BRITAIN'S calamitous test and trace system has suffered its worst week EVER, latest figures have revealed.
The system failed to reach more than 30% of people who'd been in close contact with somebody who'd tested positive for Covid-19 in the week ending September 30.
The figure means the UK's contact-tracing programme, which Boris Johnson once promised would be "world beating", had suffered its worst week since being introduced.
Additionally, a third of positive Covid-19 cases were not even added to the system during the same time frame – despite the Government declaring a 56% increase in the number of positive tests.
Professor James Naismith, Director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, said. “Unfortunately [the figures] are not encouraging… Particularly concerning was that only 34, 494 were transferred to tracing. 11,000 of the gap resulted from last week’s IT error. Even so, a gap of around 6,000 is disappointing."
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- John Hall
MANY BARS ‘WON’T SURVIVE’ NEW RESTRICTIONS
UKHospitality executive director for Scotland Willie Macleod warned that many businesses won't survive the new restrictions on hospitality and licensed trade in Scotland and said that tens of thousands of jobs will be lost.
He told BBC Breakfast: “Closing bars and restaurants is going to have a massive impact on businesses that are really just climbing back from a prolonged period of lockdown, they've reopened with reduced capacity to cope with social distancing, they were then hit by the 10pm curfew and with reduced demand and reduced consumer confidence business resilience is as low as it can be.
“Many businesses won't survive and I'm afraid we're going to see tens of thousands of job losses by the time we do the final count on all of this.”
- John Hall
MOGG: ’MPS WHO DON’T TURN UP TO WORK ARE PRETTY WET’
Jacob Rees-Mogg has slammed MPs who’re yet to return to the Commons.
When asked about remote participation in the House, he responded: “We need to turn up to do our job. We are an essential service. And I think it's pretty wet, quite frankly, that we expect doctors, nurses, police officers, people working in supermarkets, we expect the cleaners in the House of Commons to come round and do their job, and we say we've got to stay at home because we're not willing to come.
“We have a duty to be here, our public duty – that's why we were elected. We were elected to be an assembly of the nation, not people sitting remotely, throwing stones.”
- John Hall
INFECTION RATES IN LOCAL LOCKDOWN AREAS
- John Hall
JACOB REES-MOGG DEFENDS 10PM CURFEW
Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has defended the 10pm curfew by assuring MPs that the Government is “acting on the advice of Sage”.
Asked by shadow Commons leader Valerie Vaz for the evidence behind the curfew on pubs, restaurants and bars to be released before MPs debate the policy next week, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “As regards to evidence for individual measures, the Government is acting on the advice of Sage.
“The Government has consistently acted on the advice of Sage and all these measures come in on the best available advice – that is the whole point of having Sage in the first place.
- John Hall
CITIES SEEING ‘SERIOUS PROBLEMS’ IN COVID HOTSPOTS
A lot of cities are “now seeing serious problems” around the spread of coronavirus, the chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges said.
Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard told BBC Breakfast on Thursday: “As the cases go up, a few weeks later hospital admissions go up, a few weeks after that, unfortunately, intensive care goes up and then deaths go up.
Asked about Covid-19 hotspots, where cases are rising, she added: “We have all heard in the news about the challenges in the north-east and north-west of England.
“But there are other hotspots too. A lot of cities are now seeing serious problems.
- John Hall
URGENT CANCER REFERRALS DOWN 15 PER CENT
NHS England figures show that a total of 169,660 urgent cancer referrals were made by GPs in England in August 2020, down from 200,317 in August 2019 – a fall of 15 per cent.
This compares with a year-on-year drop of 19 per cent in July, 21 per cent in June and 47 per cent in May.
Urgent breast cancer referrals were down from 13,220 in August 2019 to 9,498 in August 2020 – a fall of 28 per cent.
- John Hall
SCOTTISH LOCKDOWN IS A ‘SHORT, SHARP SHOCK’
Scotland's National Clinical Director said the restrictions north of the border will be a “short, sharp shock” aimed at bringing down the R number, which is currently around 1.5 in Scotland, and bringing prevalence of the virus down as quickly as possible.
Professor Jason Leitch told BBC Breakfast: “About 20% of our cases link back to that kind of pub and hospitality sector.
“Remember, the final thing about the risk here is pubs and hospitality, even mitigated, are more risky than other places because they have an exemption for the distancing so they are allowed to be at one metre distancing and you are allowed to go with two households; so, even mitigated, they are more risky than you in your home just with your own household.”
- John Hall
‘LOTS OF ANXIETY’ ABOUT PROSPECT OF HOSPITALITY SECTOR SHUTTING DOWN
Shadow business minister Lucy Powell, who represents the Manchester Central constituency, tweeted: “It's really upsetting [the prospect of shutting pubs] and a lot of anxiety for all those working in and running restaurants, pubs, bars in “the North” (that place up there where 15m of us live).”
- John Hall
LOCAL LOCKDOWNS
- John Hall
NATION IS AT A ‘TIPPING POINT’
Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, said the “indications are not looking good” as she urged people to stick to local lockdown measures.
She said the nation was at a “tipping point” and warned virus transmission could “get out of control”.
- John Hall
‘EVIDENCE’ HOSPITALITY SECTOR IS INCREASING INFECTIONS
Asked if the hospitality sector is increasingly part of the problem with infection rates, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: “There is evidence that it plays a role.
“It is commonsensical that, with a virus that's transmitted through human contact, the longer one spends with individuals in indoor settings, in a pub or a restaurant, the more likely it is that we spread the virus.”
- John Hall
NUMBER OF COVID PATIENTS IN ICU ‘VERY WORRYING’
The number of people with coronavirus receiving intensive care in hospital is “very worrying”, the chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges said.
Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard told BBC Breakfast on Thursday that the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 over the past month has increased from a “few hundred people per day” to “thousands”.
She said: “A month ago we only had 60 people in the whole of the UK in ITU beds.
“So we are seeing a very worrying trend at the moment.”
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