There are increasing fears about a default lockdown as Omicron waves threatens to disable public transport and services. However, ministers insist that there is no need for new restrictions in England.
With the New Year’s return to work in jeopardy, the public sector is warned that it could lead to a disaster with 25% of its staff (around 1.4million) being absent from work.
Official figures show that one-tenth of NHS staff were out of work on New Years Eve, although less than 50,000 had coronavirus.
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust declared an “incident critical” in connection to staff shortages that were “extremely and unprecedented”.
Nearly a third of rail services have been axed at some stations in recent days, after as many as one in ten staff called in sick with illnesses including Covid – while major engineering works on key commuter routes are scheduled to continue until midway through next week.
The UK’s councils are being forced to redistribute their staff to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
Schools are being asked to prepare contingency plans for staff absentees after the Christmas holiday.
Today, however, the bullish ministers insisted that there is no ‘plateauing’ in cases in hotspots. They also suggested that the NHS could be used to address staffing shortages.
Nadhim Zahawi, Education Secretary, insisted that the “pattern” of the mutant strain wasn’t the same as Delta. Patients who use a ventilator are less likely to need one and stay in the hospital longer.
In interviews, he highlighted the positive signs of London’s infectivity rates and said that staff are skilled at moving around the service to address shortages.
Although Mr Zahawi claimed there was nothing in the data that would make it ‘go further on the restrictions’, he said the numbers among the over-50s will be closely monitored.
The UK recorded 137,583 new Covid infections yesterday, a week-on-week increase of 14.7 per cent – a slower rate of growth than preceding days, but not including an update from Scotland.
Scots are being warned, in stark contrast to south-border mood music, that April may be too soon to start planning big parties. This could indicate that Nicola Sturgeon’s stricter Covid rules might be extended by months.
This week’s review of restrictions in England by Ministers is expected to be a sign that the government will not increase them.
Recent figures show that growth in Covid hospitalisations, which is considered a good indicator of future events in the country, slowed over the New Year. Holiday reporting issues could also have affected this total.
On December 31, there were 319 people admitted to London’s hospitals. This is an increase of 14 percent over the previous week and a rise of 15% week-on-week.
Although the holiday effect might be keeping the numbers down, it is still a significant increase over the previous days that had a 32% increase in admissions from December 29 through 511.
Covid development:
- Due to shortages of staff, bin collection were cancelled in Manchester, Essex, and Somerset.
- Figures show that in the last few days the proportion of NHS workers who stay at home due to Covid reasons doubled.
- Officials at the local council stated that they had to transfer staff among services in order to maintain a smooth operation.
- A brighter sign was the Fuller’s pub’s announcement that London’s absence rates had improved and were now at their lowest point.
- Because of the absence of teachers, Mr Zahawi suggested that whole classes could be split into more groups. coronavirus
- It has been shown that fewer Covid patients are using ventilation in hospitals than during previous pandemics.
LONDON: Cases in the capital have been plateauing recently although holiday reporting glitched could be to blame. These grey bars indicate incomplete data. They will continue to rise
Nadhim Zahawi spoke out about the positive signs in London, where infections rates are ‘plateauing’.
Pub, restaurant and nightclub bosses believe firms in Edinburgh missed out on around £20 million on Hogmanay due to coronavirus measures. Jason Leitch, national clinical director (L), rejected calls to reschedule the New Year’s street party for April. This means that restrictions imposed by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon are expected to continue until spring.
BBC Breakfast’s Mr Zahawi stated that Plan B’s measures will be reviewed on Wednesday. He added, however: “There is no data in my database that makes me feel that we should go further than we are.”
“There is some good information from London showing that the rates of infection are declining, but not quite at this point.” However, we see an increase in infections among the older population. It’s usually the elderly who are most likely to end up suffering from severe illness and need hospitalisation.
Sky News’ minister stated that the number of coronavirus-infected patients has been on the rise among over-50s. This is something we worry about. However, overall the ICU population has declined which is a good thing.
“On the whole, we don’t see the same patterns as Delta. We had more people ventilated and people in ICU for a longer time.
“And those admitted with Covid and not for Covid are also around a third.”
Zahawi stated that the infrastructure in place for staff deployment to help fill shortages has allowed the health system to provide adequate care. He said that the NHS was very adept at moving staff within its system. They have the infrastructure necessary to accomplish this. Now, we have 10,000 extra nurses and 3000 more doctors working for the NHS than what was available last year.
“But the NHS does a great job of monitoring and managing staff shortages. It’s been done over many winters when there have been big flu epidemics.
The public sector is struggling, so councils across the country announced this weekend that they would reduce services, or suspend all waste collections, in Manchester, Essex and Somerset. Staff numbers are being cut due to isolation and positive Covid test results.
Chelmsford City Council has cancelled three days worth of food waste collection after 23 employees were called into sick or in unable to work. In North Somerset, 1,000 recycling bins weren’t collected.
Even though ministers held their ground in England, Scotland’s national clinical chief has given another blow to the hospitality sector by suggesting that the ban of large public gatherings among high Covid cases may last into spring.
Pub, restaurant and nightclub bosses believe firms in Edinburgh missed out on around £20million on Hogmanay due to coronavirus measures.
Jason Leitch, however, declined requests for the New Year Street Party to be moved to April. He said it might be too soon to host mass events.
As hospitality businesses continue to struggle, Ms Sturgeon’s restrictions on pubs/restaurants and table service mean they must provide one-metre social separation between groups and tables.
Nightclubs were closed on December 27 for at least three weeks, and officials have been warned that some hospitality businesses currently closed will never reopen.
Yesterday, another 137,583 Covid cases was reported, and figures for New Year’s Day indicated a 33.4% week-on-week rise in new cases.
As the country transitions out of Christmas season, it was the 12th consecutive day that the number of cases has surpassed 100,000. However, although the weekly increase in new cases is as high as 72.5 percent each week, these numbers are distorted due to lags during the festive season.
Yesterday’s Covid statistics for Scotland weren’t available, and Sunday updates aren’t made to hospitalisations.
This comes after official statistics revealed that almost one in ten NHS workers fell ill over the New Year’s Eve holiday as the coronavirus continued its assault on health care.
Meanwhile, secondary school pupils will be told to wear face masks from the moment they arrive until they leave when they return to classrooms this week.
In an effort to protect the education of millions of youngsters amid a sharp rise in cases of the Omicron variant, Ministers have requested that pupils cover their faces all day – including while they are being taught. They are already asked to wear masks in communal areas.
Mr Zahawi said he and Boris Johnson saw schools as their ‘No 1 priority’, adding that they wanted to ‘do everything in our power to minimise disruption’.
Robert Halfon (Tory Chair of the Commons Education Select Committee), expressed concern at the news about masks. He said that he was concerned the move might cause mental problems in children.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said that he prefers to see children wearing face covers in school than those who are left at home.
Following the Christmas recess the Commons is due to see MPs return on Wednesday. On the same day, the Government will review Plan B.
Although the regulations will not expire before January 26, Downing Street stated that they would be reviewed three weeks following their implementation.
Scots are now at greater risk of a prolonged ‘fun ban’. Professor Leitch stated that it was possible for Scots to face an extended ‘fun ban’. He also suggested that plans to reschedule Edinburgh’s Hogmanay party from April to May’might have been slightly too early.
He added, “I enjoy an Edinburgh night-out as much or more than any other person.” It is not clear if we will be able to bring this forward until April.
“We believe. Data from South Africa and University College London as well as data from Denmark, Edinburgh, and Edinburgh suggest that serious diseases are less common with this variant. It could be as low as one-third of the cases. But let’s put that in perspective – 2,500 Delta cases [per day]You can have 50 patients in the hospital
“You will need to have 10,000 Omicron admissions, and Scotland has at 15,000.” Omicron’s encouraging results are comparable to Delta. However, Delta had a low standard.
Gavin Stevenson, vice-chairman of the Night Time Industries Association in Scotland, claimed there had been an 80 per cent drop in footfall on Hogmanay, which may have cost the sector £20million.
The Sunday Mail was informed by him that “Hogmanay” has proved to be a very difficult time for licensed traders. Hogmanay is a night that I estimate has caused the hospitality sector to lose tens or millions of pounds.
“It could prove to be the final nail in the coffin of small businesses.”
This happened after police arrived at a Glaswegian Pub on New Year’s Eve with a large force to disperse a gathering of socially distant people who allegedly saw dancing.
Onlookers cheered, booed and screamed “shame” as 25 officers raided Glasgow’s Avant Garde gastropub and detained two revellers.
Billy Tetmichalis (63), a bar owner, plans to file a formal complain against the police. He was told that he needed to close down because Covid regulations were being broken by customers.
Police Scotland however stated that this visit was part a “routine visit” and didn’t enforce Covid restrictions.
After arriving to stop a New Years Eve celebration in Glasgow’s centre, police officers approached a man at a Glasgow bar and put him in a lock.
MailOnline received a statement from them stating that the owner could not produce evidence it was adhering to licensing conditions. They were subject to enforcement actions.
MailOnline officers visited Mr Tetmichalis’ bar in King’s Street Glasgow because they noticed a few people dancing and being served.
We had followed all of the instructions. We were performing table service when some people got up to go towards the bar.
“This venue holds 306 persons and tickets were stopped at 80. This was to ensure that everyone had sufficient space.
“Some people arrived at the bar, and we didn’t stop them. If that means that it makes us liable, then so be it.
On Wednesday, Ms. Sturgeon will update the Scottish Parliament regarding the restrictions.
Jackie Baillie from the Scottish Labour health department stated that every restriction results in reduced revenue for those businesses who are already trying to survive.
“The Scottish government must make sure that everyone who is eligible receives support.”
Fears for face-to-face teaching are growing: A lack of school staff could lead to a return to online classes. Masks can make a class comeback
- Nadhim Zhawi suggested that schools may find face-toface teaching difficult.
- The Omicron variant could cause teacher shortages or mass staff shortages
- He was admitted by the Department of Education after it was confirmed that secondary school students will need to use masks in class and take tests twice per week.
According to the Education Secretary, whole classes might need to be mixed into large groups or taken home to do remote work because coronavirus has left out their teachers.
Nadhim Zhawi stated that face-to–face instruction may be difficult for schools due to the Omicron version, leading to mass staff shortages.
The Department for Education announced that pupils in secondary schools will be required to use masks when entering classrooms, and they must also test their skills twice per week upon returning.
Yesterday, Zahawi sent an open letter to schools. He stated that remote learning “should not be on a temporary basis” and that schools should return to in-person full-time attendance for all students as soon as possible.
He said, “If you face operational difficulties due to shortages of workforce in your environment make it impossible to deliver face-to-face instruction, I encourage you to think about ways to adapt to learn.”
It could mean that all staff are used to “maximize on-site education for the most pupils possible” while schools can ‘flexibly provide provision on-site and remotely to some pupils. But, he said that such arrangements are temporary.
He said, “If you face operational difficulties due to shortages of workforce in your environment make it impossible to deliver face-to-face instruction, I encourage you to think about ways to adapt to learn.”
It could mean that all staff are used to “maximize on-site education for the most pupils possible” while schools can ‘flexibly provide provision on-site and remotely to some pupils. But, he said that such arrangements are temporary.
Other options than sending the children home for learning remotely include hiring supply staff, combining classes and creating larger classes.
Last month’s absence rate of less than 3% was recorded. But worries are growing that numbers could rise sharply – with one of Britain’s largest academy trusts saying it had experienced staff absence levels of 10 per cent.
Unions also predicted disruption that ‘looks sadly inevitable’ when the new term begins.
There has been a lot of criticism directed at the Government for reintroducing face masks. Critics have called it a declaration of war on children (file image).
There has been a lot of criticism directed at the Government for reintroducing face masks. Critics have called it a declaration of war on children.
Teachers and unions generally supported the decision, noting that remote learning is better.
Boris Johnson, August 2020 called the idea of mask wearing in schools ‘nonsensical. The recommendation was made for two months in March, and it will be reinstated at the beginning of next term.
Geoff Barton (general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders) stated: “Face coverings have been recommended for students in years 7 and over in communal areas.
“Pupils are used to them, and we believe that the return of face-coverings into classrooms will be a success. Schools and colleges can do it with ease.
Dr Mary Bousted (joint general secretary) of the National Education Union said that masks are unlikely to have any’significant mental effects’ on students.
“We have secondary schools in Wales (and Scotland) that allow mask-wearing, and it doesn’t seem to be causing any problems. The founder of Oasis Community Learning academy trust, Rev Steve Chalke said that although it wasn’t ideal, it was better than having masks enforced in the classrooms.
Sky News spoke to him: “We cannot afford the loss of days for these kids’ schooling, and we have seen media reports that leaving children alone is bad for their health as well as for society.
Robert Halfon (Tory MP and chairman of the Commons Education Committee) told Sky News that he wants the Government to present the evidence in the Commons to support the decision.
“If we don’t need masks in restaurants and offices, then why should young people be required to use them?” He said.
And Us For Them (a parent’s group that fought against the closing of schools during the pandemic) said it was dumbfounded by the decision.
Faces of children should not be taken as political pawns. The group stated that this is “a declaration of war on children”.
It was also announced that schools, colleges, and early-years programs will receive approximately 7,000 units of air cleaners to help improve the air quality. The announcement also stated that staff and pupils are encouraged to perform self-tests at home prior to returning and begin testing two-weekly at school.
According to the Department for Education, colleges and schools can get tests via a separate route of supply and will have access to additional test materials as necessary.
The Government spokeswoman said that masks will be used to maximize the attendance of school children for the maximum time.