FTSE 100 Live: Pound dips and stocks set to slip as Andy Burnham victory triggers political uncertainty
Restart grants: Councils urged to release money ‘at pace’ as £5bn fund launches April 1, 2021 Councils have been urged to release new grant funding to business owners “as soon as possible” to help boost the economy. From today eligible businesses will be able to receive up to £18,000 as part of the government’s £5bn restart grants scheme. In a letter, local authorities have been told by government ministers to “press [...]
Covid-19: France shuts schools as it enters third national lockdown March 31, 2021 France will shut schools for at least three weeks and extend tough lockdown measures to the entire country in a bid to combat a third wave of coronavirus sweeping across Europe. President Emmanuel Macron said he was widening restrictions that were already in place in Paris, swathes of the north and parts of the south [...]
Pfizer vaccine ‘100 per cent effective’ in children as young as 12 March 31, 2021 The Pfizer/Biontech Covid vaccine is safe and 100 per cent effective in children as young as 12, the company has announced. The two pharmaceutical giants carried out trials of the vaccine on 2,260 children aged between 12 and 15 in the US. Preliminary data showed there were no cases of coronavirus among fully vaccinated adolescents [...]
Malta to welcome vaccinated Brits from June March 31, 2021 Malta has become the latest country to announce that it will welcome the return of British holidaymakers this summer. The Mediterranean island, which usually attracts around 500,000 tourists from the UK each year, said British travellers who have had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine will be allowed to enter from 1 June. Passengers will [...]
Kent Covid variant ‘no more deadly’ than original coronavirus strain March 31, 2021 The Kent Covid variant, which is now the UK’s dominant version of coronavirus, is no more deadly than the original strain, research by Public Health England (PHE) has found. A PHE study matched 2,800 cases of the B117 variant first identified in Kent against the original Covid strain and found there was no significant difference in [...]
Meeting up: Fresh air is a vital weapon in our fight against the virus March 31, 2021 | Sponsored The successful rollout of the vaccine programme, and the sacrifices we’ve all made as part of lockdown, means that the UK has begun to take the first steps back to normal. We have now vaccinated more than half the population and are progressing on the roadmap out of lockdown. But what’s crucial now is that [...]
France and Germany swoop to buy Russia’s Sputnik vaccine March 31, 2021 France and Germany held discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin last night to supply doses of the country’s Sputnik Covid vaccine as suspicions over the Astrazeneca jab continue to proliferate across the continent. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a video call with the Russian premier to discuss “co-operation” over vaccine [...]
Thousands flock to parks, pools and beaches as UK basks in spring sunshine March 30, 2021 Thousands of people flocked to parks, pools and beaches in England today as the first easing of lockdown measures combined with unseasonably scorching temperatures. Under new rules that came into force yesterday, six people are allowed to meet outdoors or in a private garden, while the government has scrapped its ‘stay at home’ message. The [...]
Covid-19 latest updates: WHO rules Wuhan lab leak ‘unlikely’; Germany suspends Astrazeneca vaccine in some women; Half of England has antibodies March 30, 2021 WHO Covid-19 origin report rules Wuhan lab leak ‘unlikely’ A highly-anticipated World Health Organization (WHO) report into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic has concluded that a leak from a laboratory is “extremely unlikely”. The virus was most likely to have spread from bats via an “intermediate animal host” to humans, prior to an “explosive [...]
One in two people in England estimated to have Covid antibodies March 30, 2021 More than half of people in England are estimated to have Covid antibodies either from past infection or vaccination, according to the latest official figures. The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) latest infection survey found that 54.7 per cent of England’s population were thought to have some level of immunity against coronavirus in the week [...]