Coronavirus news UK – Indian variant cases double as jabs ‘work against’ it and lockdown set to be lifted next week
- Why is Spain NOT on the green list?
- Is USA on the UK green list?
- All the countries that could go on the green list
ENGLAND is still on course to lift the last of the lockdown restrictions despite cases of the Indian variant more than doubling in a week.
Boris Johnson admitted he was anxious at the surge in the number of people struck down by the super-infectious strain.
But the PM is still expected to allow Brits to reclaim its long-awaited freedoms on time.
Pubs and restaurants can finally reopen indoors, while family and friends will be able to hug for the first time in more than a year.
Meanwhile, Covid vaccines appear to work against the Indian variant - after jabbed care home workers in Delhi got infected but none died.
In promising reports from India, 33 people who had been given the AstraZeneca jab caught Covid but didn't become seriously ill or die from the virus.
It is unclear how the Indian variant reacts to vaccines, but this suggests the mutated virus won't cause high numbers of hospitalisation or death in protected people.
Pfizer thinks its vaccine will also work against the variant - but there is no real-world evidence on any large studies for any vaccines yet.
Read our coronavirus live blog below for the latest updates...
30 CASES OF INDIAN VARIANT IN SCOTLAND (CONTINUED…)
Prof Leitch said: “They are in a few places, some of that is travel, most of it has been connected with inward travel and then of course spread within a group from that initial seeding, more troubles in the north of England, so they’ve got more and it’s spreading faster.
“We’re a little bit unsure about the nature of this individual variant, it’s at least as transmissible as the Kent variant, we hope it’s not worse, but we’re having to do lots of science to find out.
“That’s one of the big concerns, we’ve talked about that for months, a variant worse than Kent would set us back.”
UP TO 30 CASES OF INDIAN VARIANT OF CORONAVIRUS IN SCOTLAND
There are currently around 20 to 30 cases of the Indian variant of coronavirus in Scotland, the country’s national clinical director has said.
The coronavirus variant B.1.617.2 first identified in India has been designated as a “variant of concern” by Public Health England (PHE) because it is thought to be at least as transmissible as the variant detected in Kent last year, known as B117, which is now dominant in the UK.
PHE has said there is currently “insufficient evidence” to indicate that any of the variants recently detected in India cause more severe disease or make the vaccines available any less effective.
Professor Jason Leitch, Scotland’s national clinical director, said work is under way to find out more about the strain as he warned a variant worse than Kent “would set us back”.
He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Wednesday that 20 to 30 cases of the variant have been detected in Scotland, and they are in a number of locations.
BUSINESSES CANNOT ‘THRIVE’ WITHOUT FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS – AIRPORT BOSS
Business travel will recover from the coronavirus pandemic as companies relying on virtual meetings cannot “thrive”, according to the boss of London City Airport.
Chief executive Robert Sinclair claimed it is “easy to sound the death knell of business travel in the midst of a crisis”.
But he insisted he is “confident” demand will return.
People travelling for work usually make up around half of London City’s passengers.
The lack of business trips during the pandemic has driven a collapse in passenger numbers, with a year-on-year reduction of 95% in February.
LOCKDOWN EASING WILL SPARK SURGE IN COVID CASES AS SCIENTISTS URGE ROADMAP TO BE DELAYED
THE fast growth of the new Indian variant has sparked concern among scientists who say the lockdown exit roadmap should be delayed.
Ministers say it is inevitable there will be a surge in cases as Brits are given more freedoms, based on all scientific modelling.
But some areas have already showing a huge surge in cases in the past week ahead of the next lockdown easing step, on May 17.
Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire has seen the third highest jump in its infection rate, with cases up from 52.1 per 100,000 to 90.2 per 100,000 in a week.
Lancashire director of public health, Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We are all expecting there will be another surge in the cases, but we also know that we have protected the most vulnerable. So, unless the new variants are going to escape vaccines or are they going to cause more severe disease, that causes problems with the NHS for instance, I think what we will see is the cases going up again, but hopefully that will be it. But there's a real uncertainty in terms of the variants and how severe they are going to be."
KATE GARRAWAY THANKS NURSES (CONTINUED...)
"And with Derek for a lot of his time, he was in a prolonged disorder of consciousness, so effectively a coma, and every day the nurses would go in, of course we couldn't, his family couldn't, and they would go in and I just thought it was miraculous because they would say, 'good morning Derek, how are you this morning?'.
"And if you think about having to exude love out of yourself to someone who is unconscious, not responsive, not able to say thank you, not able to acknowledge it, they did it continuously, relentlessly, and that must have been what was a big part of trying to haul Derek from this frightening place he was in.
"It was a turning point for me watching them talk to Derek, because finding joy right now for everybody, which is why today's so important, is so hard, and I was struggling to hang on to hope, whilst also thinking 'am I just being unrealistic?'.
"But when I watched them pouring love and skill into Derek, every single day, and even though they had no idea whether it was going to work, they had no idea whether they could win the war against Covid and they also are putting their own lives at risk by exposing themselves to Covid, I just thought that's just the definition of hope, it makes me want to cry now."
KATE GARRAWAY PAYS TRIBUTE TO NURSES WHO CARED FOR HUSBAND DEREK
Kate Garraway has paid tribute to the nurses who "poured love and skill" into her husband Derek Draper during his battle with Covid.
The former political adviser, 53, was in hospital for a year after being admitted with coronavirus symptoms and being placed in a coma.
He has now been reunited with Garraway and their children Darcey and Billy at their family home.
Marking International Nurses Day, she told Heart Breakfast: "We all go 'that doctor who saved my life', 'thank you to that incredible surgeon', but as I've seen over the last 14 months, it's actually the care of nurses that - especially when you're dealing with something like Covid where there is no cure, and not enough is yet known about how to treat the symptoms although I'm sure the medical profession will get there - it's their incredible care that has saved Derek's life. It's that simple."
She added: "I did a little bit of work with the Royal College of Nursing a few years back, and before then I was very ignorant, and I saw nurses very much in the role of the nurse from Fireman Sam, you know, so they came along and put plasters on."
BUSINESSES CANNOT ‘THRIVE’ WITHOUT FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS – AIRPORT BOSS
Business travel will recover from the coronavirus pandemic as companies relying on virtual meetings cannot “thrive”, according to the boss of London City Airport.
Chief executive Robert Sinclair claimed it is “easy to sound the death knell of business travel in the midst of a crisis”.
But he insisted he is “confident” demand will return.
People travelling for work usually make up around half of London City’s passengers.
The lack of business trips during the pandemic has driven a collapse in passenger numbers, with a year-on-year reduction of 95% in February.
PHE STATEMENT ON CELEBRATING EID 2021 SAFELY
Professor Yvonne Doyle, Public Health England Medical Director said: “We all have a part to play in keeping our families and communities safe and it’s important that we continue to follow the guidance in place to keep driving down infections and new variants.
"This week is a special occasion for many families as they come together to celebrate Eid, but we are asking communities to take care.
"If you plan to meet with family and friends, do it outdoors, and in a group of no more than 6 people or 2 households. It will save lives.”
She added: “As we continue to monitor new variants, remember that the best way to protect against the virus is to continue following the public health advice in your area.
";Take a test, get your vaccine when offered, and practice hands, face, space and fresh air.”
STAYCATION RESORTS WILL BE UNABLE TO KEEP UP WITH DEMAND, SAYS AIRLINE BOSS
The boss of one of Europe's biggest airline and holiday companies has said that UK travel destinations can only meet a "small fraction" of the demand for bookings this summer.
Tui chief executive Friedrich Joussen said that demand for staycations would be unlikely to be able to replace the foreign travel that his company offers.
"Even if you took all national destinations together, it would meet a small fraction of the demand," he said on a call with reporters on Wednesday.
He added: "When you think about how many Brits travel abroad. If just a fraction would do the vacation at home, everything would be occupied. And the interesting thing is that in summer the local destinations are full anyway.
"If you don't open the borders there will be no additional holidays at home because things will be booked."
30 CASES OF INDIAN VARIANT IN SCOTLAND (CONTINUED...)
Prof Leitch said: "They are in a few places, some of that is travel, most of it has been connected with inward travel and then of course spread within a group from that initial seeding, more troubles in the north of England, so they've got more and it's spreading faster.
"We're a little bit unsure about the nature of this individual variant, it's at least as transmissible as the Kent variant, we hope it's not worse, but we're having to do lots of science to find out.
"That's one of the big concerns, we've talked about that for months, a variant worse than Kent would set us back."
UP TO 30 CASES OF INDIAN VARIANT OF CORONAVIRUS IN SCOTLAND
There are currently around 20 to 30 cases of the Indian variant of coronavirus in Scotland, the country's national clinical director has said.
The coronavirus variant B.1.617.2 first identified in India has been designated as a "variant of concern" by Public Health England (PHE) because it is thought to be at least as transmissible as the variant detected in Kent last year, known as B117, which is now dominant in the UK.
PHE has said there is currently "insufficient evidence" to indicate that any of the variants recently detected in India cause more severe disease or make the vaccines available any less effective.
Professor Jason Leitch, Scotland's national clinical director, said work is under way to find out more about the strain as he warned a variant worse than Kent "would set us back".
He told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme on Wednesday that 20 to 30 cases of the variant have been detected in Scotland, and they are in a number of locations.
KID JABS
Pfizer has asked the UK regulator to approve its Covid vaccine for children aged 12 to 15, it’s reported.
The pharma giant has applied to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for permission to give the jab to young teens,
If the MHRA fast-tracks the application it could be green-lighted before the end of July.
It comes after a trial of the Pfizer/ BioNTech Covid vaccine showed 100 per cent efficacy in 12-15-year-olds. Britain secured another 60 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine last month after an initial order of 40 million was snapped up last year.
A spokesman for Pfizer told The Telegraph: “We can confirm that the companies have submitted a request to the MHRA to expand the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine in the UK to adolescents.”
BUSINESSES CANNOT 'THRIVE' WITHOUT FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS - AIRPORT BOSS
Business travel will recover from the coronavirus pandemic as companies relying on virtual meetings cannot "thrive", according to the boss of London City Airport.
Chief executive Robert Sinclair claimed it is "easy to sound the death knell of business travel in the midst of a crisis".
But he insisted he is "confident" demand will return.
People travelling for work usually make up around half of London City's passengers.
The lack of business trips during the pandemic has driven a collapse in passenger numbers, with a year-on-year reduction of 95% in February.
TUI CUSTOMERS DELAY SUMMER HOLIDAY BOOKINGS
Holiday giant Tui said customers have started to defer their travel plans as messaging from governments remains uncertain.
The German company told shareholders on Wednesday that it has 2.6 million bookings for this summer, a small reduction since an earlier update but 69% down from pre-pandemic levels in the summer of 2019.
The drop reflects “customers choosing to defer their booking to future seasons due to the lack of clarity provided by governments on lifting of travel restrictions”, said London-listed Tui.
The company saw a collapse in the amount of money coming through its doors in the last six months as the pandemic reduced international travel to a trickle.
Revenue reached just 716 million euros (£615 million) in the six months to the end of March, down 89% from 6.6 billion euros (£5.7 billion) a year earlier.
MATT HANCOCK: EMERGENCE OF COVID VARIANTS REPRESENT ‘BIGGEST RISK’ TO LOCKDOWN IN ENGLAND
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said the emergence of new coronavirus variants represent the “biggest risk” to lockdown easing in England.
Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast: “There is no doubt that a new variant is the biggest risk. We have this variant that was first seen in India – the so-called Indian variant – we have seen that grow.
“We are putting a lot of resources into tackling it to make sure everybody who gets that particular variant gets extra support and intervention to make sure that it isn’t passed on.
“However, there is also, thankfully, no evidence that the vaccine doesn’t work against it.”
BORIS UNSHACKLES BRITAIN FROM GRIPS OF COVID
Boris Johnson today vowed to unshackle Brexit Britain from the grips of Covid with a bonfire of Brussels red tape – and billions in extra funding to level up the country.
Vowing things can never be the same again after the pandemic, the PM revealed his fresh policy blitzkrieg today as Her Majesty the Queen gave her historic speech to open Parliament.
This morning he vowed his plans will “harness the ingenuity and resolve” of Britain’s barnstorming vaccine roll-out to heal other ills such the housing crisis, regional inequality and educational unfairness.
Boris inisisted: “As the UK gets back on its feet, we will turbo charge our economic recover in every part of the country, increasing and spreading opportunity.
And he claims “we will make the most of our new found Brexit freedoms” to do so, vowing: “our mission must be to build back better than before”.
More on this, here.
ENVIRONMENT SECRETARY: NO FURTHER ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY ON PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO GOVERNMENT'S HANDLING OF COVID
Environment Secretary George Eustice said he did not expect any further announcement on a public inquiry into the Government's handling of the pandemic today.
He told Sky News: "There will be a time and a place for an inquiry of that sort, I'm not aware that anything is being announced on it today. For now, we're not out of this yet, we've still got a huge amount to do.
"For now we've still got to focus on getting ourselves out of this situation, we've made some great progress with the vaccine programme but we've got to keep our focus on that."
GREECE COMMITS TO FULLY VACCINATING ALL RESIDENTS ON NEARLY 100 OF ITS ISLAND
Greece has committed to fully vaccinating all residents on nearly 100 of its islands by the end of June in a bid to attract Brit tourists.
This is a change to its national jab programme which prioritises people based on their age and medical vulnerability to Covid.
Among the Greek islands which will be vaccinated by the end of June are Brit favourites Rhodes, Corfu, Zante, Kefalonia, Santorini and Mykonos.
PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis said: “This initiative aims to support local communities, as well as their economies. My message is clear. We are open again.
“I am delighted that later this week Greece will begin to reopen its tourism industry. We are taking every precaution to ensure the safety and security of our visitors and our residents.”
KID JABS
Pfizer has asked the UK regulator to approve its Covid vaccine for children aged 12 to 15, it’s reported.
The pharma giant has applied to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for permission to give the jab to young teens,
If the MHRA fast-tracks the application it could be green-lighted before the end of July.
It comes after a trial of the Pfizer/ BioNTech Covid vaccine showed 100 per cent efficacy in 12-15-year-olds.
Britain secured another 60 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine last month after an initial order of 40 million was snapped up last year.
A spokesman for Pfizer told The Telegraph: “We can confirm that the companies have submitted a request to the MHRA to expand the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine in the UK to adolescents.”
SPAIN FOREIGN MINISTER TELLS BRITS IT'S 'LOOKING GOOD' FOR SUMMER HOLIDAYS
Spain's foreign minister told BBC Breakfast this morning that it's "looking good" for British tourists this summer
"We are having a good discussion with UK authorities... maybe if the UK looks with a regional lens, they will discover there are many safe places in Spain already today to travel to."
MATT HANCOCK: EMERGENCE OF COVID VARIANTS REPRESENT ‘BIGGEST RISK’ TO LOCKDOWN IN ENGLAND
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said the emergence of new coronavirus variants represent the “biggest risk” to lockdown easing in England.
Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast: “There is no doubt that a new variant is the biggest risk. We have this variant that was first seen in India – the so-called Indian variant – we have seen that grow.
“We are putting a lot of resources into tackling it to make sure everybody who gets that particular variant gets extra support and intervention to make sure that it isn’t passed on.
“However, there is also, thankfully, no evidence that the vaccine doesn’t work against it.”
BORIS UNSHACKLES BRITAIN FROM GRIPS OF COVID
Boris Johnson today vowed to unshackle Brexit Britain from the grips of Covid with a bonfire of Brussels red tape – and billions in extra funding to level up the country.
Vowing things can never be the same again after the pandemic, the PM revealed his fresh policy blitzkrieg today as Her Majesty the Queen gave her historic speech to open Parliament.
This morning he vowed his plans will “harness the ingenuity and resolve” of Britain’s barnstorming vaccine roll-out to heal other ills such the housing crisis, regional inequality and educational unfairness.
Boris inisisted: “As the UK gets back on its feet, we will turbo charge our economic recover in every part of the country, increasing and spreading opportunity.
And he claims “we will make the most of our new found Brexit freedoms” to do so, vowing: “our mission must be to build back better than before”.
More on this, here.
BORIS JOHNSON COMMITS TO SETTING UP PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO GOVERNMENT HANDLING OF COVID PANDEMIC
Boris Johnson has committed to set up a public inquiry into the Government’s handling of coronavirus during the current session of Parliament.
“I can certainly say that we will do that within this session,” the Prime Minister said.
“I have made that clear before… I do believe it’s essential we have a full, proper public inquiry into the Covid pandemic.”
There is no fixed length for a parliamentary session, although they typically last for around a year.
COSTA DEL HOL
Brits holidaying in Spain will not have to present a negative Covid test from May 20 if the UK maintains its low infection rate.
Spanish tourism minister Reyes Maroto confirmed the move despite the country being on Downing Street's “amber list” meaning travellers have to quarantine for 10 days when returning to Britain.
It is hoped the UK will move Spain to the restrictions-free “green list” next month.
Speaking about the move to scrap tests for Brits, Ms Maroto said: “It will allow the opening of the British market so they can come to Spain.
“They (Britons) could come from May 20 onwards without a PCR if the incidence rates are below the range currently under review, which is around 50 cases per 100,000 people.”
ON THE RHODES AGAIN
Greece has committed to fully vaccinating all residents on nearly 100 of its islands by the end of June in a bid to attract Brit tourists.
This is a change to its national jab programme which prioritises people based on their age and medical vulnerability to Covid.
Among the Greek islands which will be vaccinated by the end of June are Brit favourites Rhodes, Corfu, Zante, Kefalonia, Santorini and Mykonos.
PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis said: “This initiative aims to support local communities, as well as their economies. My message is clear. We are open again.
“I am delighted that later this week Greece will begin to reopen its tourism industry.
“We are taking every precaution to ensure the safety and security of our visitors and our residents.”