Search for mystery Brazil Covid variant narrows to 379 households March 2, 2021 The hunt for a mystery person infected with a new, more transmissible Brazil variant of coronavirus has narrowed to 379 households, the health secretary has announced. In total six cases of the new strain, also known as the P1 variant or Manaus variant, have been identified across England and Scotland. One case has still yet [...]
Millions of people in England have almost no Covid cases in their area March 2, 2021 Millions of people in England are living in regions where coronavirus cases have plummeted close to zero, according to the latest official data. Public Health England (PHE) said 971 out of 6,791 “Middle-Layer Super Output Areas” (MSOAs) in England have too few Covid cases to be published on the national database. PHE does not publish [...]
UK rolls out ‘vaccination status’ requirement for some international arrivals as ministers mull vaccine passports March 2, 2021 The government has updated its requirements for all international arrivals to England participating in the Test and Release scheme to provide their vaccination status, as ministers edge closer to introducing vaccine passports for foreign travel. The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) introduced the Test to Release scheme in December as a way of [...]
See EU later: Austria forges vaccine alliance with Denmark and Israel March 2, 2021 Austria broke ranks with the European Union on Tuesday, vowing to work together with Israel and Denmark to produce vaccines against Covid mutations. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Austria and Denmark would team up with Israel to create second-generation jabs and research treatment options. The announcement is a rebuke to the EU’s joint vaccine procurement programme [...]
Overnight: Asia pauses for thought while US markets got their mojo back March 2, 2021 Asian markets appear to be taking a breather this morning, having led the global equity recovery yesterday. US markets found their mojo again overnight, with a day of calm on bond markets greenlighting equities to leap higher on the vaccine recovery optimism that characterised the Asian session earlier in the day. Fed Governor Barkin, speaking [...]
Zoom shares surge as video app beats quarterly revenue estimates March 1, 2021 Zoom shares jumped more almost 10 per cent this evening after the video conferencing platform said it expects quarterly revenue to smash analysts’ estimates. The company forecast revenue for the latest quarter to come in between $900m (£646.3m) and $905m, compared with estimates of $829.2m, according to IBES Refinitiv data. The announcement pushed shares in [...]
Matt Hancock takes over as head of government’s vaccine taskforce March 1, 2021 Matt Hancock will take over top-level responsibility of the government’s vaccine taskforce, the health department has announced, as ministers prepare to ramp up the nation’s largest ever immunisation programme. The health secretary will take charge of cabinet-level ministerial responsibility for the taskforce from business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng. The move is to allow “for end-to-end oversight [...]
Demand for workspace rapid Covid tests jumps as offices prepare to reopen March 1, 2021 Diagnostics company Excalibur Healthcare, which provide fast-acting lateral flow tests, said demand had increased for its test and it had seen a surge in calls from companies wanting to implement workplace testing regimes.
Single Covid vaccine is 80 per cent effective in preventing hospitalisations among over-80s March 1, 2021 A single injection of either the Astrazeneca/Oxford jab or the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine is more than 80 per cent effective in preventing hospitalisation among over-80s, the health secretary has announced. Speaking at this evening’s Downing Street press conference, Matt Hancock hailed the new data from Public Health England as “extremely good news,” adding that it may [...]
Brits head back to the high street as roadmap out of lockdown boosts shopper numbers March 1, 2021 The number of shoppers on the high street jumped last week, as Brits learned the details of the Prime Minister's roadmap out of lockdown.