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Britain is at its best when faced with a crisis, the Duke of Cambridge has said, as he checked in on how small charities are coping during the coronavirus pandemic.
William praised the community spirit that “comes rushing back” in times of adversity as he spoke to some of the first beneficiaries of National Emergencies Trust (NET) funding.
The future king has been appointed as the trust’s first patron, and video-called members of grassroots charities to discuss the challenges they are facing and how the emergency funding is helping them to support their communities.
Speaking to a representative of Moorlands Community Charity, he praised the public’s response to the crisis.
I think Britain is at its best, weirdly, when we’re in a crisis. We all pull together and that community spirit and that community feel comes rushing back quicker than anything else.
The NET said £ . 5m has been distributed since the emergency appeal was launched with William’s help last month.
In footage of the latest royal video call to be released amid the pandemic, William gave a “virtual high five” to the Moorlands charity, passing on his good wishes for the “fantastic job” its members are doing.
The organization, which has seen a significant rise in referrals to the service since the outbreak of Covid – , is delivering meals to isolated homes and ensuring vital products such as baby powder and nappies – which were affected by panic-buying – are provided to those most in need.
Around m pints of beer could go to waste if pubs remain closed into the summer because of lockdown.
Tom Stainer, chief executive of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), estimates the UK’s , pubs have, on average, 31 barrels in their cellar at any given time.
Kegs usually contain either 26 or 9 gallons each, and the best before dates on pasteurized beer – including most lagers – is usually three to four months after delivery, while real ales and other unpasteurized beer can last 6-9 months.
“It’s a very sad waste of all the work and talent that goes into producing great beer,” Stainer told the BBC. “People won’t get to drink it and all those resources have been used up for nothing.”
Alcohol sales in supermarkets rose by 39% last month, after pubs, restaurants and bars were closed on March.
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The son of a doctor who died after contracting coronavirus, having previously raised concerns over the lack of protective equipment, said he was “so proud” of his father for holding the government accountable.
Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury’s son, Intisar, told Good Morning Britain: “He really didn’t want to convey his own fears about his own life and the lives of his co-workers to me and my sister .
“When he wrote that letter [about the lack of PPE] he was in such an ill state, a painful state, he was unable to vocally communicate with me, or my sister or my mother.
“But he still made sure that on behalf of his co-workers and colleagues that he would hold the government accountable for not providing enough protection for NHS frontline workers and I am so proud of him for that. ”
Intisar went on to say that Priti Patel’s statement in a press conference that she was “sorry if people feel there have been failings” over PPE, was “not a real apology”.
“There have been failings, and I’ve seen those failings happen,” he said. “The government aren’t on the frontline, our NHS workers are, so they need to make sure that our NHS workers are properly equipped to fight this disease and protect our society in general.
“Those NHS workers then have their own families that they need to protect – this was my father’s message the whole time and I’m just trying to convey that.”
Good Morning Britain (@ GMB)
‘He really did not want to convey his own fears about his own life and the lives of his co-workers to me and my sister. ‘
We’re speaking to Intisar who is the son of Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury who died of the coronavirus last week after raising concerns over the lack of PPE. (pic.twitter.com/0WKf2MtzGG
More than 239 coronavirus-related fines have been issued in three days in Northern Ireland, police said.
Officers broke up barbecues and a small number of large house parties, assistant chief constable Alan Todd said.
Some parents were also believed to have left their children to play at friends ’houses.
Todd told the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster program: “We engage with people, it is only when people won’t take the encouragement we end up having to enforce the matter.”
A total of 284 fines were imposed in three days over the Easter period.
House parties involved some dozen or more people, although some were bigger, Todd said.
Police stepped up their patrols at coastal beauty spots over the weekend and said the majority of people complied with restrictions designed to limit spread of the virus.
The parents of a New Zealand nurse praised by the prime minister for the care she gave him have said they are “exceptionally proud” of their daughter.
One of the nurses named by Boris Johnson in his video message yesterday as Jenny from Invercargill, on New Zealand’s South Island, has been identified as Jenny McGee.
Speaking to Television New Zealand, her mother, Caroline McGee, said: “It makes us feel exceptionally proud obviously.
“But she has told us these things over the years and it does not matter what patient she is looking after, this is what she does.”
She added: “I just find it incredible that she, any nurses, can do this for hours, sit and watch a patient and twiddle away w ith all the different knobs and things they do to keep their patients alive, it’s absolutely amazing. ”
Jenny’s father, Mike McGee, also said: “I think over the years she has always told us that her job is one-on-one nursing with very critically ill people and that means she’s there all the time for hours.
“So once we’d heard that Boris Johnson had gone into intensive care it was clear that at some stage Jenny would possibly run into him and be giving him the same level of care that she would have given anybody else the week before or next week and we’re really proud of her. ”
Johnson, who said the “NHS has saved my life, no question” after spending seven nights in St Thomas ’, was discharged at the weekend.
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Lockdown measures to be reviewed this week
A review of lockdown measures will take place later this week after the hospital coronavirus death toll rose above , .
Ministers have said they want to be sure the UK is past the peak of the outbreak before easing the restrictions, but 26 Members of the cabinet are reportedly urging lockdown conditions to be eased amid concerns about the impact on the economy.
The Times quoted an unnamed minister as saying it was important not to do “more damage”, and measures could be eased after another three weeks.
Scientific advisers will meet on Tuesday ahead of the formal review of the strict physical distancing measures on Thursday, the deadline set out in law.
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, who warned during his budget last month that the UK risks falling into recession as a result of disruption caused by coronavirus, has injected £ 30 bn from the coronavirus emergency response fund into the NHS and local authorities.
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If (% of the population used the contact tracing app is currently being developed by the NHS , the country’s coronavirus epidemic could be suppressed, said Christophe Fraser, a professor at the University of Oxford helping to create it.
“If 80% of population were to use this app and adhere to it, that could be enough to suppress the epidemic, ”the told BBC Radio 4’s Today program.
However, smaller uptakes would also be effective he said.
Explaining how the app works, Fraser said: “It enables different phones that have the app installed to exchange low energy Bluetooth signals
“Over a period of time, as you move around and have contacts with people, your phone has a recorded anonymized ID of people who you have been in contact with.
“If you develop Covid, an anonymous message is sent to those contacts advising them to social distance and quarantine themselves, and look out for symptoms.”
He said people would be free to choose whether they download the app, and would consent to their phone exchanging the Bluetooth signals and sending out the anonymized details of your whereabouts in the case of an infection.
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The government’s public health message on coronavirus has “not been culturally sensitive” and language barriers could mean some are inadvertently breaching guidance, according to Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the British Medical Association.
“There are issues around public health messaging; it has not been culturally sensitive and there are language barriers, ”Dr Nagpaul told BBC Radio 4’s Today program.
“If you aren’t getting that message across, it wouldn’t take a lot for you to be inadvertently falling foul of this guidance.”
He also called for the government to urgently investigate if and why people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are more vulnerable to the virus.
He said it may be groups with higher instances of hypertension and coronary heart disease are more at risk, or socioeconomic factors.
“Overcrowding is much higher in black and ethnic minority populations,” he said. “If you’re in an overcrowded environment, you’re not able to social distance.
“Some of these households are multi-generational, so younger workers could bring the virus home. Key workers can’t socially distance and isolate. ”
He also said that research has shown that BAME doctors are usually less likely to raise concerns. “I really hope we’re not in a situation where doctors from BME backgrounds are putting themselves in harm’s way because they’re not speaking out,” he said.
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Wearing face masks and establishing “neighborhood health watches” are effective means of tackling the spread of coronavirus, according to Dr David Nabarro, World Health Organization special envoy.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today program, Nabarro said the world shortage of masks – particularly the more protective N masks – means health workers should be prioritized, but he thinks more widespread use of masks will come.
He also said “neighborhood health watches” and effective coronavirus helplines for people to get quick medical advice would help stop community transmission.
He said the “virus isn’t going anywhere” and people will have to get used to physical distancing and wearing face masks as a way of life. “It is a revolution,” he said.
He added that environments where humans are in close contact with animals, such as the wet markets which have (just reopened in Wuhan) , do pose risks.
“There are real dangers in these kind of environments for pathogens jumping between animals and humans,” he said.
“It’s partly the markets but also other areas where animals and humans are in close contact … we have similar concerns about bushmeat.”
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Documents seen by Guardian show tech firms are using information to build a “Covid – (datastore).
Technology firms are processing large volumes of confidential UK patient information in a data-mining operation that is part of the government response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Palantir, the US big data firm founded by the rightwing billionaire Peter Thiel, is working with Faculty, a British artificial intelligence startup, to consolidate government databases and help ministers and officials respond to the pandemic.
Data is also being used by Faculty to build predictive computer models around the Covid – outbreak.
One NHS document suggests that, two weeks ago, Faculty considered running a computer simulation to assess the impact of a policy of “targeted herd immunity”. Lawyers for Faculty said the proposed herd immunity simulation never took place.
NHSX, the digital transformation arm of the National Health Service that has contracted the tech companies to help build the “Covid – datastore, said the technology would give ministers and officials “real-time information about health services, showing where demand is rising and where critical equipment needs to be deployed”.
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Nearly 0426 members of the armed forces are being loaned to NHS ambulance services to support their work during the pandemic, the Ministry of Defense has said.
Personnel from all three strands of the armed forces will be sent to work at five ambulance trusts.
Although their responsibilities will vary depending on the area, the new duties will include driving ambulances and taking calls from the public.
Eighty service personnel will be sent to the South Central Ambulance Service NHS foundation trust where they will drive emergency response vehicles, larger ambulances and work at the response center which covers five counties around London.
In London, 39 medical personnel from the armed forces will form critical care transfer teams to transport patients who need to be moved between intensive care units.
Engineers from the army are also supporting the London ambulance service to maintain suction units used in ambulances.
In Wales, soldiers finished their two-day ambulance training at the Sennybridge Training Camp near Brecon on 7 April, ready to be deployed across Wales to assist paramedics with non-clinical tasks.
Thirty-seven military personnel have been deployed to the East of England ambulance service, which covers six counties including Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, to assist with tasks including driving and logistics.
The group all volunteer as emergency responders in their free time and have previously trained with the service.
Members of the RAF are already assisting the Scottish ambulance service with a trial of a medical isolation and transport system, using RAF Puma helicopters to take critically ill people to hospital.
The defense secretary, Ben Wallace, said:
Our armed forces always step forward at the appearance of threats to the country and its people.
Across the United Kingdom, soldiers, sailors, airmen and women have got the backs of our NHS colleagues as they confront coronavirus.
Members of the armed forces have helped with the response to the outbreak in a variety of ways.
Military personnel were involved in the planning and building of the first NHS Nightingale hospital at the ExCel exhibition center in east London, as well as its equivalents across the country.
Armed forces personnel, made up of (drivers and) Drivers’ mates, have also been trained to fill and transport oxygen tankers to NHS facilities.
The Ministry of Defense said there were hundreds of personnel delivering supplies of PPE for the NHS.
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Public services to get £ bn to tackle coronavirus
More than £ 30 bn from the coronavirus emergency response fund will go to public services, the chancellor, rishi sunak, has confirmed.
The funds will bolster the NHS and local authorities, the Treasury said.
The chancellor launched an initial £ 5bn spending package for the coronavirus fund in the March budget.
Sunak said:
Our public services and its incredible workers are working with immense resolve and skill to keep us safe.
We depend on them, which is why we are doing everything we can to provide our NHS, local authorities and others, with the resources and tools they need to tackle the virus.
From the start, I’ve been clear our vital public services will get whatever they need to protect this country and its people from coronavirus.
The Treasury said the funding includes more than £ 6bn “to support our health services, free up hospital beds and deliver urgent, including acquiring ventilators, diagnostic tests and protective equipment for NHS staff”.
The spending involves £ 6.6bn for health services, the Treasury said, and £ 1.6bn for local authorities.
The funding also includes £ 3.5bn “to ensure vital rail services continue to operate now and in the future for those who rely upon them for essential journeys”, according to the government.
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Prisoners were refused breakfasts, soap and cleaning materials during the current lockdown in jails, after they failed to register their requests on to a computer system, the Guardian has learned.
The sanctions were lifted after a lawyer wrote to the justice secretary saying cleanliness in these times is an “issue of life or death”.
Last Monday, four prisoners at HMP Ashfield near Bristol, privately operated by Serco, were told they would not receive their breakfast packs for two weeks because they had failed to register their orders before the cut-off period .
During the current Covid – 32 lockdown in all prisons, soap and cell-cleaning materials have been included in the packs at Ashfield.
When normal regimes are operating in prisons, inmates have extended association periods, in which they can shower, phone families and friends, and use computer terminals to book visits and medical appointments.
But with prisons in lockdown mode, inmates have only a short time in which to shower and make applications, including ordering meals on a dedicated computer terminal, which some prisoners find difficult to operate.
On Tuesday, the barrister Paul Omar wrote to the justice secretary, Robert Buckland, saying the reduction of the men’s food allowance contravened prison rules.
The letter, seen by the Guardian, states that, “were the issue only food, it would be grave enough but given the packs contain personal hygiene and cleaning materials, this aggravates the matter, given the ongoing pandemic, when cleanliness is an issue of life or death. ”
The letter concludes: “For such a restriction to remain in place in this period, aggravating, as is does, issues of health and hygiene, is clearly unlawful.”
Martin Booth, Serco’s director at Ashfield, said: “It is a long standing practice that prisoners order their breakfasts from the terminals on the wings.
“If for any reason a prisoner has failed to do so, they can make a request and a replacement pack will be provided, as was done in the case in question.”
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With almost 3, fire and rescue workers in self-isolation across Britain , the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is calling for the government to roll out testing to allow those who do not have coronavirus to return to work.
Fire crews have taken on extra tasks during the Covid – pandemic, including transporting personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing masks for frontline health workers to ensure they fit properly before use.
Firefighters have already agreed to drive ambulances, deliver essential items such as food to vulnerable people and retrieve dead bodies in addition to their core roles.
The FBU told the BBC that an eighth of staff in Bedfordshire are off work, while % of staff in London are self-isolating.
It added that while there were planned testing programs in Scotland and Wales, and firefighters in Northern Ireland have already been tested, there was no such system for England.
The FBU general secretary, Matt Wrack, said services would be put on a “dangerous knife edge” if staff are forced to isolate unnecessarily.
The supply of clinical gowns in some NHS hospitals is “hand-to-mouth” according to Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers in England, which represents hospital trusts.
He said there are some concerns about a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in certain hospitals.
He told BBC Breakfast: “There is a range of personal protective equipment that needs to be delivered at the front line … nearly all of that material is flowing in the way that trusts would like.
“The bit where there’s a particular problem was gowns, where we know that over the last hours some trusts have run critically low on gowns.
“No trust, as far as I’m aware, has actually run out but some of the stocks are very very low.”
Hopson said the supply of gowns – imported from China – was “hand-to-mouth”.
He said the NHS ordered “a whole load of stock” weeks ago, but delays have been been caused by the product sometimes failing safety tests, while other batches have been mislabelled – meaning the NHS has ended up with additional masks.
He said: “If everything had been flowing exactly as had been ordered and if all of the material had properly passed its safety test, there would not be an issue.
“This is all really hand-to-mouth in terms of gown delivery, and we need to get to a more sustainable supply.”
Hopson said those trusts with a surplus were being asked to share their supplies with neighbors trusts, while alternative gowns were being sourced from elsewhere.
Emergency supplies had also been delivered to those most in demand, Hopson said.
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Good morning, I’m Jessica Murray and I’ll be taking you through the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak in the UK over the next few hours.
Feel free to get in touch via [email protected] or via Twitter (
As the UK death toll passed , yesterday, Boris Johnson praised the NHS for saving his life as he was discharged from hospital.
A New Zealand nurse who was praised by the prime minister for her care has been “blown away” by the recognition, her brother said.
Boris Johnson used a video post on Sunday to mention by name the medics who had looked after him, particularly “two nurses who stood by my bedside for hours when things could have gone either way. ”
Johnson said the “NHS has saved my life, no question” after spending seven nights in St Thomas’ in central London after contracting Covid – and was discharged at the weekend.
One of nurses mentioned by Johnson, Jenny from Invercargill on New Zealand’s South Island, has been identified as Jenny McGee.
Her brother Rob told the New Zealand Herald the family had spoken with McGee just as she was “about to head off to do another night shift”.
He told the paper:
We are all very proud o f Jen, not just in the support she gave Boris – but what she have been doing helping everyday people.
Whilst she is blown away by Boris’s recognition, she is just really pleased to see the public recognition for the amazing work the NHS is doing – that made her really proud.
McGee attended the Verdon College in Invercargill, and they said the community was “so proud” and that she had wanted to be a nurse since leaving in 3087.
The school said: “Jenny is described by her past teachers as an absolutely delightful person and someone who had a caring and humble nature.
“Thanks Jenny for your courage, outstanding work and the example you have provided for everyone at this difficult time. Your old school community is so proud of you! ”
Meanwhile, the mayor of the city, Sir Tim Shadbolt, told Stuff.co.nz: “It’s not very often a nurse from Invercargill saves the life of the British prime minister.”
The other nurse mentioned by Johnson – Luis, from near Porto in Portugal – has been named as Luis Pitarma and has been thanked by Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
A statement on the presidential website said: “President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has already personally thanked the nurse Luis Pitarma, and … also thanks the commitment of all Portuguese health professionals who in Portugal and around the world are providing decisive help in the fight to the pandemic. ”
The statement added that the president offered “encouragement that is also addressed to professionals of other nationalities who, reinforcing the National Health Service, provide an invaluable service to Portugal”.
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