Markus Andrews

A health minister was unable to say whether she will continue wearing a face mask after 19 July when Covid restrictions are to be further relaxed during an interview on Monday.Later in the day, the prime minister, Boris Johnson, is to give an update on England’s roadmap out of lockdown.He is expected to confirm that rules requiring people to wear a mask on public transport and in confined spaces will be axed.Mr Johnson will say “we must learn to live” with the virus and tell the public that mask-wearing will be a matter of personal choice.Helen Whately, a care minister, refused to state what she will do in two weeks’ time. When pressed on the matter during an interview with BBC Breakfast, Ms Whatley said: “Personally, what I will do is follow what the guidance is.”Robert Jenrick says face masks will be matter of ‘personal choice’Despite her colleague Robert Jenrick, the local government secretary, on Sunday all but confirming masks will be scrapped, Ms Whately claimed she was not clear on what the new guidance could look like. “As I said, there’s nothing different I can say at this point,” she said.In a separate interview, the care minister said she expected face mask rules to remain in hospital and care settings, where people are more vulnerable to the disease. Visits to both are unlikely to go back to normal, she added.Mr Johnson will address the nation on Monday afternoon at a Downing Street press conference, when he is widely expected to scrap the majority of social distancing restrictions.Antipication of the rule change comes amid a backlash from scientists and medics, who argue that cases are rising too quickly for restrictions to be further eased. There were 24,248 new cases reported on Sunday, down by around 600 compared with Saturday but up 66 per cent in the past week.Despite surging cases, hospitalisations and deaths remain relatively low, with 15 fatalities recorded on Sunday. Around half the UK population has had a second dose of a vaccine and although the link between rising infections and hospitalisation has not been eradicated, it is greatly “weakened”.Earlier Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director of NHS England, said the health service is preparing itself to “learn to live with Covid”.He said that the rise in infection numbers were “geographically very localised” and higher in the northwest of England.”The NHS always has its local and regional plans so … we have got well used to coping with this,” he said when asked if rules could differ locally. “We will have to learn to live with Covid now and that is what the NHS is preparing to do.”He encouraged people to continue hygienic practices and said that he would continue to wear a face mask in crowded places, such as public transport. More

Millions of people are set be disenfranchised under the government’s plans to require people to have identification in order to vote, Labour has warned.The government says the proposed laws, introduced into the Commons today, are required to combat in-person voter fraud – despite little evidence of it being an issue in British elections.Shadow democracy minister Cat Smith said the government’s policy amounted to US-style “voter suppression” that would make it harder for people from ethnic minorities, and those on low incomes to vote – groups on average opposed to the government.Pilots across local areas in England requiring voter ID in 2018 and 2019 saw 1,159 voters turned away from polling stations, but the government decided to press ahead with the plan anyway.And in May the Cabinet Office slipped out a study that found more than two million people currently lack the necessary ID to vote.That study, released on 11 May, was published on the same day as the Queen’s Speech, which included plans to press ahead with voter ID laws. “It doesn’t matter how the government tries to dress it up, these plans will make it harder for working-class, older and black, Asian and minority ethnic Britons to vote,” Labour’s Ms Smith said. “They know this is the case because their own research shows that millions of our fellow citizens lack photo ID in this country.”In the United States, voter ID laws are the latest in a string of policies designed to suppress voter turnout among African Americans, who are less likely to have identity documents.But the issue is a new one in Great Britain, with elections on the island never having required ID. Voter ID cards have long been required in Northern Ireland, but critics say the province has a different context given its history of paramilitary violence. Under the government’s plan for Great Britain, voters will have to ask for a card – and critics say it will add yet more friction to the process that will reduce turnout disproportionately among certain groups of people.Many countries in Europe require ID cards to vote, but most also have widespread national identity card schemes.The Electoral Commission says that “the UK has low levels of proven electoral fraud” and that “there remains no evidence of large-scale electoral fraud in 2019”, the most recent general election. A spokesperson for the Cabinet Office said that “everyone eligible to vote will be able to do so” and repeated that voter cards would be issued free to those who needed them to prove their identity. More

A scientist advising the government on the pandemic has accused ministers of “very confused messaging” over the expected lifting of most remaining coronavirus restrictions on 19 July.Boris Johnson is set to tell England that it will be left to individuals to decide how to manage the risks of Covid-19, with multiple reports suggesting the prime minister will announce his intention to tear up social distancing rules at a Downing Street press conference on Monday evening.But arguing that “in order to act responsibly, you’ve got to know what the responsible thing to do actually is”, Professor Stephen Reicher, a member of the government’s Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), urged the need for clear messaging and the continuation of “support and proportionate mitigations to keep us safe”.Asked if he was more concerned about the government’s messaging around the pandemic or the requirement to wear face masks potentially being dropped, the social psychology expert told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think both.” “I think we need very clear messaging and I think in certain spaces – crowded, badly ventilated spaces – masks are crucial mitigation.”Strongly suggesting on Sunday that wearing face coverings will become a matter “of personal choice” after 19 July, communities secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News that he himself would opt not to do so, saying: “I don’t particularly want to wear a mask. I don’t think a lot of people enjoy doing it.”Confronted with comments by care minister Helen Whately, who said “I think I might” when asked on Monday if she would continue to wear a mask when commuting on a crowded train, Prof Reicher said: “Will she say she ‘might’ take the vaccine?“I suspect she might lose her job if she was to say she ‘might’ take the vaccine, or not take the vaccine. This is very confused messaging.”“In order for people to act responsibly, information is critical but resources are critical as well,” Prof Reicher said, citing the need for infected individuals to self-isolate. He continued: “That’s really important, people have got to take their responsibility to do that. But for many people it’s impossible without the practical support, without the resources, which we’ve never been given.“My fear is that when the government says, ‘you take your responsibilities seriously’, what they are saying is, ‘actually, we’re not going to give you that support and we’re not going to take our responsibilities seriously’.”His comments came shortly after Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the British Medical Association, insisted “it makes no sense” to stop wearing masks in enclosed public settings, given that “we know that face masks are proven to reduce the spread of this infection if worn by everyone around you, including yourself.“At a time when we have exceptional high levels of cases, we can’t understand why we would knowingly want people to become infected.“And as for personal choice, remember that public face masks do not protect the wearer predominantly, they protect people around you. “So many people will be forced to go to work, they will need to travel on public transport – why should they, against their will, need to be exposed to a virus and the risk of falling ill when it’s so simple that they can be, to a significant degree, protected by themselves and others around them wearing masks.”Cases are continuing to soar, rising 66 per cent in the past week, with 24,248 new infections reported on Sunday. While experts and politicians believe vaccination appears to have “broken the chain” between infection and severe illness, many are still concerned that having such high levels of cases among a widely vaccinated population could provide fertile breeding grounds for new variants.“Allowing community transmission to surge is like building new ‘variant factories’ at a very fast rate,” Sage member Professor Susan Michie told The Guardian.In addition to plans for so-called “Freedom Day”, ministers are expected to drop all isolation and testing rules for those who come into contact with the virus if they have received two vaccine doses, amid a warning that up to a million people a day will be forced into quarantine unless rules are relaxed. One expert called for a “midway proposal” of mandatory daily testing. More

A department of health minister has declined to say Covid-19 is “under control” ahead of a government announcement about lifting lockdown measures.Speaking on Monday morning Helen Whately accepted that case rates were rising and would continue to rise when restrictions on mask wearing and social distancing were removed.Bu she said she wasn’t comfortable wearing a mask, that restrictions had “downsides”, and that the link between cases and hospitalisations and deaths had been broken due to the NHS vaccination programme.”We are going to see rates continue to rise: we’re seeing rates rising now, and we know we’re going to continue to see rates rise,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.”What the NHS medical director said yesterday when he was interviewed on Andrew Marr’s show is that while we expect to see rates continue to rise, we have weakened the link between cases and hospitalisations, and deaths.”That’s a critical difference now: so yes cases are going to continue to rise for a period, but we simply aren’t seeing the same steep rise in hospitalisations as we’re seeing in the past because of the vaccination programme.”Case rates have significantly increased in recent weeks, up 70 per cent in the previous seven days. Seven out of the top 10 regions for Covid-19 infection rates in Europe are now in the UK, according to the World Health Organisation’s figures. Deaths have stayed relatively low compared to previous waves, though some experts have warned of the dangers of so-called “long Covid” even in people for whom the disease is relatively mild. It is also believed that new variants are most likely to emerge when the disease runs rampant – with concerns that a new variant could eventually be more resistant to existing vaccines.Despite a cautious response from experts and a generally cautious public, Boris Johnson is keen to press ahead with removing the remaining measures and is expected to announce this later today.Conservative MPs and some figures in government supporting media have been pushing for restrictions to be lifted – as well as a relatively small anti-lockdown movement with links to both those groups.Ms Whately told broadcasters she “can’t wait not to wear a mask” and said they caused problems, including for people who are hard of hearing.”I’m looking forward to not having to wear a face mask so much as I have been and always have been over the last year: I think face masks have a real downside,” she said, adding that she would not ditch her face covering completely. When it was put to the minister that other countries were continuing with rules to suppress the virus, she said it was not in British culture to wear masks all the time.”I don’t think all cultures are the same and what I know personally, and I know others personally, aren’t comfortable wearing masks all the time. As I’ve said there are downsides to masks, as there are downsides to many of the restrictions,” the minister argued. Asked on BBC Breakfast what she would do if, as reported, the guidance said masks were a matter of personal choice, Ms Whatley said she would simply follow the guidance. When it was put to the minister that this guidance would not specify what to do, she said: “I don’t know what you’re saying is actually what the guidance will be. There’s nothing different I can say at this point.” More

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to unveil plans Monday to scrap mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing in England in two weeks’ time, despite surging coronavirus infections driven by the highly contagious delta variant.Johnson said he would set out how the country would “learn to live with this virus” — a major shift in tone from a leader who has previously painted COVID-19 as an enemy to be vanquished.Before a televised news conference, Johnson signaled that mandatory measures would be replaced by personal choice after July 19, the date dubbed “freedom day” by Britain’s populist press.“As we begin to learn to live with this virus, we must all continue to carefully manage the risks from COVID and exercise judgment when going about our lives,” Johnson said.That message will be welcomed by lockdown-skeptic lawmakers in Johnson’s governing Conservative Party who say the economic and social damage of restrictions outweighs the public health benefits.But public health officials and scientists have urged caution, saying ditching masks and social distancing altogether could be dangerous. Psychologist Stephen Reicher a member of the government’s scientific advisory committee, said “proportionate mitigations” against the spread of the virus should stay in place.“I think we need very clear messaging and I think in certain spaces — crowded, badly ventilated spaces — masks are crucial mitigation,” he told the BBC.The government said Johnson will use a news conference on Monday to announce plans for rules on social distancing, face coverings and working from home after July 19, the date set for removing remaining restrictions on business and daily life.Britain has recorded more than 128,000 coronavirus deaths, the highest toll in Western Europe Confirmed infections have risen sharply from about 2,000 a day earlier this year to more than 20,000 a day in the past week. But the 122 coronavirus-related deaths reported were two fewer than the previous week.Public health officials say Britain’s vaccination program has weakened the link between infections and deaths. So far, 86% of U.K. adults have received at least one vaccine dose and 63% are fully vaccinated.The British government, which enforced one of the longest lockdowns in the world, has lifted restrictions for England in a series of steps that began with reopening schools in March. The fourth and final stage was delayed last month to provide time for more people to be vaccinated amid the rapid spread of the delta variant, which was first discovered in India.The other parts of the U.K. — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are following their own, broadly similar, road maps out of lockdown.The government said in a statement that COVID-19 would “become a virus that we learn to live with as we already do with flu. This means that hospitalizations, serious illness and deaths from COVID will continue, albeit at a much lower level than before the vaccination program.”___Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak More

The British government’s approach to the Brexit deal for Northern Ireland is set to cause “huge problems”, Ireland’s foreign minister has said.Simon Coveney was responding to an article by UK Brexit minister Lord Frost published in the Irish press on Saturday.Lord Frost had said EU concessions on trade rules last week were “welcome” but that the extension to grace periods “addresses only a small part of the underlying problem”.The comments have baffled the EU side, which had just assuaged a British demand only to be asked to address more.“Many in the EU are interpreting the UK’s response as essentially saying: ‘Look, concessions don’t matter. What is required now is to dismantle elements of the protocol piece by piece,” Mr Coveney told Irish public broadcaster RTE.Describing the piece as “a very strange way to make friends and build partnerships”, he added: “That is going to cause huge problems”.In a joint article with Northern Ireland minister Brandon Lewis published in the Irish Times Lord Frost accused the EU of not engaging “with the actual reality” of the protocol.The pair of ministers argued that “opposition is growing” to the agreement in Northern Ireland and said it was “not a stable basis for the future”. More

Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has been hospitalized and is under observation “as a precautionary measure” after testing positive for COVID-19 a week earlier. A government official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, said there was no update with new information early Monday after Bettel had been taken in for 24 hours of testing and medical analysis on Sunday. The 48-year-old Bettel announced his positive test just after he had attended an European Union summit with 26 other leaders from the bloc for two days. At first he experienced only mild symptoms. But on Sunday, he had to be hospitalized. EU summit organizers said they were confident that all virus precaution measures had been strictly adhered to during the two-day meeting. So far, no other leader has said he or she tested positive. More

Tourism and aviation bosses are urging new health secretary Sajid Javid to ease Covid travel restrictions to boost the economy and save jobs.In a joint letter, they issued a plea to the minister to expand the green list of foreign countries to which UK tourists can travel without having to self-isolate on return.There are currently 16 countries on the green list, mainly Caribbean and Mediterranean islands, and those are subject to change at short notice.The letter, written by Airlines UK head of trade Tim Alderslade, noted the UK is the third most internationally connected country in the world and that the travel industry generated around £53bn in domestic spending each year.“The pandemic has been a catastrophe for our industry and the wider economy,” it said.The letter added international travel sustained 1.5 million jobs prior to the pandemic, but warned: “Hundreds of thousands of jobs have now been lost, and many more remain at risk”.The 14 signatories to the letter included chief executive of the Association of British Travel Agents Mark Tanzer, director of Tourism Alliance Kurt Janson, as well as Prospect union general secretary Mike Clancy, and Unite union assistant general secretary Diana Holland.The signatories also called for more financial support, including the extension of the furlough scheme, to recognise “the travel sector’s ability to trade and generate income is much slower than anticipated”.“We implore you and your cabinet colleagues to act decisively to save jobs and businesses, and to set the industry on the road to recovery in a risk-based manner,” the letter said.The letter compared the UK’s approach to that of other countries which have eased restrictions even with lower rates of vaccination. “We are encouraged that the government has confirmed an intention to relax rules for fully vaccinated people travelling from amber destinations, and to remove statements discouraging travelling to these places,” it added.“However, these changes must be implemented quickly – at the latest alongside the lifting of domestic restrictions in July – if they are to make a meaningful difference to the UK travel industry.”The signatories added that they are encouraged by reports that the government is considering recognising the EU’s vaccine certificate scheme designed to lift barriers to international tourism.Mr Javid, who replaced disgraced predecessor Matt Hancock, has said his priority for travel is “to see that we can return to normal as soon and as quickly as possible”. More