Covid UK news live: Cases surge as lockdown ruled out and NHS chiefs call for‘Plan B’

Irish campaigners worry the coronavirus pandemic will result in a “tsunami” of psychological well being points amongst youngsters.

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Kids (ISPCC) mentioned mentioned that from October 2019 to September 2020, the it acquired greater than 240,000 contacts from younger folks, whereas its one-to-one service labored with 458 youngsters.

John Church, its chief government, spoke of how anxious, sad and lonely they felt. He mentioned: “There will likely be a tsunami of psychological well being points.

“Everyone will encounter opposed childhood occasions and this can be a vital occasion.

“The nervousness ranges and tensions have been by means of the roof – within the first week of the lockdown in March final 12 months, there was a 30 per cent enhance in calls to Childline.

“There was rather a lot about worry of getting the virus and family members and grandparents getting it.

“The psychological well being impression of Covid-19 featured closely throughout these providers.”

Between the closure of colleges in March 2020 and late June of final 12 months, the Childline web site skilled a rise in customers of greater than 100%.

Extra reporting by PA Media

The Liberal Democrats have accused ministers of “burying their heads within the sand” amid rising Covid-19 infections and loss of life.

The get together additionally known as for an emergency assembly of the Sage advisory physique.

Munira Wilson, its well being spokesperson, mentioned in a press release: “Covid circumstances are surging and hundreds of thousands of weak persons are but to obtain their booster jabs, but ministers are burying their heads within the sand.

“The federal government can not merely ignore the scientific recommendation and act as if this pandemic is over.

“Boris Johnson should name an emergency assembly of Sage, resume weekly conferences and comply with the knowledgeable recommendation supplied on the best way to defend the NHS and preserve faculties open this winter.

“We can not danger a fourth wave as a result of the prime minister refuses to be taught the teachings from the horrible errors all through this pandemic.”

Instances are surging in southwest England after tens of 1000’s of individuals with Covid have been wrongly advised they have been destructive, permitting infections to proceed spreading unchecked throughout the area, writes Samuel Lovett.

An estimated 43,000 folks throughout the nation are thought to have acquired an incorrect false check consequence as a consequence of “technical points” at a personal laboratory in Wolverhampton, the place operations have been suspended amid an ongoing investigation.

Authorities have since contacted the affected people, principally within the South West, to advise them to take one other check. The wrong PCR outcomes have been handed out between 8 September and 12 October, the UK Well being Safety Company mentioned.

Additional to the earlier two posts, extra new case numbers are coming in from particular person European international locations. A brand new wave of coronavirus does seem like gathering tempo on the continent.

Poland reported extra 5,000 each day Covid-19 circumstances for the primary time since Could on Wednesday.

The nation of round 38 million folks logged 5,559 new circumstances of the coronavirus and 75 deaths. Because the starting of the pandemic Poland has reported 2,950,616 circumstances and 76,254 deaths.

In the meantime, Slovakia reported 3,480 new Covid-19 circumstances, its highest each day tally since 9 March.

Slovakia has one of many decrease vaccination charges within the European Union, with simply over half the grownup inhabitants absolutely inoculated within the nation of 5.5 million. This has contributed to a sooner rise in infections than in some neighbouring international locations and circumstances have spiked since September.

Some 71 per cent of individuals discovered to be newly contaminated in Tuesday weren’t unvaccinated, the well being ministry mentioned. The variety of sufferers in hospital rose above 1,000 for the primary time since Could, reaching 1,040 together with 113 in intensive care.

And within the Czech Republic, 3,246 new circumstances have been recorded within the newest figures, greater than double the quantity every week in the past and the best since 20 April.

Extra reporting by companies

New coronavirus infections rose 7 per cent throughout Europe final week,in accordance with the World Well being Organisation (WHO).

It was the one area on this planet the place circumstances elevated.

In its weekly evaluation of the pandemic launched late on Tuesday, the UN physique mentioned there have been about 2.7 million new Covid-19 circumstances and greater than 46,000 deaths all over the world final week, just like the numbers reported the earlier week. The UK, Russia and Turkey accounted for probably the most circumstances.

For the third consecutive week, coronavirus circumstances have jumped in Europe, with about 1.3 million new circumstances.

The largest falls in infections have been seen in Africa and the western Pacific, the place circumstances fell by about 18 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively.

The variety of deaths in Africa additionally declined by about one-quarter, regardless of the dire scarcity of vaccines on the continent. Different areas together with the Americas and the Center East reported related numbers to the earlier week, the WHO mentioned.

Extra reporting by AP

Russia has simply reported a file 1,028 coronavirus-related deaths within the final 24 hours in addition to 34,073 new infections.

It comes a day after Moscow’s mayor introduced 4 months of stay-home restrictions for unvaccinated over-60s within the capital, whereas the nationwide authorities proposed a week-long office shutdown to deal with fast-rising circumstances.

The Kremlin has blamed the surge on Russia’s sluggish vaccination marketing campaign.

Andrew Hayward, a UCL epidemiologist and member of Sage, has mentioned the UK should velocity up its vaccine rollout.

He advised Instances Radio: “We’re completely reliant on the vaccination programme to cut back hospitalisations and deaths, and we all know immunity from these vaccines, it has waned quite a bit over the course of 5 – 6 months, and there may be proof it isn’t from an infection but in addition extreme illness.

“It is crucial for folks if they’ve been supplied a vaccine to take that up.”

Prof Hayward additionally mentioned the booster programme might take time to roll out, “by which period we might have had a serious peak”.

He added: “We all know from the NHS they’re already experiencing nice pressures on hospitals, and that’s going to worsen as we go into winter.”

Prof Hayward mentioned individuals who can simply work at home ought to accomplish that, and everybody ought to practise social distancing. He added: “Sporting masks will make a distinction, and now we have, as a society, given up on that, which is a disgrace.

“There are instruments we will use and, whereas some are an inconvenience, they don’t seem to be a drag on the financial system.”

NHS chiefs have known as on the federal government to take pressing motion to halt the unfold of coronavirus to keep away from a winter disaster, writes Holly Bancroft.

The NHS Confederation, a membership physique of well being care trusts and commissioning teams, mentioned that ministers’ “plan B” technique ought to be carried out.

However what’s “plan B”? Learn on…

The newly found Delta sub-variant of coronavirus that’s rising in England is just not more likely to change the Covid-19 image, Oxford Vaccine Group chief Andrew Pollard mentioned on Wednesday.

The subvariant, designated as AY.4.2, is rising and accounted for about 6 per cent of all sequences generated, the UK Well being Safety Company mentioned final week, nevertheless it has not been labelled as “beneath investigation” or a “variant of concern”.

“Discovery of recent variants is after all necessary to watch, nevertheless it would not point out that that new variant goes to be the subsequent one to switch Delta,” Sir Andrew advised the BBC.

“Certainly even when it does, Delta is extremely good at transmitting in a vaccinated inhabitants and a brand new one could also be a bit higher nevertheless it’s unlikely to alter the image dramatically from the place we’re at present.”

This week The Unbiased revealed Oxford consultants have been making an attempt to develop a brand new vaccine to focus on Delta.

In case you missed it, learn extra beneath:

The pandemic has had a “devastating and lasting impression” on the greater than 4 million individuals who have been recognized as being clinically extraordinarily weak and requested to defend because the virus tore by means of communities throughout the UK, a report has discovered.

Researchers mentioned that clinically extraordinarily weak folks skilled a better fee of deaths in comparison with the final inhabitants – and that the psychological and bodily well being implications are nonetheless being felt at present, writes Tom Batchelor.

The upper danger of issues from Covid was compounded by a reorganisation of NHS providers within the early levels of the pandemic which led to vital unmet well being wants and worsening psychological well being amongst this group, analysis by the Well being Basis’s Networked Information Lab discovered.