Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

5 February 2021

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

Key Announcements:

• The UK government is booking thousands of hotel rooms in preparation for new quarantine rules which begin on 15 February. Travellers returning from “red list” areas will need to strictly quarantine for 10 days in the hotel rooms, which they will need to pay for. Meals will be brought to rooms and security staff will accompany returning passengers when they go outside, to ensure minimising the spread of any virus.
• Council, mayoral, police and crime commissioner elections are due to still take place in May , following concerns the pandemic might be a cause for delay. New safety measures will be brought into place to make secure the voting process. Voters, for example, will need to bring with them their own pencils to vote.
• Vaccine Minister, Nadhim Zahawi, said yesterday during an interview with Sky News that after schools possibly open on 8 March, there will be a gradual reopening of the economy based on whether good quality data relating to Covid is coming through.
• The Times is reporting that British officials are working on a “vaccine passport” which would allow tourists to travel to countries like Greece, where this is a condition for entry.

Devolved

• In Wales, Ministers are expected to confirm that children aged three to seven will return to school from 22 February, after the half-term break.
• In Scotland, care home residents, over-80s and frontline health workers should have all received their first dose of a Covid vaccine by today, to keep in time with Nicola Sturgeon’s vaccination timeline. This comes following admission by the Scottish Government earlier this week, that their vaccine roll-out programme needed to speed up to keep on track.
• Over 250,000 people have now received their first dose of a Covid vaccine in Northern Ireland.

International

• In Malawi, a resurgence of Covid-19 means the government are setting up field hospitals to respond a surge of cases.
• In Mozambique, a night-time curfew will come into place tonight in the Greater Maputo region, which is the centre of the country’s outbreak. Other restrictions, including the closure of place of worship, a ban on conferences and celebrations, and the postponement of face-to-face teaching for 30 days will also take force across the country.
• Pfizer has withdrawn an application for emergency-use authorisation of its Covid vaccine in India. This has been based on additional information the regulator needs.
• During a meeting between EU leaders in Brussels, French ambassador Philippe Leglise -Costa is reported to have said the vaccine situation was a “catastrophe” following two weeks of confusion over their vaccine supply.

Stakeholders

• Disability Equality charity, Scope , has said that disabled people have been “cut off” from the support they need to stay safe and are struggling with the impact of isolation and anxiety caused by months of shielding.
• The Labour party are calling for a “smart” furlough scheme to help tackle Britain’s jobs crisis.
• The Recruitment and Employment Confederation are warning that permanent staff recruitment has fallen sharply in January.