UK coronavirus: Boris Johnson says £12bn test and trace 'helping a bit' in Covid fight but must improve – as it happened

Andrew Sparrow

from on 2020-10-22 17:24 (#59CCC)

Latest updates: Boris Johnson says he share people's frustrations' as figures reveal new low in reaching contacts; further areas added to tier 2 restrictions. This live blog is now closed - please follow the global live blog for latest updates

6.16pm BST

6.03pm BST

Boris Johnson's comments on NHS Test and Trace at the press conference are at 5.20pm. Here are some more lines from the press conference.

At the moment, the numbers are heading in the wrong direction but there are some signs in some places of a potential flattening off of that. We need to wait and see and monitor the numbers very carefully.

It is clearly not sustainable to carry on acting in this way forever, so as we continue intervening in the economy, it is right that it is targeted and effective.

The issue is really one of basic fairness between various parts of the country that are having to experience regional restrictions, that's what we were trying to achieve in the last 10 days.

What we are doing now is bringing forward measures that are designed to help businesses that can't trade as they normally would and who are experiencing a fall in income.

Things are progressing well, there are vaccines that produce an immune response, they're in phase three clinical trials, we should be seeing some data read-outs over the course of this year, but I remain of the view that the possibility of wider-spread use of vaccines isn't going to be until spring or so next year by the time we get enough doses and enough understanding of the outputs to use them.

Now we may get a few doses this side of Christmas, maybe something could happen, but I think we should more realistically be looking at spring, and of course there are no guarantees until the studies have read out.

5.49pm BST

Nottingham MPs have described a decision by the government to leave them out of discussions on moving the city into tier 3 measures as insulting".

The city council leader, David Mellen, confirmed both he and the Nottinghamshire council leader, Kay Cutts, had received an invitation to a meeting with a government minister.

We've been standing up in the Commons at every opportunity asking the government what financial help is going to be provided, when we'll have details of going into tier 3, asking them why there have been these delays and we just get stonewalled.

I find it baffling that they want to keep MPs out of these discussions. Obviously we will want to have details of what their plan is, what they think it will achieve, how long they think we would need to be in tier 3, and what the criteria is for coming out.

5.45pm BST

Here are the latest figures from the UK's coronavirus dashboard.

5.32pm BST

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has announced that the Canary Islands, the Maldives, Denmark and the Greek island of Mykonos have been added to the travel corridors list. That means from Sunday morning people arriving from those places will not have to quarantine.

UPDATE: Following an assessment of the latest data, the Canaries, the Maldives, Denmark and Mykonos have been ADDED to the #TravelCorridors list. From 4am on Sunday 25th Oct, you will no longer need to self-isolate if you arrive from those destinations. pic.twitter.com/vVF40XKS2t

The latest data indicates we need to remove Liechtenstein from the Travel Corridors list. From 4am on Sunday the 25th October, you will need to self-isolate if you arrive from there.

5.20pm BST

Today NHS Test and Trace published performance figures showing that the proportion of close contacts of people with Covid-19 being reached has fallen to a new low and waiting times for test results have soared to almost double the target.

The government has spent more than 12bn on the service and, at the press conference, both Boris Johnson and Sir Patrick Vallance said it needed to improve.

Look, I share people's frustrations, and I understand totally why we do need to see faster turnaround times and we do need improve it. We need to make sure that people who do get a positive test self-isolate. That's absolutely crucial if this is going to work in the way that it can.

But I would just stress to you that the achievement of the testing operation has been colossal. They have moved from a capacity of I think 3,000, 2,000 tests per day to about 300,000 now.

We've done 26m tests, more than any other country in Europe. And they are on track to reach capacity of 500,000 by the end of this month.

The thing depends on people self-isolating and breaking the transmission.

It is helping a bit already to break the transmission. About 1m contacts have been reached.

It's really important to concentrate on numbers of contacts, isolation as quickly as you can and getting things back as quickly as you can - ideally you get the whole process done within 48 hours.

It's very clear there's room for improvement on all that and therefore that could be diminishing the effectiveness of this.

It's undoubtedly the case that test, trace and isolation becomes much more difficult to have an impact once numbers are high, it's much more effective when numbers are low.

4.45pm BST

Q: If we get a vaccine in the spring, when will we be able to stop social distancing and wearing masks?

Vallance says he does not want to speculate on how effective the vaccines will be.

4.40pm BST

Q: Why was the government willing to go to the wall with Andy Burnham over 5m, when today you announced spending worth billions. The chancellor today met business leaders in London. Does that mean they're more important?

Johnson says the negotiation between metro mayors was about fairness.

4.37pm BST

Q: Can you guarantee this level of support will be maintained until a vaccine is available?

Sunak says this support will last at least six months. It will be reviewed at the mid point. But this will take us through to the spring.

4.31pm BST

Sunak says it is clearly not sustainable to carry on borrowing at this rate.

It is important to have one eye on the public finances, he says.

4.30pm BST

Johnson says he shares people's frustrations" about test and trace.

But the achievements have been colossal", he says.

4.28pm BST

Q: Isn't today's announcement an acknowledgment that you have neglected the north for months?

Johnson says the issue is one of fairness. That is what he sought to achieve in the last few days.

4.24pm BST

Q: The problems with the first version of your jobs scheme were obvious to industry. Why weren't they obvious to you?

Sunak says that is a fair question to ask.

4.20pm BST

Q: What can you do to encourage innovative business?

Johnson says the UK is one of the most competitive and dynamic environments in which to set up a business.

4.17pm BST

Johnson is now taking questions from members of the public.

The first is from a woman who wants to know what help is available for businesses that are not told to close, but that are getting less income.

4.15pm BST

These are the hospital figures. Vallance says there are some indications of a decrease in the rate of increase.

4.13pm BST

Vallance says there indications that amongst young people rates of infection are flattening off. (See 1.46pm and 3.49pm.)

4.12pm BST

Here are the hospital admission figures. Vallance says the more people there are in hospital with Covid, the less able they are to treat non-Covid patients.

4.10pm BST

Sir Patrick Vallance is now showing slides.

He starts with a reminder from last week - the latest estimate for new cases.

4.08pm BST

Rishi Sunak is speaking now.

He is summarising the measures announced earlier. See 12.02pm.

4.06pm BST

Johnson says the government has produced a new package for businesses because it wants to keep them going.

He says the country can beat the virus.

4.04pm BST

Johnson says there are some people who say we should stop all restrictions.

(In fact, there are very few people who say this - although the Tory MP Sir Desmond Swayne gave a speech along these lines in the Commons Covid debate just a few minutes ago.)

4.00pm BST

Boris Johnson will be starting his press conference imminently.

He will be with Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser.

3.57pm BST

In Scotland there have been 1,712 new cases and 17 further deaths. The details are here.

Yesterday there were 1,739 cases and 28 deaths.

3.49pm BST

Public Health England has covered its weekly Covid surveillance report (pdf), which now also covers influenza. It is based on data in the week up to Sunday 18 October (week 42).

Here is an extract from its summary.

Several surveillance indicators suggest that Covid-19 activity at a national level has continued to increase during week 42, though there are some indications that infection rates may have started to decline in some age cohorts ...

Detections of Covid-19 cases in England remained high but stable in week 42. Incidence and positivity rates remain highest in the North of England but there have been declines in positivity in some areas including the North East and East Midlands. By age group, cases rates remain highest in the 10 to 19 and 20 to 29 year olds although rates in these age groups have begun to decline. Positivity rates were highest in the 10-19 year olds tested through both pillar 1 (NHS and PHE testing) and pillar 2 (community testing) but have also begun to decline in week 42.

3.33pm BST

NHS England has announced 152 further coronavirus hospital deaths. There were 60 in the north-west, 35 in the north-east and Yorkshire, 29 in the Midlands, 10 in the east of England, nine in London, seven in the south-east and two in the south-west. The details are here.

That is 58 more than yesterday's total (94) and 71 more than the total this time last week (81).

3.18pm BST

Here is a fuller version of what Matt Hancock, the health secretary, told MPs earlier about long Covid, the condition that involves people suffering long-term symptoms after a coronavirus infection.

In some cases people have no symptoms of the coronavirus initially, but then can find that they have months and months of a fatigue, and a brain fog, and a muscle pain, and they didn't know where it came from until they're diagnosed with long Covid. It is a very serious complication.

So there does seem to be some correlation which implies that it is more of a problem amongst younger people. But understanding this is long Covid is still in early stages and an awful lot more research is needed.

I've met people in their 20s and 30s, unable to work, sapped of all their energy, living with the long-term effects of a virus that has completely changed their lives. So to anyone, of any age, catching Covid can be very grave.

2.59pm BST

Hancock also told MPs that Warrington may have to move into the strictest tier 3 restrictions. He said formal discussions with the council were starting due to a continuing rise in cases there".

2.57pm BST

And Hancock also told MPs that lateral flow tests - Covid tests that can deliver results within minutes - started to be rolled out yesterday to schools and universities. Explaining what they could do, he said:

If we can deliver a mass testing solution so that pupils in a bubble don't have to isolate for a fortnight when one in a bubble tests positive, we will not only control the spread of the virus, we will protect education better, and help schools and teachers and parents to live their lives much closer to normal.

2.48pm BST

Hancock told MPs he was also giving local authorities new enforcement powers to close down premises ignoring Covid-safety rules. These will allow councils to shut places without delay on public health grounds.

To support businesses who are doing the right thing, it is fair that we take action against those businesses who are doing the wrong thing - so firm enforcement helps make these restrictions fairer for all.

So we want to put in place stronger regulations to give local authorities firmer powers to take further action in their area.

2.42pm BST

Hancock says some areas will have to move from tier 1, the medium risk level where the nationwide rules apply, to tier 2, the high risk level where stricter restrictions apply. They are: Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry and Slough.

In all of these areas there are more than 100 cases per 100,000 people, he says.

2.38pm BST

In the Commons, Matt Hancock is speaking now about long Covid. He says a clinic has been set up in London to help people suffering from this condition (long-term after-effects following a coronavirus infection).

He says that around one in 20 people have this. But among younger adults it is one in 10, he says.

2.34pm BST

Here is our full story on today's NHS test and trace performance numbers, from my colleague Haroon Siddique.

To have over 40% of people not even being contacted by the test-and-trace system is an interstellar-sized black hole in the government's plan to reduce transmission.

How much longer are we expected to put up with this dangerous failure before ministers admit that the likes of Serco just aren't up to the job?

We already knew that national contact tracing is an utter disaster - but it has now reached rock bottom. The figures released today show the test-and-trace system has had the lowest weekly figure of contacts traced since the scheme began back in March, not to mention the fact they're being forced to draft in untrained staff to cope with the level of rising cases.

2.30pm BST

Steve Baker, a Conservative, asks Hancock to confirm that the disease is not progressing in the way that it was in the first wave. There has been no increase in excess mortality, he says.

And I want to keep it that way," says Hancock.

2.27pm BST

Hancock says there are two advantages as the government tackles the second wave.

First, it is more regional, he says. That means not all parts of the NHS are under the same pressure.

2.26pm BST

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is opening a Commons debate on coronavirus.

He says every day his confidence in the ability of science grows.

2.23pm BST

The government's internal market bill undermines human rights protections, a committee of MPs and peers has said.

In a report (pdf), the joint committee on human rights said the legislation would allow ministers to ignore the Human Rights Act when making regulations. It said:

The committee are concerned that the bill still seems to envisage ministers not being bound by the Human Rights Act duty to act compatibly with convention rights when making regulations.

It also seeks to prevent the courts striking down regulations that are incompatible with human rights.

2.19pm BST

2.17pm BST

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has described today's beefed-up economic support package from the Treasury as a sticking plaster solution". He said:

The changes announced today are a welcome improvement to the flawed and narrow job support scheme announced last month.

These should have been in place from the start - instead, businesses and workers have been put through weeks of uncertainty.

2.05pm BST

From Sky's Sam Coates

Table sent to Tory MPs about the tiers

(Note how even CCHQ don't bother with the madly confusing medium / high / very high labels and just use tier 1, 2, 3) pic.twitter.com/3FRKFw9tQI

1.59pm BST

Caroline Ansell, a Conservative MP who defied her party to support Labour's vote for free school meals during school holidays, has resigned from her government post as a parliamentary private secretary, my colleague Heather Stewart reports.

1.49pm BST

These are from Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UKHospitality, which represents businesses in the hospitality sector.

Huge and very welcome intervention by Chancellor - JSS scheme evolves significantly to reflect changed circumstances. Sees employer minimum hours of at least 20% and top up of 5% (down from 55% previously). Just saved hundreds of thousands of jobs in hospitality and supply chain

Crucially securing help for our teams but also giving biz a lifeline to remain viable through continued trading where possible and a quicker and easier return to growth as restrictions ease. Thanks for listening and continuing to support the 3rd largest employer @RishiSunak

1.46pm BST

During the Manchester public health briefing (see 1.25pm) the city council's director of public health, David Regan, said the infection rate among older people was high and rising.

There were 339 cases per 100,000 people among the over-60s, he said, adding:

That is where we've got our greatest concern because, unfortunately, our older population are more at risk of developing complications from Covid, which may result in hospital admissions.

Where the evidence is really clear is that the national lockdown did work in terms of suppressing the virus. I think we know that [with] these local lockdown arrangements, the evidence isn't there fully yet.

1.38pm BST

Nicola Sturgeon has suggested that children should avoid going guising, or trick-or-treating, during Halloween this year, because it is unsafe for people to have unnecessary contact with others.

She said the Scottish government was issuing guidance for Halloween over the weekend, and urged families to devise different ways of celebrating. She said:

It's not safe right now to do these things as normal. It wouldn't be fair of me or right of me to say otherwise. To parents, to children: think of ways you can celebrate in a way that's safe and doesn't have children or others coming into unnecessary contact with others.

I'm not going to stand here and give people false assurances I can't deliver. It does depend on people doing the right thing now, so by Christmas we can ease up a bit.

1.25pm BST

Manchester's Nightingale hospital will reopen towards the end of next week" to help relieve the strain on the NHS from the second wave of coronavirus, senior health figures have confirmed.

Prof Jane Eddleston, Greater Manchester's medical lead on coronavirus, said the large makeshift facility would take recovering Covid patients from hospitals across the badly hit north-west of England.

I don't want to belittle the fact that this is a very serious condition and it's challenging for the system ...

[But] we are prepared and we are determined as a system that we will move in the system together. We won't allow any one of our providers to unintentionally have an increase in pressure in their system.

1.11pm BST

These are from Daniel Tomlinson, an economist at the Resolution Foundation thinktank. They explain why the new measures should make it more worthwhile financially for employers to retain staff.

What just happened?

The Chancellor's economic support package caught up with the reality that restrictions - whatever the Tier - are tough for some businesses. He's:

Reduced the hours worked requirement (33% to 20%)
And slashed the employer contribution (33% to 5%) pic.twitter.com/ikzzP28Tru

This has, pretty much, fixed the JSS.

The incentive to keep two people on part-time rather than one on full-time, with the other made redundant is here.

Crucial for keeping unemployment down this winter. pic.twitter.com/kqKmcKoYqv

And, when you add in the impact of the Job Retention Bonus the incentives are even stronger - particularly at lower wages.

Chart shows cost of keeping people at various wage levels working half-time for six months. pic.twitter.com/OzKlpkaw1d

Still some concern that firms not told to close but effectively forced into doing so by social distancing won't be able to manage 20% of usual hours worked. But as far as support for jobs this winter goes, the Chancellor has sorted it out.

*This should have happened weeks ago.

1.03pm BST

The Scottish Retail Consortium, which represents the country's largest shopping chains, has urged people to shop early, start wrapping" after Nicola Sturgeon's public health adviser warned Christmas would be severely impacted by the Covid crisis. (See 9.39am.)

The SRC, the Scottish wing of the British Retail Consortium, said Jason Leitch's warning that large family gatherings would be highly unlikely to be approved this year added to its anxieties about the impact coronavirus controls were having on shops.

Whilst celebrations will be a little different this year, we know shoppers will want to keep Christmas special. That's why we're encouraging people to shop early and prevent the last minute rush so their fellow customers and all the store colleagues, warehouse workers and delivery drivers working behind the scenes, have the space they need to stay safe and well.

12.59pm BST

From my colleague Richard Partington

Treasury publishes pictures of Rishi Sunak and Robert Jenrick meeting with business leaders in Franco Manca, by Waterloo station, this morning. Did either cabinet minister visit Greater Manchester earlier this week for talks? https://t.co/KrZ50WkSKA pic.twitter.com/J30UTqKAJC

12.59pm BST

And this is from Frances O'Grady, the TUC general secretary, on Rishi Sunak's beefed-up economic support package. She said:

Unions have been calling for a more generous jobs support scheme to help workers and businesses hit by the impact of coronavirus restrictions across the country.

Today's measures are a step forward. But there are still big holes in the government's plan.

12.54pm BST

Business groups have welcomed Rishi Sunak's beefed-up support package for firms and workers.

In a statement the CBI director general, Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, said:

This is a big step towards a more standardised approach of support for areas going into tiers 2 and 3 and those businesses that face tough times who operate within them. It will be critical to get the buy-in of all regions in England, rather than negotiation on a case-by-case basis.

The new and improved jobs support scheme is to be welcomed, and should go some way to easing company directors' fears. A substantial reduction in the employer contribution is a crucial step, reflecting our members' concerns. Taking a national approach will help to cut through the confusion of different tiering systems and backroom political negotiations.

This is a very significant improvement in the support available to businesses struggling with the impact of increasing restrictions across the UK.

12.49pm BST

Nicola Sturgeon said she welcomed the chancellor's new funding of the job and self-employed support schemes but said the Scottish government would press the Treasury to increase the subsidies given to support jobs.

There's still an argument [it] should go further, particularly on levels of wage support for businesses," she said at her daily coronavirus briefing. There was a need to try to get improvements there, and get that back up to levels we saw earlier in the pandemic".

12.40pm BST

This is from Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, criticising Rishi Sunak for what he said earlier (see 12.27pm) about the need to balance" protecting jobs against protecting lives.

Did Rishi Sunak just say his approach is about striking a balance between saving lives and protecting livelihoods?

Saving lives and protecting livelihoods go hand in hand.

It's not about trading one off against the other.

12.36pm BST

Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser, will hold a press conference at 4pm, No 10 has announced.

12.33pm BST

Alison Thewliss, the SNP's Treasury spokeswoman, told the Commons that the new Treasury support package was a sign of panic". She said:

This is the third statement from the chancellor in the space of a month but this is not a sign of good management, this is a sign of panic and chaos from this government and none of this should be coming as a surprise to them.

The chancellor's scheme has been full of holes. Time and time again he comes here in a knee-jerk reaction full of panic rather than planning ahead to a situation we told him would arise.

12.29pm BST

Labour's Chris Byrant told Sunak in the Commons that he welcomed the measures. But he wanted to know what the Barnett consequentials would be for Wales (ie, how much will go to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as their share of the spending for England).

Sunak said he could not put a figure on that because these were demand-led schemes" and so it was not clear what the final cost would be.

12.27pm BST

In the Commons Mel Stride, the Conservative chair of the Treasury committee, asked Rishi Sunak for an assurance that in future the government's chief economist would appear at Covid press conferences, so that economic concerns are taken into account as well as health concerns.

Sunak said the government was aware of the importance of both. He told Stride:

The party opposite did reference the Sage minutes but seemed to forget that that part of the minutes which struck very rightly that balance between protecting jobs and protecting lives as well.

He can rest assured that that is what we on this side of the House and in this government will always do. I may spare the chief economist the pleasure of the press conferences.

12.21pm BST

These are from Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

V big change to Job Support Scheme.

To keep employees in jobs firms now need to pay 20% for time they work plus 5% on top, with govt covering 75%. Under scheme announced last month govt covered just 45%

This changes incentives to keep people on a lot.

Again, though, it is very odd to have such a big announcement without, so far as I can see, any information on expected cost.

Nothing at all yet on HMT website https://t.co/bX42at65bH

12.19pm BST

This is from Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester. He says he would have backed moves for his region to be placed under the tier 3 restrictions if he had been told about these measures two days ago.

Honestly, can barely believe what I'm reading here.

Why on earth was this not put on the table on Tuesday to reach an agreement with us?

I said directly to the PM that a deal was there to be done if it took into account the effects on GM businesses of three months in Tier 2. https://t.co/w2AeeLitGP

12.14pm BST

Whoever manages Rishi Sunak's Twitter feed has been posting about the new measures.

1/ I'm introducing a new grants scheme for businesses impacted by Tier 2 restrictions, even if they aren't legally closed.

I'm providing enough funding to give every business in hospitality, leisure & accommodation a grant worth up to 2,100 every month Tier2 restrictions apply. pic.twitter.com/HvVtz9WReq

Following disquiet from some Tories about 'Brand Rishi' taking all the credit for billions of spending, the Chancellor has finally added the Conservative tree logo. As one senior Tory points out tho, he still 'can't quite manage the word Conservative'... https://t.co/B7Ht2LCiSQ

12.12pm BST

These are from Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, a thinktank focusing on pay and income inequality. He has posted a thread starting here.

Chancellor kicking off - he's going to protect your jobs (mainly)

Main measure: totally refashioning Job Support Scheme by slashing employer contributions from 33% to 5%. This is addressing the massive flaw in the scheme and will make a big difference to the schemes effectiveness

Summary: @RishiSunak has now created a fit for purpose part time work scheme that firms can actually use. A policy that might work in the real world as well as in spreadsheets

12.08pm BST

And here is an example from the Treasury of how the revised job support scheme could work.

A typical full-time employee in the hospitality industry is paid an average of 1,100 per month. Under the jobs support scheme for open businesses, they will still take home at least 807 a month. All the employer needs to pay is a total of 283 a month or just 70 a week; the government will pay the rest.

12.07pm BST

Here is more detail from the Treasury on how much the new business grants could be worth. It says:

[Local authorities] will receive a funding amount that will be the equivalent of:

For properties with a rateable value of 15,000 or under, grants of 934 per month.

12.02pm BST

Here is the Treasury news release about the plans.

And this is what it says about the three measures.

The chancellor has announced approved additional funding to support cash grants of up to 2,100 per month primarily for businesses in the hospitality, accommodation and leisure sector who may be adversely impacted by the restrictions in high-alert level areas. These grants will be available retrospectively for areas who have already been subject to restrictions, and come on top of higher levels of additional business support for local authorities moving into tier 3 which, if scaled up across the country, would be worth more than 1bn.

These grants could benefit around 150,000 businesses in England, including hotels, restaurants, B&Bs and many more who aren't legally required to close but have been adversely affected by local restrictions nonetheless.

Recognising the pressure businesses in some sectors and areas are facing, today's announcement lightens the burden of keeping on staff.

When originally announced, the JSS - which will come into effect on November 1 - saw employers paying a third of their employees' wages for hours not worked, and required employees to be working 33% of their normal hours.

Today's announcement increases the amount of profits covered by the two forthcoming self-employed grants from 20% to 40%, meaning the maximum grant will increase from 1,875 to 3,750.

This is a potential further 3.1bn of support to the self-employed through November to January alone, with a further grant to follow covering February to April.

11.57am BST

Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, is responding to Sunak.

She says the government's handling of this has been shambolic".

11.52am BST

Sunak says his second measure will make the job support scheme more generous.

The employer contribution will be cut from 33% to 5%, he says.

Job Support Scheme Closed will help businesses pay their employees' wages if they are legally required to close due to coronavirus restrictions

- Government pays 67% of employees' wages
- Employers pay nothing towards wages pic.twitter.com/x7CvgsaODp

11.49am BST

Sunak says he is announcing three measures.

First, there will be grants available for businesses in tier 2 areas.

11.46am BST

Sunak summarises what is already available.

But even businesses that can stay open face profound uncertainty, he says.

11.45am BST

Sunak says a regional, tiered approach is the right way to control the spread of the virus.

11.44am BST

Sunak says he makes no apology for responding to changing circumstances.

11.44am BST

Rishi Sunak is making his statement to the Commons now.

He starts by addressing people in tier 3 areas.

11.43am BST

The NHS Test and Trace figures (pdf) also show that, in the most recent week, it only reached 59.6% of the close contacts of people who had tested positive it was told about. This is the lowest figure yet.

The target is 80%.

11.37am BST

NHS Test and Trace (which, of course, is run by private contractors, not the NHS) has published its latest weekly performance statistics (pdf).

The figures show that there has been a very significant increase in the amount of time taken for test results to be delivered. People using regional test sites, local test sites or mobile testing units now have to wait around 48 hours for a result.

The median time to receive a test result after taking a test in-person has increased in the latest week.

In the first month of test and trace, there was an initial reduction in the median time taken to receive a test result for in-person tests (regional test sites, local test sites and mobile testing units). This began to gradually trend back up from the start of July until the middle of September.

11.20am BST

The Resolution Foundation thinktank has posted these on Twitter on the latest furlough figures from the ONS. (See 10.30am.)

Latest data from @ONS shows that in late August there were still 3.3 million people on furlough. Remember that this was when 'Eat Out to Help Out' was at its peak and restrictions on economic activity were light. pic.twitter.com/iU0hotJ4Zt

In positive news, this meant that 436,000 hospitality employees left furlough between July and August. We expect that the vast majority of these would have returned to work rather than entered unemployment. pic.twitter.com/g36unllA8a

But this does leave roughly 1/4 of hospitality workers and 1/3 of leisure workers still furloughed (either fully or in part) at the end of August - reminding us once more of the heavy impact of the crisis on these sectors. pic.twitter.com/FoXH6IMAOf

11.15am BST

From the Treasury

Our economic support schemes continue to deliver for people & businesses up and down the country.

The latest figures can be found here: https://t.co/6T4msl736l pic.twitter.com/12pLletdf0

11.14am BST

From Ed Miliband, the shadow business secretary

At least 8,000 redundancies have been announced since the Chancellor set out his Winter Economic Plan:

Marston's - 2,150
National Trust - 1,458
Manchester Airports Group - 900
TSB - 969
Greene King - 800
Edinburgh Woollen Mill - 600
Pret - 400
GBK - 362
Virgin Money - 400

11.13am BST

The Welsh government has decided to nationalise its railways following a significant drop in passenger numbers because of coronavirus.

Ken Skates, the Welsh economy minister, said:

The last few months have been extremely challenging for public transport in Wales and across the UK.

Covid has significantly impacted passenger revenues and the Welsh government has had to step in with significant support to stabilise the network and keep it running.

11.08am BST

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has confirmed plans making it compulsory for lorries crossing to France from the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone to obtain a permit before they enter Kent or face a 300 fine.

In a press statement Shapps said:

New opportunities mean new ways of doing things and it's sensible that we plan for all scenarios including the risk of short-term disruption to our busiest trade routes.

By putting in place these plans we are ensuring Kent keeps moving, our fantastic haulage industry is supported and trade continues to flow as we embark on our future as a fully independent state.

11.01am BST

George Osborne - remember him? - has just given a speech to the Great Northern conference, in which he suggested that his northern powerhouse" concept - repackaged by Boris Johnson as the levelling-up" agenda - was a success because:

We now have a national conversation where representatives of the North of England are heard on our national news.

I think we're beginning to see a much more balanced, healthy British society and state where not every single decision is taken in Westminster.

10.59am BST

Driscoll tells the business committee he has a problem with the phrase levelling up". That implies there is a ceiling, he says. He does not want there to be a ceiling. He wants his area to go further.

10.55am BST

Q: What do you make of the fact that Rishi Sunak is only now introducing this extra help for tier 2 regions?

Burnham says he is really struggling" with this. That's not because he begrudges the help. It is because he wants to know, why now? Why is help only being offered after London went into tier 2?

I honestly was just open-mouthed really when I read the headlines last night. That there was going to be a support package ... billed as being for London and Birmingham.

And it was just a case of Hello! We've been under these restrictions for three months'.

10.49am BST

Jamie Driscoll tells the committee that yesterday was the 215th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. He says Nelson realised he could not always tells his captains what to do, so the night before the battle, he told them to make sure their ships were alongside the enemy.

If Nelson could understand the importance of delegated leadership 215 years ago, then Whitehall should understand it now.

10.40am BST

Andy Burnham goes first.

He says this might be a moment when England grows up" a little in terms of devolution.

We were being asked to lock down on terms from very far away and ultimately ... a stand needed to be taken.

10.32am BST

The Commons business committee is now taking evidence from four metro mayors: Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, Steve Rotheram, the mayor of Liverpool city region, Jamie Driscoll, the North of Tyne mayor and Tim Bowles, the West of England mayor. It is part of an inquiry into post-pandemic economic growth.

There is a live feed here, and hopefully we'll have one at the top of the blog soon.

10.30am BST

The Office for National Statistics has published two reports on the impact of coronavirus on the UK this morning.

This one covers the economy and society. And here are some of the main points.

10.05am BST

The government has been accused of London-centric decision-making as the chancellor looked set to help to businesses suffering under Covid restrictions less than a week after a ban on household mixing came into force in the capital - after ignoring similar pleas from much of the north of England for almost three months, my colleague Helen Pidd reports.

9.50am BST

Hospitals in Liverpool are treating more coronavirus patients than they were during the peak of the first wave of the pandemic, the medical director has said.

Dr Tristan Cope, a consultant and the medical director of Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal, Aintree and Broadgreen hospitals in the city, used Twitter to highlight the scale of the problem.

Sadly we are now treating more patients in hospital with Covid-19 @LivHospitals than we did in April at the peak of the first wave and numbers continue to rise.
So important that people in #liverpool and @LivCityRegion adhere to social distancing restrictions.#HandsFaceSpace

Treating so many covid patients in addition to usual acute and emergency care of patients with non-covid conditions puts a huge strain on @LivHospitals staff. Thank you to all our staff for their incredible hard work and dedication in dealing with this very difficult situation.

We can all help reduce that pressure by doing the right thing and taking some very simple measures: washing our hands frequently, keeping our distance from others from outside our household and wearing face coverings in indoor settings.#HandsFaceSpace

9.44am BST

The shadow health minister Rosena Allin-Khan sent out more than 1,600 letters on pre-paid House of Commons stationery in breach of the rules, an inquiry has found. As PA Media reports, the Commons standards committee recommended that Allin-Khan should repay the 1,142.52 cost of sending the Brexit Update" letter to voters in her Tooting constituency in the run-up to last year's general election.

The parliamentary commissioner for standards, Kathryn Stone, found that the letter used public resources to highlight to a group of voters her position and record on an issue that was one of the key themes of the imminent election". The committee noted that it was the third time Allin-Khan had been found to have breached the rules in three years.

9.39am BST

Nicola Sturgeon's public health adviser Jason Leitch has warned the idea of a normal Christmas this year with large family gatherings is fiction", and urged people to get their digital Christmas ready".

Leitch, the Scottish government's national clinical director, who regularly flanks Sturgeon in her daily coronavirus briefings, told BBC Radio Scotland it was too early to say what the situation would be in late December. But Christmas would absolutely" not be normal. He said:

I'm worried firstly about Hallowe'en and November 5, and then we may turn our minds to Christmas. I'm hopeful costs now may get us a more normal family Christmas but Christmas is not going to be normal; there's absolutely no question about that.

We're not going to be in large family groupings with multiple families coming round. That is fiction for this year, but I'm hopeful if we can get the numbers down to a certain level we may be able to get some form of normality but people should get their digital Christmas ready.

9.30am BST

Good morning. Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, will be in the Commons later to deliver his fourth Covid support package in as many months. It is expected that a key feature of his announcement will be increased support for businesses that are affected by the tier 2 restrictions - such as pubs and restaurants getting less trade because people cannot meet up inside to eat or drink with friends.

Ministers have been under pressure to address this problem for week, because businesses have been suffering in the Midlands and the north of England in places where tier 2-style restrictions were imposed over the summer. (The three-tier system was only introduced last week.) Labour even staged a vote addressing this issue in the Commons yesterday. The government voted it down with a majority of 79. But you could read Sunak's statement as evidence that, as the Corbynites would put it, Labour won the argument.

The government have given incredible support to businesses, but clearly this particular point was just one that was completely missed in planning the tier 2 restrictions so I am really optimistic that they will respond.

The government didn't expect us to be in a position through the autumn where we were having a rising level of the virus to this extent, so if you look at the design of the winter economy package at the time that seemed rational but clearly events have moved very quickly.

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