BORIS Johnson has been urged to scrap June 21 lockdown lifting and delay green list travel by SAGE covid experts.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, Professor Christina Pagel said the UK would be "in a much better position" if we could "delay international travel and delay step four of the roadmap".
She suggested keeping coronavirus lockdown restrictions for another two months until everybody in the country had been vaccinated would go a long way to ensuring the country isn't plunged back in lockdown.
"We're only two months away from that, it's not long to wait," she said.
"What worries me even more is that we have not changed our border policy. New variants are coming up everywhere and this summer we need to protect our vaccination programme.
"What I don't want is for us to have new restrictions…it's just waiting a little bit longer to open further."
Read our coronavirus live blog below for the latest news and updates…
- Joseph Gamp
GRAPHIC: HOW MANY VACCINES HAVE BEEN GIVEN OUT AHEAD OF JULY 31 TARGET?
- Joseph Gamp
INDIAN VARIANT SURGE PUTS JUNE DATE FOR SCRAPPING COVID RESTRICTIONS AT RISK
Cases of the Indian variant have doubled in a week leading to fresh doubts over the ending of Covid restrictions in England next month.
Boris Johnson warned that freedom from restrictions on June 21 may have to wait as it emerged three-quarters of new cases are now the Indian mutation.
Ministers are remaining cautious on the prospect of all measures being scrapped in England on June 21, as set out in the Prime Minister's road map, although hospital admissions remain flat.
Officials are examining the data after confirmed cases of the Indian variant of Covid-19 reached almost 7,000. It is now the dominant strain in the UK, one expert said. Epidemiologist Professor Neil Ferguson said the planned unlocking next month now "hangs in the balance" due to the growth of the variant of concern.
The Prime Minister told reporters on Thursday he "didn't see anything currently in the data" to divert from next month's target, adding: "But we may need to wait."
- Joseph Gamp
LOCAL LOCKDOWN IN HOUNSLOW 'STILL A LONG WAY AWAY' DESPITE UPSURGE OF CASES, SAYS HEALTH CHIEF
Kelly O'Neill, the director of public health at Hounslow Council, has insisted that the possibility of a localised lockdown is still "a long way away", despite an upsurge in cases in the area.
Ms O'Neill said the council had been managing outbreaks by taking a case-by-case approach and persuading people who test positive to self-isolate.
She told BBC Breakfast: "I think that any suggestion of lockdown is is a long way away, it will damage us economically and socially, and actually it would end up with us losing confidence with our communities, and we're nowhere near that."
- Joseph Gamp
WHO IS MOST AFFECTED BY THE INDIAN VARIANT?
Cases are predominantly in younger people, public health officials say.
Now people aged 30 and over are being invited for their first jabs.
Prof Andrew Pollard, of the Oxford Vaccine Group who led trials of the AstraZeneca vaccine, told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “If you’re unvaccinated, then the virus will eventually find those individuals in the population who are unvaccinated.
“And of course if you’re over 50 and unvaccinated, you’re at much greater risk of severe disease.”
Professor Christina Pagel, Clinical Operational Research Unit (CORU) at University College London (UCL), said: “Cases in most places are concentrated in school age children and young adults who haven’t had the opportunity to be vaccinated yet.
- Joseph Gamp
GRAPHIC: UK COVID-19 CASES AND DEATHS PER DAY
- Debbie White
AN APOLOGY FROM CUMMINGS ‘ISN’T GOING TO CUT IT’, SAYS BEREAVED SON
A bereaved 18-year-old son has said an apology from Dominic Cummings about the Government’s handling of the pandemic “isn’t going to cut it”.
The Prime Minister’s former adviser said tens of thousands of people died unnecessarily because of the Government’s failings over coronavirus.
Speaking to MPs on Wednesday, Mr Cummings apologised, saying that ministers, officials and advisers had fallen “disastrously short” of the standards they should expect in a crisis.
Bereaved family members, including a wife, son and daughter, said listening to Mr Cummings’ testimony was “horrific”.
“I believe Cummings apologised but an apology isn’t going to cut it, they need to do much better,” Mert Dogus, 18, told the PA news agency.
- Debbie White
CAUSE OF BLOOD CLOTS LINKED TO ASTRAZENECA AND J&J COVID VACCINES ‘SOLVED’
BOFFINS claim to have cracked the cause of rare blood clots linked to Covid jabs and say they know how to solve it.
They say the phenomenon is caused by “floating mutant proteins” which occur when the spike protein of the Sars-Cov-2 virus is sent into the wrong part of a cell.
Lead scientist Rolf Marschalek said US drugs firm Johnson & Johnson has already been in touch to ask about his team’s research at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. But he said he had not yet discussed its findings with AstraZeneca, manufacturer of the Oxford vaccine.
He said: “They never contacted us so we never spoke to them, but if they do I can tell them what to do to make a better vaccine.”
Both the AstraZeneca or Johnson and Johnson jabs have been linked to a small number of severe blood clots.
- Debbie White
MUSIC TEACHER, 33, FACES JAIL AFTER FAKING COVID TEST TO FLY TO EGYPT AFTER BEING SPRUNG WITH BOGUS CERTIFICATE
A MUSIC teacher is believed to be one of the first Brits to be convicted of using a fake Covid test certificate to try to board a flight.
Philip Cunningham, 33, was stopped at Heathrow Airport on May 4 after staff spotted the Covid test number on his bogus certificate was missing a digit when he checked in to his flight to Egypt.
Cops were called to the airport to question the Birmingham man, but he maintained he had tested negative the day before, Ealing Magistrates heard today.
When officers contacted the testing company they had no record of him getting a test with them. Cunningham was arrested and taken in for questioning at Heathrow Airport Police Station.
Prosecutor Izola Gribbin said: “He told police officers: ‘Yes I did it, I sent them on a wild goose chase. I’m a music teacher, this could ruin my life’.”
- Debbie White
JAB DEMAND
Thousands of people have flooded London's Chinatown after a "vaccine bus" promised a Covid jab without an appointment.
Shocking footage shows a crowd of people tightly-packed in the central London square hoping to get vaccinated.
Two people wearing face masks appear to be in charge of the operation and can be seen speaking to the mob.
More groups of people then make their way around a corner to line up outside the barbershop.
The advert for the vaccine was posted on the Chinese Information and Advice Centre website.
- Debbie White
WHAT DOMINIC CUMMINGS SAID ABOUT MATT HANCOCK
Dominic Cummings was severely critical of the conduct of the Health Secretary during the pandemic:
- He said Hancock should have been fired for “at least 15,20 things” including “lying to everybody on multiple occasions”.
- Cummings said Hancock blamed the failure to produce enough PPE on NHS Chief Executive Simon Stevens and the Treasury
- Cummings claims then Cabinet Secretary Lord Sedwill began to question Hancock’s honesty
- Cummings accused Hancock of “criminal, disgraceful behaviour that caused serious harm” by pushing his 100k a day testing target while the PM was “on his deathbed”
- Cummings said Hancock told people to push 100k a day target even though Whitehall told him to drop it
- Cummings said Lord Sedwill sent up the ‘Test and Trace system’ as a separate entity to take it away from Hancock
INDIA SCRAPS LOCAL VACCINE TRIALS TO BOOST ROLLOUT
India scrapped local trials for "well-established" foreign coronavirus vaccines on Thursday as it tries to accelerate its vaccination rollout, with a government official saying Pfizer shots could arrive by July.
The world's second-most populous country in May recorded its highest monthly Covid-19 death toll since the pandemic began last year, accounting for just over a third of the overall total.
India reported 211,298 new infections on Thursday, the world's highest daily rise, but nearly half the daily infections it recorded earlier this month. The overall case load is now at 27.37 million, while deaths stand at 315,235, according to health ministry data.
Experts believe that figure grossly underestimates the actual toll.
Only about 3% of India's 1.3 billion people have been fully vaccinated, the lowest rate among the 10 countries with the most cases.
MATT HANCOCK SAYS HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN “STRAIGHT WITH PEOPLE ABOUT PANDEMIC”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock says he has always been “straight with people and straight with the House of Commons” about the challenges the country faced in tackling the pandemic.
Addressing MPs after Dominic Cummings’ explosive claims, Hancock said the claims were untrue and he has been “straight with people in public and private”.
He said he “wakes up everyday” thinking about how to fight the pandemic.
WHO IS MOST AFFECTED BY THE INDIAN VARIANT?
Cases are predominantly in younger people, public health officials say.
Now people aged 30 and over are being invited for their first jabs.
Prof Andrew Pollard, of the Oxford Vaccine Group who led trials of the AstraZeneca vaccine, told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: "If you’re unvaccinated, then the virus will eventually find those individuals in the population who are unvaccinated.
"And of course if you’re over 50 and unvaccinated, you’re at much greater risk of severe disease.”
Professor Christina Pagel, Clinical Operational Research Unit (CORU) at University College London (UCL), said: "Cases in most places are concentrated in school age children and young adults who haven't had the opportunity to be vaccinated yet.
ISLE BE BACK
According to reports from the Telegraph, Robert Courts, the aviation minister, told MPs the Government would take this “where possible” as it prepares to reveal the next lot of destinations that could be added to the quarantine-free list.
The second installment of countries to be added to the list was expected to be announced at the start of next month.
This process would mean the Canary, Balearic and Greek islands could be rated green, separate from Spain and Greece.
SYMPTOM CHECKER
You can still get infected with the coronavirus after a jab, and the symptoms appear slightly different.
Researchers at King’s College London revealed what to expect from Covid post-vaccination, including who is most at risk.
They collected data on thousands of people in the UK using the ZOE Covid Symptom Study app.
Of 1.1 million app users who had a first dose, almost 2,400 (0.2 per cent) reported a positive Covid test.
And of the half a million who had received two doses, 187 (0.03 per cent) tested positive weeks after.
- Debbie White
NUMBER OF RAPID COVID TESTS IN ENGLAND FALLS TO LOWEST LEVEL IN FIVE WEEKS
The number of rapid Covid-19 tests carried out in England has fallen to its lowest level in five weeks – despite all members of the public being eligible to take two rapid tests a week.
Just under 4.9 million rapid tests were conducted in England in the week to May 19, according to the latest Test and Trace figures – down 4% on the previous week.
It is the fourth week in a row that the number has decreased.
Rapid tests, or lateral flow device (LFD) tests, are swab tests that give results in 30 minutes or less without the need for processing in a laboratory.
Some of these tests are conducted under supervision in settings such as schools, care homes and workplaces, but most are carried out by people in their home who are then expected to report the result.
- Debbie White
MICHAEL GOVE SAYS VACCINE PASSPORTS MAY BE TOO MUCH "HASSLE"
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said the benefits of Covid status certification – so-called domestic "vaccine passports" – had to be set against the "hassle factor" of implementing them.
The UK has been examining the Israeli "green pass" model, which has recently been suspended due to the high uptake of vaccinations in the country.
Mr Gove told the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee that if a similar scheme was introduced in the UK "it was always intended" to be "for a time-limited period".
A review into the potential use of Covid status certification – which would include not only vaccine details but also whether someone has a negative test result – had been due to report this month, but that has now been delayed until after the Commons returns from a recess in the week of June 7.
- Debbie White
MATT HANCOCK SAYS THE INDIAN COVID STRAIN IS STILL SPREADING
Mr Hancock says that that Indian Covid strain is still spreading and the latest estimates are that as potentially as much as three-quarters of all new cases are now of this variant.
He said that we must remain vigilant and break the link to hospitalisations and deaths.
It's critical to watch the link from the number of cases, to those ending up in hospital.
The increase remains focused in hotspots, and the government is doing "all we can to tackle this variant".
- Debbie White
ANTIBODIES BUILDING IN BRITS
Vaccines are severing the link between cases and hospitalisations, and deaths from coronavirus, says Matt Hancock.
He says: "This week's data shows that three in four adults now have Covid antibodies, including over 90 per cent of people aged 50 and above."
- Debbie White
ROADMAP 'HANGS IN THE BALANCE'
Professor Neil Ferguson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the June 21 road map date for England hangs in the balance.
He said experts were still concerned about issues including the transmissibility of the Indian variant and "Step 4 (of the road map) is rather in the balance, the data collected in the next two to three weeks will be critical".
He added: "The key issue as to whether we can go forward is: will the surge caused by the Indian variant – and we do think there will be a surge – be more than has been already planned in to the relaxation measures?
"So it was always expected that relaxation would lead to a surge in infections and to some extent a small third wave of transmission – that's inevitable if you allow contact rates in population to go up, even despite immunity – (but) we can't cope with that being too large.
"In the next two or three weeks we will be able to come to a firm assessment of whether it's possible to go forward."
- Debbie White
DOMINIC 'WRONG' ABOUT BRITS BEING UNABLE TO COPE
Professor Stephen Reicher, a member of the Sage sub-committee advising on behavioural science, said Dominic Cummings was "wrong" to suggest that scientists said people would not be able to cope with lockdown.
He told BBC Breakfast that Mr Cummings had "confirmed from the inside things we knew from the outside – that we were too late in locking down, that we didn't develop a test and trace system quickly enough, that we didn't control our borders… many of these mistakes that are still going on".
But he said a "number of the claims that were made were simply inaccurate.
"What Dominic Cummings suggested was that the behavioural scientists were saying that people just wouldn't wear the restrictions, and that either they shouldn't be imposed at all, or else that they should be delayed. Now that's simply untrue…"
"I think there's plenty of public evidence to make the point that, on that specific claim, Dominic Cummings is just quite simply wrong."
- Debbie White
TEST AND TRACE FIGURES
A total of 14,051 people tested positive for Covid-19 in England at least once in the week to May 19, according to the latest Test and Trace figures.
This is broadly unchanged (down 0.2 per cent) on the previous week, but up five per cent in the week to May 5.
- Debbie White
WHOLE CABINET NOW HAD COVID JAB
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said the entire Cabinet has now received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine after Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick received his jab on Thursday morning.
Mr Zahawi tweeted: "The youngest member of the Cabinet has now had his first vaccine. We have now vaccinated the whole of the Cabinet! Well done team."
Mr Jenrick, 39, revealed on Twitter that he had received a dose of Pfizer, adding: "Thank you #NHS for an amazing service."
- Debbie White
ROADMAP UNAFFECTED BY INDIAN COVID VARIANT: PM
Boris Johnson said "I don't see anything currently in the data" to divert from the June 21 target for the next stage of exiting lockdown but "we may need to wait" for more data.
The PM told reporters: "As I have said many times I don't see anything currently in the data to suggest that we have to deviate from the road map.
"But we may need to wait.
"Don't forget the important point about the intervals between the steps of the road map, we put that five weeks between those steps to give us time to see what effect the unlockings are having."
- Debbie White
MYSTERY OVER START OF COVID
Scientists are revisiting a mystery of Covid-19: Where, when and how did the virus that causes the disease originate?
The two prevailing competing theories are that the virus jumped from animals, possibly originating with bats, to humans, or that it escaped from a virology laboratory in Wuhan, China.
To some scientists, the release of a dangerous pathogen via a careless lab worker is a plausible hypothesis for how the pandemic started and warrants investigation.
The Wuhan lab, China's leading SARS research facility, is not far from the Huanan Seafood Market, which early in the health crisis was cited as the most likely place where animal-to-human transmission of the virus may have taken place.
The market was also the site of the first known Covid superspreader event.
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