Coronavirus news – live: Cases pass 25m worldwide, amid warning government ‘cock-up’ may lead to 50,000 unnecessary UK deaths
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Your support makes all the difference.The UK is facing up to 50,000 unnecessary deaths because Boris Johnson’s government “consciously allowed” coronavirus to spread, a former chief scientific adviser has said.
Sir David King, who founded the Independent Sage group, described the official response to the pandemic as a “complete cock-up by government”, driven in part by a desire to maintain secrecy around the scientific advice it was receiving.
This come as the Conservative's Charles Walker, deputy chair of the 1922 Committee, warned that the prime minister’s U-turns are creating a “climate of uncertainty”, making it “increasingly difficult” for Tory MPs to defend government policy.
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Business has warned chancellor Rishi Sunak not to choke off Britain’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic with new taxes, writes Andrew Woodcock.
The call came amid fears of a new wave of redundancies as Mr Sunak scales back his Job Retention Scheme on Tuesday, with the Treasury cutting support for workers’ monthly wages from 80 to 70 per cent and requiring employers to contribute up to £312 a month for each furloughed staff member.
Labour today renewed calls for furlough - due to end altogether in November - to be extended for the worst-hit industries, like aerospace and automotive.
Thousands of pounds worth of equipment seized and fines issued amid crackdown on illegal gatherings
Thousands of pounds worth of equipment has been seized and dozens of reports made to police about possible breaches of restrictions as new lockdown rules came into force.
Under the new measures, which started on Friday ahead of the bank holiday weekend, organisers of illegal raves will be hit with £10,000 fines.
West Midlands Police said it had dealt with about 90 reports from the public about possible breaches of restrictions by Sunday morning "but we've not had to use our enforcement powers".
The force said the weekend had so far "been dominated by reports of house parties, rather than the really big gatherings we've seen earlier in recent weeks".
Also on Sunday, Welsh police said they were in attendance "at a large gathering of people for a rave in the Banwen area" in Neath Port Talbot.
And in West Yorkshire a man was arrested and fined after DJing at a street party on Wepener Mount, Harehills on Saturday, while five other people at the gathering were fined.
India sets world record for highest daily rise in coronavirus cases
India has registered 78,761 new coronavirus cases - the biggest single-day spike in the world since the pandemic began, just as the government began easing restrictions to help the battered economy.
The surge raised India's tally to over 3.5 million and came as the government announced the reopening of its underground rail network in New Delhi. The country also plans to move ahead with limited sports and religious events next month.
A country of 1.4 billion people, India now has the fastest-growing daily coronavirus caseload of any country in the world, reporting more than 75,000 new cases for four straight days.
One of the reasons is testing: India now conducts nearly 1 million tests every day, compared with just 200,000 two months ago.
A significant feature of India's Covid-19 management, however, is the growing rate of recovered patients. The recovery rate today reached nearly 76.5 per cent.
No new coronavirus deaths in Scotland
No new coronavirus deaths have been reported in Scotland in the last 24 hours, the Scottish Government has announced.
A total of 2,494 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus.
Statistics published on the Scottish Government website show 20,318 people have tested positive for the virus, up by 123 from 20,195 the day before.
The number of new cases is 0.7% of those tested, the same as the day before.
There are 255 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, an decrease of three in 24 hours.
Of these patients, five were in intensive care, the same figure as the previous day.
Further three people die with coronavirus in hospital in England
A further three people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 29,550, NHS England has said.
The patients were aged between 51 and 93 and all had a known underlying condition.
The dates of the death were all on or after 26 August.
Another three deaths have been reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.
Government admits using influencers to promote test and trace
The government has admitted paying social media influencers to promote its test and trace system as it failed to reach its 80% target for the ninth week in a row,
Love Island reality TV stars Chris Hughes, Shaughna Phillips and Josh Denzel were reportedly among those paid for telling their followers testing is “free, quick and vital to stop the spread”, according to the Sunday Mirror.
The newspaper quoted a government spokesperson as saying: “As a responsible government, we will use every means to keep the public informed and raise awareness of NHS Test and Trace.
"Our use of social media influencers has meant over seven million people have been reached.
“This is just one part of a wider campaign utilising TV, radio, social, print and other ads to ensure the public has the information it needs.
"All costs will be published as part of the regular transparency reports on gov.uk.”
German politicians condemn far-right flags outside parliament
Leading politicians on Sunday condemned protesters who stormed the steps of Germany's Reichstag parliament building, some of them holding far-right flags, during mass marches against coronavirus curbs a day earlier.
Police in the nation's capital were able to prevent demonstrators from entering the building, but the day saw hundreds of arrests, pockets of violence with injured police, and the forced break-up of one mass protest.
Finance minister Olaf Scholz, of the Social Democrats, the junior partner in Angela Merkel's conservative-led ruling coalition and candidate to succeed her as chancellor, said Germans must do everything possible to prevent such scenes.
"It is unacceptable that some now appear in front of the Bundestag building, the Reichstag building, the most important symbol of our democracy, the parliament, with symbols from a bad dark past, flags that have nothing to do with our modern democracy," Mr Scholz said.
Some 3,000 far-right sympathisers and extremists were among the tens of thousands of protesters on Saturday, according to Berlin's interior minister.
Mr Scholz's comments were echoed by politicians including German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the chair of Ms Merkel's Christian Democrats, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
"I'm truly incensed," Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Twitter.
The daughter of the Glastonbury founder has said that organisers are still aiming to hold the festival in June 2021.
Emily Eavis was apparently responding to rumours the event could be pushed back to September.
“For those who have been asking, we have no plans to move next year’s Glastonbury to September 2021 – we’re still very much aiming for June,” she tweeted.
In a separate post, Ms Eavis said the Glastonbury ticket sale has been pushed back from October to April because “so few people have asked for a refund”.
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US cases tally approaches six million
US coronavirus cases were approaching six million on Sunday as many Midwest states reported increasing infections.
Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota have recently reported record one-day increases in new cases while Montana and Idaho are seeing record numbers of currently hospitalised Covid-19 patients.
Nationally, metrics on new cases, deaths, hospitalisations and the positivity rates of tests are all declining but there are emerging hotspots in the Midwest.
Many of the new cases in Iowa are in the counties that are home to the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, which are holding some in-person classes.
Colleges and universities around the country have seen outbreaks after students returned to campus, forcing some to switch to online-only learning.
Infections have also risen after an annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota drew more than 365,000 people from across the country from 7 to 16 August. The South Dakota health department said 88 cases have been traced to the rally.
'This type of illegal gathering is totally unacceptable'
South Wales Police said up to 3,000 people are thought to have travelled from across the UK to attend an illegal rave in Banwen, in Neath Port Talbot.
Chief superintendent Simon Belcher said: "This type of illegal gathering is totally unacceptable and we are aware of the concerns it is causing for the local community.
"I would like to again remind people of their obligations under the current coronavirus legislation and the overarching goal for everyone to take personal responsibility by following Welsh government regulations to keep Wales safe.
"We have a number of resources in attendance including the police helicopter and roads policing officers.
"It has been estimated there are up to 3,000 people at the gathering who have apparently travelled from across the UK and we are looking at all pieces of legislation as to what action can be undertaken safely.
"Unlawfully parked cars will be dealt with and people who continue, despite our advice, to try and attend this illegal event area being turned away."
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