All essential workers and their families will be able to get coronavirus tests from this Friday to see if they are infected with the virus. Health Secretary Matt Hancock today announced that swab testing will be expanded from just health workers into wider society. The same key workers whose children have been allowed to remain … Read more
Nicola Sturgeon today signalled she is willing to ease coronavirus restrictions in Scotland independently of the UK government as Northern Ireland also suggested it could follow suit. The Scottish First Minister today published a blueprint setting out how the current state of lockdown could be lifted north of the border as she said there needed … Read more
Nicola Sturgeon gazumps Downing Street again as Scottish government publishes its own plan for easing coronavirus lockdown restrictions Scottish First Minister publishing paper today setting out end-of-lockdown plan Ms Sturgeon said it will contain ‘principles that will guide us’ in months ahead Comes as Downing Street is under growing pressure to publish its own blueprint … Read more
Britons will soon be told to wear masks at work, in shops and on public transport in a new move to stop the spread of coronavirus, it was claimed today. The Government‘s top scientific experts met on Tuesday to discuss the issue of masks and are expected to issue new guidance as soon as this … Read more
Disruptive social distancing measures will have to remain in place for the rest of this year, the country’s Chief Medical Officer has warned. Professor Chris Whitty said the measures cannot be lifted until either a vaccine for Covid-19 or ‘highly effective’ drugs to treat the virus become available. He told the daily Downing Street press … Read more
A new study is being launched by the Government to track the spread of coronavirus in the population and get a full picture of the number of infections. As many as 300,000 people are expected to take part within the first year and receive kits to self-administer a test. It is hoped the research will help … Read more
Keir Starmer tore into Dominic Raab over coronavirus testing and PPE blunders today as he made his debut as Labour leader at the first ‘virtual’ PMQs. Standing in for Boris Johnson in the Commons, the Foreign Secretary defended the painful progress towards the target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month. … Read more
Care Minister Helen Whately was savaged during a series of brutal interviews this morning as she struggled to provide answers to key questions on the supply of PPE, deaths of frontline workers and testing errors. Ms Whately suffered four car crash grillings after she was sent out to bat for the government by Downing Street. … Read more
Matt Hancock tonight insisted the coronavirus lockdown must stay until there is no risk of a second peak – as scientists warned the outbreak might not be fading. The Health Secretary vowed not to compromise the national effort against the disease as Professor Jonathan Van-Tam told the daily Downing Street briefing that while hospital occupancy rates … Read more
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is resisting calls to end lockdown early because coronavirus has ‘floored’ him and left him ‘tentative’, Tory sources claimed last night. Cabinet ministers are divided over whether to prolong lockdown in a bid to avoid a potentially catastrophic second wave of infections, or to lift it and ease the economy out … Read more