Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

07 Apr

7 April 2021

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

Key Announcements:

  • On Tuesday, the number of new confirmed cases of Covid-19 registered in the previous 24 hours was 2,379 and 20 people lost their lives within 28 days of having tested positive, government statistics show.
  • A total of 31,622,267 people have now had a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine , of which 5,496,716 have also had a second dose.
  • Oxford University has paused its trial of the AstraZeneca vaccine in more than 200 children and young people aged six to 17 in response to investigations by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) in the UK and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) over risks of blood clots.
  • Politico reports that the MHRA may hold a press conference today, which comes amid speculation that the regulator will recommend that the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab to younger people should be paused. No decision has yet been made, and the MHRA is understood to be locked in talks with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
  • The Daily Mail reports that the Prime Minister sees the reopening of the holiday market as a priority and wants to use rapid lateral flow testing to enable summer breaks.

Devolved/Regional

  • The UK will today begin its rollout of the Moderna vaccine in Wales. The Times reports that the doses were successfully imported from Spain, with the EU’s export ban threat yet to materialise. It has not been confirmed when other parts of the UK will start using it.
  • Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed yesterday that secondary schools will reopen full-time as planned after the Easter holidays, with pupils no longer required to follow social distancing rules when they return. Students will still be required to wear face coverings at all times.
  • Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster said yesterday that she hoped the Executive would give dates for Covid restrictions on hairdressers and non-essential retail to be lifted at its next meeting. This comes after Economy Minister Diane Dodds put forward papers for further easing of restrictions ahead of an Executive meeting to review them on April 15.

International

  • US President Joe Biden has ruled out introducing mandatory vaccine passports. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said: “The government is not now, nor will be, supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential. Our interest is very simple from the federal government, which is Americans’ privacy and rights should be protected, and so that these systems are not used against people unfairly.”
  • Brazil has recorded more than 4,000 deaths in 24 hours for the first time, with the country’s death toll now standing at almost 337,000, the second highest in the world. President Jair Bolsonaro continues to oppose any lockdown measures to curb the outbreak on the basis that the damage to the economy would be worse than the effects of the virus itself.
  • In New Delhi, a night curfew has been imposed one day after India recorded a record coronavirus surge with more than 100,000 new cases for the first time. The ban will be in place every night from 10pm to 5am through to the end of April, with only essential services or people travelling to and from vaccination centres allowed on the streets.

Stakeholders

  • The International Monetary Fund speculates that the UK will record faster economic growth than the US and Europe next year due to its vaccination program and the Chancellor’s high spending levels.
  • A study conducted by UK scientists has found that people diagnosed with Covid-19 in the previous six months were more likely to develop depression, dementia, psychosis and stroke. A third of those with a previous Covid infection went on to develop or have a relapse of a psychological or neurological condition, likely due to the impacts of stress and the virus’s direct impact on the brain.

Unconfirmed reports

  • Politico reports that, according to a senior government source, Covid passports will not be required for high street shops or non-essential retail this summer, but will more likely be used for mass events and nightclubs.