20th October – Coronavirus News Updates

UK STATISTICS

Total UK Cases: 8,541,192 positive tests
Latest UK daily figure: 43,738 new cases
Number in UK hospital: 7,749
New deaths across UK: 223
Total UK deaths: 138,852
England Cases per 100,000: 436.2
R number in UK: 0.9 to 1.1

Vaccine data:

Total 1^st doses given: 49,462,425 – 86% of UK aged 12+
Total 2^nd doses: 45,400,990 – 78.9%
Daily 1^st doses: 39,672
Daily 2nd doses: 23,579

Latest Cheshire East data:

Total Cheshire East cases: 47,543
New cases in past 7 days: 2,765 to 15 Oct
Total deaths: 861
Cases per 100,000: 585.8
R number in North West: 0.9 to 1.1

Coronavirus cases in the UK: daily updated statistics
The latest number of coronavirus (COVID-19) tests, cases and deaths in the UK. The way deaths are reported is based on a 28-day limit between the date of a positive lab-confirmed test and date of death.

Slides, datasets and transcripts to accompany coronavirus press conferences
Slides, datasets and transcripts from press conferences at 10 Downing Street in response to coronavirus

COVID-19: background information
Information on COVID-19 including epidemiology, virology and clinical features – updated with latest global case numbers.

The R value and growth rate
The R range for England is 0.9 to 1.1 and the growth rate range for England is -1% to +2% per day as of 15 October 2021

UK NEWS UPDATES:

Foreign investment deals to create 30,000 new UK jobs
Foreign investment deals in low-carbon sectors in the UK to be announced on Tuesday will create about 30,000 jobs, the government has said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce 18 new deals worth £9.7bn as he opens a global investment summit. They include investments in sectors such as wind and hydrogen energy, sustainable homes and carbon capture. The prime minister said investors had recognised “the massive potential in the UK for growth and innovation”.

One in three jobs in the British music industry were lost during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report from trade body UK Music.

The research said there were 69,000 fewer jobs in music in 2020 than in 2019 – a drop of 35% – due to the “devastating impact” of coronavirus.

UK Music said the industry had been hit “especially hard” by the virus.

Musicians themselves as well as people working in venues and recording studios were particularly affected, it said.

Live music revenues collapsed by around 90% in 2020, according to the UK Music report, titled This Is Music 2021, which was published on Tuesday.

“The music creators and live music sectors experienced the greatest decline – the majority of those working in the industry are self-employed, and they have been hit especially hard by Covid-19,” it said.

No 10 warns of challenges ahead in battle against Covid
Britons have been warned the coming months will be “challenging” as coronavirus cases continue to rise. Downing Street said an increase in coronavirus cases had been expected over the winter and the Government would keep a “close watch” on the situation. Epidemiologist and government adviser Professor Andrew Hayward said the situation was “concerning” and there was “huge potential for the NHS to come under a lot of pressure”.

Why are UK cases so high?
The daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK has risen in recent days to more than 40,000, meaning infections are approaching the levels of this time last year. While the vaccine means there are fewer cases of serious illness, soaring infections are still a cause for concern. But hospital admissions are significantly lower.

Yodel to create 4300 jobs after most successful year to date
Delivery giant Yodel has announced it will create over 4,300 jobs ahead of the busy Christmas period following its “most successful year to date”. The firm said it wants to recruit a total of 4,311 new colleagues with a variety of roles on offer – including couriers, parcel sorters and warehouse operatives. The company said the jobs will be based across its 50 locations nationwide.

Tesco opens its first check-out free store
Tesco is opening its first checkout-free store in central London today.

The UK’s biggest retailer said its branch in High Holborn had been converted to allow customers to shop and pay without scanning a product or using a checkout.

The new format, known as GetGo, follows similar stores opened by Amazon.

Customers with the Tesco.com app will be able to pick up the groceries they need and walk straight out again. Tesco said “a combination of cameras and weight sensors” would establish what customers had picked up and charge them for products directly through the app when they left the shop. The technology is provided by Israeli tech start-up Trigo, which has similar partnerships with supermarkets in Germany and the Netherlands.

REGIONAL & LOCAL NEWS:

Comments sought on Cheshire East planning guides for infrastructure and environmental protection
Cheshire East Council has published two new planning guides, and is seeking comments from residents and developers on how best to protect the local environment and how the council secures funding for infrastructure projects. The documents have been produced as part of Cheshire East Council’s objectives to create an ‘open, green and fair’ borough and to ensure schemes do not have a harmful impact on communities.

Report: Manchester England’s top city outside of London to start a business
Manchester is England’s top city outside of London in which to start a business, a major new survey has revealed. A new report out today from Barclays Eagle Labs and Beauhurst lists the top UK cities for the number of high-growth businesses outside of the capital, with the North-West city coming second to only Edinburgh. The ‘Unlocking Growth’ report aimed to identify the key to generating growth by exploring the importance of public and private sector partnerships in creating strong local technology ecosystems in which businesses can start and scale successfully.

Coronavirus infection rates are surging across eight boroughs in Greater Manchester.
Cases are continuing to rise in a number of areas across the conurbation, with some boroughs seeing infection rates increase by more than 20 per cent week-on-week. The latest local data from Public Health England comes as the UK recorded the highest rise in daily cases since July 17.

SECTOR SPECIFIC CORONAVIRUS-RELATED NEWS:

BUSINESS:

Providing apprenticeships during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
Find out how apprenticeships will continue during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic – added an extension to IfATE discretions and flexibilities to end-point assessment. Removed the apprentices on furlough section as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has ended. Removed the section on temporary flexibility permitting end-point assessment prior to FSQ achievement as it has ended.

World Bank Development Committee 2021: UK Governor’s statement
FCDO Minister Vicky Ford gave a statement on behalf of the Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer at the World Bank’s Development Committee 2021 meeting.

COMMUNITY:

Private providers of coronavirus (COVID-19) testing
Lists of and information about private providers who have self-declared that they meet the government’s minimum standards for the type of commercial COVID-19 testing service they offer – updated the general list of providers.

Exemptions from managed quarantine for compassionate reasons
Who can apply to quarantine in a different location for compassionate reasons, and how to apply.

COVID-19: arranging or attending a funeral or commemorative event
Guidance for arranging or attending a funeral or commemorative event during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic – updated in line with changes to regulations when entering England from overseas, and to reflect the end of the shielding programme.

CONSTRUCTION:

Housebuilders are in a strong position to continue to grow as the industry continues to grow as the economy emerges from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Housebuilders had strong forward sales positions and were benefitting from strong flows of inward investment, Steve Wood, the chief executive of the National House-Building Council told delegates at the recent Housing Market Intelligence (HMI) conference in London. Also speaking at HMI, Taylor Wimpey chief executive Pete Redfern told the conference that cancellation rates are down and the reliance on the Help to Buy scheme, which is being phased out, is also decreasing.

Only 27% of reservations in the first half of this year at Taylor Wimpey relied on Help to Buy, compared to 53% last year. The company’s optimistic take on the industry was illustrated, said Redfern, by a plan to open 50 new sales offices to sell its new homes over the next 24 months and the acquisition of plots to build 8,675 homes in the first half of 2021 compared to 2,015 plots in the first half of last year, when the UK was in the grip of the pandemic.

EDUCATION:

COVID-19 vaccination: resources for schools and parents
COVID-19 vaccination guidance and resources for schools and parents – added links to translated versions of the COVID-19 vaccination programme for young people: guidance for parents.

Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: 23 March 2020 to 14 October 2021
A summary of attendance in education settings up to 14 October 2021.

ENVIRONMENT:

Construction group secures industry’s largest sustainability linked loan
Lloyds Bank and construction group, Balfour Beatty, have announced they have agreed to convert a £375 million revolving credit facility to a sustainability linked loan. The deal represents the largest sustainability linked loan ever provided in the UK construction sector, and will see Balfour Beatty receive a credit margin reduction or increase linked to performance against agreed sustainability outcomes during the life of the financing, which matures in October 2024.

Manchester Airports Group announce carbonclick passenger offsetting scheme
Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has announced that it will offer passengers flying from its three UK airports the ability to offset the carbon emissions from their flights via a new partnership with CarbonClick. The voluntary tool will allow passengers regardless of destination to purchase carbon credits to compensate for the emissions from their flights. Purchases can be immediately linked to CarbonClick’s climate projects in the UK and overseas. Offsetting will fund the development of new woodland in the Lake District and carbon-reduction projects in Ghana and Nigeria.

HEALTH & WELLBEING:

Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional: week ending 8 October 2021
Provisional counts of the number of deaths registered in England and Wales, in the latest weeks for which data are available – first published

Regulatory approval of Vaxzevria (previously COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca)
Information for healthcare professionals and the public about Vaxzevria (previously COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca) – updated information for healthcare professionals and for patients

COVID-19 test validation approved products
Find out which COVID-19 test products have been approved.

HOSPITALITY & LEISURE:

British Beer & pubs Association meets with Treasury ahead of budget
The trade association makes the case for cutting beer duty, business rates and VAT so sector can lead the levelling up agenda. The BPPA highlighted the vital role pubs and brewing play in supporting over 900,000 jobs in communities across the UK contributing £26billion to the UK’s economy across towns, villages and cities. Read more

RETAIL:

Very Group achieves record annual sales
Online retailer the Very Group reported record annual sales today, for the year to July 3, 2021. The group, which was previously Littlewoods, said retail sales were up 24.9% to £1.535.6bn, driving 13% group revenue growth to a record £2.317.1bn. Very customers increased 12.4% to 3.82m, boosting group customers by 7.6% to 4.82 million.

PROPERTY:

More buy-to-let and build-to-rent builds will help developers recover
Savills says an increase in the number of new builds bought for buy to let and other property investment will help developers recover from the demise of the Help To Buy scheme. However, there may be a difficulty with the constriction industry being able to meet demand from investors and others. Emily Williams, associate director of research at the agency, comments: “Despite the upcoming end of Help to Buy, there remains considerable appetite for new homes, and we expect delivery of affordable and private rental stock to expand to fill the gap left by Help to Buy.

TRAVEL:

Shapps: “We’ll open up more next year”
Speaking at the Airport Operations Association’s (AOA) annual conference on Tuesday (19 October), Shapps said the forthcoming review would explore whether the government can steer the country “even further towards restriction-free overseas travel”. “It’s been an incredibly tough and frustrating year for airports but, in fact, 2021 has seen considerable progress,” Shapps told delegates.

“We know Covid is far from over, but recent relaxations of travel restrictions are a clear sign that we are well on the way to recovery. This is a significant step in normalising international travel and giving people the confidence to book trips.”

He said the central authority will continue “to maintain surveillance on our borders” through testing and genomic sequencing so “we can respond rapidly if risks from other countries arise”.

Summary of updates to international travel, October 2021
Changes made to international travel rules during October 2021.

Useful links:

Publishing information about your claimsIn January HMRC published the list of employers who claimed under the CJRS for periods from December onwards, on GOV.UK.

Repayment period for Bounce Back Loans extended to ten yearsBusinesses that took out government Bounce Back loans to help them through the Coronavirus crisis now have more time to repay. Companies will be contacted with options to extend the length of the loan from six to 10 years as part of a new ‘pay-as-you-grow’ initiative. The new proposals give businesses three new options:

1. Extending the length of the loan from six years to 10;

2. Making interest-only payments for six months, then repaying the principal on a phased basis with other interest-only periods;

3. Delaying repayments entirely for up to six months.

COVID-19 Winter Plan
The government’s plan for managing COVID-19 through the end of 2020 and into the start of 2021.

Government extends JRS furlough scheme at 80% for period of lockdown
The government has said the furlough scheme, due to have closed on 31^st October, would now be extended until December.

Check if your employer can use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Check which employees you can put on furlough to use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Calculate how much you can claim using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Steps to take before calculating your claim using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Check if you can claim for your employees’ wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

New National Restrictions from 5 November
Information on the new national restrictions, including what they mean for working from home and business closures, why they are being introduced and the financial support available.

Job Retention Bonus (JRB)
Employers are able to claim a one-off payment of £1,000 for every eligible employee furloughed and claimed for through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), kept continuously employed until at least 31 January 2021 and who meets the other eligibility criteria. Claims can be made between 15 February and 31 March.

Become a Green Homes Grant Supplier II – Trustmark and PAS 2030The new Green Homes Grant will give over 600,000 homeowners in England up to £10,000 to install insulation, heat pumps, draft proofing and more to help households cut energy bills.

Check if you’re eligible for the coronavirus Local Restrictions Support Grant
The Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG) supports businesses that have been required to close due to temporary COVID-19 local lockdown restrictions imposed by the government.

Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant extension
The grant is being extended from 1 November 2020. Find out if you’re eligible and how much you can get.

Hospitality venues in England are now legally required to enforce the rule of 6 or face a fine of up to £4,000.
Designated businesses and organisations, including hospitality, close contact services and leisure venues, will also be legally required to log details of customers, visitors and staff for NHS Test and Trace and required to display official NHS QR code posters under law

NHS Test and Trace service in the workplace
Guidance on the NHS Test and Trace service for employers, businesses and workers updated to reflect the new legal requirements for designated venues to collect contact details and display official NHS QR code posters from 24^th September

Claim money back through the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme
Find out how to claim the reimbursement for discounts given to diners with the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme. The Eat Out to Help Out Scheme closed on 31 August 2020 – the page updated with removal of registration links.

Kickstart Scheme
The Kickstart Scheme provides funding to employers to create job placements for 16 to 24 year olds.

Kickstart Scheme employer resources
If you’ve been offered Kickstart Scheme funding, you can use these resources to show your support for the scheme.

Kickstart Scheme employer contacts
List of regional contacts for employers applying for a grant through the Kickstart Scheme.

Coronavirus outbreak FAQs: what you can and can’t do
Frequently asked questions on what you can and can’t do during the coronavirus outbreak – guidance updated in line with new regulations coming into force on 4 July

Business Survey:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dcms-coronavirus-impact-business-survey/dcms-business-survey-headline-measures

Apply for the coronavirus Future Fund
The Future Fund will provide UK Government loans to UK-based companies ranging from £125,000 to £5 million, subject to at least equal match funding from private investors.

Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme set to launch
Employers will be able to make claims through the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme from 26 May.

Government – Guidance on Returning to Work safely
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19

Government – Setting out of Road Map to recovery – 11^th May 2020
Our plan to rebuild: The UK Government’s 60 page COVID-19 recovery strategy
The UK Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy. The strategy sets out a cautious roadmap to easing existing measures in a safe and measured way, subject to successfully controlling the virus and being able to monitor and react to its spread.

Coronavirus Act 2020: status
A table setting out the status of each measure in the Coronavirus Act 2020.

Government – Financial Support
New 100% government backed loan scheme for small business

Government – Financial Support
CBILS – A guide to whether it may be the best options for a business

Government – Financial Support
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – online claims portal open

Government – Business Support:
Government launches new coronavirus business support finder tool

Government – Business Support Hub:
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support

Government – Financial Support: HMRC has published guidance on how it will work out income and profits for the self-employed or those in a partnership who have lost profits due to coronavirus.

Government – Business Support:
https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/

Government – Business Support: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19

Government – Financial Support: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding

Government – Business Support: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses

Bank of England – Financial Support: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2020/march/the-covid-corporate-financing-facility

Cheshire and Warrington Growth Hub