Bosses beg for help as new Tier 4 restrictions shutter 50,000 businesses December 24, 2020 Some 50,000 more businesses have shut their doors as a result of the latest Tier 4 coronavirus restrictions, causing panic among affected industries. Yesterday afternoon health secretary Matt Hancock announced Tier 4 restrictions would be extended to cover almost all of the South of England from Boxing Day. Tier 4 restrictions are largely the same [...]
The Government scientists’ credibility is shot to pieces December 24, 2020 Imagine. No, not the silly childish song by John Lennon. Imagine there were no vaccines available. What would Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health, do? He might ask people to pay more attention to the scientific advice. But the plain fact is that the credibility of Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, and [...]
BREAKING: Another new mutation of Covid-19 spreading in UK from South Africa December 23, 2020 A new mutation of Covid-19 is spreading in the United Kingdom, having arrived from South Africa. The variant, which is considered to be even faster to spread than the mutation announced last week, is highly contagious. Anybody who has been to South Africa in the last two weeks, and any close contacts of anybody who [...]
Almost all of southern England plunged into Tier 4 on Boxing Day December 23, 2020 The vast majority of the South of England will be plunged into Tier 4 on Boxing Day, leaving half of England facing the strictest coronavirus restrictions. On Sunday morning London and southeast England were put into new ‘Tier 4’ restrictions. The restrictions are akin to that of lockdown, with all non-essential businesses closed and residents [...]
Covid-19: Hancock to speak at 3pm, as R Rate rises to between 1.1 and 1.3 December 23, 2020 The UK's Covid R rate has risen to between 1.1 and 1.3, according to government data.
Covid-19: It’s 1-1 at half-time in the biggest match of our lives December 23, 2020 A monumental effort has produced the first vaccines for Covid-19 in a timescale that at the start of the year looked very difficult. The fact we are now seeing people like Margaret Keenan, the first to receive the vaccine in the UK, given an injection shows the progress made in vaccines over the past 10 [...]
The Frankfurt Airlift: Lufthansa exploring additional fresh food flights to UK December 23, 2020 Lufthansa have offered special cargo flights for fresh fruit and vegetables into the UK as firms try to beat the chaos at Dover. Up to 3,000 lorries remain stuck at the Kent port despite an agreement being struck to allow hauliers with negative Covid-19 tests to cross the channel. Supply chains across the continent have [...]
Covid-19: R Rate creeps up to 1.4 in London according to new study December 23, 2020 A new study suggests the so-called R Rate for Covid-19 in the capital has crept up to 1.4. An R Rate more than 1 means the number of those with the virus is growing. The study, compiled by ZOE and the Covid Symptom Study app, suggests that the worst affected boroughs in London are Havering [...]
Brains pubs saved as Marston’s sign deal to operate Welsh outlets December 23, 2020 Pub group Marston’s will operate 156 Brains pubs in Wales, saving the Cardiff-based brand amid Covid-19 difficulties. A statement this morning from Brains’ chairman John Rhys said the decision had not been taken “lightly” but that the deal would secure 1300 jobs. Read more: November redundancies fall to lowest level since lockdown 1 The 141 [...]
Furlough extensions keeps redundancy rise to lowest since March December 23, 2020 The extension of the furlough scheme until the end of April 2021 appears to have slowed the rate of redundancies across the UK. New figures from the Insolvency Service show 36,700 redundancies were proposed in November, the lowest monthly figure since lockdown restrictions were introduced in March. The November total is around a fifth of [...]