Babak Belurs

Rabu, 06 Januari 2021

COVID-19: More than two million jabs a week needed to meet vaccination target, minister says - Sky News

The UK will have to roll out more than two million coronavirus vaccines a week to meet its target of offering a jab to the top four priority groups by the middle of February, a minister has acknowledged.

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News that the target, which involves inoculating 13.9 million people against COVID-19, was a "Herculean effort".

Live coronavirus updates from the UK and around the world

"It is a stretching target no doubt, but I'm confident that with this plan that the NHS have put together that we will deliver this," he said.

Top of the priority list are people who live and work in care homes, followed by people over the age of 80 and frontline health and social care workers - including NHS staff.

Next on the list are people over the age 75, and the fourth group are people aged 70 and those classed as clinically extremely vulnerable.

Mr Zahawi said of the 1.3 million doses administered so far, a quarter have gone to those over the age of 80.

Asked if the UK would need to be offering more than two million doses a week, a figure the government has previously said the NHS has the capacity to deliver, Mr Zahawi replied: "Absolutely, you're going to see that increase.

"The NHS have got a very clear plan. We've got a fantastic team working seven days a week all hours to deliver this.

"As I said, I think it's a stretching target, no doubt it's a stretching target, but I think it's one that we should absolutely look to deliver."

The minister said there would be a "massive acceleration" in the number of people vaccinated in the coming days, as well as a "real step up" in the next weekly figures for 4 to 11 January when they are reported.

Almost 3.5 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are understood to be awaiting approval by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Asked about the length of time it takes for regulators to "batch test" the vaccine, Mr Zahawi said: "The MHRA are doing everything in their capability to do it properly without cutting corners and safety to test every batch, because the worst thing we can do is in a national vaccination programme that is the biggest in this nation's history, is to get this wrong, and to have vaccine that is not effectively being used

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2021-01-06 07:59:21Z
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Selasa, 05 Januari 2021

The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and vaccines: Live updates - CNN International

Covid-19 infections in the United States may have been four times higher than the number of cases reported, with 1 in 7 US residents infected by mid-November, according to a new study.

As of November 15, about 10.8 million reported cases of Covid-19 were reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the study suggests the actual number of infections was closer to 46.9 million.

The study also suggests that approximately 35% of Covid-19 deaths may not be reported.

"Reported Covid-19 cases do not represent the full SARS-CoV-2 disease burden," the researchers wrote in the study, published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open on Tuesday.

Researchers tested randomly selected blood samples for the presence of Covid-19 antibodies in a series of surveys conducted in 10 states, as well as one nationwide. They derived estimates for the number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths in the US as of Nov. 15 by comparing antibody prevalence in the samples to the number of reported cases to adjust for underreporting.

Gaps between the number of reported infections and estimated number of infections decreased over time, suggesting more widespread access to testing in later months, according to the researchers.

Data from this study may be helpful in monitoring progress toward herd immunity as infections continue to rise, but there is still a long way to go.

"Even after adjusting for underreporting, a substantial gap remains between the estimated proportion of the population infected and the proportion infected required to reach herd immunity," the researchers wrote.

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2021-01-05 22:42:00Z
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COVID-19: Anger as government scraps GCSE and A-level exams - but allows BTECs to continue - Sky News

The government is facing anger after it allowed vocational and technical exams to continue to take place this month - but told GCSE and A-level students they won't be asked to sit exams this summer.

In a statement to parliament on Wednesday, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson will confirm to MPs that the government wants GCSEs and A-level exams to be cancelled for the second year in a row as a result of the COVID crisis.

However, as England entered a third coronavirus lockdown on Tuesday, Mr Williamson's department left it up to schools and colleges to decide whether they want to continue with BTEC exams.

"In light of the evolving public health measures, schools and colleges can continue with the vocational and technical exams that are due to take place in January, where they judge it right to do so," a Department for Education spokesperson said.

"We understand this is a difficult time but we want to support schools and colleges whose students have worked hard to prepare for assessments and exams where necessary.

"This may be particularly important for VTQs (vocational and technical qualifications) which require a 'license to practise' which can only be fulfilled through practical assessment, such as an electrician.

"Schools and colleges have already implemented extensive protective measures to make them as safe as possible."

David Hughes, the chief executive of the Association of Colleges, accused the government of putting "thousands of young people and their families at risk" by allowing vocational exams to continue.

"It has no message for students in colleges which do cancel for safety reasons and does not reflect the issue of fairness between vocational and technical students with their peers taking A-levels and GCSEs," he added.

"Every college leader has been spending all day trying to weigh up the pros and cons of cancelling or going ahead.

"They were hoping that the government would be decisive, but that has not happened, and students will have to look locally for the leadership and certainty they seek."

Mr Hughes suggested many colleges would now cancel their exams, but some would not.

Labour called for the complete cancellation of BTEC exams with shadow apprenticeships minister, Toby Perkins MP, saying they "simply cannot go ahead safely and fairly this week".

"Once again BTEC students who have missed out on lots of core practical teaching this year are an afterthought for this government," Mr Perkins said, as he called for a "fair alternative" for pupils.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer reinforced his party's call for BTECs to be cancelled, adding in a tweet: "Once again, government dither and delay mean it is students and colleges that pay the price."

In his statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday, Mr Williamson is set to face a tough grilling over the government's decision on Monday to close schools and colleges in England to most pupils - just a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged parents to send their children back to classrooms.

Ahead of his appearance before MPs, in which he will set out a support package for pupils who now have to learn at home, Mr Williamson said: "Education continues to be a national priority - these new national restrictions do not change that.

"I am determined that this virus, and the steps we all must take to fight it, do not come at the cost of children's life chances."

The education secretary will confirm to MPs the government will work with the exams' regulator, Ofqual, to decide what alternative method will be used to award GCSE and A-level students their grades this summer.

Mr Williamson was last year forced into an embarrassing U-turn as the government ditched a controversial algorithm to "moderate" students' grades.

The Department for Education said 560,000 laptops and tablets had been provided to schools and local councils in 2020, with more than 50,000 delivered across the country on Monday and over 100,000 to be delivered in total during the first week of term.

Mobile network operators, including EE, Three, Tesco Mobile, Smarty, Sky Mobile and Virgin Mobile, have also partnered with the government to provide free data to disadvantaged families until July.

In Northern Ireland on Tuesday, First Minister Arlene Foster announced schools would move to remote learning until the February half-term as she strengthened Northern Ireland's own lockdown.

However, she said discussions would continue with Mr Williamson in order to get "complete clarity" over whether GCSE and A-level exams will go ahead in Northern Ireland.

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2021-01-05 23:10:01Z
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UK lockdown “to continue until March” with more than a million Covid cases in England - BBC News - BBC News

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2021-01-05 22:25:32Z
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Covid-19: UK daily coronavirus cases top 60,000 for first time - BBC News

Members of the public queue at a mass Covid-19 testing site in the Liverpool Tennis centre at Wavertree Sports Park on January 05, 2021 in Liverpool, United Kingdom

The number of new daily confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK has topped 60,000 for the first time since the pandemic started.

According to government figures on Tuesday, the number of people who tested positive was 60,916.

One in 50 people in private households in England had Covid last week - and one in 30 in London, according to estimates based on the latest data.

A further 830 people have also died within 28 days of a positive test.

It comes as England and Scotland announced new strict lockdowns, with people told to stay at home.

At a press conference at Downing Street on Tuesday, Boris Johnson said 1.3 million people had now been vaccinated in the UK - including 23% of over 80s in England, some 650,000 people.

But he said more than one million people were currently infected - with the number of patients in hospitals 40% higher than in the first peak.

The government's chief medical adviser Prof Chris Whitty cited the Office for National Statistics' random sampling data for England as showing how widespread the virus is.

"We're now into a situation where across the country as a whole, roughly one in 50 people have got the virus, higher in some parts of the country, lower in others," he said.

That latest estimates include:

One in 30 for London
One in 45 for south-east England, eastern England and north-west England
One in 50 for the East Midlands
One in 60 for north-east England
One in 65 for the West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber
One in 135 for south-west England

The number of new daily cases has consistently been above 50,000 since 29 December.

Back in the first peak of the pandemic in the spring, the number of daily confirmed cases never went above 7,000.

However, it is thought the true number of cases then was much higher but not picked up because testing capacity was limited. It was estimated there were about 100,000 new infections a day at the end of March - but there was not the testing to detect it.

Hospital admissions of people with Covid-19 in England also reached another record high on Tuesday, NHS England figures show.

At a hospital in Lincolnshire, a "critical" incident has been declared after a sharp rise in patients requiring admission.

And potentially life-saving cancer operations have been put on hold at a major London NHS trust because of the number of beds taken by Covid patients.

However, Cancer Research UK said such cancellations did not appear to be widespread across the country.

In a statement after the case numbers were released, Public Health England medical director Yvonne Doyle said the rapid rise in cases was "highly concerning and will sadly mean yet more pressure on our health services in the depths of winter".

Analysis box by Nick Triggle, health correspondent

After seven consecutive days of more than 50,000 cases being confirmed, the fact that more than 60,000 have been recorded should not come as a surprise.

It will take a week, if not more, for the impact of lockdown to be felt.

And all the evidence suggests the new variant of coronavirus, which is more transmissible than previous ones, means the impact is likely to be more limited than it was in previous ones.

The figures are also a warning about what the NHS is facing.

Some of this week's infections are next week's hospital admissions.

About three in 10 beds are now occupied by Covid patients. In some hospitals more than six in 10 are.

Hospitals are now busy making more spaces on their wards - that means cancelling planned work, including in some places cancer treatment.

Boris Johnson and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon both announced new lockdowns on Monday.

Wales has been in a national lockdown since 20 December and Northern Ireland entered a six-week lockdown on 26 December.

Restrictions are also being tightened further in Northern Ireland, and an order for people to stay at home will become legally enforceable from Friday.

In a televised address to the nation, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urged the government to use the lockdown to create a "round the clock" vaccination programme.

He also called on people to "recapture the spirit" of the beginning of the pandemic.

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At the press conference on Tuesday, Mr Johnson repeated his suggestion that there is a "prospect" of the lockdown being eased in mid-February.

"But you will also appreciate there are a lot of caveats, a lot of ifs built into that, the most important of which is that we all now follow the guidance," he said.

Earlier, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove told Sky News he could not say exactly when the lockdown in England would end, but "as we enter March we should be able to lift some of these restrictions but not necessarily all".

Mr Whitty said the virus "is not going to go away, just as flu doesn't go away, just as many other viruses don't go away".

"We shouldn't kid ourselves that this just disappears with spring," he said.

Mr Whitty said although hopefully there would be nearly no measures needed from the spring onwards, the government might have to bring in a few restrictions next winter.

On Monday the UK's chief medical officers recommended the Covid threat level be increased to five - its highest level.

Although the new variant is now spreading more rapidly than the original version, it is not believed to be more deadly.

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2021-01-05 20:57:00Z
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COVID-19: Some coronavirus restrictions could return next winter, chief medical officer warns - Sky News

Some coronavirus restrictions may have to be brought back to control the virus next winter, the chief medical officer has said.

Speaking at a Downing Street news conference, Professor Chris Whitty warned that the risks will continue to exist as the weather gets warmer, saying: "We shouldn't kid ourselves [that] this just disappears with spring."

He said: "If we did not do all the things all of us must now do, if people don't take the stay at home seriously, the risk at this point in time, in the middle of winter, with this new variant, is extraordinarily high."

Live COVID updates as lockdown begins

He said the risk level will gradually decrease over time with measures being "lifted by degrees possibly at different rates in different parts of the country, we'll have to see".

"We'll then get, over time, to a point where people say this level of risk is something society is prepared to tolerate and lift right down to almost no restrictions at all," he added.

But he went on to warn: "We might have to bring in a few in the next winter for example, that's possible, because winter will benefit the virus."

Professor Whitty added that the vaccine will help reduce the threat to society from the virus.

It will not be a case of deaths from COVID-19 dropping to zero, but rather there will be a manageable number of cases and deaths like the flu.

The professor said: "Roughly on an average year about 7,000 people a year die [from the flu]. In a bad year up to 20,000 people a year die.

"We accept there is a level of risk that society will tolerate - and we should tolerate.

"People die - that's one of the things that happens.

"And we have to [tolerate the risk] at a certain point."

He added: "Zero risk is not something which is a realistic possibility."

The warning came as the UK recorded more than 60,000 people testing positive for the coronavirus in a day for the first time.

Another 830 people died, according to the latest figures.

The rising numbers resulted in Prime Minister Boris Johnson sending England back into a full, national lockdown on Monday.

Mr Johnson announced that 1.3 million people in the UK - 1.1 million of whom are in England - have already received the coronavirus vaccine.

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2021-01-05 19:18:45Z
CBMieWh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L2NvdmlkLTE5LXNvbWUtY292aWQtcmVzdHJpY3Rpb25zLWNvdWxkLXJldHVybi1uZXh0LXdpbnRlci1jaGllZi1tZWRpY2FsLW9mZmljZXItd2FybnMtMTIxODAxMzPSAX1odHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9hbXAvY292aWQtMTktc29tZS1jb3ZpZC1yZXN0cmljdGlvbnMtY291bGQtcmV0dXJuLW5leHQtd2ludGVyLWNoaWVmLW1lZGljYWwtb2ZmaWNlci13YXJucy0xMjE4MDEzMw

COVID-19: Some coronavirus restrictions could return next winter, chief medical officer warns - Sky News

Some coronavirus restrictions may have to be brought back to control the virus next winter, the chief medical officer has said.

Live COVID updates as lockdown begins

He said the risk level will gradually decrease over time with measures being "lifted by degrees possibly at different rates in different parts of the country, we'll have to see".

"We'll then get, over time, to a point where people say this level of risk is something society is prepared to tolerate and lift right down to almost no restrictions at all," he added.

But he went on to warn: "We might have to bring in a few in the next winter for example, that's possible, because winter will benefit the virus."

Professor Whitty added that the vaccine will help reduce the threat to society from the virus.

It will not be a case of deaths from COVID-19 dropping to zero, but rather there will be a manageable number of cases and deaths like the flu.

The professor said: "Roughly on an average year about 7,000 people a year die [from the flu]. In a bad year up to 20,000 people a year die.

"We accept there is a level of risk that society will tolerate - and we should tolerate.

"People die - that's one of the things that happens.

"And we have to [tolerate the risk] at a certain point."

He added: "Zero risk is not something which is a realistic possibility."

The warning came as the UK recorded more than 60,000 people testing positive for the coronavirus in a day for the first time.

Another 830 people died, according to the latest figures.

The rising numbers resulted in Prime Minister Boris Johnson sending England back into a full, national lockdown on Monday.

Mr Johnson announced that 1.3 million people in the UK - 1.1 million of whom are in England - have already received the coronavirus vaccine.

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Rabu, 06 Januari 2021

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