Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
To disaster 7 NI shops set to shut
Cases: Deaths: 306,293 (up 670) 46,299 (89) Cases: 18,585,700 Deaths: 700,710 ‘150,000 positions were lost or put at risk under lockdown’ Queen and Philip jet off to Scotland 8 Ulster cases as boffins research public’s jab views
Burger and the National Trust – have announced staff cuts. Last month John Lewis, seen as the high street’s barometer, revealed it would close eight stores, risking 1,300 jobs.
And Boots rocked the retail world with news that 4,000 jobs would go.
The Chancellor launched the Eat Out To Help Out scheme to boost the food trade – but Pizza Express said lockdown hit the hospitality industry “particularly hard”.
It plans a restructuring that could shut 15% of its 449 UK sites but said a final outcome is “yet to be decided”. UK & Ireland managing director Zoe Bowley said: “We have had to make some tough decisions.”
Dixons Carphone said it will restructure to adapt to higher online sales. Chief operating officer Mark Allsop said: “Sadly, this means we have entered into consultation with some of our colleagues.”
According to figures compiled by the Press Assobyron
THE Queen and Prince Philip ended months of isolation by leaving Windsor Castle to fly to Scotland for a summer holiday.
The monarch and Duke of Edinburgh have spent the past four months in lockdown at their Berkshire residence.
The Queen, 94 and Philip, 99, rarely pictured together in recent years, were snapped on their way to the Balmoral estate, where royal sources say they are expected to stay until at least late September.
The couple are due to have visits from other royals, although no one will stay in the main house due to avoid Covid-19 infection.
They flew from RAF Northolt in London to Aberdeen airport, an hour from Balmoral.
The Queen also took time yesterday to lead royals in wishing the Duchess of Sussex, left, a
“very happy birthday” as she turned 39.
On the 75th anniversary of VJ Day, Prince Charles and Camilla will hold a two-minute silence in a televised service at 11am on August 15 at the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffs. ciation, more than 150,000 jobs have been cut or put at risk at more than 60 major firms in lockdown.
The Government won praise for its economic support package in the early days of the crisis. It is helping to pay 9.6 million workers furloughed on the Job Retention Scheme.
HMRC figures up to August 2 show 1.2 million businesses are claiming a total of £33.8billion.
And more than £50bn of loans to businesses hit by the pandemic have been approved so far.
Meanwhile, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development claims up to 14.8% of the workforce could end up unemployed if a second wave of Covid-19 hits.
EIGHT new cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed in Northern Ireland in the past 24 hours.
No new deaths were reported by the Department of Health from Monday to Tuesday keeping the death toll at 556, but in the past seven days there have been 90 new diagnoses.
Meanwhile, scientists are working hard behind the scenes to try and develop a vaccine to stop the strain in it’s tracks.
But they are also researching how the public will respond if or when one becomes available.
Queen’s University lecturer in Medical Statistics, Dr Vikki O’neill, has been given the task of co-ordinating the Northern Ireland part of a worldwide survey on people’s attitudes to a possible
Covid-19 injection.
She said: “We are trying to recruit participants for the survey, which looks at preferences for a vaccination if or when one becomes available.”
The overall study is being led by Prof Stephane Hess, director of the Choice Modelling Centre at University of Leeds and a leading expert in understanding and modelling human behaviour.
The professor believes that with “almost daily news about developments in the search for a Covid-19 vaccine, there is a crucial need for research into the public’s response once one becomes possible”.
She said: “There will be an unprecedented vaccination drive starting as soon as a viable vaccine becomes available in large quantities.”
Anyone who takes part will be entered into a prize draw in which they can win £100 or four prizes of £50.
You can share your views online at bit.ly/3fm6tku.
DW Sports yesterday confirmed several Northern Ireland closures. In a statement DW Sports and Fitness announced they will shut seven stores and three gyms by the end of this month. This includes retail branches in Ballymena, Bangor, Belfast’s Boucher Road, Belfast’s Donegall Place, Coleraine, Derry and Newtownabbey. The three gyms closing will be in Boucher Road, Belfast, Newtownabbey and Derry.