LATEST COVID-19 NEWS & RELATED ITEMS
HEALTH & SCIENCE:
06/02/2021 BBC News- Covid-19 : Avoid ‘setting dates for’ lifting lock down and instead react to changing circumstances a scientist warns. Prof Graham Medley, a member of SAGE said leaders should not be ‘driven by a calendar’.
Sir Graham Brady told the BBC the falling infection level and success of the vaccine rollout meant that the situation was ’optimistic’. and that Downing Street should be ‘looking to open up’ society.
Prof Medley who chairs a group which advises SAGE told BBCs Today programme that the epidemic could still go in two directions, up or down , and ‘it’s up to the government to decide which of those paths it takes’. ‘To actually make decisions dependant on the circumstances, rather than by being driven by a calendar,’ Prof Medley added.
06/02/2021 BBC News- Covid-19 : Avoid ‘setting dates for’ lifting lock down and instead react to changing circumstances a scientist warns. Prof Graham Medley, a member of SAGE said leaders should not be ‘driven by a calendar’. However, Conservative MP Sir Graham Brady told the BBC that Downing Street should be ‘looking to open up society’ following falling infection levels and rollout of the vaccine.
08/02/2021Huffington- The UK vaccines minister has told the public to have confidence in the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine amid concerns over its effectiveness against the South African variant. Nadhim Zahawi urged people to keep faith with the vaccine as scientists working on the vaccine raised the prospect of having a booster dose available by the autumn. South Africa has suspended the rollout of the British vaccine following the results of an early trial found it was not effective at preventing mild disease caused by the more infectious mutation.
08/02/2021Huffington- The UK vaccines minister has told the public to have confidence in the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine amid concerns over its effectiveness against the South African variant. Scientists working on the vaccine raised the prospect of having a booster dose available by the autumn.
Wearing masks and social distancing will continue to be part of everyday life for some time to come.
HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE:
Welsh primary school children back to school after half term – Mark Drakeford. 29/1/21
Primary school children could begin a phased return to school just after half term if Covid rates continue to fall the Welsh First Minister – Mr Mark Drakeford has said. He said that the tough “alert level 4 “ restrictions would remain in place for another 3 weeks.
Our children and young people have had a torrid time over the last 12 months, they are missing out on Education every week. He added he hoped older pupils and college students who had to do Vocational examinations could also have a phased return to schools and colleges after half term.
29/1/21 – Mark Drakeford-Welsh First Minister
The Welsh First Minister- Mr Mark Drakeford, stated that children could begin a phased return to school after February half term. He said that our children and young people have had a torrid time over the last 12 months. They are missing out on their education every week.
Wearing masks and social distancing will still be an essential part of getting our children back to school.
POLITICAL:
Bank of England: Economy to rebound strongly due to Vaccine 3/2/21.
The UK’s rapid Covid-19 vaccination programme will help the economy bounce back strongly this year, according to the Bank of England. Andrew Bailey, the Governor of The Bank of England, described the vaccine roll-out as “excellent news” that would speed up the return to normal life. But some voluntary social distancing and mask wearing was likely to persist.
The Bank of England Governor – Andrew Bailey describes the Vaccine rollout as excellent news that would speed up the return to normal life, but until then, social distancing and the wearing of masks such as The Silverlifemask will be a necessary part of life.