COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 21st April 2020.

The UK added 4,301 cases today and now has reported a total of 129,044 positive cases of COVID-19. We had all together tested 397,670 people as of 9am this morning.

As of 5pm yesterday, of those hospitalised in the UK, we have lost another 823 people to COVID-19. We now sadly have a total of 17,337 losses of life in hospitals. Losses of life in the community are reported by ONS with a 2 week delay (see below).

Total cases and losses reported are:
England 96,117 / 15,606
Northern Ireland 2,758 / 207
Scotland 8,672 / 915
Wales 7,850 / 609
(The government haven't been reporting how many of the UK's positive testing cases have recovered.)

Rep. Of Ireland have 15,652 cases and 687 losses of life (not yet reported today).

There have now been 2,529,094 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is now 174,573. Already 667,609 people have recovered.

"In time we can rebuild the profits. We can't replace the people we lose." George Weston, Chief Executive, Associated British Foods


The UK briefing today was with Matt Hancock, Health Secretary.
He said at the heart of our plan is patient capacity, and we have been able to supply that to anyone who needs it. We have a record 2,963 spare critical care beds available right now across the NHS. But there is still much further to go.
We have 17,681 people in hospital with COVID-19.
We can't throw away the progress we've made so far. We were reminded again of the 5 points we need to meet before we can lift restrictions (covered 2 & 4 days ago).
He talked about PPE and thanked people for offers. 159 UK manufacturers so far are going to be working with us on PPE.
Vaccines are our best bet (we think) in the long run. We have put more money than any other country into global vaccine development, and 2 of the leading labs are in the UK. They will both get extra cash:
22.5m to Imperial College for phase 2 clinical trials.
20m to the Oxford team to fund their clinical trials.
The Oxford vaccine will begin human testing on Thursday.
We are also building manufacturing capacity so that if it works, we can be ready to produce in vast quantities.
We are still on target for 100k tests a day (I'll believe that when I see it)

Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, went through the slides. For hospital admissions almost all regions show almost a straight flat line, a plateau, with similar numbers today as yesterday. We have just had a long weekend, so it is with caution, but still far better than rising.
With the ONS figures added, obviously our 'trajectory' line is a little higher, but still around Italy, France and Spain. We were reminded that other countries also won't have precise figures from reported COVID-19 deaths, and we will see 'excess mortality' figures from them when Prof Van-Tam has them.

Regarding face masks, we are keeping evidence under review, and will change advice accordingly.

Regarding pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission (passing it on with no symptoms), we can still find COVID-19 in these patients with the normal PCR test. He believes they aren't as big an issue as symptomatic people because they aren't coughing or shedding as much virus.

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 20th April 2020.

The UK added 4,676 cases today and now has reported a total of 124,743 positive cases of COVID-19. We had all together tested 386,044 people as of 9am this morning.

As of 5pm yesterday, of those hospitalised in the UK, we have lost another 449 people to COVID-19. We now sadly have a total of 16,509 losses of life in hospitals. Losses of life in the community are reported by ONS with a 2 week delay.

Total cases and losses reported are:
England 93,030 / 14,828
Northern Ireland 2,728 / 194
Scotland 8,450 / 903
Wales 7,546 / 584
(The government haven't been reporting how many of the UK's positive testing cases have recovered.)

Rep. Of Ireland have 15,652 cases and 687 losses of life.

There have now been 2,449,380 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is now 168,134. Already 641,804 people have recovered.

"Don't use this virus to fight together or score political points, it's dangerous." Dr Tedros, Head of the World Health Organisation.


Today's UK briefing was with Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
He started with PPE. They have appointed Lord Deighton to organise home-sourced PPE. Today we have unloaded 140,000 gowns from Myanmar.
The HMRC job retention scheme opened today. 140,000 firms had already applied by 4pm, representing over 1m employees. 
The Futures Fund was launched - loans for early stage UK based high growth companies, and small companies focussing on research and development will also be able to access other cash.
12,000 loans have now gone out to UK businesses.
The UK will provide 30,000 extra mortuary places.

To protect our economy we need to protect the health of our people. 17,971 people are in hospital. Less in total than yesterday for the 7th day running - it's all good stuff. We were reminded once again of the 5 points we need to meet before we can lift restrictions, and thanked us for following govt. advice and staying home.

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 19th April 2020.

The UK added 5,850 cases today and now has reported a total of 120,067 positive cases of COVID-19. We had all together tested 372,967 people as of 9am this morning (excluding N.I.).

As of 5pm yesterday, of those hospitalised in the UK, we have lost another 596 people to COVID-19. We now sadly have a total of 16,060 losses of life in hospitals. Losses of life in the community are reported by ONS with a 2 week delay.

Total cases and losses reported are:
England 90,629 / 14,399
Northern Ireland 2,645 / 193
Scotland 8,187 / 893
Wales 7,270 / 575
(The government haven't been reporting how many of the UK's positive testing cases have recovered.)

Rep. Of Ireland have 14,758 cases and 571 losses of life.(not yet reported today).

There have now been 2,373,077 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is now 163,641. Already 611,810 people have recovered.


Today's UK briefing was with Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary. Wow he was nervous!
He thanked all of the education and childcare staff making sure that vulnerable children are supported and essential workers can go to work. He said he can't give us a date schools will re-open, and reminded us of the 5 points we need to meet before we can lift restrictions:
1. We need to ensure we have NHS bed capacity for everyone who needs it
2. Daily death rates need to come down consistently
3. We need reliable data showing decreasing rate of infection
4. Confidence in testing capacity and PPE availability.
5. Confidence any changes will not risk a second peak.

No-one will have to leave 'care' during the crisis. Young people who would have been making their own way to independence would be particularly vulnerable.
£1.6bn will be given to support phone helplines supporting children and children's safety - the NSPCC's adult phoneline, and possibly Childline? (his wording was weird).

The Govt have published resources for teaching, and some of the leading state schools have collaborated to create The Oak Online Academy, with video lessons for all children from reception through to year 10.
The BBC has developed the most comprehensive education package ever, on TV and online from tomorrow.
Laptops will be given to young people who are disadvantaged and have exams next year. Laptops or tablets will also be given to children with social workers and care leavers. They will also be given free 4G routers if they do not have internet connection while the schools are shut.
Certain educational resources will be exempt from data charges.
He apologised to all of the young people who are missing their education. He doesn't strike me as a natural childcarer.

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 18th April 2020.

The UK added 5,526 cases today and now has reported a total of 114,217 positive cases of COVID-19. We had all together tested 357,023 people as of 9am this morning (excluding N.I.).

As of 5pm yesterday, of those hospitalised in the UK, we have lost another 888 people to COVID-19. We now sadly have a total of 15,464 losses of life in hospitals. Losses of life in the community are reported by ONS with a 2 week delay.

Total cases and losses reported are:
England 87,022 / 13,917
Northern Ireland 2,486 / 176
Scotland 7,820 / 837
Wales 6,936 / 534
(The government haven't been reporting how many of the UK's positive testing cases have recovered.)

Rep. Of Ireland have 14,758 cases and 571 losses of life.

There have now been 2,292,520 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is now 157,669. Already 587,666 people have recovered.
Today's UK briefing was with Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State and Professor Stephen Powis of NHS England.
Robert Jenrik is also Communities Secretary. He talked about bin collections, schools, homeless support and all of the other essential workers in our communities. He is providing an extra £1.6bn funding to English councils, doubling the original extra funding. There will be proportional extra funds for all UK nations.
250,000 boxes of essentials have been delivered to homes of especially vulnerable people. The call centre is making 130,000 calls a day to support those people.
The NHS volunteers are also ringing people to check up on them.
All parks are to be open for exercise in green spaces.
Funerals can go ahead with close family present and social distancing observed.
Cemeteries and graveyards will be open for private respects.

Steve Powis with the graphs  - numbers of cases are stable, not increasing nor decreasing. Hospital admissions are still reducing though (good stuff). We have 17,759 people in hospital - down again from yesterday.

While a lot of online vendors have had to close shop for a while, The Essential One are still open for business and have a lot to offer, even if your children are a bit older. They have sent us two of the toys for bigger kids from the Discovery Mindblown STEM range. This is The Discovery Toy Anatomy 4D Shark. Age 6+


My son was ecstatic to see this. He loves sharks and anatomy, and so it is perfect for him. There is a big plastic insert in the box, and we aren't going to keep ours - this is a shelf model my son wants to display.


Inside the box are all the parts of your shark, and be careful not to miss any because a couple are very small. There are 20 parts in all, and they are really well decorated and nicely shaped from rubbery plastic. It is really nicely made.

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 17th April 2020.

The UK added 5,599 cases today and now has reported a total of 108,692 positive cases of COVID-19. We had all together tested 341,551 people as of 9am this morning.

As of 5pm yesterday, of those hospitalised in the UK, we have lost another 847 people to COVID-19. We now sadly have a total of 14,576 losses of life in hospitals. Losses of life in the community are reported by ONS with a 2 week delay.

Total cases and losses reported are:
England 83,474 / 13,133
Northern Ireland 2,338 / 158
Scotland 7,409 / 779
Wales 6,645 / 506
(The government haven't been reporting how many of the UK's positive testing cases have recovered.)

Rep. Of Ireland have 13,980 cases and 530 losses of life.

There have now been 2,219,242 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is now 151,968. Already 566,419 people have recovered.


Rishi Sunak has announced he has extended the furlough scheme until the end of June. "It is vital for people’s livelihoods that the UK economy gets up and running again when it is safe to do so, and I will continue to review the scheme so it is supporting our recovery."

Today's UK press conference was led by Alok Sharma, business secretary. He went back over what we are doing to cover ourselves for the build up of cases over the next few weeks. We have cracked 20k tests today, working towards the 100k a day. He reiterated the 5 conditions for reducing restrictions which we covered yesterday.
18,978 people are in hospital, again lower than yesterday, it really is fantastic - we locked down in time. Just another few days and it would have been entirely different.

The government has set up a Vaccines Task Force to coordinate efforts towards a vaccine, and it is already up and running. Members include people from government, business, education and regulators. We have also given 210m to CEPI, the international fund to find a vaccine. 21 further research projects are going ahead, and will get 14m between them for vaccines, testing and therapeutics (medicines). We are building our first vaccines manufacturing centre, to be ready to mass produce vaccines as soon as one is ready.

He was asked about his comment that we may need to get used to a 'new normal'. Alok explained that many workplaces will have to adapt in order to re-open and ensure physical distancing to keep employees safe.

Patrick Vallance the UK Science Chief went through the slides. We are seeing more travel in areas where there aren't many cases yet - don't be complacent guys, you don't actually want to catch up.
Hospital bed use has dropped more in London, risen slightly in the Midlands and Scotland, but is fairly stable.
He stressed the importance of getting the R level (reproductive level) down. We do believe it is below 1 throughout the UK.
The evidence is very variable on masks, we are going to keep looking at this and will update advice. Currently we are in line with WHO advice.

Press asked the killer question regarding Nurses, Care Workers, Social Care etc: 'Was it a mistake for your government to brand those people as unskilled labour? They are low paid and often can't even afford to take time off if they are ill. Isn't this a risk to public health?'
Replies were mainly 'Everyone in government wants to pay tribute to all of those working in this sector', 'it might take longer for them to get better if they don't take time off'. Errrr okay.
The press came back to ask that people in these sectors are given a decent minimum wage and guaranteed full sick pay?
The government talked about 2 weeks of SSP (£96 a week). Poor answer really, sorry.

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 16th April 2020.

The UK added 4,618 cases today and now has reported a total of 103,093 positive cases of COVID-19. We had all together tested 327,608 people as of 9am this morning.

As of 5pm yesterday, of those hospitalised in the UK, we have lost another 861 people to COVID-19. We now sadly have a total of 13,729 losses of life in hospitals. Losses of life in the community are reported by ONS with a 2 week delay.

Total cases and losses reported are:
England 79,489 / 12,395
Northern Ireland 2,201 / 140
Scotland 7,102 / 699
Wales 6,401 / 495
(The government haven't been reporting how many of the UK's positive testing cases have recovered.)

Rep. Of Ireland have 12,547 cases and 444 losses of life.

There have now been 2,129,355 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is now 142,707. Already 539,000 people have recovered.


"If the goal is to get society back to normal, you don’t announce a date and then try to justify it.
You set conditions that must be met, and then try to meet them."
Dan Froomkin, Press Watch.

Today's UK press conference was led by Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary. SAGE say we have a mixed and inconsistent picture, but the R value (see below) is below 1 in the community. Any change in our social distancing measures would risk an increase in cases (if we get out too early, there will be masses of infected people, all stepping out into the community at the same time). No surprise he officially said the lockdown isn't ending just yet. It is extended for at least 3 weeks.
We need to be satisfied in 5 factors before anything changes:
1. Protect the NHS' ability to cope. We need to have ability to treat everyone.
2. See a sustained and consistent fall in the death rates, so we have confidence we are over our peak
3. SAGE information must suggest we have a manageable situation
4. Testing capacity and PPE need to be there
5. Any adjustments must not risk a second peak which overwhelms the NHS.

If we do this wrong, it'll be more expensive in lives, jobs and money overall.

It is the 15th and it's time for this month's #TBCSmiles. We all need smiles more than ever right now, and even under lockdown, it's still possible to find joy - and definitely encouraged.

Spring is here and nature is flourishing without so many cars and people to get in the way. The birds are literally having a field day, we have never had so many fledglings in our trees. The sun has been shining, and I think most of us are beginning to really appreciate our time outdoors.


It isn't only loved ones that COVID-19 is taking from us, and a lot of people are feeling a great deal of hurt right now. It might only be temporary, but it's happening now, and it can be overwhelming. You are allowed to be sad that your plans aren't going to happen, that you can't see your friends, can't just go out. You are allowed to grieve your losses.

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 15th April 2020.

A good milestone today. Over half a million people have now been reported as recovered from Coronavirus.

The UK added 4,605 cases today and now has reported a total of 98,476 positive cases of COVID-19. We had all together tested 313,796 people as of 9am this morning.

As of 5pm yesterday, of those hospitalised in the UK, we have lost another 761 people to COVID-19. We now sadly have a total of 12,868 losses of life in hospitals.

Total cases and losses reported are:
England 76,371 / 11,656
Northern Ireland 2,088 / 134
Scotland 6,748 / 615
Wales 6,118 / 463
(The government haven't been reporting how many of the UK's positive testing cases have recovered.)

Rep. Of Ireland have 12,547 cases and 444 losses of life.

There have now been 2,044,221 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is now 131,340. Already 505,282 people have recovered.



Today's UK Press conference was hosted by Matt Hancock, Health Secretary.
He thanked us all for staying home, and thanked Captain Tom Moore! Yeeay. His 100 lap walk round his garden has now raised over £8m for the NHS.

Spare beds in critical care is now at 2,657 beds - capacity is growing faster than demand. At no point so far have we been unable to offer correct care to patients. We currently have 19,529 people in hospital with coronavirus.
We are doing incredibly well, and we can't let up now.
Regarding social care, we have given a boost of £1.6b. Today we've strengthened the rules, so every care home resident will be tested before being returned home from hospital, and any care home resident with symptoms will be tested.
Social Care staff will also be tested, this has started (over 4000 tested already).
Priority drops of PPE will happen while we roll out regular logistics via the Royal Mail.
Social Care needs more respect. It will from today have an identifiable and respected brand, and will get a lot of the benefits and discounts NHS staff currently have. We are also having a recruitment drive as we need more people in the profession.
Working with Public Health England, we are introducing new procedures so that loved ones can when possible, with the correct safety in place, be given the chance to be with a patient at the end of their life.

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 14th April 2020.

The UK added 5,914 cases today and now has reported a total of 93,873 positive cases of COVID-19. We had all together tested 302,599 people as of 9am this morning.

As of 5pm yesterday, of those hospitalised in the UK, we have lost another 778 people to COVID-19. We now sadly have a total of 12,107 losses of life in hospitals. Losses of life in the community are reported by ONS with a 2 week delay - see below.

Total cases and losses reported are:
England 73,183 / 11,005
Northern Ireland 1,967 / 124
Scotland 6,358 / 575
Wales 5,848 / 403
(The government haven't been reporting how many of the UK's positive testing cases have recovered.)

Rep. Of Ireland have 11,479 cases and 406 losses of life.

There have now been 1,968,893 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is now 123,783. Already 464,456 people have recovered.


Today's press conference was with Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Earlier today the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimated that the UK economy will shrink by 35% if the lockdown lasts 3 months and no other changes are made. He stressed that the OBR expect the economy to bounce back pretty well, it would be temporary.
Rishi explained that the scale of what we are facing will have consequences. The Government can't protect every business and household, but our planned economic response is protecting most people while restrictions are in place, and will help ensure most business can re-open and people can go back to work.
Right now to protect the health of the economy, we need to protect the health of our people, it isn't an either/or option.
Public services have been given £14.5b in recent weeks. Business grants are with local authorities, loans are going out, and the furlough scheme is still intended to be up and paying out before the end of April - employers should be able to claim by around 20th April.