World News – UK – This will not be a normal Christmas, warns Rishi Sunak

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has warned that « Christmas will not be normal this year » as the prime minister prepares to announce his plans after the country’s second lockdown.

He told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge: « Tomorrow the Prime Minister will provide more details on the next steps in our fight against the coronavirus.

« With regards to Christmas, I find it frustrating as it is for all of us that Christmas is not going to be normal this year, but that is to say, the Prime Minister and everyone else, we are looking for ways to watch families throughout spend some time together during the Christmas season.

« Of course we would like to do that and it’s been a difficult year for all of us, but as I said, this year won’t be a normal Christmas. « 

One wise member has warned that trying to ban Christmas will only result in families breaking lockdown celebrations to hold their own illegal celebrations.

Calum Semple, professor of child health and outbreak medicine at Liverpool University, told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge, « The reality is we can’t ban Christmas and that would just lead to violations and what are you going to do? » the?

« So we’re looking at lowering the R but also getting the absolute number of cases, and there is really good news there. « 

The government said of Sunday’s numbers of deaths of people who tested positive for Covid: « Due to a processing update, 141 previously published deaths were identified within 28 days in England from those on Jan.. November published data excluded.

« This issue has now been resolved for the. Fixed data released November, including deaths skipped yesterday in today’s total and daily new deaths reported. « 

The number of laboratory-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK has exceeded 1. 5 million, after another 18. 662 cases were announced by the government.

The government said an additional 398 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, bringing the total to 55 in the UK. 024 increased.

Michael Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, met the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales and First and Deputy Ministers of Northern Ireland to discuss joint arrangements for the festive period, the cabinet said.

« Ministers welcomed the good progress that all administrations have made in the last few days in drawing up a single set of agreements that can apply across the UK and reaffirmed the importance of families and friends building on Careful and limited ways can be taken to realize that this will not be a normal festive time and that the risks of transmission remain very real.

« As such, ministers advocated a common goal of allowing limited budgetary extra bubbling for a small number of days, but also stressed that the public is advised to remain cautious and that people are advised wherever possible , avoid travel and minimize social contact.

« With respect to Northern Ireland, Ministers have also recognized that people want to see family and friends all over the island of Ireland and this is the subject of discussions with the Irish Government.

« Work to finalize the arrangements, including the trip, continues. The UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive hope to complete this work this week, subject to the approval of each government. « 

Leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies said on Sunday that due to the coronavirus crisis, following the G20 final communication, a multilateral trading system is still important as they are committed to keeping markets open and fair and stable its trading and investment environment.

The G20 also called on the International Monetary Fund to examine other instruments that could help its members develop the crisis.

One of the largest secondary schools in Kent with more than fifteen hundred students has announced that it will close for two weeks after nearly forty teachers and 160 children were self-isolating.

Howard School, Rainham, has written to parents that they will be by 7th. December will be closed.

It had tried to deal with sending different grade groups home, but it came to a head yesterday when two other positive students and six staff were waiting for results.

Boris Johnson faces the threat of revolt behind the scenes of his plans to move England into a tougher three tier system after the lockdown ends.

Dozens of Conservative MPs have said they will not support such a move without extensive evidence.

The Prime Minister has been warned in a letter from the Covid Recovery Group (CRG), which is said to have been signed by 70 Tory MPs, that he will need to do a cost-benefit analysis to show the restrictions are « more Save lives « than they cost ».

But Chancellor Rishi Sunak proposed on Sunday that the necessary evidence be presented, which would be a major challenge in paving the way for a major challenge to gain parliamentary approval of the restrictions.

The United States is hoping to launch a full-scale Covid vaccination program in early December, the head of state coronavirus vaccine effort said.

« Our plan is to have vaccines delivered to vaccination sites within 24 hours of approval, » Moncef Slaoui told CNN.

« So maybe on the second day of approval, on 11th. or 12. December. « 

Reports indicate that FDA vaccine advisors will be back from Aug.. until 10. Meet December December to discuss approving vaccines that Pfizer and Moderna say are at least 95 percent effective.

Mink infected with coronavirus were found on a farm in the Eure-et-Loire region in western France, and 1. 000 minks on the farm will be killed, said the French Ministry of Agriculture.

Cases of mink have also been reported in other parts of Europe, particularly Sweden, Greece and the Netherlands.

In Denmark, the virus was found to have mutated into a different strain that experts feared a vaccine could be less effective if passed back to humans. Around 17 million minks are said to be killed there.

« At this point, tests showed that the virus was circulating in a Eure-et-Loire farm, » the ministry said. « A second farm is intact. Tests are still being carried out in the last two plants. The results are expected during the week. « 

Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas protested on Sunday against anti-mask demonstrators who compared themselves to Nazi victims, accused them of playing down the Holocaust and « mocking » the resistance of the resistance fighters.

The harsh words came after a young woman took the stage in a protest against the restrictions of the coronavirus in Hanover on Saturday and said she felt « just like Sophie Scholl, » the German student who was killed by the Nazis in 1943 was executed for her role in the resistance.

A video of the speech has been viewed more than a million times on social media, with many harshly condemning the speaker.

« Anyone who compares themselves to Sophie Scholl or Anne Frank today mocks the courage to assert oneself against the Nazis, » tweeted Maas.

« It trivializes the Holocaust and shows an intolerable forgetting of history. Nothing connects the Corona protests with the resistance fighters. Nothing! « 

Construction workers are still working without adequate protection, a union said as a government scientific adviser warned of high levels of coronavirus transmission in the industry.

Professor Calum Semple, a member of the government’s emergency scientific advisory group (Sage), said he was « surprised » by transmission rates in the construction sector.

« You would have thought working outside wouldn’t be a risk, but a lot of construction workers actually work inside before buildings are made Covid-proof, » he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

« The construction industry turned out to be a risk that surprised me. « 

Workers’ Union Unite said the high transfer rates were likely caused by a « failure » in establishing secure operating procedures for sites.

Jerry Swain, Unite National Officer for Construction, said: « Since the pandemic began, Unite has warned construction workers are at significant risk.

« This situation has been exacerbated significantly by government input operating procedures for construction sites published by the Construction Leadership Council. This has helped address the need for mandatory use of masks where workers cannot work socially – a distant path that Unite has continued to demand. « 

Merthyr Tydfil County Council announced that 977 tests were conducted on the first day of its coronavirus mass test pilot on Saturday.

Iran recorded 13 in the last 24 hours. 053 new cases of coronavirus and 475 deaths, the Ministry of Health said.

This increased the death toll to 44. 802 and the number of cases to 854. 361 in the hardest-hit state in the Middle East.

On Saturday, Iran imposed stricter restrictions for two weeks to contain a third wave of coronavirus infections, including closing non-essential businesses and travel restrictions.

Some Iranian authorities have warned that the daily deaths from coronavirus 1. 200 if the nation fails to adhere to health protocols, including wearing masks and social distancing.

According to Reuters, Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz plans to take on new debts of around 160 billion euros in 2021, said two people familiar with the matter.

A government source said last month that the € 96 billion Scholz originally considered for next year would not be enough.

Statistician Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter has said that if the country goes through the winter with the same deaths as a bad flu season, it has done well.

He told Times Radio on Sunday that this was only possible due to restrictive measures – with potentially tens of thousands of deaths.

Sir David, statistician and chairman of the Winton Center for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge added, « It’s going to be a bad year [2021], there will be tens of thousands of Covid deaths this winter and we can very much. » do little about it.

« Overall, it might look very good like a bad flu season, especially since there is likely to be very little flu.

« There will be people who say, ‘Why did we have all this fuss if it’s just like a bad flu season?’.

« Don’t listen to them, this is real misinformation, it will only be because of the measures taken.

« If we can get away with what looks like a bad flu year, then we’ve done very well. « 

Ex-soccer player Gary Neville teams up with local business leaders to encourage workers to return safely to downtown Manchester amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Former England and Manchester United defender Neville, 45, has supported UnitedCity with a stated goal of getting the city back on its feet as it supports retail, leisure, cultural and sports businesses.

The independent campaign group announces that it will commission privately funded campaigns and independent research to obtain clear messages and data on safety in the workplace, in restaurants and in transportation.

UnitedCity has the support of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Manchester City Council Chairman Sir Richard Leese and will work with the region’s city council and joint agency to highlight the economic and health costs of the coronavirus and look for ways to minimize them.

His research would later be used to negotiate lockdown restrictions with the government so « a clear roadmap can be drawn up to get out of restrictions that hamper the region’s economic recovery or further threaten the mental health of its residents, » the group said added.

Dubai’s health authority said on Sunday that children between the ages of 3 and 16 could now be tested for Covid-19 by providing a saliva sample instead of the widely used nasal swab.

The saliva test was approved after a research study by the regulatory agency and a local university, the Dubai Health Authority said.

Professor Calum Semple said « fiddling » with drinking times or pub closing times was not an effective mechanism.

When asked if changing closing times would make a difference, he told Sophy Ridge on Sunday, « History has a lot to teach us. During the years of the ban, they tried to change the hours and tried to say that one can only. « drink when you’ve had a meal and everyone is very inventive and finds ways to work around it.

« Playing around the edges of drinking hours or pub closings is just not an effective mechanism.

« In pubs and clubs you have to look at all of human behavior and consider human behavior, and I think that was missing when this first happened.

« I think every iteration you see next will be better informed if you understand human behavior and don’t drive us into unintended consequences that can increase transmission, such as:. « 

It came when Rishi Sunak hinted that the government would review the 10 p.m. pubs and restaurants curfew – which was in place before national restrictions were reinstated.

He said to Andrew Marr on the BBC, « It’s definitely something we watch and I think, like I said, one of the things we could do when we learned is get data, what works and see where we can improve things.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said that protecting jobs from the coronavirus crisis is now the focus when asked about future tax increases.

He told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday, « I can’t comment on future fiscal policy for all of the obvious reasons.

« What you will see is investing more in day-to-day public services, implementing our manifesto, investing in infrastructure to spread opportunities across the country and drive recovery.

« But first and foremost, the focus will be on fighting the coronavirus to fund our health efforts and protect people’s jobs and livelihoods through this crisis.

Professor Calum Semple said industries like pubs and hairdressers that take coronavirus precautions like face masks or social distancing are still high-risk activities.

« On an individual basis there will be people who have adhered strongly to and protected these safeguards, but as in all things, the underlying activity is risky and it doesn’t take much – you just touch when you don’t have your mask and pick up your scissors and adjust their hair, wipe something out of someone’s eyes and suddenly you’ve broken the barriers.

« It’s not just about slapping a mask and visor, it’s about not touching the face mask, it’s about washing your hands.

France will begin easing coronavirus lockdown rules in the coming weeks. The process will be carried out in three steps to prevent the pandemic from flaring up again, the government said.

On Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron will deliver a speech to the nation on the virus situation and possibly announce a partial relaxation of the restrictions in place since October. 30th.

« Emmanuel Macron will be giving outlook for several weeks, particularly on how we will adjust our strategy. The point is to adjust the lockdown rules if the health situation improves, while avoiding a renewed flare-up of the epidemic, « government spokesman Gabriel Attal told Le Journal Du Dimanche.

« Given the health situation and the risks associated with some companies, three steps are being taken to (lock) easing: a first step around December. 1, then before the end of year holidays and then from January 2021, « added Attal.

Professor Calum Semple said he expected the broader population to get a mass vaccination by summer next year.

He told Sophy Ridge on Sunday that this mass vaccination would give the country the broad immunity it needs to go back to normal.

Prof. Semple said: « The priorities for vaccines will inevitably be the most vulnerable and frontline healthcare workers.

« I think we’ll see this expire around Christmas and New Years because the vaccine has already been ordered and we’ve had great results.

« The rest of the population, I believe, will look to the summer before this mass vaccination of the rest of the population and give us the immunity, the broad immunity that will allow us to return to normal.

« Even so, there will still be vulnerable people and we have to be careful. « 

Calum Semple, professor of child health and outbreak medicine at Liverpool University, said attempting to ban Christmas would result in people breaking restrictions.

The member of the Emergency Scientific Advisory Group (Sage) told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday, « The reality is we can’t ban Christmas and that would just lead to violations and what are you going to do? » the?

« So we’re looking at lowering the R but also getting the absolute number of cases, and there is really good news there.

« Nationally, we’re seeing cases falling in the community, and we’re already seeing the tide turning on hospital admissions in the areas that were ranked Tier 3 prior to lockdown, and we’ll be seeing the deaths shortly too reduce. « 

Shadow Secretary of Commerce Lucy Powell said whether people can see their families at Christmas also depends on the weeks after.

She said to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge, « I think we all want to kind of see our families over Christmas, but we don’t want to do it so that we have to pay one. « high price in the following weeks.

« I think what we want is measured clarity so that we can see our families in some way. I think we all know that Christmas is going to be a very different type of Christmas this year, but it’s not just about Christmas, it’s about the weeks ahead and the weeks after Christmas as well.

« So we need this clear route map instead of what we get from the government (the) who only focus on one small aspect which is then overrated and over-played, and then they have to pull back the drawbridge at the last minute. « 

Boris Johnson will inform the House of Commons on Monday that he will end the suspension in England and replace it with tightened levels. Christopher Hope, our lead political correspondent, has the full story:

Boris Johnson’s plans for a new, tightened three-tier system to replace next week’s national lockdown are threatened after 70 Conservative MPs threatened to veto the plans in parliament.

Tory MPs wrote to the Prime Minister on Saturday that they could not support further new restrictions unless the government publishes an economic analysis of the impact of the restrictions.

Mr Johnson will inform the House of Commons on Monday that he will end the lockdown in England next week and replace it with three new, tightened levels that will vary based on the spread of the virus locally.

More people might still be subject to lockdown style restrictions, with number 10 warning that « more areas will be placed in the higher levels to keep the virus under control ». .

The number of signatories to the letter is more than enough than the 43 Tory MPs to defeat the 85-strong government working majority in the House of Commons if Labor votes against the plans when they are presented to MPs next week.

South Korea will consider preemptively tightening some social distancing rules in Seoul and the surrounding area, its prime minister said on Sunday as the country reported more than 300 new coronavirus cases for a fifth straight day.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said at a government meeting that officials were discussing whether to enforce stricter distancing regulations in the Seoul area as well as the country’s southwestern region, Yonhap news agency reported.

Mr Chung said the government is looking into bringing some areas to higher levels of social distancing before the country sees a full week of more than 300 cases a day.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 330 new daily cases as of midnight on Saturday, down from 386 the previous day, a level not seen since August.

Russia reported a daily increase of 24 on Sunday. 581 new coronavirus infections, bringing the national number to 2. 089. 329 increased.

Authorities reported 401 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 36. 179 increased.

A World Health Organization (WHO) special envoy, Covid-19, predicted a third wave of the pandemic in Europe in early 2021 if governments repeat what he called a failure to do what was necessary to prevent the second wave of infections.

Europe briefly recorded a decline in infection rates, which are now rising again: In Germany and France, the cases together rose by 33 on Saturday. 000, in Switzerland and Austria there are thousands of cases every day, while Turkey has a record of 5. 532 new infections reported.

The decision in early summer to quickly abolish social distancing measures across Europe was more than an indication of it. Given volatile economies and with no apparent hope on the horizon, politicians might be tempted to gamble even though the rules of contagion were stacked against them.

Now that two vaccines illuminate the end of the tunnel, the political rationale has changed radically. Today the question posed by political leaders is not: will we return to normal? But when will we get there – and who will get there first?

The country’s escape route is now so temptingly close: read the full story to find out more

Authorities are running mass tests and closing schools after China reported three new domestic cases in the past 24 hours – two in northern Inner Mongolia province and one in Shanghai.

The city of Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia, will begin testing all residents on Sunday, one day after the two cases are discovered. The city has suspended classes and closed public venues to tell residents not to gather for dinner.

Local authorities in Shanghai found another case on Saturday after breaking Nov.. 416 people had tested after recently locally transmitted cases. The city is not closing its schools but has closed certain facilities such as a hospital. It also tests all residents of the Pudong New Area district.

China is already running mass tests on up to 3 million residents in the northern city of Tianjin after five cases were found there earlier this week. The total number of confirmed cases in China is 86. 431.

The US Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency permit for Covid-19 antibody therapy from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. granted, an experimental treatment for President Donald Trump that he believed helped cure the disease.

The FDA said the monoclonal antibodies casirivimab and imdevimab should be given together to treat mild to moderate Covid-19 in adult and pediatric patients who have positive SARS-CoV-2 direct virus test results and who are at high risk for that Progression to Severe Covid-19.

This includes people who are 65 years of age or older or who have certain chronic conditions.

India got 45 in the last 24 hours. 209 new confirmed cases were registered, while the country’s capital and many other parts of the festival season saw an increase.

At least three Indian states – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat – have imposed curfews in many cities.

While the general pace of new cases appears to be slowing, experts have warned that official numbers may offer false hope as many infections go undetected.

South Australia and Victoria eased Covid restrictions on Sunday as Australia kicks off the summer in a better position to fight the virus.

Victoria, the most severely affected, went 23 days without a new infection. In response, Prime Minister Daniel Andrews announced a series of changes to the restrictions. The previously mandatory outdoor wearing of masks is no longer required if social distancing is possible.

Masks must still be worn and worn indoors. House gatherings of up to 15 people are allowed and up to 50 people can gather outdoors.

Residents of South Australia emerged from a statewide lockdown at midnight on Saturday and can now attend bars and restaurants in groups of up to 10 people and hold social-distanced gatherings of 50 people.

The border between the states of Victoria and New South Wales, which closed three months ago at the height of the Victoria outbreak, reopened on Sunday.

The daily list of confirmed Covid cases in Japan reached 2 on the fourth day. 508 a record, the Ministry of Health announced on Sunday.

Japan has less than 2 so far. 000 coronavirus-related deaths recorded to avoid the toll on the hardest hit nations. But fears of a further increase are growing.

A spate of criticism from opposition lawmakers and the general public has criticized the government for stopping its « GoTo » tourism campaign too slowly, encouraging discounted travel and dining.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga canceled the campaign on Saturday, but only after many people had already made travel reservations for a three-day Thanksgiving weekend in Japan.

Airports and restaurants are full. Some say the government should have offered to pay for cancellations or instead stepped up testing if the goal is to keep the economy going amid a pandemic.

Tutorials on the correct ways to eat and drink in masked restaurants are being distributed online.

We strongly recommend that you disable your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our high quality content in the future.

Rishi Sunak, lockdown, Boris Johnson, coronavirus, curfew