First Minister: STAY AT HOME is the key message

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House on Tuesday 5 January 2021:

Good afternoon everyone and since this is the first media briefing of the new year let me wish all of you a happy new year. This year is having a very difficult start but we do hope that it will nevertheless bring better times ahead.

Now I’m going to say more in a few moments about the announcements that I set out in parliament yesterday. But as usual I will give you an update on today’s statistics first.

I can tell you that the total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 2,529.

That represents 14.8% of the total number of tests, and it means that the total number of confirmed cases that we now have in Scotland is139,027.

Analysis of PCR samples also shows that the new variant is now responsible for around 50% of new cases in Scotland – and that that is a proportion that is rising.

695 of the new cases today were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 388 in Lanarkshire, 322 in Lothian, and 210 in Tayside. The remaining cases are spread across eight other health board areas.

1,347 people are currently in hospital – now, we haven’t been reporting hospital and ICU figures over the New Year bank holiday period, but to give you some context for that figure today I can tell you that it is 255 more people in hospital now than was the case a week ago – exactly a week ago today.

And 93 people are in intensive care, and that is 28 more than a week ago today.

11 additional deaths have been registered in the past 24 hours, of patients who first tested positive in the previous 28 days. Of course, yesterday was a bank holiday so it is possible that this figure today is artificially low as a result of that.

But it means that the total number of deaths reported under this daily measurement, is now 4,633. And of course every single one of these deaths – I report them here on a daily basis as statistics – but every single one of those statistics represents a human being who has lost their lives to this virus and will have left behind grieving families and friends.

So again today, my condolences and thoughts go to every individual and family who is in that situation.

Now, I am joined today by the National Clinical Director, he is going to help me answer questions in a few moments. But before we get to questions, I would like to emphasise the key points that I set out yesterday in parliament.

Firstly, just to reiterate that the current situation that we face now in the pandemic is, in my view, more serious than it has been at any time since the spring. And that’s because this new more transmissible variant of Covid is becoming increasingly common as I said a moment ago.

And as a result of that, cases are rising much more steeply and rapidly than they had been in the latter part of last year; and as a result of that more people are likely to become seriously ill; and the health service will come under more severe pressure.

That of course is the negative – the worrying – position we face, and I don’t say it for exaggeration, I say it because we all must take that seriously right now.

But of course, there is a difference between now last spring, and that is a positive difference. And that of course is the fact that vaccines have been approved for use in the UK now and vaccines we know does offer us the way out of this pandemic.

More than a hundred thousand people in Scotland have already been vaccinated. And, as I set out in parliament yesterday, we expect – although these timetables are still tentative – that by May more than 2.5 million people will have received vaccination – at least the first dose of the vaccination.

That includes everyone on what is called the JCVI priority list – everyone over the age of 50, and people under 50 who have specific underlying health conditions.

Now we will do everything we can to speed that up to deliver vaccines as quickly as possible, and we will set out what our expectations are around that as the certainty we have on the flow of supplies becomes much firmer – I hope, in the days and weeks to come.

But in the race we currently face – and I am describing it deliberately as a race between the vaccine and the virus, because that really is in essence what it is – we can’t rely solely on speeding up vaccination.

That’s really important, but because this new variant is spreading so much more quickly we must also act as we vaccinate more people to slow the virus down so that the vaccination can get ahead and ultimately be in a position where it wins the race.

And, the new variant – because it is much easier to transmit, and spreads more quickly –means that slowing it down is more difficult and to achieve that takes much stricter restrictions than the ones that have been in place over the past few months.

And that is why we got to the position yesterday of announcing what is effectively a new lockdown.

And the key message we want to convey and are conveying and stressing very, very strongly is a simple message – not simple to abide by, but simple for me to communicate, and it’s a similar message to the one I communicated for much of last year and that is: stay at home.

Staying at home whenever possible is the best way now of protecting ourselves, protecting each other, protecting the NHS and – ultimately – saving lives.

There are of course specified essential purposes for which you can leave your house – these include exercise, essential shopping, providing care, perhaps for a vulnerable relative.

And because extended households are still permitted, to try and help us in some way tackle the loneliness and isolation of these restrictions, you can also leave your home to visit the other people in your extended household. 

But fundamentally, I’m asking everybody to really try hard to stay at home as much as possible – and only leave home if it is for a genuinely essential purpose.

And that means that you must work from home if you can.

In fact, it is only permissible to leave home to go to work if you cannot work from home.

Now, businesses, employers have a big part to play in ensuring we achieve that. The Economy Secretary spoke to business organisations yesterday to reinforce this message.

And I want to be clear that we really need businesses in this next phase – as they have been throughout – to be responsible, to help us fight this virus.

And that means – just as this is true for individuals for the stay at home message – it means not always looking for the loophole that allows you to stay open or have your staff physically at work. Instead it means thinking about how you as a business can maximise your contribution to the collective challenge that we all now face.

And in return, government must do – and we will continue to do – all we can to maximise the financial support available to you.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has just announced this morning additional financial support for businesses, and we are over the course of the day trying to get clarity of the detail on that so that we then know what that enables us to do in addition to the considerable financial support for businesses that is already in place.

Returning to what lockdown means for all of us as individuals, we have also introduced tighter restrictions on outdoor socialising, because this virus we know is spreading more easily. So it is still possible to meet someone outdoors – but only two people from two households can now meet up – previously it was up to six people from two households, but now only two people from a maximum of two households.

That rule applies to everyone who is aged 12 and over – and that means that outdoor exercise should also only take place in groups of two, and no more than two households.

Now we announced several other significant restrictions yesterday – you can find full details of these on the Scottish Government website. And where there is a  need for it we will put forward and publish additional guidance to help people navigate their way through this as well as we can.

Now one thing I want to mention specifically, because I know it is very distressing for many people – and that was the announcement yesterday that places of worship will close over this next period as well  – except for funerals and weddings.

I know for people in faith communities who take great comfort from collective worship this is a particularly large restriction to bear. But we do deem it essential at the moment to help us with that overall task of keeping the virus, or getting the virus back under control.

But we will not keep these restrictions in place for any longer than necessary.

We have also, of course, regrettably decided that school and nursery buildings will only be open for children of key workers and vulnerable pupils until at least 1 February.

For that time, remote learning will continue for the majority of pupils, and this is without a doubt – I said this yesterday but it is worth repeating – the most difficult of the restrictions that we put in place yesterday. I know how tough it will be for pupils, who as well as missing education in the normal school environment will be missing your friends and the normal social aspect of growing up and enjoying your school life. And I am sorry about that and we will try and get you back to school as quickly as possible.

But this is also difficult for parents – particularly those who are working and who are trying to juggle online learning, and we are thinking about what more support we can put in place to help you through this difficult period.

The decision on schools will be reviewed fortnightly –  and we will do everything we can to get as many pupils as possible back to school as soon as it is safe to do so.

But at the moment, the community transmission of the virus is too high, and still rising – and also there is some uncertainty about the impact of the new variant on young people, and those two things together lead us to the judgement that it is not safe enough to have schools open right now for the majority of pupils as normal.

Now, the measures that were announced yesterday that I’ve just run through here today are of course not the start to this year that any of us would have wanted.

They are really tough for businesses, for individuals – and as I have said at a couple of occasions already, we will consider what further support we are able to provide.

But the current figures, including those I have reported today, tell us that action is needed.

This new variant is so much more easily transmitted that without these tougher restrictions, cases in Scotland would definitely continue to rise very, very sharply.

And that, of course, creates the likelihood that more people get ill and die than would otherwise be the case, but it also creates the real risk that our National Health Service – which is currently coping, although the pressure on frontline staff is considerable – but it creates the real risk that it would instead be overwhelmed and perhaps quite quickly.

So by acting now, instead of waiting until things get more severe, we give ourselves the chance to avert the more serious challenge that is currently being faced in some other parts of the UK right now.

I know that doesn’t provide any comfort, and nor does it create any comfort for me to say that we are not alone – but we are not alone. People in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are waking up today to similar restrictions, and many other countries across Europe are in similar positions.

But, while this is hard for everybody to take we must hold on to the fact – and it is a fact – that we now have, in a way that we didn’t have last year, a clear route out of this pandemic through the vaccination programme.

And the Scottish Government will be doing everything we possibly can to accelerate, speed up that programme, and get the maximum number of people vaccinated as quickly as possible. But while we’re doing that, we absolutely must – all of us – collectively work to slow down this virus

That’s why these measures are essential and it’s why again I must ask everybody to really rigorously abide by all of these restrictions.

That means following the FACTS advice: wear face coverings; avoid crowded places when you are out of your house, which you shouldn’t be unless it is essential; wash your hands, wash hard surfaces, even when you are staying at home it’s really important still to do that; keep a two metre distancing when you’re out, from people in other households; and, of course self-isolate and get tested if you have symptoms.

These steps all still work, in breaking chains of this new variant and remain as important if not more so.

But fundamentally the most important thing – and the most difficult thing – I am asking everybody to do again is to stay at home.

Staying at home helps us control this virus. It helps us protect ourselves and each other. It helps us protect our NHS. And fundamentally, and ultimately, it helps us save lives.

And that, as we have all known all along, is really important. So my concluding message is the as it was back in March – because the situation we face now is as serious as the one we faced back in March.

So, please – Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives.

Thank you very much for listening.

£4.6 billion in new lockdown grants to support businesses and protect jobs

Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are to receive a one-off grant worth up to £9,000, the Chancellor has announced.

  • Chancellor announces one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the Spring
  • £594 million discretionary fund also made available to support other impacted businesses
  • comes in addition to £1.1 billion further discretionary grant funding for Local Authorities, Local Restriction Support Grants worth up to £3,000 a month and extension of furlough scheme

This follows the Prime Minister’s announcement last night that these business will be closed until at least February half-term in order to help control the virus, and, together with the wide range of existing support, provides them with certainty through the Spring period.

The cash is provided on a per-property basis to support businesses through the latest restrictions, and is expected to benefit over 600,000 business properties, worth £4 billion in total across all nations of the UK.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “The new strain of the virus presents us all with a huge challenge – and whilst the vaccine is being rolled out, we have needed to tighten restrictions further.

“Throughout the pandemic we’ve taken swift action to protect lives and livelihoods and today we’re announcing a further cash injection to support businesses and jobs until the Spring.

“This will help businesses to get through the months ahead – and crucially it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen.”

A further £594 million is also being made available for Local Authorities and the Devolved Administrations to support other businesses not eligible for the grants, that might be affected by the restrictions. Businesses should apply to their Local Authorities.

The new one-off grants come in addition to billions of existing business support, including grants worth up to £3,000 for closed businesses, and up to £2,100 per month for impacted businesses once they reopen.

The government has also provided 100% business rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, £1.1 billion existing discretionary funding for Local Authorities, the furlough scheme now extended to April and 100% government backed loans, extended until March.

Further information

  • the one-off top-ups will be granted to closed businesses as follows:
  • £4,000 for businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under
  • £6,000 for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
  • £9,000 for businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000
  • business support is a devolved policy and therefore the responsibility of the devolved administrations, which will receive additional funding as a result of these announcements in the usual manner:
  • the Scottish Government will receive £375 million
  • the Welsh Government will receive £227 million
  • the Northern Ireland Executive will receive £127 million
  • this will contribute to the funding which has already been guaranteed by the UK Government, to continue to provide the devolved administrations the certainty they need to plan for their COVID-19 response in the months ahead
  • small businesses in the devolved administrations should also be able to benefit from other UK-wide measures in the government’s unprecedented package of support for business, including the various business lending schemes (where the repayment terms were made easier as part of the Winter Economy Plan), and the extension of the Self Employment Income Support Scheme

Covid vaccination: how will it work in Lothian?

The first venues for the mass COVID-19 vaccination programme in Lothian have been selected. NHS Lothian has identified and agreed three large-scale venues capable of providing thousands of vaccinations at a time.

The next phase, known as Wave 2, of the vaccination programme is under way across Scotland to vaccinate people aged 75 to 79 years of age, followed by those aged 70 -74 and 65 – 69, followed by adults with risk factors over the age of 60.

NHS Lothian has been working with councils, health and social care partnerships and other partners to ensure the sites are ready when the roll-out begins, which is expected in February.

The Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), The Pyramids Business Park (PBP) in West Lothian have been agreed and details are being finalised for Queen Margaret University (QMU) in East Lothian.

A number of local supplementary centres are also being set up by the four Health and Social Care Partnerships – East Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian and West Lothian – to supplement the bigger venues.

Announcing the choice of centres on Christmas Eve, David Small, Director of Primary Care Transformation, NHS Lothian, who is leading the programme, said he was delighted that three large-scale venues had been agreed.

“This is the biggest mass vaccination programme undertaken. It is a massive task and even though all of the teams are working at speed, we know we need to make sure we get the delivery right, first time.

“There are a lot of challenges involved across the project, but we are meeting each one and we are delighted that these three venues are finalised. We still have a number of other options to consider and explore, but this is a milestone.

“It means we can begin work in the new year while we continue planning the smaller centres which will supplement the bigger venues.”

Plans are being developed to create a walk-through centre at the EICC which would be capable of vaccinating 26,000 people in a week at a total of around 50 stations.

A similar walk-through centre is expected to be set up in PBP, which could provide 12,000 vaccinations every week using around 25 stations.

A drive-through vaccination centre is then being planned for Queen Margaret University in East Lothian that would have around 16 stations and be able to vaccinate 8,000 people a week.

People will be contacted by the NHS when they are eligible for a vaccination appointment. They should not contact the venues directly because they would not hold any of the relevant information.

This new phase will be followed in the Spring by the roll-out of Wave 3, which will again target individual age groups, staring with those aged 60-64, 55- 59, 50-54, followed by the rest of the population.

Missing man: body found in West Granton quarry

Around 11am yesterday (Monday, 4 January), police recovered the body of a man from water at a quarry near West Granton Road.

Although formal identification is still to take place, officers believe it to be Lukasz Machalski (above) who had been missing from his home in Restalrig since Sunday, 13 December, 2020 and his family has been informed.

Enquiries are ongoing and a full report will be forwarded to the Procurator Fiscal.

Lockdown II reaction

Scotland woke up to tougher restrictions this morning

The STUC has strongly welcomed the extension of blended learning in schools and extra lockdown requirements but is disappointed at failure to protect all non-essential workers.

  • STUC position on shielding workers has now been heeded
  • STUC calling on all employers to offer furlough to all working parents affected by school closures, who are not classed as keyworkers
  • Measures are short of a full lockdown as many non-essential workplaces in sectors like manufacturing and construction will still remain open

STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said: “By the government’s own admission the situation is now more serious than it has been at any other point, we are literally in a race to save lives, yet the measures set out are still less stringent than the lockdown last year.

“We welcome the decision to move to blended learning in schools until at least February. It is absolutely vital in the period ahead that education workers are listened to, and that a precautionary approach is maintained. Further changes to the plan for staggered return to universities also seems to be inevitable.

“We are also pleased our position has been heeded that shielding workers should not be required to attend work.

“However, we are deeply disappointed that, despite the severe circumstances, the First Minister, appears to be prepared to allow a range of non-essential workplaces such as construction and manufacturing to remain open.

“As well as posing increased transmission risks. this is a recipe for confusion and will place many workers in an invidious position, particularly those who have caring responsibilities. We intend to raise this as a matter of urgency with the Government.”

Responding to the latest announcements, David Lonsdale, Director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “We recognise the situation with the pandemic is fast moving and are behind the government’s efforts to get on top of the virus.

“Nonetheless these further restrictions are unsettling and come at an incredibly difficult time for the retail industry. Non-food retail as a whole has been thwacked hard by the onslaught of coronavirus, and even before the latest lockdown came into effect was trading almost a quarter down compared to the same period last year.

“Even when stores are eventually permitted to re-emerge from this enforced hibernation, it is likely many will continue to suffer from lower shopper footfall. Prior to the current lockdown footfall was down by a third.

“Whilst a return to trading is crucial, it will not be a panacea for the industry. That’s why we hope to see a recovery plan from government to get retail moving once again, including visibility on the route out of lockdown, early clarity over continued rates relief for the coming financial year, and short term stimulus to boost consumer confidence and spending once shops can re-open perhaps through a high street voucher scheme.”

Police Scotland issued the following statement:

Responding to the First Minister’s announcement of a new lockdown, Director for CAMRA Scotland Joe Crawford said: “Tighter restrictions under the new national lockdown means that the light at the end of the tunnel still seems months away for Scotland’s beleaguered pubs and breweries.

“With pubs having missed out on any money through the tills over Christmas – which would have been their busiest time of year – and no prospect of re-opening on the immediate horizon, it is clear that the existing financial support on offer won’t be enough to save our pubs and breweries from permanent closure.

“The Scottish Government must recognise that local pubs are a force for good, bringing communities together and playing a key role in tackling loneliness and social isolation. 

“They deserve a new, long-term, sector-specific financial support plan to make sure that they can survive the next few weeks and months and are still around to open their doors again once restrictions start to be lifted.” 

The EIS has expressed its support for the decision to keep schools on a remote learning platform for at least the month of January, as part of the lockdown announced the Scottish Government.

Commenting on the decision, EIS General Secretary, Larry Flanagan said: “There was already heightened concern from teachers in Level 4 areas around school safety and the surge in infection levels, driven by the new variant, will have compounded those concerns especially as it seems clear that children can be as easily infected as anyone by the new strain, with subsequent transmission also occurring.

“Given that social distancing amongst pupils is physically impossible in crowded classrooms, moving to remote learning is the correct decision, therefore, if we are to successfully drive down community infection levels.  Suppressing the virus is key to school buildings safely reopening.”

He added, “Whilst the education system is better prepared to deliver education remotely than during the first lockdown, challenges remain and we need to ensure that all pupils, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, can access learning on an equitable basis.”

Mr Flanagan concluded: “We have raised with the Scottish Government the question of prioritising vaccination of school staff as a mechanism to allow school buildings to reopen for all pupils.” 

Council working ‘as fast as we can’ to grit roads, footpaths and cycleways

City council Environment Convener Cllr Lesley Macinnes comments on work to grit roads, footpaths and cycleways in the Capital as icy conditions continue:

She reported yesterday: “Like many other areas of Scotland, our staff have been working tirelessly and as quickly as possible to tackle the ice which set in after showers of freezing rain overnight.

“We gritted all priority routes last night (Sunday) which includes routes to hospitals, bus routes and other areas that most need it. We did this again today and we are gritting category two and three routes now that the easing in conditions has allowed us to do this.

“We have thousands of roads and footpaths/cycleways in Edinburgh and it also hasn’t helped that due to very low temperatures grit on footpaths and cycleways will take longer to be ground into ice than on roads so as low temperatures continue please take extra care if you need to be out and about.

“Our staff will continue to work round the clock to grit as much as we can while this cold snap continues. My thanks too to all the residents who’ve been out gritting local neighbourhood streets – we’re filling grit bins up again as quickly as we can and we’re deploying additional resource from other services to help us to do this over the course of the coming week.”

Ben’s 100 day challenge to support MND charities

Trinity Academy pupil kicks off 2021 facing 1042 miles on the road

#Bens100days

My name is Ben Liddall and I am 17 years old. I am attempting to run a total of 1042 miles in the first 100 days of 2021 for MND Scotland and the My Names Doddie foundation. 

On July 15th, 2020 I was involved in a cycling accident and as a result, received a serious concussion. It was made clear to me that it could have gone a lot worse and I got off incredibly lucky.

As part of my recovery, I was confined to bed for 2 weeks, with no technology, no exercise, and no strain. This gave me a lot of time to think without distraction and I decided that within 4 weeks of my recovery I would run my first marathon. I had never run long distance before, my main form of exercise was rugby, but after intense training, on August 25th, in amongst a storm, I ran my first marathon.

I then realised this was something I was passionate about and that I enjoyed, but also something I realised I could use to help others. I decided to set myself a new goal – run 1042 miles in the first 100 days of 2021 in support of the My Names Doddie foundation and MND Scotland. 

Why 1042 miles? Well, one of my main passions is rugby and I would be running this distance around the time of the 6 Nations and also in support of Doddie so I decided to run the distance of Murrayfield, to the Aviva in Dublin, to the Principality in Wales, to Twickenham in England, and back to Murrayfield which is … you guessed it, 1042 miles!

This means I will be running around 10.42 miles every day, sometimes more sometimes less, and finishing on April 10th, 2021.

I would appreciate any donation no matter how big or small to help the ongoing battle against MND.

Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is the general name given to a group of illnesses which affect the body’s motor nerves – these are called motor neurones. MND is a progressive, incurable illness. 

In a healthy person, the motor neurones carry signals from the brain directly to the muscles. However, MND stops signals from the brain reaching the muscles. Therefore, over time muscles weaken and eventually stop working. 

It is important to remember that not everyone is affected by MND in the same ways. Every case of MND takes its own course, but the disease may cause someone to lose the ability to walk, talk, eat, drink or breathe unaided. 

Some people may also experience changes in their behaviour, personality and the way they think. This may affect their ability to plan tasks on a daily basis and how they communicate with others. A small number of people may experience severe changes which are associated with a type of Dementia, called Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD).

Any money donated to either MND Scotland, or My Names Doddie will be used to help people affected by MND in Scotland, and will help fund practical, financial, and emotional services throughout Scotland, including; one-to-one counselling, benefits advice, complementary therapy, a loan of our communications equipment, support groups and more. You’ll also be funding vital research, in Scotland, to help take us a step closer to finding a cure for this devastating illness.

Instagram: @ben.liddall

Facebook: /Bens100days

Twitter: @Bens100days

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bens100days

Go-ahead for local Hub as North Edinburgh Arts is granted community ownership

As part of the ongoing regeneration programme around MacMillan Square, North Edinburgh Arts (NEA) has now been granted full community ownership in a community asset transfer from the City of Edinburgh Council, with the additional transfer of a plot of land to the north of the centre.

We are now working in partnership with the Council to create plans for an extended creative and community hub for the area, to be named the MacMillan Hub. 

The objective is to create a community and neighbourhood hub promoting culture, learning, work and well-being in and around the town centre. Everyone at NEA is excited about the possibilities this will bring to our community.

The plans include:

  • a refurbished and redesigned North Edinburgh Arts venue promoting the highest quality culture, arts and meeting space
  • a new Muirhouse Library
  • a new Learning and Skills Hub
  • a new Early Years Centre
  • housing for rent

NEA is already a well loved destination for locals but has outgrown its building. To meet the needs for future generations we need to redevelop as part of this new Hub. To find out more about our plans view the ​film​ below.  

nea-fundraiser_dvdDownload

We are fundraising for this redevelopment, to get involved contact us ​or make a donation.

You can download Draft Plans-October 2020 to see draft plans, building visualisations and more information about proposed plans.

The plans ensure the accessible, welcoming and much needed community space, using environment-friendly build and innovative design techniques. The community space will reflect current community aspirations, while being flexible enough to respond to unplanned future demand.

Award winning Richard Murphy Architects have been appointed by Robertson and with the Council and NEA to design the MacMillan Hub. Working together with a view to submitting a joint detailed planning permission in December 2020 to start the build in 2021 and open in the summer of 2022.

To share your comments and submit any suggestions, email admin@northedinburgharts.co.uk

Other useful links about our story, Community Asset Transfer and plans:

North Edinburgh Arts secures Scottish Land Funs-Press Release

NEA to become a community owned hub-Press Release

NEA Business Plan 2020 – Community Enterprise

CCTV appeal following Drylaw housebreaking

Police Scotland has released images of a man and woman they believe may be able to assist with an ongoing investigation which relates to a housebreaking that occurred between 23 and 24 November 202 in the Drylaw area.

Officers believe that the man and woman shown in the images may be able to assist with their enquiries.

Detective Constable James Palmer said: “I would appeal to anyone who has any information or who recognises the people in the image to contact us. Any small piece of information could assist us in our enquiries.”

“If anyone recognises the people in the images or has any information regarding the incident, please contact officers at the Community Investigation Unit in Corstorphine via 101, quoting incident number 0099 of the 24th November 2020.

Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111, where anonymity can be maintained.”

It’s Lockdown for England too

The Prime Minister has announced a national lockdown and instructed people to stay at home to control the virus, protect the NHS and save lives.

The decision follows a rapid rise in infections, hospital admissions and case rates across the country, and hospitals are now under more pressure than they have been at any other point throughout the pandemic.

This drastic jump in cases has been attributed to the new variant of COVID-19, which our scientists have now confirmed is between 50 and 70 per cent more transmissible.

On 4 January, there were 26,626 Covid patients in hospital in England, an increase of over 30% in one week, and the April 2020 hospital admissions peak has now been surpassed by 40%.

The case rate in England up to 29 December was 478.5 per 100k, three times higher than on 1 December when the case rate was 151.3.

On 3 Jan, 454 deaths were reported, with 4,228 over the last 7 days – a 24% increase on the previous 7 days.

Yesterday afternoon, the four UK Chief Medical Officers advised that the COVID threat level should move from level four to level five, indicating that if action is not taken NHS capacity may be overwhelmed within 21 days.

The Prime Minister praised everyone’s collective efforts to get this virus under control, emphasising the great national effort to fight Covid. Despite this, the pressure on our NHS, rapidly rising infection rates and hospital admissions due to the new variant mean that another national lockdown is sadly necessary.

From today (Tuesday), people in England will only be allowed to leave their homes for the following reasons:

  • shop for basic necessities, for you or a vulnerable person.
  • go to work, or provide voluntary or charitable services, if you cannot reasonably do so from home.
  • exercise with your household (or support bubble) or one other person, this should be limited to once per day, and you should not travel outside your local area.
  • meet your support bubble or childcare bubble where necessary, but only if you are legally permitted to form one.
  • seek medical assistance or avoid injury, illness or risk of harm (including domestic abuse).
  • attend education or childcare – for those eligible.

From today, all primary schools, secondary schools and colleges will move to remote learning, except for the children of key workers and vulnerable children.

While children are still very unlikely to be severely affected by COVID-19, the government recognises that schools must be included in the restrictions in order to have the best chance of getting the virus under control as schools can act as vectors of transmission, causing the virus to spread between households when rates are high.

Schools will be required to provide remote education for those learning at home.

Early years settings such as nurseries, alternative provision and special schools will remain open and vulnerable children and children of critical workers can continue to use registered childcare, childminders and other childcare activities.

The UK government is also advising the clinically extremely vulnerable to begin shielding again, and letters will be sent to individuals with advice on what this means for them.

All non-essential retail, hospitality and personal care services must close, or remain closed. Restaurants can continue delivery, takeaway or click-and-collect of food and non-alcoholic drinks, but venues will no longer be able to serve takeaway or click-and-collect alcohol.

Essential shops and garden centres can remain open. Entertainment venues and animal attractions such as zoos must close, but the outdoor areas of venues such as heritage homes and botanical gardens can remain open, to be used for exercise. Playgrounds may also remain open.

Places of worship can also remain open, but you may only visit with your household.

Indoor and outdoor sports facilities including sports courts, gyms, golf courses, swimming pools, and riding arenas must also close. Elite sport and disabled sport can continue, as can PE lessons for those children attending school.

The restrictions will come into effect tomorrow (Tuesday 5 January), and are expected to last until the middle of February if the situation in hospitals improve. By this point, the NHS hopes to have vaccinated everyone in the top four priority groups identified by the JCVI – including older care home residents and staff, everyone over 70, all frontline NHS and care staff and all those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.

Vaccinating the most vulnerable will protect those at highest risk from COVID-19 and this will remove a significant amount of the pressure currently facing the NHS.

Based on the latest available data, the UK has vaccinated more people than the rest of Europe combined and we will continue to accelerate our vaccination programme at pace.

Everyone should follow the new rules from now, and they will become law in England from 00.01 on Wednesday. The Westminster Parliament will sit, largely remotely, on Wednesday to debate and vote on the measures.

The full details on what you can and cannot do in England are available here.

PRIME MINISTER’S ADDRESS TO THE NATION

Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the nation last night:

Since the pandemic began last year, the whole United Kingdom has been engaged in a great national effort to fight Covid.

And there is no doubt that in fighting the old variant of the virus, our collective efforts were working and would have continued to work.

But we now have a new variant of the virus. It has been both frustrating and alarming to see the speed with which the new variant is spreading.

Our scientists have confirmed this new variant is between 50 and 70 per cent more transmissible – that means you are much, much more likely to catch the virus and to pass it on.

As I speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from Covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic.

In England alone, the number of Covid patients in hospitals has increased by nearly a third in the last week, to almost 27,000.

That number is 40 per cent higher than the first peak in April.

On 29 December, more than 80,000 people tested positive for Covid across the UK – a new record.

The number of deaths is up by 20 per cent over the last week and will sadly rise further. My thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones.

With most of the country already under extreme measures, it is clear that we need to do more, together, to bring this new variant under control while our vaccines are rolled out.

In England, we must therefore go into a national lockdown which is tough enough to contain this variant.

That means the Government is once again instructing you to stay at home.

You may only leave home for limited reasons permitted in law, such as to shop for essentials, to work if you absolutely cannot work from home, to exercise, to seek medical assistance such as getting a Covid test, or to escape domestic abuse.

The full details on what you can and can’t do will be available at gov.uk/coronavirus.

If you are clinically extremely vulnerable, we are advising you to begin shielding again and you will shortly receive a letter about what this means for you.

And because we now have to do everything we possibly can to stop the spread of the disease, primary schools, secondary schools and colleges across England must move to remote provision from tomorrow, except for vulnerable children and the children of key workers.

Everyone will still be able to access early years settings such as nurseries.

We recognise that this will mean it is not possible or fair for all exams to go ahead this summer as normal. The Education Secretary will work with Ofqual to put in place alternative arrangements.

We will provide extra support to ensure that pupils entitled to free school meals will continue to receive them while schools are closed, and we’ll distribute more devices to support remote education.

I completely understand the inconvenience and distress this late change will cause millions of parents and pupils up and down the country.

Parents whose children were in school today may reasonably ask why we did not take this decision sooner.

The answer is simply that we have been doing everything in our power to keep schools open, because we know how important each day in education is to children’s life chances.

And I want to stress that the problem is not that schools are unsafe for children – children are still very unlikely to be severely affected by even the new variant of Covid.

The problem is that schools may nonetheless act as vectors for transmission, causing the virus to spread between households.

Today the United Kingdom’s Chief Medical Officers have advised that the country should move to alert level 5, meaning that if action is not taken NHS capacity may be overwhelmed within 21 days.

Of course, there is one huge difference compared to last year.

We are now rolling out the biggest vaccination programme in our history.

So far, we in the UK have vaccinated more people than the rest of Europe combined.

With the arrival today of the UK’s own Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine, the pace of vaccination is accelerating.

I can share with you tonight the NHS’s realistic expectations for the vaccination programme in the coming weeks.

By the middle of February, if things go well and with a fair wind in our sails, we expect to have offered the first vaccine dose to everyone in the four top priority groups identified by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

That means vaccinating all residents in a care home for older adults and their carers, everyone over the age of 70, all frontline health and social care workers, and everyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable.

If we succeed in vaccinating all those groups, we will have removed huge numbers of people from the path of the virus.

And of course, that will eventually enable us to lift many of the restrictions we have endured for so long.

I must stress that even if we achieve this goal, there remains a time lag of two to three weeks from getting a jab to receiving immunity.

And there will be a further time lag before the pressure on the NHS is lifted.

So we should remain cautious about the timetable ahead.

But if our understanding of the virus doesn’t change dramatically once again…

If the rollout of the vaccine programme continues to be successful…

If deaths start to fall as the vaccine takes effect…

And, critically, if everyone plays their part by following the rules…

Then I hope we can steadily move out of lockdown, reopening schools after the February half term and starting, cautiously, to move regions down the tiers.

I want to say to everyone right across the United Kingdom that I know how tough this is, I know how frustrated you are, I know that you have had more than enough of government guidance about defeating this virus.

But now more than ever, we must pull together.

You should follow the new rules from now, and they will become law in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Parliament will meet – largely remotely – later that day.

I know that the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland share my conviction this is a pivotal moment and they’re taking similar steps.

The weeks ahead will be the hardest yet but I really do believe that we are entering the last phase of the struggle.

Because with every jab that goes into our arms, we are tilting the odds against Covid and in favour of the British people.

And, thanks to the miracle of science, not only is the end in sight and we know exactly how we will get there.

But for now, I am afraid, you must once again stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.

Thank you all very much.