Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

9 July 2020

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

Key Announcements  

• Yesterday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered a summer update on the economy, announcing new spending set to cost the Treasury an estimated £30bn.
• New measures, including a ‘kickstart scheme’ for young workers, a reduction in VAT on hospitality and tourism, and a new ‘eat out to help out’ scheme,  will see Britain’s public borrowing rise to more than £350 billion this financial year , according to  the FT .
• Sunak also confirmed that £49bn had been spent on public services since the outbreak of covid-19. He added that there will be a budget and spending review in the Autumn.
• Sky News reports  that officials from Public Health England and the  Department of Health and Social Care   “hand-cranked” the number  of  covid  tests  to ensure a constant stream of rising numbers were available for each day’s press conference .
• Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester and former Health Secretary , has written to   current  Health Secretary Matt Hancock, demanding that local authorities are given data on local covid  cases in order to prevent local lockdowns.

Regional/Devolved 

• Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced  that Scotland will also lift the quarantine from the 10 th  of June, with passengers arriving from over 70 destinations no longer needing to self-isolate.
• The Welsh Government will  provide  an additional £29 million to schools from September.  This is equivalent to 600 extra teachers and 300 teaching assistants.

International

• In Australia, Melbourne is under lockdown  again less than a month after restrictions were eased.
• The US has recorded  the  highest one-day increase in cases anywhere in the world since  outbreak of covid . Over 60,000 cases have been reported in 24 hours, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
• In New Zealand, new measures have been implemented  which will see police officers patrol quarantine hotels around-the-clock. This comes following the escape of several people from managed isolation facilities.

Stakeholders   

• Responding to the Chancellor’s statement on the economy, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation Torsten Bell said “the focus on jobs and some, but not all, hard-hit sectors was very welcome. Kickstart jobs for young people represents a tried and tested policy, but the new Job Retention Bonus is poorly targeted at those jobs that are most at risk of being lost. “
• In response to the Chancellor’s update, Labour shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds called for an end to the “one-size-fits-all” approach to the withdrawal of job retention scheme.
• Adam Marshall, Director of the British Chambers of Commerce, said  ” Businesses face cliff-edges in the autumn as existing support winds down, and so the Government must consider reducing national insurance contributions and extending existing loan schemes. “
• Jonathan Geldart, Director General of the Institute of Directors ,  said  that many of its members ” will feel like he missed a trick “. He added that the Chancellor’s greatest strength  during the pandemic  has been  ” his willingness to adapt as the situation moves “.
• The chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change, Chris Stark, said that  the package was a ” genuine stimulus, as it is big money that has to be spent quickly.”