Coronavirus - 25th May 2021

Summary for Tuesday, 25th May 2021

• The government is being urged to explain changes to its Covid guidance, after accusations that ministers did not properly announce the move
  
• On Friday, the government published the guidance that urged people not travel in and out of areas hardest hit by the Indian variant, but made no official announcement
  
• Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said "making a major change impacting so many people without even telling them is utterly shameful"
  
• Downing Street has denied bringing local lockdowns by stealth, pointing out the new guidance was advice not law
  
• West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin has called on the health secretary to explain to Parliament what is happening with the updated guidance on Covid-hit areas.
  
• Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran said "crucial lessons" about clear messaging during a pandemic had not been learned
  
• The variant is spreading fastest in Bolton, Blackburn, Kirklees, Bedford, Burnley, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside
  
• Meanwhile, UK holidaymakers are set to spend half what they normally would pre-pandemic, a forecast suggests
  
• The US has issued a travel warning for Japan as infections rise, but insists its athletes can still safely take part in the Olympic Games
  
• Indian police have visited a Twitter office to serve notice, after it labelled a Covid tweet by the country's ruling party as "manipulated media"
  

Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
Stick with us as we bring you all the latest coverage in the UK and around the world.

Today so far…

• The European Union expects to receive over 1bn doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of September. That would be sufficient to immunise the entire EU population of 450 million, well beyond the EU’s initial goal of vaccinating at least 70% of its adult population by the end of the summer.
  
• The US has urged its citizens to avoid all travel to Japan, where concern is rising over new variants of the coronavirus, but officials insist the move will not complicate preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
  
• India’s official tally of daily infections of coronavirus fell to the lowest in nearly six weeks in the past 24 hours, offering hope that a devastating second wave is ebbing, but government leaders said shortages of vaccines were a big concern.
  
• Taiwan has extended its level 3 alert over a continuing Covid-19 outbreak, and schools will remain closed until at least 14 June.
  
• Opinion polls show vaccine hesitancy has risen sharply in Thailand, weeks away from the start of a mass inoculation programme.
  
• Hong Kong could soon be throwing away millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses because not enough people are taking them before they expire, a health official has warned, saying it’s “not right” while other countries are scrambling for them.
  
• Austria will ban direct flights from the UK from 1 June, and there are immediate restrictions on entry over concerns about the B.1.617.2 variant.
  
• UK minister Thérèse Coffey has said the government is still working towards lifting all coronavirus restrictions in England next month, despite issuing fresh guidance to some areas calling on people to limit their interactions.
  
• There’s been confusion in England after the new travel restrictions were added to the government’s website without a formal announcement of new local lockdown measures or, some claim, communication with local authorities. The return of the advice against indoor gatherings contradicts prime minister Boris Johnson’s previous assertions that rule relaxations would be “cautious and irreversible”
  
• Czech health minister Petr Arenberger will resign and be replaced by a previous minister, Adam Vojtěch.
  
• Data analysis shows that dozens of countries are facing severe oxygen shortages because of surging Covid-19 cases, threatening the “total collapse” of health systems.
  
• In the US, Alabama governor Kay Ivey has signed a bill that prohibits private businesses and public institutions from requiring Covid-19 “vaccine passports” to access services or refusing those not inoculated against the coronavirus.
  
• A priest in Wisconsin in the US who has been ignoring Covid-19 gathering restrictions at his masses and criticised the Democratic party for their stance on vaccines says the leader of the Diocese of La Crosse has asked him to resign.
  
• The Victorian government in Australia is looking at opening up the vaccine rollout to those under 50 who are currently ineligible, as the state has reinforced rules stopping people ineligible from getting the Covid-19 vaccine from turning up to hubs to get their first dose.
  
• Madrid regional authorities have said they will allow a friendly football match between Spain and Portugal to be held with the crowd at 30% capacity in the build-up to the rescheduled Euro 2020. It will be the first professional soccer game held in Madrid with a live audience for more than a year.
  

What's happening around Europe?

• The head of Spain’s health emergency centre Fernando Simón has appealed for a lowering of the euphoria surrounding the decision to allow in tourists from 10 non-EU countries including the UK. Spain is on the UK’s amber list, so non-essential travel is discouraged and a 10-day quarantine required. Mr Simón said while he thought the associated risks could be controlled he would rather that the announcement of the reopening was made with “a low voice”. So far international tourist arrivals at the big resorts have been slow since Monday's announcement.
  
• A number of French influencers and YouTubers say they have been approached by a marketing campaign with the aim of publicising false information about the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine. Science YouTuber Léo Grasset says he was astonished to get the request from an agency that said they had a massive budget but wished to remain anonymous.
  
• Meanwhile, a public health official in Lille in northern France has said he’s worried that the exuberance of Lille football supporters celebrating their Ligue 1 championship victory will lead to a spike in cases. Philippe Amouyel, public health professor at Lille hospital, says the dense crowds carry significant risk and those who took part will need testing.
  
• Serbia’s military trade union has objected to the compulsory vaccination of soldiers and threatened legal action against the chief of staff. The interior ministry in Belgrade has also ordered mandatory vaccination for police officers.
  

Public health director 'not consulted, warned or notified' over guidance change

Blackburn with Darwen's director of public health Dominic Harrison says areas affected by updated guidance tackling Covid hotspots were not warned about the change.
As we've just heard, new guidance was published on Friday for eight areas in England, but no official announcement was made.
Mr Harrison tweeted that "areas involved were not consulted with, warned of, notified about, or alerted to this guidance".
"I have asked to see the national risk assessment which supports this action - it has not been provided to us yet," he said.

Eight Covid areas should avoid indoor gatherings

All eight local authorities in England subject to extra Covid guidance because of the Indian variant were told about it, a Downing Street source insists.
The source strenuously denies this amounts to local "lockdowns by stealth", pointing out that it was advice not law and that all areas had proceeded with step three of the lifting of the lockdown.
However, the director of public health for North Tyneside, Wendy Burke, did not appear to have got the message.
Yesterday she told the local news website Chronicle Live: "It's certainly okay to visit the area and obviously we've got some fantastic things for people to come and see.
"We don't want to turn people away but my message is the same as the one for residents."

Downing Street denies local lockdowns by stealth

Adam Fleming - Chief political correspondent
All eight local authorities in England subject to extra Covid guidance because of the Indian variant were told about it, a Downing Street source insists.
The source strenuously denies this amounts to local "lockdowns by stealth", pointing out that it was advice not law and that all areas had proceeded with step three of the lifting of the lockdown.
However, the director of public health for North Tyneside, Wendy Burke, did not appear to have got the message.
Yesterday she told the local news website Chronicle Live: "It's certainly okay to visit the area and obviously we've got some fantastic things for people to come and see.
"We don't want to turn people away but my message is the same as the one for residents."

Where are the hotspots for the Indian variant?

There have been 5,647 cases of the Indian variant detected in total in England, 383 in Scotland, 62 in Wales and 15 in Northern Ireland.
In some areas of England - including in Bolton, Blackburn, and Sefton in North-West England and Bedford, Chelmsford and Canterbury in the South-East - this version of the virus is causing the majority of infections.
Is the Indian variant more infectious?
In London it makes up the lion's share of cases in Croydon, Hounslow and Hillingdon.
A surge in Glasgow - which has left the city unable to lift some lockdown restrictions - may also be driven by the variant.

We had no indication of Covid guidance change - public health director

We're getting more reaction now after it emerged the government published new guidance for people in Covid hotspots last week without an official announcement.
North Tyneside's director of public health, Wendy Burke, says there was no indication of any additional restrictions when a statement about extra testing was made in Parliament last week.
But, she says: "When the announcement was made there was no indication it would come with any additional restrictions for North Tyneside or the other areas."
The health boss says the guidance later published by the government "has not been accompanied by any communication to the local authority, local residents or businesses".
The Department for Health has been asked for clarification, she says.
Read our full story here.

Analysis: Risk remains - but UK's position is now very different

Nick Triggle - Health Correspondent
The Indian variant is on its way to becoming dominant in the UK, pushing out the Kent variant that caused the deadly winter surge.
But the implications of that are uncertain. In some areas, such as the north west of England, it is pushing up infection rates as well as replacing the Kent variant.
Elsewhere it just seems to be replacing the Kent variant without having much of an impact on the amount of virus circulating.
Government scientists always warned the easing of restrictions would lead to an increase in cases - and that is now more certain with what seems to be a more infectious variant circulating.
What no one knows at the moment is how large that increase will be and what impact it will have on hospital cases.
The UK is in a very different position than when the Kent variant started taking off.
Infection levels are low - we have one of the lowest rates in Europe - and the vaccination programme is well advanced.
But there is still a risk of a big wave of serious illness. The difficulty scientists face is quantifying that risk, which makes deciding the proportionate response very hard.

Indian police visit Twitter's office over pandemic tweet

Indian police have visited a Twitter office after the social media giant labelled a tweet criticising the government's handling of the pandemic as "manipulated media".
Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members, including spokesman Sambit Patra, had reportedly shared screenshots of a document on Twitter that they said was created by the main opposition party Congress to highlight the government's failure in handling the pandemic.
Congress complained to Twitter that the documents were fake - leading Twitter to mark some of the posts - including one by Patra - as "manipulated media".
According to a Reuters report, Delhi police on Monday said they had received a complaint about how Mr Patra's tweet was classified and thus carried out the visit to Twitter.
Delhi police say the visit was part of the investigation in order to serve notice to the company's managing director.
In April, India ordered Twitter to remove tweets critical of its handling of the virus, which it complied with.
You can read more on this story here.

What is the new guidance for Indian variant hotspots?

The government has issued new guidance for people in eight areas of England with high numbers of cases of the Indian variant of Covid.
These are Kirklees, Bedford, Blackburn with Darwen, Bolton, Burnley, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside.
The advice says that "wherever possible, you should try to":

• meet friends and family outside rather than inside
  
• keep 2m (6ft) apart from people you don't live with (unless in a support bubble with them)
  
• avoid travelling in and out of the affected areas unless it is essential, for example for work (if you cannot work from home) or education
  

People in these areas should also:

• Take a free lateral flow test twice a week (you must self-isolate if positive)
  
• Take part in local surge testing
  
• Work from home if possible
  
• Get vaccinated when eligible
  

The government has warned outbreaks of the variant could delay the next stage of lockdown easing in England, currently expected in June.
Here's a reminder of the rules in the rest of the country and the next steps to lifting restrictions.

New guidance not communicated to everyone

Adam Fleming - Chief political correspondent
There's been a breakdown in communication somewhere, where precisely that is we don't know, but the outcome is you've got directors of public health in some of these eight areas not knowing that this advice on the government website had changed.
The director of public health in North Tyneside gave an interview to her local newspaper yesterday and when she was asked 'should people come to North Tyneside?' she replied 'Yes, it's fine'.
And the director of public health in Blackburn tweeted this morning 'I didn't know anything about this' and is asking the government to provide the risk assessment and the reasoning for changing this guidance.
Downing Street was saying this morning this is not "local lockdowns by stealth" firstly they say this is not local lockdowns because this is guidance rather than the law. Nothing has changed, nothing has closed in these places and they still went ahead with step three of the roadmap out of lockdown. And they say it's not stealth because this information is communicated.
It just seems it wasn't communicated to literally everyone.

Austria bans direct flights from Britain

Austria is again banning direct flights from Britain, Austrian news agency APA reports.
Previous such bans have been put in place because of high numbers of coronavirus infections or cases of a variant of the virus.
Coronavirus cases in the UK remain low, but the variant first identified in India is making up an increasing share of new infections.

Shortages of vaccines in India still a big concern

Barely 3% of the country’s 1.3 billion people have been vaccinated, the lowest rate among the 10 countries with the most Covid-19 cases, leaving India and its ill-equipped healthcare system vulnerable to a potential third wave, experts say.
Neha Arora and Manas Mishra report for Reuters that there are still serious concerns that many new infections are not being reported, due to a dearth of testing in the countryside, where the virus has spread to from the cities.
The Serum Institute of India, which is supplying the AstraZeneca vaccine, and local firm Bharat Biotech, which is providing Covaxin, have both said they are ramping up production but the supply remains way short of the millions of doses India needs.
“The vaccination drive is in shambles and people are suffering and despairing,” Anand Sharma, a leader of the main opposition party Congress said, urging prime minister Narendra Modi to put aside politics and work with state governments to help them procure vaccines.
Pfizer said it was in talks with the Indian government to supply its vaccine, which has still to be cleared by India’s drug regulator.
“Pfizer remains committed to continuing our engagement with the government of India towards making the Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine available for use in the country,” a spokeswoman told Reuters, declining to provide details of the ongoing discussions.
In desperation, several Indian state governments and even cities such as Mumbai have launched their own global tenders or sought expressions of interest from firms such as Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson for urgent supplies.
But Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the three firms told them they were in touch with the federal Indian government and that they will not be dealing with state level authorities.
Sisodia blamed Modi’s government for mishandling vaccine procurement and not moving fast enough to secure supplies for the country.

Oxygen shortages threaten ‘total collapse’ of dozens of health systems

Madlen Davies and Rosa Furneaux - The Guardian
Dozens of countries are facing severe oxygen shortages because of surging Covid-19 cases, threatening the “total collapse” of health systems.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism analysed data provided by the Every Breath Counts Coalition, the NGO Path and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to find the countries most at risk of running out of oxygen. It also studied data on global vaccination rates.
Nineteen countries around the world – including India, Argentina, Iran, Nepal, the Philippines, Malaysia, Pakistan, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador and South Africa – are deemed most at risk after recording huge increases in demand since March – at least a 20% rise – while having vaccinated less than 20% of their populations.
There are concerns that other Asian countries like Laos are at risk, and African countries including Nigeria, Ethiopia, Malawi and Zimbabwe, which have less mature oxygen delivery systems, meaning a small increase in need could create big problems.
Many of these countries faced oxygen shortages before the pandemic, said Leith Greenslade, coordinator of the Every Breath Counts Coalition. The extra need is pushing health systems to the brink.
“The situation last year, and again in January this year in Brazil and Peru, should have been the wake up call,” she said. “But the world did not wake up. We should have known India would happen after seeing what happened in Latin America. And now looking at Asia, we should know this will happen in some of the big cities in Africa.”
Read more

Isle of Man chief minister apologises over ferry outbreak

The Isle of Man's third outbreak was linked to a ferry crew member

Isle of Man's chief minister has apologised for "missed opportunities" to prevent the Isle of Man's third Covid-19 outbreak, in which four people died.
Howard Quayle told the House of Keys that mistakes were made "on both sides" after a report highlighted failures in communication between the government and a ferry operator.
The outbreak, which was linked to Isle of Man Steam Packet Company (IOMSPC) worker, reached a peak of 881 active cases in late March.

 

UK records 15 Covid deaths

A further 15 people have died with coronavirus in the UK, the government's daily figures show.
The total number of people to die within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test in the UK is 127,739.
There were also 2,493 new infections recorded today.

Analysis: Cummings testimony will be political box office

Laura Kuenssberg - Political editor


In the political universe, Dominic Cummings' testimony will be the ultimate box office moment.
By posting tweet, after tweet, after tweet, after tweet in recent days, the former adviser has already sketched out the script - the dramatic revenge of the anti-hero, the witness to the worst moments of the country's most serious crisis in decades, revealing in all its gory detail, what he sees as the truth.
There is no doubt that the former adviser plans to use his appearance at the Health and Science select committees on Wednesday to criticise many elements of the government's handling of the pandemic, and Boris Johnson's own attitude as loudly and publicly as he can.
In classic Cummings style, he has already provoked headlines, stoking anticipation of his moment in front of the committee.
But his objectives are likely to be questioned too.
Mr Cummings is not a neutral observer of what happened, nor was he just a bystander. When vital decisions were taken in Downing Street, he was one of those making them.
In tracking the history of this pandemic, his version of events is relevant, but he cannot separate himself from entirely from what went wrong.
Read more here.

Widower calls for return of in-person GP appointments

Because of the national lockdown Joy Stokes did not see a doctor in person for several months, despite becoming increasingly ill

A bereaved husband whose wife died from secondary breast cancer is calling for the swift return of in-person GP appointments.
Joy Stokes, 69, from Wiltshire, died in April after delays in a physical examination, that her husband Nick said might have fast-tracked her case.
She had previously survived primary breast cancer in her mid 50s.
Mr Stokes, who lives in a village near Devizes, said he believed if his wife had been physically examined earlier, she might have survived for longer.
"Put your foot down if necessary, go and stand outside the surgery until you're seen by a doctor," he said.
Continue reading here.

Families blame NHS over hospital-acquired Covid deaths

Three families whose loved ones died after contracting Covid-19 in hospital say mistakes were made by NHS trusts.
It follows a BBC investigation which found that one third of patients who died with Covid-19 at one hospital are likely to have contracted it on the wards.
David Laws, David Smith and Debbie Burford all died of coronavirus.
Carol Bursey, Mr Laws' wife, says staff "let him down massively", despite the "extreme conditions" they were in.
Retired crime prevention officer David Smith was taken to Eastbourne District General in November after a heart attack. He died of Covid-19 on Christmas day.
His wife Christine Smith said the family were all "shattered, devastated".
Debbie Burford died from Covid related pneumonia in January.
Her sister-in-law Oona Vatcher says the hospital failed to adequately isolate Covid positive patients and "mistakes were definitely made".
You can read the full story here.

Public health directors issue joint statement

The directors of public health of the eight areas where additional caution was advised on a government website have issued a joint statement.
They say: "Following the national coverage of recently revised guidance we have met with national officials and confirmed there are no restrictions on travel in or out of each of our areas: there are no local lockdowns.
"In areas where the new Covid variant is spreading we are all working together to boost testing and vaccination and to support self-isolation.
"There are sensible public health precautions people can take as individuals in line with the sorts of advice we have all been following throughout the pandemic.
"We will keep sharing that and working with national officials to make sure people understand what they need to think about as they go about their daily lives."
The areas are Burnley, Bedford, Blackburn with Darwen, Bolton, Kirklees, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside.

Thank you and goodbye

Thank you for joining us on a sometimes contradictory day, that began with allegations of "lockdown by stealth" and ended with a joint statement from health directors refuting the idea.
We will be back tomorrow with updates as MPs question the prime minister's former chief adviser - Dominic Cummings - over the government's handling of the pandemic.
Mr Cummings has claimed that the government's original plan was to let the coronavirus spread through the population - achieving so-called "herd immunity".
But the UK Health Security Agency chief says allowing people to become infected "has never been on the agenda".
We will bring you live updates when the health and science select committee meet at 9:30 BST.

For now, goodbye from Doug Faulkner, Dulcie Lee, Jennifer Meierhans, Julian Joyce and Robert Corp.