Covid: Half a million self employed still excluded from government’s SEISS scheme February 17, 2021 Half a million self-employed still excluded from government help despite having no work
Vaccine passports mean no nightclubs until autumn, warn industry figures February 17, 2021 Vaccine passports will likely shut young people away from venues such as nightclubs, theatres and cinemas until the autumn, hospitality chiefs have warned. The Prime Minister announced on Monday that the government will prioritise rapid Covid tests to reopen “those bits [of the economy] that have been the toughest nuts to crack”. He said a [...]
CVC cashes in on British vaccine success as it buys stakes in firms behind immunisation programme February 17, 2021 CVC Capital Partners has bought stakes in two British-based companies that provide the digital architecture for the UK’s vaccine rollout. The Luxembourg-based private equity group has bought a majority stake in System C and a minority stake in its partner company Graphnet Health. The two companies run the National Immunisation Management System — the IT [...]
France suffer Six Nations title setback as third member of coaching staff tests positive for Covid-19 February 17, 2021 Six Nations favourites France’s Covid-19 crisis has deepened after a third member of the coaching staff tested positive. Assistant coach William Servat’s diagnosis followed that of head coach Fabien Galthie and another unnamed non-playing staff member on Tuesday. All three have been ordered to self-isolate for seven days, while Les Bleus’ playing squad have been [...]
Live events could drive UK’s mass Covid testing push, says UK Music boss February 17, 2021 The live events sector could be a key driver of the government’s plans to launch a mass Covid testing blitz in England as lockdown is lifted, the chief executive of UK Music has said. Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, a former aide to health secretary Matt Hancock, said widespread testing using lateral flow tests “has huge potential to [...]
Mass Covid testing blitz to be launched as lockdown is lifted February 17, 2021 The government is reportedly planning to launch a mass Covid testing blitz in England as lockdown is lifted. NHS Test and Trace is preparing to send out more than 400,000 rapid lateral flow tests by post each day in a bid to get the country back to normal. The campaign – provisionally titled “Are you [...]
New Nigerian Covid mutation that may be vaccine-resistant infects 38 people in UK February 17, 2021 Public Health England revealed yesterday that it has discovered 38 British cases of a new Covid strain first found in Nigeria. Experts warn the mutation may be resistant to vaccines. The health body has marked the mutation, which has been labelled as B1.5.25, as ‘a variant under investigation’, while Simon Clarke, a professor of cellular [...]
Surge testing for Covid mutations extended to London commuter areas February 16, 2021 A coronavirus testing blitz will be carried out in Surrey, Southampton and Norfolk following confirmed cases of the South Africa Covid variant in the commuter regions. Surge testing and genomic sequencing will be carried out in the GU22 postcode in Woking, SO15 in central Southampton and IP22 in Diss to tackle the “variant of concern”. [...]
Breaking: Entire UK population will ‘probably’ receive two Covid vaccine doses by August February 16, 2021 Every adult in the UK will “probably” receive both doses of a coronavirus vaccine by August, according to the head of the UK’s vaccine taskforce. Clive Dix, who runs C4X — the body that buys vaccines on behalf of the UK government — said the entire UK adult population would likely be fully vaccinated within [...]
Coronavirus: London suffers ‘heaviest job losses in UK’ during pandemic February 16, 2021 London suffered the largest number of job losses of any UK region during the pandemic last year, as the capital continues to feel the weight of a “geographically unequal crisis”, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The number of London employees on payrolls dropped 5.5 per cent between February and December last year, [...]