Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

10 Dec

10 December 2020

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

Key Announcements:

  • The UK economic recovery nearly stalled in October as the services sector was hit again by Covid-19 restrictions. UK output grew 0.4 per cent in October compared with the previous month, down from 1.1 per cent in September and the lowest rate since May, data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Thursday.
  • The latest R number is estimated at 0.8 to 1 with a daily infection growth rate range of -3 percent to -1 percent. Daily cases have risen to 16,578 up 408 from last week and the daily deaths are 533, down 115 from last week.
  • The hearings into the Grenfell Tower Inquiry have been postponed until 11 January 2021 due to an individual who was onsite testing positive for Covid-19.
  • British holidaymakers will be barred from the European Union from 1 January under current Covid-19 safety restrictions, with the EU commission indicating there will be no exemption for the UK.
  • People with a significant history of allergies should not receive the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, the UK medical regulator has said, after two NHS staff experienced an adverse reaction.
  • A group of UK politicians and events organisers has written to the government to ask it to become an insurer of last resort for live events. Sports and arts bodies are facing problems organising large gatherings because the insurance market for such events has seized up. Insurers, which are facing huge cancellation claims for this year, say that cannot cover the risk that future live events will be called off because of the pandemic.

Devolved

  • Taxi drivers, tourism firms and the wedding sector in Scotland have been targeted in the latest round of support for businesses affected by Covid-19. Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said a further £185m of funding was being directed to “those who need it most “.
  • Case rates in more than half of council areas have hit their highest levels yet, according to latest figures from Public Health Wales. Neath Port Talbot – with 693.6 cases per 100,000 in the last week – is the highest in Wales .

International

  • Intensive care units in the Swedish capital Stockholm reached 99 percent capacity on Tuesday for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Japan has reported a record daily number of coronavirus cases, prompting health experts to urge people not to travel in the run-up to the New Year holidays.
  • South Africa’s health minister has said the country is now experiencing a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Minister Zweli Mkhize said four provinces – Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng – are the key drivers of the new wave.
  • Countries in Asia-Pacific that have secured vaccines for their populations can expect their services sectors to recover more quickly than those that have yet to make vaccine deals, according to an Oxford Economics report.

Stakeholders

  • Supermarkets face increasing pressure to close on Boxing Day to guarantee workers “a decent break” over Christmas, after Asda said it would shut on 26 December to thank staff who have worked throughout the pandemic. The GMB’s Roger Jenkins says it’s “a step in the right direction” and says the union wants the rest of the retail sector to “follow suit and repay these key workers with a chance to spend Boxing Day with their loved ones “.