Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

4 August 2020

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

Key Announcements

• Scientists writing in the Lancet have warned the Government that they will need to dramatically roll out the track and trace system, if they are to avoid a second wave when schools re-open in September. The scientists from UCL and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine used computer modelling to see how the virus might spread in the UK, and found that in order for a second wave to be avoided: both 75 percent of people with Covid symptoms must be found and 68 percent of their contacts traced; or both 87 percent of people with symptoms must be found and 40 percent of their contacts traced.
• The new coronavirus regulations for parts of the North West of England will come into force today. They will give the powers to the police in Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire to issue £100 fines to those people meeting members of other households in their homes or gardens. The Manchester Evening News have published a Q&A on the local lockdown measures.
• The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have begun testing 44 wastewater treatment sites, in an attempt to “monitor for fragments of coronavirus genetic material”.
• The  Great North Run has announced its going virtual , for the first time. Runners will be able to take part in the half marathon wherever they live in the world for free via an app.

Regional/devolved

• School pupils in Scotland have started receiving their Nationals, Highers and Advanced Higher results, without having taken the exams.
• Tributes have continued to pour in globally for the former SDLP leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, John Hume, who died yesterday.

International   

• US President, Donald Trump has argued in an interview that he had done “very well” fighting the virus, that they had the “lowest (rates) in numerous countries”, and rejected calls for a national lockdown, despite 4.7m cases and more than 155,000 deaths.
• In Victoria, Australia, another 439 cases and 11 deaths have been recorded. The state has now entered into  a six-week lockdown .
• More than 800 people died of coronavirus in India yesterday, the highest number of new deaths in the world for that 24-hour period. India also has the highest number of new infections.
• At least 41 passengers and crew have  tested positive on a Norwegian cruise ship .
• Parts of the Philippines has entered into another lockdown after the country’s infection tally topped 100,000.

Stakeholders    

• Labour’s Shadow Minister for Business and Consumer, Lucy Powell has responded to the news that Hays Travel may cut 878 jobs, stating: “It’s devastating to hear that Hays Travel is faced with having to make almost 900 employees redundant, months after stepping in to save the jobs of those impacted by the collapse of Thomas Cook. The government’s illogical decision to withdraw furlough support from businesses across the board, regardless of sector or circumstance, is putting so many jobs at risk.”
• Travel and transport union TSSA have signed a “Save Travel” letter calling on the Government to provide more support for the travel industry, following the Hays Travel news.
• The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), has backed calls from the Local Government Association to ringfence £1 billion in grant funding to continue to help support pubs and other businesses severely affected by the lockdown.