UK Coronavirus LIVE: Millions Wake Up Under New Level 3 Lockdown Restrictions As Covid Infection Rate Continues To Rise

Professor Neil Ferguson said it will be “impeachment” if restrictions on mixing households should be relaxed over Christmas.

“There is a risk of transmission and there will be consequences from that. Some people will die from being infected that day, “he told BBC Radio 4 Today.

“But if it’s just a day or two, the impact is likely to be limited. So that’s really a political judgment on cost versus benefits. “

Professor Neil Ferguson has said that if restrictions on household mixing fail to stem the rise in coronavirus infections, the government may have to close schools to older students.

“That (banning household mixing) should have a significant effect, but so far we haven’t been able to see it definitively,” he told BBC Radio 4 Today.

“If we go beyond that, there is a limit to what we can do in terms of reducing contacts, without starting to target, for example, the older years in sixth-grade schools and colleges where we know older teens can broadcast as adults.

“Of course no one wants to start moving to virtual education and close schools, not even partially. The challenge may be that we cannot otherwise control the transmission. “

The NHS will not be able to cope if coronavirus cases continue to rise at the current rate, a scientist warned.

Professor Neil Ferguson, whose model led to the original shutdown in March, said that while infections among 18-21-year-olds were declining, they were still increasing in other age groups.

“Unfortunately, in all other age groups, the number of cases continues to increase at about the same rate that it was. There are small signs of a slowdown, for example in the North East of England, but we are not seeing the kind of slowdown that we really need to overcome this, “he told BBC Radio 4 Today.

“It is a worrying situation. We now have 8,000 people in the hospital with Covid. That’s about a third of the level we were at the peak of the pandemic in March.

“If the growth rate continues as it is, it means that within a month we will exceed that maximum level in March and that is probably unsustainable.

“We are at a critical moment right now. The health system will not be able to cope with this growth rate for much longer. “

The Welsh firewall lockout should bring the R-value, the number of people each coronavirus case infects, down to one, Health Minister Vaughan Gething said.

Gething told BBC Breakfast that the 17-day period would be followed by a set of national measures to control the spread of Covid-19.

When asked about economists warning that the shutdown could cost the Welsh economy more than £ 500 million, Gething said: “It’s not just about direct costs inside the firewall, when we know there will be a challenge and a loss. in economic activity.

“It’s about saving a much bigger loss if we need longer, deeper and more sustained measures.”

Egyptians have started voting in the first stage of a parliamentary election that is likely to produce a toothless house of representatives packed with supporters of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

The elections are taking place as the most populous country in the Arab world faces a slight increase in coronavirus cases, and authorities are warning that a second wave of the pandemic is looming.

As in the August senate elections, Egyptian electoral authorities said face masks would be given to voters free of charge and voting centers would be disinfected.

Some 63 million voters are eligible to vote in the two-stage elections, the results of which were announced in early December.

The electoral authorities reiterated previous warnings that those who boycott the vote could be fined up to 500 Egyptian pounds (£ 25).

The study also found that 80% of voluntary sector organizations fear the pandemic will continue to alter their goals in the next year, and that 60% have already faced increasing costs to implement secure Covid security measures.

The study was carried out in partnership between Nottingham Trent University, the National Council of Voluntary Organizations (NCVO) and the University of Sheffield Hallam, and nearly 700 voluntary organizations were surveyed over the last month.

Researchers found that many organizations had changed their services in response to the challenges of the pandemic, including moving face-to-face meetings online and licensing Zoom to charities.

More than 90% of organizations reported a “digital transformation” in operating methods.

Two in five groups in the voluntary sector have reported increasing financial difficulties due to the coronavirus, and one in 10 may be forced to close, according to a study.

More than half of those services (56%), including charities and community groups, say they expect an increase in demand for their services over the next month as the impact of local and regional closures becomes more apparent.

Charity bosses warn the sector is in “serious trouble” after a funding gap estimated at £ 10bn over six months, and have urged the government to “think creatively” about how it can be supported.

Research on the new Covid-19 Voluntary Sector Impact Barometer showed that many organizations had been forced to adapt operational practices to continue providing support.

It comes as millions of people across the UK face tougher restrictions as they have moved to Level 3, and Wales enters a two week ‘firewall’ lockdown.

Three senior members of the Church of England have warned that struggles between Westminster and local leaders in the North over coronavirus restrictions will lead to “disappointment and unrest.”

York Archbishop Stephen Cottrell said the resulting social consequences will ultimately be “more dangerous and destabilizing” than the virus itself.

Writing in the Yorkshire Post with Nick Baines, the Bishop of Leeds, and David Walker, the Bishop of Manchester, he called for greater collaboration among politicians to protect the vulnerable.

It comes as more than a million people in South Yorkshire are now living under the strictest coronavirus restrictions after the county moved to Level 3 at midnight.

The county joined Liverpool City Region, Greater Manchester and Lancashire in the highest alert level for England.

The bishops’ letter highlighted the “terrible double whammy” of being poor: being more likely to contract Covid-19 and being affected by recently imposed restrictions.

“If we are going to achieve true equality and equalization across the country, then people living in poverty must be paid enough to allow them to feel safe staying at home,” they said.

Thailand reported one more locally transmitted coronavirus case on Saturday, after confirming five domestic infections last week.

The new patient is a 57-year-old French woman from the southern province of Surat Thani who tested positive for the virus a few days after completing a 14-day quarantine, the country’s coronavirus task force said.

The patient’s husband and son tested negative, health officials said.

Before the six cases, Thailand reported its first confirmed local transmission in more than 100 days on September 3. In total, Thailand has reported 3,731 cases of the virus and 59 deaths.

Sheffield City Region Mayor Dan Jarvis has been speaking to the Today show

He said he will not hesitate to seek additional government support for South Yorkshire after the region entered stricter Level 3 coronavirus controls.
Jarvis said he had secured a £ 41 million financing package after a “difficult” negotiation process and that he had won an agreement from ministers to keep the situation under review.
“The scale of the challenge is very significant,” he told the program.
“We are very aware of the pressures our NHS is facing, especially as winter has not yet bitten, so we are looking very carefully at what we have to do.
“But if there is a request for more resources, be it financial support or other government assistance measures, I will not hesitate to come back and ask for them.”