£1.5bn Covid pot for businesses without tax relief has not paid out single penny yet October 11, 2021 A support pot with £1.5bn in funds created for business that were not able to get tax relief during the Covid pandemic has not paid out a single penny yet. In March, the government announced that it would retrospectively ban more than 170,000 business rates appeals which cited the pandemic as the reason for changing [...]
Clubbing sector has lost 86k jobs since start of pandemic October 11, 2021 The country’s cultural nightlife sector has lost some 86,000 jobs since the outbreak of the pandemic. The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), commissioned a report titled ‘A study of the night time economy’, in which it argued against a return of Covid measures. An estimated 393,000 jobs were lost in the night time economy while [...]
Businesses yet to receive a penny from £1.5bn Covid support pot October 11, 2021 English businesses are yet to receive a single penny in relief following the announcement of a £1.5bn targeted Covid support fund six months ago. The business rates relief fund was announced to help businesses affected by Covid outside the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors. The government said it would retrospectively ban more than 170,000 rates [...]
Free Covid testing could be scrapped as Treasury looks to cut costs October 9, 2021 The government reportedly plans to scale back on free Covid testing amid concerns that the scheme costs the taxpayer billions of pounds. Discussions are underway in government over whether to scrap mass testing policies which allow people to attain free lateral flow and PCR tests the Telegraph first reported. France and Germany both announced that [...]
Covid capital: Cases in UK now five times higher than in France, Germany and Spain October 9, 2021 The UK has become the Covid capital of Europe with daily case numbers soaring above 36,000 according to the latest government figures. Rates of infection in the UK are five times higher than neighbouring countries in Western Europe with only a handful of European countries, such as Romania and Serbia, registering worse infection levels. In [...]
Rise in Covid infections in England driven by secondary pupils as Coronavirus cases near 800,000 October 8, 2021 While the number of people testing positive for Covid-19 has dropped in Scotland and Northern Ireland, it is on the rise in England. It seems that particularly the proportion of young people at secondary school to have had coronavirus has increased significantly, to one in 15, new figures show today. Around one in 70 people [...]
UK life expectancy drops and inequality widens as a result of Covid-19 October 8, 2021 Life expectancy at birth fell by 1.3 years for men and 0.9 years for women in 2020, linked to the excess mortality caused by the pandemic. While COVID-19 as an event has driven headline reductions in longevity, this over-simplifies; the most pronounced effects are in vulnerable groups where inequality has widened, while broader trend changes [...]
Shapps scraps South Africa and 46 other destinations off red list October 7, 2021 Transport secretary Grant Shapps has just announced that from Monday 11 October, 47 destinations – including South Africa – will be scrapped from the UK Government’s travel red list. Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela will remain on it. The secretary also added that rules for those visiting the UK from [...]
‘Covid toes’: Newly discovered skin condition is sign of body fighting Coronavirus October 6, 2021 A new study has found that a skin condition known as Covid toes is most likely a side effect of the immune system’s response to fighting off the virus. The symptom results in chilblain-like inflammation and redness on the hands and feet, with the condition sometimes lasting for months at a time. It typically develops [...]
Australia first country to place mega order for Merck’s new Covid pill October 6, 2021 Australia will buy 300,000 courses of Merck & Co’s experimental antiviral pill, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said earlier today. The announcement comes as Victoria logged the highest number of daily COVID-19 infections of any state in the country since the pandemic began. The new experimental Covid-19 pill reduced stays in hospital and deaths by half, [...]