Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

22 Jul

22 July 2020

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

Key Announcements

  • Health experts in the UK have told politicians Sars-Cov-2 virus will be with us for “decades”
  • The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced an independent review into the long-term funding of the capital’s transport network after the Covid-19 shutdown almost crippled the service.
  • The introduction of the Covid-19 lockdown in the UK was not “delayed”, the transport secretary has said. On Tuesday, Wellcome Trust director and Sage member Prof Sir Jeremy Farrar criticised the timing of the coronavirus lockdown, saying it should have come earlier.
  • A study has suggested women and young people have been hardest hit psychologically by the Covid-19 lockdown, as MPs were told the world will be living with Covid-19 for “decades to come”.

Regional/Devolved

  • Universities and colleges in Wales will receive a £50m support package to help them cope with the impact of the coronavirus crisis. The Welsh government has announced £27m will go to higher education institutions, while £23m will be used to support students in further education colleges and sixth forms.

International   

  • Donald Trump has admitted the coronavirus pandemic is likely to “get worse before it gets better” at his first press briefing devoted to the issue since April.
  • EU leaders have struck a deal on a landmark coronavirus recovery package that will involve the European Commission undertaking massive borrowing on the capital markets for the first time.
  • The head of the Pan American Health Organization says the virus shows “no signs of slowing down” in the Americas
  • The Australia state of Victoria has reported another record high number of new cases
  • There have been nearly 15m cases of the new virus worldwide and more than 600,000 deaths

Stakeholders    

  • Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q, reported a 21.6 per cent rise in like-for-like sales in its second quarter to date, as consumers bought goods to help them spruce up their homes during the lockdowns. The outlook for the remainder of the year was upbeat due to the “strong demand for home improvement”, it said.
  • Swiss engineering group ABB reported earnings slipping by a fifth to $651m, ahead of expectations thanks in part to improved margins in its motors, drives and transmissions business unit.