Coronavirus UK news updates – £5k payout for young who’ve had Covid-19 if they agree to be DELIBERATELY re-exposed
The NHS' backlog of Covid patients could take 'up to FIVE YEARS' to clear as ministers called for an urgent analysis of a new strain from India.
Health chiefs at NHS Providers - which represents every NHS hospital, and mental health, community and ambulance service in England - said tackling the problem in the worst affected areas could take three to five years.
Meanwhile a Government minister said is "too early to say" whether all hospitality businesses can reopen on May 17, a minister has said.
Speaking to Andrew Marr on Sunday, environment minister George Eustice said: "Well, it is too early to say. But I think we are on track in the sense that we are on track with the rollout of the vaccination programme.
“We have now vaccinated everybody over the age of 50 and this week they are offering vaccinations as well to those under the age of 50, starting with the 45 to 59-year-olds - so that bit is on track.”
Meanwhile, the global death toll from Covid-19 has topped three million as cases continue to spiral in countries across the world.
The number of lives lost - as compiled by Johns Hopkins University - is almost equal to the population of Kyiv, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; or metropolitan Lisbon, Portugal.
It is bigger than Chicago (2.7million) and equivalent to Philadelphia and Dallas combined.
Read our coronavirus live blog below for the very latest news and updates on the pandemic...
BORIS TO GIVE £500 HANDOUTS
BORIS Johnson should give every member of Generation Covid £500 because they have been worst hit by the pandemic, a group of Tories demands today.
They are urging the PM to hand out cheques to every 18 to 24 year-old in a move which would cost a whopping £2.8billion.
The One Nation group of Tories point out that young adults are the most likely to have lost out on jobs or been laid off in the pandemic.
The cash bung would put cash in their pocket and help the high street, they said.
The idea is inspired by US President Joe Biden, who has promised a third round of $1,400 stimulus cheques to millions of struggling Americans
'UNDER-30s LESS COMPLIANT'
PEOPLE aged under 30 have been less compliant with Covid rules in the past year, a new survey shows.
Around 15 per cent of Brits failed to follow lockdown fully, especially during the second wave, the data showed.
Most were under 30, the University College London report showed.
WUHAN WET MARKET 'IDENTIFIED FIVE YEARS AGO'
CHINESE experts identified a Wuhan wet market as the potential origin of a pandemic at least five years before Covid emerged, a British scientist has revealed.
Dr Eddie Holmes said he visited the Huanan seafood market in 2014 with local health officials who highlighted it as the sort of place where a virus could "spill over" from animals to humans.
The market - where traders sold live mammals, reptiles and fish - became notorious after it was linked to initial outbreak of coronavirus in late 2019.
Dr Holmes, an evolutionary biologist and virologist who now works at the University of Sydney, said he was taken there five years earlier by members of the Wuhan Centre for Disease Control.
He his visit was part of a wider project to hunt for new pathogens with the potential to spark a pandemic.
Read the full story here.
INDIA 'RED LIST' QUESTIONS
THE Prime Minister's decision to cancel his trip to India next week led to renewed questions over whether the country will be added to the travel "red list".
Boris Johnson's official spokesman said: "The decision isn't triggered at all by the Prime Minister's trip; the decision takes into account a number of factors which the JBC (Joint Biosecurity Centre) predominantly lead on and then feed into Government, and that's considered in the normal way.
"I understand the interest in the red list but I don't think it's right for me to speculate on when the JBC and others are going to be feeding in that information."
STATEMENT FROM DOWNING STREET
A Downing Street spokesperson said today: “In the light of the current coronavirus situation, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not be able to travel to India next week.
"Instead, Prime Ministers Modi and Johnson will speak later this month to agree and launch their ambitious plans for the future partnership between the UK and India.
"They will remain in regular contact beyond this, and look forward to meeting in person later this year.”
He said this morning it was "only sensible" to can the trip, and he hoped to meet Modi in person later this year.
During a visit to Gloucestershire, the Prime Minister told broadcasters: "The red list is very much a matter for the independent UK Health Security Agency - they will have to take that decision.
BORIS CANCELS INDIA TRIP AS COVID RAVAGES COUNTRY
Boris Johnson has cancelled his trip to India next week amid fears over a new variant of Covid-19.
He was due to meet with the Indian PM Narendra Modi next week, but the pair will speak online now instead.
He was set to travel there on April 25, but already has had to cut it short over the growing wave of Covid hitting the country.
The country has seen more than 190,000 recorded new cases of Covid per day as infections continue to spiral.
A full reopening of the economy combined with millions of people attending religious festivals is thought to have sparked the huge rise in cases.
COVID PATIENT BACKLOG WILL TAKE FIVE YEARS TO CLEAR
The patient backlog built up because of Covid-19 will take five years to clear with nearly five million people currently waiting for treatment, NHS chiefs have warned.
NHS Providers, which represents every NHS hospital, and mental health, community and ambulance service in England, said tackling the problem in the worst affected areas could take three to five years.
According to recent data from NHS England, 4.7million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of February - the highest figure since records began in August 2007.
The number waiting more than 52 weeks to start hospital treatment was 387,885 - the highest for any calendar month since December 2007.
In February last year, the number having to wait more than 52 weeks was 1,613.
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The study, which is funded by the Wellcome Trust, will recruit people aged 18-30 who have previously been naturally infected with Covid.
They may have experienced only mild disease or no symptoms at all and made a full recovery.
In the first phase of the study, involving 64 healthy volunteers, researchers aim to establish the lowest dose of virus which can take hold and start replicating.
Then this dose will be used to infect participants in the second phase of the study, which is expected to start in the summer.
Brave volunteers will be re-exposed to the virus in a safe and controlled environment while a team of researchers monitor their health.
HEALTHY YOUNG BRITS COULD BE PAID £5K TO CATCH COVID
Healthy young Brits who have previously had Covid could earn £5,000 for being infected with the virus.
A study is hoping to start later this month once it's given ethical approval.
Participants will be deliberately exposed to the virus for a second time to see how the immune system reacts in what’s called a “challenge study”.
Researchers at the University of Oxford aim to determine what dose of virus is needed to re-infect after natural infection, how the immune system responds, and what this may mean for developing protective immunity against the disease.
It will help with research for vaccines, for example.
MATT HANCOCK TO MAKE STATEMENT TODAY AMID INDIAN VARIANT CONCERNS
Matt Hancock will make a statement on Covid to the Commons today amid fears a new mutation could delay Boris Johnson's roadmap to freedom.
The Health Secretary will address MPs at 3.30pm over concerns of an Indian variant of the deadly bug.
Officials are looking into whether the variant could spread more easily and evade vaccines.
And while there's not yet enough data to classify it as a "variant of concern", a reported 160 cases have so far been found in the UK - some of which aren't yet linked to travel.
Public Health England has officially confirmed 73 cases of the B.1.617 variant in England as well as four cases in Scotland.
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Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for NHS Test and Trace, admitted officials do not know if the Indian strain can spread faster, increase disease severity or evade vaccines.
And for this reason, the new Indian strain can’t be classified as a “variant of concern”, which would mean a deployment of surge testing.
She revealed “a couple of cases haven’t arisen from travel”, suggesting there is already community spread in the UK.
“But we’re still trying to undergo the investigations to look in great detail at where they might have acquired it from,” Dr Hopkins said.
Prof Hayward, who is a Government scientific adviser as part of Sage, said evidence the variant can dodge immunity currently has no foundations.
URGENT RACE TO INVESTIGATE INDIAN VARIANT
Officials have been urged to rapidly investigate the Indian Covid variant which poses a threat to lockdown easing plans.
The strain has been detected in the UK 77 times but top health leaders admit they know nothing about its features.
The Indian variant, officially named B.1.617, may spread faster than the strains the UK has got used to, or weaken vaccine efficacy.
It has two “escape mutations”, named E484Q and L452R, which in theory help the virus to dodge antibodies made by the immune system after vaccination or infection.
Scientists have been urged to gather information on this as quickly as possible, but it could take weeks, partially due to a lack of samples of the virus.
VARIANT CASES SEEN IN VACCINATED BRITS
CASES of South African and Kent Covid variants have been seen in already vaccinated patients, an NHS expert has warned.
Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for Test and Trace, confirmed people had caught the mutated bugs despite being jabbed - but said the vaccines would still be effective.
She told the BBC's Andrew Marr: "We have seen some people who have had their first dose of the vaccine who have had the South African variant and the variant that arose in Kent.
"That’s to be expected, we know that these vaccines aren’t 100 per cent protecting you against infection and that’s why we ask people to take caution."
Cases of variants have been seen in vaccinated patientsCredit: Getty WALES CASES UP BY 102
THERE have been a further 102 cases of coronavirus in Wales, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 210,925.
Public Health Wales said there were another two deaths, taking the total in the country since the start of the pandemic to 5,540.
The agency said due to data no longer being published on a Saturday, the latest figures reflect the 48-hour period up to 9am on Sunday.
Public Health Wales said 1,692,463 first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have now been given in Wales.
INDIA CURFEW AMID VARIANT CONCERN IN UK
PUBLIC Health England has officially confirmed 73 cases of the B.1.617 Indian variant in England, as well as four cases in Scotland.
The variant has two 'escape mutations' - E484Q and L452R – which are causing concern.
India is experiencing a horrific surge of Covid. A new curfew will begin in New Delhi tonight after a record 273,810 new infections were reported.
As a result of the issues, Boris Johnson has cancelled a planned trip to the country next week.
He was due to meet with the Indian PM Narendra Modi, but the pair will speak online now instead.
DEATHS RISE BY 10
CORONAVIRUS deaths rose yesterday by ten - the second lowest daily toll since September.
The rise brings the total number of fatalities to 127,270, while a further 1,882 people tested positive for the bug.
Sunday's rise in fatalities is a slightly increase on last Sunday’s figure of seven, and the same as the 10 deaths recorded a fortnight ago.
It is also the second-lowest death toll since September 13 last year, when five fatalities were reported.
Cases are also up slightly on last Sunday’s figure of 1,730 - but below the 2,293 infections reported on April 4.
INDIA VARIANT COULD 'CATCH OUT' VULNERABLE
THE India variant of coronavirus is likely to become a "variant of concern", an immunology expert has said.
Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London, said variants of the virus which causes Covid-19 "do pose a threat" and vulnerable people could be "caught out".
He believes India could be added to the Government's travel "red list" amid concerns over the varian.
It came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelled his scheduled visit to India next week "in light of the current coronavirus situation".
FRENCH TEACHERS DITCH ASTRA JAB
FRENCH teachers have ditched the Astrazeneca jab as a large vaccination centre closed after just 50 people out of 4,000 signed up.
The take-up rate of just 1.25 per cent follows a series of warnings, withdrawals and U-turns about the safe and effective UK-developed medicine by President Emmanuel Macron.
While it has been linked with a small number of very rare blood clots, doctors and politicians in both France and Britain still believe Oxford-AstraZeneca should remain a key part of the fight against Covid-19.
But when 4,000 doses were made available to teachers and police aged over 55 in the Mediterranean city of Nice this weekend, few were interested.
“There were people who turned around when they learned that it was the AstraZeneca vaccine,” said Anne Frackowiak-Jacobs, the sub-prefect of nearby Grasse.
The vaccination centre at the Palais des Expositions had to be closed after only a handful of people came forward for the AZ Covid vaccineCredit: Rex COVID TEST PRICE DROP
COVID tests for British holidaymakers could fall below £50 in new plans considered by the Treasury, it has been revealed.
The HMRC is looking to exempt private tests for summer holidaymakers from VAT - saving families hundreds of pounds.
Gold standard PCR tests administered or overseen by a registered nurse will be exempt from VAT,
Senior sources told the media outlet that the Treasury could go further and full exempt the tests from the tax which can add 20 percent to the price which ranges from £60 to £300 per test.
This means that holidaymakers could save roughly £40 and £240 for a family of four for a single test each.
The private coronavirus tests could fall below £50Credit: AFP HANCOCK COMMONS STATEMENT
MATT Hancock will make a statement on Covid to the Commons today amid fears a new mutation could delay Boris Johnson's roadmap to freedom.
The Health Secretary will address MPs at 3.30pm over concerns of an Indian variant of the deadly bug.
Officials are looking into whether the variant could spread more easily and evade vaccines.
And while there's not yet enough data to classify it as a "variant of concern", a reported 160 cases have so far been found in the UK - some of which aren't yet linked to travel.
Public Health England has officially confirmed 73 cases of the B.1.617 variant in England as well as four cases in Scotland.
HALF OF US ADULTS JABBED
MORE than half of all US adults have had at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine.
The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said that about 131 million people have now been jabbed once.
And 84 million people had been fully vaccinated.
In the US, everyone who is aged 18 or over is now eligible to get the Covid vaccine.
But the US government's chief Covid adviser Dr Anthony Fauci has warned the US is still in a "precarious position".
The US has the highest Covid death toll in the world, with 567,000 people dying from the disease.
COVID VOLUNTEERS TO GET £5K PAYOUT
A £5,000 payout will be made to young volunteers who are deliberately exposed to Covid during a new UK study.
The volunteers, who will be aged 18-30 and already have had the virus, will be infected a second time to see how the immune system reacts.
Researchers at the University of Oxford have launched the "human challenge" trial to look at what happens when someone who has recovered from Covid-19 infection is then re-exposed to the virus.
They will aim to determine what dose of virus is needed to re-infect after natural infection, how the immune system responds, and what this may mean for developing protective immunity against the disease.
The study, which is funded by the Wellcome Trust and is expected to start this month after receiving ethics approval, will recruit people aged 18-30 who have previously been naturally infected with Covid-19.
Unpaid carer Elle Taylor, 24, receives her first dose of the vaccine in CarmarthenCredit: PA BORIS: CANCELLING TRIP 'SENSIBLE'
BORIS Johnson has said it is "sensible" to cancel his planned trip to India.
But the PM said the UK Health Security Agency is examining whether to add India to the Government's travel "red list".
During a visit to Gloucestershire, Boris said: "The red list is very much a matter for the independent UK Health Security Agency - they will have to take that decision.
"But Narendra Modi and I have basically come to the conclusion that, very sadly, I won't be able to go ahead with the trip.
"I do think it's only sensible to postpone, given what's happened in India, the shape of the pandemic there."
INDIA 'RED LIST' CALLS
THE axing of Boris Johnson's planned trip to India comes amid calls for the Government to add the country to its travel "red list"
Dr Mike Tildesley said the India Covid strain could be more transmissable and resistant to vaccines.
Meanwhile, Environment Secretary George Eustice said the decision not to impose travel restrictions was “under regular review”.
Mr Eustice confirmed that if scientists recommended a ban on travel to and from India, the Government would act.
INDIA TRIP CANCELLED OVER VARIANT FEARS
THE PM'S trip to India was due to be his first major overseas visit since he was elected in December, 2019.
It had been cancelled in January as the UK entered national lockdown,
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Boris will speak later this month to "launch their ambitious plans for the future partnership", a Downing Street statement said,
The two leaders will meet in person later in the year.
It comes as UK cases of the Indian Covid variant have reportedly DOUBLED in a week raising fears its emergence could delay the roadmap to recovery.
Boris Johnson's planned trip to India has been cancelled amid fears over a Covid variantCredit: AFP
