Yahoo News Coronavirus: The 16 major developments that happened on Friday
Here’s what you need to know on 17 April. This article was updated at 3pm.
Deaths: The number of people who have died after contracting coronavirus has risen to 14,576 in the UK, up by 847. Read more here.
The UK is facing the highest coronavirus death rate in Europe and the government was “too slow” to act to tackle the epidemic, a former WHO director has told MPs. Professor Anthony Costello said that the UK was facing “probably the highest death rates in Europe”, and that the “harsh reality” is that the response was too slow. Read more here.
Policy: The government has set up a vaccine taskforce, to bring together representatives from academia, politics, pharmaceutical and other industries to “maximise the chance of success” to get a mass produced vaccine against COVID-19. The taskforce was announced by Alok Sharma in the government’s daily briefing, who also confirmed £14m was going to be split between 21 research projects. Read more here.
The UK is potentially facing another eight to ten waves of coronavirus before ‘herd immunity’ is achieved, an expert has warned. Professor Anthony Costello, of University College London’s Institute for Global Health, drew on research from a Dutch study, which suggested that just 3% of Dutch people had developed immunity by the country’s virus peak at the end of the first week of April. Read more here.
Social distancing was not observed by some of the gatherers at the Westminster Bridge clap for carers demonstration on Thursday, the Metropolitan Police has admitted. For the last four Thursdays, the public has taken part in the show of support for NHS and key workers who are battling through the coronavirus pandemic. Read more here.
Grant Shapps has suggested there is no point in booking a summer holiday while the UK combats the coronavirus pandemic. Shapps said “clearly people will want to see what the trajectory of this disease is in the next few weeks”. He added: “I won’t be booking a summer holiday at this point, let’s put it that way.” Read more here.
NHS: An NHS Trust is being urged to change guidance that suggests that doctors do not need to list coronavirus on patients’ death certificates. The guidance, obtained by the Good Law Project, says it is acceptable for doctors filling in death certificates to attribute a cause of death as “pneumonia or community-acquired pneumonia”, saying there is “no requirement” to cite COVID-19 as the cause of death. Read more here.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock was unable to say whether there would be enough gowns when questioned by MPs on the Commons health and social care committee on Friday morning. He warned that the service was "tight on gowns", telling MPs that they were a "pressure point" but that he did not have "a magic wand" to fix the situation. Read more here.
Testing: More frontline public service workers are now able to get tested for COVID-19, amid fears supplies are going to waste. Matt Hancock said the list of professions eligible will be expanded to include the police, fire service, prisons, the judiciary, Department for Work and Pensions and critical local authority staff. Read more here.
Finance: Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority has just provisionally cleared Amazon’s investment in online restaurant food delivery group Deliveroo. The CMA said in a statement that the decision was made “in light of a deterioration in Deliveroo’s financial position as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19)”. Read more here.
Sport: All games across the Championship, League One and League Two are set to be broadcast live on television or online after the English Football League confirmed matches are almost certain to resume behind closed doors. Read more here.
Rest of the world
The Chinese city at the origin of the coronavirus outbreak revised up its death toll by 50 percent Friday, as global criticism mounted over China's handling of the deadly pandemic. Read more here.
A wave of low-key but politically-motivated anti-lockdown protests in the US have called for the lifting of restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Dozens of protesters - some wearing masks, some social distancing - rallied outside the governor's mansion in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, chanting "Free Texas" and "Make America Free Again". Read more here.
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Positive news
Prince William has joined millions of others who have donated to Captain Tom Moore, as he pledges to keep walking despite having far surpassed his £1,000 fundraising target. Read more here.
Following in his footsteps, Margaret Payne, 90, has surpassed her hopes of hitting £10,000 as she attempts to climb the equivalent of a Scottish mountain on her stairs. She says she started her challenge on Easter Sunday and thinks it will take her several weeks to complete. Read more here.
More than half a million people have recovered from coronavirus, according to figures. Read more here.
