As it happened: Warning of UK virus 'accelerating'

Here are some of the headlines from today:

• Two of the UK's top scientists came together to deliver a stark warning about the risks of a second wave of coronavirus with Sir Patrick Vallance warning there could 50,000 cases a day by October if nothing was done to prevent it. It comes as chief medical officers have announced an upgrading of the UK's coronavirus alert level from 3 to 4
• UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the country was at a tipping point as he unveiled a £500 payment to help low-income workers to self-isolate and an exemption for childcare to local virus restrictions
• In Northern Ireland, restrictions will be extended to cover the entire nation at 18:00 BST on Tuesday with limits introduced on social gatherings and mixing of households. In Wales four more counties have had restrictions put in place
• Away from the UK the World Health Organisation has said a joint approach on Covid-19 vaccines makes sense with 156 countries having signed up to its joint facility
• Hundreds of people have tested positive for the virus after a fire at a migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. More than 240 people have returned a positive result
• Localised restrictions have come into force in Madrid but are not yet being backed by sanctions in the Spanish capital. An opera performance in the city had to be cancelled after people in the cheaper seats said they were not able to socially distance
• There has been a mass outbreak in a South African school, in the country's Eastern Cape province. Five hundred children have been quarantined after 98 pupils tested positive for the virus

BBCCopyright: BBC

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has called for additional measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the capital as he said the testing system was a "mess".

He told BBC London: "We want additional measures to pre-empt further hospital admissions and deaths and to prevent a second lockdown."

He pointed to cities in the North East of England and in Birmingham as an example and said some things which had been done there could be done in London, including reducing the time bars, pubs and restaurants are open, and making sure events like weddings do not inadvertently lead to an increase in the spread of the virus.

He said testing in London "had been a mess" with contact tracing "collapsing", adding that it appeared patterns of the virus being transmitted were different in the capital to other parts of the country.

Mr Khan also said he hoped to be part of Tuesday's Cobra meeting but had not spoken to the prime minister since the last one on 10 May.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

The World Health Organisation says 156 countries, covering two-thirds of the world’s population, have signed up to its joint facility aimed at developing vaccines against coronavirus, and ensuring they are distributed fairly.

The facility, known as Covax, hopes to have two billion doses of vaccine available by the end of next year but some key countries, among them the United States, have not signed up.

The WHO says joining Covax makes sense: four out of five candidate vaccines fail and even the richest countries may pick the wrong ones, while joining forces to invest together in multiple possible vaccines (there are currently almost 200 in development) raises the chances of success for everyone.

Sixty-four high income countries have signed up, including most of Europe, and 92 lower income countries but the US and China have not. The US says it will do bilateral deals to supply its own population.

The WHO’s plan is different: the first two billion doses from Covax will be distributed globally, with priority likely to be given to healthcare workers, the elderly, and those with pre-existing health risks.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Four St Andrews University students have contracted coronavirus after a freshers' week party.

More than 40 people are now self-isolating following the gathering in a hall of residence, which broke national coronavirus restrictions.

Sally Mapstone, principal of the Scottish university, said: "The ripples from this single incident have consequences for all of us."

More generally, Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told her daily briefing on Tuesday that additional lockdown restrictions will "almost certainly" be put in place in coming days across the country.

Madrid’s famous opera house Teatro Real was forced to cancel a performance on Sunday night after some people in the “cheap seats” complained they were not socially-distanced enough.

There were shouts and jeers of “suspension” even as the performance of Verdi’s aptly-named A Masked Ball began.

Video circulating of the event showed full rows of people in the upper sections where seats are cheaper, and empty seats in the more expensive ground-level area.

The theatre defended itself saying a “minority” of the audience loudly objected despite being offered the chance to relocate to different seats or have their tickets reimbursed. Spokesman Gregorio Maranon said the theatre had met, and in some cases exceeded, all official health and safety requirements needed to open safely.

Parts of Madrid are facing new lockdown restrictions from Monday as cases of the coronavirus surge in the Spanish capital.

PA MediaCopyright: PA Media

The move to level 4 should not come as a surprise given the warning from the UK's two most senior pandemic advisers this morning.

Infections are rising - although some experts question whether the situation is as dire as Prof Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance set out when they raised the prospect of 50,000 cases a day by mid-October.

Cases were always expected to increase at this time of year when respiratory viruses tend to circulate more coupled with the continued re-opening of society.

Certainly the trajectory of countries like France and Spain is not as sharp as the worst-case scenario put forward.

But it is clear the government wants to act early this time - one of the big criticisms is that they were slow to introduce lockdown in March, which resulted in more deaths.

Level 4 paves the way for extra restrictions to be introduced with an announcement expected on Tuesday.

Officials are very aware a fine balance needs to be navigated, which is why a full lockdown is not on the cards.

Schools will certainly be protected.

But any restrictions have a cost to society. Go too far and the risk is the cure becomes worse than the disease.

Alliance BootsCopyright: Alliance Boots

The high street pharmacy chain Boots says it is pausing taking any new bookings for flu vaccinations for people under 65 – both the free NHS jabs and privately paid for ones.

It says it’s seen unprecedented demand for the vaccine in recent weeks and is temporarily limiting existing stocks to those at highest risk – people 65 and over.

NHS England confirmed there is no nationwide shortage of flu jabs, but that those eligible for the free vaccine would be immunised in phases, with the highest risk groups receiving it first.

Some 30 million people - more than ever before - will get invites from the NHS programme this winter as the population faces the dual threat of flu and coronavirus. For the first time, people over 50 in England will be eligible as well as secondary school pupils in year 7.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock says that raising the coronavirus alert level for the UK "reflects the significant shift in the current threat posed".

“This country now faces a tipping point in its response and it is vital everybody plays their part now to stop the spread of the virus and protect lives".

Confirmation of the new alert level follows experts warning that there could be 50,000 new coronavirus cases a day by mid-October without further action.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to make a statement in the Commons on Tuesday.

Read more here.

The LowryCopyright: The Lowry

Two hotels in York and Middlesborough and a theatre in Salford will be used as Nightingale courts in an attempt to clear the backlog of cases which has grown amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Justice has said.

Five more courts are also earmarked for Chester, Liverpool, Bristol, Winchester and Cirencester but the buildings set to be used have not been confirmed.

The courts, including at The Lowry in Salford, will hear non-custodial crime cases, as well as civil, family and tribunals work and the announcement takes the total number of Nightingale courts to 18.

Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland said it was an important step and added that the number of outstanding cases in magistrates' courts was now falling as a result of measures.

Read more about the backlogs in the court system here.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

A group of African American physicians are setting up an expert panel to independently vet regulators' decisions about drugs and vaccines for Covid-19, Stat News reports.

The panel is being set up through the National Medical Association, which calls itself the collective voice of African American physicians and the leading force for parity and justice in medicine and the elimination of disparities in health.

Its president, Leon McDougle, was quoted by Stat News as saying: “It’s necessary to provide a trusted messenger of vetted information to the African American community. There is a concern that some of the recent decisions by the Food and Drug Administration have been unduly influenced by politicians.”

He also hopes their reassurance will persuade more African Americans - who have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus - to take part in vaccine trials.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

France’s education ministry is changing the rules around coronavirus cases in nurseries and primary schools in an attempt to keep more of them open. From Tuesday, classes will only be cancelled if three or more children test positive for Covid-19.

Until now, if even one child in a class tested positive for coronavirus, all his or her classmates would have to self-isolate. That meant almost 2,000 classrooms standing empty across France at the start of this week, and 81 primary schools completely closed.

Under the rule changes, classes with one case of coronavirus will continue as normal with the rest of their pupils unless three children from different households all test positive.

France’s Public Health Council said last week that transmissions were mainly occurring within families or at social gatherings outside school premises.

Teachers are obliged to wear masks, and Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said that the risk of transmission between children was low.

PA MediaCopyright: PA Media

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth, responding to the health secretary in the Commons, said he welcomed the childcare lockdown exemptions and said he agreed that the country was at a "perilous moment".

He said the tone of remarks from Matt Hancock on Sunday "gave the impression he was blaming people for breaking the rules and allowing the virus to grow".

Mr Ashworth said: "But the reality is people have done everything they have been asked to do. They have missed birthday celebrations, missed weddings, funerals. They have sent their children back to school, quite rightly, they have gone back to work.

"They did what they were asked to do. In return ministers were meant to fix test, trace and isolate so we could, in the words of his own government advert, get back to the things we love."

EPACopyright: EPA

It's the afternoon here in London, but if you're joining us from the US - good morning.

A lot has happened. To help you catch up, here's a summary of the latest US headlines.

• The death toll in the US is nearing 200,000, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. The US still has the highest death toll and total number of infections in the world

• President Donald Trump gave his pandemic response "an A+" in a conversation with veteran journalist Bob Woodward, according to recordings obtained by US broadcaster CNN. "We’ve done a phenomenal job - not just a good job, a phenomenal job," he said
• Black Americans are being encouraged to take part in vaccine trials, by a group called the Covid-19 Prevention Network, set up by a US public health body. The event, which will be held virtually, is expected to be repeated every month. Vaccine trials have struggled to recruit ethnic minorities
• At the same time, a group of black doctors has created a panel to independently vet regulators' decisions about Covid-19 drugs and vaccines, as well as guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• Public health body the CDC has updated its guidance to say the virus is airborne, and that it can spread "through respiratory droplets or small particles, such as those in aerosols". These are produced even when people breathe
• Other research from the CDC shows that coronavirus can spread easily among passengers on long-haul flights. A report from the body looks at the case of a woman who flew business class from London to Vietnam in March, and passed the virus on to 15 other people

PA MediaCopyright: PA Media

Further restrictions are also being introduced in Wolverhampton, Oadby and Wigston as well as in Bradford, Kirklees, and Calderdale, where residents are asked not to socialise outside their household or support bubble.

The health secretary said: "We know from experience local action can work when local communities come together to follow the rules, tackle the virus and keep themselves safe."

Mr Hancock said that the virus was increasing across the country and that "we are at a tipping point".

He added the prime minister would address the House of Commons with any further action that needed to be taken on Tuesday.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Health Secretary Matt Hancock tells MPs about some of the new measures which have come into force as part of local lockdowns in areas of England, including the North East.

The local lockdown rules ban people from socialising with others outside of their own household or support bubble.

Mr Hancock says he has heard concerns about the impact that has been having on childcare arrangements.

"Today I'm able to announce a new exemption," he says.

People looking after children under the age of 14 or vulnerable adults are exempt from that ban, when it's necessary for caring purposes.

He says it covers formal and informal arrangements for childcare - but not playdates or parties.

"A consistent childcare relationship is allowed," he said.

There had been calls for such an exemption last week - after families warned that people would have no other choice to break the rules.

Mr Hancock announced that stronger restrictions would be brought in from Tuesday in parts of Lancashire, Merseyside and Warrington.

He said: "In the summer when the virus was in retreat we were able to relax some of the measures we had put in place, now the virus is spreading once more, I have to act."

The health secretary said there would be restrictions on hospitality and socialising, including hospitality venues closing from 22:00.

He said the overall strategy was to protect education and employment as much as possible.