Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

26 Mar

26 March 2021

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

Key Announcements:

  • A total of 28.9m people have now had their first dose of a Covid vaccine, and 2.7m second doses have been administered.
  • There were 6,397 new cases of Covid yesterday, and 63 people died having tested positive for the virus within 28 days.
  • Housing Minister, Robert Jenrick, has told Sky News that the UK has sufficient Coronavirus vaccine supplies to meet their target of vaccinating all over 50s and vulnerable people by mid-April.
  • Jenrick also suggested that the government had no immediate plans to use Covid certificates to control entry into pubs and other venues when they are allowed to reopen for indoor trading in May.
  • MPs yesterday overwhelmingly backed the continuation of emergency coronavirus powers.
  • More than 40,600 people were likely infected with coronavirus while being treated in hospital in England for another reason.
  • NHS trusts will be given cash incentives to raise the number of elective surgeries as part of an £8.1bn scheme to get the health service back up to speed.
  • As of Monday, England’s stay at home rule will end and people will be allowed to meet outside either with one other household or within the “rule of six”, including in private gardens.
  • From Monday outdoor sport facilities will reopen, including golf courses, lidos and tennis and basketball courts. Formally organised outdoor sports will also be allowed to restart.

Devolved

  • “Stay-local” rules will lift in Wales from Saturday and unrestricted travel within its borders will be allowed.
  • In Wales, six people from two households will be able to meet up, an increase from the current four-person limit and self-contained tourist accommodation will also be able to open on Saturday.
  • Lagan College in Belfast has become the second school in NI to abandon academic selection for 2022 admissions.

International

  • The vaccine producer AstraZeneca must “catch up” on its deliveries to the EU before exporting doses elsewhere, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said.
  • Norway has said it will delay the decision on whether to resume use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
  • Germany is expected to declare France a high-risk zone for coronavirus.
  • Joe Biden has announced he has doubled his administration’s vaccination goal to 200m shots during his first 100 days as president.
  • Colombia has approved emergency use of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot Covid-19 vaccine.

Stakeholders

  • Science is winning the race between coronavirus and the vaccine, Pfizer’s UK medical director has said.
  • The number of employers claiming furlough support jumped by more than 100,000 in January as the third UK lockdown took hold.
  • Retail sales rose 2.1 percent in February, recovering some ground from a steep fall in January.

Unconfirmed reports

  • Making Covid certificates compulsory to enter pubs could help tackle vaccine hesitancy among young people, government figures believe.
  • Millions of people who have recovered from Covid and developed immunity could be allowed into pubs, theatres and nightclubs under government plans for a coronavirus certification scheme.
  • Professor Tim Spector of King’s College London told Times Radio that there was unlikely to be a surge in infections until Christmas and that it was likely to be a “ripple” rather than a wave.