Coronavirus news: Fresh nationwide restrictions cannot be ruled out, says Hancock, as report warns of 85,000 UK winter deaths
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Your support makes all the difference.Nationwide restrictions cannot be ruled out should England see a spike in coronavirus cases this winter, the health secretary has warned. Matt Hancock also hinted that restrictions may not be eased over Christmas to avoid an “uptick” in the number of Covid-19 cases.
Speaking on Saturday, Mr Hancock said countries in others parts of the world were already experiencing a second wave, adding it was “a very serious threat”. He continued: “Cases go up again, and we have to use very extensive local lockdowns or take further national action. We don’t rule that out, but we don’t want to see it.”
It came after a leaked scientific paper prepared for the government suggested that as many as 85,000 people could die in the UK in a second wave of coronavirus this winter. The report, by the prime minister’s Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (Sage), seen by BBC2’s Newsnight, said that some lockdown restrictions may have to be reintroduced and kept in place until March 2021.
Meanwhile the government was criticised by school leaders after issuing new coronavirus guidance for schools on Friday evening - just days before the start of the autumn term. Labour also described the timing of the announcement as “insulting” to teachers and staff.
Gavin Williamson said the measures – which include a four-tier system for schools in local lockdown areas – were a “last resort” and insisted that it was safe for all pupils to return to the classrooms.
Follow the updates as they happened below:
As waves of schools and businesses around the country are cleared to reopen, college towns are moving toward renewed shutdowns because of too many parties and too many Covid-19 infections among students.
With more than 300 students at the University of Missouri testing positive for the coronavirus and an alarming 44 per cent positivity rate for the surrounding county, the local health director Friday ordered bars to stop serving alcohol at 9pm and close by 10pm.
Iowa's governor has ordered all bars shut down around the University of Iowa and Iowa State, while the mayor of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, did the same in the hometown of the state's flagship university.
“What we're seeing in our violations is they're coming late at night,” said Stephanie Browning, head of the health department for Columbia, Missouri. “Big groups gathering. They're not wearing their masks, they're not social distancing.”
In Utah, the city council in Provo overrode a mayoral veto to pass a mask mandate, which includes a $500 (£374.5) fine for organising large mask-less gatherings, days before students return to Brigham Young University (BYU) from around the country.
Read more below:
Scotland records biggest daily rise in Covid-19 cases in a week
Scotland has recorded 88 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the highest daily rise in the past week.
The biggest number of new cases came from the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area, which saw a rise of 36 from Friday.
Despite the rise in cases, first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said there is "no need for alarm".
No new deaths were recorded, according to statistics from the Scottish Government.
Areas where localised outbreaks were being dealt with saw a small increase in new cases, with six in NHS Grampian, seven in Lanarkshire, 11 in Tayside and two in the Scottish Borders.
On Twitter, the first minister said that the rise in cases is due to an increase in testing, and the proportion of people tested returning positive results remains below one per cent.
Six more hospital deaths in England
A further six 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 29,547, NHS England said on Saturday.
The patients were aged between 52 and 91 and only one 85-year-old patient did not have a known underlying condition.
The dates of the deaths ranges from 23 June to 28 August, with the majority on or after 27 August.
Another five deaths have been reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.
New statue of Princess Diana to be installed next year after Covid delay
A new statue of Princess Diana will be installed at Kensington Palace next July on what would have been her 60th birthday, the palace said on Friday, after a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2017, Princes William and Harry said they had commissioned a statue in honour of their mother, who died in a Paris car crash more than 20 years ago, to be erected outside the older brother's official London home, Kensington Palace.
Ireland in ‘more difficult’ phase of Covid-19 after six months fighting virus
The head of the HSE has said that Ireland has reached a "more difficult phase" of Covid-19 as the country marks six months since the first case was detected.
There have been a total of 1,777 people who died with Covid-19 in Ireland, many of them elderly people living in nursing homes.
As the virus gripped the country earlier this year, care homes bore the brunt of its force with hundreds of lives lost.
Figures provided by the Department of Health show that Ireland recorded its highest death toll on 20 April when 77 people died from the virus.
After health officials confirmed the first case on 29 February, there have since been 28,578 people diagnosed with Covid-19.
Ireland hit its highest number of cases in one day when 936 were recorded on 23 April.
HSE chief executive Paul Reid said it has been a "a long six months" since the first Covid-19 case confirmed in the State.
"Much learning, hurt, sorrow, grieving and frustration.
"But there's also been inspirational responses from the public and healthcare workers," he tweeted. "A more difficult phase now but the same virus."
US detains children at hotels instead of shelters
The US government has detained children at several major hotel chains during the coronavirus pandemic instead of transferring them to government-funded shelters.
The data released Friday show that since March, the Trump administration has used hotels to hold at least 660 children, most unaccompanied by a parent, before expelling them to their countries of origin.
The administration says it cannot allow children to stay in the US due to the coronavirus pandemic. But opponents of US immigration policy contend the pandemic is being used to deny access to asylum or other protections in federal law.
Various hotel chains have been used to house children, and at least 25 hotels and motels have been used since March to detain children.
Marriott spokeswoman Connie Kim says the company last month issued a policy "making it clear that properties should decline any requests to use our hotels as detention facilities."
Myanmar reports biggest daily rise in coronavirus infections
Myanmar reported 77 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, the Southeast Asian nation's biggest daily rise, amid a recent resurgence of the virus after weeks without confirmed domestic transmission.
Last Wednesday, Myanmar also reported 70 new cases.
The Health Ministry did not immediately say where the 77 new cases were found. Most recent infections have been in Sittwe, the capital of conflict-torn Rakhine state, where authorities have imposed a lockdown and curfew.
Myanmar's outbreak has been relatively small compared with other countries in the region since it found its first case in March, with only six deaths and 733 infections reported so far.
Beijing students start staggered return to school
About one-third of students returned to school in the Chinese capital on Saturday in a staggered start to the new school year because of the coronavirus.
The first batch of 590,000 students in Beijing included all three years of high school, the first and third years of middle school and the first grade of primary school.
Another 400,000 students are to start school on Tuesday, and the final 520,000 on 7 September. Both students and teachers are required to wear masks.
China reported nine new coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing its official total to 85,022. All the new cases were overseas arrivals. The country's death toll remained at 4,634.
UK reports 12 more deaths and 1,108 new cases
The latest official UK statistics from the government's Covid-19 dashboard show the death toll has increased by 12 to 41,498.
This figure counts deaths within 28 days of a positive test.
Confirmed cases rose by 1,108 to 332,752.
'No need for alarm' over rise in Scotland cases
Nicola Sturgeon said the rise in new cases reported today - the highest daily number for a week - was partly due to an increase in testing.
The Scottish first minister tweeted: "Crucially, our positivity rate remains low (below 1% again today). So no need for alarm.
"But there is a need to be very careful & cautious - it is all very delicately balanced just now.
"Scientists puzzled that rapid rise in cases in many parts of world not (yet) matched by rise in hospital/ICU admissions/deaths.
"Many theories but nothing definitive & it could just be timelag. & rise in ICU numbers here today from 3 to 5 another reminder not to be complacent.
"Hard reality is this - COVID is still out there, still highly infectious and still potentially lethal. We take our eye off the ball, or tell ourselves it's all over, at our peril. Ahead of winter, we must be vigilant and careful. Please follow all the FACTS advice."
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