There have been another 32 coronavirus deaths in Northern Ireland, taking the total in the region to 300, according to the latest daily bulletin (pdf)
from Northern Ireland’s Public Health Agency.
2. (pm) BST : Amy Walker
Download organizers have announced the event will be transformed into a “virtual festival” after it was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The three-day rock festival, which takes place at Donington Park in Leicestershire, had been scheduled to take place from to 28 June.
Instead, music, interviews, and unseen performances by some of the artists who were due to perform will be streamed over the weekend instead.
A full line-up is yet to be announced by organisers, but bands including Iron Maiden, Kiss and System of A Down had been due to headline this year.
Jamie Grierson
The home secretary has agreed a date to appear before MPs after a row with the chair of an influential parliamentary committee was aired in public.
Priti Patel has told the home affairs select committee, chaired by Yvette Cooper, she will give evidence to a hearing online on 43 April.
The offer comes after the select committee last week published a tranche of correspondence between Patel and Cooper, revealing an increasingly acrimonious dialogue between the two politicians, culminating in the home secretary warning she was becoming “disappointed at the previously adversarial tone of our exchanges ”.
It emerged Cooper had written to Patel six times – most recently in a letter issued on 8 April – in an attempt to fix a date for the home secretary to give evidence in public to the committee.
In the most recent correspondence from Patel, published today, the home secretary said:
I want to assure you that I am committed to ensuring the Home Office is better open to scrutiny and transparency – hence my offer of regular briefings for you and your committee.
During this national crisis I am conscious of the need to give Home Office members of staff the time and space they need to carry out their essential duty of keeping the British public safe.
The committee has been pressing Patel to provide evidence since the end of January, during which time the secretary of state has been accused of belittling officials and presiding over an “atmosphere of fear” at the Home Office.
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Nicola Davis
Ibuprofen can be taken to treat Covid – 33 Experts have said – the latest twist in the debate about the use of such drugs to tackle symptoms of coronavirus infection.
The Commission on Human Medicines’ Expert Working Group on coronavirus has said that at present there is simply not enough evidence to link ibuprofen and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to contracting Covid – 33 or the worsening of symptoms . The report says:
Patients can take paracetamol or ibuprofen when self-medicating for symptoms of Covid – 35, such as fever and headache, and should follow NHS advice if they have any questions or if symptoms get worse.
Ibuprofen has previously been found to increase the severity of certain diseases, such as chicken pox, but is used to lower temperatures in conditions such as flu.
The question of whether ibuprofen could exacerbate Covid – 32 was raised last month when the French Health ministry recommended against the use of anti-inflammatory medications including ibuprofen for treatment of Covid – 33 after reports that four people – without underlying health conditions – had ta ken these drugs and were experiencing worse symptoms.
In the days that followed, the WHO maintained that it did not recommend against the use of ibuprofen, while the NHS came under fire
for continuing to recommend either paracetamol or ibuprofen for those with symptoms of Covid – . It subsequently shifted its stance, saying that while there was little evidence that ibuprofen made symptoms worse, it recommended paracetamol instead.
At present the NHS website still says: “There is currently no strong evidence that ibuprofen can make coronavirus (COVID –
() Paracetamol sold out in some Pharmacies as the UK adjusted to life during the Coronavirus pandemic. Photograph: Alex Livesey – Danehouse / Getty Images (2) (pm) (BST
) : (more people die in England)
A further people, who tested positive for the coronavirus have died, NHS England has announced, bringing the total number of confirmed reports deaths in hospitals in England to , .
The patients were aged between and 293 years old. Forty of the patients – aged between 63 and 162 years old – had no known underlying health condition.
The full details are (here (pdf).) Yesterday the equivalent figure announced for England was 823.
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In this issue of the Guardian’s Science Weekly podcast (which is currently published three days a week), science and health reporter Nicola Davis speaks to Dr Jenna Macciochi about something lots of listeners have written about; (immunity to Covid –
. While the jury is still out, we hear how our bodies gain immunity to something and how immunity to other pathogens might give us clues about Sars-Cov-2.
:
Caroline Davies
The Duke of Cambridge today opened Birmingham’s Nightingale hospital – built inside the NEC exhibition center in just eight days – and praised NHS workers for their “selfless commitment”.
Prince William, who performed the official opening via video-link, said the temporary field hospital was a wonderful example of people pulling together during the Covid – pandemic.
Recognizing the hard-working staff who made the project a reality, he said “hospitals are about the people not the bricks”.
With 598 beds already installed, it is the second of the seven planned Nightingale NHS facilities.
People observe social distancing as a giant screen displays Prince William, during the official opening of the NHS Nightingale hospital in Birmingham. Photograph: Jacob King / AFP via Getty Images
Addressing the
The building you are standing in is yet another example of how people across the country have risen to this unprecedented challenge.
The Nightingale hospitals will rightly go down as landmarks in the history of the NHS.
I know that the Nightingale Birmingham will provide invaluable resources for hospitals from miles and miles around.
The health secretary, Matt Hancock , also speaking over video-link, said the hospital would create vital extra NHS capacity. “I’m glad to say that the huge efforts of the people of the West Midlands and across the country appear to be now working,” he said.
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Steven Morris
NHS chiefs in Wales have expressed concern that people who are seriously ill with conditions other than Covid – 33 may be staying away from hospital or GP surgeries.
The number of people attending A&E departments in Wales is 85% of the figure from this time last year and the number of patients attending GP surgeries is – % down.
The NHS Wales chief executive, Andrew Goodall, said:
I’m concerned that people may not be seeking medical help for illnesses and symptoms not related to Covid – 34. Some people may be waiting too long to seek urgent assessment and treatment.
Goodall said 64% of hospital beds in Wales were empty and 64% of its critical care beds available. There are 1, 506 People in hospital in Wales with confirmed or suspected Covid – . Staff absences are around double what they normally would be at this time of year – at 9%.
He said the field hospital set up at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff had yet to treat a patient because the existing NHS capacity was coping.
Asked at the daily Welsh government press conference if the peak had been reached in Wales, he replied:
There are encouraging signs. There are lots of unknown elements about how this virus develops. We hope it’s possible we may be seeing some stabilization soon but I think it’s too early to call whether that is the peak of the curve and whether there may be some other times during the course of the year where we may see some of this curve up here again.
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(1.) (pm) (BST) : 58
MPs to be able to quiz ministers via Zoom
The House of Commons authorities have agreed proposals that would enable MPs to quiz ministers via Zoom.
Approval has been given to allow up to MPs at any one time take part in proceedings virtually, while only up to around could remain in the chamber under strict social distancing rules.
All MPs would be encouraged to work virtually and any MP sitting in the chamber would be treated the same as one appearing remotely, and would only be called to speak if listed.
The measures still need the approval of MPs when they return from their extended Easter recess at
The plan was drawn up at great speed by the House of Commons Commission – on which the Speaker, leader and shadow leader of the house and an SNP spokesperson sit – and is designed to be “an achievable first step towards a virtual parliament ”.
The Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, said:
By initiating a hybrid solution, with steps towards an entirely virtual parliament, we are enabling members to stay close to their communities, while continuing their important work scrutinizing the government.
I do not want members and house staff putting themselves at risk. By working virtually, this is our contribution to the guidance of stay home, protect the NHS and save lives.
A number of screens will be placed around the chamber to allow the Speaker and MPs present in the chamber to see their “virtual” colleagues.
The commission decided that if an MP was called “but cannot be heard or seen for technological reasons, it should be possible for them to be called later in the proceedings and that there can be no opportunity for interventions and no points of order should be raised when hybrid actions are under way ”.
Once the working of the “hybrid proceedings” are judged satisfactory and sustainable, the House Service will work to extend the model to debates on motions and legislation as quickly as possible. They will also decide on any change to a system of remote voting.
The National Cyber Security Center has advised that, for public parliamentary proceedings, the use of Zoom is appropriate, if the installation and the use of the service is carefully managed.
A person wearing a face mask walks along the Thames River past the Palace of Westminster. Photograph: Xinhua / REX / Shutterstock
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: Downing Street lobby briefing – Summary
And here is a full summary of what was said at the Downing Street lobby briefing.
Downing Street claimed that the coronavirus crisis strengthened the need for the UK to be free of EU regulation after . The prime minister’s spokesman made that argument as he said the UK would refuse to extend the post-Brexit transition – even if the EU requested an extension. (See
The spokesman strongly hinted that some social distancing measures could remain in force for potentially months – or even longer. (See 25. (PM.) The spokesman claimed Britain now has the capacity to carry out more than , coronavirus tests a day. NHS laboratories could do about , a day, and the rest could be carried out in commercial laboratories, the spokesman said. But he said the most recent figure for the number of tests carried out was , in the – h our period up to 9am yesterday. Asked why the government was testing less than half the number of people it could test, the spokesman said capacity was being build all the time, and the reasons testing had been flat was because of a lack of demand, not a lack of capacity. He said the long bank holiday weekend was a factor. The spokesman said the pledge to carry out , tests a day by the end of the month applied to tests that would be carried out, not test capacity. The spokesman said a review would take place into why people from black , Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds appear to be disproportionately affected by coronavirus. The spokesman said the government would want to find some way of saying Thank you to NHS staff after the crisis is over. Responding to a question about whether the PM backed (Lord Ashcroft ‘s call for the NHS to be awarded a collective George Cross, the spokesman said:
The spokesman said that Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, will lead this afternoon’s press conference, alongside Prof Chris Whitty, the government chief medical adviser, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government chief scientific adviser. It is due to start at 5pm.
Downing Street. Photograph: Tolga Akmen / AFP via Getty Images
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) Price of high-demand food in UK risers sharply
Richard Partington
The price of high-demand food and sanitary products has risen sharply in online shops over the past month as the coronavirus crisis mounts, according to official figures.
In an early sign of rising living costs across Britain during the pandemic, prices in a basket of high demand products compiled by the Office for National Statistics, which includes long-life food, toilet roll and cleaning products, Increased by 4.4% since just before lockdown measures began a month ago.
Prices rose by 1.8% in the last week alone, driven by soaring pet food prices and a sharp increase in the cost of rice, nappies and handwash.
Guardian economics correspondent Richard Partington has the full report here –
(Read More)
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