NOW OVER-70S FACE STAY AT HOME ORDER
● Dramatic plan to save lives as 10 more British victims die on day of grief ● PM orders ventilators and thousands of private hospital beds for NHS ● Supermarkets join forces and ask shoppers to ‘be considerate’
PEOPLE aged over 70 will soon be instructed to stay in strict isolation at home by the Government.
It is part of a series of measures prepared to prevent the NHS from “falling over” and save lives as Covid-19 spreads through the UK.
The move, likely to be introduced within 20 days, will also apply to those who have pre-existing medical conditions.
It came as Britain was rocked by 10 new deaths from the disease. The number of fatalities has almost doubled to 21.
Churches, charities and volunteer groups met at the department for Culture, Media and Sport to prepare for armies of volunteers to ensure that food and essential supplies are taken to people’s homes.
Boris Johnson last night put the NHS on a war footing with emergency plans to massively expand
capacity and bring in extra equipment to tackle coronavirus.
Patrick Vallance, the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, and Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said Britain is dealing with a “fast moving epidemic”.
The Science Advisory Group said that the strategy was moving into the “shielding” phase where elderly and vulnerable people stay at home to reduce the risk of the contagion spreading to them.
The Government has also launched a national information campaign to inform those with symptoms to remain at home for seven days.
It comes amid reports that a newborn baby has the virus.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Coronavirus is the biggest public health crisis we have faced in a generation. It continues to spread both in the UK and around the world and we need to accept that sadly, many more of us will become infected.
“The Government and the NHS are working 24/7 to fight this virus. We must all work together and play our own part in protecting ourselves and each other, as well as our NHS, from this disease.
“This campaign will focus on ensuring the public knows exactly what they should be doing to keep themselves and others safe.”
He added: “Combating this virus will require a national effort – we all have a role to play to slow its spread and protect the elderly and the vulnerable.”
The birth of an infant at North Middlesex University Hospital said to be suffering from coronavirus is a new low in the pandemic gripping the world.
Prof Richard Tedder, Visiting Professor in Medical Virology, Imperial College London, said: “The question of risk to a newly born child being nursed by a mother who is known to be infected is a matter that will need careful consideration.
“The absence of detectable virus in breast milk would appear to reduce the risk of breastfeeding.
“However the close, intimate and entirely understandable contact between a mother and her baby will raise questions about how best to care for them.”
Last night Downing Street announced that the Prime Minister had asked manufacturers to support production of extra essential medical equipment to deploy in the NHS.
He has also asked some of the best British minds to work on solutions to increase the production of ventilators in the UK.
The lack of the equipment in Italy has meant many older people have died from the disease.
The PM has also authorised the NHS to buy up beds in private hospitals to boost capacity, should they be needed.
The moves come amid criticism of the government strategy to not ban mass gatherings or close schools immediately even though other EU and developed countries are following that strategy.
With the Premier League and others cancelling events, it is understood a ban on mass gatherings will be confirmed. Pubs, bars and restaurants may be forced to close temporarily as well.
The Sunday Express has also learnt that schools were told at the beginning of last week to prepare for them all to be shut by the end of this week.
Public pressure for a shut down was growing with a petition calling for action closing in on 500,000, while privately a number of senior Tory MPS questioned why Mr Johnson had not followed the same actions as other European countries.
Murray Morrison, as expert in education and founder of online science learning website Tassomai.com, said the biggest impact on closing schools will be youngsters taking GCSE and A-level exams.
He said: “That will potentially disrupt their continuing study in further education or higher education. Beyond that, disruption in the preparation for exams means students being required to revise at home. this will likely affect outcomes for most students but disproportionately affect those in higher deprivation.”
With 40 per cent of NHS staff having children of school age, communities will need to come together to look after their children while they are tackling the emergency, he said.
Mr Morrison said: “If schools are closed, I hope communities will do what they can to take in and support children of medical and other essential workers during the day, so we can have the best chance of managing this crisis.”
Meanwhile, NHS medical staff including dieticians and physiotherapists have been told they may soon be reassigned to help as emergency nurses to tackle the virus. An MP has confirmed that a test he was due to receive for coronavirus did not take place after home testings were reigned back.
He said: “This means we do not know how much the disease has spread and may never know.”
The new measures announced mean patients being treated for Covid-19 in hospitals will benefit from increased numbers of ventilators, as a result of the government drive.
In a conference call tomorrow morning, the PM will ask leading British manufacturers, including Unipart Group, to join the national effort to halt the spread of the virus.
Engineers have already been tasked with developing plans to produce more ventilators in the UK, at speed, to help support the sickest patients. In the call, Mr
Johnson will set out the vital role Britain’s manufacturers could play in preparing the country for a significant outbreak of Covid-19.
He will confirm that the government will buy up stocks of these ventilators once produced.
The government has already been working with suppliers both in the UK and around the world to increase the supply of the devices, to ensure the NHS has the kit it needs to cope with a significant outbreak. John Neill, chairman of Unipart, who manufacture precision parts and currently manage much of the
NHS warehousing and logistics chain, said: “This is a critical initiative – there are a lot of talented people already working at a great speed on this. It has my and others’ fullhearted support.”
This comes as the government confirms work is underway with private healthcare providers with the aim of bringing thousands more beds into use, should the disease spread rapidly in the UK.
The Chief Medical Office has set out that this would undoubtedly put pressure on NHS services.
Local health services across the country, informed by national guidance which is constantly updated, are putting in place measures now to prepare for the extra demand.
NHS Chief Executive Sir Simon Stevens said: “The public are right to be proud of the NHS, but the scale of the challenge we face means we can’t do this alone.
“Tomorrow (Monday) we will be providing further operational
‘We must play a part in protecting ourselves and each other’
instructions to all hospitals to help them prepare. But we need every part of society and every industry to ask what they can do to help.”
As the Government prepares for a massive outbreak, it emerged that a meeting of 40 civil leaders took place in the Department of Culture Media and Sport to start coordinating a national effort for people to look after their vulnerable neighbours.
Minister for Civil Society Baroness Barran met with representatives from charities, disability groups, faith-based groups and the voluntary sector.
They include the British Red Cross, Church of England, Muslim Aid, Campaign to End Loneliness, UK Youth, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action, Fareshare and Small Charities Coalition.
Meanwhile, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs has coordinated with supermarket chains to ensure food supplies remain resilient and discourage panic buying in the shops.
A meeting is due to take place with supermarket bosses tomorrow. And last night the British Retail Consortium put out a joint statement urging the public to remain calm and buy responsibly.
Communities secretary Robert Jenrick has also put into place the means for councils to take emergency action. He will convene a meeting tomorrow to ensure that they work with supermarkets on food supply as well as Public Health England.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is ready to relax restrictions on lorry driver hours to help with any supply issues resulting from coronavirus
A meeting on Monday will see business secretary Alok Sharma host a gathering of business leaders to discuss putting in emergency measures to support companies from collapsing. The meeting is set to include representatives from the CBI, IOD, BCC, FSB, Make UK, UK Hospitality, FTA, Airlines UK, Airport Operators Association, Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), British Retail Consortium, Energy UK, Energy Networks Association, Food & Drink Federation (FDF), UK Finance, ABTA, as well as National Care.
In a speech yesterday in the Labour leadership campaign, Lisa Nandy called for a new Marshall Plan – a US programme to provide aid to Europe after the Second Worldwar – to tackle the virus.
Speaking to the National Union of Mineworkers she called for more transparency about expert advice government has received and social care funding to protect our older people.
She said that there needed to be a Covid-19 workers’ taskforce to ensure workers in insecure and low-paid jobs don’t work while sick.