Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

05 May

5 May 2021

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

Key Announcements:

  • The number of people who tested positive for the virus yesterday was 1,946 and 4 people died having tested positive within 28 days.
  • A total of 34,667,904 people have received their first vaccine dose in the UK and 15,630,007 people have received their second dose.
  • The UK government is pledging extra money to fast-track vaccines that fight new variants of the virus; £29.3m on top of the £19.7m already promised will boost testing facilities at the Porton Down research laboratory.
  • The rights of care home residents to have visits from loved ones must be “underpinned” by law, according to a new report by cross-party MPs . The Joint Committee on Human Rights said it was “unacceptable” that some care home providers had argued it was not safe to follow government guidance.
  • The G7 group of wealthy nations are to agree a package to speed up the supply of vaccines to poor and middle-income countries by making commitments to export surplus vaccines and by ramping up production.
  • Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has said the NHS is piloting Covid vaccine and test certification on its smartphone app.

Devolved

  • Changes to hospital and care home visiting in Northern Ireland will take effect from this Friday, the Department of Health has announced.

International

  • Mountaineers and authorities at Everest base camp in Nepal have said they are seeing rising numbers of climbers with Covid-19 symptoms and rising numbers of positive tests, raising fears of a serious outbreak.
  • Japan is considering extending the lockdown currently in place in Tokyo and other cities, according to Japanese media.
  • India accounted for nearly half of the COVID-19 cases reported worldwide last week and one in four of deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

Stakeholders

  • ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to a Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) call for evidence on commercial rents and Covid-19, urging the government to support businesses in their recovery from the pandemic.