BORIS Johnson says the UK is "not out of the woods yet" despite cases falling for five days – and warned infections could easily spike again.
Speaking on behalf of the PM, a Downing Street spokesman said:" Obviously any reduction in cases is encouraging. But the PM has stressed many times before that the pandemic is not over and we are not out of the woods yet.
"We said last week, when we moved to step 4, that allowing large numbers of people to meet in indoor settings would have an impact on case numbers, and it remains the case that we won’t have seen the impact of step 4 yet in terms of cases numbers."
"So, as we always do, we will continue to keep all the stats under the review," they added.
It comes after the number of new Covid cases in the UK dropped for the fifth day in a row -a sustained fall in outside of lockdown for the first time since the pandemic began.
The number of people testing positive for Covid plunged from 49,000 last Sunday to 29,173 yesterday, building hopes Brits may be past the worst. It's also the first time cases have fallen below 30,000 since July 6.
Read our coronavirus live blog for the very latest updates..
- Harvey Lindsay
THIRD WAVE ‘COULD BE ENDING’ AS COVID CASES DROP FIVE DAYS IN A ROW
THE UK may now have passed the peak of the third wave – after the number of new cases dropped for the fifth day in a row in a “reassuring” sign, experts say.
The number of people testing positive for Covid plunged from 49,000 last Sunday to 29,173 yesterday, building hopes Brits may be past the worst.
And it’s the first time cases have fallen below 30,000 since July 6.
The number of fatalities, however, was slightly higher, with 28 people losing their lives – three more than the previous Sunday. The UK last saw five running days of dropping case numbers in February.
It’s understood ministers are “trying not to get too excited” about the drop – but there’s now “confidence” that things are heading in the right direction, Politico reports.
- Harvey Lindsay
SAJID JAVID APOLOGISES FOR ‘COWERING FROM COVID’ TWEET
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has apologised for a tweet which suggested the nation needs to not “cower” from coronavirus.
He said this morning: “I was expressing gratitude that the vaccines help us fight back as a society, but it was a poor choice of word and I sincerely apologise.”
- Harvey Lindsay
FANS WARN COVID PASSPORTS FOR FOOTBALL MATCHES COULD CAUSE ‘CHAOS’
Football fans have warned that plans to exclude supporters who are not fully vaccinated against coronavirus from attending Premier League matches from October could cause “chaos” at some clubs.
Chairman of the Football Supporters’ Association chairman Malcolm Clarke warned the proposal being considered by the Government to make vaccine passports mandatory for events with more than 20,000 attendees will need to be “managed very carefully”.
Boris Johnson was also facing further criticism from backbench Conservatives who were already opposed to plans to introduce their use for entry into nightclubs this autumn.
Talks are in an early phase with the Premier League to discuss whether supporters who have not been double-jabbed could be barred from entry, the PA news agency understands.
The use of vaccine passports could also be extended to lower divisions and other sports in England as ministers seek to reduce the surge of Covid-19 cases as other restrictions are ended.
- Harvey Lindsay
GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO ENSURE STOCKPILED PPE ‘NOT BEING WASTED’ SAYS COMMITTEE CHAIR
Dame Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, said the Government needs to make sure stockpiled PPE is not being wasted.
Speaking on LBC on Sunday about the committee’s report which found there were 10,000 shipping containers of PPE still to be unpacked, Dame Meg said taxpayers’ money is sitting in those containers.
She added: “This is a large amount of expensive kit, we need to make sure it gets to the right place.
“The main thing is what are they [the Government] doing logistically to make sure that stockpile isn’t wasted.”
- Harvey Lindsay
THIRD WAVE ‘COULD BE ENDING’ AS COVID CASES DROP FIVE DAYS IN A ROW
THE UK may now have passed the peak of the third wave – after the number of new cases dropped for the fifth day in a row in a “reassuring” sign, experts say.
The number of people testing positive for Covid plunged from 49,000 last Sunday to 29,173 yesterday, building hopes Brits may be past the worst.
And it’s the first time cases have fallen below 30,000 since July 6.
The number of fatalities, however, was slightly higher, with 28 people losing their lives – three more than the previous Sunday. The UK last saw five running days of dropping case numbers in February.
It’s understood ministers are “trying not to get too excited” about the drop – but there’s now “confidence” that things are heading in the right direction, Politico reports.
- Joseph Gamp
'WE'RE NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET' WARNS BORIS JOHNSON
BORIS Johnson has warned "we're not out of the woods yet" despite Covid cases tumbling for five days in a row, raising hopes the Delta wave peak is over.
The PM believes the rapid fall in infections is "encouraging" but insisted the pandemic "is not over" and Brits must still stay on their guard.
No 10 said the country should brace for another rise in cases as a result of dropping all restrictions on Freedom Day on July 19.
A Downing St spokesman said: "Throughout the pandemic we have always said it's encouraging when cases are falling."
But he added: "We should still expect to see a rise in case numbers given the move to Step 4 last week. The Prime Minister thinks we're not out of the woods yet."
- Joseph Gamp
LABOUR'S KEIR STARMER PROMISES A 'PRAGMATIC APPROACH' TO VACCINE PASSPORTS
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he backed the "pragmatic" use of Covid vaccine passports – but also stressed the importance of testing as part of the certification scheme.
Boris Johnson has signalled that the Covid pass will be required for nightclubs in England from September, when all adults will have had the opportunity to be double-jabbed, with tests no longer sufficient.
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has indicated the documents could be required for a far wider range of settings, suggesting festivals and sport events as areas where there were concerns about the spread of coronavirus.
Labour has previously indicated it could side with Tory rebels in voting against the mandatory use of vaccine-only passports for nightclubs, but Sir Keir acknowledged that checks of some sort were necessary for major events.
Sir Keir set out his views on LBC Radio, saying that tests were more useful than just a record of vaccination – highlighting Health Secretary Sajid Javid's situation as a double-jabbed person who contracted Covid-19. He said: "I think tests are actually more useful than double vaccinations, as the Health Secretary has shown.
"He, of course, got Covid just about 10 days ago now, I know he's through it now, but he had been double-vaccinated. So, I actually think tests are much more useful. I think that the idea that we can go back to mass sporting events or other events without any checks is not one I would subscribe to."
- Joseph Gamp
SCOTLAND RECORDS 1,000 COVID CASES – BUT ZERO DEATHS
Scotland has recorded 1,000 new coronavirus cases but no further deaths in the past 24 hours, the latest figures show.
It means the death toll under the daily measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – remains at 7,859, though the Scottish Government noted that Register Offices are now generally closed at the weekend.
There were 475 people in hospital on Sunday with recently confirmed Covid-19, down from 480 the previous day, with 65 patients in intensive care, up one on the day before.
The daily test positivity rate was 8%, up from 7.5% the previous day, according to figures published by the Scottish Government on Monday.
So far, 3,998,627 people have received their first dose of a Covid vaccination and 3,092,102 have received their second dose.
- Joseph Gamp
'FATIGUED' TRAIN DRIVER WITH HISTORY OF SAFETY ERRORS NARROWLY AVOIDED CRASH
A fatigued train driver with a history of safety blunders passed a stop signal and narrowly avoided a head-on crash with another train, an investigation has found.
The man was operating a Chiltern Railways service when the near-miss happened in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, on June 21 last year, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said.
He was travelling south to London Marylebone when he passed a red stop signal at around 60mph, resulting in his train being automatically halted.
As he did not recall passing the signal, he believed the activation of the safety system was "spurious" so he decided to restart the train without the necessary permission, the RAIB said.
This led to him driving towards a northbound London Underground train at Chalfont & Latimer station, which is shared by Chiltern Railways and Tube services. He finally stopped about 75ft (23m) ahead of the Metropolitan line train, which was stationary.
- Joseph Gamp
WATCH: VIRAL VIDEO SHOWS WOMAN STRUGGLING TO WALK 'AFTER HER COVID JAB' DUE TO EXTREMELY RARE SIDE EFFECT
Viral video shows woman struggling to walk ‘after her Covid jab’ due to extremely rare side effect
- Joseph Gamp
FACE MASK USAGE AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE HAS SLUMPED SINCE FREEDOM DAY, SUGGESTS NEW POLL
A new poll by YouGov suggests the use of face masks among young people has slumped since "freedom day" on July 19.
The survey found 46% of 18 to 24-year-olds said they wore a face mask in a public place in the last two weeks, compared to 58% on July 16 and 64% on June 2.
Meanwhile, the survey of 1,742 British adults between July 21 and 22 found other age groups were still wearing face coverings at around the same rate as 69% of all Britons say they wore a face mask in the last two weeks, compared to 71% on July 16 and 73% on June 2.
YouGov also said young people were less likely to be fully vaccinated and more likely to have disabled their NHS Covid-19 app. Meanwhile, the proportion of Britons thinking the Government is handling Covid-19 well fell from 41% just before "freedom day" to 34% afterwards.
Attitudes among Conservative voters tumbled 17pts this week. Prior to July 19, about three-quarters (73%) of Conservative voters thought the Government was doing a good job of managing the pandemic response. According to YouGov, now only 56% do, the lowest to date among Tory voters.
- Joseph Gamp
RUSSIA REPORTS 23,239 NEW COVID-19 CASES, 727 RELATED DEATHS
Russia reported 23,239 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, including 2,629 in Moscow, taking the official national tally since the pandemic began to 6,149,780.
The government coronavirus task force said 727 people had died of coronavirus-linked causes in the past 24 hours, pushing the national death toll to 154,601.
- Joseph Gamp
GRAPH: COVID VACCINATION IN THE UK
- Joseph Gamp
EXTRA ICU BEDS PLANNED FOR BELFAST AMID COVID-19 SURGE
Extra ICU beds are being made available in Belfast as hospitals struggle to cope with a surge in Covid-19 admissions.
Northern Ireland's chief nursing officer Charlotte McArdle said beds for Belfast health trust patients are being made available at Belfast City Hospital due to capacity issues at the Royal Victoria and Mater hospitals.
Ms McArdle said the numbers in ICU had increased significantly in Northern Ireland over the weekend, with 27 Covid-19 patients in intensive care as of Sunday.
Ms McArdle said there was currently no plan to reopen the region-wide Nightingale facility at Belfast City Hospital but she warned that would become a "very real possibility" if the surge continues.
The senior nurse's comments came after both the Belfast Trust and the South Eastern Trust issued emergency appeals to off-duty staff on Sunday to come in to work to help colleagues deal with the escalating situation.
- Joseph Gamp
DOWNING STREET REFUSES TO DENY IF STUDENTS WILL NEED JABS FOR LECTURES
Downing Street did not deny reports that students would need to be fully vaccinated to attend university lectures.
"You have heard what the PM has said before, specifically that the pandemic is not over," a No 10 spokesman said.
"We are still looking at the scope for vaccination certifications."
Asked if there was concern about take-up of the vaccines in younger age groups, the spokesman said: "I think you continue to see more and more young people coming forward to receive the vaccine, both in terms of first doses and now second doses.
"Of course, we want to see more people come forward to receive it. We would like to see everybody who is invited to come forward and receive the vaccination to do so. That's the message we continue to try and give to young people."
- Joseph Gamp
GRAPH: UK COVID-19 CASES AND DEATHS PER DAY
- Joseph Gamp
PM BELIEVES 'WE ARE NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET' SAYS DOWNING STREET SPOKESMAN
Downing Street said the fall in coronavirus cases was "encouraging" but numbers were still expected to rise and Boris Johnson believes "we're not out of the woods yet".
"Throughout the pandemic we have always said it's encouraging when cases are falling," the Prime Minister's deputy official spokesman said.
But the pandemic "is not over" and "we should still expect to see a rise in case numbers given the move to Step 4 last week".
"The Prime Minister thinks we're not out of the woods yet," the spokesman told reporters in Westminster.
- Joseph Gamp
NORTHERN IRELAND HAS HIGHEST RATE OF NEW COVID-19 CASES AMONG UK NATIONS
Northern Ireland has overtaken England to become the UK nation with the highest rate of new coronavirus cases.
It is also the only one of the four nations that is recording a steady rise in rates.
A total of 9,832 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in Northern Ireland in the seven days to July 21 – the equivalent of 519.2 cases per 100,000 people.
This is up sharply from 253.4 one week earlier and is the highest rate for Northern Ireland since January 9, according to analysis by the PA news agency.
By contrast, England now has the second highest rate of the four UK nations and is sitting just behind Northern Ireland on 499.1 cases per 100,000 people
- Joseph Gamp
FAILURE TO HIT VACCINE TARGET FOR SCOTS AGED 40-49 'HUMILIATING', LABOUR SAYS
Almost a quarter of Scots aged 40 to 49 have still not had two doses despite Nicola Sturgeon expecting them all to be fully vaccinated by Monday.
The First Minister told Parliament last month that all those in that age group should have received both vaccine doses by July 26.
But the latest figures on the Public Health Scotland show that just 75.8% had been given two shots ahead of the target date while 90.1% had received one dose.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie branded the situation "humiliating" as she warned that the "stalling" vaccine rollout was the biggest threat to the planned route out of lockdown.
In her statement at Holyrood on June 22, Ms Sturgeon also said all 30 to 39-year-olds are expected to have their second dose by August 20.
- Joseph Gamp
LABOUR VOWS TO TRANSFORM ECONOMY WITH 'NEW DEAL FOR WORKING PEOPLE'
Labour will launch a "new deal for working people" that promises to "fundamentally change" the economy as the party seeks to win back traditional voters who have switched to the Tories.
Deputy leader Angela Rayner will on Monday set out the party's vision for a post-pandemic Britain where quality jobs pay a "proper wage" and are a "source of pride, security and dignity".
Sir Keir Starmer was due to join his deputy at the launch at a social enterprise in London in a display of solidarity after a period of turbulence but has instead been forced into self-isolation.
Ahead of the launch, the Labour leader pledged to make the nation "the best place to work" and said the pandemic has "exposed the fact that millions of workers don't have the dignity and security they deserve".
Having taken on the role of shadow future of work secretary during Sir Keir's botched reshuffle in the wake of the Hartlepool by-election defeat, Ms Rayner portrayed the nation as being at a "fork in the road".
- Joseph Gamp
LABOUR SAYS GOVERNMENT'S VACCINE PASSPORTS PLAN 'IS UNWORKABLE'
Labour's deputy leader has said the Government's plans for vaccine passports are "unworkable".
Speaking on a visit to co-working space Impact Hub, in central London, Angela Rayner said: "We think it is unworkable actually and we should be encouraging people to get the vaccine as soon as they possibly can, and also encouraging people to take regular tests as well. Because that is how we keep control of the virus.
"Of course, even with the two vaccines you can still get Covid, so therefore testing has got to be an important part of that scheme."
She had earlier said of vaccine passports: "The bureaucracy shouldn't fall on businesses. Many businesses, the practicalities, whether it is in hospitality or in other organisations, they have absolutely struggled during this pandemic and there is absolutely no way that these businesses can go around vetting and checking these vaccine passports are legit."
- Joseph Gamp
RUSSIA REPORTS 23,239 NEW COVID-19 CASES, 727 RELATED DEATHS
Russia reported 23,239 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, including 2,629 in Moscow, taking the official national tally since the pandemic began to 6,149,780.
The government coronavirus task force said 727 people had died of coronavirus-linked causes in the past 24 hours, pushing the national death toll to 154,601.
- Joseph Gamp
TRAVEL RULES TO BE EASED FOR UK EXPATS – REPORT
Ministers are preparing to ease travel rules for expats returning to the UK from Sunday, it has been reported.
UK nationals living overseas who have had both doses of a coronavirus jab will no longer need to self-isolate for 10 days when they arrive from an amber list country, according to The Daily Telegraph.
The exemption from quarantine currently only applies to people who were vaccinated under the UK programme, but the newspaper stated that the Government plans to recognise foreign jabs.
The Department for Transport has committed to holding a formal review of the rules for arriving travellers this week. Ministers are expected to agree to a reciprocal deal on quarantine-free travel with 33 countries, which could lead to a surge in trips between the UK and the EU, reports the Telegraph.
Those countries include much of Europe such as Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France and Greece, plus some long-haul destinations including Barbados, Anguilla and the Cayman Islands.
- Joseph Gamp
FRANCE PASSES 40 MILLION MARK FOR FIRST DOSES OF COVID-19 JAB
Around 40 million people in France have now received at least the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, French President Emmanuel Macron announced in a tweet today.
Macron said that amounted to nearly 60% of the population, and that 4 million of the vaccinations had been administered in the past two weeks
- Joseph Gamp
SCHOOLS CLOSING 'COULD BE BEHIND DROP IN COVID-19 CASES ACROSS UK'
Schools closing for the summer break is likely to be one of the reasons why coronavirus cases are falling across the UK, a leading expert has said.
Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M) advising ministers, said he is "cautiously optimistic" about dropping cases but only time will tell if the third Covid wave is "turning round".
The expert in infectious diseases, from the University of Warwick, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that "any situation where cases are falling clearly is good news. I think what we need to think about, though, is that there has been a change recently and I think the big one is that, in a lot of parts of the country, schools have now closed for the summer.
"Now, of course, because of that, what that means is… secondary school children have been doing lateral flow tests twice a week for quite a long period of time and we know at the moment cases are slightly higher in younger people, (and) because schools have now broken up, it may be that part of the reason cases have dropped somewhat is that we're not detecting as many cases in younger people now.
"The other thing we do need to look at before we really draw confidence in whether we are seeing everything turning round is what's happening with hospital admissions and, of course, what's happening with deaths."
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