PAUL ELLIS via AFP via Getty ImagesShoppers pass beneath an electronic sign promoting the NHS Covi-19 app, outside the Arndale Centre in Manchester.
A Tory councillor has come under fire after suggesting £500 Covid-19 self-isolation payments would be an “incentive to spread” the virus.
John Fuller OBE, who is the Conservative leader of South Norfolk Council, told BBC Newsnight on Thursday: “Let’s not have a system whereby if you catch Covid, you get £500.
“That is an incentive to actually spread the disease, and that’s not in anybody’s interests.”
When asked by host Kirsty Wark, “Are you really saying £500 is an incentive for people to spread the disease?” he replied: “What I’m saying is… let’s not… I said let’s not have the incentive, I didn’t say it was, let’s not have an incentive that would encourage people to catch the disease.
“Our job is to bear down on it as quickly as we can.”
His words were condemned by Liverpool metro mayor Steve Rotherham, who described the suggestion as “shocking” and “an insult” to the people who have died as a result of Covid-19.
Shocking suggestion from the Tory I was on #Newsnight with that people would try and catch COVID for £500.
Nearly 130k people have died of COVID in the last year alone because of his party’s handling of the pandemic.
The failure to put in a place decent isolation support with sick pay, help and accommodation is one of the most monstrous failures of ministers in this pandemic.
And we’ve been urging ministers to do something for over 12 months now. https://t.co/ueE1lDPWfD
But Labour has said the payment – which can be claimed by those who cannot work from home but need to isolate – should be available to everyone without access to workplace sick pay.
The Test and Trace Support Payment applies to both employed and self-employed people in England, but there is concern that some people who need it are unable to access it.
On Thursday’s BBC Newsnight, the Liverpool mayor cited figures showing 70% of applications for the payment were being rejected.
“There is no one-off £500 payment that would convince anybody, even on low pay, to actually get Covid,” he said in response to Fuller.
A Tory former cabinet minister has warned the government against forcing care home staff to have coronavirus vaccinations.
David Davis claimed mandating jabs for healthcare workers would be “illegal” and in breach of international law.
But Downing Street pointed out that some NHS staff are already required to get the hepatitis B vaccine, providing a “clear precedent” for mandatory Covid vaccines.
The clash came as health secretary Matt Hancock confirmed the government was considering legally requiring care home workers in England to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Hancock insisted “no final decision” had been made amid a review into so-called vaccine passports, but confirmed that ministers were looking at jabs being made compulsory for care workers in England.
The plans have emerged amid concerns of low uptake from staff in care homes looking after those who are among the most vulnerable of death the disease, with around 24% of care workers remaining unvaccinated.
However, Davis’s comments highlighted the potential for the proposals to run into strong opposition from civil liberties Tories, who are already preparing to vote against the extension of Covid restrictions on Thursday.
It came after the Telegraph reported leaked details of a paper submitted to the “Covid O” sub-committee of Cabinet which said that prime minister Boris Johnson and Hancock had agreed to the proposal.
Hancock told LBC: “Because people who are looking after elderly residents in care homes, who we know to be the most vulnerable to Covid, they have a duty of care not to pass on the disease and it is a reasonable question.”
He said “many” care homes had asked for this to happen, adding: “There’s a legal change that’s required and, as you can see, I’m open to that, but no final decision has been taken.”
Davis, who is a staunch civil liberties campaigner, conceded there were “precedents” for mandatory vaccines, including hepatitis B vaccines.
But the former Brexit secretary suggested the comparison with hepatitis B vaccines was unfair, insisting these have been in use since the 1980s and have a long-term safety record.
Davis argued that the best way to protect care home residents was to ensure that they themselves are vaccinated and are therefore at far less risk of death or serious illness.
Barcroft Media via Barcroft Media via Getty ImagesTory former cabinet minister David Davis
He told the Commons public administration committee (PACAC): “It’s illegal to require vaccination at the moment.
“We are bound ourselves by both UN and European international agreements to the use of medical treatment.
“Medical treatment as it stands must only be for the benefit of the person it’s administered to.
“Medical treatment must not be administered for, as it were, communal purposes – otherwise we’ll all be giving mandatory blood transfusions and so on.
“I give blood anyway, but you’d have requirements like that.
“So that’s against both international and national laws.
“The answer… is to solve the problem by the method which is legal and acceptable, which is to vaccinate the people who are at risk.
“Look, if I were running a care home, and I am very pro-vaccines, I would say to all my workers – I would like you to vaccinate in the interests of our clients.
“But I couldn’t force it, and I don’t foresee a way which we can force it.
“And if you tried to say it’s now a requirement of your job, I don’t think the courts would uphold it – apart from anything else because you are costing someone their job for a requirement which can’t be enforced in law.”
Responding, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “This is something that happens already, for example doctors are required to have the hepatitis B vaccine.
“So there is a clear precedent for this proposition, elderly people in care homes are the most vulnerable to this disease.
“And this is something that care homes have actually called for.”
It came as the Independent Care Group, which represents providers in York and North Yorkshire, said making the vaccine mandatory for care workers could put people off from joining the sector.
WPA Pool via Getty ImagesA member of staff receives the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Abercorn House care home in Scotland on December 14
Chair Mike Padgham said it is vital care workers get vaccinated but it should be voluntary, adding: “I think rather than force it through legislation, the government has more work to do in terms of persuading everyone, not just care workers, about how important it is that the whole country has the vaccine so that we are all protected.”
Davis also cautioned the government against introducing so-called vaccine passports to allow immunised people to do certain activities, for example visiting a pub or attending a football match.
He said introducing Covid status certificates, which are currently being reviewed by the government, could be discriminatory against communities reluctant to take up the vaccine.
Davis told MPs: “The impact of this would be discriminatory. Under the law, it would be indirectly discriminatory and that is illegal.
“You may well find, it has been said, that Black and ethnic minority communities are less inclined to get vaccinated, well that would be indirect discrimination.”
Younger people were also less likely to have the jab and “some people have ethical or religious objections”, he said.
“There are a variety of good reasons for people not to take a vaccine. I’ve had a vaccine and I think most of the reasons are not ones I would subscribe to.
“But people have that freedom. What this proposal does is, in effect, coerce those people.”
There is frustration in the EU, which is lagging behind the UK in the rollout of its vaccination programme, over whether member states will get the supplies they expected.
Johnson is expected to ask European leaders this week to avoid triggering a vaccine supply war between the UK and EU.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is manufactured in several different factories, including two in the UK and two in the EU.
Downing Street said it remained “confident” in the UK’s vaccine supplies and repeated that the NHS was “on track” to offer first doses to all over-50s by April 15, and all other adults by the end of July.
Johnson said: “I’ve talked to our (European) friends repeatedly over the period — we’re all facing the same pandemic, we all have the same problems.
“If there is one thing that is worth stressing is that on the continent right now you can see sadly there is a third wave under way.
“People in this country should be under no illusions that previous experience has taught us that when a wave hits our friends, it washes up on our shores as well.
“I expect that we will feel those effects in due course.
“That’s why we’re getting on with our vaccination programme as fast as we can but a vaccination campaign and developing vaccines, rolling them out— these are international projects and they require international co-operation.”
Tuesday marks a year since the first lockdown was imposed in the UK. MPs will this week be asked to grant a six-month extension to the government’s lockdown powers.
The UK’s Covid R rate has risen slightly to between 0.6 and 0.9, scientists advising the government have said.
Last week the estimated R rate was 0.6 and 0.8.
R measures the number of people, on average, that each sick person will infect.
If R is greater than 1 the epidemic is generally seen to be growing; if R is less than 1 the epidemic is shrinking.
The estimate was published on Friday and provided by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Here’s what the R rate is in each region of England
In England, the R rate is 0.7 to 0.8.
Regionally it is as follows:
East of England – 0.6 to 0.9 (up from 0.6 to 0.8 last week)
London – 0.6 to 0.9 (up from 0.6 to 0.8)
Midlands – 0.6 to 0.9 (up from 0.6 to 0.8)
North-east and Yorkshire – 0.7 to 0.9 (no change)
North-west – 0.7 to 0.9 (no change)
South-east – 0.7 to 0.9 (up from 0.6 to 0.8)
South-west – 0.6 to 0.9 (up from 0.5 to 0.8)
Here’s what the R rate is in the devolved nations
In Scotland the latest figures estimate the R rate is between 0.7 and 1.0, last week it was between 0.6 and 0.8.
In Wales it is believed to be between 0.6 and 0.8, last week it was between 0.7 and 0.9.
And in Northern Ireland, the R is estimated to be between 0.9 and 1.1, last week it was between 0.75 and 0.95.
There is no proven link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and rare blood clotting, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has said.
Following a “rigorous scientific review” of all the available data, the regulator said the available evidence does not suggest that blood clots in veins are caused by the jab and it has urged people to take it when invited to do so.
It follows a detailed review of cases as well as data from hospital admissions and GP records. Experts from the government’s independent advisory group, the Commission on Human Medicines, also reviewed the data.
It comes after more than a dozen countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain suspended its use.
Dr June Raine, MHRA chief executive, said: “Our thorough and careful review, alongside the critical assessment of leading, independent scientists, shows that there is no evidence that that blood clots in veins is occurring more than would be expected in the absence of vaccination, for either vaccine.”
The regulator said it has received five reports of a rare blood clot after five men aged between 19 and 59 received the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
The clot – cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) – prevents blood from draining out of the brain.
One of these cases was fatal, experts from the regulator told a press briefing.
“We have received a very small number of reports of an extremely rare form of blood clot in the cerebral veins (sinus vein thrombosis, or CSVT) occurring together with lowered platelets soon after vaccination,” said Dr Raine. “This type of blood clot can occur naturally in people who have not been vaccinated, as well as in those suffering from Covid-19.”
A further, detailed review into the five cases is ongoing. This has been reported in less than 1 in a million people vaccinated so far in the UK, and can also occur naturally – a causal association with the vaccine has not been established.
Phil Bryan, MHRA vaccine safety lead, said: “We take every single report of a suspected side effect seriously.
“We have received five reports of what is a very unique, specific form of blood clot … and this is similar to some of the cases that have been reported in Europe in the past week or so.
“What we don’t know is whether these cases have been caused by the vaccine.
“We are working closely with our experts and haematologists to try to gather more information to determine this.”
He added that these clots do happen very rarely naturally.
Bryan added: “Where we are now is that no proven causal association with what is still an extremely rare medical event has been proven for the AZ vaccine.
“But we do know that these are highly effective vaccines. We still have a huge burden of Covid disease in the population.
“So, right now, the balance of benefits and known risks of the vaccine are favourable.”
Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, chair of the Commission on Human Medicines, said: “Having reviewed all the data that was available to us, as well as reports, what we concluded was that there was no increased risk of peripheral venous thromboembolism based on all the data that’s available to us at the moment.
“We will still recommend that the vaccine is taken when you’re offered the vaccine.”
The World Health Organisation has also stated that the benefits of the vaccine “far outweigh the risks”.
Dr Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said it was “routine to signal adverse events” but reiterated that people should “have confidence” in the protection given by vaccines.
The UK’s Covid R rate has fallen to between 0.6 and 0.8, scientists advising the government have said.
Last week the estimated R rate was 0.7 to 0.9, which had been a slight rise on the previous week’s estimate of 0.6 and 0.9.
R measures the number of people, on average, that each sick person will infect.
If R is greater than 1 the epidemic is generally seen to be growing; if R is less than 1 the epidemic is shrinking.
The estimate was published on Friday and provided by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The DHSC also provides a breakdown of the estimated R rate in regions of England.
Here’s what the R rate is in each region
In England, the R rate is 0.6 to 0.8.
Regionally it is as follows:
East of England – 0.6 to 0.8 (no change from last week)
London – 0.6 to 0.8 (no change)
Midlands – 0.6 to 0.8 (from 0.7 to 0.9)
North-east and Yorkshire – 0.7 to 0.9 (from 0.7 to 1.0 )
North-west – 0.7 to 0.9 (no change)
South-east – 0.6 to 0.8 (no change)
South-west – 0.5 to 0.8 (from 0.6 to 0.8 )
It comes as the number of people infected with coronavirus continues to fall across England, but appears to be levelling off in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
New estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that around one in 270 people in private households in England had Covid-19 between February 28 and March 6 – the equivalent of 200,600 people.
This is down from around one in 220, or 248,100 people, for the period February 21 to 27.
It is the lowest figure since the week to September 24 when the estimate stood at one in 470, or 116,600 people.
However, the number of people infected in England is still high when compared to last summer. In the week to August 25 around one in 2,000 people had coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the latest data for Wales shows around one in 365 people are estimated to have had Covid-19 between February 28 and March 6 – down from one in 285 the week before.
In Northern Ireland, around one in 310 people were infected, up from one in 325.
The estimate for Scotland was around one in 320 people, up from one in 335 the previous week.
Boris Johnson has refused to apologise after falsely claiming Labour voted against a pay rise for nurses.
The prime minister, who is under fire for his offer to give hard-pressed NHS staff a 1% pay rise, had claimed that Keir Starmer’s party had opposed earlier government plans to give health workers a 2.1% hike.
The move, part of the NHS funding bill, was never put to a vote but Johnson’s aides have rejected calls for the PM to say sorry or even correct his mistake.
During prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Johnson told MPs: “The last time we put it to a vote, he (Starmer) voted against it.”
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth raised a point of order with Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle after the session.
He said: “The prime minister twice from that despatch box said that the Labour opposition voted against the NHS Funding Bill and the 2.1% increase for NHS staff – this is not the case.
“Indeed, in the debate, as Hansard will show, I was explicit that we would not be dividing the House.”
Hoyle ruled that it was “certainly a point of clarification” but by that point Johnson had left the chamber.
Johnson’s press secretary Allegra Stratton, who later faced questions from journalists, refused to offer any apology from the PM.
She said: “The speaker addressed it in the House immediately after the shadow health secretary and the speaker regarded it as a point of clarification, and he regarded it as having been dealt with.”
Pressed more than 10 times on whether Johnson would accept he was wrong about claiming there was a vote, Stratton repeated the line and said simply said it was “appropriate” for the speaker to clarify the point.
She insisted that Johnson was “concerned about the truth of these matters”, she added “it would be difficult if the speaker had not addressed it”.
Asked about the ministerial code, which says government ministers should correct any error “at the earliest opportunity”, Stratton insisted that “the system worked”, suggesting the speaker corrected the mistake.
People aged between 56 and 59 years old can now book their Covid-19 jab online.
While the rollout to a new age bracket has not yet been formally announced by the government, the NHS booking site now allows people over 56 to pick an appointment for their first and second doses of the vaccine.
https://www.nhs.ukA screenshot of the NHS Covid-19 vaccine booking page.
Those age 56-and-over can now book alongside people who are deemed both extremely clinically vulnerable and clinically vulnerable to Covid-19, frontline health and social care workers, people with a learning disability and people who act as a main carer to someone at high risk from Covid-19.
While the expansion of the roll out hasn’t been formally announced, it appears that a number of newly-eligible people have already booked online after seeing the change reported on social media sites such as Twitter.
It emerged on Friday that more than a million people in England had now had their second dose of the Covid-19 jab, completing the course of immunisation.
A total of 1,034,068 second doses had been given by March 4, according to the latest figures from health agencies in the four nations.
Of those, 729,265 were given to people in England, along with 154,819 in Wales, 108,197 in Scotland and 41,787 in Northern Ireland.
Margaret Keenan became the first person in the world outside of a clinical trial to be vaccinated at Coventry Hospital on December 8.
Public Health England said on Friday that 21,358,815 people have now received at least one dose.
The UK’s Covid R rate has risen to between 0.7 and 0.9, scientists advising the government have said.
It represents an increase after R was estimated to be between 0.6 and 0.9 last week, and suggests coronavirus is spreading slightly more than it was previously.
R measures the number of people, on average, that each sick person will infect.
If R is greater than 1 the epidemic is generally seen to be growing; if R is less than 1 the epidemic is shrinking.
The estimate was published on Friday and provided by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) and the Department for Health and Social Care.
Separately, official figures showed the number of people with Covid-19 in homes across England continues to fall.
Ben Birchall/PA ImagesPeople wait in line for a coronavirus test at a surge test centre, set up in a library, to provide additional community testing following the identification of a mutated variant in the Bristol and south Gloucestershire area
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimate that around one in 220 people in private households in England had Covid-19 between February 21 and 27 – the equivalent of 248,100 people.
The figure is down from around one in 145, or 373,700 people, for the period February 13 to 19, and is the lowest figure since the week to October 1 when it was one in 240.
However, the number of people infected in England is still high when compared to last summer. In the week to August 25, around one in 2,000 people had coronavirus.
The ONS said the percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 in the latest figures had decreased in all regions except for north-east England, the East Midlands and eastern England, where it said the trend was uncertain.
In Wales, the latest estimate was one in 285, down from 205, and in Northern Ireland it was one in 325, down from one in 195.
The estimate for Scotland for the week to February 27 was around one in 335 people, down from one in 225.
The latest data is based on swab tests from 684,875 people in the UK, regardless of whether they had symptoms, and does not include hospitals and care homes.
It comes after a government scientific adviser said society will need to learn to live with a “substantial” number of Covid-19 deaths.
Professor Andrew Hayward, who sits on Sage, said the number of deaths will continue to drop as vaccination kicks in, and death rates could begin to look more like those for flu.
Other experts, including Professor Paul Hunter, from the University of East Anglia, have said the UK can expect a wave of deaths next winter, mostly among the unvaccinated and those for whom vaccines do not provide total protection.
Prof Hayward told Times Radio: “I think given the societal trade-offs, we are going to have to live with a degree of mortality that will be substantial.
“I think it will get less over time as more people get vaccinated, and as more people get immune, and I do believe that we’ve been through the worst of this.”
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a new “super deduction” for companies investing after the Covid pandemic.
Announcing his budget in the Commons, Sunak said when firms invest, his new policy would see them reduce their tax bill by 130% of the cost.
Sunak also revealed that the government will separately hike corporation tax on the profits of big business from 19% to 25% in April 2023, something which will make him unpopular with some low-tax Tory backbenchers.
But insisting that the UK will have a “pro-business tax regime” after Covid, he told MPs the new super deduction will unlock investment and specifically reward firms with bold expansion plans in the wake of the pandemic.
Though little detail is yet clear about the new policy, Sunak said in the Commons: “While many businesses are struggling, others have been able to build up significant cash reserves. We need to unlock that investment, we need an investment-led recovery.
Press AssociationChancellor Rishi Sunak will unveil his budget on Wednesday
“So today I can announce the ‘super deduction’. For the next two years, when companies invest they can reduce their tax bill, not just by a proportion of the cost of that investment, as they do now, or even by 100% of the cost, the so-called full expensing some have called for – with the super deduction they can now reduce their tax bill by 130% of the cost.”
It is forecast to boost business investment by 10%, or around £20 billion extra per year, Sunak said.
Sunak said the corporation tax rise will come in from April 2023 and only apply to 10% of companies.
Smaller businesses with profits of £50,000 or less will be protected from the hike and will continue paying corporation tax at the current level of 19%, he said.
Sunak said it meant 1.4m business – around 70% of companies – “will be completely unaffected”.
The rise puts the UK above the EU average of 21.7% but remains below the US corporation tax level of 27%, though president Joe Biden has said he is looking to increase.
France’s rate is 26.5%, Germany has a rate at 30%, Canada at 26.5%, Japan at 30.62% and Italy at 24%, according to data from KPMG.
The chancellor also said a new UK Infrastructure Bank will be located in Leeds.
He told MPs: “The bank will invest across the UK in public and private projects to finance the green industrial revolution.”.
