Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

12 Apr

12 April 2021

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

Key Announcements:

  • People will head for the shops, pubs, hairdressers and gyms today as England eases the rules of its third lockdown.
  • The latest 24-hour figures show seven coronavirus-related deaths for the UK, the lowest since September, while cases rose to 1,730 on Sunday. The vaccination rollout has meant that 7million people have received their second dose since the UK began its campaign four months ago.
  • A trial testing AstraZeneca’s diabetes drug Farxiga as a treatment for Covid-19 has failed to achieve its main aims in treating the illness.
  • Covid-status certificates – to allow those who have been vaccinated, recovered from the virus or have tested negative to attend an event or holiday abroad – could do harm as well as good, UK government scientific advisers have warned.
  • Optimism amongst business leaders is at a record high based on hopes that Britons will commence a multibillion-pound summer spending frenzy after being freed from lockdown.

Devolved

  • Secondary and primary pupils in six Scottish councils are returning to full-time, in-class lessons following the Easter break.
  • Shoppers have been eagerly queuing in Wales’ high streets as the next phase of easing the coronavirus lockdown begins. Covid rules have been relaxed to allow non-essential retail and close-contact services to resume and travel to other parts of the UK.

International

  • Former UK prime minister Gordon Brown has called on the world’s richest nations to help finance the vaccine rollout in poorer countries.
  • Turkey recorded more than 50,000 new cases for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday, as health authorities scramble to deal with a pre-Ramadan surge.
  • India blocked exports of remdesivir, the drug widely used to treat Covid-19, over concerns of a shortage as the country’s infections surge.
  • Japan has belatedly started Covid-19 inoculations for elderly people as it struggles to expand its vaccination campaign.

Stakeholders

  • Goldman Sachs forecasts a “strong recovery” in Europe that will include a 10 per cent total return for European stocks over the next 12 months in an upgrade to its index targets for equities.