Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

24 Mar

24 March 2021

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

Key Announcements:

  • The Prime Minister held a press conference last night to mark the one-year anniversary since the last lockdown. He stated that everyone over 50 years old will be offered a first vaccine dose by the end of next week and every adult will be offered a dose by 31st
  • Boris Johnson also confirmed yesterday that the government’s plans for international travel will now be published on 5th The taskforce had originally been scheduled to report back by 12th April.
  • Candlelight vigils were held across the UK last night in remembrance of those who have lost their lives in the pandemic.
  • The Action Fraud team has recorded more than 6,000 cases of Covid related fraud and cyber-crime since 1st March 2020 and said that £34.5m had been stolen.
  • New data shows the impact of the pandemic on healthcare services, with a dramatic drop in urgent referrals for suspected cancers in England and a fall in MRI and CT scans.
  • Matt Hancock and Dido Harding will speak at the Annual Local Government Association conference today from 10am.

Devolved

  • In Wales, changes will be made to how A-levels, AS and GCSEs are assessed next year, but Qualifications Wales say they hope exams can go ahead in summer 2022.

International

  • Hong Kong has suspended use of the Pfizer vaccine after being informed that one batch had defective bottle lids.
  • The European Union is expected to outline plans to tighten export guidelines today. It is expected they will reduce the export of vaccines manufactured in the EU for 6 weeks.
  • Brazil has suffered a record daily number of deaths, with 3,251 people dying of coronavirus yesterday. Protests are being held across Brazil against President Jair Bolsonaro.
  • The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) have warned that an estimated 34m people are now facing acute hunger and are “one step away from starvation”.

Stakeholders

  • The Office for National Statistics latest inflation stats show that the UKs inflation rate fell to 0.4 percent in February, down from 0.7 percent. The fall is attributed to disruption in standard seasonal patterns.

Unconfirmed reports

  • The Prime Minister reportedly told a group of backbench Tory MPs yesterday that “The reason we have the vaccine success is because of capitalism, because of greed, my friends.”