Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

30 June 2020

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

Key Announcements    

• Leicester have tightened a local lockdown after seeing a surge in new cases. Measures include: all non-essential shops to closeas of today; schools to mostly shut on Thursday; and, pubs and restaurants will  remain closed . There will be a review of the rules in two weeks time.   
• The UK economy shrank more  than first thought between January and March, contracting 2.2  percent  in the joint largest fall since 1979, official figures show  from the  Office for National Statistics (ONS) .    
• The Prime Minister is expected to announce a ‘New Deal’ for recovery today, as the built environment will take centre stage in the UK’s economic recovery.  
• The World Health Organisation has warned that the worst could be yet to come, as WHO’s head has reiterated the “Test, Trace, Isolate and Quarantine”message.  

Regional/Devolved  

• More than 1,700  school workers ,  specifically  cleaners and janitors,  have signed an open letter to Nicola  Sturgeon stating they do not feel safe and are putting their life at risk  by going to work.   
• £250m support package is expected to be announced across Northern Ireland. The funding will target things like free school meal vouchers for the summer and the implementation of a Troubles Victims’ pension scheme.  

International  

• There have now been more than 10m cases worldwide, with death tolls above 500,000. 
• Scientists have found a “pandemic potential” flu strain in China, carried by pigs, which will need to monitored   according to the BBC .   
• The EU will allow visitors from 14 ‘safe’ countries , which include Australia, Canada and Japan, but omit the US, China and Brazil. EU border controls have also been lifted for EU citizens travelling inside the bloc.
• A human trial  of India’s coronavirus vaccine has been announced to go ahead in July.  
• Afghani hospitals have been greatly overwhelmed  by Covid-19 as the country remains severely war-hit.  

Stakeholders  

• Alliance Communities spokesperson Kellie Armstrong MLA has called for  additional benefit support provided during the pandemic to be extended for a further three months.   
• Unite the Union have welcomed  new Welsh Government Guidance for meat and food plants in relation to the prevention and management of coronavirus (COVID-19). The guidance, which was published following consultation with interested parties including Unite, clearly sets out the responsibility that employers must undertake to prevent outbreaks of Covid19 within their workplaces.
• The SNP has said  Boris Johnson must announce an emergency budget and make a commitment to devolve the financial powers needed to secure Scotland’s recovery from coronavirus in his keynote speech today (Tuesday). In a letter to the Prime Minister, Ian Blackford  said the spending and borrowing powers that have been requested by the Scottish Government were the “essential key to Scotland’s economic recovery” – warning failing to  deliver these powers could result in redundancies, business closures, budget cuts, and prolonged damage to Scotland’s economy.