Coronavirus: UK R rate falls to between 0.8 and 1 January 22, 2021 The UK’s R rate has dropped sharply to a best estimate of between 0.8 and 1, according to latest official data, suggesting lockdown restrictions across the four nations are beginning to make their mark. The figure marks a significant fall from last week’s rate of reproduction of the virus, which was estimated to be somewhere [...]
Health secretary Matt Hancock self-isolating after NHS app alert January 19, 2021 Matt Hancock is self-isolating after receiving an alert from the NHS coronavirus contact tracing app. The health secretary today said he had been “pinged” by the app and would not be leaving his house until Sunday. “This self-isolating is perhaps the most important part of all the social distancing,” he said in a video posted [...]
Patient admitted to hospital ‘every 30 seconds’ as Covid hospitalisations hit record January 18, 2021 “Someone is admitted to hospital with coronavirus every 30 seconds,” the health secretary has said, as hospitalisations continue to hit fresh heights amid the rapid spread of new Covid mutations. There are currently 37,475 people in UK hospitals with coronavirus, with more than a tenth on ventilators. “That is the highest that it’s been throughout [...]
Exclusive: Government scraps ‘game-changing’ antibody tests at NHS sites January 17, 2021 The government has quietly scrapped antibody tests at NHS sites, City A.M. can reveal, despite calls to increase testing of immunity levels alongside the vaccine rollout. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) yesterday deleted a section from its website advising people on how to get free antibody tests at community clinics, mobile testing [...]
Government faces calls to scrap ‘inaccurate’ rapid Covid tests January 12, 2021 The government has faced mounting pressure to scale back its use of rapid Covid tests over concerns the results are inaccurate and may cause “serious harm”. Rapid Covid tests, also known as lateral flow tests, are set to play a vital part in ministers’ efforts to ramp up asymptomatic testing across the country as coronavirus [...]
National lockdown looms as teachers go head-to-head with government January 4, 2021 Ministers have refused to rule out a third national lockdown in England, as coronavirus cases and hospitalisations surge beyond numbers seen in the peak of the first wave. Health secretary Matt Hancock said this morning that the new strain of coronavirus was spreading rapidly across the country. “We can’t rule anything out,” he told Sky [...]
Covid: London now has highest proportion of positive tests in the UK December 18, 2020 The number of people testing positive for coronavirus has risen sharply in London, as the Prime Minister faces mounting pressure to U-turn on plans to lift restrictions over Christmas. London is now tied with the East Midlands as having the highest proportion of positive Covid tests in the UK, after reporting a sharp spike in [...]
‘Don’t blow it now’: Matt Hancock urges caution as cases catapult in London December 10, 2020 Health secretary Matt Hancock has urged the public not to “blow it” by ignoring Covid restrictions, as new infections continue to surge across London, Essex and Kent. Speaking at a Downing Street press briefing, Hancock said the latest official figures showed “a worrying rise in infections” in London. The health secretary said the government faced difficult [...]
Pfizer vaccine: Matt Hancock green-lights 800,000 doses for rollout next week December 2, 2020 The NHS will start vaccinating the most vulnerable next week, after 800,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine passed batch testing this morning, the health secretary has said. Announcing the UK’s approval of the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine in the Commons this morning, Matt Hancock said: “I can confirm that batch testing has been completed this morning for [...]
Britain takes the lead in vaccine race as EU regulators delay safety assessments December 1, 2020 European regulators have pushed back formal safety assessments of the Pfizer/Biontech and Moderna vaccines, meaning vaccinations will not take place on the continent until next year. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) today said it planned to decide on whether to approve the vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech by 29 December, meaning distribution will [...]