Coronavirus news: England hospital admissions up nearly one-quarter in a day, as MPs back 'rule of six'
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The number of people admitted to English hospitals with coronavirus leapt by nearly one-quarter from Saturday to Sunday, government figures revealed.
There were 478 admissions on Sunday, the most recent day for which figures have been provided, up from 386 the day before.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has won a Commons vote on the “rule of six”, despite anger at the government’s ability to bypass parliamentary scrutiny during the pandemic. MPs voted in favour by 287 votes to 17 – but 12 Tories rebelled and voted against the regulation.
Growing frustration with restrictions on freedom comes at a time when some experts are warning those crackdowns may have to become more stringent.
Speaking on BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Professor John Edmunds said a return to national lockdown should come sooner rather than later.
The Sage adviser said: "We are starting to get to a point where we really will have to take really critical action otherwise we are going to run the risk of turning the National Health Service back into the national Covid service.
"These local restrictions that have been put in place in much of the north of England really haven't been very effective. We need to take much more stringent measures, not just in the north of England, we need to do it countrywide, and bring the epidemic back under control."
He was speaking after it became likely that new a local lockdown would be imposed in Nottingham, where the director of public health described a spike in cases as “significant and worrying”.
In the US, Donald Trump has continued to downplay the dangers of Covid-19, despite contracting it himself. He also called an abrupt halt to negotiations with Democrats on badly-needed new economic stimulus.
Curfew 'may have contributed to students’ drug deaths’
Nightclubs being closed and a 10pm pub curfew may have played a role in suspected drug-related student deaths, an expert has suggested.
Professor Fiona Measham, co-founder of The Loop, a harm reduction charity, said she had warned “all summer to anyone who would listen” about the risks of students going back to university amid coronavirus restrictions.
Lack of nightclubs may have contributed to student 'drugs deaths', expert says
Professor Fiona Measham says there is ‘safety net’ at clubs
Explained: Who will get the Covid-19 vaccine?
Since the start of the pandemic, the Covid-19 vaccine has been placed on a pedestal as marking the end of the coronavirus and the best hope of returning us to our pre-virus lives, without the need for continued social distancing and local lockdown measures.
Who will get the coronavirus vaccine first?
‘People keep talking about time to vaccinate the whole population but that is misguided,’ said Kate Bingham, head of the vaccine task force
UK infection rate doubles in a week
The rate of Covid-19 infections across the UK has almost doubled in a week.
The UK-wide seven-day rate currently stands at 125.7 cases per 100,000 people, up from 63.8 per 100,000 a week ago, analysis by the PA news agency shows.
Belgium to impose more restrictions
Belgium will tighten coronavirus restrictions at the end of the week, limiting groups to a maximum of four people in a bid to stem a sharp rise of infections.
Alexander De Croo, the new prime minister who took office five days ago, told a news conference he was aware Belgians were tired of restrictions, but they had to stick to the rules to avoid another full lockdown.
From Friday, Belgians should only have three people outside their home with in whose company they do not practise social distancing.
No more than four people should be invited inside a home, be seated at a single bar table or gather outside. Bars will all have to close at 11pm.
Covid-19 has claimed 10,078 lives in the country of 11 million people, producing one of the highest per capita fatality rates in the world.
Thousands still to be traced after UK’s IT blunder
Thousands of people who came into close contact with coronavirus sufferers have still not been reached, after an IT blunder meant that large numbers of cases went missing, writes Andrew Woodcock.
A massive effort was launched to trace the potentially infected individuals after Public Health England revealed that 15,841 cases had not been registered between 25 September and 2 October.
Thousands of coronavirus contacts still to be traced after IT blunder
Downing Street says 63 per cent out of more than 15,800 cases now dealt with
Trump’s top generals in quarantine
Donald Trump’s top military advisor and senior defence leadership are in quarantine after the Coast Guard announced an official who tested positive for coronavirus had attended meetings at the Pentagon.
The US’s top military general quarantining after possible Covid exposure
The latest breaking news, comment and features from The Independent.
UK buys 1 million antibody tests
The government has bought 1 million antibody tests it hopes will help track the spread of Covid-19.
Lord Bethell, the health minister, announced the tests had been purchased from the UK-Rapid Test Consortium (UK-RTC).
Antibody tests identify if somebody has previously had coronavirus, even if they had no symptoms.
They do not need to be sent to a laboratory and instead involve a fingerprick device, providing a result within 20 minutes.
Boris Johnson described the kits as a "game-changer" in March.
However, it is not clear that possessing antibodies means a person cannot be reinfected.
The UK-RTC, which developed the test, includes Oxford University, Abingdon Health, BBI Solutions and CIGA Healthcare.
MPs approve rule of six
MPs have voted in favour of Covid-19 regulations which enforce the rule of six in England by 287 votes to 17, majority 270.
The regulations are already in force, with the motion offering a retrospective vote on it.
Looming Whitehall row on who gets vaccine
Ministers are on a collision course with their own vaccine experts, after rejecting advice that under-50s will not be given a Covid-19 jab, writes Rob Merrick.
Matt Hancock described the warning – by the head of the government’s vaccine task force – as “an interim guide” only, insisting he still wanted a “full roll-out”.
“We await the data from the clinical trials of the vaccine before we will come to a clinically validated full roll-out plan,” the health secretary told MPs.
Ministers on collision course with advisers after rejecting warning of no vaccine for under-50s
Matt Hancock describes statement – by his vaccine task force – as ‘interim’ only, insisting he still wants a ‘full roll-out’
Vaccine ‘quite a way away’, Drakeford warns
A vaccine that could bring the coronavirus pandemic to an end is "quite a way away", the first minister of Wales has warned.
Mark Drakeford said the public would have to learn to live with the virus and accept a re-escalation of restrictions for "quite a while yet", while suggesting the first immunisations could only protect a person for a matter of weeks.
His comments came during a Welsh government online question-and-answer session with the public on Tuesday.
Mr Drakeford said: "I wouldn't get carried away, myself, by some of the things you sometimes hear ministers at the UK government level saying, or some of the more typical reports you hear in newspapers, suggesting there is some miracle around the corner that is going to get us all out of this in short order.
"There is an enormous amount of work going on to create a vaccine. But I don't think the first vaccines we will see will be the sort of vaccine we are used to."
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