Coronavirus news: Boris Johnson leads national clap for NHS anniversary, as UK prepares for ‘largest ever’ flu immunisation this winter
The latest updates from Sunday 5 July
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The NHS was honoured on its 72nd anniversary with a nationwide clap on Sunday evening, as politicians, medical professionals and the general public paid tribute to the service.
Prime minister Boris Johnson led the applause from Downing Street and will later meet NHS workers in the Number 10 garden, while public buildings including the Royal Albert Hall, Blackpool Tower and the Shard have been lit up blue.
Earlier in the day, John Apter, chair of the Police Federation, warned that it is “crystal clear” drunk people can’t – or won’t – socially distance, after scenes showed huge crowds packed into Soho in central London on Saturday evening.
Cambridges visit Norfolk hospital to mark NHS birthday
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have visited a hospital in Norfolk to mark the NHS's birthday.
William and Kate met staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, 72 years to the day since the creation of the health service.
The royal couple shared afternoon tea with doctors, nurses and other staff at the hospital which will celebrate its own 40th birthday later this month.
The hospital, which serves more than 330,000 people across Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, has treated 450 patients with Covid-19.
A total of 46 patients have been recruited to the Covid-19 recovery trial, and more than 500 are involved in other coronavirus research.
↵Voters overwhelmingly want to see an end to privatisation in the health service after the coronavirus crisis has ended, according to a new survey, reports political editor Andrew Woodcock.
The Survation poll for We Own It, a think tank that campaigns for public ownership, found that 76 per cent of the public want to see the NHS “reinstated as a fully public service” against just 15 per cent who wanted to see continued involvement of private companies.
The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown a spotlight on the delivery of health services by private companies.
The government has come under fire for handing contracts to run coronavirus testing services to commercial companies rather than involving local public health experts, and Boots was forced to back away from a plan to use volunteers to staff centres, following an investigation by The Independent.
A leaked email revealed Rupert Soames, chief executive of outsourcing giant Serco, said he hoped involvement in the test and trace operation would “cement the position of the private sector” in the NHS supply chain.
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Mexico surpasses France in coronavirus death toll
Mexico reported 523 more coronavirus deaths on Saturday, pushing its tally to 30,366, overtaking France to become the fifth-highest in the world. The health ministry also reported 6,914 new infections and a total of 252,165 confirmed cases.
Deputy health minister Hugo Lopez Gatell reiterated that the actual number of infected was probably significantly higher.
"We knew from the beginning that the cases we report here do not represent the total number of people with COVID-19 in Mexico," he told a news conference.
"Neither Mexico nor any other country in the world aims to make an exhaustive count."
Boris Johnson hosts NHS staff who looked after him during coronavirus struggle
British ventilator-building consortium comes to an end after doubling NHS supply
A British consortium formed by a group of aerospace, automotive and engineering firms to build ventilators for the country's health service said on Sunday it would end after delivering over 13,000 devices.
VentilatorChallengeUK said its production had more than doubled the stock of ventilators available for use in the National Health Service.
The consortium, which was formed on a not-for-profit basis by the likes of Ford, McLaren, Rolls-Royce and Airbus, said in May it was ramping up production in case of a second peak in infections.
But VentilatorChallengeUK chair, Dick Elsy, said the NHS was now well-placed for the future, adding: "We have helped ensure the NHS has always had access to the number of ventilators it needs, and we're pleased to have also contributed to building a resilient stock should ventilators be required in the UK in the future."
Reuters
London and Durham police and prosecutors urged to investigate Dominic Cummings alleged coronavirus lockdown breaches
Nazir Afzal, former chief prosecutor for northwest England, said he is “concerned that police and prosecutors have not received all relevant information and that their decision making will be incomplete as a result”.
Mr Afzal, who has become the figurehead of a citizens’ bid to ensure the actions of the prime minister’s top aide are properly scrutinised, added that his legal team already has been given “information from reliable sources that reflect[s] poorly on everybody who has considered the allegations thus far”.
A short probe by Durham Constabulary concluded in May that Mr Cummings “might have” breached coronavirus legislation with his 50-mile round trip to Barnard Castle, but the force decided not to take further action. His actions in London after learning that his wife Mary Wakefield was displaying Covid-19 symptoms have not yet been probed.
Lawyers for Mr Afzal, whose brother died with Covid-19 in early April, have now written to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, Durham Police’s chief constable Jo Farrell, and the CPS’s director of public prosecutions, Max Hill calling for immediate further inquiries into Mr Cummings’ movements during the height of the pandemic in April.
An American couple from Minnesota have been fined C$1,000 each (approximately $735) for disobeying Canada’s quarantine rules, put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus, reports Oliver O’Connell in New York.
According to Ontario Provincial Police, the two seniors entered Canada from the US by car at the Fort Frances crossing on 24 June and failed to self-isolate for the mandatory two weeks.
David and Anne Sippell live in Excelsior, Minnesota, just west of Minneapolis — about a five hour drive from the Canadian border. It is unknown what their plans were in Canada.
They were told by the Canada Border Services Agency to drive directly to their destination and quarantine for 14 days as stipulated by law.
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Chile announces new $1.5 billion stimulus for middle class as pandemic rages
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced on Sunday a new $1.5 billion package of measures to help keep the country´s ailing middle class afloat as the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the economy of the world´s top copper producer.
The measures include access to zero-interest loans, subsidised rent and the ability to defer mortgage loan payments for up to six months, Mr Pinera said in a televised speech.
"The coronavirus pandemic...is hitting our middle class hard," Mr Pinera said, touting the fresh round of stimulus as a bailout at least 1 million families.
Mr Pinera's center-right administration has already announced two sprawling stimulus packages worth nearly 12 per cent of gross domestic product, aimed primarily at protecting small business, the poor and the unemployed.
The coronavirus pandemic, which struck just as Chile was beginning to recover from months of unrest over inequality, has hammered the country's economy. Chile's middle class - long the envy of the region - has been especially hard hit.
Popular Spanish beaches ‘forced to close due to overcrowding’
Popular tourist beaches in Spain were forced to temporarily close over the weekend due to concerns of overcrowding amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Closures were reported along the Costa del Sol, on the southern coast, and elsewhere in Spain’s Andalusian region.
According to regional government figures, around 55 beaches were shut at some point on Sunday, the Malaga-based paper Sur reported.
Malaga was the province most affected, followed by Cadiz and then Huelva.
The closures were reportedly posted by local authorities on mobile phone apps or council websites.
That concludes today's coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. We'll be back tomorrow with all the latest news and updates.
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