Boris Johnson news latest – Prime Minister says July 19 Freedom Day 'looking good' amid fears of winter Covid lockdown
Boris Johnson said that July 19 was "looking good" when asked if he would rule out further lockdowns this winter.
The Prime Minister insisted his belief the new Freedom Day target would be "a terminus point", despite experts warning a lockdown could be needed if the NHS is overrun by a new 'third wave'.
"You can never exclude that there will be some new disease, some new horror that we simply haven't budgeted for, or accounted for," the Prime Minister told reporters during a visit to a laboratory in Hertfordshire.
"But looking at where we are, looking at the efficacy of the vaccines against all variants that we can currently see – so Alpha, Delta, the lot of them, Kappa – I think it's looking good for July 19 to be that terminus point.
"I think what the scientists are saying is that things like flu will come back this winter, we may have a rough winter for all sorts of reasons, and obviously there are big pressures on the NHS.
"All the more reason to reduce the number of Covid cases now, give the NHS the breathing space it needs to get on with dealing with all those other pressures, and we are certainly going to be putting in the investment to make sure that they can."
Read our coronavirus live blog below for the latest news and updates…
- [email protected]
MORE THAN ONE MILLION COVID JABS BOOKED IN JUST TWO DAYS
More than one million Covid-19 jabs were booked in just two days after the NHS opened its vaccination programme to all remaining adults in England.
A total of 1,008,472 appointments were arranged over Friday and Saturday through the booking service, NHS England said – an average of more than 21,000 every hour, or six every second.
The full figure is likely to be higher as it does not include appointments at local GP-led vaccination services or people getting the jab at walk-in centres.
The NHS has now administered around 62 million doses since Margaret Keenan became the first member of the public to get a jab on December 8.
Four in five adults have now received their first vaccination, according to NHS England figures – with three in five having both.
- [email protected]
WHEN IS THE NEXT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT HOLIDAYS?
The Government has suggested it will announce its latest review of its 'traffic light' system on June 28.
Currently people can visit countries on the Green list and return without needing to quarantine. For countries on the Amber list you must self-isolate for 10 days and travel to countries on the Red list is actively discouraged.
Hopes that the Balearic Islands would be added to the list during the last review were dashed when instead the Government made few alterations except to move Portugal to the amber list – throwing thousands of people's holidays into turmoil.
- [email protected]
JAB HOPE
Boris Johnson has declared he's "looking at" plans to let double-jabbed Brits ditch quarantine, raising hopes for summer holidays.
The PM confirmed ministers are mulling an Israeli-style blueprint that would replace the need for self-isolation with daily testing.
Such a system is also being considered for domestic use when fully vaccinated people come into contact with someone who's tested positive.
But even has he offered a ray of hope to sun starved families, Boris also warned this will be "a difficult year for travel".
And he all but strongly hinted that no new countries will be added to the green list when it's reviewed at the end of the week.
- [email protected]
PERIOD PAINS
Alterations to usual period patterns among some women after they received a Covid-19 jab could have occurred "by chance", leading gynaecologists have said.
Experts at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) said that many women experience a temporary change to their periods in their lifetime, so for some women the change may occur around the time they receive a Covid-19 vaccine.
But RCOG said that anecdotally some women had reported heavier periods after receiving the vaccine and it said it would support "more data collection in this area to understand why this might be the case".
It comes after data suggested that almost 4,000 women had reported changes after they received a vaccine.
The Sunday Times reported that the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had 2,734 reports after women had received the AstraZeneca vaccine, 1,158 related to the Pfizer jab, and 66 linked to the Moderna vaccine up to May 17.
- [email protected]
DEEP BREATHS
Using an asthma inhaler could speed up Covid-19 recovery by three days, experts have claimed.
It has raised hopes the extended lockdown could end sooner, as the NHS would have another tool to manage any surge in hospitalisations and cases.
The average stay for a patient admitted to hospital with coronavirus is eight days, with inhalers able to reduce this by three days.
In the UK there are 1,316 patients in hospital with the virus with 226 being admitted each day, government data states.
Ministers told MPs last week doctors have been prescribing inhalers to patients on a "case-by-case" basis, The Telegraph reported.
- [email protected]
WATCH: MATT HANCOCK SAYS GOVERNMENT IS WORKING ON BOOSTER JAB PROGRAMME
Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the Government is working on the booster jab programme and should have clinical data in the next few weeks
- Joseph Gamp
STURGEON RECEIVES SECOND CORONAVIRUS VACCINE DOSE
Scotland's First Minister has received her second dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
Nicola Sturgeon became one of the more than two million Scots to have two doses, on being vaccinated at the NHS Louisa Jordan vaccination centre at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow on Monday.
Following staff nurse Susan Inglis inoculating her with her second dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, she celebrated being double vaccinated and urged people ensure they attend their appointments for second doses.
She tweeted: "Double vaccinated! Thank you @NHSLouisaJordan.
"Please roll up your sleeve for both doses as soon as you are invited for an appointment – every single one of us who gets fully vaccinated is a step back to normality for all of us."
- Joseph Gamp
MAPPED: EUROPEAN COUNTRIES WITH TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS ON ARRIVAL TO UK – BY NATION
- Joseph Gamp
DOWNING STREET DISMISSES CLAIMS G7 SUMMIT CONTRIBUTED TO A SPIKE IN CASES
Downing Street has denied that the G7 summit in Cornwall was responsible for an increase in coronavirus cases in the area.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said it had always been expected that cases across the country would rise following the last easing of lockdown restrictions in England in May.
"Attendees going to the G7 were tested before arriving and throughout the summit. We are not aware of any cases of transmission to local residents," the spokesman said.
"We always said that, following the move to step three (of the Government's road map out of lockdown), we would see cases rising across the country. That is what we are seeing playing out."
- Joseph Gamp
FREEDOM COULD COME 'SOONER RATHER THAN LATER' ON JULY 5 THANKS TO COVID VACCINE PUSH, EXPERT REVEALS
Freedom could come ‘sooner rather than later’ on July 5 thanks to Covid vaccine push, expert reveals
- Joseph Gamp
MATT HANCOCK: GOVERNMENT WORKING ON BOOSTER JAB PROGRAMME
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Government is working on the booster jab programme and should have clinical data in the next few weeks.
He told BBC Breakfast that second jabs offer very strong protection “but there is more protection still that we think that you can get from a booster jab and we’re currently trialling which combinations of jabs are the most effective”.
“When we know the results of that, then we will set out the full plans for the booster programme over the autumn,” he said.
“We’ve got to make sure we get the logistics right; for instance, GPs have been so heavily involved in this vaccination effort, but GPs have also got to do their day job, so that’s something we’re working hard on now, and, in the next few weeks, when we get the clinical data through on what’s the most effective combinations to have… then we’ll set out all the details of the booster programme for the autumn.”
On NHS waiting times, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there is a “big and challenging backlog that has been caused by the pandemic” and suggested it could take up to a few years to clear.
- Joseph Gamp
MANCHESTER MAYOR ANDY BURNHAM HITS BACK AT STURGEON OVER SCOTLAND TRAVEL BAN
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, responding to Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's comments, said: "I find that insulting, not for me, but for people here who are directly affected by what she announced. It's not just the direct impact on Greater Manchester, it's on our reputation as a city.
"If the First Minister of a country stands up at a press conference and announces that the UK's second city is going under a travel ban, it has an impact. People elsewhere in Europe, around the world, hear that. So it's not like it's just a sort of more localised thing between us and Scotland, it has an impact on our city region.
"I don't think we've been treated with the respect we deserve and I'm talking mainly there of the people of Greater Manchester, not myself. It's had a real impact. It's had an impact with people with holiday cottages booked, people who are having to go for work reasons.
"So to suggest, as the First Minister has done today, 'Oh, this is all about politics and posturing', well say that to them, say that to those people.
"Why is Bolton under a travel ban today, when it has a case rate that is quite a lot lower than Dundee? How is that fair?"
- Joseph Gamp
GOVERNMENT MOVES TO SCRAP 10-DAY QUARANTINE FOR COVID CONTACTS
Matt Hancock has said he plans to scrap the requirement for people who have had two Covid-19 jabs and come into contact with an infected person to isolate for 10 days.
The Health Secretary said the approach is currently being piloted but will be introduced as soon as possible once clinicians have looked at the data.
It came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the July 19 date for easing the final restrictions in England is "looking good", when asked if he would rule out further lockdowns this winter.
"You can never exclude that there will be some new disease, some new horror that we simply haven't budgeted for, or accounted for," he told reporters during a visit to a laboratory in Hertfordshire.
"But looking at where we are, looking at the efficacy of the vaccines against all variants that we can currently see… I think it's looking good for July 19 to be that terminus point."
- Joseph Gamp
BORIS JOHNSON SAYS JULY 19 'LOOKING GOOD' WHEN ASKED IF THERE WILL BE A NEW LOCKDOWN THIS WINTER
Boris Johnson said that July 19 was "looking good" when asked if he would rule out further lockdowns this winter.
"You can never exclude that there will be some new disease, some new horror that we simply haven't budgeted for, or accounted for," the Prime Minister told reporters during a visit to a laboratory in Hertfordshire.
"But looking at where we are, looking at the efficacy of the vaccines against all variants that we can currently see – so Alpha, Delta, the lot of them, Kappa – I think it's looking good for July 19 to be that terminus point.
"I think what the scientists are saying is that things like flu will come back this winter, we may have a rough winter for all sorts of reasons, and obviously there are big pressures on the NHS.
"All the more reason to reduce the number of Covid cases now, give the NHS the breathing space it needs to get on with dealing with all those other pressures, and we are certainly going to be putting in the investment to make sure that they can."
- Joseph Gamp
SNAPCHAT, TIKTOK, REDDIT AND YOUTUBE ENCOURAGE YOUNG PEOPLE TO GET VACCINATED
Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok, and YouTube have partnered with the Government and NHS in a bid to encourage more young people to get vaccinated.
It comes as all adults aged over 18 are invited to receive the vaccine in England.
Dr Karan Rangarajan, an NHS surgeon and influencer who uses social media to tackle the spread of misinformation, told the PA news agency: “If you really want to get on top of the misinformation, and get ahead of the game, you need to go to the source of where it is coming from. And most of it is coming from social media.”
The 31-year-old, who has 3.9 million followers on TikTok, said it was crucial these platforms were used to target younger people who might be “historically or traditionally more averse to getting their vaccine”.
“Misinformation affects all groups equally and there is a large user base that is in their late teens or early 20s,” he said.
- Joseph Gamp
NICOLA STURGEON: MANCHESTER MAYOR ANDY BURNHAM IS 'PLAYING POLITICS' OVER SCOTLAND'S TRAVEL RULES
Nicola Sturgeon has suggested Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is playing politics in the row over the Scottish Government's Covid-19 travel ban on people from Greater Manchester entering Scotland.
Scotland's First Minister told BBC News: "These are public health measures. I have a duty, and it's one I take very seriously, to keep Scotland as safe as possible.
"I'm sure Andy Burnham feels the same sense of duty toward people in the Greater Manchester area.
"I've always got on well with Andy Burnham and if he wants to have a grown-up conversation he only has to pick up the phone but if, as I suspect might be the case, this is more about generating a spat with me as part of some positioning in a Labour leadership contest in future, then I'm not interested.
"We've all got a serious job of work to do right now and I'm serious about doing that job in a way that keeps Scotland as safe as I possibly can."
- Joseph Gamp
BRAZIL HITS 500,000 COVID DEATHS AS PRESIDENT JAIR BOLSONARO STILL REFUSES TO BACK SOCIAL DISTANCING
Brazil hits 500,000 Covid deaths as President Jair Bolsonaro still refuses to back social distancing
- Joseph Gamp
PLEASE DO HAVE THE JAB,' SAYS WOMAN WHO RECEIVED WORLD'S FIRST COVID VACCINE
The woman who received the world's first Covid jab outside trial conditions has urged other people to get vaccinated.
Margaret Keenan was given the dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at Coventry's University Hospital on December 8 2020.
The 91-year-old told BBC Breakfast: "Whatever you thought before, please do have the jab.
"There is nothing to it. Don't be afraid of a needle. It is just to save your life and to save other lives."She added that it "did feel very important to have it done" and she had hoped at the time that it would get "the ball rolling" in kickstarting the vaccination programme.
- Joseph Gamp
MORE THAN ONE MILLION COVID JABS BOOKED IN JUST TWO DAYS
More than one million Covid-19 jabs were booked in just two days after the NHS opened its vaccination programme to all remaining adults in England.
A total of 1,008,472 appointments were arranged over Friday and Saturday through the booking service, NHS England said – an average of more than 21,000 every hour, or six every second.
The full figure is likely to be higher as it does not include appointments at local GP-led vaccination services or people getting the jab at walk-in centres.
The NHS has now administered around 62 million doses since Margaret Keenan became the first member of the public to get a jab on December 8.
Four in five adults have now received their first vaccination, according to NHS England figures – with three in five having both.
- Joseph Gamp
GRAPHIC: COVID VACCINATIONS IN THE UK
- Joseph Gamp
MATT HANCOCK: GOVERNMENT WORKING ON BOOSTER JAB PROGRAMME
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Government is working on the booster jab programme and should have clinical data in the next few weeks.
He told BBC Breakfast that second jabs offer very strong protection "but there is more protection still that we think that you can get from a booster jab and we're currently trialling which combinations of jabs are the most effective".
"When we know the results of that, then we will set out the full plans for the booster programme over the autumn," he said.
"We've got to make sure we get the logistics right; for instance, GPs have been so heavily involved in this vaccination effort, but GPs have also got to do their day job, so that's something we're working hard on now, and, in the next few weeks, when we get the clinical data through on what's the most effective combinations to have… then we'll set out all the details of the booster programme for the autumn."
On NHS waiting times, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there is a "big and challenging backlog that has been caused by the pandemic" and suggested it could take up to a few years to clear.
- Joseph Gamp
GRAPHIC: UK COVID-19 CASES AND DEATHS PER DAY
- Joseph Gamp
BODY OF ARMED BELGIAN ANTI-VACCINE FAR-RIGHT SOLDIER FOUND
Police had launched a manhunt after the soldier had disappeared from his home on 17 May.
The body of a fugitive soldier who had gone missing with a stash of weapons after threatening a virologist has been found by Belgian police.
The fugitive had threatened virologist Marc Van Ranst for supporting COVID-19 vaccines as well as Belgian institutions and celebrities.
Marc has become a target for conspiracy theorists, Covid-sceptics and the Flemish far-right in Belgium during the coronavirus crisis.
- Joseph Gamp
SNAPCHAT, TIKTOK, REDDIT AND YOUTUBE ENCOURAGE YOUNG PEOPLE TO GET VACCINATED
Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok, and YouTube have partnered with the Government and NHS in a bid to encourage more young people to get vaccinated.
It comes as all adults aged over 18 are invited to receive the vaccine in England.
Dr Karan Rangarajan, an NHS surgeon and influencer who uses social media to tackle the spread of misinformation, told the PA news agency: "If you really want to get on top of the misinformation, and get ahead of the game, you need to go to the source of where it is coming from. And most of it is coming from social media."
The 31-year-old, who has 3.9 million followers on TikTok, said it was crucial these platforms were used to target younger people who might be "historically or traditionally more averse to getting their vaccine".
"Misinformation affects all groups equally and there is a large user base that is in their late teens or early 20s," he said.
- Joseph Gamp
COVID CASES RISE BY 23% IN A WEEK BUT DEATHS REMAIN LOW AFTER EXPERTS WARN ANOTHER LOCKDOWN COULD BE ON THE HORIZON
Covid cases rise by 23% in a week but deaths remain low after experts warn another lockdown could be on the horizon
Source: Read Full Article