Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

22 Mar

22 March 2021

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

Key Announcements:

  • Yesterday, 5,312 people tested positive for COVID-19 in the UK and 33 people sadly died having tested positive within 28 days.
  • The number of people who have received their first dose of a vaccine was 27,630,970 and the figure for the second dose was 2,228,772, as of 20 March.
  • Boris Johnson plans to speak to EU leaders to urge them to veto any blocks on vaccine exports to the UK, as new analysis suggests an EU export ban could delay the UK vaccine drive by two months.
  • New research from the University of Manchester suggests that hearing loss and other auditory problems could be strongly linked to coronavirus.
  • According to new analysis by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, a year of coronavirus lockdowns has cost the UK economy £215bn.
  • MPs are due to vote on Thursday on another six-month extension of emergency coronavirus powers – several Tory backbenchers have raised concerns , but the Labour party have said they won’t be standing in the way.

Devolved

  • Wales has begun gradually easing its lockdown restrictions with garden centres reopening and a lift on the sale of non-essential items in supermarkets.
  • A £100m recovery plan to help the NHS recover from the pandemic has been announced by the Welsh government.
  • All primary school pupils and those in year 12 to 14 return to school today in Northern Ireland, with the remaining pupils due to return on 12 April after the Easter break.
  • First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is expected to provide an update tomorrow on the lockdown situation in Scotland as part of their weekly review of restrictions.

International

  • Fears of a third wave in Europe continue to grow as cases rise and vaccine uptake slows.
  • Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told the Marr Show yesterday that booking a foreign holiday for this summer might be “premature” as cases continue to rise in Europe. Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy also said she wouldn’t be booking a foreign holiday herself.
  • Results from a US trial of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine find that it is 79 per cent effective against stopping symptoms and 100 percent effective at prevent serious illness.
  • Brazil, Morocco and Saudi Arabia have been told that further supplies of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine will be delayed coming out of India.
  • Germany and Belgium appear poised to tighten their lockdowns as EU leader cancel plan to meet in person following rising infection rates across Europe.
  • New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, has said she will announce the commencement date for a trans-Tasman travel bubble on 6 April.

Stakeholders

  • The TUC has urged the government to put pressure on employers who it claims are hindering the UK’s vaccine rollout by refusing to give staff paid time off to receive and recover from their Covid jabs.