Covid news: Lockdown extended in Northern Ireland as over 500,000 get second vaccine
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Your support makes all the difference.The Stormont executive has agreed to extend Northern Ireland’s current lockdown to 1 April, but pupils will begin a phased return to the classroom from March.
Primary school pupils in year groups P1 to P3 will return to face-to-face learning on 8 March, the PA news agency understands, while secondary school pupils in year groups 12 to 14 will return to school on 22 March.
It comes as the number of people in England who have received two doses of a Covid vaccine surpassed half a million, according to the latest NHS data.
A total of 14,318,115 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between 8 December and 17 February, according to provisional NHS England data, including first and second doses. Of this number, 13,817,914 were the first doses while 500,201 were a second dose.
Meanwhile, further discovery of the South African variant of the virus in Leeds has prompted more “surge” testing.
- ‘If I get seriously ill, it’s worth it’: volunteers to be infected with coronavirus in world first human trials
- UK Covid variant appears to linger in body for longer than other versions of virus, research suggests
- Covid infections fall by more than two-thirds but ‘remain high’, study shows
- Pubs and restaurants likely to be among last to come out of lockdown, Boris Johnson says
- Should employers be allowed to demand all their workers are vaccinated?
PM ‘will risk 1m jobs by failing to name date for pubs and restaurants to open’
Sources within the hospitality industry have warned Boris Johnson will put up to 1 million jobs at risk by failing to name a date for the reopening of pubs, restaurants and other venues
The prime minister is due to unveil his roadmap out of England’s current national lockdown on Monday.
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has more details:
Boris Johnson ‘will risk 1m jobs by failing to name date for pubs and restaurants to open’
Exclusive: Report warns against repeat of ‘mismanaged’ initiatives like Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out
Most UK adults support vaccine passports, poll finds
Two-thirds of UK adults support the idea of vaccination passports despite legal and ethical concerns, a poll has revealed.
A survey of 2,000 adults has revealed 68 per cent support vaccination passports for people heading out of the UK on holiday and business.
Adrian Hearn has more details:
Most UK adults support idea of using Covid vaccine passports, poll finds
These results follow a petition signed by over 145,000 people, calling for the UK government to not roll out a vaccine passport
Jo Whiley’s sister admitted to hospital with coronavirus
Jo Whiley is missing her BBC Radio 2 evening show after her sister, who has learning difficulties and diabetes, was admitted to hospital with coronavirus.
Singer Will Young is standing in for her.
Whiley wrote on Twitter: "I can't do my @BBCRadio2 show this evening. My sister Frances is v poorly in hospital with Covid.
“I don't feel shiny or happy tonight, I feel very scared. However I'll be listening to @willyoung who I know will light up our kitchen in the depths of our darkness."
Revellers caught on police video fleeing lockdown party
Nineteen revellers are each facing an £800 fine after they were caught on police cameras attempting to flee a lockdown party in Portsmouth.
Emily Goddard has more details and video footage below:
Family builds Las Vegas-themed pub in back garden as lockdown project
A carpenter and his family have built a fully-functional Las Vegas-themed pub in their back garden over lockdown.
The sports bar includes a pool table, three televisions, juke box, games room, working toilet and draught beer pumps.
Kate Ng has more details:
Family builds Las Vegas-themed pub in back garden as lockdown project
Carpenter John O’Grady and family ‘can’t wait’ for friends to see pub in real life after lockdown lifts
Pimlico Plumbers boss says public would ‘crawl across snow naked’ for vaccine
Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins has claimed the British public would currently “crawl across snow naked” to get a coronavirus vaccine as he defended his company’s “no jab, no job” policy.
The businessman said his lawyers had already approved the rule, which will see potential new workers refused employment if they have not had a Covid-19 vaccination once one is publicly available.
Pimlico Plumbers boss says public would ‘crawl across snow naked for vaccine’
Businessman says new potential employees will be turned away if they refuse inoculation against coronavirus
Church of England fights vaccine misinformation
Senior figures in the Church of England have joined the fight against vaccine misinformation by urging their congregations to get a Covid-19 jab.
Thirteen bishops have put out a video following fears anti-vaccination conspiracy theories are causing low uptake among certain communities, and undermining the immunisation drive.
It is part of the NHS-backed £GiveHope campaign encouraging communities to seek accurate information, hold local conversations and to encourage one another to accept a jab.
Retail and hospitality businesses 'missed out on £45bn in sales during first UK lockdown’
Retail and hospitality businesses missed out on £45bn during the first lockdown and its immediate aftermath, a study has found.
Bars, pubs and restaurants lost 90 per cent of revenues over the period, amounting to £25bn, while non-food high street shops saw £20bn of sales evaporate, according to researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Newcastle.
Our business correspondent Ben Chapman has more details:
First UK lockdown cost retail and hospitality £45bn, study estimates
Study finds ‘massive shift’ in the nation’s shopping habits that researchers think could be here to stay
Fifth of 80-and-overs in London ‘have not had’ first jab, figures show
Nearly one in five people aged 80 and over in London are yet to have their first Covid-19 jab, figures up to Sunday suggest.
It makes the capital’s vaccine rollout among this age bracket the lowest of any region in England.
Sam Hancock has more details:
Fifth of 80-and-overs in London ‘have not had’ first Covid jab, figures show
Capital’s immunisation rate among elderly people ‘lowest of any region in England’
UK Covid variant slowing suppression of Irish third wave
The near dominance in Ireland of the more infectious Covid-19 variant discovered in the UK has slowed the suppression of a third wave of the disease and may be leading to a plateauing of hospital admissions, according to the country’s Covid modelling chief.
Ireland has been back in lockdown for almost two months after a wide reopening of the economy in December led to its most deadly coronavirus surge to date, just as the variant known as B117 identified in Britain started to become more prevalent.
Nine out of every 10 transmissions are now attributable to the variant, cutting the daily fall in case from 7-10 per cent last month to just 0.2 to 0.4 per cent this week and prompting the government to warn that any reopening of the economy will be very gradual.
"We continue to make progress but the rate at which the number of cases a day is decreasing has slowed down and that is almost certainly due to the B117 variant," Ireland's Covid-19 modelling chief, Philip Nolan, told a news conference.
"We are maintaining suppression but it's precarious and we've a fundamental concern that disease levels are still very high."
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