Covid news - live: UK sees highest daily death toll since March as Plan C discussed in government

The number of deaths from Covid-19 reported in the UK today was the highest since early March.

The government reported 263 deaths, a higher number than any day since 3 March at the tail end of the second wave, when 315 were reported.

A senior scientific adviser to Boris Johnson’s government admitted that so-called “plan C” restrictions have been discussed should the surge in Covid cases get worse.

Prof Lucy Chappell, chief scientific adviser to the Department of Health and Social Care, told a parliamentary committee that further measures beyond plan B had been “proposed”.

Ministers have denied reports that the government was preparing measures such as banning household mixing in England this winter if cases continued to rise.

The government was earlier accused of trying to “scupper” its plan B by leaking the economic cost to the press.

Leaked Treasury and Cabinet Office documents showed the measures could cost the economy up to £18bn over five months.

Ministers had been reluctant to adopt the measures. Opposition politicians said the leak aimed to delay “meaningful action” against the virus.

Watch: COVID: Coronavirus plan C 'proposed', Department of Health science chief reveals

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Key Points
Plan C has been ‘proposed’ in government
Highest daily deaths and Covid hospital patients since March
NHS ‘on its knees’ and vaccine can’t save it, says Oxford/AstraZeneca chief
Plan B could ‘cost economy up to £18bn', government finds
Government accused of trying to ‘scupper’ plan B by leaking £18bn cost
Tory MPs show people to ‘use initiative’ by not wearing masks, says minister

Ministers put off Covid decisions on restrictions and mandatory masks for two weeks
22:25 , Joe MiddletonMinisters will not make a decision on Covid-19 restrictions for two weeks until the impact of half-term on infections can be seen, The Independent understands.These measures could include restricting household mixing indoors this winter, as data modelling suggests that working from home and mandatory mask wearing might not be enough to avoid an increase in hospitalisations.The UK reported 263 deaths on Tuesday, a higher number than any day since 3 March at the tail end of the second wave, when 315 were reported.Anna Isaac reports.Ministers put off Covid decisions for two weeks

New figures show 6,442,000 people in the UK have received booster jab
21:55 , Joe MiddletonNew figures show that a total of 6,442,000 people in the UK had a booster jab or third dose of a Covid vaccine as of Monday.The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it will publish this data daily, alongside the numbers for first and second jabs.The figure does not differentiate between the number of people who have been given a third dose due to having a weakened immune system, and those who have had a booster jab.On Monday, a total of 244,992 people were reported to have had a booster jab or third dose.Of this number, 188,412 were given in England, 28,618 in Scotland, 22,390 in Wales and 5,572 in Northern Ireland.

North Dakota turns off social media comments over Covid misinformation
21:38 , Joe MiddletonNorth Dakota has turned off the comments on its social media pages to prevent the spread of coronavirus misinformation.This comes after Mississippi made the same decision in July. A spokesperson for North Dakota’s health department said the decision was made because people were “discrediting information about everything we posted.” “We had people share stories of their loss of a loved one due to COVID, and then others demanding to see the death certificate,” they added. Around 60 per cent of North Dakota’s population are fully-jabbed, one of the lowest rates in the country.

Moderna to supply Africa with up to 110 million COVID doses
21:18 , Liam JamesModerna said it will supply up to 110 million doses of its Covid vaccine to African countries, in what local officials called a breakthrough for the world’s least vaccinated continent. The plan would see the first 15m doses by the end of this year, with 35m in the first quarter of 2022 and up to 60m in the second quarter. Moderna said all doses would be offered at the lowest tier price.“It is a great day for us,” said the African Union special envoy on Covid-19, Strive Masiyiwa, after African nations faced months of frustration over rich countries’ vaccine hoarding and delayed deliveries of doses. He thanked the United States for essentially allowing African nations to go to the head of the line to buy the Moderna doses.

Pregnant women ‘turned away from Covid vaccine centres'
21:00 , Liam JamesPregnant women are being turned away from Covid vaccine centres, The Guardian reports experts as saying.The paper said new data from Oxford University’s MBRRACE-UK maternal health study shows at least 13 pregnant women died with Covid between July and September, 85 per cent of whom are believed to have been unvaccinated.Prof Marian Knight, leader of MBRRACE-UK, said: “Women are being turned away from clinics and now there are some trusts offering it as part of the maternity service, but it is not universal so there are still barriers,” she said.“It is important we start to see data on outcomes in vaccinated women so we can show evidence that vaccines are safe, rather than say there’s no evidence they cause harm. These are very small numbers, but the point is that women could have been saved; children have been orphaned.”Members of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation are reported to have urged prioritising vaccinations for pregnant women, as research found on 15 per cent had been fully vaccinated.

Record number of daily Covid deaths in Ukraine
20:30 , Liam JamesA record 734 daily Covid deaths were reported in Ukraine today.Hospitalisations from the virus were up more than one-fifth on the previous week and one hospital said all designated Covid beds were occupied.Health minister Viktor Lyashko urged more people to get vaccinated as less than one-quarter of the country’s population on 41 million have been jabbed so far.The government last week introduced restrictions on access to restaurants and sporting events for unvaccinated people in a bid to boost take-up. The regulations appear to have had some effect as 1.5m Ukrainians got either a first or second jab last week.

Facebook and YouTube take down Bolsonaro false vaccine claim clip
20:09 , Liam JamesFacebook and YouTube have removed from their platforms a video by Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in which he falsely claims that Covid vaccines are linked with developing Aids.“Our policies don't allow claims that Covid-19 vaccines kill or seriously harm people,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.YouTube confirmed that it had also taken the video down.

Covid travel restrictions will ‘disadvantage’ smaller nations at Cop26
19:48 , Liam JamesSome of the countries most at risk from climate change will have stunted negotiationg power at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow as they have to scale back their attendance due to pandemic travel restrictions, according to Fiji's UN ambassador.Border closures, quarantine rules and high travel costs will see small island states and poorer nations sending smaller delegations, with some leaders unable to travel to the talks that start on Sunday.Only four leaders from the Pacific island states Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu and Palau are due to attend Cop26 in person, according to Satyendra Prasad, the Fijian ambassador.“The stakes could not be higher, but it's a very difficult situation,” Mr Prasad told Reuters.He added: “It’s sad that the Pacific will be least well-represented at this Cop ... We know that not having a presence in the way that we would have in a normal year is a big disadvantage to the smallest countries.”

Biden sets out plan to end Covid travel ban
19:38 , Liam JamesJoe Biden has signed an order that will lift a blanket travel ban imposed in the early days of the Covid pandemic last March. From 8 November, fully vaccinated travellers from anywhere in the world will be able to travel to the US on normal terms. They not need to quarantine on arrival.Mr Biden said: “I have determined that it is in the interests of the United States to move away from the country-by-country restrictions previously applied during the Covid-19 pandemic and to adopt an air travel policy that relies primarily on vaccination to advance the safe resumption of international air travel to the United States.”Countries including the UK, the 26 Schengen countries of Europe, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil had been subject to the ban.

Should the government be enforcing another lockdown? Tell us in our poll
19:14 , Liam JamesAs Covid infection rates soar across the UK questions are being asked in high places about what measures are being put in place to stem the rise.But what do you think? Should the government be imposing another lockdown? Should restrictions be increased? Or do you think sticking with the government’s ‘Plan A’ is the best course of action at the moment?Please tell us in our poll that can be found at the link below (we will publish the results at the end of the week)Should the government be enforcing another lockdown? Tell us in our poll

Belgium brings back some Covid restrictions just weeks after lifting them
18:54 , Liam JamesBelgium has reimposed some Covid restrictions that it only relaxed a few weeks ago.New cases and hospital admissions have spiked recently, up 75 per cent and 69 per cent respectively in the past week.Prime MinisterAlexander De Croo said that from Friday face masks will return in public places and the country’s Covid-19 pass will be required for entry to bars, restaurants and gyms. Staff of these facilities will have to wear masks.He said measures did not have to be as drastic as earlier in the pandemic because over 85 per cent of Belgian adults are vaccinated.

Highest number of Covid patients in hospital since March
18:38 , Liam JamesThe number of Covid-19 patients in UK hospitals is the highest in more than seven months.Government figures show there were 8,693 patients in hospital on Monday.This is up 11 per cent from the previous week, and is the highest since 9,009 patients were recorded on 9 March, at the tail end of the second wave in winter.Today also saw the highest daily death figure since 3 March, at 263.

UK approaches 100-million jab mark
18:25 , Rory SullivanAlmost 100 million coronavirus jabs have been administered in the UK, the latest figures show. As of Monday, 95,335,928 shots had been put into people’s arms. Of these, 49,753,037 were first doses and 45,582,891 were second doses.

Spain to roll out Pfizer and Moderna boosters to those who received J&J vaccine
18:10 , Rory SullivanSpain will give Pfizer and Moderna booster jabs to those who received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, it has been announced. In a statement, the health ministry said 2 million Spaniards would be eligible for the dose from mid-November. Spain currently has one of the highest inoculation rates in Europe.

Czech Republic sees highest case numbers since April
17:50 , Rory SullivanCovid-19 cases in the Czech Republic have reached levels not seen since April.A total of 4,262 infections were identified on Monday, nearly twice as high as the daily total a week ago. Adam Vojtech, the country’s health minister, has blamed the rise on those who have not received their jabs. It has become an epidemic of the non-vaccinated, it’s a fact,” he said. Some 67 per cent of Czech adults are fully vaccinated, compared with an average of 74.5 per cent in other EU countries. “I dare say that if we manage to increase the number of the vaccinated we’d be able to cancel all restrictive measures the very next day,” Mr Vojtech added.

Ireland ‘increasingly worried’ about Covid spike
17:38 , Rory SullivanIrish officials are concerned by their country’s rising number of Covid-19 infections, with a further 2,193 daily cases announced on Tuesday. “I am increasingly worried about the rising incidence of the disease nationwide,” said Dr Tony Holohan, the nation’s chief medical officer. He added that growing hospitalisation levels were putting “significant pressure” on health services. More than 500 Covid-19 patients are in Irish hospitals, 97 of who are in intensive care.

Scotland travel testing rules to align with England
17:25 , Liam JamesDouble-jabbed travellers to Scotland will soon be able to take a lateral flow test on the second day of their trip, Nicola Sturgeon announced.The change will align Scotland’s travel testing rules with England’s and Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs they might not have made the change if the same had not been not done south of the border.The change will come into effect at 4am on Sunday and will not apply to those travelling from the seven countries currently on the red list, who will have to continue to isolate for 10 days in a quarantine hotel.

Highest daily deaths since March
17:06 , Liam JamesA further 263 deaths after testing positive for Covid-19 were reported today, the highest figure since March.The last time daily deaths were higher was at the tail end onf the winter spike on 3 March, when 315 were reported. Today’s figure includes three days of deaths in Wales due to technical issues yesterday, at 31. If the Wales figure for today is subtracted, the last time deaths were higher was 6 March.

Give GPs extra cash to see patients in-person, says MP
16:49 , Liam JamesA Conservative MP has called for GPs to be given cash incentives to see patients in person this winter.Joy Morrissey, Beaconsfield MP, said greater support for GPs could take pressure off other NHS services during the busy winter period.She said the payments could mitigate the cost of additional PPE that seeing patients in person would require as well as rewarding GPs for taking the risk.The MP pointed to similar incentive schemes which had been set up at some GP surgeries to screen for diabetes and cervical cancer.

16:30 , Liam JamesProfessor Mike Griffin, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, backed up Prof Price’s evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee.He said that while there had been a 10 per cent improvement in cancer survival in the 15 years to 2019, it was unlikely to continue over the next decade because of the pandemic.“I think that Professor Price is absolutely right to have an aspiration to go back to where we were in 2019, I would love to go back to where we were in 2019, but it still wasn't good enough.”

Back to normal for cancer survival ‘not OK’
16:17 , Liam JamesProfessor Pat Price told the Health and Social Care Committee: “Back to normal is not OK, we went into this pandemic the lowest of the league in all the high-income countries, so our ambition is to get back to being the worst.“We have got to do something, we have got to have a radical new plan. Otherwise this goes on and on.”

Cancer survival rates ‘could stall over next decade' due to Covid
16:13 , Liam JamesCancer survival rates could stall over the next decade due to the impact of coronavirus, MPs have been warned.The Health and Social Care Committee heard that pausing a lot of major cancer surgery during the first wave of the pandemic had created huge delays and some radiotherapy services were now struggling to cope.Professor Pat Price, chair of the Action Radiotherapy charity, said the “main problem” was that cancer treatment was “not ring-fenced and prioritised” during the first wave.

Covid plan C has been discussed in government, top health official admits
15:55 , Liam JamesA senior scientific adviser to Boris Johnson’s government has admitted that so-called ‘plan C’ restrictions have been discussed should the surge in Covid cases get worse, Adam Forrest reports.Ministers have denied reports that the government is preparing plan C curbs that would ban the mixing of households in England this winter if cases continued to rise.But Prof Lucy Chappell, chief scientific adviser to the Department of Health and Social Care, told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that further measures beyond plan B had been “proposed”.Asked by MPs if there was a plan C in government, Prof Chappell said: “It has been proposed. The name has been mentioned. It is not being extensively worked up. People have used the phrase.”Covid plan C has been discussed in government, top health official admits

Dentist backlog being felt all over UK, say cross-party MPs
15:40 , Liam JamesA lack of access to dental services is being felt “in every corner of the country”, a cross-party group of MPs has warned.The group of more than 40 cross-party MPs wrote to the Treasury with concern that funds to tackle healthcare backlogs built up due to Covid-19 will not be used to fix the “unprecedented challenge” NHS dentistry faces.There have been 30 million fewer dentist appointments than expected since the first lockdown and dental services will continue to feel the impact of the pandemic for “years to come”, the MPs said as they called on the Treasury to take action in tomorrow’s budget.The letter comes after the British Dental Association and Healthwatch England warned that some children are struggling to access NHS dental care and risk being left in pain as dentists grapple with the Covid backlog.Healthwatch England said some people will need to wait for up to three years for dental care and patients have reported pulling out their own teeth or being told to use “DIY filling kits”.

Should the government be enforcing another lockdown? Tell us in our poll
15:25 , Liam JamesAs Covid infection rates soar across the UK questions are being asked in high places about what measures are being put in place to stem the rise.But what do you think? Should the government be imposing another lockdown? Should restrictions be increased? Or do you think sticking with the government’s ‘Plan A’ is the best course of action at the moment?Please tell us in our poll that can be found at the link below (we will publish the results at the end of the week)Should the government be enforcing another lockdown? Tell us in our poll

Cop26 inevitably risks Covid spread, says Sturgeon
15:09 , Liam JamesCop26 will “inevitably” risk more Covid-19 transmission despite measures to mitigate the effects, Nicola Sturgeon has said.She said: “The hosting of Cop26 would always have been a significant challenge for the UK and Scottish governments and Glasgow City Council.“However, the fact it is happening amidst the global pandemic makes it even more so.“It is inevitably the case that it poses a risk of increased Covid transmission.“I want to assure Parliament and the public, however, that the Scottish government has been working closely with the United Nations and the UK government to mitigate these risks as far as possible.”

World Health Organisation expert says MPs should wear masks
14:56 , Liam JamesMasks should still be worn by everyone, “including our leaders”, according to a World Health Organisation expert.Dr David Nabarro, the WHO’s special envoy for Covid-19, was asked whether MPs should wear masks in the House of Commons during tomorrow’s budget speech. Many Tory MPs have stopped wearing masks in recent months, drawing criticism from opposition members and health experts.Dr Nabarro said masks were “not a party political issue” but were one of the best ways to stop the virus.He said: “There's no difference in how you deal with the virus when you vote for this party or that party.“So everybody, wear masks when you are in close confinement, it's the right, sensible, proper thing to do, and everybody should be doing it, including our leaders.”

NHS ‘on its knees’ and vaccine can’t save it, says Oxford/AstraZeneca chief
14:18 , Liam JamesProf Andrew Pollard, who helped create Oxford vaccine, said vaccination would not save the NHS from being “on its knees”.He said the health service was “incredibly fragile” but “that fragility is only contributed a small amount by Covid and so vaccinating is not going to suddenly make the NHS not be on its knees, where it is at the moment”.He said the pandemic has had a major impact on waiting lists, and while more people being vaccinated would take pressure off intensive care, “this still doesn't change the overall needle on where we are with a very stressed NHS”.

Government accused of trying to ‘scupper’ own Covid Plan B by leaking cost
14:01 , Liam JamesThe government has been accused of trying to “scupper” its own Covid plan by leaking the economic cost to the press.Opposition politicians said ministers were trying to delay “meaningful action” by distributing the private analysis – amid warnings of a difficult winter ahead.Chief secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke declined to comment on the leak when asked about them in the Commons on Tuesday Afternoon.Full story from Jon Stone here:Government accused of trying to ‘scupper’ own Covid Plan B by leaking cost

Downing Street says plan B would ‘strike balance’ in economy
13:45 , Liam JamesThe government has defended its plan B measures after projecting they could cost the economy up to £18bn over five months.A spokesman said : “The presumptions put forward here are untrue, and do not reflect government policy.”He said there was no plan to enact plan B for five months and the measures would only be bought in when “pressure on the NHS is unsustainable”.“We are confident the Plan B measures taken as a package will help curb Covid cases while also striking that important balance of allowing parts of the economy to remain open that will otherwise face severe restrictions or even closure,” he added.

Plan B could ‘cost economy up to £18bn', government finds
13:28 , Liam JamesBoris Johnson has been told that five months of plan B measures could cost the economy up to £18bn, leaked government documents show.Papers drawn up by the Cabinet Office's coronavirus task force and the Treasury say the cost of mandatory mask wearing, vaccine passports, and the return of work from home guidance could cost between £11bn and £18bn.The internal Treasury impact assessment, obtained by Politico, was based on the measures lasting throughout winter until the end of March.

Tory MPs show people to ‘use initiative’ by not wearing masks, says minister
13:11 , Liam JamesConservative MPs who do not wear masks in the House of Commons are demonstrating “initiative”, says business minister Paul Scully.He said Tory MPs were sending a message that it was good to “make decisions for yourself”. He told Sky News people were being told: “Use your own initiative and make your own informed decisions.”