Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

07 Jan

7 January 2021

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

Key Announcements:

  • Yesterday’s figures showed that more than 1,000 people had died from the virus in the previous 24 hours and hospitals reported treating a record 30,000 Covid patients.
  • The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine will be rolled out to hundreds of GP-run vaccination sites in local communities in England later today.
  • High street pharmacies will start to offer shots of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine next week.
  • Seven new mass Covid vaccination hubs across England have been announced by the government.
  • Sussex and Surrey have rolled out ‘major incident’ plans , as fears increase that Covid-19 cases could overwhelm local health services.
  • A sharp rise in coronavirus cases in Liverpool City Region is “extremely worrying”, a director for public health has said.
  • Boris Johnson warned yesterday that tough lockdown restrictions could remain until April.
  • The met police are taking a new hard-line approach to coronavirus lockdown breakers by actively stopping people on the street and requiring them to explain themselves.
  • The number of excess deaths recorded by the Office for National Statistics in the week to Christmas Day was higher than the number of coronavirus deaths, provoking more fear over the impact of pressures on the NHS on care for other conditions.

Devolved

  • “Significant delays” at a Covid vaccination centre has prompted a health board to apologise. Betsi Cadwaladr health board said the training of “new vaccinators” led to the delay on Wednesday.
  • All GCSE, AS and A-level examinations in Northern Ireland will not go ahead this year due to the Covid-19 crisis.
  • NHS Highland has warned of a “significant increase” in Covid-19 cases in Highland and Argyll and Bute.
  • Health officials in southern Scotland have warned a sharp rise in Covid cases in the area is likely to get worse before it gets better.
  • Doctors in Scotland have raised concerns about plans to delay the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
  • Unsurprisingly, Jim Shannon was one of two DUP MPs to attend Parliament yesterday, for a debate which the Commons speaker advised should only be attended if “absolutely necessary”.

International

  • The United States suffered its record daily death toll, with 3,865 Americans dying in 24 hours. This is the first time the toll has passed 3,800.
  • Arizona has become the Covid “hot spot of the world”, public health experts warned, as the US state saw a triple-digit number of new virus-related deaths for the second day in a row.
  • Japan is to declare a state of emergency in the greater Tokyo area later today, after a record number of coronavirus cases were reported in the capital and across the country.
  • China reported 63 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday – the highest single-day tally since July – as authorities try to stamp out an outbreak of the virus in a city of 11 million near Beijing.

Stakeholders

  • Hospitals in London could soon be overwhelmed by Covid-19 and left short of almost 5,500 beds they need to cope with the explosion in cases, NHS leaders have revealed.
  • Thirteen of 27 residents at Edendale Lodge care home in Crowhurst had died with confirmed or suspected Covid since 13 December, said the home operator’s managing director, Adam Hutchison, who also runs care homes in Kent.