UK 24th February
Scotland will gradually remove the Covid restrictions. Youngest children are at school now. All children will go back to school sometime in April. From 15th March, up to 4 people from 2 households can meet outdoors. After 5th April, you do not have to “stay at home”. Scotland has “Covid levels” at the moment; after the last week in April, areas can move down a level. First minister, Nicola Sturgeon, says this will all happen slowly and carefully, with proper review every 3 weeks. Scottish Labour and Conservatives complain that the plan is too slow and not clear enough.
There is a new issue about PPE. The Public Health England says 12 million masks which are out in hospitals are not of the correct standard. They say they would not protect health staff from the virus. They tell hospital not to use them. The masks are from China but supplied by a different company. The Chinese say they did not give the masks to this company, PolyCo. Looks like another mess. In December, hospital gowns that cost £122 million were not the right standard. They were not used.
There is a rise in unemployment again. It was over 5% up to December. It was worse for people under 25 years old. Strange because the average pay has gone up by 5%. How come? The answer is that the pay figure is average over all workers. People who are unemployed are mostly in low paid jobs so when they leave the average goes up.
Do we need vaccine passports? To go into a pub? Or to travel to other countries? One minister says no. The PM says they will be making a review of this. It is possible some countries will want to see a certificate that you have had both doses of the vaccine. In the past, people had to have certificates for Yellow fever when they travelled. It is not a new idea.
Impact on daily life
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