Supermarket sales improve tentatively after restaurant reopening hit July 27, 2021 UK supermarket sales improved slightly in the last four weeks as Brits stocked up on beers for the Euros and picnic items to enjoy in the sun, according to new data released today. Total till sales over the four weeks ending 17th July were down 1.3 per cent on the same period last year, new [...]
More industries exempt from isolation and testing sites expanded in effort to ease pingdemic July 26, 2021 More workers are now able to avoid Covid self-isolation after the government expanded a pilot workplace testing scheme in a bid to halt the “pingdemic” causing staff shortages across England. Prison staff, some veterinary staff, telecoms organisations, defence staff such as soldiers, HMRC staff and refuse collectors will now be eligible for exemption. It comes [...]
Covid-19 cases fall for fifth day in a row raising hopes that ‘Freedom Day’ catastrophe has been averted July 26, 2021 Hopes are increasing that Britain may have passed the peak of its third wave of the pandemic as cases fell for the fifth day in a row yesterday. The trend is borne out of the seven-day average, which has seen a significant fall. Last week cases were at 46,558, they currently fall at 29,173, the [...]
Train passengers braced for pingdemic chaos amid restaurant closure threat July 24, 2021 British rail passengers are braced for a summer of travel chaos after a string of operators prepare for mass cancellations due to the so-called pingdemic. At least seven train networks have been granted government approval to impose emergency timetables as a result of a severe shortage of drivers and crew. The measures could reportedly last [...]
Health secretary Sajid Javid makes ‘full recovery’ from Covid July 24, 2021 Sajid Javid today said he had made a “full recovery” after testing positive for coronavirus a week ago. In a tweet the health secretary said he had recovered from the virus and encouraged Brits to get their jabs. “Symptoms were very mild, thanks to amazing vaccines,” he wrote. “Please — if you haven’t yet — [...]
Khan: ‘Pingdemic’ places business recovery ‘in jeopardy’ July 24, 2021 Sadiq Khan has today written to Boris Johnson to urge him allow fully vaccinated people to return to work immediately after a negative Covid-19 test if they are ‘pinged’ by the NHS’ app. From 16 August, double jabbed people will no longer have to isolate if they have been in close contact with someone who [...]
Covid: Falling cases could be ‘false peak’, scientist warns July 24, 2021 A decline in the number of Covid-19 cases across the UK could be a “false peak” and figures over the next fortnight will be crucial in showing the course of the pandemic, a top scientist has said. Data released yesterday showed coronavirus cases had fallen for the third consecutive day, with 36,389 new infections marking [...]
Covid: More workers to avoid self-isolation as workplace testing expanded July 24, 2021 More workers will be able to avoid self-isolation if they come into contact with a Covid case after the government expanded workplace testing in England. Police, firefighters, border staff and transport workers were already exempt from self-isolation, but only if employers specified their names and they were double-jabbed against Covid. Now a further 200 testing [...]
Doctors call for strike action over ‘derisory’ pay offer as Covid hospitalisations rise July 22, 2021 Thousands of doctors have condemned the government’s “shambolic and derisory” 3 per cent pay rise offer to NHS staff in England, threatening industrial action as Covid hospitalisations soar. Lobbying organisation The Doctors’ Assocation (DAUK) said the 3 per cent offered “does not come close to what staff deserve” and was an “insult” from the government [...]
Commuter rail services axed due to staff self-isolating July 22, 2021 Commuter rail operators have today said that they will reduce the number of services they run from next week as a result of staff shortages due to workers being forced to isolate. Govia Thameslink, which runs both the Thameslink and Southern franchises, confirmed that it would run a reduced weekday service from Monday. The firm [...]