The UK has “very, very significant” gaps in PPE, junior doctor says
British doctor Katie Sanderson says there are some “very, very significant gaps” in the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) for treating coronavirus patients. Referencing a Doctors’ Association UK survey with more than 1,100 responses in 250 settings, Sanderson told BBC radio that 38% of...
Coronavirus: NI ‘could see 1,500 deaths’ in first Covid-19 wave
Northern Ireland could see 1,500 deaths in the first 20 weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic, the health minister has said. Earlier this month, experts warned there could be 3,000 deaths in NI in the initial wave of the outbreak. Robin Swann said the revised modelling...
More than 140,000 UK firms apply for government support
Over 140,000 British firms applied for government financial support on the first day the program was open, UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak said Monday. The job retention “grants they will receive will help pay wages of more than a million people,” Sunak said at the government’s...
Coronavirus: Boris Johnson fears second peak from relaxing lockdown
Boris Johnson has told colleagues his concerns that relaxing lockdown measures too soon could lead to a second outbreak of coronavirus. The PM is understood to have met his deputy Dominic Raab at Chequers on Friday to discuss the crisis. He is thought to have...
Prince Harry and Meghan tell tabloids: No more co-operation
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have told the UK’s tabloid press they are ending all co-operation with them. In a letter to editors of all the Sun, Mirror, Mail and Express titles and websites, a representative said the pair had taken the step due...
Coronavirus: Millions to claim as UK furlough scheme goes live
A government pay scheme to keep staff on the payroll despite not working due to coronavirus has gone live. HMRC chief executive Jim Harra told the BBC’s Today programme that employers had made 67,000 claims for workers in the first 30 minutes. Under the Coronavirus...
Coronavirus likely to transform world far more than 1918 flu pandemic
The Black Death that struck Europe in the 14th century forced a total reordering of society, permanently rewriting rules between landowners and workers, and between the church and the faithful. The influenza pandemic that swept the globe after World War I, by contrast, left barely...
Johnson missed 5 key coronavirus meetings, but UK government defends his leadership
A senior UK government figure has defended Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s approach to the coronavirus pandemic, following a wide-ranging critique in the Sunday Times newspaper. Cabinet minister Michael Gove described the Sunday Times piece — which reported that Johnson had missed five emergency meetings on...
Coronavirus: Supply of protective gowns ‘critical’, say hospitals in England
Many frontline doctors treating coronavirus patients in the UK are suffering from a shortage of basic protective equipment, according to research by the British Medical Association (BMA). Meanwhile, the body representing hospital trusts in England, NHS Providers, has warned that the supply of clinical gowns...
Longest period with no mountain rescue in 19 years
Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR) says its teams have not been called to a mountain rescue since 22 March. The organisation said it was the longest time between call outs since the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001. The crisis, the worst to hit agriculture in...
Coronavirus: Supply of protective gowns ‘critical’, say hospitals in England
Many frontline doctors treating coronavirus patients in the UK are suffering from a shortage of basic protective equipment, according to research by the British Medical Association (BMA). Meanwhile, the body representing hospital trusts in England, NHS Providers, has warned that the supply of clinical gowns...
Coronavirus: Number of deaths rises to 530 in Ireland
Another 44 people with coronavirus have died in the Republic of Ireland, it was confirmed on Friday. It was the worst day of fatalities linked to the virus so far and brought the total number of deaths to 530. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre also...
Coronavirus: Concern over protective kit guidance change
Medical staff have been advised to reuse personal protective equipment and wear plastic aprons with coveralls, rather than the full-length gowns, if stocks in England run low. Unions representing doctors and nurses have expressed concerns about the updated Public Health England guidance. There have been...
Coronavirus has now killed 150,000 people worldwide
The coronavirus has now killed more than 150,000 people worldwide, according to the latest statistics at Johns Hopkins University. The tragic milestone was passed Friday night; by midnight, the U.S. continued to have the pandemic’s highest death toll, at 31,456, followed by Italy, with 22,745...
Some recovered patients are testing positive again
In South Korea, health officials are trying to solve a mystery: why 163 people who recovered from coronavirus have retested positive, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The same has been recorded in China, where some coronavirus patients tested positive...
Lyra Mckee: Police appeal for more information one year after murder
Police in Northern Ireland on Friday renewed their appeal for information into the death of Lyra McKee, one year after the journalist was murdered. McKee, 29, was shot dead while observing rioting in the Creggan estate, Londonderry on April 18, 2019. The New IRA paramilitary...
Coronavirus: UK lockdown extended for ‘at least’ three weeks
Lockdown restrictions in the UK will continue for “at least” another three weeks as it tackles the coronavirus outbreak, Dominic Raab has said. The foreign secretary told the daily No 10 briefing that a review had concluded relaxing the measures now would risk harming public...
Scotland confirms 80 more virus deaths
Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has just confirmed 80 more people have died from coronavirus in the country. The latest 24-hour figure brings the total number of deaths in Scotland to 779. At a “virtual” First Minister’s Questions held online, Ms Sturgeon said the lockdown...
Cruise couple home after fight for life
A couple whose “bucket list” cruise turned into a fight for life now have their feet back on dry land. Chris and Carrie Clough from Billingham set off on their 99-night P&O cruise from Southampton in January to mark 20 years of marriage and two...
Coronavirus: NHS workers’ lives at risk over PPE shortages, says BMA
NHS staff still do not have the protective equipment they need to treat coronavirus patients, medics have said. The British Medical Association (BMA) said doctors were putting their lives at risk by working without adequate protection. It comes as the health secretary said 19 NHS...
Warning over children in poverty
Emergency measures to protect Scotland’s most vulnerable children from abuse, hunger and neglect during the Covid-19 crisis are failing and must be urgently reviewed by the government, Scotland’s children and young people’s commissioner has warned. Bruce Adamson says it has become clear that services like...
Do not overuse PPE, says UK health secretary
There have been cases where medical workers have used more personal protective equipment (PPE) than necessary, the UK health secretary has said, after a doctor’s union warned that many doctors were not getting the equipment they need. The British Medical Association said doctors faced “heart-breaking...
Cargo of masks and protective equipment heading to UK
A Turkish Air Force A400M transport aircraft will land at Brize Norton later today carrying a cargo of masks and protective equipment for the UK. This is the first aid flight to use a Nato call sign – a procedure which expedites air traffic control...
British politicians handed extra $12,450 in expenses to work from home
British politicians have each been given access to an additional £10,000 ($12,450) in order to help them work from home during the coronavirus crisis. All 650 elected lawmakers will have access to the funds, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), which regulates expenses, stated in...
Coronavirus: Boris Johnson must rest up, says PM’s father
Boris Johnson “must rest up” after he was moved from intensive care with coronavirus, his father has said. Stanley Johnson told the BBC’s Today: “He took one for the team and we’ve got to make sure we play properly now.” Scientific adviser Prof Neil Ferguson,...
I stockpiled dozens of eggs, fruit & sauces but had to bin it all – I don’t care I’m doing the vulnerable out of food
WHEN the coronavirus crisis first started to rear its ugly head, single mum-of-two Emmie Shute, 47, bulk bought everything she could think of. Despite only having three mouths to feed, the factory worker from Bournemouth, Dorset, spent a whopping £250 on one shop and grabbed...
Boris Johnson spends second night in ICU for coronavirus
Boris Johnson spent a second night in intensive care in a London hospital as he continues to battle coronavirus. Downing Street said Wednesday the UK Prime Minister was being kept in St Thomas’ Hospital “for close monitoring.” Johnson, who initially tested positive for coronavirus on...
UK is “nowhere near lifting lockdown,” says London mayor
London Mayor Sadiq Khan says the United Kingdom is still some way off being able to ease the restrictions introduced to stop the spread of coronavirus. “We’re nowhere near lifting the lockdown,” Khan told BBC Radio on Wednesday. “I speak to experts regularly. We think...
Boris Johnson given oxygen but not on a ventilator after coronavirus-stricken PM moved to intensive care
Boris Johnson was given oxygen overnight but did not require a ventilator, according to a senior cabinet minister, speaking a day after the coronavirus-stricken U.K. prime minister was moved to a London hospital’s intensive care unit. Since Sunday evening, the prime minister has been in...
UK PM Boris Johnson, in hospital with coronavirus, moved to intensive care unit
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in hospital since Sunday with coronavirus, has been moved to an intensive care unit. “Since Sunday evening, the Prime Minister has been under the care of doctors at St Thomas’ Hospital, in London, after being admitted with persistent symptoms of...