Exclusive: Pimlico Plumbers plots ‘no jab, no job’ policy January 13, 2021 Pimlico Plumbers has become the first company in the UK to announce a “no jab, no job” policy, after its chairman revealed plans to spend upwards of £1m rolling out mandatory vaccinations for its staff. Speaking to City A.M, founder Charlie Mullins said: “Once [the vaccine’s] out there and it becomes private, I’m happy to [...]
UK vaccine rollout was ‘lumpy’ at first, minister admits January 13, 2021 The UK’s vaccine tsar has admitted the nation’s largest ever vaccination programme was “lumpy at the outset” as he faced a grilling in the Commons. Nadhim Zahawi told the Science and Technology Committee: “I now have line of sight of deliveries all the way through to the end of February and [am] getting more confident [...]
PwC bags £2.5m government contract to oversee PPE audit January 12, 2021 Accounting giant PwC has landed a £2.5m contract to oversee an audit of the government’s procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic, following a scathing report from the UK’s spending watchdog. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) yesterday published details of a £2.5m contract with the UK’s largest accounting and advisory [...]
Priti Patel pledges more police on streets to crack whip on Covid rulebreakers January 12, 2021 The government will place more police on the streets to hand out fines to “irresponsible” people breaking lockdown rules, the home secretary has announced. In a stern warning to the nation, Priti Patel said: “If you do not play your part, our police officers who are out there, risking their own lives everyday to keep [...]
Matt Hancock calls on more businesses to ban those not wearing face coverings January 11, 2021 The health secretary has urged businesses to follow Morrisons’ lead and ban mask flouters, as he refused to rule out tougher restrictions on the horizon. “I applaud the action Morrisons has taken today… That’s the right approach,” Matt Hancock told a Downing Street press briefing, adding: “I want to see all parts of society playing [...]
Morrisons bans mask flouters amid crackdown on Covid rulebreakers January 11, 2021 Morrisons has become the first British supermarket to enforce an immediate ban on customers who refuse to wear face coverings, as the Prime Minister today warned low lockdown compliance would lead to tougher restrictions. From today, shoppers who turn down masks offered by staff will be refused entry from Morrisons unless they are medically exempt. [...]
‘It was never going to happen’: Government faces backlash over 4,000-bed target for London’s Nightingale Hospital January 11, 2021 Health officials have slammed the government for setting a 4,000-bed target for London’s Nightingale Hospital, as the Excel Centre site today opened its doors as a mass vaccination centre following major staff shortages. The temporary hospital was swiftly erected in just two weeks last March to deal with a spiralling number of admissions to intensive [...]
Lockdown: Tougher Covid restrictions on horizon, ministers warn January 11, 2021 England may face tighter lockdown restrictions amid scientists’ warnings that current measures are not doing enough to reduce Covid rates, the UK’s vaccine tsar has suggested. Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccine deployment minister, today said current restrictions may be scaled up as he admitted he was “worried” at the current picture. “We’ve got to review everything [...]
‘Major incident’ declared as London hospitals on verge of being overwhelmed January 8, 2021 The mayor of London has declared a “major incident” as London hospitals are on the brink of being overwhelmed with coronavirus patients. “The situation in London is now critical with the spread of the virus out of control,” Sadiq Khan said in a statement. “The number of cases in London has increased rapidly with more [...]
Coronavirus cases in London almost double the national average as R rate hikes to 1.4 January 8, 2021 Confirmed cases of coronavirus in London are almost double the national average, the latest official figures showed, as the capital continues to record the highest level of infection in the country. An estimated 1 in 30 Londoners were infected with coronavirus in the week after Christmas, according to data released today by the Office for [...]