Starting with some good news, a charity campaign which called for people to camp out in tents and leisure vehicles in the gardens has raised more than £90,000 for the NHS. Ian Alcorn, from Nottinghamshire, started the campaign on Just Giving and has originally hoped to raise around £100.
For more information on Ian’s campaign, visit the link at the bottom of this page.
Across Europe, particularly in Spain, death rates have declined for a fourth consecutive day. Italy has reported its lowest death toll for a fortnight and France seeing declines in hospital admissions.
Recorded deaths in the UK have also been decreasing for the past three days; with 439 recorded on Monday and with confirmed cases falling from 4,450 and 3,802 between Friday and Monday, there are some early promising signs that the spread of the virus is slowing.
In Monday’s daily briefing from 10 Downing Street; led by foreign secretary Dominic Raab, in Boris Johnson’s absence, deputy scientific advisor Angela Maclean and chief medical director Chris Witty, the trio reaffirmed the government’s position on social distancing to help mitigate the spread of the virus.
Raab also reiterated that the Treasury is in regular contact with UK banks to ensure viable businesses are able to access the loans they need, with Raab drawing particular focus onto more vulnerable small and medium sized companies.
Regarding the so-called ‘exit strategy’ the trio were hesitant to give any firm details, instead stating that there are a complex combination of factors and a large number of technical elements to consider; with Maclean adding “it’s too early to tell.”
We do not know for certain if the peak of the outbreak will be next week, with Raab stating that it would be a mistake to discuss the next phase of managing the pandemic until there is confidence that the peak has been reached.
Elsewhere, China – where the pandemic originated – has now reported no coronavirus deaths for the first time since January. In New Zealand, Health Minister David Clark has branded himself an idiot and been demoted after he flouted lockdown rules by driving 20km taking his family to the beach.
Ian Alcorn, Just Giving: