Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

08 Sep

8 September 2020

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

Key Announcements:

  • The islands of Lesbos, Tinos, Serifos, Mykonos, Crete, Santorini and Zakynthos are being removed from England’s list of locations exempt from 14-day Covid-19 quarantine, as of Wednesday at 4am.
  • Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, stated that coronavirus cases are surging again in the UK because “people have relaxed too much” .
  • According to new research, at the height of the pandemic, suspected cases of Covid-19 recorded by GPs were three times higher than officially confirmed infections.
  • The BBC reports that up to £3.5bn furlough payments may have been claimed fraudulently or paid out in error, HRMC told MPs on the Public Accounts Committee.
  • A mass survey has suggested that some 60,000 people have been ill for more than three months after being infected with coronavirus.
  • The FT reports that EasyJet has cut its flight schedule after the Government unveiled a regional quarantine system for England which includes the addition of seven Greek islands.

Regional /Devolved

  • A new lockdown in Caerphilly will begin at 6pm today, where people in and around Caerphilly will not be able to leave the area after a rise in coronavirus cases, and everyone over the age of 11 must wear face coverings in shops , Sky News reports.
  • As many as 200 pupils are now having to self-isolate after positive coronavirus cases were confirmed in eight Liverpool schools, according to the Liverpool Echo.
  • The Guardian reports that Nicola Sturgeon has ordered the extension of lockdown restrictions in the Glasgow area to two other councils, affecting more than 1 million people across the west of Scotland.
  • The New European reports that the school in Leicestershire that Johnson visited as it reopened in August has closed after a staff member tested positive for coronavirus.
  • Former DUP health minister Jim Wells believes young people in Northern Ireland have “totally lost the message” when it comes to Covid-19 , the BBC reports.

International

  • Spain has become the first western European country to record more than half a million Covid-19 cases, logging a total of 525,549 infections, as concerns also grow over the rise in cases in France and the UK.
  • The Independent reports that Donald Trump has accused Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris of using “reckless anti-vaccine rhetoric” after she echoed concerns from medical experts and public health officials about the efficacy and reliability of a coronavirus vaccine that the president has promised as soon as Election Day.
  • The FT reports that a post-lockdown rebound in the second half of the year is expected to limit the shrinkage of the French economy to 9 per cent this year, according to the national statistics institute Insee .
  • Egypt’s total recorded coronavirus cases exceed 100,000 yesterday, according to Reuters.
  • The Guardian reports that India has recorded its highest daily death rate from the coronavirus in more than a month, even as new infections slowed .

Stakeholders

  • The NUS has published details of a survey that found 67 per cent of students in England do not think that the UK is acting in their interests.
  • The SNP has said Boris Johnson must U-turn on his reckless plans to axe the furlough scheme in the middle of a pandemic – as leading business groups urged an extension beyond October.
  • Labour warns blanket withdrawal of furlough scheme threatens future of high streets and night life , as new analysis by the Party reveals over 5,500 pubs and bars have closed in the UK since the Tories entered Government in 2010 – one pub or bar every 14 hours.
  • Government proposals to launch an aviation recovery plan this autumn to provide support for the sector until 2025 will not end the ongoing aviation jobs haemorrhage currently occurring, Unite, the principal aviation union, has warned.
  • In an open letter to schools and colleges across England, the National Deaf Children’s Society, the British Association of Teachers of the Deaf and the National Sensory Impairment Partnership say that deaf children must be supported as they try to catch up after months without a formal education. The organisations say the gap in achievement could get even wider after the coronavirus pandemic made it impossible for many deaf children to access vital technology or get support from the specialist staff they rely on.