Covid news: UK records highest daily death toll as Whitty to front new ‘stay at home’ TV campaign
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Your support makes all the difference.The UK has reported 1,325 more coronavirus deaths, its highest daily total since the pandemic began, as a new TV campaign fronted by Professor Chris Whitty urges people in England to stay home.
The new death figures surpassed the previous record of 1,224 set in April and fuelled fears the current lockdown is not working.
Meanwhile, new adverts in England emphasise the risk posed by the new strain of the disease and how stretched hospitals are becoming, while driving home the country’s “stay at home” message.
It comes as London mayor Sadiq Khan declared a “major incident” in the capital, as one in 20 people now have Covid-19 in some parts of the city.
The mayor told LBC one in 30 people in London on average have the virus, “but in some parts of London one out of 20 Londoners now has this virus”.
City Hall said Covid-19 cases in London have exceeded 1,000 per 100,000, while there are 35 per cent more people in hospital with the virus than at the peak of the pandemic in April.
It comes after the UK’s medicines watchdog approved the Moderna vaccine for use, making it the third one given the go ahead after the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs.
‘The numbers will keep climbing’
The UK reported 1,325 more coronavirus deaths today - the highest daily increase since the pandemic began.
Christina Pagel, a member of Independent Sage, said the numbers will “keep climbing” over the next weeks, as she offered a stark warning:
Cancer operations cancelled across London
Hundreds of cancer operations are being cancelled across London as the capital is inundated with Covid patients – but the Nightingale hospital set up to help take the strain still cannot open because staff have not been recruited.
Our health correspondent, Shaun Lintern, reports:
Hundreds of cancer operations cancelled as overrun London hospitals asked to send staff to Nightingale
Exclusive: ‘We need to be honest with the public and stop pretending this isn’t happening’
‘It was not bad luck and it was not inevitable’
Here’s Keir Starmer on the UK’s record daily death toll:
Professor Chris Whitty fronts new ‘stay home’ campaign
Professor Chris Whitty has urged the public to stay at home “once more” in a new advert.
Watch it here:
An ICU nurse at an NHS London hospital has said "our government failed us" as the capital's mayor Sadiq Khan declared a "major incident" across the city in the face of soaring Covid-19 cases.
Ameera Sheikh, 28, who is a Unite union representative, said: “It's so stressful, my colleagues aren't coping very well.”
“Some of them are so burnt out that they can't eat, they can't sleep, they can't bring themselves to come into work.”
She added: "How has our government failed us, and had all these months to prepare?"
‘Hospitals risk being overwhelmed’
London’s mayor has urged people to stay at home, as he warned hospitals were at risk of being overwhelmed:
Earlier today, Sadiq Khan declared a “major incident” in the capital because of the pressure of Covid-19 on the city’s health and emergency services, as Andrew Woodcock reported:
London mayor declares ‘major incident’ as Covid cases surge
Hospitals in capital ‘at risk of being overwhelmed’, says Sadiq Khan
Doctors prevented from fighting on frontline due to Home Office delays
The NHS is buckling under the pressure of Covid-19, with tens of thousands of doctors and nurses across England now off sick because of the virus – accounting for almost half of all staff absences.
Yet at the same time, there are qualified health workers sitting at home who are desperate to be on the front line helping to tackle the crisis but who are being prevented from doing so.
Our social affairs correspondent, May Bulman, reports on the doctors unable to help the NHS fight coronavirus because of Home Office delays:
The doctors prevented from fighting coronavirus on front line due to Home Office delays
‘I could be working on the front line right now. I could be helping the country,’ says qualified surgeon
London mayor calls for places of worship to close
London mayor Sadiq Khan has backed a call from London Councils, which represents the capital’s 32 boroughs and the City of London, for all places of worship to be closed because of rising Covid cases.
Churches and other venues are currently allowed to stay open under government regulations but the cross-party organisation is urging leaders to shut them voluntarily.
Georgia Gould, a councillor and chair of London Councils, said: “The most powerful act of love any of us can give is to stay at home to save lives. We know how vitally important places of worship are to communities but the situation facing London is dangerous and we are asking them to consider voluntarily closing to protect lives and the NHS.”
Police warn anti-lockdown protesters
The Metropolitan Police has issued a warning to protesters ahead of planned anti-lockdown demonstrations in London over the weekend.
Anti-lockdown group StandUpX is planning to stage a demonstration in Clapham Common, south London, on Saturday afternoon.
The group was also involved in a protest in Parliament Square earlier this week in which 21 people were arrested, and its social media accounts called for "thousands" to join the march.
In an open letter, the Met Police said the force was "aware" of groups looking to gather to protest, and strongly advised people not to attend any public meetings.
It read: “The MPS strongly advises people not to attend any gathering, for the protection of yourselves and others. We are still in the middle of a global pandemic. Police officers will take appropriate enforcement action where necessary.”
Students should not pay for vacant accomodation in lockdown, unions say
Students should not be made to pay for accommodation they cannot live in due to lockdown, unions have said.
As England was sent into a fresh lockdown, government guidance told students to remain where they were – while many were still at family homes during the Christmas break – until at least mid-February, with teaching pushed online.
Full story:
Students should not pay for accommodation they cannot live in due to lockdown, unions say
One student says it is ‘annoying’ to see money being spent on a property a hundred miles away
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