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Tag: 2020

  • Angela Rayner – 2020 Statement After Becoming Labour Deputy Leader

    Angela Rayner – 2020 Statement After Becoming Labour Deputy Leader

    Below is the text of the statement made by Angela Rayner, the new deputy leader of the Labour Party, on 4 April 2020.

    I want to thank everyone who took part in this election, and all those who have supported me through the campaign. I promise that I will do everything I can to repay your trust.

    Things have dramatically changed in our country in recent months but our values remain the same, and more important than ever.

    Those are the values we will reflect in our actions as an opposition and a movement – standing up for our public services, for our workers and carers, and for a society in which people work together and look after one another.

    Together, we must rebuild and reconnect with communities right across Britain who need our support now, more than ever before.

    I know we face a long and difficult road ahead but we must unite, both in the face of this crisis and to offer the better future that the citizens of our country deserve.

    I also want to offer my congratulations to Keir. This was a long campaign and by the end one conducted in extraordinary circumstances. The hard work begins today, and Keir will have my full support in both getting Labour on the path back to government and in being a voice for those who need us during this national crisis.

    We must make sure the government delivers on its promises, and acts faster to provide the protection frontline workers need.

  • Keir Starmer – 2020 Statement After Becoming Labour Leader

    Keir Starmer – 2020 Statement After Becoming Labour Leader

    Below is the text of the statement made by Keir Starmer, the new leader of the Labour Party, on 4 April 2020.

    It is the honour and the privilege of my life to be elected as leader of the Labour Party. It comes at a moment like none other in our lifetime.

    Coronavirus has brought normal life to a halt. Our cities, our towns and our villages are silent, our roads deserted. Public life has all but come to a standstill and we’re missing each other.

    People are frightened by the strangeness, anxious about what will happen next. And we have to remember that every number is a family shaken to its foundation.

    Unable even to carry out the most poignant of ceremonies, a funeral, in the way that they would like. It reminds us of how precious life is, but also how fragile.

    It reminds us of what really matters, our family, our friends, our relationships. The love we have for one another. Our health.

    Our connections with those that we don’t know. A greeting from a stranger, a kind word from a neighbour. These make up society. They remind us that we share our lives together. We have to trust one another and look after one another.

    And I can see this happening, people coming together to help the isolated and the vulnerable, checking on their neighbours.

    So many volunteering for the NHS, millions of people doing their bit to stop this virus and to save lives.

    Our willingness to come together like this as a nation has been lying dormant for too long. When millions of us stepped out onto our doorsteps to applaud the carers visibly moved there was hope of a better future. In times like this, we need good government, a government that saves lives and protects our country.

    It’s a huge responsibility and whether we voted for this Government or not, we all rely on it to get this right. That’s why in the national interest the Labour Party will play its full part.

    Under my leadership we will engage constructively with the Government, not opposition for opposition’s sake. Not scoring party political points or making impossible demands. But with the courage to support where that’s the right thing to do.

    But we will test the arguments that are put forward. We will shine a torch on critical issues and where we see mistakes or faltering government or things not happening as quickly as they should we’ll challenge that and call that out.

    Our purpose when we do that is the same as the Government’s, to save lives and to protect our country, a shared purpose.

    But that is not the only task for the Labour Party. The weeks ahead are going to be really difficult. I fear there are going to be some awful moments for many of us.

    But we will get through this. The curve will flatten, the wards will empty, the immediate threat will subside. And we have scientists working on vaccines.

    But when we do get through this we cannot go back to business as usual. This virus has exposed the fragility of our society. It’s lifted a curtain.

    Too many will have given too much. Some of us will have lost too much. We know in our hearts, things are going to have to change.

    We can see so clearly now who the key workers really are.

    When we get through this it’ll be because of our NHS staff, our care workers, our ambulance drivers, our emergency services, our cleaners, our porters.

    It will be because of the hard work and bravery of every key worker as they took on this virus and kept our country going.

    For too long they’ve been taken for granted and poorly paid. They were last and now they should be first.

    In their courage and their sacrifice and their bravery, we can see a better future. This crisis has brought out the resilience and human spirit in all of us.

    We must go forward with a vision of a better society built on that resilience and built on that human spirit. That will require bravery and change in our party as well.

    I want to thank Rebecca and Lisa for running such passionate and powerful campaigns and for their friendship and support along the way.

    I want to thank our Labour Party staff who worked really hard and my own amazing campaign team, full of positivity, with that unifying spirit.

    I want to pay tribute to Jeremy Corbyn, who led our party through some really difficult times, who energised our movement and who’s a friend as well as a colleague.

    And to all of our members, supporters and affiliates I say this: whether you voted for me or not I will represent you, I will listen to you and I will bring our party together.

    But we have to face the future with honesty.

    Antisemitism has been a stain on our party. I have seen the grief that it’s brought to so many Jewish communities.

    On behalf of the Labour Party, I am sorry.

    And I will tear out this poison by its roots and judge success by the return of Jewish members and those who felt that they could no longer support us.

    The Labour Party is an incredible and powerful force for good.

    Together with those that went before us we’ve changed the lives of millions of people for the better.

    We created the NHS. We created the welfare state. We passed equalities legislation, the Race Relations Act, we set up the Open University. We built hospitals and schools, established Sure Start and played our part in bringing about peace in Northern Ireland.

    But we’ve just lost four elections in a row. We’re failing in our historic purpose.

    Be in no doubt I understand the scale of the task, the gravity of the position that we’re in.

    We’ve got a mountain to climb.

    But we will climb it, and I will do my utmost to reconnect us across the country, to re-engage with our communities and voters, to establish a coalition across our towns and our cities and our regions with all creeds and communities to speak for the whole of the country.

    Where that requires change, we will change. Where that requires us to rethink, we will rethink.

    Our mission has to be to restore trust in our party as a force for good and a force for change.

    This is my pledge to the British people. I will do my utmost to guide us through these difficult times, to serve all of our communities and to strive for the good of our country.

    I will lead this great party into a new era, with confidence and with hope.

    So that when the time comes, we can serve our country again in government.

  • Boris Johnson – 2020 Letter to the Nation (in Polish)

    Boris Johnson – 2020 Letter to the Nation (in Polish)

    Below is the text of the letter to the nation sent by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 3 April 2020. The English version of the letter is here.

    Pragnę przekazać Państwu aktualne informacje na temat działań podejmowanych w walce z koronawirusem.

    W ciągu kilku krótkich tygodni codzienne życie w naszym kraju uległo radykalnym zmianom. Wszyscy odczuwamy ogromny wpływ koronawirusa nie tylko na nas samych, ale również na naszych najbliższych oraz nasze społeczności.

    Doskonale rozumiem trudności, jakie w naszym życiu, firmach i pracy powodują zakłócenia związane z koronawirusem. Podjęte przez nas działania są jednak niezbędne z jednego prostego powodu.

    Jeśli zbyt wiele osób zachoruje poważnie w tym samym czasie, publiczna służba zdrowia (NHS) nie da sobie rady. Będzie to kosztować wiele istnień ludzkich. Musimy spowolnić rozprzestrzenianie się wirusa i zmniejszyć liczbę tych, którzy wymagają leczenia szpitalnego, aby uratować jak najwięcej osób.

    Dlatego wydajemy proste zalecenie – wszyscy muszą pozostać w domu.

    Nie należy spotykać się ze znajomymi ani krewnymi, którzy nie mieszkają razem z Państwem. Z domu można wychodzić jedynie w ściśle określonym celu, takim jak zakupy produktów żywnościowych lub leków, ruch na świeżym powietrzu raz dziennie oraz zasięganie pomocy medycznej. Można podróżować do pracy i z powrotem, jednak w miarę możliwości należy pracować zdalnie z domu.

    W razie konieczności wyjścia z domu należy starać się o zachowanie dwumetrowej odległości od osób, które nie są członkami Państwa gospodarstwa domowego.

    Te zasady muszą być przestrzegane. Jeśli zostaną naruszone, policja będzie nakładać kary grzywny i rozpraszać zgromadzonych.

    Wiem, że wielu z Państwa głęboko niepokoją skutki finansowe, z jakimi przyjdzie się zmierzyć Państwa rodzinom. Rząd dołoży wszelkich starań, aby pomóc rodzinom w przetrwaniu trudnych chwil i zapewnić im byt.

    W załączonej ulotce przedstawiono szczegółowe informacje na temat dostępnego wsparcia oraz zasad, jakie należy przestrzegać. Najnowsze porady można również znaleźć na stronie internetowej gov.uk/coronavirus.

    Od samego początku staraliśmy się wprowadzić właściwe działania we właściwym czasie. Bez wahania posuniemy się dalej, jeśli będzie to konieczne w oparciu o informacje naukowe i medyczne.

    Pragnę powiedzieć to Państwu bez ogródek – wiemy, że sytuacja ulegnie pogorszeniu, zanim się poprawi. Prowadzimy jednak właściwe przygotowania i im bardziej będziemy stosować się wszyscy do ustalonych zasad, tym mniej będzie zgonów, a życie wcześniej powróci do normy.

    Pragnę podziękować wszystkim, którzy pracują niestrudzenie, aby pokonać wirusa, szczególnie pracownikom naszej wspaniałej służby zdrowia i sektora opieki w Anglii, Szkocji, Walii i Irlandii Północnej. Poświęcenie, z jakim nasi lekarze, pielęgniarki i inne osoby świadczące opiekę stają na wysokości zadania stanowi prawdziwą inspirację.

    Tysiące emerytowanych lekarzy i pielęgniarek powraca do NHS, a setki tysięcy ochotników zgłaszają się do niesienia pomocy tym, którzy potrzebują jej najbardziej. Właśnie tą wspaniałą brytyjską postawą pokonamy koronawirusa i dokonamy tego wspólnie.

    Właśnie dlatego, w chwili zagrożenia narodowego, apeluję do wszystkich i proszę – pozostańcie w domu, chrońcie NHS, ratujcie ludzkie życie.

  • Boris Johnson – 2020 Letter to the Nation

    Boris Johnson – 2020 Letter to the Nation

    Below is the text of the letter to the nation sent by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 3 April 2020.

    I am writing to you to update you on the steps we are taking to combat coronavirus.

    In just a few short weeks, everyday life in this country has changed dramatically. We all feel the profound impact of coronavirus not just on ourselves, but on our loved ones and our communities.

    I understand completely the difficulties this disruption has caused to your lives, businesses and jobs. But the action we have taken is absolutely necessary, for one very simple reason.

    If too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to cope. This will cost lives. We must slow the spread of the disease, and reduce the number of people needing hospital treatment in order to save as many lives as possible.

    That is why we are giving one simple instruction – you must stay at home.

    You should not meet friends or relatives who do not live in your home. You may only leave your home for very limited purposes, such as buying food and medicine, exercising once a day and seeking medical attention. You can travel to and from work but should work from home if you can.

    When you do have to leave your home, you should ensure, wherever possible, that you are two metres apart from anyone outside of your household.

    These rules must be observed. So, if people break the rules, the police will issue fines and disperse gatherings.

    I know many of you will be deeply worried about the financial impact on you and your family. The Government will do whatever it takes to help you make ends meet and put food on the table.

    The enclosed leaflet sets out more detail about the support available and the rules you need to follow. You can also find the latest advice at gov.uk/coronavirus. From the start, we have sought to put in the right measures at the right time. We will not hesitate to go further if that is what the scientific and medical advice tells us we must do.

    It’s important for me to level with you – we know things will get worse before they get better. But we are making the right preparations, and the more we all follow the rules, the fewer lives will be lost and the sooner life can return to normal.

    I want to thank everyone who is working flat out to beat the virus, in particular the staff in our fantastic NHS and care sector across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It has been truly inspirational to see our doctors, nurses and other carers rise magnificently to the needs of the hour.

    Thousands of retired doctors and nurses are returning to the NHS – and hundreds of thousands of citizens are volunteering to help the most vulnerable. It is with that great British spirit that we will beat coronavirus and we will beat it together. That is why, at this moment of national emergency, I urge you, please, to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.

  • European Commission – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    European Commission – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Below is the text of the statement made by the European Commission on 2 April 2020.

    Saving lives and supporting livelihoods in these times of acute crisis is paramount. The Commission is further increasing its response by proposing to set up a €100 billion solidarity instrument to help workers keep their incomes and help businesses stay afloat, called SURE. It is also proposing to redirect all available structural funds to the response to the coronavirus.

    Farmers and fishermen will also receive support, as will the most deprived. All of these measures are based on the current EU budget and will squeeze out every available euro. They show the need for a strong and flexible long-term EU budget. The Commission will work to ensure that the EU can count on such a strong budget to get back on its feet and progress on the path to recovery.

    The coronavirus outbreak is testing Europe in ways that would have been unthinkable only a few weeks ago. The depth and the breadth of this crisis requires a response unprecedented in scale, speed and solidarity.

    In the past weeks, the Commission has acted to provide Member States with all the flexibility they need to support financially their health care systems, their businesses and workers. It has acted to coordinate, speed up and reinforce the procurement efforts of medical equipment and has directed research funding to the development of a vaccine. It has worked tirelessly to ensure that goods and cross-border workers can continue to move across the EU, to keep hospitals functioning, factories running and shop shelves stocked. It has and continues to support the repatriation of EU citizens, their families and long-term residents to Europe from across the world.

    In doing this, the Commission is acting on its conviction that the only effective solution to the crisis in Europe is one based on cooperation, flexibility and, above all, solidarity.

    Today’s proposals take the response to a new level.

    Commenting on the proposals adopted today, President von der Leyen said: “In this coronavirus crisis, only the strongest of responses will do. We must use every means at our disposal. Every available euro in the EU budget will be redirected to address it, every rule will be eased to enable the funding to flow rapidly and effectively. With a new solidarity instrument, we will mobilise €100 billion to keep people in jobs and businesses running. With this, we are joining forces with Member States to save lives and protect livelihoods. This is European solidarity.”

    €100 billion to keep people in jobs and businesses running: the SURE initiative

    We need to cushion the economic blow in order for the EU economy to be ready to restart when the conditions are right. To achieve this, we must keep people in employment and businesses running. All Member States have or will soon have short-time work schemes to help achieve this.

    SURE is the Commission’s answer to this: a new instrument that will provide up to €100 billion in loans to countries that need it to ensure that workers receive an income and businesses keep their staff. This allows people to continue to pay their rent, bills and food shopping and helps provide much needed stability to the economy.

    The loans will be based on guarantees provided by Member States and will be directed to where they are most urgently needed. All Member States will be able to make use of this but it will be of particular importance to the hardest-hit.

    SURE will support short-time work schemes and similar measures to help Member States protect jobs, employees and self-employed against the risk of dismissal and loss of income. Firms will be able to temporarily reduce the hours of employees or suspend work altogether, with income support provided by the State for the hours not worked. The self-employed will receive income replacement for the current emergency.

    Delivering for the most deprived – the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived

    As most of Europe practices social distancing to slow the spread of the virus, it is all the more important that those who rely on others for the most basic of needs are not cut off from help. The Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived will evolve to meet the challenge: in particular, the use of electronic vouchers to reduce the risk of contamination will be introduced, as well as the possibility of buying protective equipment for those delivering the aid.

    Supporting fishermen and farmers

    Europe’s farming and fisheries have an essential role in providing us with the food we eat. They are hard hit by the crisis, in turn hitting our food supply chains and the local economies that the sector sustains.

    As with the structural funds, the use of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund will be made more flexible. Member States will be able to provide support:

    to fishermen for the temporary cessation of fishing activities;

    to aquaculture farmers for the temporary suspension or reduction of production and provide support;

    and to producer organisations for the temporary storage of fishery and aquaculture products.

    The Commission will also shortly propose a range of measures to ensure that farmers and other beneficiaries can get the support they need from the Common Agricultural Policy, for example by granting more time to introduce applications for support and more time to allow administrations to process them, increasing advances for direct payments and rural development payments, and offering additional flexibility for on-the-spot checks to minimise the need for physical contact and reduce administrative burden.

    Protecting our economy and people with all available means

    Redirecting all Cohesion Policy funds to fight the emergency

    All uncommitted money from the three Cohesion Policy funds – the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund – will be mobilised to address the effects of the public health crisis.

    To make sure that funds can be re-directed to where they are most urgently needed, transfers between funds as well as between categories of regions and between policy objectives will be made possible. Moreover, co-financing requirements will be abandoned, as Member States are already using all their means to fight the crisis. Administration will be simplified.

    The Emergency Support Instrument

    The European Union has not faced a health crisis in its history on this scale or spreading at this speed. In response, the first priority is to save lives and to meet the needs of our health care systems and professionals who are working miracles every day right across our Union.

    The Commission is working hard to ensure the supply of protective gear and respiratory equipment. Despite the strong production efforts of industry, Member States still face severe shortages of protective gear and respiratory equipment in some areas. They also lack sufficient treatment facilities and would benefit from being able to move patients to areas with more resources and dispatch medical staff to hardest-hit places. Support will also be needed for mass testing, for medical research, deploying new treatments, and for producing, purchasing and distributing vaccines across the EU.

    The EU is today proposing to use all available remaining funds from this year’s EU budget to help to respond to the needs of European health systems.

    €3 billion will be put into the Emergency Support Instrument, of which €300 million will be allocated to RescEU to support the common stockpile of equipment. The first priority would be managing the public health crisis and securing vital equipment and supplies, from ventilators to personal protective gear, from mobile medical teams to medical assistance for the most vulnerable, including those in refugee camps. The second area of focus would be on enabling the scaling up of testing efforts. The proposal would also enable the Commission to procure directly on behalf of the Member States.

    More to come

    As the situation continues to evolve, the Commission will come forward with more proposals and will work with the other EU institutions to move forward as quickly as possible.

  • Alok Sharma – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Alok Sharma – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Below is the text of the statement made by Alok Sharma, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on 1 April 2020.

    Good afternoon and thank you for joining us for the daily briefing on our fight against coronavirus.

    I am joined today by Dr Yvonne Doyle who is the medical director of Public Health England.

    Before Yvonne provides an update on the latest data from our COBR coronavirus fact file, I would like to update you on the steps that we are taking to defeat this pandemic.

    Our step-by-step action plan is aiming to slow the spread of the virus, so fewer people need hospital treatment at any one time, protecting the ability of the NHS to cope.

    Throughout our response to coronavirus, we have been following the scientific and medical advice. We have been deliberate in our actions, taking the right steps at the right time.

    We are also taking unprecedented action to increase NHS capacity by dramatically expanding the number of beds, key staff and life-saving equipment on the front-line to provide the care when people need it most.

    The daily figures show that a total of 152,979 people in the UK have now been tested for coronavirus.

    Of those, 29,474 have tested positive.

    The number of people admitted to hospital in England with coronavirus symptoms is now 10,767, with 3,915 of those in London and 1,918 in the Midlands.

    Of those hospitalised in the UK, sadly 2,352 have died. This is an increase of 563 fatalities since yesterday. The youngest of them was just 13 years old.

    All our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives.

    This is more tragic evidence that this virus does not discriminate.

    The coronavirus pandemic is the biggest threat our country has faced in decades, and we are not alone. All over the world we are seeing the devastating impact of this invisible killer.

    We recognise the extreme disruption the necessary actions we are asking people to take are having on their lives, businesses, jobs and the nation’s economy.

    And I want to thank everyone across our whole country for the huge effort that is being made, collectively, in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

    To the frontline workers treating and caring for patients, the people delivering supplies to their neighbours, and the millions staying at home: thank you. You are protecting the NHS and saving lives.

    And I want to thank businesses too.

    Through your support for your workers and your communities, and through your willingness to support our health service, you are making a real difference.

    Whether it’s INEOS building a new hand sanitiser plant near Middlesbrough in just ten days;

    Or UCL engineers working with Mercedes Formula One to build new Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machines, which help patients to breathe more easily;

    Or broadband providers giving their customers unlimited data to stay connected;

    Or indeed London’s ExCel Centre being converted into the NHS Nightingale Hospital with space for 4,000 patients.

    These are just a few of the examples of businesses from across our great nation supporting lifesaving work.

    There are also thousands of businesses, large and small, which have worked with staff to ensure they are supported in the days and weeks ahead.

    Whether that is through ensuring PHE guidelines are followed on site, implementing furlough schemes, carrying over annual leave, or providing the means to work from home.

    I want to convey my heartfelt thanks to all of those businesses, up and down the country, which are working to keep our economy going.

    So that when this crisis passes, and it will, we are ready to bounce back.

    Our businesses are doing all they can to support our people, and I want to make it clear that government, in turn, will do all it can to support our businesses.

    We have taken unprecedented action to support firms, safeguard jobs and protect the economy.

    From today businesses will start benefiting from £22 billion in the form of business rates relief. And grants of up to £25,000 which are being paid into the bank accounts of the smallest high street firms.

    On Saturday, I said that we had provided funds to councils in England for grants to small businesses.

    As of today, these local authorities have received more than £12 billion.

    This afternoon I held a call with hundreds of local authorities across England and made clear that this money must reach businesses as quickly as possible. And I know that businesses across England have already started to receive these grants.

    We know high street banks are working really hard to support the UK through this period, including through mortgage holidays and increased credit facilities.

    Loans for businesses are also being issued through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme since it came into operation last week.

    The Chancellor, together with the Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority, wrote to the chief executives of the UK banks to urge them to make sure that the benefits of the Loan Scheme are passed through to businesses and consumers.

    And it would be completely unacceptable if any banks were unfairly refusing funds to good businesses in financial difficulty.

    Just as the taxpayer stepped in to help the banks back in 2008, we will work with the banks to do everything they can to repay that favour and support the businesses and people of the United Kingdom in their time of need.

    Of course, this is a brand new scheme and, as with all new schemes, it will not be perfect from the outset.

    We are listening all the time. And in response to concerns that we’ve heard from businesses, we are looking at ways in which we can ensure they get the support they need. The Chancellor will be saying more on this in the coming days.

    It is crucial that when we overcome this crisis, as in time we will, that businesses are in a good position to move forward.

    Times are tough, and we have harder times ahead of us.

    But I know that together, we will pull through.

  • 2020 Statement by NATO Ministers on the Coronavirus

    2020 Statement by NATO Ministers on the Coronavirus

    Below is the text of the statement made by NATO Foreign Ministers on 2 April 2020.

    We, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of NATO, meet today in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic which is affecting all Allies and partners, imposing a huge cost in lives lost, as well as a sudden and severe shock to our economies. We express our deepest sympathies with all the victims of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and with all those affected by its consequences. We pay tribute to the health care workers, as well as all the others who are on the front line in our battle against this disease. These include the men and women in uniform who continue to work daily for our collective security. And we thank our citizens who understand that, working together, we will defeat this challenge more quickly and save lives.

    NATO is doing its part. Allies are supporting each other – including with medical professionals, hospital beds, vital medical equipment, and best practices and ideas on how to fight this deadly disease. We are airlifting critical medical supplies from across the globe, providing medical personnel, essential materials, and vital equipment from military and civilian sources, and harnessing our medical, scientific, and technological knowledge and resources to help deliver innovative responses. Allies are also working together to ensure public access to transparent, timely, and accurate information, which is critical to overcoming this pandemic and to combating disinformation. Because we need a coordinated and comprehensive approach, NATO is working closely with other international organizations, including the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and the European Union.

    Even as we do the absolute maximum to contain and then overcome this challenge, NATO remains active, focused and ready to perform its core tasks: collective defence, crisis management, and cooperative security. Our ability to conduct our operations and assure deterrence and defence against all the threats we face is unimpaired. And we have today taken further decisions to enhance NATO’s role in facing current and future security challenges.

    We welcome North Macedonia as NATO’s 30th Ally. As we face this unprecedented challenge, our 30 nations stand together in solidarity and transatlantic unity.

  • Michael Gove – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Michael Gove – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Below is the text of the statement made by Michael Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on 31 March 2020.

    Good afternoon and thank you for joining us for our daily briefing in the fight against COVID-19.

    I am joined today by Dr Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer, and Professor Stephen Powis, the Medical Director of NHS England.

    I would like first to update you all on the facts about the spread of COVID-19 and the steps that we are then taking in the battle against this virus.

    143,186 people have now been tested for the virus.

    Of those, 25,150 have tested positive.

    And sadly, yesterday we recorded the highest single increase in the number of deaths as a result of COVID-19.

    381 people died, meaning that of those hospitalised in the UK, the number who have passed away now totals 1,789.

    Every death is the loss of a loved one, and our thoughts and prayers are with those who are grieving.

    Overall, 10,767 people in England have been admitted to hospital with COVID-19 symptoms.

    The largest number of those is in London, with 3,915 people in hospital care.

    While in the Midlands, the number of those hospitalised is now 1,918 and accelerating upwards.

    These numbers reinforce the vital importance of following the Government’s social distancing guidelines.

    The more we restrict contact, the more we slow the spread of the infection, the more that we can help the NHS build the capacity needed to care for those most in need.

    And that capacity is increasing.

    More NHS staff are returning to the frontline and more testing is taking place to help those self-isolating come back and to protect those working so hard in our hospitals and in social care.

    But while the rate of testing is increasing we must go further, faster.

    A critical constraint on the ability to rapidly increase testing capacity is the availability of the chemical reagents which are necessary in the testing.

    The Prime Minister and the Health Secretary are working with companies worldwide to ensure that we get the material we need to increase tests of all kinds.

    And as well as increasing the number of staff on the frontline, and the tests which protect them, we must also increase the capacity to provide oxygen to those worst affected by the disease.

    We have just over 8,000 ventilators deployed in NHS hospitals now. This number has increased since the epidemic began, thanks to the hard work of NHS professionals.

    But we need more.

    That is why we are buying more ventilators from abroad – including from EU nations.

    And it’s also why we are developing new sources of supply at home.

    Before the epidemic struck we had very little domestic manufacture of ventilators.

    But now, thanks to the dedication of existing medical supply companies and the ingenuity of our manufacturing base, we have existing models being produced in significantly greater numbers and new models coming on stream.

    Orders have been placed with consortia led by Ford, Airbus, the Formula 1 Racing teams including Mclaren, GKN Aerospace and Rolls Royce and Dysons.

    And I can announce that this weekend, the first of thousands of new ventilator devices will roll off the production line and be delivered to the NHS next week. From there they will be rapidly distributed to the front line.

    And as well as increasing the capacity for ventilation – which helps support those patients worst affected – we are also increasing the capacity to provide oxygen to affected patients at an earlier stage in the process of the disease, helping to avert, we hope, the deterioration of their condition.

    A team led by UCL, working with Mercedes Benz, will produce 10,000 new CPAP devices to support affected patients and a team from Oxford University are also developing related technology.

    And in our determination to prevent as many patients as possible seeing their condition worsen we are conducting rapid clinical trials on those drugs, including anti-malarials, which may be able to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on those affected.

    But even as we seek to explore every avenue to slow the spread of the disease, to reduce its impact and to save lives, I am conscious of the sacrifices that so many are making.

    That is why the Chancellor’s economic package is in place – to support people through a difficult time.

    It is also why we we are working so closely with our colleagues in the devolved administrations to coordinate our response across the United Kingdom and I am grateful to them

    As I am to the thousands of dedicated public sector workers – cleaners and social workers, prison and police officers, those in the Royal Mail and in our schools – and I want to thank them and also the leaders of the trade unions who represent them.

    In this united national effort we also are delivering food and prescription drugs to up to 1.5 million of the most vulnerable who are self-isolating for three months.

    And we will do more to help, working with the three quarters of a million people who have volunteered to help at this time. Many are already heavily involved in local community support schemes.

    And we want to work with them to ensure that we support not just the 1.5 million most vulnerable to the disease but all those who need our help through this crisis, those without social support, those in tough economic circumstances, those who need the visible hand of friendship at a challenging time.

    That is why my cabinet colleague George Eustice and the Food and Farming Minister Victoria Prentis will be leading work, with food suppliers, retailers, local authorities and voluntary groups to support our neighbours in need.

    I also want to thank the men and women of the military who have stepped up their work as part of the ongoing response to coronavirus.

    three RAF Puma helicopters are now stationed at Kinloss Barracks in Moray. These Pumasare working closely with a Chinook and a Wildcat helicopter based at RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire, to meet any requests for assistance from NHS boards and trusts across Scotland and Northern England.

    A second helicopter facility covers the Midlands and Southern England working out of The Aviation Task Force Headquarters at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire. Chinook and Wildcat helicopters normally based at RAF Odiham and RNAS Yeovilton respectively support the Southern areas.

    And these helicopter facilities have been set up to support medical transports across Scotland and the rest of the UK. The task force is also available for general support such as moving equipment and personnel to where they are needed across the UK.

    The Kinloss-based support follows last weekend’s use of an RAF A400M transport aircraft, working with the Scottish Ambulance Service, to evacuate a critically ill patient from the Shetland Islands to Aberdeen to receive intensive care treatment.

    I am deeply grateful for everyone in the our armed forces and in the public sector who are doing so much to help in the fight against coronavirus

    And, of course, all of us can continue to play our part in supporting them and the health service by staying at home, supporting the NHS and saving lives.

  • Dominic Raab – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Dominic Raab – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Below is the text of the statement made by Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, on 30 March 2020.

    Good afternoon, welcome to Downing Street for today’s coronavirus press briefing. I’m joined by our Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance and Dr Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director at Public Health England.

    Before Sir Patrick provides an update on the latest data from our COBR coronavirus dashboard, I just want to give you an update on the steps that we as a government are taking to defeat coronavirus.

    Our step-by-step action plan is aiming to slow the spread of the virus, so fewer people need hospital treatment at any one time, thereby protecting the NHS’ capacity. At each point we have been following the scientific and medical advice and we’ve been very deliberate in our actions – taking the right steps at the right moment.

    We are also taking unprecedented action to increase NHS capacity by dramatically expanding the numbers of beds, key staff, life-saving equipment on the frontline so that we give people the care they need when they need it most.

    That’s why we are instructing people to stay at home, so we can protect our NHS and save lives.

    I can report that through the government’s ongoing monitoring and testing programme, as of today:

    134,946 people have now been tested for the virus

    112,805 have tested negative

    22,141 have tested positive

    Of those who have contracted the virus, 1,408 have, very sadly, died. We express our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who have passed away and I think those figures are a powerful reminder to us all of the importance of following the government’s guidelines.

    We must stay at home to protect our NHS and save lives.

    I would like to thank all those involved on the frontline and in particular all of those in the NHS for their battle against the virus, the amazing doctors, the amazing nurses and all the support staff working day and night.

    The thousands of other key workers – from our teachers to supermarket workers to our fantastic diplomatic network – who are all as a team working around the clock to get us through this unprecedented coronavirus challenge.

    This is a united national effort and the spirit of selflessness shown by so many is an inspiration.

    I now want to turn to what we’ve been doing to support British people travelling around the world.

    Coronavirus hasn’t just challenged us at home, it is the greatest global challenge in a generation. And as countries work to secure their borders and stop the further spread of this deadly virus, we appreciate that an unprecedented number of UK travellers are trying to get home, and we’re not talking a few hundred or even a few thousand. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of people travelling around the world.

    So with that in mind, on 17 March, we advised people against all non-essential travel around the world.

    And since 23 March, we have advised that all UK residents who were currently travelling abroad should return home. Hundreds of thousands have already done so.

    But many travellers haven’t yet managed to get home. From young back-packers to retired couples on cruises. We appreciate the difficult predicament that they find themselves in.

    We also recognise the anxiety of families here in the UK, who are concerned to get their loved ones home. It is a worrying time for all those who have been affected.

    And I want to reassure them that this government, their government is working around the clock to support, advise and help British travellers get home.

    I have spoken to more than 20 foreign ministers around the world in the last week or so to support this effort, to keep airports and ports open, and to facilitate access to them by British travellers.

    Over the weekend, I spoke to foreign ministers from Australia, New Zealand, India and Brazil and Pakistan, and I also spoke to the Ethiopian Prime Minister, and in all of those cases urged them to work with us and keep commercial routes flying.

    Given the scale and the complexity of this challenge, it inevitably requires a team effort. So the Foreign Office is working with other governments, and there is a particular focus on transit hubs, and we’re also working with the airlines to keep as many flights running as possible.

    We have a lot more to do, but we have already helped hundreds of thousands of Britons get home.

    The first priority has been to keep as many commercial flights running as we can, and that’s based on just purely the scale and the number of people who want to come home.

    As a result of those efforts, and the cooperation we received from the Spanish government, we’ve enabled an estimated 150,000 UK nationals to get back from Spain. On other commercial routes that have come under pressure, we’ve worked with partner governments and airlines to get back 8,500 UK travellers back from Morocco and around 5,000 UK nationals from Cyprus.

    That gives you a sense of the scale of the challenge and the numbers of British travellers abroad.

    Now in circumstances where commercial flights can’t operate, we have already chartered flights, which proved necessary to return 1,400 UK nationals on flights, for example, from China at the outset of this crisis and more recently from Peru.

    We’ve not faced challenges in getting people home from abroad, on this scale, in recent memory. Airports are closing down or preventing airlines from operating on a commercial basis. Local authorities have placed restrictions on movement that prevent people from getting to the airport. And the critical transit hubs that we rely on for long-haul flights are also shutting down, or in some cases, limiting their flights.

    Some of these restrictions have been done with very little notice, some with no notice at all which makes it very difficult to respond. So, international collaboration is absolutely vital.

    As I said, it is a team effort, in it involves government working with other governments and also with the airlines.

    So with that in mind, I can today announce a new arrangement between the government and airlines to fly home tens of thousands of stranded British travellers, where commercial flights are no longer possible. Partner airlines include British Airways, Virgin, Easyjet, Jet2 and Titan, and this list can be expanded.

    Under the arrangements that we are putting in place, we will target flights from a range of priority countries, starting this week.

    Let me explain a little bit about how this will work in practise.

    Where commercial routes remain an option, airlines will be responsible for getting passengers home. That means offering alternative flights at little to no cost where routes have been cancelled. And it means allowing passengers to change tickets, including between carriers.

    So for those still in those in countries where commercial options are still available, don’t wait. Don’t run the risk of getting stranded. The airlines are standing by to help you. Please book your tickets as soon as possible.

    Where commercial flights are no longer running, the government will provide the necessary financial support for special charter flights to bring UK nationals back home. Once special charter flights have been arranged, we will promote flights them through the government’s travel advice and by the British Embassy or High Commission in the relevant country.

    British travellers who want a seat on those flight will book and pay directly through a dedicated travel management company.

    We designated £75 million to support those flights and airlines to keep costs down and affordable for those seeking to return to the UK.

    In arranging these flights, our priority will be the most vulnerable, including the elderly or those with particularly pressing medical needs, and also looking in particular at countries where large numbers of UK tourists struggling to get home.

    UK travellers, if they haven’t already done so, should check Foreign Office Travel Advice and that advice is under constant review, and it can help travellers to find out more details of how to access the flights under this arrangement.

    They should also follow the social media of the UK embassy or high commission in the country where they find themselves, so that they can be directed to accurate real time information, including from the local authorities.

    For any questions that can’t be answered in that travel advice, or by the UK Embassies or High Commission, we also have our call centre working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

    I know that it has been difficult for some travellers to get through. Just to give you a sense of volume: on average, we normally receive 1,000 calls a day to that call centre. Last Tuesday, we had nearly 15,000 – the highest on record.

    So we’ve boosted our resources, we’ve redeployed people to assist in the call centre and we’ve tripled our capacity.

    Yesterday, the call centre answered 99% of calls, and helped thousands of British travellers to get the answers they need.

    So, for those stranded, or for families nervously waiting news and wanting to see their loved ones return home, we are doing everything we can. We have improved our advice and boosted the call centre, so travellers get better and swifter information.

    We have put in place this arrangement with the airlines so that we can reach British citizens in vulnerable circumstances abroad where commercial flights aren’t running. And we’re working intensively round the clock with all of our partner countries and governments around the world to keep open the airports, the ports and the flights to bring people home.

    We’ve not faced an international challenge quite like this before, but together we are going to rise to it.

    And, of course here at home, we can all support our NHS by continuing to follow the guidance to: stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives.

  • Robert Jenrick – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Robert Jenrick – 2020 Statement on the Coronavirus

    Below is the text of the statement made by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, in the House of Commons on 29 March 2020.

    Good afternoon,

    I would like to update you on our response to COVID-19.

    I’m joined today by Dr Jenny Harries, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer.

    As of 9am today:

    127,737 people have now been tested for the virus.

    108,215 have tested negative.

    19,522 have tested positive.

    Of those who have contracted the virus, 1,228 have, sadly, died.

    The virus is indiscriminate

    It doesn’t matter who you are, where you are or how old you are.

    We each have a part to play by staying at home, protecting the NHS and helping to save lives.

    We all have a duty to one another to keep everyone safe.

    So today I would like to give you two updates, before answering questions.

    The first on the plans I have put in place to ensure that every corner of the country can confront the coronavirus epidemic.

    The second on what the government is doing to shield the most vulnerable people in society.

    On the first question, I have put in place in all parts of the country procedures to ensure that everywhere can be ready to move forward together. All parts of the country are now on an emergency footing.

    This is an unprecedented step in peace time.

    We haven’t done anything like this since the Second World War.

    This means that we’re establishing strategic co-ordination centres across the whole country.

    Each centre is led by gold commanders.

    We are bringing together senior members of the emergency services

    the police, the fire service, the ambulance service, with local authorities and the NHS, to lead communities through this challenging period.

    From Cornwall to Cumbria.

    And we have embedded within each of these groups members of the armed forces – including some of the finest military planners in the world.

    These groups are planning the local response to the virus.

    Using their expertise, their judgement and their leadership to ensure a comprehensive, a coordinated, and consistent response across the country.

    One issue that they have been helping us to coordinate and about which I know there is a lot of concern is the provision of personal protect equipment.

    We simply cannot and should not ask people to be on the frontline without the right protective equipment.

    We have a clear plan to ensure that those serving this country at this time have the right equipment.

    We have established the National Supply Distribution Response Team and they are supported now by the armed forces and other emergency services who are working round the clock to deliver the equipment to the people who need it most:

    170 million masks

    42.8 million gloves

    13.7 million aprons

    182,000 gowns

    Almost 10 million items of cleaning equipment

    and 2.3 million pairs of eye protectors

    all delivered to 58,000 NHS Trusts and healthcare settings including GP surgeries, pharmacies and community providers.

    Every single GP practice, dental practice and community pharmacy has had a PPE delivery. All care homes, hospices and home care providers have or will shortly receive a delivery.

    To NHS and social care workers, all those who rely on this equipment and to their families and loved ones watching this afternoon – we understand.

    And we will not stop until we have got you the equipment that you need.

    Last weekend, at this press conference, the Prime Minister and I explained why 1.5million people who are extremely vulnerable to the virus, due to their underlying health conditions, needed to stay at home for a period of 12 weeks and avoid face to face contact.

    Since then, the NHS have written to almost a million of these people and outlined the steps that they need to take to protect themselves.

    We have also established a dedicated web page on gov.uk which those in receipt of a letter should go to, to let us know whether or not they need further assistance over the course of the next 12 weeks. There is also a new phone number, which is on the letter they have or will receive shortly.

    If this applies to you, I know that you will find this a very worrying time.

    You will be thinking about how you can continue to access the medicine that you need, how you can get the food and other essential supplies that you rely on.

    If you don’t have family or friends or neighbours nearby who you can rely on then the NHS will deliver your medicines through the community pharmacy network.

    And if you register online or using the phone service that we have set up, letting us know you need support, then we will deliver food and supplies to your doorstep.

    And this weekend I saw for myself first-hand the first deliveries being made.

    The packages included cereal, fruit, tinned goods, teabags, biscuits, toiletries and other essentials.

    The first 50,000 will have been sent out by the end of this week and we are ramping up production to send out as many as are required for as long as it takes.

    If this applies to you, while you will now have to be at home for a prolonged period of time and that will be difficult, I want you to know that you are not alone. We are here to support you for as long as you need us.

    We have all been hugely impressed by the commitment and the dedication of those working in social care, in local councils delivering essential public services like ensuring that the bins continue to get collected. None more so than me, as the Secretary of State for Local Government.

    We all respect the 12,000 heroic former doctors and nurses and paramedics who have come back to work and been deployed this weekend.

    And I think we have all been moved by the number of people who have signed up to be one of the NHS Voluntary Responders – today we can announce an extraordinary, three quarters of a million people have signed up to do that.

    In every city, in every town, in every village, there is going to be work to be done and in each of us there is the power to do it.

    And so please take part, please play your part, please consider your friends, your family, your neighbours when you are shopping, please call the elderly and support them.

    When this is done, and it will be done, we all want to be proud of the part that we’ve played together.

    Thank you very much.