NHS faces the ‘most dangerous situation’ in living memory, Chris Whitty warns

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The NHS is facing the "most dangerous situation" in living memory, England's chief medical officer has warned, amid reports that the health system is on the brink of collapse in some areas. 

As the country awaits the ramping-up of coronavirus testing and vaccinations this week, Prof Chris Whitty said the only way to prevent avoidable deaths is for the public to stay at home wherever possible.

"Hospitals are always busy in winter, but the NHS in some parts of the country is currently facing the most dangerous situation anyone can remember," Prof Whitty wrote in the Sunday Times.

"If the virus continues on this trajectory, hospitals will be in real difficulties, and soon. Staff-to-patient ratios - already stretched - will become unacceptable even in intensive care."

His warning comes as the official death toll in the UK surpassed 80,000 on Saturday, while the number of patients with Covid-19 in hospital is now at an all-time high. 

In a sign of the severity of the situation in London, regional leaders have sent a letter to the medical directors of the capital’s acute hospital trusts asking them "not to support" staff who are performing non-urgent work in the private sector for the next month. 

The leaked letter, seen by the Health Service Journal, warns that the NHS is facing "genuinely unprecedented times" due to "unthinkable" pressures from Covid-19. It notes that leaders are "profoundly uncomfortable" that some routine elective care is continuing in private hospitals.

"This is an astonishing and largely unprecedented intervention from NHS medical leaders, who are effectively telling some of their most senior colleagues that they are letting the service down at the time of its greatest need," said Alastair McLellan, editor of HSJ.

                                                                                                    

Today in brief

Here’s an overview of the day’s key UK developments:

  • Police were right to fine two women £200 each for driving five miles from their home for a walk, Matt Hancock has said, as he warned the public to follow the rules because “every flex can be fatal”.
  • A a public health director has warned that coronavirus cases in Wales are "cause for serious concern". 1,660 new infections were confirmed today.
  • Experts have welcomed Government plans to prioritise quick turnaround tests for those without coronavirus symptoms, but said the move is "long overdue" as it is the only way to control the pandemic's spread.
  • People could be vaccinated against coronavirus every year in a similar way to the annual flu jab programme, the Health Secretary has said. He also pledged that every adult in Britain will have been offered a jab by the autumn.
  • Ambulance services are under "unprecedented pressure" with handover delays at a scale never seen before, a leading paramedic has said.
  • The Government said 563 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of today, bringing the UK total to 81,431. A further 54,940 lab-confirmed cases were also announced.

And in international headlines:

  • France has expanded a nighttime curfew in Marseille after authorities discovered the new UK strain of the coronavirus in the city.

  • The total number of Germany's coronavirus deaths topped 40,000 today, with Chancellor Angela Merkel warning that worse is to come.

  • Coronavirus deaths in Belgium have surpassed 20,000, health officials said, with more than half the victims from retirement care homes.

  • The Indian Ocean archipelago of the Seychelles began vaccinating its population against the coronavirus today, the first African nation to do so.

  • Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune flew back to Germany on Sunday for treatment in hospital of complications in his foot resulting from a coronavirus infectio
  • Pope Francis urged people to get the vaccination when offered, calling opposition to the jab "suicidal denial" and saying he will get inoculated next week.

  • Jordan's Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh and several other members of the government received the Chinese Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine during its testing phase, the health minister revealed today.

​Follow all the latest news in Monday's live blog

Celtic confirm positive Covid case after controversial Dubai trip 

Celtic have confirmed that one of their players has tested positive for coronavirus after the club returned from a controversial training camp in Dubai.

The Scottish Premiership champions' squad were tested upon their return to Glasgow after spending six days in the United Arab Emirates, a trip which was questioned by Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

"Celtic today confirmed that one player has recorded a positive test for Covid-19. Clearly the player will receive all our care and full support," Celtic said in a statement. "All other members of our squad, management team and backroom squad are negative."

Scotland is under a nationwide lockdown to try and ease soaring infection rates of the virus with only essential travel permitted. Elite sports teams are, though, allowed to travel for matches and training.

Earlier this week, Sturgeon queried the need for a mid-season training camp given the restrictions and said pictures emerging from the trip raised doubts over whether social distancing guidelines were being adhered to.

Celtic insisted that they had received Scottish government approval for the trip to go ahead.

'Well over' 2,000 grey seal pups born on Norfolk beach as police deter visitors 

More than 2,000 grey seal births have been recorded at Horsey Gap in Norfolk during its annual pupping season, a local charity has revealed, as police have been patrolling the area to deter visitors during the national lockdown.

Seal protection charity Friends of Horsey Seals estimated that “well over 2,000” seal pups have been born this season, which stretches from November to January.

“We suspended counting when the Covid restrictions made it impossible for our counters, so we don’t have a complete figure this year,” Jane Bowden, a warden and trustee for the charity, told the PA news agency.

Ms Bowden explained that the charity is made up of hundreds of volunteers from around the country. However, due to coronavirus restrictions, only local volunteers are now able to help patrol the beach. “This has been a really tough year for us,” she told PA. “We couldn’t just abandon the seals.”

Norfolk Police said it had fined a man and a woman in their 50s who admitted driving more than 120 miles from their home in Wellingborough in Northamptonshire to Horsey to look at the seal colony on Thursday.

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Teenager arrested and 38 fines issued due to illegal rave in Bristol

Police arrested a teenager and issued 38 fines over plans to hold an illegal rave in Bristol, as constabularies continue to crack down on lockdown rule-breakers.

Avon and Somerset Police said officers prevented the "Bristol Freerave" event from going ahead on Saturday after receiving intelligence it would be held at Oldbury Court in the Fishponds area of the city.

Officers issued 38 fixed penalty notices for breaches of Covid-19 regulations after a "significant" number of people arrived in the area by car and on foot, the force said.

A 19-year-old man was arrested shortly after 7pm on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance, while police also gave "advice" to around 30 minors at the scene.

A further arrest was made in connection with a drink driving offence and a vehicle was seized for having no insurance.

It comes as police forces across England urged people to stay home and avoid travelling amid concerns that pressure on the NHS from coronavirus could get worse in the coming weeks.

Home Secretary Priti Patel defended the way police have handed out fines for lockdown breaches so far, warning that officers "will not hesitate" to take action.

Related: Matt Hancock backs police after £200 fine for women who drove five miles for a walk

The gendered pandemic: how women are being left behind - again  

For women and girls around the world, the impact of coronavirus and the associated lockdowns last year was huge. 

It includes a "plague" of domestic violence; thousands having to give birth alone; a childcare and employment crisis as schools closed; and women in many countries disproportionately on the frontline, working in the sectors most at risk. 

Overall, Covid-19 is likely to set gender equality back by decades, the United Nations has warned. 

Given all of this, many are asking now how it is possible that many countries, including our own, are staring down the barrel of it all happening again as new coronavirus waves force renewed lockdowns.  

"It does feel like Groundhog Day. And I'm really disappointed by that. There's no excuse," said Mandu Reid, the leader of the Women's Equality Party in the UK. 

"There have been some improvements but to be honest you don't get a round of applause from me for just remembering that women exist," said Ms Reid.

Jennifer Rigby has more details on this issue here.

‘These are tough times, please follow the rules,’ Chief Nurse urges after ICU shift

Jordan: Government leaders take Chinese Sinopharm vaccine

Jordan's Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh and several other members of the government received the Chinese Sinopharm novel coronavirus vaccine during its testing phase, the health minister announced.

"Jordan took part in clinical trials for the Chinese vaccine. The prime minister and several other ministers, including myself, received the vaccine," Nazir Obeidat said at a press conference.

"The vaccines that have been bought for the vaccination campaign in the kingdom are all safe and effective," he added, urging Jordanians to come forward for the jabs.

Jordan is set to start its vaccination campaign on Wednesday.

It yesterday that it had approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use, after giving the Pfizer-BioNTech jab the green light. Sinopharm says its vaccine is 79 percent effective against the novel coronavirus.

Pandemic in pictures

London, England:

Police detain several anti lockdown protestors in Brockwell park Brixton whom had initially gathered near Windrush square before heading into the park Credit: Photo by Guy Smallman/Getty Images

St Anton, Austria:

Snowmen instead of spectators are seen in the finish area of the women's downhill competition of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Credit: HELMUT FOHRINGER/APA/AFP

Naucalpan, Mexico:

Faced with the saturation of hospitals in the country due to the pandemic, which has left more than one and a half million infections and around 132,000 deaths, the Mexican Red Cross is coordinating with health centers and emergency services to find available beds in the area.  Credit: ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP 

 Toyko, Japan:

Participants wearing protective face masks amid the coronavirus outbreak, pray as they take an ice-cold bath during a ceremony to purify their souls and to wish for overcoming the pandemic at the Teppozu Inari shrine in Tokyo Credit: REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Lviv, Western Ukraine:

A Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church priest, wearing a special suit to protect himself against coronavirus, stands, after visiting patients with COVID-19 at an intensive care unit of the emergency hospital Credit: AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka

UK reports 563 additional fatalities and 54,940 cases

The Government has said that a further 563 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Sunday, bringing the UK total to 81,431.

Separate figures published by the UK's statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 97,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

The Government also said that, as of 9am on Sunday, there had been a further 54,940 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK.

It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 3,072,349.

Gambling dens and cockfighting arenas fuel Thailand's new Covid-19 surge 

Thailand is struggling against an unexpected Covid-19 surge this winter that has been fanned by cockfighting rings and illegal casinos. 

Health officials have warned that the virus is spreading silently through illegal gambling dens as patients infected there are reluctant to disclose vital details that could help contact tracing teams contain the outbreak. 

The Southeast Asian nation was relatively successful last year at keeping Covid-19 at bay, but it is now struggling to stamp out the biggest wave since the start of the pandemic. 

Cases have more than doubled in less than a month - on Thursday reaching 9,636 - and infections have been detected in 56 of the country’s 77 provinces. 

The latest outbreak is reported to have begun in mid-December in a seafood market in Samut Sakhon, southwest of the capital Bangkok, which employs thousands of Burmese migrant workers. 

It then spread to cockfighting arenas and casinos where boisterous crowds are packed tightly together - creating ideal conditions for the spread of the virus. 

Nicola Smith has the full details here.

Today in brief

Just joining us? Here’s an overview of the day’s key UK headlines:

  • Police were right to fine two women £200 each for driving five miles from their home for a walk, Matt Hancock has said, as he warned the public to follow the rules because “every flex can be fatal”.
  • The newly approved Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine will be available in more than 1,000 locations in Scotland from Monday, the Scottish Government has said.
  • Meanwhile in Wales, a public health director has warned that coronavirus cases are "cause for serious concern". 1,660 new infections were confirmed today.
  • Experts have welcomed Government plans to prioritise quick turnaround tests for those without coronavirus symptoms, but said the move is "long overdue" as it is the only way to control the pandemic's spread.
  • People could be vaccinated against coronavirus every year in a similar way to the annual flu jab programme, the Health Secretary has said. He also pledged that every adult in Britain will have been offered a jab by the autumn.
  • Teachers will be considered as a possible priority for the next phase of the coronavirus vaccine roll-out, a Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) member has said.
  • Ambulance services are under "unprecedented pressure" with handover delays at a scale never seen before, a leading paramedic has said.
  • In London, regional leaders have sent a letter to the medical directors asking them "not to support" staff who are performing non-urgent work in the private sector for the next month.

Are targets to offer every adult a vaccine by autumn realistic?

Earlier today Matt Hancock pledged that every adult in Britain will have been offered a coronavirus vaccination by the autumn (see 11:51am).

But is this realistic? Some experts aren’t convinced. Deepti Gurdasani, an epidemiologist at Queen Mary University London, notes that - at the current rate - it will take seven years to vaccinate everyone.

"I know efforts will ramp up, hopefully, but seems odd to be making such claims without any indication of delivery so far," she said. "Worrying that vaccination is our only plan when the speed of vaccination being planned is far from guaranteed."

One from the archives: Mystery virus triggers Sars-type pneumonia outbreak

It is more than a year since Chinese authorities issued a short statement announcing that a spate of "pneumonia of unknown origin" had been detected in Wuhan.

Here is the Telegraph’s second story on the subject, published on January 9 2020.  Below is an extract - it just goes to show how much scientists have learned in the last year.  

A mystery new virus has been identified as the cause of a cluster of nearly 60 pneumonia cases in China which have put health authorities around the world on high alert. 

The infections, caused by a novel coronavirus, are reminiscent of the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) epidemic that spread from China in 2002, killing almost 800 people. 

Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, said that new viruses always posed a risk. 

“There’s always been a threat from coronaviruses,” he told The Telegraph. “These are viruses that are very widespread in lots of different animals and have shown the ability in the past to jump from animals into humans.”

“It seems like this [new] virus is  jumping into humans but not spreading on. But the worry is that if you have a new virus that is exploring a human host it’s possible that they might mutate and spread more easily in humans.”

Other experts have added that it is too early to tell how dangerous China’s novel coronavirus is. 

“The biggest thing to ascertain is how transmissible the virus is between humans,” said Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the Jenner Institute at Oxford University. “This will affect how easily the virus can be contained.”

Balkans lags in vaccine drive as EU and Russia vie for influence

Western Balkan states are falling behind in the race to vaccinate citizens against coronavirus, leaving the EU’s poorer neighbours facing the stark choice of waiting months for globally accredited jabs or turning to potentially unsafe options from Russia. 

While the EU began its vaccination program on December 27, most of the remaining Balkan countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – will not be starting properly until spring. 

“Whenever I mention vaccines to people, they say, ‘Maybe in the next two years.’ People are not optimistic here,” said Bosnian student Bakir Ovčina. 

“The handling in general has been fairly shambolic. It’s very clear that we are lagging behind and our leaders aren’t doing that much to catch us up.”

Like most of the Western Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina is among dozens of middle- or low-income countries relying on the World Health Organisation-led Covax procurement agency for vaccines.

Sarejevo said it expects nearly 1.25 million doses to arrive by April, enough to immunise around 20 per cent of the population in line with WHO’s goal. Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania all face a similar schedule.

But with a funding gap of $28 billion, concerns over whether Covax will really be able to distribute 2 billion doses as planned this year have prompted some to look elsewhere.

Venetia Rainey has the full report here.

A man visits the graves of his parents in law, who died of COVID-19 related complications, in Zenica, Bosnia Credit: AP Photo/Almir Alic

Criminals use fake vaccines to steal thousands from the vulnerable

Criminals posing as NHS staff are offering fake coronavirus vaccines in order to steal thousands of pounds from victims.

In one case a 92-year-old woman was injected with an unknown substance after a man visited her home claiming to be there to give her the jab.

She paid £160 for her dose, which she was told would be reimbursed by the health service. The police are now searching for the man, who is suspected to be a fraudster.

Coronavirus vaccinations are free under the Government’s roll-out and people should be highly suspicious of anyone who asks them to pay for one.

Scammers have also been sending text messages that appear to come from the NHS and claim that the recipient is eligible for a coronavirus vaccine. Recipients are taken to a convincing imitation of the NHS website and asked to provide their credit or debit card details so their address can be verified. The fraudsters then use the details to empty their bank account.

Marianna Hunt reports.

Analysis: Now read this

Algerian president returns to Germany to be treated for Covid-19 complications 

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has flown back to Germany for treatment in hospital of complications in his foot resulting from a coronavirus infection, the presidency said.

Tebboune, 75, had returned home two weeks ago from Germany after two months of treatment for Covid-19.

The treatment of the complications "was not medically urgent" and had been due to take place during Tebboune's last stay in Germany, the presidency said in a statement.

At the time, Tebboune decided to postpone the treatment because of some obligations that prompted him to return home on December 29.

Tebboune late last month signed this year's budget law and a decree paving the way for the implementation of an amendment to the constitution that was approved in a referendum in November

Abdelmadjid Tebboune Credit: AP Photo/Toufik Doudou, File

Watch: All adults will be vaccinated by autumn, says Matt Hancock 

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France extends curfew in Marseille as UK Covid variant spreads 

France has expanded a nighttime curfew in Marseille after authorities discovered the new UK strain of the coronavirus in the city.

From Sunday a nationwide curfew that runs from 8pm to 6am will start two hours earlier in Marseille, which joins other French cities such as Strasbourg and Nice in the stricter measures.

"We are doing everything we can to prevent the variants from entering and spreading across our territory," French health minister Olivier Veran told Europe 1 radio on Sunday.

"We are seeing the situation in England, we are seeing the situation in Scotland, I don't want that to happen in France."

Local authorities in Marseille said the decision to extend the curfew was in part due to the discovery in the region of the new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus first found in Britain.

France is facing a rise in infections with over 20,000 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours and 170 deaths but has so far managed to contain the sharp increases seen in the UK and Germany. A dozen cases of the new strain have been identified in France.

Anna Pujol-Mazzini reports.

England: 508 added coronavirus fatalities

A further 508 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 55,580, NHS England said today.

The deaths were between December 17 and January 9. There were 25 other deaths reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.

Switzerland's decision to close schools most effective measures to reducing Covid 

Switzerland's decision in the spring to shutter schools was one of measures that was most effective in reducing mobility and thus also transmission of Covid-19, a study showed Sunday.

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, ETH, determined that the closure of Swiss schools last March was responsible for cutting mobility by more than a fifth.

"School closures reduced mobility by 21.6 percent," Stefan Feuerriegel, an ETH professor of management information systems who headed the study."

"School closures reduce mobility, (which) then reduces new cases" of Covid-19, he said.

His team analysed some 1.5 billion movements in Swiss telecommunication data between February 10 and April 26 last year to evaluate the impact on mobility as various anti-Covid measures were introduced.

Read more here.

Another new Covid variant identified in Japan

Another new variant of Sars-Cov-2 has been found in Japan today, the Japan Times reported.

Little information is currently available but the new mutant strain, which is partly similar to different variants reported in the UK and South Africa, was detected in four infected people who arrived from Brazil, the Japanese Health ministry said.

The National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) added that there was no evidence at present that the new variant was highly infectious, but it was investigating whether it could cause severe symptoms and whether or not it is resistant to vaccines.

Maria Van Kerkhove, who leads the Covid response team at the World Health Organization, wrote on Twitter that "we are aware & working with countries & partners in our WHO Virus Evolution Working Group."

But as Prof Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at Edinburgh University, has pointed out, three questions need to be answered for every new mutation identified, including this one:

In charts: NHS under pressure as coronavirus pandemic spirals

Covid fills hospital beds:

 Number of patients in critical care compared to last winter:

 Cases surge across the UK:

Wales: Public Health Director warns situation is a ‘serious concern’

Coronavirus cases in Wales are "cause for serious concern", a public health director has said as 1,660 new cases were confirmed.

On Sunday, Public Health Wales reported another 45 deaths, taking the total number in Wales since the start of the pandemic to 3,964. The country has now had a total of 169,754 confirmed cases.

Dr Robin Howe, incident director for the coronavirus outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: "The number of positive coronavirus cases remains extremely high in Wales and is cause for serious concern."

On Friday, First Minister Mark Drakeford said lockdown measures, which have been in place in Wales since December 20, would continue for another three weeks along with "strengthened" restrictions affecting supermarkets, workplaces and schools.

He said schools and colleges would stay closed to most pupils until the February half-term unless there was a "significant reduction" in Covid-19 cases.

Ministers urged to do homework to stop school closures turning into a skills crisis 

Spare a thought for Blackpool councillor Kath Benson, who has the unenviable brief of overseeing schools in one of the country’s most deprived areas.

“We’re all working at a hundred miles an hour and there is no light at the end of the tunnel,” she says.

Millions of families across the country are in the early stages of a stressful six weeks or more of home learning, and the challenge will be no greater than in Blackpool, where more than a quarter of children live in low-income families.

According to the Education Policy Institute (EPI), the town was already on the back foot before Covid: its most disadvantaged pupils are 26 months behind the national average, the widest gap in the country.

“It’s not going to be good, is it?” says Benson of the likely impact on children, a third of whom are entitled to free school meals. The community nurse says: “We’re pulling all sorts together. We had 24 hours’ notice.”

For a government committed to “levelling up”, the grim truth is that the pandemic is doing the opposite in educational terms.

With schools shut for the lion’s share of the 8.1m pupils in state primaries until mid-February at the earliest, most will have lost at least six months of face-to-face schooling, before taking into account the class “bubbles” closed by outbreaks when schools reopened in the autumn.

Russell Lynch has more details here.

Should the government do more to help us be healthier?

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Half of Swiss hotels and restaurants risk bankruptcy, sector warns

Nearly half of Switzerland's restaurants and hotels risk bankruptcy within months without financial support to weather devastating Covid-19 measures, the sector's employer group warned today.

The Swiss government is expected this week to extend the closure of bars, restaurants and leisure facilities across the country until the end of February to control stubbornly high Coronavirus case and death numbers.

But industry federation GastroSuisse warned in a statement that if done without providing significant financial support, around half of businesses in the restauration and hospitality sector could go belly-up by the end of March.

The group polled around 4,000 restaurant and hotel owners, and determined that 98 percent of them already are in urgent need of financial support.

"The very existence of many of them is threatened," GastroSuisse president Casimir Platzer said in the statement.

Impact of current measures not as dramatic as in March, experts warn

It’s "fairly clear" that the current lockdown will not have such a substantial impact on curbing Covid as restrictions last March, according to Graham Medley, a professor of infectious disease modelling and chair of SPI-M - a sub-committee of Sage.

"It’s fairly clear from all the data that’s coming through that the impact of the current measures is not as dramatic as it was in March. We are not going to see the R number fall as low as 0.6," Prof Medley told Times Radio today.

"I sincerely hope it gets below 1".

He added that hospitals are likely to remain very full until mid February, even if ambitious vaccination targets are met. 

Lib Dems question assertion that teachers are at ‘no more risk’ of catching Covid

The Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman, Daisy Cooper, has questioned Matt Hancock's assertion that teachers are "no more at risk" of catching Covid than other groups.

"Pupils, parents and teachers will be hugely frustrated by these mixed messages on schools," she said. 

"They deserve to know why the Health Secretary is saying that teachers are no more at risk of catching Covid whilst just a few days ago, the Prime Minister said that schools are vectors of transmission.

"Schools have been trying for months to get this vital information and have been blocked at every turn. The Government needs to come clean and publish the figures."

Belgium's coronavirus death toll hits 20,000 - still among world's highest per capita 

Belgium's death toll from coronavirus infections, one of the highest per capita in the world, has breached the 20,000 mark, according to official data published today.

The country has played down comparisons that show it to be one of the world's worst hit by the pandemic, but virologists point to some missteps and systemic problems. Divided by language, Belgium gives regions substantial autonomy and has nine health ministers. 

Public health institute Sciensano said 20,038 people have died in Belgium, according to the official count as of Sunday. An average of 58 people in Belgium died from Covid-19 each day in the seven days to January 6, a decrease of 15 percent from the previous seven-day period.

Belgium is the second-highest in the world for deaths in proportion to its overall population, behind the tiny city state of San Marino, according to a tracker by Johns Hopkins University.

Belgium's government imposed tighter restrictions in October to rein in a surge in infections, including a night curfew, mandatory working from home and the closure of bars and restaurants, but cases have started to tick up again in recent days.

The government said on Friday it would not tighten restrictions for now, but would review these at its next meeting on January 22 when it should be clearer how the festive season and the reopening of schools has affected the caseload.

HSJ: Medical leaders seek to ‘shame’ private hospitals and their staff into supporting NHS

Breaking news from the Health Service Journal here. In a leaked letter sent to the medical directors of London’s acute hospital trusts, regional leaders ask them “not to support” their staff who are performing non-urgent work in the private sector for the next month.

The HSJ reports that NHS England and senior clinical leaders in London are “profoundly uncomfortable” that some routine elective care is continuing in private hospitals, while the NHS faces “unthinkable” pressures from coronavirus.

The letter said: “We are in genuinely unprecedented times and the second wave of covid-19 is putting pressures on the service that only a year ago would have been unthinkable.

“In this context, with all but the most urgent elective activity postponed in the NHS in London, it feels profoundly uncomfortable to us that some elective work, that is not time critical, is continuing in the independent sector.

“We are asking colleagues to think very carefully about the appropriateness of this, and would like colleagues not to support delivery of such work in the independent sector for a period of time, a month from the date of this letter in the first instance, until vaccination and the current lockdown take effect and the pressure on NHS services eases.

“We hope that this will achieve two things, firstly release more independent sector capacity for urgent elective work, so the current helpful relationship can expand. Secondly, it would release some medical capacity back to the NHS to deal with the current extreme workload.”

This is how the editor of HSJ views the significance of this story:

WHO calls on governments not to pursue herd immunity while vaccine shortages persist 

Countries should not pursue herd immunity strategies while vaccines are in short supply, the World Health Organization has said, urging governments to instead share excess doses once health care workers and the most vulnerable are protected. 

Speaking at a virtual press briefing on Thursday Dr Hans Kluge, head of WHO Europe, warned that the world “simply cannot afford to leave any country, any community, behind” in the fight to curb Covid-19.

“At this point in time, and after so many months in cycles of hope and despair, herd immunity is an understandable desired end-point,” Dr Kluge told journalists. “Yet it cannot be our immediate, primary concern.

“I want to emphasise that vaccine roll-outs are essential, first and foremost, to reduce severe disease in vulnerable groups, release the pressure on our hospitals and avoid the risk of our health systems collapsing,” he added.

In Britain, where the Vaccine Taskforce has secured more than 350 million doses of different jabs, such a policy could mean that supplies are redirected to countries with limited access to immunisations once the most vulnerable 25 million people have been protected.

The JCVI estimates that “taken together, these groups represent around 99 per cent of preventable mortality from Covid-19”. When this point is reached, experts suggest that the government can begin to lift stringent restrictions.

Read the full story here.

80 year old Londoner in Wales expresses concern about access to vaccinations

People have shown little sympathy for a London man who says he is struggling to get Covid-19 vaccine because he is staying in his 'second home' in North Wales.

George Owen, 80, says he doesn't want to risk infection by travelling 250 miles back to Clapham from Rhyl, Denbighshire. He has been in Wales for roughly four months.

He wants to be vaccinated in Rhyl but so far he's been rebuffed by the GP practice there, who say he's not a local and ought to return to London, but he doesn't feel safe doing that.

It puts him in a Catch 22 situation and he faces missing out on the vaccine altogether.

He called BBC Radio 4 during a 'You and Yours: What's happening with vaccinations where you live?' phone-in to ask for advice.

On the phone-in, Dr Nathalie McDermott said "It's a difficult situation, I would have hoped that the surgery would register you but I understand that they're probably only committed to do that under emergency registrations which means you have to be unwell."

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, covering Rhyl, advised that if Mr Owen is in his second home, the 'rules are people shouldn't travel here and the GPs can't register them as temporary residents at the moment'.

Rhyl residents gave him short shrift on social media. Sparky Mike said "Whether he's 80 or 18, he knew exactly what he was doing. Rules are rules and he shouldn't even be up here. Go back to your main residence...simple really."

What do you think about the situation? Let us know your thoughts on this area in the comment section below.

Super-rich skip coronavirus vaccine queue by jetting abroad to get jabs 

The super-rich are skipping Britain’s coronavirus vaccine queue by jetting abroad to get jabs done privately.  

Stuart McNeill, who runs Knightsbridge Circle, a £25,000-a-year private concierge service, is used to securing clients backstage drinks with Lady Gaga, lunch with the Pope or sold-out Hermès bags with two-year waiting lists. 

Lately, however, he has been busy fielding requests for early dibs on the coronavirus vaccine and arranging for wealthy individuals to fly to the United Arab Emirates to get the jab privately. 

“Dubai and Abu Dhabi are already offering private appointments for the Pfizer vaccine. About 20pc of our clients have opted to fly out and get it. Dubai is also currently quarantine-free for British arrivals so most are relaxing on the beach in the weeks between their first and second dose,” Mr McNeill said. 

The firm looks after royals, celebrities and business executives and a number of its clients who have received vaccinations would be well known to the public, he added. There is no charge for private vaccinations for the Knightsbridge Circle's clients, as their membership fees cover the cost. 

Marianna Hunt has the full details here

Today in photos

Southend, London:

People walk past a digital public safety notice saying "Lockdown, StayAt Home, Protect The NHS, Save Lives" along the seafront at Westcliff beach Credit: John Keeble/Getty Images

 St Anton, Austria:

Snowmen instead of spectators are seen in the finish area of the women's downhill competition of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Credit: HELMUT FOHRINGER/APA/AFP

Jordan River, Jordan:

Nuns wearing protective face masks attend a mass at a church, near the baptism site along the Jordan River, amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus  Credit: REUTERS/Muath Freij

Hebei, China:

Employees work on a production line of disposable medical masks at a factory in Handan, Hebei Province of China Credit: Hao Qunying/VCG via Getty Images

Rishon Lezion, Israel:

An Israeli military medic prepares to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the medical centre of Tzrifin military base  Credit: JACK GUEZ / AFP

Government vows to offer vaccine to all adults in UK by autumn

Earlier today Matt Hancock pledged that every adult in Britain will have been offered a coronavirus vaccination by the autumn, in the UK's biggest ever inoculation campaign.

The Health Secretary said 200,000 people are currently being vaccinated each day, amid a race to meet a target of inoculating 15 million of the most vulnerable by mid-February.

The Government is initially prioritising the elderly, their carers and health workers, but the health secretary insisted everybody eligible would be offered the jab this year.

"We are going to have enough to offer the vaccine to everyone over the age of 18 by the autumn," Mr Hancock told the BBC, adding it was vital to have started with the most vulnerable.

So far health regulators in the UK have approved two vaccines which are already being used - the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs.This week the Moderna inoculation, which will be rolled out from the spring, was also approved.

Jabs have mostly been administered at hospitals and doctors surgeries, but seven mass vaccination centres will open next week, with more in the pipeline, according to Mr Hancock.

Analysis: Haemorrhaging of the nation’s health service has now started 

The NHS will not all of a sudden topple over, says a seasoned observer. It’s not what happens to overstretched health systems, not least a national service which can, for a time at least, transfer weight from one limb to another.

Much more likely is that it will gradually “bleed out” over a period of a month or more if large parts become overwhelmed. 

That moment has not yet arrived and may still be avoided but, be in no doubt, the haemorrhaging has already started. In London, you would be ill-advised to climb a stepladder, let alone get on a motorbike given the level of demand in the capital’s hospitals.

For category three admissions - those that are urgent, but not immediately life-threatening - the wait for a hospital bed now stretches to 30 hours, says the city’s ambulance service.

A drowning person closes off blood oxygen supplies to their extremities in a bid to survive, and so it is with health systems that are struggling to cope - read more about the dire situation in the NHS here.

The week the global vaccines race got ugly 

Officially, it is not a race, nor is there any prize for coming first. As Covid 19 vaccine roll-outs finally get underway around the planet, world leaders have loftily insisted that all that really matters is the safety of humankind, writes Colin Freeman.

But while it may be the turning point in the fight against the virus, roll-out time also presents politicians with another grim reality of pandemic politics: namely, are other countries vaccinating faster than us?

In the past month, Britain, America and dozens of other nations have begun their long-awaited vaccination programmes, amid national fanfare. But as health ministries pump out statistics on how many arms have been jabbed, a "league table" has gradually formed, with certain countries far outstripping others.

It has led to celebrations in some nations - and excuses, finger-pointing and mudslinging in others...

Read more here

Watch Police were right to fine two women £200 each, says Matt Hancock

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Meet the scientists tackling vaccine misinformation on TikTok 

Since the start of the pandemic, wild claims about Covid-19, including suggestions that Bill Gates has bugged vaccines with microchips, have troubled the internet.

It’s become such a concern that Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organisation, has repeatedly warned that a duel pandemic of disease and misinformation has infected the world.

Now these experts are using TikTok to debunk some of the world's wildest coronavirus conspiracy theories.

Jordan Kelly-Linden has the full story here.

Placeholder image for youtube video: cjrsVm3olsk

A look at the Sunday newspapers

In case you're not able to pop down to the shop this morning for a Sunday newspaper, here’s a look at some of the front pages, via the BBC. Covid, unsurprisingly, dominates.

The Sunday Telegraph: Police to issue fines after one warning

The Sunday Times: Hospitals face ‘worst crisis in living memory’

The Sunday Mirror: A shot in the ma’am

The Observer: Doctors raise alarm as Covid strikes down NHS workforce

The Mail on Sunday: The Queen launches Britain’s jab blitz

Hopes of 'herd immunity' wane in Manaus as city battles second wave of Covid

Manaus, a sprawling port-city in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, was hit by a devastating coronavirus outbreak last April/May and gained global notoriety as images of mass graves lapped the globe. 

Many hoped that the ferocity of that first wave would prevent the city from a second.

But, amid a nationwide surge in Covid in Brazil, Manaus' hospitals are once again overflowing - the city reported a record high in new admissions this week.

Meanwhile the ambulance service is fielding an “absurdly high” volume of calls; refrigerated containers have been reinstalled outside health facilities to hold the corpses of Covid-19 victims; and the infamous new site cleared last March at Parque Tarumã cemetery is almost full.

In an attempt to stem spiralling infections, the state government declared a 180-day state of emergency on Monday.

But Lucas Ferrante, an ecological epidemiologist at the National Institute for Research in Amazonia (INPA) in Manaus, said the resurgence was not inevitable.

He believes suggestions of herd immunity were seized by the authorities last autumn, contributing to a complacent attitude across the city.

“It is evident that political neglect led Manaus to a second wave of Covid-19. The current scenario completely overturns this idea of herd immunity,” he said. 

We have more detail on the factors leading to the city's second wave here

Credit: Raphael Alves/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock 

Global news update

With the Sunday morning news shows coming to a close, here’s a look at the headlines elsewhere across the globe:

  • More than 380 people have tested positive in a growing Covid-19 outbreak in China's Hebei province, which is causing concern because of the region’s proximity to Beijing. Travel between the two has been restricted.
  • Vietnam will limit flights bringing citizens home from now until the end of the Lunar New Year in mid-February, when big gatherings indoors are expected, to reduce coronavirus risks.
  • Japanese opposition lawmakers slammed the government's emergency declaration as too little too late to stem the surging outbreak. They also pushed for more testing, which have lagged in Japan, being expensive and hard to get unless severely ill.

  • The number of fatalities in Belgium crossed 20,000 on Sunday, with more than half the dead from retirement care homes.
  • Meanwhile in Germany, the total number of coronavirus deaths has now surpassed 40,000, as Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that the coming weeks would be "the hardest" yet.
  • Mexico has reported a record high of 16,105 new confirmed coronavirus cases. An additional 1,135 deaths have also been announced - the fifth consecutive day that officials have reported more than 1,000 fatalities.
  • A curfew took effect across Quebec, Canada last night. Premier Francois Legault says the measure is needed to prevent gatherings that have fuelled the rampant spread of the virus.

Meeting vaccination targets the best way to reopen schools, says Keir Starmer

Delivering on the vaccine programme targets is the best way of reopening schools, according to the Labour leader. 

But Sir Keir Starmer added that opening classrooms again did not need to be contingent on vaccinating teachers.

Speaking to BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, he said: "We'd have to look at all the criteria but the most important thing is that vaccination programme.

"It is very difficult to see how we can start lifting restrictions in any meaningful way until the vaccine programme, at least that first part of it is rolled-out successfully."

Pressed on whether reopening was contingent on inoculating teachers, he added: "No, I don't know that it necessarily is, although if that can happen that would be a good thing.

"This argument that there are sectors where there is a very strong case for vaccination for obvious reasons, and I understand that and we are going to have that to accommodate that, quite frankly.

"But at the moment, we do need to focus on those who are most likely to go into hospital and tragically to die."

Encouraging data suggests vaccines work against new variants

The information to date on the success of vaccines against new variants is "very encouraging", Professor Peter Horby told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show this morning. 

"So far, the data we have is encouraging that the vaccines still work just as well [against new variants],"  the chairman of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) said. 

"We need more data but so far it's very encouraging."

But he added that people might need to get a coronavirus vaccine "every few years" if it does need to be updated against new variants, warning that the virus "will not go away".

"This one [virus] I think will not go away. We're going to have to live with it but that may change significantly," Prof Horby said.

"It may well become more of an endemic virus, that's with us all the time and may cause some seasonal pressures and some excess deaths, but is not causing the huge disruption that we're seeing now."

Related: Pfizer vaccine works against new Covid mutations, drugmaker says

Germany: Virus deaths top 40,000 as Merkel warns of 'hardest weeks' 

Moving away from the Sunday morning news programmes for a moment, let’s head to Germany. Total coronavirus fatalities have crossed 40,000 amid warnings from Chancellor Angela Merkel that the coming weeks would be "the hardest" yet.

Germany recorded 465 deaths over the past 24 hours, the Robert Koch Institute for disease control said, raising the toll since the start of the pandemic to 40,343. More than 1.9 million people have been infected so far, with almost 17,000 new cases added since Saturday.

In her weekly video message, Merkel said the full impact of socialising over the Christmas and New Year's period was yet to show up in the statistics.

She warned Germans that "these next winter weeks will be the hardest phase of the pandemic" so far, with many doctors and medical staff working at their limits.

Like other EU nations, it started vaccinating citizens against Covid-19 in late December using the Pfizer/BioNTech jab. More than half a million people have received the jab so far. A second vaccine, developed by US firm Moderna, will join the rollout in the coming days.

Current rules may not be strong enough, says Keir Starmer

The current lockdown rules "may not be tough enough", Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has warned this morning.

"They are tough and they're necessary," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show. "They may not be tough enough. In a sense, I think the most important thing is people get that message about stay at home."

He added that it is "up to the Government to put that message out there the whole time".

"We've had mixed messages I'm afraid for the last nine months which is why we've got a problem," Sir Keir said. "I would like to see the Prime Minister out there every day with a press conference making sure that message is absolutely getting through."

Sir Keir added that nurseries "probably should be closed".

"I think there is a case for looking at nursery schools, we're talking to the scientists about that," he said. "I think people are surprised that primary schools were closed but nurseries aren't. I think they probably should be closed, I do want to talk to the scientists about that."

Related: Don’t hit families with tax hike, says Sir Keir Starmer

Tighter measures could be needed if current restrictions don't curb spread, says Nervtag expert

Measures may need to be tightened if it becomes more evident that they are not working effectively to control the new coronavirus variant, according to the chairman of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag).

Professor Peter Horby told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "Now we're in a situation where everything that was risky in the past is now more risky so we are going to have to be very, very strict about the measures.

"Whether the current restrictions are enough, I think it remains to be seen. It will be a week or two before it becomes clear. They may be sufficient but we have to be very vigilant and if there's any sign that they're not, then we're going to have to be even stricter I'm afraid."

Vaccine priority list to be updated in mid-February 

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is set to come up with a plan by mid-February outlining who should be prioritised after the first 25 million, which includes healthcare workers, everyone over 50 and those under 50 with significant underlying health conditions. 

Professor Adam Finn, a member of JCVI, told Sky News: "JCVI will be discussing over the coming month phase two if you like as to who should be prioritised next.

"As you can appreciate these considerations start to be social values in a way more than the criteria we normally use, which is pressure on the health service.

"There are broader considerations when it comes to people with different occupations and the relative importance of them in society."

Asked about the position of teachers on that list, he said: "I can't predict exactly what will be prioritised but I can say that we will be discussing this and coming up with a plan, and I can also say that when it comes to teachers I think we all appreciate the critical role that they all play and so that really will figure in the discussions."

Hancock dodges question about tighter lockdown measures

Matt Hancock has said this morning that he will not speculate on whether the lockdown rules could be strengthened.

Asked about the prospect of tighter restrictions, the Health Secretary told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "I don't want to speculate because the most important message is not whether the Government will further strengthen the rules.

"The most important thing is that people stay at home and follow the rules that we have got. And that, in terms of the scale of the impact on the cases, that is the most important thing we can do collectively as a society."

Mr Hancock, who gave the interview from his own home via video link, added: "It is hard, it is not easy. But if you can do something from home and you don't need to go outside of home to do it, then you should.

"People need to not just follow the letter of the rules but follow the spirit as well and play their part."

Ambulance handover delays ‘at a scale we haven't seen before’

Ambulance services are under "unprecedented pressure" with handover delays at a scale that "haven't been seen before", the chief executive of the College of Paramedics has said.

Tracy Nicholls told Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme that some ambulances had been left waiting outside hospitals for up to nine hours while carrying patients.

"[The ambulance service] is under unprecedented pressure," she said. "We are very used to seeing ambulance services take some strain over the winter months due to the normal pressures we would see any particular year.

"But this year particularly has seen incredible pressure because of the clinical presentation of the patients our members are seeing. They are sicker."

She added: "We are seeing the ambulance handover delays at a scale we haven't seen before."

On handover delays, where ambulances are left queuing outside hospitals with patients inside, Ms Nicholls said: "Our members have reported to us they can wait as little as half-an-hour. We've had some members wait five, six, seven, eight and even nine hours."

Hancock backs tighter police enforcement of rules

The Health Secretary has backed more stringent enforcement of the lockdown by police and warned that "every flexibility" of the rules could prove fatal.

Matt Hancock said the majority of people were "following the rules" to stay at home, but he refused to criticise the police over complaints that some forces had been over-zealous in handing out fines.

Police tactics have come in for scrutiny after Derbyshire Police handed out £200 fines to two women who drove separately to go for a walk at a remote beauty spot situated around five miles from their homes.

Mr Hancock, asked about Derbyshire Police's approach, told Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: "I'm absolutely going to back the police because the challenge here is that every flex can be fatal. You might look at the rules and think, 'Well, it doesn't matter too much if I just do this or do that'.

"But these rules are not there as boundaries to be pushed, they are the limit to what people should be doing.

"The police are right to take very seriously the rules we have brought in. We haven't brought them in because we wanted to, we've brought them in because we had to. Every flexibility can be fatal."

Meanwhile in Bournemouth, members of the public caught this image of two women being arrested in Bournemouth in connection with alleged breaches of Covid restrictions Credit: Nick Capo/Instagram

Thousands of cases already prevented by vaccine rollout, expert says

The vaccine rollout will already have prevented thousands of people from having to be admitted to hospital with the virus, according to Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

The Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Bristol told Sky News' Sophy Ridge: "It's really too soon for the vaccine to have started having a measurable impact, but we can predict that already it's preventing cases just simply from the numbers of people who've received the vaccine which is now approaching one-and-a-half million people, and the rate of infection that's occurring which is really very high now.

"So there are certainly thousands of people already who have not been admitted to hospital and who will not be dying of this infection as a consequence of the programme that's begun in December."

Government spent £75, on 'Moonshot' tests from China that could miss up to half of cases

The Department of Health and Social Care spent more than £75 million on transporting 'Moonshot' tests from China that could miss up to half of coronavirus cases, The Telegraph can reveal.

A total of £76.59 million has been spent on air freight alone for lateral flow tests since the announcement of ‘Operation Moonshot’, analysis shows. The proposed mass-testing scheme had initially intended to perform 10 million tests a day.

Air Charter Service, a global charter provider with its UK base in Surbiton, has been the beneficiary of £61.8 million of contracts that ran after the ‘Moonshot’ announcement in a bid to dramatically upscale the country’s testing capabilities.

A further £14.8 million in contracts went to Virgin Atlantic in order to meet what the Department called “specific, urgent need to transport test kits to the UK” from regions including Xiamen, a port city on China’s south coast.

Most recently, Virgin Atlantic was awarded £2.2 million for air freight services from the beginning of this month. The contract will run up until January 19.

NHS facing the most dangerous situation in living memory, says Chris Whitty

England's chief medical officer has warned that the NHS is facing the "most dangerous situation" in living memory as the pandemic causes record deaths and hospital admissions.

As the country awaits the ramping-up of coronavirus testing and vaccinations this week, Chris Whitty said the only way to prevent avoidable deaths is for the public to stay at home wherever possible.

"Hospitals are always busy in winter, but the NHS in some parts of the country is currently facing the most dangerous situation anyone can remember," Prof Whitty wrote in the Sunday Times.

"If the virus continues on this trajectory, hospitals will be in real difficulties, and soon.

"Staff-to-patient ratios - already stretched - will become unacceptable even in intensive care."

The number of patients with Covid-19 in hospital is at a record high in England, while the official coronavirus death toll for the UK passed 80,000 on Saturday and lab-confirmed cases hit more than three million.

Prof Whitty commended the public for their efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19 and noted the hope offered by various vaccines, but he echoed other experts in saying it would be some weeks before the jabs start to reduce the number of people taken to hospital.

Analysis: ​Haemorrhaging of the nation’s health service has now started

Highly likely people will be vaccinated against Covid annually, says Hancock

It is "highly likely" people will be vaccinated against Covid annually, as with the flu, according to Matt Hancock.

"I think it's highly likely that there will be a dual-vaccination programme for the foreseeable, this is the medium-term, of flu and Covid," the Health Secretary told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

"Flu vaccination rates are at their highest level ever. Over 80 per cent of the over-65s have been vaccinated for flu this year. That's the biggest increase, a jump on last year when it was around 70 per cent," he said. 

"That's very good news. It's good news for two reasons. Firstly, to protect people against flu and secondly because it shows the vast, vast majority of over-65s are up for getting vaccinated."

Related: PM wants 50 vaccination centres open within weeks

Government on course to reach ambitious vaccination targets, says Hancock

Matt Hancock has insisted that the Government is on course to reach its target of 13 million people vaccinated by mid-February, which has been described as a necessity to start easing restrictions.

"Yes we're on course," the Health Secretary told  Sky News' Sophy Ridge. "The rate limiting factor at the moment is supply but that's increasing. I'm very glad to say that at the moment we're running at over 200,000 people being vaccinated every day.

"We've now vaccinated around one third of the over-80s in this country so we're making significant progress but there's still further expansion to go," he added.

"This week we're opening mass vaccination centres. Big sites for instance at Epsom racecourse, there's seven going live this week with more to come next week where we will get through very large numbers of people."

Analysis: vaccination rollout plagued by shortages and logistical problems

More following rules now than in November lockdown, says Hancock

The Health Secretary has shied away from criticising the public as Covid cases spiral, saying that "the majority are following the rules".

"We are as you can see, with the police, enforcing stringently against the minority who don't follow the rules," Matt Hancock told Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday. "But you're right I don't want to criticise the public because the majority of people are following the rules.

"That's what we want to see and we can see that the amount of people who are staying at home has increased, but we've all got to absolutely follow that guidance."

He added that complicance has risen compared to pre-Christmas. "The data shows more people are following the lockdown than the November lockdown," he said. 

The UK still has no clear coronavirus strategy, experts warn

The UK has "no clear strategy" to alleviate pressure on hospitals battling coronavirus beyond "reactive lockdowns", a public health expert has said. The country has seen some form of restrictions placed on the population for almost a year, said Professor Devi Sridhar, adding that it is "unrealistic" to expect people to adhere to rules for months on end.

The chairwoman of public health at Edinburgh University told Times Radio: "I think the larger issue here is the UK has no clear strategy beyond reactive lockdowns whenever hospitals are under pressure.

"People have been in lockdown for almost a year and I think it is unrealistic for people to continue to distance and avoid mixing for months and months when it's part of what makes us human."

She added: "I see this slightly differently. We need a plan to stop these lockdowns, and to learn from other countries - those in east Asia and the Pacific - which are largely back to normal."

Hancock repeats plea to stay at home to protect the NHS

The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, has warned this morning that the NHS needs people to "stay at home", amid reports that the health system is being pushed to the brink of collapse. 

"It is a very, very serious situation in the NHS, especially in some parts of the country", he told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme.

"But actually we've got challenges throughout the whole of the UK and the NHS needs you now more than it's needed anyone at any point and what it needs people to do is to stay at home.

"As you say it has been a difficult start to 2021, but it always was going to be, this is the time when viruses find it easier to spread and we have this new variant which spreads far more easily."

Related: Haemorrhaging of the nation’s health service has now started

Sunday stories

Good morning. If you're just waking up and joining us this Sunday morning, here are the key stories to be aware of:

  • Every police officer has been told to fine people £200 if they believe they are in breach of the rules and refuse to return home at the first time of asking, in new guidance issued to all chief constables seen by the Sunday Telegraph.

  • England's chief medical officer has warned the NHS faces the "most dangerous situation" in living memory as the pandemic causes record deaths and hospital admissions.
  • NHS hospitals are treating less than half of the cancer patients they normally would, it has emerged amid increasing fears it is struggling to cope with surging coronavirus cases. 

  • Retired doctors will still have to fill out 15 forms before being allowed to take part in the mass coronavirus vaccination programme despite claims from Boris Johnson that red tape had been slashed.

  •  Every key worker in England who cannot work from home will be offered a 30-minute test twice a week to try to control the spread of the virus, Matt Hancock is to announce. Experts have also welcomed plans to prioritise quick turnaround tests for those without coronavirus symptoms. 
  • Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has urged the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to guard pandemic-hit family budgets by protecting them from "absurd" council tax rises this spring.

Watch: Chris Whitty appears in new TV campaign urging public to stay at home

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Ukraine's hospitals grapple with surge

A medical college in western Ukraine has been transformed into a temporary hospital as the coronavirus inundates the Eastern European country.

The foyer of the college in the city of Lviv holds 50 beds for Covid-19 patients, and 300 more are placed in lecture halls and auditoriums to accommodate the overflow of people seeking care at a packed emergency hospital nearby.

The head of the hospital's therapy division, Marta Sayko, said the college space has doubled treatment capacity. She hopes a broad lockdown ordered Friday will reduce the burden on the Ukrainian health care system.

"Considering that now the number of cases is growing, more patients arrive in a grave condition with signs of respiratory failure," Sayko said.

The government's wide-ranging lockdown closed schools, gyms and entertainment venues and prohibits table service at restaurants through Jan. 25. Ukraine, which has a population of 42 million, has reported more than 1.1 million confirmed cases and nearly 20,000 deaths.

Many medical workers have criticised the government for ordering the lockdown only after the Christmas and New Year's holidays rather than risk angering the public.

Ruslan Kushnir, medical worker, stands ready to meet a new patient with Covid-19 in a hospital organised in the medical college in Lviv Credit: AP

Belgium's death toll surpasses 20,000

The number of fatalities in Belgium from the new coronavirus crossed 20,000 on Sunday, health officials said, with more than half the dead from retirement care homes.

The country, with a population of 11.5 million, has recorded 662,694 cases and 20,038 deaths since the pandemic broke out, the Sciensano public health institute said.

Read more: Vaccines partly funded by UK taxpayer will be exported to EU

Nurses administer Pfizer/Biontech vaccines to residents at the CHC Landenne care home in Landenne-sur-Meuse, near Namur, Belgium Credit: AP

Vietnam to limit flights until end of Lunar New Year

Vietnam will limit flights bringing citizens home from now until the end of the Lunar New Year in mid-February, when big gatherings indoors are expected, to reduce coronavirus risks, the country's prime minister said.

With a new Covid-19 variant spreading around the globe and the upcoming Lunar New Year, the country's most important holiday, only necessary flights approved by health, foreign, defence, public security and transport ministry are allowed to enter the country, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said.

After the Lunar New Year, which falls on February 10-16, the transport ministry will study the possibility of international flights resumption, Mr Phuc added.

People wearing face masks ride motorbikes over Long Bien bridge in Hanoi Credit: LUONG THAI LINH/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock 

PM wants 50 vaccination centres open within weeks

Fifty national vaccination centres will be set up across the country within weeks to help Boris Johnson hit his target of offering vaccines to nearly 14 million people by the middle of next month.

The Telegraph understands the Prime Minister wants to have established 50 mass vaccination centres across England by mid-February to help drive the mass vaccination programme.

Seven of the centres will open this week, with another seven next week as the programme expands through this month. One source said: "By mid-February there will be 50 [of them]."

Read the full story

Read more: Retired doctors must fill in 15 forms before being able to give jab

Placeholder image for youtube video: cjrsVm3olsk

World No 1 withdraws from snooker Masters after testing postive

World number one Judd Trump has withdrawn from snooker's Masters tournament, which begins on Sunday in Milton Keynes, after testing positive for Covid-19, the World Snooker Tour (WST) said.

The 31-year-old Briton, who has won a total of 20 ranking titles, was due to play David Gilbert in his opening match on Sunday. He has been replaced by Joe Perry.

Jack Lisowski, 29, has also withdrawn from the event after returning a positive test and has been replaced by Gary Wilson, WST said.

"Trump and Lisowski will now undergo a further period of self isolation," WST said in a statement. "All other players and officials tested at the event so far have had negative results."

Chinese Grand Prix in doubt for April

Organisers of the Chinese Grand Prix say they have asked Formula One management to move the Shanghai race from April to later in the 2021 calendar, Motorsport.com has reported.

"We have been in contact (with F1) via conference call almost every week," Yibin Yang, the general manager of race promoter Juss Event, was quoted as saying by the website.

"Despite the calendar being in place as usual, I think it's hugely uncertain the F1 race would take place in the first half of the year, in April.

"We aim to swap it to the second half of the year, and we have formally submitted the request that we hope to move it to the second half of the year."

Read more: Champions Cup postponed and Six Nations in doubt after France imposes UK sports ban

Pope and Queen latest to join vaccine drive

Pope Francis and Britain's Queen Elizabeth became the latest high-profile figures to join the global vaccination campaign against the coronavirus, as the UK reported it had surpassed more than three million cases since the pandemic began more than a year ago.

More than 1.9 million people worldwide have now died from the virus, with new variants adding to soaring cases and prompting the re-introduction of restrictions on movement across the globe - even as some countries begin mass inoculation campaigns.

Pope Francis urged people to get the vaccination, calling opposition to the jab "suicidal denial" and saying he would get inoculated against the virus himself next week when the Vatican would begin its campaign.

"There is a suicidal denial which I cannot explain, but today we have to get vaccinated," the pontiff said in segments from an interview with Canale 5 due to be broadcast in full on Sunday.

Read more: Queen’s inoculation is shot in the arm that her nation needs

Pope calls opposition to the jab "suicidal denial" Credit: Reuters

Daily cases in China doubles

Mainland China reported 69 new Covid-19 cases on Jan. 9, more than double the 33 reported cases a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Sunday.

The National Health Commission said in its daily bulletin that 21 of the new cases were imported.

The bulk of locally transmitted cases, 46 out of 48, were in Hebei, the province surrounding Beijing which entered a "wartime mode" this week as it battles a new cluster of infections.

Another 27 asymptomatic cases were also reported on Jan. 9, down from 38 a day earlier. 

Mainland China has now reported an accumulated total of 87,433 confirmed  cases, with 4,634 deaths.

Read more: Virus hotspots emerge in Southeast Asia ahead of vaccine roll-out 

A volunteer with the Blue Sky Rescue team fills a robot with disinfectant during an operation to disinfect Yuegezhuang wholesale market Credit: Reuters

Four weeks on curfew begins in Quebec

 A curfew meant to curb a surge in coronavirus infections took effect across Quebec on Saturday evening.

The measure is needed to prevent gatherings that have fueled the rampant spread of the virus, Premier Francois Legault said in announcing the rules earlier in the week. The French-speaking Canadian province has a population of more than 8.4 million.

"The situation is critical and a shock treatment is needed," Legault said in a Facebook post earlier on Saturday. "Our hospitals are filling with Covid-19 patients. Hundreds of people are in intensive care, fighting for their lives. Tens of people die every day."

The rules will see most residents face police questions or fines of up to $6,000 Canadian (£3485.66) if they're out between 8pm and 5am for the next four weeks.

There are exceptions for essential workers, people walking dogs, and those who have medical reasons to be out, such as a doctor's appointment.

The curfew has seen sharp resistance from some.

Mexico marks the fifth consecutive day of more than 1,000 deaths

Mexico reported 16,105 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,135 more fatalities on Saturday, according to health ministry data, bringing its total to 1,524,036 infections and 133,204 deaths.

The new daily death toll marks the fifth consecutive day that officials have reported more than 1,000 fatalities due to the highly contagious disease caused by the virus.

The real number of infected people and deaths is likely significantly higher than the official count, the ministry has said, due to little testing.

Paramedic of the Mexican Red Cross Juan Carlos Gonzalez transfers a Covid-19 patient to an emergency room in Naucalpan, Mexico Credit: AFP

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