Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

13 Jan

13 January 2021

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

Key Announcements:

  • Yesterday, a total of 45.533 people tested positive for the virus in the UK and 1,243 people sadly lost their lives (within 28 days of testing positive).
  • Home Secretary Priti Patel spoke at a Downing Street press conference last night. The press conference focused on policing and the public following the lockdown rules. She said that nearly 45,000 fixed penalty notices have been issued across the UK. Patel stated that if you do not play your part, “our selfless police officers will enforce the regulations” and she will back them to do so “to protect our NHS and to save lives”.
  • London’s Nightingale hospital has reopened. Dr Vin Diwakar from NHS England said that the hospital was being used to treat non-Covid patients.
  • Westminster Hall debates were set to be suspended until further notice, following a motion on the Order Paper yesterday from the Government. Two backbench Tory MPs objected by laying an amendment. The motion is being brought back to the Commons today.
  • It is being reported that a large trial for a new Covid-19 treatment is to begin in the UK. It involves inhaling a protein called interferon beta which the body produces when it gets a viral infection. The hope is it will stimulate the immune system, priming cells to be ready to fight off viruses.
  • Sky News have reported that Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed that the NHS is considering plans to discharge patients into hotels as hospitals become swamped with COVID patients. Hancock said that the Government would “look at all options” to relieve pressures on the NHS, with more than 35,000 coronavirus patients currently in hospitals across the UK.

Devolved

  • First Minister of Northern Ireland Arlene Foster has said that a fall in Northern Ireland’s rate of Covid-19 infection has been achieved by many people “doing the right thing”
  • Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that the current lockdown was unlikely to be lifted by the end of the month. This comes as 5,000 people have now died after testing positive for the virus in Scotland during the pandemic.

International

  • Indonesia has begun rolling out a covid-19 vaccination programme. The country is choosing to vaccinate 18 to 59 year olds , after targeting front-line workers. Professor Amin Soebandrio , who has advised the government said “we are targeting those that are likely to spread the virus”.
  • CNN is reporting that the US set a record on Tuesday for the most Covid-19 deaths reported in one day since the start of the pandemic, according to data from John Hopkins University.

Stakeholders

  • Commenting on the Department for Education’s supply of laptops and other equipment to enable disadvantaged students to access remote learning, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union , said: “It is a stain on the Government’s record that they have failed disadvantaged students so badly. The immense disruption in autumn half term, with so many absent from school due to self-isolation or close contact with those in their bubble who were having to self-isolate, was a clear warning that the education secretary needed to properly build the groundwork for a continuity and equity of education for all students.”