Babak Belurs

Rabu, 26 Mei 2021

UK Covid cases reach 3,000 for first time in a MONTH sparking calls for TIGHTER restrictions... - The Sun

UK Covid cases today hit 3,000 for the first time in a MONTH, sparking calls for tougher restrictions as the Indian variant continues to spread.

Daily infections grew by 18 per cent compared to last Wednesday's rise, reaching their highest level since April 12.

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A total of 3,180 positive infections were logged, meaning at least 4,470,297 people in Britain have now caught the bug since the start of the pandemic.

On April 12, the figure grew by 3,568.

Deaths, however, remained in single figures today, with another nine Covid fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours, and the figure staying steady in recent weeks.

It means a total of 127,748 have now died within 28 days of a positive Covid test result since the start of the pandemic.

It comes as the Indian variant continues to spread across Britain with hotspots having faced chaos yesterday amid new Government rules.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps today apologised for the rules - which appeared to restrict freedoms in high affected areas - and said the Government would not be imposing any local lockdowns.

Meanwhile Professor Neil Ferguson, also dubbed Professor Lockdown, today said it was "impossible" to say whether restrictions in England could be fully lifted on June 21 as planned because of the worrying strain.

The Imperial College London epidemiologist said it would only be a problem for the roadmap out of lockdown if it is more than 60 per cent more transmissible than the dominant Kent strain.

Speaking at a press briefing this afternoon, Professor Ferguson said: "It's a matter of degree.

"If you hypothesise a situation where the virus is 60 per cent more transmissible then you could see a third wave the size we have just come out of but if it's 20 or 30 per cent it will be much lower.

"We can cope with a certain level of increased transmissibility and still continue with the roadmap - but if it's higher than that we have to reconsider."

A long queue of people wait outside the COVID-19 mobile testing station in Shiremoor, North Tyneside this morningCredit: NNP

He added if it goes beyond those levels, "then we need to reconsider the rate of reopening and maybe slow the next step".

"I think it's actually too early to say whether we will be able to go ahead with what was planned in the UK in mid June and the next step, basically a full relaxation of measures," Prof Ferguson said.

"Or whether that fourth stage of relaxation will need to be postponed or indeed, in the worst case, measures need to be tightened up.

"We're getting more and more data every week, but we hope to be in a position to be more definitive about these answers in the next two to three weeks."

A total of 61,995,062 jabs have been dished out across the UK so far, with 38.4million adults — or 72.9 per cent — having had at least one.

Meanwhile data from a major Government surveillance study today revealed three out of four people in England now have antibodies against Covid, the MailOnline reports.

Updated figures from the Office for National Statistics also showed 76 per cent of adults had signs of immunity in the week ending May 3.

It comes as a new Covid variant that emerged in Yorkshire shows how rapidly the virus is evolving to evade vaccines.

Named AV.1, there have been only 49 cases of the strain confirmed so far.

But this figure, to May 12, appears to have doubled to 99, according to data from the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium.

A new scientific paper revealed the characteristics of the variant for the first time using swabs from people in Sheffield - where cases are centred.

Researchers led by University of Sheffield said the Yorkshire variant has “several” mutations that are already seen in concerning variants from South Africa, Brazil and India.

“Some of these are associated with immune escape and with increased transmissibility”, Prof Lawrence Young, a virologist and professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick, said.

He told the Sun: “The more we look, the more variants we will find as long as the virus continues to spread.

“The good news is that vaccines work against all the variants albeit with reduced efficiency in some cases.

“This all shows that we are not out of the woods and test and trace is more important than ever.”

Grant Shapps admits Govt could have communicated new local guidance for Indian Covid variant hotspots better but steps are not lockdowns

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2021-05-26 17:05:00Z
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Matt Hancock says he didn't watch all of Dominic Cummings' testimony because he was busy 'saving lives' - Sky News

Health Secretary Matt Hancock says he did not watch all of Dominic Cummings' testimony to MPs today because he was dealing with the vaccination rollout and "saving lives".

Mr Hancock came in for repeated attacks by the prime minister's former adviser during a seven-hour-long committee hearing.

Analysis: Hancock fighting for his political life after brutal demolition job

Mr Cummings told how he believed the health secretary should have been sacked repeatedly, for "at least 15-20 things including lying to everybody on multiple occasions in meeting after meeting in the Cabinet room and publicly".

He accused Mr Hancock of failing to protect people in care homes after saying he had a plan.

And Mr Cummings went on to say: "I certainly think Matt Hancock used Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance as shields for himself."

During his evidence, he said he had told the prime minister: "If we don't fire the secretary of state... we are going to kill people and it's going to be a catastrophe."

Earlier this evening a spokesperson for Mr Hancock said he "has worked incredibly hard in unprecedented circumstances to protect the NHS and save lives".

The spokesperson added: "We absolutely reject Mr Cummings' claims about the health secretary."

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2021-05-26 19:58:06Z
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COVID-19: It could be three weeks before it's known if Indian variant will scupper lockdown roadmap, warns expert - Sky News

It could be another "two to three weeks" before it's clear whether the final step in lifting lockdown can safely go ahead, according to a former senior scientific adviser to the government.

Professor Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London, told a briefing for the German media that the precise biological advantage of the variant over previous versions of the virus remains uncertain.

If it is only 20-30% more transmissible and has a small impact on the effectiveness of the vaccine, it would cause a significantly smaller third wave of infections than had been initially feared, he said.

Even before the B.1.617.2 variant was classed as a concern, models showed that COVID cases would rise over the summer and autumn as a result of lockdown being lifted on 21 June.

The expectation was that hospital admissions wouldn't rise so fast because most vulnerable people would have had two doses of vaccine.

But speaking at an event organised by the Science Media Centre in Germany, Prof Ferguson said it's too soon to be sure what impact the Indian variant will have on the numbers.

"It's not how high cases rise, but how quickly," he said.

"If they double every 10-14 days and hospital admissions follow the same trend, then there is a concern. We were expecting cases to rise as we relaxed restrictions but if they rise too quickly that's a problem."

Prof Ferguson said the UK is in a much better position now than when the Kent variant emerged in December. Infection levels are low and vaccination rates are high, which will help to control the virus.

Data from Singapore suggests the Indian variant is more common in children.

Prof Ferguson said there were "signals" in the UK that people under 21 are more likely to be infected with the variant than other versions of the virus.

But he added uncertainty remains over whether that is due to a biological enhancement from its mutations or the "founder effect", whereby the virus was brought back by travellers, who passed it to children, who then took it into local schools.

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2021-05-26 16:59:55Z
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Nicola Sturgeon to announce plans for Scotland after Level 0 within three weeks - Daily Record

The Scottish Government will set out its "expectations" for what will come after Level 0 of Covid-19 restrictions, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

In a speech at the Scottish Parliament earlier today on her plans for the first 100 days of government the First Minister told MSPs the "most important priority" is to lead Scotland safely out of the pandemic.

She said an announcement will come in the next three weeks on how Scotland will look once the levels system is scrapped.

"As we come out of the pandemic, there will be bumps in the road - as we are experiencing in Glasgow just now," she said.

"But the vaccine rollout gives us firm hope that we are on the right track.

"So over the next three weeks, we will also set out our expectations for the stage beyond Level 0 - as we return to a much greater degree of normality."

Sturgeon said in the first hundred days the Scottish Government will publish an NHS recovery plan - "setting out how we will achieve a 10% increase in activity in key services".

She also said legislation to create a national care service will be introduced in the next 12 months.

Outlining the Scottish Government's priorities in Holyrood, the First Minister said ministers aim to have the new service - which would focus on social care - established by the end of the parliamentary term.

She told MSPs: "In our first hundred days, we will begin the consultation on legislation to establish a National Care Service.

Scottish politics

"We intend to introduce the legislation during the first year of this parliament, and expect the service to be operational by the end of this parliament.

"This will be, in my view, the most important public sector innovation since the establishment of the National Health Service."

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2021-05-26 15:53:36Z
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Dominic Cummings tells committee he heard PM say 'let the bodies pile high' after ordering second lockdown - Sky News

Dominic Cummings says he heard Boris Johnson say he would rather "let the bodies pile high" than hit the economy again with a third lockdown.

"I heard that in the PM's study" immediately after Mr Johnson made the second lockdown decision on 31 October, he said.

Live updates as Dominic Cummings gives evidence on government's handling of COVID pandemic

Mr Cummings has told a select committee that the PM said he regretted ordering the first lockdown, and when he ordered the second, said he did not want to make the same mistake again.

The prime minister has repeatedly denied using that phrase.

The former Downing Street adviser was questioned about the language being used in autumn last year as the country moved towards a second lockdown.

SNP MP Carol Monaghan asked him: "Did you hear [the Prime Minister] say 'let the bodies piled high in their thousands' or 'it's only killing eighty year olds'?"

Mr Cummings replied: "There's been a few different versions... of these stories knocking around.

"There was a version of the of of it in the Sunday Times, which was not accurate. But the version that the BBC reported was accurate."

The BBC reported in April this year Mr Johnson said he would rather see "bodies pile high" than put the country into a third lockdown - as the UK went into shutdown for a second time.

Ms Monaghan asked if Mr Cummings heard the remarks, to which he replied: "I heard that in the PM's study."

Mr Cummings had earlier said: "There's a great misunderstanding people have that, because [COVID] nearly killed [Mr Johnson], therefore, he must have taken it seriously.

"But in fact, after the first lock down, his view was he was cross with me and for others into what he regarded as basically pushing him into the first lock down.

"His argument after that happened was literally, quote, 'I should have been the mayor of Jaws and kept the beaches open'. That's that's what he said on many, many occasions."

Mr Cummings was very open during his testimony - especially when it came to Mr Johnson.

When asked about what was happening in February 2020, ahead of the first lock down, the former adviser said the prime minister was distracted.

"[The prime minister] was finalising his divorce, his girlfriend wanted to announce being pregnant, an engagement and his finances and all that sort of stuff... certainly he had a very difficult time mid-February in his private life for sure.

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2021-05-26 15:40:40Z
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Cummings tells committee he didn't tell 'full story' about Durham trip - but Barnard Castle drive really was to test his eyesight - Sky News

Dominic Cummings has admitted that he did not "tell the full story" about his lockdown trip to Durham, saying that security threats against his family were the reason they left London.

Last May he explained in a statement in Downing Street's rose garden that he made the trip to stay at his father's property on 27 March after his wife fell ill, concerned that he might soon fall ill himself.

Mr Cummings added that he then drove to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight after experiencing loss of vision due to coronavirus before making the journey to London to return to work.

Follow live updates on Dominic Cummings reporting to MPs

Speaking to MPs on Wednesday, he stuck to his Barnard Castle explanation, saying that if he wanted to lie about it "I would have come up with a better story".

But he also expanded on his reasons for the trip to Durham and said he was "extremely sorry" about the episode and that it was "definitely a major disaster for the government and for the COVID policy".

Mr Cummings said in last February his wife had told him there was a gang outside the family home "saying they're going to break into the house and kill everybody inside".

It was decided with the Cabinet Office after that - combined with press coverage which prompted more threats - that he would move his family out of London to his parents' home in County Durham regardless of lockdown rules.

He said that after his trip was reported by newspapers, "the prime minister and I agreed that because of the security things, we would basically just stonewall the story and not say anything about it".

He added: "I was extremely mindful of the problem that when you talk about these things, you cause more trouble for yourself, and I'd already put my wife and child in the firing line on it.

"So I said, I'm not talking about this, we should shut our mouths about it."

However, he said the PM came under pressure to explain and it was agreed the press conference would be called, but Mr Cummings said he made the "terrible, terrible, terrible mistake" of not sending his family out of London again and telling the whole truth.

"I ended up giving the whole rose garden thing where what I said was true, but we left out a kind of crucial part of it all," he said.

"And it just... the whole thing was a complete disaster and the truth is - and then it undermined public confidence in the whole thing - the truth is, if I just, when the prime minister said on a Monday, 'we can't hold this line, we're going to have to explain things', if I just basically sent my family back out of London and said here's the truth to the public, I think people would have understood the situation.

"It was a terrible misjudgement not to do that. So I take ... the prime minister got that wrong, I got that wrong."

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2021-05-26 13:41:15Z
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Five arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of activist Sasha Johnson - Sky News

Two men and three teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of activist Sasha Johnson, police say.

Ms Johnson, a 27-year-old black equal rights campaigner, was shot in the head at a party in south London in the early hours of Sunday, the Metropolitan Police said.

Officers detained three teenagers and two older men on suspicion of other offences, before they were all also arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

The first suspect, a 17-year-old boy, was held on Tuesday afternoon, accused of suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and drug dealing.

Police then raided an address in Peckham, where they arrested three men - aged 18, 19 and 28 - on suspicion of affray and possession with intent to supply class B drugs.

A fifth man, aged 25, was arrested later that evening following a car chase, on suspicion of affray and failing to stop for police.

Ms Johnson was one of the organisers of the first-ever Million People March last August to protest against systemic racism in the UK. During the demonstration, hundreds of people took to the streets of west London.

She is also one of the leaders of the Taking The Initiative Party (TTIP), a political party that was registered with the Electoral Commission nearly four years ago and fielded its first candidates in May's local elections.

Detective Chief Inspector Richard Leonard said the investigation into the incident on Sunday was in its "early stages", but progress was being made.

He added: "I continue to appeal to those who may hold information about the events that led to Sasha receiving her horrific injuries, or about those responsible, to do the right thing and come forward and speak to police."

Ms Johnson, an Oxford graduate with two children, was at a party in the back garden of a home in Consort Road when four men in dark clothing burst in and shots were fired.

A man aged in his 20s suffered a "superficial" knife injury as the violence erupted, but he was not seriously hurt.

Anyone with information should contact police on 101, tweet @MetCC quoting the reference CAD1172/23MAY, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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2021-05-26 12:54:49Z
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Rabu, 26 Mei 2021

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