COVID-19 – Weekly Round-up

Friday 20 November 2020

Heart of London Business Alliance is committed to ensuring our members receive the support they need while the situation in relation to COVID-19 is fast-changing. Our Daily Bulletin provides you with an update on the important announcements and guidance from the Government. In addition, it is recommended that our members monitor the GOV.UK website for guidance regarding COVID-19.

Together with our local Member of Parliament, Nickie Aiken, Heart of London will continue to lobby Government for support for our members and your employees during this difficult time.

Headlines • Stricter tier system to follow end of lockdown

• Chancellor announces 2020 Spending Review

• Fresh hope for overseas travel

Stricter tier system to follow end of lockdown

23rd November: On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed the Government’s COVID-19 Winter Plan, which will see the reintroduction of the three-tier system of coronavirus restrictions at the end of the national lockdown on 2nd December. Each tier will be harsher than their previous iterations, and will be implemented uniformly across regions. Many measures are uniform across tiers, with non-essential retail and leisure facilities permited to re-open, although in Tier 3, restaurants and pubs are now only able to operate on a takeaway basis. In Tier 1 and 2, the ‘rule of six’ is still in place for both indoor and outdoor soclialising, but the 10pm curfew will be extended to 11pm. In Tiers 1 and 2, spectator attendence at sporting events will be permitted to resume, though only at substantially reduced capacity. On Thursday, Boris Johnson unveiled the full list of restrictions by area, which saw the majority of the population placed in Tier 2, albeit with a significant minority of some 23 million people placed in Tier 3, including Manchester and Birmingham. Only Cornwall, the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly were placed into Tier 1. The system is to be regularly reviewed, with the first appraisal due on 16th December, meaning that regions could change tiers in time

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for Christmas. Tier allocation depends on the local positivity rate, the rate at which cases are increasing or decreasing, and the pressure on local NHS services.

However, a significant minority of Conservative MPs, primarily representing Midlands and northern constituencies, have openly questioned the methodology used to determine tier allocation, concerned that the Prime Minister is being guided too heavily by his SAGE advisors while giving insufficient consideration to the economic impact. In addition to a percieved south/north bias, questions have arisen as to how a four-week lockdown has concluded with tougher restrictions for some regions than were in place previously. The latest announcement will inevitably stir rebellion from the anti-lockdown Covid Recovery Group, which now numbers around 100 MPs.

Christmas arrangements

24th November: Despite ongoing restrictions, the Government has announced that there will be an easing of social restrictions between 23rd – 27th December, allowing families to meet over the festive period in a limited capacity. Up to three households will be allowed to meet indoors over this period in a “christmas bubble”. However, other restrictions will continue to apply, as determined by tier allocation. The decision has been agreed between Downing Street and the Devolved Administrations, allowing rules to be standardised across the UK. However, the Scottish Government has nevertheless pushed a more cautious narrative, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stating at a COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday that the “default advice” was still that people should avoid contact to be in the “safest position”. Specfically, the Scottish Government’s guidance contains additional instructions outlining that, as well as being limited to three households, Christmas bubbles should not contain more than eight people above the age of 11.

Chancellor announces 2020 Spending Review

25th November: Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered a statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday, detailing the Treasury’s 2020 Spending Review. The Chancellor’s statement revealed the enormity of the financial impact of COVID-19 as he announced the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) fiscal forecast, which reports that the UK economy is expected to contract by 11.3% during FY20/21, the largest proportional fall in economic output in over 300 years. Sunak also revelled details of departmental budgets for FY21/22, detailing new spending commitments that include an additional £4 billion for the Government’s Levelling Up Fund to support towns and communities with regeneration projects. This is just part of an additonal £55 billion set aside to continue tackling COVID-19 over the next year.

Reflecting on the scale of private sector redundancies and pay cuts, Sunak revealed that around 1.3 million public sector workers will see their pay frozen. However, NHS doctors and nurses and those earning below the UK’s

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median wage of £24,000 will still receive an increase. In response to the news, unions expressed criticism and threatened industrial action, amid backlash that the freeze will hit key workers who have been vital to tackling the pandemic. Sunak defended the measures by highlighting disparity between public and private sector wages, and said that a uniform public sector pay increase would be unjustifiable.

Fresh hope for overseas travel

24th November: Junior Transport minister Robert Courts released a statement updating the recommendations provided by the Global Travel Taskforce. The Government is moving ahead with its Test to Release Strategy, which will be offered to international arrivals landing in England. This means that from the 15th December passengers arriving from countries not on the Government’s travel corridor list will be able to reduce their period of self-isolation by at least a week. Individuals will be required to take a private COVID-19 test following their first five days of self-isolation and, if they test negative, they will be able to stop quarantining.

Devolved Nations

• 19th November: The Scottish Government has outlined the country’s plan for COVID-19 vaccine distribution, with priority for health and social care workers, older care home residents and the over 80s.

• 21st November: Wales’ first mass-testing programme is to begin in Merthyr Tydfil with the help of 160 Armed Forces personnel.

• 26th November: Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford has said a COVID-19 vaccine will be ready for use within a week of it getting the green light from regulators.

Other News

• 23rd November: Data has revealed that the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is up to 90% effective upon administration of a lower vaccine dose.

• 23rd November: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has accepted the Pfizer/BioNTech for the next step of rigorous safety testing.

• 16th November: The Government has revealed plans to open two new “megalab” diagnostic facilities in 2021, which will add 600,000 to the UK’s daily testing capacity.

Contact [email protected] should you have any queries.

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