Coronavirus latest news: NHS unable to contact almost 1m vulnerable people during pandemic
NHS unable to contact almost 1m vulnerable people during pandemic
Just 32 people in hospital with Covid after having vaccination
Save our festivals, PM urged, after Boomtown is cancelled again
‘Covid pill’ and other therapies raising hopes of treatment at home
Almost a million clinically extremely vulnerable people who needed to shield during the pandemic could not be contacted by the NHS, the Public Accounts Committee has found.
In a report published on Tuesday, the Public Accounts Committee said the Government’s “quickly drawn up” scheme to support vulnerable people who were instructed to shield “suffered from the problems of poor data and a lack of joined-up systems that we see all too often in government programmes”.
It took the Government “too long” to identify some those who needed to be put on the list, the report found.
And up to 800,000 extremely clinically vulnerable people may have “slipped through the net and missed out on much-needed support” because they could not be reached by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.
Of those, almost half - 375,000 - could not be contacted due to missing or incorrect telephone numbers in their NHS records.
Follow the latest updates below.
06:27 AM
Today's front page
Here is your Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, Apr 21.
06:01 AM
Thai PM says 35m vaccine more doses sought for this year
Thailand is trying to secure 35 million more doses of Covid-19 vaccines from two or three firms this year on top of existing orders of around 65 million doses, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Wednesday.
Of the new shots sought, the private sector through the Chamber of Commerce will help source some 10 to 15 million doses, Prayuth said in a Facebook post.
"I have ordered that we distribute and administer all the vaccines that we can find by December," he added.
Prayuth did not name the brands, or specify whether the 35 million included the five to 10 million doses of Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine that he announced were being sought on Tuesday.
05:40 AM
UK households take bigger financial hit than Germany and France
British households are far more likely to have seen their incomes severely hit by Covid-19 lockdowns than those in Germany and France, a report has found.
The Resolution Foundation said that while typical household incomes between the three countries were broadly similar prior to the crisis, the impact of longer lockdowns, income inequality and soaring unemployment has hit the UK hardest.
Published on Wednesday, the report says that while UK households were just as likely to have been impacted by unemployment as those in France, they have experienced a “far bigger living standards hit” than both countries.
05:24 AM
South Korea looks to US for vaccine aid
South Korea's foreign minister said on Wednesday he hopes the US will help Seoul address its Covid-19 vaccine shortage as a return in favour of test kits and masks it sent to Washington earlier in the pandemic.
The request comes as the South Korean government has come under fire from local media for not doing enough to secure enough vaccines early. It has inoculated just 3 per cent of its population due to tight global supply and limited access.
"We have been stressing to the US that 'a friend in need is a friend indeed'," Chung Eui-yong told reporters at the Kwanhun Club, a representative association of journalists in South Korea.
He said South Korea had airlifted Washington a large volume of coronavirus test kits and face masks in the early stages of the pandemic "in the spirit of the special South Korea-US alliance", even as domestic supply was very tight.
04:55 AM
India records 2,000 deaths and 295,041 infections in 24 hours
India reported more than 2,000 deaths from Covid-19 over the last 24 hours, the highest single-day tally for the country so far, health ministry data showed on Wednesday.
Coronavirus infections also rose by a record, increasing by 295,041 over the last 24 hours, the data showed. Total deaths reached 182,553.
India's overall case tally is now at 15.6 million, second only to the United States, which has over 31 million infections.
04:14 AM
Japan mulls state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka as cases surge
Japan's government is considering a state of emergency for Tokyo and Osaka as new Covid-19 case numbers surge, broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday, a move that would enable the giant cities to impose curbs to try to stop infections spreading.
With thousands of new cases resulting from highly infectious strains of the virus, the government is expected to declare the state of emergency this week for the capital and Osaka, Japan's second-biggest city, as well as the latter's neighbouring Hyogo prefecture, a number of domestic media outlets reported.
The latest rise in infections has stoked alarm, coming just three months before the planned start of the Tokyo Olympics and amid a sluggish vaccination roll-out.
03:44 AM
Colombia greenlights private sector to buy and apply vaccines
Colombia on Tuesday gave the green light for the private sector to buy and distribute coronavirus vaccines under certain conditions, in a bid to expand the country's slow-moving immunisation campaign.
President Ivan Duque said in his daily television address that after several studies, the ministry of health had drafted a resolution "that enables the purchase [of vaccines] and the contribution of the private sector to the national vaccination plan".
Any party buying vaccines must be endorsed by the health ministry and guarantee delivery using their own logistics chains so as not to be a burden on the public sector. They must also abide by guidelines to ensure the most vulnerable sectors of the community are the first to receive the shots.
"This should not be a matter of business, intermediaries, or unknown persons... but rather be carried out through specialised distributors," Mr Duque said.
03:16 AM
Exercise cuts risk of dying from Covid by more than a third, study finds
Regular exercise cuts the risk of dying from infectious diseases such as Covid-19 by more than a third, according to new research.
An international team of scientists found 150 minutes a week of physical activity that gets you slightly out of breath can have a massive impact on immunity.
It suggests exercise can reduce fatalities by 37 per cent, the danger of even catching similar diseases by 31 per cent and boost the effectiveness of vaccines by up to 40 per cent.
Professor Sebastien Chastin, who led the study, said: "You don't need to go to a gym, as dancing around the living room, going for a run or walk is just as effective. In this period of pandemic being outside is better than in a gym or closed environment. The clear message is 'stay active' - it's not only good for your mental and general health, but we now have the proof that it is also good for boosting your immunity."
Read more: How to stop midlife spread – in your 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond
12:53 AM
EU agency says clot 'very rare' J&J vaccine side effect
Europe's medicines regulator said on Tuesday that blood clots should be listed as a "very rare" side effect of Johnson & Johnson's accine, but that the benefits of the shot still outweighed the risks.
The US is expected to announce its decision on the single-shot J&J vaccine by Friday, as nations around the world urgently try to accelerate inoculation campaigns and revive their pandemic-ravaged economies.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) assessment came as an EU official promised to have enough doses available to vaccinate 70 per cent of European adults by the summer - a boon for the continent's sluggish rollout.
After reviewing isolated cases of clotting among people who received the vaccine, EMA's safety committee said it found a "possible link" to the jab.
The regulator said its safety committee "concluded that a warning about unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be added to the product information" for the J&J shot.
12:46 AM
Today's top stories
Just 32 vaccinated people were hospitalised with Covid-19 in recent months, according to “extraordinary” real world data showing the effectiveness of Britain’s jabs programme.
Tablets that can be taken at home to treat Covid-19 could be available as early as the autumn thanks to a new government drive to improve treatments.
Greek, Spanish and Portuguese islands could be opened up early for summer holidays as part of the Government’s “traffic light” plans for resuming international travel, Grant Shapps has indicated.
Tory MPs have urged the Government to save music festivals this summer, after Boomtown was cancelled for a second year in a row.
Covid “poppies” should be created to help families commemorate the pandemic, a former military chief behind a series of war memorials has said.
Nicola Sturgeon's "bitter and blind hostility" to the UK means she cannot accept the vaccination programme bolsters the case for the Union, the Tories have said after she insisted a separate Scotland would have performed just as well.
Nicola Sturgeon has refused to move Scotland out of lockdown more quickly despite daily Covid deaths remaining in low single figures and warnings the night-time economy faces a "tsunami" of 24,000 job losses.
