Northern Ireland extends lockdown to 1 April February 19, 2021 The Stormont Executive has agreed to extend Northern Ireland’s lockdown to 1 April. Some restrictions will be lifted however, with a phased reopening of schools. Children in primary school will be allowed to go back to school on 8 March. They will then return to remote learning on 22 March to allow the return of [...]
Speedy vaccinations give more UK SMEs hope of a revenue rebound in 2021 February 19, 2021 Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK have been offered a glimpse of hope this morning, as nearly a quarter have surpassed their pre-pandemic levels of output.
Holy orders: Vatican rolls out ‘no jab, no job’ policy February 18, 2021 The Vatican has issued a decree to its 5,000 staff warning that those who refuse a Covid vaccination may be fired. Employees at the holy site must have a documented medical reason for refusing a jab or face “consequences of various degrees which may go as far as the termination of employment”, said Cardinal Giuseppe [...]
Government plugs £18.5m into Long Covid research February 18, 2021 The government has pledged to invest £18.5m into research projects looking at the long-term effects of coronavirus, also known as Long Covid. The funding will support four studies seeking to identify the causes of Long Covid and potential treatments for people with chronic side-effects. Imperial College London will receive the bulk of the funding to [...]
British firms draw up ‘no jab no job’ contracts ahead of lockdown easing February 18, 2021 British companies are beginning to draw up “no jab, no job” contracts after the government yesterday admitted it was “up to businesses” to decide how to enforce vaccination requirements. Barchester Healthcare, which runs more than 200 care homes across the country, said it will not hire new staff who refuse the Covid-19 vaccine on non-medical [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Further 1.7m people in England told to shield ahead of lockdown easing February 16, 2021 A further 1.7m people have been added to the shielding list in England, after a new risk assessment model found them to be at serious risk from Covid-19. The government used a new predictive tool to identify adults with multiple risk factors that made them more vulnerable to coronavirus. Scientists at Oxford University looked at [...]