Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

Key announcements  

• 208,837 people have been tested for coronavirus, of which 51,608 tested positive.
• As of 5pm on 6 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 5,373 have died.
  The PM was taken into intensive care last night after his condition worsened.  He remains conscious and is not on a ventilator, but there has been no change to his state since last night.
  Johnson has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputise “where necessary”.  However, as the   UK has no written constitution and no official deputy leader, questions of power can be murky.
  The decision on whether to extend the lockdown is due to next week, but, as it is not clear whether the UK has passed the peak of the outbreak, it is unlikely that a relaxation of the measures would be announced.
• In the press conference, Dominic Raab, the PM’s deputy, said as he admitted he had not spoken to the PM since Saturday.
  In the press conference yesterday, Chris Whitty, the chief Medical Officer said the lockdown period is not going to be over in a couple of weeks, with likelihood it lasts at least another four weeks.
  Rolling out a mass antibody test would take at least a month, Professor Sir John Bell who advises the Government of life sciences has said. The Government has admitted that none of the 17.5 m antibody tests it had ordered work well enough to be used.
  The Bank of England announced it will open the TFSME (Term Funding Scheme with additional incentives for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) on 15 April 2020, sooner than previously anticipated. The scheme allows eligible banks and building societies to access four-year funding at rates very close to Bank Rates and includes additional incentives to provide credit to SMEs. The aim is to support SMEs’ ability to access funding from the banking system, helping them to continue to pay wages and bills during this challenging time.
  The Government has updated the guidance on the Job Retention Scheme. The changes include mentioning that employees made redundant, or who stopped working for an employer on or after 28 February 2020, can be re-employed and put on furlough and employers can claim for their wages through the scheme.
• The House of Commons Commission agreed plans for a virtual parliament, with questions, statements and urgent questions all to be done remotely.
  The FT’s Peter Fosterreports  that sever e  cases of Covid-19 can affect kidneys and heart as well as lungs, noting that crucial kit such as dialysis machines are in short supply, according to  briefing note by Daniel Martin, head of intensive care for serious infectious diseases at the Royal Free Hospital.
  The  FT   reports that  coronavirus delays could trigger legal challenges for London construction ; Property sales have  fallen by 70 percent since the lockdown, BBC reports.
  New polling commissioned by political consultancy WPI Strategy found more than two-thirds of the public want some sort of extension to the transition period, while only one in five said the government stick to the December 31 date. The Institute for Government’s  Georgina Wright says  the EU believe it is only a matter of time before a new extension is negotiated.

International    

• Austria announced plans to end the lockdown with shops and malls expected to be open on 1 May and the hotels and restaurant form mid-May. The Chancellor announced that from Monday, face masks will be mandatory on public transport. Germany is also considering making masks compulsory.
  Dozens of doctors have been arrested in Pakistan after fighting with police during a protest over the lack of safety equipment to protect them while treating patients infected with Covid-19.
  Italy reported its lowest death toll in two weeks, Spanish fatalities dropped for the third straight day and France recorded its fewest deaths in a week.
  Japan is ready to declare a state of emergency after a surge in coronavirus cases in Tokyo.
• China is reported to have suffered a deeper economic damage from the coronavirus than previously predicted, according to figures by the National Bureau of Statistics.
  Brussels is  considering proposals to the relax state aid rules allowing countries to inject equity into companies hit by the pandemic.
  More than 100 global organisations, including Oxfam and Action Aid,  are calling for debt relief for developing countries this year, as they are struggling with the impact of the coronavirus.

Stakeholders    

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• With regards to  Raab’s  powers whilst the PM is recovering from the virus, the Institute for Government’s Dr Catherine Haddon  said this remains uncertain and that some powers could be distributed to a number of Cabinet ministers.  “The power would derive from the prime minister saying who he wants ministries to respond to,” she said. “
• Former civil service chief Bob Kerslake   said that if the PM  were to  remain incapacitated for some time, it is up to the cabinet to decide who would be prime minister. But if the PM was unable to continue, the Conservative Party may have to choose a leader.
• The Doctors’ Association UK, which represents front-line medics,  has said that doctors are being “bullied and shamed” into  treating  patients  despite not wearing appropriate protective equipment and are told to “hold their breath” due to lack of masks.
• Scientists from the  University College London  say school closures have little impact of the spread of the virus, even with other lockdown measures.
  Simon Kempton, operational lead, Covid-19, Police Federation of England and Wales said he had established that UK policing had taken possession of a large amount of PPE. However, this PPE was not reaching colleagues on the front line (which he stipulated was due to supply chain issues and poor local management of stocks).