ITV dance stars’ skate expectation
DANCING on Ice is back next month – and here is a first look at this year’s contestants.
The celebrities set to heat up the ice are singers Denise Van Outen, Myleene Klass and Jason Donovan, rapper Lady Leshurr and Olympians Colin Jackson and Graham Bell.
They are joined by actors Joe-Warren Plant and Faye Brookes, Capital Radio DJ Sonny Jay, WAG Rebekah Vardy, TV star Billie Shepherd and comedian Rufus Hound.
Returning pro skaters include Matt Evers, Lukasz Rozycki, Alexandra Schauman, Brendyn Hatfield, Hamish Gaman and Klabera Komini.
Elsewhere, the expert Ice Panel of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, John Barrowman and Ashley Banjo all resume their roles.
The show, launching on Sunday, January 17 on ITV is presented by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.
EXHAUSTED hospital staff are braced for the “worst possible” start to 2021 as ministers consider desperate measures to stop the rise in Covid-19 cases after Christmas.
Areas of England with the highest infection rates could fall under new Tier 4 rules if Prime Minister Boris Johnson stops short of a full UK lockdown.
The toughest restrictions could force schools to close, ban commuting and keep non-essential shops shut.
Mr Johnson refused to rule out a third national lockdown when asked on a visit to Bolton yesterday, but said: “We’re hoping very much that we will be able to avoid anything like that.”
As SAGE revealed the latest R-number had risen to between 1.1 and 1.2 from between 0.9 and 1.0 the previous week, medics warned a surge in cases after the five-day relaxation of rules for Christmas could push the NHS to the brink.
Dame Donna Kinnair, General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “Travelling and family visits associated with this time of year will undoubtedly lead to more cases, more pressure on NHS and care services, and more deaths.
“By turning the second and third waves into an unrelenting tsunami we would begin 2021 in the worst possible way. Nursing staff are telling me they will not enjoy Christmas knowing what awaits them in January.
“Nurses have already spent time away from their families, working around the clock to care for their patients and will do the same over Christmas.”
Rachel Harrison, GMB Public Services National Officer said: “Our NHS is at breaking point once again.
“Members in the NHS are reporting to us that this second wave is so much worse than the first, except this time they are all mentally and physically exhausted.”
UNISON’s Sara Gorton said: “The NHS is in the middle of a second wave that’s already as bad as the first. Exhausted staff are finding it even more difficult to cope. Vacancies and burnout mean fewer patients will get vital treatment.”
Dr Katherine Henderson, President of
Weeks ago we warned a perfect storm was coming this winter, now it is here
DR KATHERINE HENDERSON EMERGENCY MEDICINE EXPERT
the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “Weeks ago we warned that a ‘perfect storm’ was coming this winter, now it is here.”
SAGE member Prof Neil Ferguson suggested a third lockdown for England may need to be more stringent than the second. He said in some areas case numbers rose in the last lockdown, “so