One in three shielding employees are uneasy about returning to work
Workers are nervous about returning to work – GETTY IMAGES Thousands of jobs could be
Thousands of jobs could be lost because shielding employees do not feel safe to return to their workplaces, charities warned as they urged Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, to extend the furlough scheme.
Approximately one in three shielders with a job feels uncomfortable about going back to their workplace, according to a new survey.
The coalition of charities, led by Age UK, says vulnerable staff have “grave concerns” that they will be forced to risk their health by returning to workplaces which will not protect them from coronavirus.
Follow the latest updates below.
02:55 AM
Virus forces M&S into digital revolution
Marks & Spencer has bet the house on a digital revolution after it laid off 7,000 workers, freeing up vital cash to help build an online retail empire.
The embattled chain slashed jobs across shop floors to save an estimated £100m a year, amid a scramble to boost internet sales as part of the fight to revive its fortunes.
Insiders have said they do not want the company to return to the “old system” pre-coronavirus, where only a fraction of the firm’s clothes were sold over the internet and none of its food. Instead, they are seeking radical upheaval as part of a programme dubbed Never the Same Again.
Bosses warned that there has been a lasting change in shoppers’ behaviour since the pandemic hit, with droves of consumers abandoning the high street as fears of Covid linger and internet buying becomes a habit after lockdown.
Read more: M&S bets on digital revolution as it slashes 7,000 jobs
02:14 AM
Outbreak in South Korea intensifies
South Korea reported the highest daily rise in cases since early March on Wednesday as an outbreak in the capital Seoul appeared to intensify.
The 297 new infections mark the sixth straight day of triple-digit increases in a country that has managed to blunt several previous outbreaks, bringing South Korea’s total to 16,058 infections with 306 deaths, health officials said.
Most of the new cases appeared in Seoul and the surrounding areas, raising concerns of a broader outbreak in a metropolitan area of more than 25 million people that has only seen small clusters so far.
Read more: South Korea closes churches after spike in new cases
01:55 AM
Australia secures vaccine deal
A fresh outbreak of infections in Australia’s coronavirus hot zone of Victoria appeared to have eased on Wednesday, as the country signed a deal to secure a potential vaccine that it intends to roll out free of cost to its citizens.
Australia has signed a deal with British drugmaker AstraZeneca to produce and distribute enough doses of a potential vaccine for its population of 25 million, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said late on Tuesday.
All Australians will be offered doses but a medical panel will determine the priority list of vaccine recipients, Health Minister Greg Hunt said.
“Naturally you would be focusing on the most vulnerable, the elderly, health workers, people with disabilities in terms of the speed of roll out, but I think there would be widespread uptake in Australia,” Mr Hunt told Sky News on Wednesday.
AstraZeneca last month said good data was coming in so far on its vaccine, already in large-scale human trials and widely seen as the front-runner in the race.
The vaccine, called AZD1222, was developed by Britain’s University of Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca.
Victoria reported 216 new daily cases in the last 24 hours compared with 222 a day earlier. It reported 12 deaths compared with 17 on Tuesday.
Read more: When will a Covid-19 vaccine be ready in the UK?
01:49 AM
Summary of news from around the world
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Argentina confirmed 6,840 new cases and 172 new deaths on Tuesday, taking it simultaneously over the 300,000 case and 6,000 death threshold.
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Mexico‘s health ministry reported on Tuesday 5,506 new cases and 751 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 531,239 cases and 57,774 deaths.
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Indigenous cultures in the Caribbean, struggling as their tourism-dependent economies are ravaged by the pandemic, are returning to traditional farming and fishing roots for their livelihoods, local experts said on Tuesday.
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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited Caracas on Tuesday as his country delivered medical equipment to help crisis-stricken Venezuela deal with the pandemic.
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Brazil has now registered 3,407,354 cases of the virus while the official death toll has risen to 109,888, according to ministry data.
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Australia‘s second most populous state of Victoria on Wednesday said 12 people had died from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours and reported 216 new cases.
01:19 AM
Airport tests to replace quarantine measures
Testing travellers for coronavirus is set to replace the imposition of blanket quarantines under plans to be discussed by Cabinet ministers next week, with the news coming as Heathrow unveiled a purpose-built testing centre.
Ministers are due to meet on Monday to consider options including testing passengers between five and 10 days after their arrival to enable them to shorten their 14-day self-isolation if the results are negative.
On Tuesday, Heathrow announced that an airside Covid-19 testing centre in Terminal Two was ready to swab its first passengers, for £150 a time, once the Government gives the green light to a trial. It plans a second centre in Terminal Five next month.
Airports, airline bosses and travel industry chiefs have warned that testing is the only way to open up travel to and from “high-risk” countries such as the US and end uncertainty for holidaymakers hit by quarantines reimposed at short notice on countries including France and Spain.
Read more: Coronavirus tests for passengers set to replace blanket quarantine measures
11:54 PM
US Postal Service cuts suspended over mail-in voting anger
The US postmaster general on Tuesday night said he was suspending controversial cuts until after the presidential election following allegations from Democrats that the vote was being manipulated in favour of Donald Trump.
Louis DeJoy, who has donated more than $2 million to Mr Trump and the Republican party since 2016, had been introducing reductions in service and overtime, and removing mail sorting machines and collection boxes, as he sought to overhaul the loss-making Postal Service .
It had caused a political firestorm with postal unions across the country warning they would be unable to cope with an expected surge in mail-in voting due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Democrats claimed the White House was attempting to sabotage the postal service to undermine the legitimacy of the election and suppress the vote. Mr Trump has denied trying to slow down postal voting.
Read more: Trump’s postmaster general halts cuts amid outcry over mail-in voting
11:45 PM
Homeless Britons get smartphones to access support
Several thousand homeless people will be given smartphones and laptops to help them stay informed, connected and access support during the coronavirus outbreak.
A two-year partnership, between Tesco Mobile and the homelessness charity Crisis, will see homeless people given £700,000 worth of phones, devices and internet data.
In the first year, they aim to provide 2,500 homeless people with phones, laptops and tablets, while the public are being urged to hand in their old smartphones or donate to help connect more people.
This will make it easier for them to look into housing options, keep in touch with friends and family and access information, services and support.
It will also help homeless people stay aware of public health guidance and updates as the country adapts to the threat of coronavirus.
11:07 PM
Experts fear winter resurgence of coronavirus
There is growing evidence that seasonal factors could influence the evolution of the current Covid‐19 pandemic, with experts predicting human-to-human transmission of the virus will become more widespread in winter.
The science comes from climatic, behavioural, medical and historic sources and, unfortunately, most point to the same conclusion: we face a long hard winter ahead.
The latest study, published on Tuesday in Transboundary and Emerging Diseases journal, found an association between low relative humidity and an increase in community transmission of Sars-CoV-2 in the Greater Sydney area during the early stages of the pandemic. It estimated that for every one per cent drop in relative humidity, confirmed Covid-19 cases increased by seven to eight per cent.
Read more: Winter surge of Covid-19 predicted as experts warn of hard times ahead