,268 in the 24 hours to Thursday morning, up from 18,633 in the previous day, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

Harry Dempsey

Amigo Loans fell to a deep first-half loss as a coronavirus-induced temporary pause in lending and payment holidays stung revenues, amid a backdrop of material uncertainty over the UK subprime lender’s ability to keep operating.

The group recorded an adjusted loss after tax of £58.1m in the six months to the end of September, compared with a £35.8m profit a year earlier, on revenues that fell by more than a third to £92.3m.

The pandemic has put a hold on new lending to everyone except key workers and triggered a holiday for repaying loans for more than 55,000 customers, with 22,000 of such plans still active.

“It’s undoubtedly been a difficult period for Amigo,” said Gary Jennison, chief executive of Amigo. “But as a team we have made significant progress towards quantifying and addressing the challenges we face.”

The coronavirus crisis has added to the troubles of customer complaints and an investigation by the financial regulator for the guarantor loan provider — a type of lending for people who struggle to access mainstream financing due to their credit history and have friends or family able to step in if there is a default.

The group said on Thursday that £160m of cash at the end of November would provide adequate liquidity to continue funding its operations.

“There is, however, a material uncertainty surrounding the going concern due to the potential economic impact of Covid-19, uncertainty over future complaint volumes and the possible outcome of the ongoing Financial Conduct Authority investigation,” it added.

Guy Chazan in Berlin

Angela Merkel has called on the EU to close all skiing resorts, amid fears that the skiing season could trigger a renewed surge in coronavirus infections.

In a statement to the Bundestag, Ms Merkel appealed to people to avoid all unnecessary contact with others, including all tourist travel.

“The skiing season is approaching, [and] we will push for a vote in Europe to close all ski resorts,” she told MPs.

She acknowledged that Austria was opposed to the idea. “It doesn’t look like … it will be easy to do, but we will try again anyway,” she said.

The chancellor was speaking hours after she and the 16 leaders of Germany’s regions agreed to extend and tighten the partial shutdown that has been in force since the start of November. The restrictions will last until December 20 but will be relaxed slightly over the festive season.

There is a chance that some Covid-19 vaccine doses might be available before Christmas, she said.

“We have agreed that these vaccines will then be offered to people who work in the medical and care sectors, and will have first access to it,” she said.

Naomi Rovnick

European equities struggled for direction on Thursday, after a surge in coronavirus cases in the US and tightening restrictions in Europe held back a rally driven by optimism about vaccines.

The benchmark Stoxx 600 index and Germany’s Xetra Dax were broadly flat in early trades, while the UK’s FTSE 100 fell by 0.4 per cent.

The Stoxx index has gained 14.4 per cent in November, putting it on course for its strongest month on record, while the FTSE has risen 14 per cent.

But investors’ attention, strategists at Credit Suisse wrote, had now “seemed to switch back to the growing Covid-19 contagion in the US”.

Investors were torn between “rising optimism about a future world where vaccines reduce the impact of the pandemic, and current data, which shows how the pandemic is making life harder”, said analysts at ING in a research note.

Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, said on Wednesday that the nation’s partial lockdown would last until at December 20 at the earliest and might be extended into January.

The US on Wednesday reported more than 2,000 coronavirus deaths for the second day in a row, while hospitalisations have doubled in the past four weeks to a record of nearly 90,000.

State authorities attributed a further 2,284 deaths to coronavirus, up from 2,029 on Tuesday, according to Covid Tracking Project data. That was the biggest one-day jump in fatalities since May 7.

With US markets closed for Thanksgiving, the dollar index traded flat although the spot gold price ticked 0.5 per cent higher to $1,814 a troy ounce.

Sterling slipped by 0.1 per cent against the dollar, to purchase $1.337, and lost 0.2 per cent against the euro to buy €1.203, as post-Brexit trade talks between Britain and the EU remained deadlocked.

Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad

Pakistan’s opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has tested positive for Covid-19 in an unexpected boost to prime minister Imran Khan’s resistance to increasingly vocal protests against his government.

“I have tested positive for #COVID 19 and am self isolating” announced Mr Zardari, leader of the Pakistan People’s Party in a tweet on Thursday. “Wear a mask everyone, see you on the other side”.

Mr Khan’s government in the past month has repeatedly urged opposition leaders to delay their protests until a second wave of coronavirus across the south Asian country has passed. Opposition leaders have refused to comply with Mr Khan’s advice, citing concerns ranging from growing inflation of food prices to military backing of the government.

But observers have been shocked to see activists at different opposition gatherings largely attend without face masks or other precautions. One opposition leader has drawn widespread criticism following public remarks which suggested that casualties from such gatherings was not “a heavy price to pay” for the cause of democracy.

Approximately 386,000 people have so far tested positive for Covid-19 across Pakistan. Just over 7,800 people have died.

Harriet Clarfelt

Shares in Repsol fell after the Spanish oil major unveiled an €18.3bn plan in its efforts to achieve “net zero emissions”, even as it admitted the coronavirus pandemic had made this a “time of historic difficulty”.

Repsol’s four-year strategy “outlines a challenging roadmap with more ambitious intermediate emissions cuts targets”.

The group also aims to “substantially” boost profits during the investment period, taking earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to more than €8.2bn in 2025. Last year, this figure stood at €7.2bn.

Shares fell almost 4 per cent in early Madrid trading on Thursday, exacerbating their decline this year to 40 per cent.

Repsol is aiming to cancel its emissions by 2050, cutting out the emphasis on carbon-heavy assets from its portfolio and overhauling its business model. Almost a third of its multibillion investment fund, or €5.5bn, is earmarked for low-carbon businesses.

The group set an industry-leading net-zero carbon target for 2050 in December 2019. At the time, it said it would take actions such as moving away from carbon intensive projects and lifting biofuel production, while using carbon-capture technologies to offset emissions

Repsol’s ambitions are “self-financing” and it can generate cash to cover investments and dividends without adding to its debt pile, the company said. The dividend is to be set at 60 euro cents a share, rising to 75 cents.

The 2021-2025 spending plan comes at “a time of historic difficulty”, Repsol acknowledged, pointing to the “highly uncertain environment” created by the coronavirus pandemic.

The first two years of its strategy will prioritise “efficiency” and investment cuts.

Richard Milne, Nordic and Baltic correspondent

Sweden’s central bank expanded and extended its quantitative easing programme as it acts early to ease the economic effects of an increasingly damaging second wave of Covid-19.

The Riksbank said it would keep its interest rates at zero in the “coming years” and expanded its asset-purchase programme from SKr500bn ($58.5bn) to SKr700bn as it warned that the Swedish economy would weaken in the near term. It also extended QE by six months to the end of next year.

“By expanding and extending the asset purchase programme, the Riksbank is making it clear that comprehensive monetary policy support will be available as long as it is needed,” the central bank said on Thursday.

Its move comes against the backdrop of sharp increases in deaths, hospitalisations, and cases from Covid-19 in Sweden after its state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell had consistently said the country would be spared the worse effects of a second wave.

Sweden has reported 330 deaths with Covid-19 in the past eight days, more than neighbouring Norway – with half the population – has had during the entire pandemic.

Jonathan Moules, Business Education Correspondent

Younger people have been hit hardest by the drop in apprenticeship numbers in England since the country entered the first lockdown in March to cut coronavirus cases, according to Department for Education data published on Thursday.

The number of new apprenticeships fell 45.5 per cent year on year between the start of the first national lockdown on 23 March and 31 July. Of those apprenticeships that were started, just 38.4 per cent were for people aged under 25.

The data also showed that 31.4 per cent of new apprenticeships were for higher level qualifications, equivalent to foundation degree level and above, which includes MBA courses for senior executives.

The data are likely to fuel calls for major reform of the current system of funding apprenticeships in England through a levy on large employers, despite measures announced in Wednesday’s spending review. These would enable companies to share their funding with small and medium-sized enterprises, who provide the lion’s share of apprenticeship training in sectors such as construction.

When the levy system was unveiled by the then chancellor George Osborne in 2015, he predicted 3m new apprenticeships would be created by the measures by the end of the decade. Thursday’s figures showed that the government will fall significantly short of that target with 2.2m new apprenticeship starts since May 2015.

Jane Hickie, managing director of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said:

Unfortunately, the spending review measures didn’t go far enough in giving training providers confidence that the huge fall in apprenticeship opportunities can be substantially reversed in the coming months. Nor are tweaks to the levy transfer system going to be the answer to restoring smaller employers to their traditional role of being major recruiters of young apprentices; instead SMEs need a standalone apprenticeship budget.

Clive Cookson

The weekly Covid-19 infection survey from the Office for National Statistics shows mixed results across England, with positivity rates increasing in the East Midlands and continuing to decrease in the North West.

There were also signs of a fall in infections under way in the West Midlands, East of England, London, South East and South West.

The ONS gives a central estimate of 633,000 people in England with Covid-19 during the week to November 21, equivalent to one in 85 people. The equivalent figure a week ago was 664,700 people.

Ruth Studley, head of analysis for the Covid-19 infection survey, said:

At a national level in England, the overall number of infections appears to be levelling off at around 1 in 85 people who would test positive in the community. There are considerable differences in rates across the country but the highest rates do remain in Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East and the North West.

In Wales and Northern Ireland infections have been decreasing in recent weeks, while in Scotland there appears to be an increase in the most recent week.

Analysing different age groups, ONS says secondary school children are the only category in which infections are clearly increasing. Positivity rates have decreased in people aged 35 and above.

Because of “some issues with the data” in one testing lab, ONS has not given its usual estimate of new daily infections this week.

Harriet Clarfelt

UK health secretary Matt Hancock is expected to unveil the application of the revamped tier system to areas in England when he speaks to the House of Commons this morning.

Lockdown restrictions are due to ease on December 2.

With infection rates still high in several areas of the country, the government has already flagged that rules will be tougher than in the previous tier structure.

Mr Hancock will outline which areas will fall into each of the three tiers – with tier one imposing the least stringent rules, and tier three under much tighter restrictions.

In tier-one areas, deemed ‘medium alert’ regions for coronavirus, people can socialise in groups of six or fewer indoors and outdoors. Businesses can remain open if they remain ‘Covid secure’. Restaurants and other dining venues must stop taking orders after 10pm but can stay open for another hour.

‘High alert’ tier-two areas will not allow any household mixing indoors. Groups of six can meet outside. Pubs and bars must close unless operating as restaurants.

The toughest rules in tier three prohibit any mixing indoors. Groups of more than six cannot meet in parks, beaches or other public outdoor areas. Hospitality settings remain closed, though they can offer takeaway and click-and-collect services.

Jim Pickard in London and Andy Bounds in Huddersfield

Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Leeds and Bristol have been placed in the toughest tier 3 restrictions, with pubs, restaurants, museums and theatres closed under the UK government’s regional system of Covid regulations.

However London and Liverpool will escape the harshest measures that come into effect when the national lockdown ends on December 2. Both cities will instead be placed in the second tier.

Only Cornwall, the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly will be in the lowest tier 1 category.

A “postcode checker” set up to allow people to find out which tier they live in crashed within minutes of going live on Thursday morning.

The government set up a regional three-tier system in October but scrapped it after only three weeks in favour of a month-long national lockdown.

The latest regional system, revealed on Thursday, will be similar to the previous one but will be tougher in some specific ways.

Steve Rotherham, mayor of the Liverpool city region, said its move to the second tier was vindication of people’s “hard work, dedication and sacrifice” in recent weeks.

Liverpool’s case rate has fallen from over 700 per 100,000 to 147 per 100,000 in one month.

London’s leaders, including mayor Sadiq Khan, had pleaded for the capital not to enter tier 3, warning that it would be catastrophic for the city’s economy.

Jim Pickard in London and Andy Bounds in Huddersfield

England’s toughest tier in its latest system of restrictions, which includes northern cities such as Hull and Leeds, forbids mixing of households indoors or most outdoor places.

Hospitality venues will be closed apart from takeaway services while indoor entertainment venues will be shut and travel is discouraged.

Other areas going into the toughest restrictions include Wolverhampton and the whole of Kent.

With the UK recording 696 Covid-related deaths on Wednesday, prime minister Boris Johnson warned these measures would be necessary to prevent a further increase in the spread of the virus.

Whether a region is in a certain tier is based on five factors including the infection rate, pressures on the local NHS and an analysis of case rates within all age groups especially over-60s.

The rules will be put in place when the national lockdown comes to an end from December 2 and will be subject to regular reviews every fortnight. The first update is due by December 16.

Alice Hancock in London

The tightening of England’s tier system has sown even greater discord towards the government from hospitality businesses who say that they have been singled out by the new regime.

UKHospitality, the industry trade body, described the stricter measures in tier three and tier two as “at best a restrictive straitjacket and at worst a lockdown in all but name for hospitality businesses”.

Simon Emeny, chief executive of the pub group Fuller’s, which has 40 per cent of its estate within the M25 said that he felt London should have been in tier one and that most pubs would find it “impossible” to trade under the tier-two restrictions, which will only allow businesses to serve customers if they are ordering a “substantial meal”.

In a letter to Downing Street on Wednesday evening, the British Beer and Pub Association warned that if more than two-thirds of England were put under the two strictest tier restrictions, at least 20,000 pubs were at risk of permanent closure, putting a quarter of a million jobs at risk.

Andy Bounds in Huddersfield

Liverpool city region leaders were triumphant that the area, which was in the toughest third tier before lockdown, will exit the national lockdown to move into the second level of restrictions in a week’s time.

The region has agreed to conduct a pilot programme to test hundreds of thousands of people.

“[It] is welcome news and a testament to the sacrifice and reliance of everyone who lives here,” read a statement from Steve Rotheram, metro mayor, and the six council leaders.

“When we entered tier-three restrictions seven weeks ago, we were in a very dangerous situation,” the statement said. “We had the highest transmission rates in the country and faced the very real risk that our NHS would be overwhelmed.”

The area’s weekly infection rate has dropped by two-thirds since then to 170 per 100,000 people.

There was outrage in Greater Manchester.

“It’s devastating,” said UnitedCity, a business led group that campaigns to protect Manchester’s economy.

Birmingham, West Yorkshire, Hull, East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire will be in tier three for the first time.

Philip Georgiadis and Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli

Delta Airlines and Alitalia are to launch “quarantine free” flights between the US and Italy, opening up the first travel corridor to link the US and Europe since countries introduced isolation rules during the pandemic.

The US airline said that from next month, passengers travelling on select flights from Atlanta to Rome would not have to self-isolate if they test negative for coronavirus three times on their journey.

Travellers will be asked to take a gold-standard PCR test 72 hours before departure, and then rapid tests at the airport in Atlanta before boarding and again on arrival in Italy.

The aviation industry is pushing regulators to allow pre-departure testing to replace the blanket quarantine restrictions in place across most countries that have stifled demand for travel.

Several airlines have launched flights between the US and Europe that test passengers as they travel, but Delta and Alitalia’s flights to Rome are the first that will allow travellers who have been tested to skip quarantine.

Harry Dempsey

Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the UK’s House of Commons, lashed out at the government for releasing details online about coronavirus restrictions in different parts of England before the health secretary had made a speech in parliament about it.

“This house should be informed first. We keep telling the government that is the way that good government should treat and respect this chamber,” he said. “It is not acceptable to put it online.”

The postcode checker system on the government website crashed, as people rushed to find out what severity of restrictions their area would come under from December 2 when England’s lockdown lifts.

“We are elected to hear it first and they should give the respect that this house deserves,” said Mr Hoyle, the non-partisan authority who presides over House of Commons debates.

Valentina Romei in London

UBS economists have pushed up their growth forecasts for major European economies as optimism grows over coronavirus vaccines, but the UK’s recovery is set to lag behind its peers.

Germany and France will lead the way in the eurozone but the UK is expected to be hobbled by its dependence on the services industry.

UBS revised next year’s eurozone growth forecast to 6.2 per cent, 1 percentage point higher than before the vaccine announcement. Forecasts for 2022 were revised to 5 per cent, from 3.9 per cent expected previously.

“Encouraging news on the efficacy of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, which points to a speedy vaccine rollout next year, has materially improved the economic outlook,” said Reinhard Cluse, chief European economist at UBS.

Mr Cluse expects mobility restrictions across Europe to remain relatively tight in the fourth quarter but will be eased in the following three months. The second quarter will enjoy a substantial relaxation.

“Mobility restrictions are no longer a meaningful hindrance to economic activity by the third and fourth quarters of 2021, and are lifted entirely by 2022,” he said.

Germany is expected to be the strongest performer, but France is set for a sharp rebound, with a 7.9 per cent expansion in 2021, up from previous expectations of 6.8 per cent, following a sharper contraction than for the eurozone average in 2020.

The UK is forecast to have a sharp contraction in 2020 followed by a slow recovery.

“Given the high proportion of services in gross domestic product and employment, and likely disruptions from new trading arrangements with the EU, we expect the recovery in the UK to be slower than in the eurozone, with output still below pre-crisis levels at the end of 2022,” said Mr Cluse.

Richard Milne in Oslo

Nicolai Tangen, the chief executive of Norway’s $1.2tn oil fund, has tested positive for coronavirus, sending the country’s central bank governor and other executives at the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund into quarantine.

Mr Tangen said on LinkedIn that he had tested positive on Thursday after feeling “a bit under the weather” the day before.

He added that he would work from isolation in his flat in Oslo for the next few weeks, and that his symptoms were “mild”.

Norway’s central bank said that both the governor Oystein Olsen and deputy governor responsible for the fund Jon Nicolaisen had gone into quarantine. Mr Tangen said he was unsure where he caught the virus, but said everyone he had had contact with had been informed.

The fund was plunged into a storm around the appointment of Mr Tangen, a former hedge fund manager, as chief executive from September. After a political outcry, Mr Tangen agreed to divest his controlling stake in $19bn London-based hedge fund AKO Capital.

On Wednesday, the UK government released details on the regions of England that would fall under its stronger three-tier coronavirus restrictions system.

John Burn-Murdoch, senior data-visualisation journalist at the FT, has created maps to show infection rates across England, and the changing bands of restrictions.

Harriet Clarfelt

European consumers coped with the gloom of this year’s first wave of lockdowns by spending more on alcohol and sugary snacks, fuelling a “spending boom” according to fresh data from research firm IRI.

People stuck at home across the continent spent €2.2bn more on food and drink treats during the first coronavirus-induced lockdown than they did a year earlier, a rise of 12 per cent.

IRI’s data, spanning seven European countries, classifies “treat sectors” as alcohol, salty snacks, sweets and chocolate.

The biggest increases were in Spain and the UK, with consumers in both countries eating and drinking a fifth more treats during the lockdown.

Treat consumption varied by geography and product type. Wine sales rose between 4 and 17 per cent points in all countries except for Greece and France. Champagne sales fell by a half in France because celebrations and promotional activities were cancelled.

“Understanding these trends shows us the opportunities that are open to brands and retailers during further periods of lockdown this winter,” said Anne Le Franc, vice-president of marketing for Europe and South Africa at IRI.

Harriet Clarfelt

An anti-lockdown coalition of Conservative MPs condemned new virus restrictions in England as “authoritarian” on Thursday, as the government outlined which rules each region will face under a new tiered system launching on December 3.

Steve Baker MP, deputy chair of the Covid Recovery Group, asked whether the fresh approach was “necessary and proportionate to the threat from this disease”.

The government “must publish its analysis of the impact interventions are likely to have on controlling Covid”, he said, “as well as the non-Covid health impact and the impact on society, people’s livelihoods and businesses”.

“I am open to supporting measures where it can clearly be demonstrated that the government intervention will save more lives than it costs,” Mr Baker said. This data needs to be released ahead of any parliamentary votes, leaving sufficient time for scrutiny, he said.

The government revealed earlier on Thursday that several big cities in England including Manchester and Leeds would be subject to the toughest “tier three” coronavirus rules when the new system comes in, with hospitality settings closed except for takeaway and no indoor household mixing. London and Liverpool face less stringent tier two restrictions.

Cornwall, the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly will be the only areas subject to tier one rules.

Harry Dempsey

Europcar has agreed a debt restructuring deal that will hand control of the Paris-based car rental group to its creditors, after the pandemic dealt a blow to the sector.

The reduction in the group’s €2bn gross debt load by funds that hold its bonds — Anchorage, Attestor, Diameter, King Street and Marathon — will result in them owning between 92 per cent and 97 per cent of Europcar.

The company will receive almost €500m in funding to bolster its cash flow and to invest in its fleet, a large chunk of which will come from a capital increase.

Rent-a-car businesses have been hit by the lack of international travel under coronavirus restrictions, with Europcar expecting heavy losses for the 2020 financial year as a result.

Shares in the French company rose as much as 17 per cent on Thursday, before trimming their gains to trade 4 per cent higher. However, they remain down more than 70 per cent in the year to date.

Shareholders will vote on the capital increases early next year with the closing of the restructuring deal expected in March.

Martin Arnold in Frankfurt

The European Central Bank has sent fresh signals that it is gearing up to inject more monetary stimulus into the eurozone’s flagging economy, as its chief economist cited “worrying signals” that financial conditions for banks and small businesses are tightening.

The minutes of last month’s rate-setting meeting, which were published on Thursday, painted a grim outlook for the eurozone economy, concluding it was likely to be “bumpier than previously projected” because of the need for coronavirus restrictions that were likely to continue next year.

“It could not be excluded that the euro area, or at least some countries, would experience a double-dip recession,” they warned.

The ECB governing council also discussed how the second wave of the pandemic could result in “more widespread business closures in a number of sectors, for example retail trade”, according to the minutes.

The minutes were published shortly after Philip Lane, chief economist at the ECB, warned that businesses’ demand for loans and the availability of credit were both contracting.

Speaking at Trinity College Dublin, he said he was worried about the possibility of “a mutually reinforcing adverse loop” if banks view falling loan demand as a negative indicator for the economy and companies draw the same conclusion as banks tighten their lending criteria.

He added there was a risk of “an unwarranted tightening of funding conditions” if governments delivered an insufficient fiscal response to the economic fallout from the pandemic.

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Coronavirus latest: England’s biggest cities bar London and Liverpool to go under toughest restrictions

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