Northern leaders have described the government’s extension of the furlough scheme as “an insult” and a “kick in the teeth” that will not stave off the threat of economic disaster under new lockdown restrictions.
Firms whose premises are legally required to shut over winter as part of local or national restrictions will be entitled to grants to pay up to 67% of employees’ salaries up to £2,100 a month. This is less generous than the original furlough, which paid 80% of employees’ wages up to £2,500 a month, but is a higher level of taxpayer support than in Rishi Sunak’s winter economy plan announced two weeks ago.
Jim McMahon, the shadow transport secretary and MP for Oldham West and Royton, described the package as an insult.
He said:
A lockdown is a lockdown – just because it’s a local lockdown doesn’t stop the operating costs being what they were under the national lockdown, so why is this support so much less?
This is a northern intervention and they think they can get away with doing it on the cheap. That’s the beginning and end of it.
Jason Leitch, national clinical director for the Scottish government, released this video thanking young people and children for doing their bit to stop the spread of the coronavirus and congratulating them for making it through the first term of the academic year.
Jason Leitch (@jasonleitch)
Scotland’s children & young people, take a bow! We know it’s not always been easy, but you’ve made it through the first term of a challenging academic year. This is a personal thank you for helping to stop the spread of the virus.@girfec #girfec #bestplacetogrowup @YoungScot pic.twitter.com/fssllKwIx4
Poland reported a record 5,300 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, according to health ministry data published on Twitter, as new restrictions including wearing masks outside at all times go into effect, Reuters reports.
Poland has now recorded 121,638 confirmed coronavirus cases and 2,972 deaths.
Indonesia reported 4,294 new coronavirus infections on Saturday to bring the total tally of 328,952, data from the country’s Covid-19 task force showed, Reuters reports.
The south-east Asia country also reported 88 more people have died from the virus, the lowest daily number in a week. Indonesia’s total number of coronavirus deaths now stands at 11,765.
Russia’s coronavirus cases rose by 12,846 on Saturday, a new daily record since the start of the outbreak early this year, pushing the overal total number of infections to 1,285,084, Reuters reports.
The previous record of 12,126 new cases was registered on Friday. Russia’s coronavirus crisis center said 197 more deaths were confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 22,454.
The public is in danger of losing faith in coronavirus measures due to the UK government’s “inconsistent” messaging, the British Medical Association (BMA) has warned.
PA Media reports:
The body added clearer, stronger measures are needed to halt the spread of the Covid-19.
As the government prepares to unveil a new three-tiered system of coronavirus restrictions on Monday, the doctors’ trade union body has published a list of recommendations it says could reduce the nation’s level of infection while providing people with the confidence they need to go out safely and boost the economy.
The BMA’s council chairman, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, said the inconsistency of the government’s messaging once the first lockdown was lifted had played a part in the resurgence of the virus.
He said: “The infection has risen following rapid relaxation of measures and with the Westminster government letting down its guard – as recently as August, the government was encouraging people to travel, go to work and mix in restaurants and pubs.”
There is growing anger from local leaders in the northern England, where some of the highest numbers of coronavirus cases have been recorded, at the way the UK government has been handling the response.
A leaked document released earlier this week revealed plans for three tiers of local lockdown measures in England to curb the spread of coronavirus and reduce confusion caused by a patchwork of regional restrictions.
Alert level 3 – the most serious – contains tougher measures than any seen so far in local lockdowns since the start of the pandemic, including preventing household mixing and closing businesses and venues. The plans are expected to be formally announced on Monday.
On Thursday, the Guardian revealed some hospitals in the north of England are set to run out of beds for Covid patients within a week.
The Guardian understands that the majority of northern England, from Barrow in Cumbria to Merseyside, Greater Manchester, much of Lancashire and Yorkshire and most of the north-east, as well as Nottinghamshire in the Midlands, expects to be under Covid restrictions as part of the new three-tier alert system.
The mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, had criticised the government for not consulting local leaders about new restrictions. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday:
Now we are engaged in a conversation that’s telling us that these decisions have been made, so that’s … a conversation, not a consultation.
But the main point of the imposition of the measures are clearly that: imposition. We have not be consulted.
Anderson also said:
We had some conversations with Downing Street yesterday, we have got further conversations, discussions with them this afternoon.
And I expect that Liverpool will be one of those announced. We will be in the local lockdown, new local lockdown, which is announced, which will probably be, well, will be tier three, and that that will be enacted in parliament on Tuesday.
We are continuing the discussions and conversations today.
On Friday, Rishi Sunak announced a new furlough scheme that will pay two-thirds of workers’ wages in hospitality firms ordered to close their doors, in a bid to head off mounting anger over plans for imminent new Covid restrictions.
But some local leaders still oppose new restrictions. The Labour leader of Gateshead Council, Martin Gannon, said he is opposed to a lockdown of hospitality venues across the north-east region.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday:
I think new measures would be counter-productive.
We had three different sets of regulations in 10 days which caused huge resistance and confusion.
Even the prime minister at one stage didn’t have the foggiest idea what actual restrictions he had imposed on the north-east of England.
Hello, I’m Aamna Mohdin taking over the blog from Luke. If you want to get in touch, you can email me (aamna.mohdin@theguardian.com) or message me on Twitter (@aamnamohdin)
In the United Kingdom, the mayor of Liverpool has told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he expects the city will be put in a tier three lockdown within days.
Joe Anderson said:
We had some conversations with Downing Street yesterday, we have got further conversations, discussions with them this afternoon.
And I expect that Liverpool will be one of those announced. We will be in the local lockdown, new local lockdown, which is announced, which will probably be, well, will be tier three, and that that will be enacted in parliament on Tuesday.
We are continuing the discussions and conversations today.
The number of daily coronavirus deaths in Ukraine has exceeded 100 for the first time since the epidemic began, jumping to 108, the national security council said on Saturday, Reuters reports.
The previous record of 93 deaths was registered on 8 October. The council said a total of 256,266 cases had been registered in Ukraine as of 10 October, with 4,887 deaths and 112,570 people recovered.
The government said on Friday it would open more hospitals to accept coronavirus patients amid a recent spike in cases.
It is also mulling ways to toughen lockdown measures, which have been gradually eased since June to help the economy, which plunged 11.4% in the second quarter.
