Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

A series of daily updates for CHO members regarding relevant updates pertaining to Coronavirus from home and abroad.

Key Announcements   

• Matt Hancock, Health Secretary, led the press conference last night, and stated the following figures as: 3,260 spare critical care beds across the NHS; 753,000 tests so far in the UK; 15,796 currently in hospital with Covid-19; 21,678 have sadly died, an increase of 586 from Monday.
• Hancock continued by stating that there were 4,443 notified deaths in care homes since Easter, which is 1/6 of the total death toll. From today, the Government will be publishing not just the number of deaths in hospitals each day, but also in care homes and the community too, to help inform policy judgement.
• The Heath Secretary asserted that the Government is expanding home testing capacity from 5,000 a day to 25,000 by the end of the week. They are also rolling out testing of asymptomatic residents and staff of care homes and staff in the NHS, and testing is now available to al over 65 and their households with symptoms, and any households of keyworkers that have symptoms.
• He added that, currently, there are no drugs in the world that have been clinically proven to treat Covid-19, however there are six currently in trial, and as of yesterday, one is ready to enter its next trial stage
• Robert Jenrick yesterday announced that he is asking councils to plan the reopening of household waste collection sites, which he expects to happen over the coming weeks.
• It has been reported  that northern MPs and peers have called for a catch-up premium of £700 for every pupil on free school meals to be given to secondary schools when they reopen,  believing that this would help prevent poorer children in England falling behind their classmates because of school closures due to Covid-19.
• Sky News reports  that British Airways is on course to make up to 12,000 staff, more than a quarter of its workforce, redundant following a collapse in global travel due to coronavirus.
• The BBC is reporting  that patients have begun receiving medial cannabis through the post as they have been left with no other way to access the drug.

International     

• The BBC has reported  that a coronavirus-themed game has been blocked in China because of its politically motivated content. In order to win Coronavirus Attack, players have to stop ‘selfish zombies’ from escaping a country infected with the virus.
• The BBC has reported  that US Vice-President Mike Pence has visited a top US hospital without wearing a mask, despite the medical centre’s own rules that visitors should wear personal protective equipment.
• It is reported  that Spain plans to return to a ‘new normal’ by the end of June, having announced a four-phase plan to lift its stringent coronavirus lockdown. According to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, each region would relax restrictions at a difference pace, depending on the severity of its outbreak.
• Cases in the US have exceed one million after doubling in 18 days, about a third of the global total according to data from John Hopkins University.
• Sky News has reported  that Germany faces the prospect of having to restore stricter lockdown measures as its number and rate of coronavirus infections grew again.
• Japan’s chief medic has warned that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics could be cancelled all together if a Covid-19 vaccine is not found, Sky News  
• France’s Prime Minister has revealed plans  to ease lockdown measures in the country, with children returning to school and many shops allowed to reopen.  The BBC  reports that this will include making face masks compulsory on public transport and in secondary schools.
• The BBC has reported  that Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted that there is a shortage of personal protective kit for medics in the country.

Stakeholders      

• The Alzheimer’s Society predicts  a rise in high rates of loneliness due to coronavirus
• The Lending Standards Board (LSB) welcomed  the changes that HM Treasury announced to the CBILs  to support the swift provision of finance to SMEs and the launch of the Bounce Back Loan scheme (BBL)
• Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price has called on  the  Welsh Government to  reveal how much PPE it had in its stockpile prior to the Coronavirus crisis after an investigation by BBC Panorama revealed that the Westminster government failed to buy crucial protective equipment to cope with a pandemic.
• NHS England has  reported  that applications  to work in the NHS have jumped as the nation has backed nurses, doctors and countless other health workers battling coronavirus.
• The Liberal Democrats are calling  on the Government to publish in full the evidence they use to decide next week whether or not to continue the lockdown.
• The Victims Commissioner has backed the call  from parliament’s Home Affairs Committee to make tackling domestic abuse a central pillar of the Government’s strategic response to the Coronavirus epidemic.
• The NFU has reported  that a  huge groundswell of support for the iconic British dairy industry has seen more than 2,230 letters written to nearly 400 MPs, as part of an NFU campaign, calling for urgent help to save a sector hit severely by the Coronavirus pandemic.
• Responding to the ONS data published yesterday, the Alzheimer’s Society said:  “The Government must make sure that every single death is examined and counted.   We know that this is a terrifying time for those with loved ones with dementia in care homes . People are dying, alone, because it’s clear that care homes are just not receiving the testing and protective equipment they were promised by the Government.”
• The Local Government Association has warned  that desperately-needed new social homes could go unbuilt unless councils are granted an extension to the time they are allowed to spend money from Right to Buy sales , due to the building of new homes delayed or stopped altogether by the coronavirus crisis.
• Unite is urging   the government to resolve a major discrepancy within the governments job retention scheme which could prevent thousands of workers from being furloughe    Unite   has identified that the Direction under the Coronavirus Act which created the job retention scheme and the HMRC ’s guidance on who is eligible differ with regards to workers receiving Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).
• The Local Government Association has stated  that  councils and their partners need greater flexibility to meet the needs of children with EHCPs and is urging the Department for Education to urgently set out its definition of “reasonable endeavours” that takes account of the pressures that councils are under in delivering support.

Unconfirmed reports   

• Sky News is reporting  that Britain’s  defence laboratory will test whether a product found in insect repellent,  Citriodol , can also be used to kill the strain of coronavirus that caused Covid-19
• According to the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine has improved the survival and recovery odds of about 90 percent of patients treated with the medication, the Daily Mail has reported. 
• Thousands of cancer patients will be operated on at new centres designed to be kept clear of coronavirus, reports the BBC.