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Friday 27 March 2020 08:49
London’s NHS is scrambling to avert coronavirus “armageddon” as a surge of cases in the capital is recorded, with doctors hoping the new ExCeL Centre field hospital can bear the brunt of the increase. Last night the UK death toll hit 578, seeing its biggest daily increase of 115.
In the US, the number of cases has now passed China’s, for the highest total anywhere in the world. Early on Friday morning Donald Trump insisted he had “much respect” for China’s response to Covid-19, tweeting: “China has been through much & has developed a strong understanding of the Virus. We are working closely together.”
And food suppliers have warned that fresh fruit and vegetables could become scarce in Europe due to disruption in the supply chain.
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BTS will postpone a North America tour that had been scheduled to begin in April.
The seven-member K-pop band’s managers, Big Hit Entertainment, said new dates had not been set but all reserved tickets remained valid.
“We are closely monitoring and following the guidance of all local governments regarding public events to ensure we are providing a safe environment for everyone involved as we continue to update our tour plans,” Big Hit said in a statement on the fan community app, Weverse.
The managing director of Iceland has said that “healthy people” should be shopping in stores to free up delivery slots for the elderly and vulnerable.
Richard Walker told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’d actually urge the opposite of the prime minister, in that if you are healthy, not in a vulnerable category and adhere to social distancing guidelines, please do shop in store, but make sure you shop responsibly.”
He added: “That will enhance priority online for those who need it most.”
Alok Sharma repeated the government’s mantra on BBC radio. He said: “Stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.”
Here’s our story from yesterday on the help for self-employed people that Alok Sharma has just been defending.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a multibillion package of support for up to 3.8 million self-employed people suffering a financial hit from coronavirus – but told them they will have to wait until June to get it, writes Andrew Woodcock and Lizzy Buchan.
The announcement of a taxable grant worth 80 per cent of average profits, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month, was greeted with relief by business organisations, who said builders and other workers had until now been forced to ignore advice to stay at home if possible in order to put food on the table.
Yesterday Downing Street said the the UK didn’t take part in the EU ventilator purchase scheme because of Brexit – but the government has since changed its tune (as previously noted in today’s blog).
Alok Sharma maintains that it was all down to a communication error, despite the PM’s spokesperson being quite unequivocal yesterday that “we are doing our own work on ventilators”.
Mr Sharma told Today: “As I understand, there was an issue in terms of communication, so the tendering process on those schemes had already started.
“What we’ve said is that there are future schemes we will absolutely look to see whether we should be joining them.”
Firefighters will be able to deliver food and medicines, drive ambulances, and retrieve bodies during the coronavirus outbreak as part of an agreement between the Fire Brigades Union, the National Fire Chiefs Council and Fire and Rescue Service National Employers.
Firefighters will continue responding to emergencies such as fires and collisions, but can now provide additional services to help the UK tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
Alok Sharma, the business secretary, has responded to self-employed workers’ fears about making it as far as June before state help kicks in – particularly on utility bills.
“[Banks] have to be part of the solution, and they are indeed stepping up,” he told
Today. “On Monday we launched the business interruption loan scheme, we’ve got over 40 providers, others coming online to make sure that support is provided.
“I completely understand that people will be very worried about being able to pay their bills, about maintaining their livelihoods, but what the chancellor set out yesterday is completely unprecedented.
“We’re effectively going to be building a new system to make sure we get support to people and we’ve said that we want to make sure this happens by the beginning of June, but if we can do it earlier we will.
“In terms of support that is already available … people can have a mortgage holiday of three months, for those who are under self assessment, if they were going to be having to make payments under HMRC rules at the end of July that can be deferred until 2021.
“Some of the self-employed may also be registered for VAT – we’ve made sure there is a deferral on that. And we’ve put more money into the welfare system.”
It begins.
The coronavirus pandemic continues to cause chaos across the UK and around the world Here’s your morning briefing of everything you may have missed overnight about the fight against Covid-19, writes Samuel Osborne.
Sadiq Khan has a message for Londoners.
Via m’colleague Ashley Cowburn:
Social media abhors a vacuum. When the government fails to publish detailed data on the coronavirus outbreak, the consequences are predictable.
What data does exist is misinterpreted and misused; conspiracy theories multiply; “covidiots” make up their own science.
It is natural that the public is worried. Scenes from Italy are distressing; as are the media reports, however accurate, of the threat to all ages.
Yet the public can only put things into perspective if the government opens up the flow of information about the virus.
Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley has apologised for “ill-judged and poorly timed” emails to government and for demanding his employees still go to work in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
In an open letter, the majority owner of Frasers Group also said he had offered the company’s “entire fleet of lorries” to the NHS to help deliver medical supplies and equipment.
The controversial businessman faced strong criticism from MPs after he tried to claim Sports Direct was an essential operator for keeping the nation fit, before performing a U-turn to close his stores.
Mr Ashley claimed it had all been a misunderstanding. He wrote: “I am deeply apologetic about the misunderstandings of the last few days. We will learn from this and will try not to make the same mistakes in the future.”
Doctors and nurses on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic in New York City have revealed “unthinkable” working conditions to The Independent while the state grapples with a severe shortage of life-saving medical supplies, writes Chris Riotta.
As the city finds itself at the core of an unfolding nationwide crisis, with more confirmed Covid-19 cases than anywhere else in the country, hospital staff and medical volunteers in New York are resorting to sewing their own makeshift face masks while fearing they will soon contract the novel virus due to a lack of proper protocol.
London Ambulance Service has followed the Met in asking former employees to return.
The service tweeted: “We are asking former members of our team to consider returning, if they can, to support us in helping Londoners in need. “We’re particularly keen to hear from former 111 and 999 control room team staff.”
France is still trying to repatriate 30,000 of its citizens from overseas due to the coronavirus, its foreign minister has said.
Over the last week France has brought home some 100,000 people, Jean-Yves Le Drian told Europe 1 radio.
Donald Trump’s personal feuds with state governors over his response to coronavirus continue.
Cases of coronavirus in South Africa passed 1,000 on Friday, the health ministry said, while also reporting its first two deaths on the first day of a three-week, nationwide lockdown.
Both deaths occurred in the southernmost province of Western Cape, one in a public hospital and the other in a private hospital.
The UK’s biggest police force has appealed for retired officers to sign back up during the coronavirus crisis.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Friday morning: “The commissioner, Cressida Dick, is writing to all former Met officers who retired within the last five years, to ask them to re-join the Met either in a paid or voluntary capacity.
“We are pleased that the Home Office have confirmed today that they intend to make changes to the tax and pension arrangements, so that more officers are likely to respond to this call. We look forward to receiving full details and confirmation that the added costs will be met by government, so that we can communicate clearly to those affected.
“The return and retention of officers with valuable skills and experience will help to increase the Met’s resilience and allow us to be even more flexible in providing the best service we can to London during this unprecedented time, as the country – and the capital – responds to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
“At this time the Met is asking all officers who retired from the Met as police constables or sergeants within the last five years to re-join at those ranks, either on a full or part-time basis. Senior officers may also be able to re-join where they bring specific skills and experience.”
Supplies of fresh fruit and vegetables in Europe could dwindle, suppliers say, as the coronavirus pandemic hampers the global movement of produce and of people needed to gather crops, writes Jane Dalton.
Governments are looking at ways to ease any shortage, including “green lanes” to allow fresh produce to move quickly across EU borders.
A “shadow army” of harvesters could be recruited and travel rules for migrant workers loosened.
Here’s the second.
Downing Street has blamed an administrative error for the UK’s failure to sign up to an emergency EU scheme to help procure vital medical equipment to fight coronavirus, writes Jon Stone.
After an outcry about the refusal to take part in the programme, a government spokesperson claimed that “initial communication problems” meant the UK was confused about whether it could take part.
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