Covid UK news LIVE – We'll NEVER escape coronavirus even with vaccines as bug is becoming endemic like HIV, expert warns
WE'LL never be able to live a coronavirus-free life even with vaccines as the bug is becoming endemic, a top health expert has warned.
Professor David Heymann, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Brits will have to "learn to live with" covid being in constant circulation.
He compared covid to HIV/AIDS in the way much of the world has simply accepted the virus will never be eradicated completely and had to adapt the way we live in order to stop it becoming a huge outbreak.
"Most experts believe that this disease is now becoming endemic, but the good thing is that we have many tools including vaccines with which we can deal with this virus," Prof Heymann added.
The news comes after all over-70s who've not yet had a Covid jab were urged to contact the NHS in order to make sure they don't miss their first dose of the lifesaving jab.
Follow the live blog below for the very latest news, updates and analysis of the coronavirus crisis…
- Elizabeth Little
NO CHECKS FOR SOUTH AFRICA ARRIVAL
A PASSENGER travelling from South Africa has revealed that she walked through Heathrow airport in 10 minutes with NO checks.
Sharon Feinstein, from Islington, North London, claims she went through the terminal with no questions, despite flying from Johannesburg – where the mutant Covid strain is rife.
The traveller landed in London Heathrow yesterday after visiting her mum in South Africa – but was just ushered through passport control. Despite having documents to prove she had a negative test, there was no one to show it to, Ms Feinstein claims.
She told the Daily Express: "I could have had Covid, they don't know where I am staying, they didn't ask. As a country we're messing up. Why can a third-world country get it right and we can't?"
- Elizabeth Little
ANIMALS FACE SLAUGHTER WITHOUT LOCKDOWN FUNDING
Thousands of animals could be slaughtered and species face possible extinction, if the government does not rethink its Covid funding for zoos across England, a charity has warned.
The £100 million Zoo Animals Fund was introduced to help licensed zoos facing financial difficulties from the pandemic continue to feed and care for their animals.
However, in a letter to the prime minister, the British and Irish Association for Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) has condemned the scheme over its eligibility restrictions, which could lead to permanent closures and animals being put down if they cannot be re-homed.
- Elizabeth Little
KENT VARIANT COUNTRY'S 'MAIN CHALLENGE'
THE highly infectious Kent variant is the country's "main challenge" in the fight against Covid, but vaccines do work against it, a minister said this morning.
Environment Secretary George Eustice told Sky News the Kent variant is dominating at the moment and is spreading more quickly than other variants. However, he added that vaccines are "fully efficacious" against it.
He told Sky News that the variant remains "our main challenge at the moment".
"(It is) highly infectious, spreads more quickly than some of the other variants, and dominates at the moment and is our primary challenge. And the vaccines are fully efficacious against that particular strain."
- Elizabeth Little
MAN FINED FOR 'SITTING NAKED IN CAR'
A MAN has been fined for breaching lockdown rules after he was discovered sitting naked in his car.
Melbourne and Mercia Police said they found the man "in a state of nature" in a closed car park in south Derbyshire on Saturday.
The man said he had gotten lost after "making several wrong turns" when trying to buy wet wipes.
Police said: "As a result of his bare-faced-cheek the man was issued with a community protection notice warning, prohibiting him from engaging in acts of an antisocial behaviour nature, including insisting he wears clothes in public places and not discarding rubbish and wet wipes in car parks across south Derbyshire. He was also issued a fine for breaching COVID-19 regulations."
The man had also been fined just a few days earlier for making a 100-plus-mile trip to Derbyshire to see his girlfriend.
- Elizabeth Little
DAVE EDGERTON DIES AFTER CONTRACTING COVID
EX-BATH and England rugby star Dave Egerton has died aged 59.
The former back row contracted coronavirus and went into hospital on Saturday.
Bath said: "We are all deeply shocked and incredibly sad to learn that Club legend, Dave Egerton has passed away."
"A wonderful gentleman and talented player, taken from us far too soon."
"Our thoughts and love go out to his family and friends."
- Elizabeth Little
HEALTH SECRETARY TO MAKE COVID STATEMENT
MATT Hancock will make a Commons statement at 12.30pm today.
It is believed the Health Secretary will speak about mandatory testing for UK arrivals.
Hotel quarantines will come into force on February 15.
Under new proposals, arriving into the UK will have to take two Covid tests during their 10-day isolation.
- Elizabeth Little
TWO COVID TESTS REQUIRED IN ISOLATION
PASSENGERS arriving in the UK will have to take two coronavirus tests during their 10-day isolation – even if they're allowed to quarantine at home.
People arriving from ‘red list’ countries 'will have to spend a week and a half under guard in hotels.
But even those coming in from other, safer locations will now be tested twice during their mandatory isolation.
The proposals will be introduced on February 15 – the same date hotel quarantines will come into force.
The scheme will roll out this month and last until at least March 31.
- Patrick Joseph DUGGAN
DEATH TOLL FALLS
CORONAVIRUS daily death figures have fallen to their lowest in six weeks after 333 more people died.
The lockdown and the jabs roll-out have forced cases down by a quarter in a week to 14,104.
The positive tests recorded overnight are a dramatic plunge on yesterday's figure of 15,845.
- Patrick Joseph DUGGAN
RISE IN FEMALE CASES
MORE young women are being hospitalised with Covid than before, Sage has warned.
The underlying reasons are yet to become clear, but experts said it could be because women tend to do the food shopping and take children to school.
It comes amid the spread of new coronavirus variants, which are said to have an advantage for entering cells.
- Patrick Joseph DUGGAN
HOLIDAY WARNING
BRITS have been warned it’s “too early” to book a summer holiday, according a top government medic.
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam warned that splurging on a sunshine getaway – either in the UK or abroad – was risky because of the state of the pandemic.
Speaking at Downing Street last night he said: “The more elaborate your plans are for summer holidays, in terms of crossing borders, in terms of house mixing, given where we are now, I think you just have to say, you're stepping into making guesses about the unknown.
- Joseph Gamp
BRITS COULD GET COVID VACCINE QR CODES TO TRAVEL ABROAD
HOLIDAYMAKERS who have been given the Covid vaccine could get a QR code as proof so they can travel abroad, it has been reported.
Ministers are said to be working on a targeted vaccine passport scheme that will allow vaccinated Brits to return to a more normal life.
Read more here.
- Joseph Gamp
D'OH WAY!
THE Simpsons predicted Russia’s offer of free ice cream for everyone who gets the coronavirus vaccine, it is claimed.
One eagle-eyed fan spotted similarities between an episode aired in 2000 and Moscow’s jab rollout
Read more here.
- Joseph Gamp
GRAPHIC: UK COVID-19 CASES AND DEATHS PER DAY
- Joseph Gamp
STUDY SUGGESTS PFIZER VACCINE DOES WORK AGAINST SA VARIANT
THE Pfizer Covid vaccine does work against the South African variant, a new study suggests.
It comes after separate research found the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab did not block mild illness from the mutation.
- Joseph Gamp
ALL PASSENGERS ENTERING UK TO REQUIRE REPEAT COVID TESTS – REPORTS
Anyone entering the United Kingdom from Tuesday will need to be tested for coronavirus on the second and eighth days after their arrival, claims initial reports.
Paul Brand tweeted: “Understand the government will announce tomorrow that ALL passengers arriving in UK will have to be tested for COVID on days 2 and 8 after they arrive.
“That’s not just those arriving from red zone countries heading into hotel quarantine, but those isolating at home.”
- Joseph Gamp
EARLY FEARS
TODDLERS are more likely to catch Covid at home than at nursery, a new study has found.
Infected youngsters got the bug from an adult outside school, with none passing it on to their pals, French scientists revealed.
Read more here.
- Joseph Gamp
BRAZIL RECORDS 23,439 NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES
Brazil recorded 23,439 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, along with 636 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Monday.
Brazil has registered more than 9.5 million cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 232,170, according to ministry data.
- Joseph Gamp
ALMOST 1 IN 4 ADULTS HAVE RECEIVED JAB
Nearly one in four British adults have received the coronavirus vaccine – as Matt Hancock said the country had “turned a corner” in the battle against the bug.
The Health Secretary tonight revealed that an incredible 12.2 million Brits had received the jab, in a huge boost to the government’s target of vaccinating the top four priority groups by February 15.
Read more here.
- Joseph Gamp
CHART: COVID VACCINATIONS IN THE UK TO DATE
- Joseph Gamp
ALL PASSENGERS ENTERING UK TO REQUIRE REPEAT COVID TESTS – REPORTS
Anyone entering the United Kingdom from Tuesday will need to be tested for coronavirus on the second and eighth days after their arrival, claims initial reports.
Paul Brand tweeted: "Understand the government will announce tomorrow that ALL passengers arriving in UK will have to be tested for COVID on days 2 and 8 after they arrive.
"That's not just those arriving from red zone countries heading into hotel quarantine, but those isolating at home."
- Joseph Gamp
PM REFUSES TO RULE OUT SOUTH AFRICA VARIANT DELAYING LOCKDOWN RELAXATION
The Prime Minister, speaking during a visit to a coronavirus test manufacturer in Derby, did not rule out the possibility of the South African strain delaying the relaxation of lockdown restrictions, but insisted he has "no doubt that vaccines generally are going to offer a way out".
Experts warned on Monday it is "very possible" the strain is already quite widespread in the UK, after a study of about 2,000 people suggested the Oxford jab only offers minimal protection against mild disease of the South Africa variant.
The study, due to the young age of participants, could not conclude whether the vaccine worked against severe disease.
Some 147 cases of the South African variant have so far been identified in the UK, with experts warning these are likely to be the "tip of the iceberg" due to the fact they are the result of random checks on 5% to 10% of all positive tests.
- Joseph Gamp
WATCH: THIRD JAB LIKELY TO BE NEEDED IN AUTUMN
JVT says third Covid jab likely to be needed in Autumn with Brits set for booster vaccines
- Joseph Gamp
JOHNSON 'VERY CONFIDENT' IN VACCINES DESPITE SOUTH AFRICAN STRAIN FEARS
Boris Johnson and Government scientists mounted a staunch defence of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, amid concerns it may be less effective against the South African variant.
The Prime Minister said he was "very confident" in the vaccines being used in the UK, while England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam played down the prospect of the South African mutation becoming the dominant strain.
He said the mutation did not appear to have a "transmissibility advantage" over the variant first identified in Kent, which has spread across the UK, and was therefore unlikely to "overrun" it.
Professor Van-Tam stressed that it was important to take a jab if offered it now, to protect against the "clear and present danger" posed by the virus currently circulating in the UK, rather than wait for an updated vaccine that might be more effective against the South African variant which is only present in small numbers.
But at a Downing Street press conference he suggested that it was "very much on our radar" that booster shots in the autumn may be required for new variants, in a similar way to seasonal flu vaccines.
- Joseph Gamp
ALMOST 1 IN 4 ADULTS HAVE RECEIVED JAB
Nearly one in four British adults have received the coronavirus vaccine – as Matt Hancock said the country had "turned a corner" in the battle against the bug.
The Health Secretary tonight revealed that an incredible 12.2 million Brits had received the jab, in a huge boost to the government's target of vaccinating the top four priority groups by February 15.
Read more here.
- Joseph Gamp
CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED FOR CAPTAIN SIR TOM STATUE ON TRAFALGAR SQUARE'S FOURTH PLINTH
A Derbyshire man who commissioned a bust of Captain Sir Tom Moore is campaigning to have a statue made for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.
A sculpture of the Second World War veteran – complete with medals and the NHS fundraising hero's trademark blazer – was commissioned by Garry McBride, of Monumental Icons, in July last year.
Mr McBride, 67, described Sir Tom's death on Tuesday as the loss of a "bit of a friend, a pal and a champion" – adding: "It would be awful if after five to 10 years all his efforts were forgotten."
Sir Tom raised almost £33 million by walking laps of his Bedfordshire garden during the first coronavirus lockdown and Mr McBride described the 100-year-old as a "beacon of light in our darkest times".
Now Mr McBride said he would like to commission a statue for the Fourth Plinth after the original bust was installed at Leeds St James's Hospital.
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