Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

03 Feb

3 February 2021

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

Key Announcements:

Analysis from the University of Oxford indicates that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has a “substantial effect on transmission of the virus with 67 per cent reduction in positive swabs among those vaccinated.” The study also indicated that protection remained at 76 per cent three months after the first dose. The full results are awaiting peer review and have not yet been published, but the Health Secretary has hailed the news as “encouraging.”
A UK Bio Bank study indicates that Covid 19 antibodies remain for at least 6 months post-infection for “the vast majority of people who have had the virus”.
Official data on the latest antibody data, which indicates how many people have had the virus, will be published at 9:30am.
The public, media and public figures have been paying tribute to Captain Sir Tom Moore who passed away yesterday having contracted the Coronavirus. Captain Tom raised almost £33m for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday.
The Advertising Standards Authority have told Ryanair to remove “irresponsible” adverts, telling people to “Jab and Go.”
The Joint Committee on Human Rights have drafted legislation that would end the blanket ban on relative visits in care homes. They are urging the Government to implement the draft law immediately.

Devolved

The Scottish government will introduce a “much more comprehensive” approach to “managed quarantine”, the First Minister has announced. Sturgeon stated that tougher measures will be extended to all travellers arriving directly into Scotland.
Citizens Advice Cymru have warned that Welsh households are £73m in arrears on rent, energy bills and council tax because of the pandemic.
UK and EU leaders will meet today to try and de-escalate tensions arising from trade checks on goods between NI and GB. Boris Johnson accused the EU of undermining the Brexit trade deal by threatening emergency controls of Covid vaccine exports across the Irish border.

International

New Zealand have provisionally approved the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine for use .
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, has said that every French citizen will be offered a vaccine “by the end of summer.” Macron is coming under continued criticism from UK Government officials for making unsubstantiated claims that the Oxford/AZ vaccine was “quasi-ineffective” for people over 65.
Officials from the World Health Organisation have visited a laboratory in Wuhan city that US officials implied could have been the source of the outbreak.

Stakeholders

The TUC has today warned that demand for self-isolation payments is significantly outstripping the available funding, as 7 in 10 applicants end up without financial support.
CAMRA have urged the Government to use the Budget to “commit to a long-term financial support package for pubs and breweries”. Their comments come after a report stressed the social importance of pubs in tackling loneliness.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine state that A&E data published by the Scottish Government shows a “a system under strain and once again despite the reduction in attendances, performance has decreased.”

Unconfirmed reports