Over by Spring: Hancock hails Oxford/AstraZeneca jab as part of path to normality December 30, 2020 Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the UK could expect to be out of the pandemic by spring after the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab was approved. Boss of the pharmaceutical firm Pascal Soriot said as many as 2m vaccines could be manufactured each week. “The vaccine is our way out of this,” the Health Secretary told the BBC. [...]
Astrazeneca vaccine could help ease Covid restrictions, minister says December 28, 2020 Regulatory approval of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Astrazeneca and Oxford University could accelerate the easing of lockdown measures, the government has said. Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said there would be a “significant increase” in jabs available if authorities give the green light to the British vaccine candidate. This would allow ministers to ease [...]
The best films to watch on a Tier 4 Christmas day December 25, 2020 As many adverts have told us, Christmas will be a bit different this year. There will be people we won’t be able to see, and celebrations we won’t be able to have. However, one thing that 2020 can’t take from us is our favourite Christmas films. Whether you like them as sentimental, dramatic, funny, or [...]
China bans flights from UK as global fears of mutant strain mount December 24, 2020 UK flights into China have been suspended by Beijing as worldwide fears of Covid-19 mutations found in Britain grow. The move comes with China having largely suppressed the virus on its mainland, despite its origin there. Read more: Brexit deal looks imminent and sterling rises alongside hopes China’s decision to block flights from the UK [...]
Cancel Christmas mixing or risk thousands of super-spreading events, urges Independent Sage December 24, 2020 Household mixing on Christmas Day should be banned and all areas placed in Tier 4, Independent Sage has said, as the Covid situation worsens in the UK. The group of independent scientists urged the government to make changes to the planned easing of restrictions on Christmas Day, describing the new strain of Covid as “incredibly [...]
Whitbread – at the end of the day, someone has to pay December 24, 2020 Whitbread, the owner of popular hospitality chains Premier Inn, Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, has written to the landlords of its properties asking for a rent reduction of 50% for the next three months, to “share some of the pain” of the ongoing pandemic and the restrictions on hospitality. It seems, prima facie, a reasonable request. [...]
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 [...]