Health secretary Matt Hancock refuses to rule out second national lockdown as âlast line of defenceâ
Ryanair will cut a further one in five of its flights scheduled in October, blaming Irish and EU governments for what it called âexcessive and defectiveâ travel restrictions.
The move comes on top of an earlier 20% reduction in flights in September and October, which it announced in August, blaming a drop in bookings and the introduction of fresh quarantine requirements.
Ryanair now expects to fly 40% of flights in October compared with the same month in 2019, a fall from the 50% it had previously predicted. However it hopes its planes will fly almost three-quarters (70%) full.
The budget carrier said the reductions in capacity were necessary because of frequent, and often short-notice, changes to travel restrictions and policies being introduced by EU governments, which have impacted customersâ willingness to make future bookings.
Ryanair said it was âdisappointedâ to cancel more flights, but warned that it may announce more cuts if travel restrictions remain in place.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has confirmed that Londonâs New Yearâs Eve firework display will not be taking place this year. Khan said he was working on an alternative event that people would be able to enjoy from their homes.
Sadiq Khan has confirmed that Londonâs New Year’s Eve firework display will not be taking place this year. The Mayor of London told LBC that there will be an alternative event that people can enjoy from home.#SpeakToSadiq pic.twitter.com/4odIaxZUDc
More than four in five schools have children isolating because they canât access a Covid-19 test, according to a survey by the school leadersâ union NAHT.
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of NAHT, last week wrote to the prime minister about the impact the lack of access to Covid-19 tests is having on schools, warning that the situation is becoming increasingly disruptive and unsustainable.
Tests for Covid-19 need to be readily available for everyone so that pupils and staff who get negative results can get back into school quickly. But we are hearing the same thing repeatedly from our members across the country â chaos is being caused by the inability of staff and families to successfully get tested when they display symptoms. This means schools are struggling with staffing, have children missing school, and ultimately that childrenâs education is being needlessly disrupted.
Fiona Carragher, the director of research and influencing at the Alzheimerâs Society, said the rise in care home infections despite minimal lifting of restrictions wa âextremely concerningâ, PA reports.
We are keen to see further detail from the governmentâs adult social care winter plan but it is positive to see concrete steps already to prevent the devastating loss of life we saw earlier this year, such as the appointment of a new chief nurse for adult social care – we need to see this go one step further by ensuring nursing staff are allocated to individual care homes throughout the pandemic.
And with care homes across the country once again closing their doors, we must make sure people with dementia are not cut off from vital visits from their loved ones – weâre urging the Government to prioritise providing personal protective equipment (PPE) and repeated, regular testing for both care home staff and for family carers.
Where this isnât possible, steps must be put in place to ensure regular contact can continue between residents and their loved ones.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, told LBC that Cobra hasnât met since 10th May and that he hasnât had contact with the prime minister since then.
Sadiq Khan tells @LBC that Cobra hasnât met since May 10. He says he has not had any contact with the PM since then.
Speaking on @LBC this morning, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said that Cobra has not met since the 10th of May and that he hasn’t spoken to the PM in the last 4 months.
Ryanair has announced it will cut its planned October flight capacity from 50% of last yearâs levels to 40%.
However, as customer confidence is damaged by Government mismanagement of Covid travel policies, many Ryanair customers are unable to travel for business or urgent family reasons without being subjected to defective 14-day quarantines.
Restaurants, pubs and other hospitality businesses could be shut or asked to close early for a few weeks as part of a national âcircuit breakâ to stop a surge in coronavirus cases in England getting out of control.
The measures are being considered, according to the BBCâs political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, as the number of cases of the virus is doubling every seven to eight days, with more than 3,300 new cases reported on Thursday.
Schools and workplaces would remain open but hospitality businesses would have âcircuit breaksâ â essentially shutting their doors or changing their opening hours for a few weeks.
New lockdown measures are also expected to be introduced in Lancashire â with the exception of Blackpool, the BBC reported. It follows local lockdowns brought in elsewhere in the north of England.
The government is considering the proposal for circuit breaks, although a final decision has not been made. Boris Johnson is said to be against another national lockdown, which would mean shops and businesses would close.
The MP for Stockport in Greater Manchester was delighted this week to receive a letter promising a new testing site in his constituency, where the infection rate is almost double the national average.There was only one problem: the much-needed facility was 240 miles away â in Kent.In a letter to the Labour MP Navendu Mishra, the health minister Lord Bethell wrote: âI am writing to update you on the provision of Coronavirus testing in Stockport.âHowever, the letter added: âI wanted to write to you to confirm that we are opening a Local Test Site in your constituency at the Jellicoe Building Car Park â University of Greenwich, over the coming days.âEven for a national testing programme that frequently directs people to facilities far outside their hometowns, a nine-hour round trip to Kent would be something of a stretch for Stopfordians.The letter from Bethell, a âminister of innovationâ at the department of health and social care, said officials had âengaged with local stakeholders to narrow down the location and identify a suitable siteâ. However, it added: âI hope this site will make it easier for many people in Brompton to access testingâ â a possible reference to West Brompton in south-west London
I know we havenât seen the details of the Governmentâs parliamentary boundary review yet but it would appear that the new Stockport constituency will stretch all the way to Kent!
This once again highlights the governmentâs complete mishandling of the Covid crisis, further putting lives at risk as we enter the second wave. Never mind Operation Moonshot – this Government canât even provide tests for those that need them.
Health secretory Matt Hancock said has been doing the media rounds this morning following reports that the UK could go into a second national lockdown in October.
Hancock told BBC Radio 4âs Today programme that the government is keen to avoid national lockdown altogether, describing it as âthe last line of defence.
I have learned over the last nine months not ever to rule anything out. However, it is not the proposal thatâs on the table.
This is a big moment for the country. We are seeing an acceleration in the number of cases. And we are also seeing that the number of people hospitalised with coronavirus is doubling every eight days We are now starting to see the effects in hospital.
Leading scientists who sit on UK governmentâs advisory board have proposed a two-week national lockdown in England in October to try to tackle the rising number of coronavirus cases, the Financial Times reports. The second national lockdown could coincide with the October school half-term, so it has a limited impact on education.
This follows reports that Leeds is poised to be added to the list of areas in England facing stringent coronavirus restrictions on Friday. Infection rates in the West Yorkshire city remain lower than some other hard-hit cities, but have been increasing rapidly, prompting ministers to act. The constraints are likely to include shutting social venues such as pubs and restaurants at 10pm, and limiting contact between separate households.
If local measures are imposed on Leeds today, it would mean more than 10 million people across the UK are living with enhanced measures designed to control the spread of infections.
The rising cases comes amidst sharp criticism of the UKâs coronavirus test and trace system, which was condemned as âbarely functionalâ as its tsar admitted that demand was up to four times capacity, while 90% of tests were failing to hit the 24-hour turnaround target.
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