20 things that happened w/b 29th November #coronavirus
• new tier system will end on 2nd February (PM)
• "risk of a third wave in the new year"
• Santa's grottos can open if Covid-secure
• 4 weeks of lockdown has cut cases by a third
• shops can open 24h a day (except Sundays)
• Lewis Hamilton tests positive
• Arcadia in administration; Debenhams to close
• no plans for 'vaccine passport'
• 55 Tory MPs vote against tiered system
• Lockdown 2 ends, tiers return
• Pfizer vaccine authorised in UK
• PM "sure and certain" of normal life by spring
• students testing negative start travelling home
• first vaccine doses arrive in UK
• quarantine lifted for 'high value' travellers
• pubs in Wales barred from selling alcohol
• small crowds return to football matches
• tests for care home visitors ineffective
• Russia begins vaccinations
• Sir Keir self-isolates again
Worldwide deaths: 1,450,000 → 1,520,000
Worldwide cases: 61,800,000 → 66,100,000
UK deaths: 58,030 → 61,014
UK cases: 1,605,172 → 1,705,971
FTSE: up 3% (6387 → 6550)
20 things that happened w/b 22nd November #coronavirus
• strengthened tiers will follow Lockdown 2
• borrowing 'cannot go on indefinitely'
• Oxford vaccine 70% effective
• daily tests offered in lieu of self-isolation
• 'Covid Winter Plan' published
• gyms and all retail to reopen next week
• fans to be allowed at outdoor sport
• UK Christmas: 3 households can mix for 5 days
• ...but be careful, say national leaders
• Russian vaccine "up to 95% effective"
• economy to shrink 11% this year
• economic emergency "only just begun"
• 99% of England placed in top two tiers
• only Cornwall, Scillies and IoW in tier 1
• MPs angered by blanket restrictions
• R dips below 1
• Northern Ireland goes back into lockdown
• Black Friday sales significantly down
• vaccine rollout minister appointed
• free vitamin D for 2½m
Worldwide deaths: 1,380,000 → 1,450,000
Worldwide cases: 57,800,000 → 61,800,000
UK deaths: 54,626 → 58,030
UK cases: 1,493,383 → 1,605,172
FTSE: up ¼% (6351 → 6367)
20 things that happened w/b 15th November #coronavirus
• 'normal life back next winter' thanks to vaccine
• Test & Trace tell PM to self-isolate
• testing capacity will double in 2021
• US vaccine 95% effective (UK hasn't bought any)
• PM working from home, 'feeling great'
• tier system may need strengthening
• political will to 'save Christmas'
• 11 areas in Scotland raised to tier 4
• PPE contracts: £10bn awarded without tendering
• Hull has UK's highest rate of infection
• head of Test & Trace now self-isolating
• Oxford vaccine showing good results
• New York closes schools
• rescue package for UK sport
• Brexit talks suspended after +ve test
• NI relaxes lockdown... for one week
• infection rates levelling off
• UK setting up vaccine hubs
• R still (just) above 1
• curfew introduced in California
Worldwide deaths: 1,310,000 → 1,380,000
Worldwide cases: 53,700,000 → 57,800,000
UK deaths: 51,766 → 54,626
UK cases: 1,344,356 → 1,493,383
FTSE: up ½% (6316 → 6351)
20 things that happened w/b 8th November #coronavirus
• scaled-back & distanced Remembrance Sunday
• Manchester hospitals suspend non-urgent care
• Wales ends its 17-day firebreak
• Biden's team planning ahead for the pandemic
• Pfizer vaccine 90% successful in trials
• "life could return to normal by Spring"
• "several more hurdles for vaccine" (PM)
• record number of redundancies this summer
• Wales cancels next summer's exams
• 'lockdown' is the word of the year
• testing operation to get students home for Xmas
• UK death toll passes 50,000
• economy out of recession (still down on March)
• surge in infections in Sweden
• long waits for hospital operations
• Yorkshire Ripper dies in prison from virus
• Dominic Cummings departs Number 10
• R decreasing but still above 1
• Divali goes digital
• Britons warned not to become complacent
Worldwide deaths: 1,250,000 → 1,310,000
Worldwide cases: 49,600,000 → 53,700,000
UK deaths: 48,888 → 51,766
UK cases: 1,171,441 → 1,344,356
FTSE: up 7% (5910 → 6316)
20 things that happened w/b 1st November #coronavirus
• Test and Trace app set threshold too high
• England lockdown 'may last more than 4 weeks'
• Prince William contracted virus in April
• increased help for the self-employed
• lockdown a 'medical and moral' responsibility (PM)
• everyone in Liverpool to be tested
• UK death rate 10% higher than usual
• shops extend hours/pubs offload beer
• US election - outcome unclear
• M&S suffers first annual loss
• 38 MPs vote against lockdown 2
• Lockdown for four weeks across England
• furlough scheme extended until March
• new rapid test misses half of cases
• Danish mink hosted virus mutation
• Denmark/Sweden/Germany → quarantine list
• infection rate may be stabilising
• UK bans visitors from Denmark
• St Paul's Cathedral gets £2m culture grant
• Joe Biden announced as US president
Worldwide deaths: 1,180,000 → 1,250,000
Worldwide cases: 45,800,000 → 49,600,000
UK deaths: 46,555 → 48,888
UK cases: 1,011,660 → 1,171,441
FTSE: up 6% (5577 → 5910)