Professors call for ‘some kind’ of COVID Plan B with emergency departments in ‘terrible place’

Published

3 years ago

October 24, 2021

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Health leaders have urged the government to introduce “some kind of Plan B” with emergency departments in a “terrible place” amid rising levels of coronavirus infections.

Dr Katherine Henderson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, warned ministers that hospitals are “already struggling to cope” and that medical professionals are worried about the winter months ahead.

Meanwhile, Professor Adam Finn, who is on the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on Sunday that COVID-19 hospital admissions and deaths are rising and the government must not be “complacent”.

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Prof Finn added that vaccines are not going to be enough to keep the spread of coronavirus under control and said people need to make an effort to avoid contact in order to slow transmission rates.

Their comments come as the government faces increasing pressure to enact what is known as “Plan B”, which includes working from home guidance and the mandatory use of face masks in some settings.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said this week that new cases could reach 100,000 a day, but Downing Street insisted there was spare capacity in the NHS and that the fall-back Plan B would only be triggered if it came under “significant pressure”.

Mr Javid said the focus was on delivering the booster jab programme successfully.

Earlier this week, it was announced that the former head of England’s coronavirus vaccine delivery drive is returning to the NHS to lead the booster rollout, amid growing concerns about COVID-19’s impact this winter.

Scientific advisers have told the government preparations for Plan B restrictions should be made now so that measures “can be ready for rapid deployment if required”.

Experts on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) also said, in minutes of a meeting published on Friday, that early intervention “would reduce the need for more stringent, disruptive, and longer-lasting measures”.

Speaking to Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on Sunday, Dr Henderson said: “Every bed that gets filled by a patient with COVID in a sense is in a hospital bed with a potentially avoidable disease.

“The problem is that things are worse at the moment so we need everybody to be as careful with the healthcare resources as they possibly can be, and try and minimise the need for healthcare resources.”

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Dr Henderson continued: “So if we can get COVID levels down, if we can make sure that the vulnerable don’t get infected and then need hospital care, if we can make sure that we don’t have people who are severely ill because they catch it when they’re unvaccinated, all of that will help, we’re all in this together to try and make it better.”

Prof Finn called for “a very different kind of message coming from the government now that there is a serious problem”.

He told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on Sunday that he wants to “avoid lockdowns”, but added that “we can’t avoid it if we all just go back to normal now”.

On vaccines, Prof Finn said “they’re not by themselves going to be enough at the present time to keep the spread of the virus under control”, adding: “We do need to see people continuing to make efforts to avoid contact, to avoid transmission, and to do other things as well as get vaccinated if we’re going to stop this rise from going up further.”

The warnings from health professionals came as Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves suggested the government should look at implementing Plan B.

“Labour as a responsible opposition have always said that we would follow the science, and we’ve seen today that SAGE are saying that some aspects of Plan B, like wearing masks on public transport and in shops, and also working from home more flexibly should be introduced,” she told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

“I think the first thing is, the government have got to do more to make Plan A work. If the scientists are saying work from home and masks, we should do that. So get A working better because the vaccination programme has been stalling, introduce those parts of Plan B.”

Meanwhile, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said on Sunday that a return of the furlough scheme is “not on the cards”, adding that the vaccine rollout is the “best line of defence against having to move to put in place any restrictions”.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said there are no plans for another lockdown and that “vaccines are our way through this winter”.

The latest data released on 23 October showed that the UK had recorded a further 180 COVID-related deaths and 49,298 in a 24-hour period.

UK

Kris Hallenga, founder of breast cancer charity CoppaFeel!, dies aged 38

Published

5 hours ago

May 6, 2024

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Kris Hallenga, founder of breast cancer charity CoppaFeel!, dies aged 38

Kris Hallenga, the founder of breast cancer charity CoppaFeel!, has died aged 38.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 23 and lived with the illness for 15 years, tirelessly campaigning for breast cancer awareness in that time.

A statement on the charity’s website said: “She hasn’t lost a battle, she wasn’t in a fight and she certainly wouldn’t want you to see her death as tragic.

“She was simply living. She was 38 and died with fulfilment and a heart full of love.”

Ms Hallenga’s breast cancer was terminal by the time it was diagnosed in 2009.

“Kris’ ambition was for no one else to find themselves in her position and so CoppaFeel! was born, to ensure breast cancers are diagnosed early and accurately,” the charity said.

Describing her as “founder, boob chief, colleague, friend and queen of glittering turds”, CoppaFeel! said she was “the biggest promoter of being ‘alive to do those things'”.

“She approached life in a wildly creative, fun and fearless way, and showed us that it is possible to live life to the full with cancer.”

Last year Ms Hallenga threw a living funeral, where guests were invited to sign a cardboard replica of her coffin and childhood footage was projected around Truro Cathedral in Cornwall.

Dawn French did the eulogy in character as the Vicar of Dibley, while Ms Hallenga gave a speech and sparkled in a glittery jumpsuit.

Afterwards, she posted on Instagram: “I’ve never felt love like it. I’ve never felt joy like it. I’ve never felt such kinship with mortality. I’ve never felt so alive.”

Ms Hallenga campaigned for cancer education to be included in the school curriculum, won the Women of the Year Outstanding Young Campaigner award, received an honorary doctorate from Nottingham Trent University and wrote a memoir titled Glittering a Turd.

A post on her Instagram page announcing the news to her 146,000 followers was signed off by her cat Lady Marmalade.

It said: “Her final message from her to you would be one that probably involved checking your chest, getting in some cold water, talking more about death and dying, that even the turdiest of turds are glitterable, that you should always see the silly side of life, that she LOVED her life and that giving Neighbours 2.0 is worth another chance.”

UK

Ipswich Town fans enjoy ‘long-awaited’ open-top bus celebrations after Premier League promotion

Published

5 hours ago

May 6, 2024

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Ipswich Town fans enjoy 'long-awaited' open-top bus celebrations after Premier League promotion

Ipswich Town fans celebrated their “long-awaited” return to the Premier League after they secured promotion over weekend.

On Saturday, Kieran McKenna’s Tractor Boys clinched their place in the top flight with a 2-0 win over now-relegated Huddersfield Town.

The result meant Ipswich will return to the Premier League for the first time since 2002.

Saturday’s victory secured the Suffolk club back-to-back promotions as they became the first team since Southampton in 2011 and 2012 to win successive promotions to the top flight from League One.

On Monday the team rode through Ipswich on an open-top bus, with thousands of fans turning out to celebrate.

Speaking to Sky News, fans described feelings of euphoria amid the celebrations, as others were enjoying a long weekend of non-stop celebrating.

“It’s been a really really long time coming,” one fan said.

Paul Smith, who like many was on his second day of celebrating, said: “I’ve been lucky enough to live through an era of seeing the great times at Ipswich, but I dragged him [his son] along for many many years and I’m grateful his generation gets to see some great times as well.

“When you realise the teams we’re going to be playing it’s incredible.”

Paul’s son Arthur said it was “euphoric” seeing his side promoted but admitted to feeling quite “jaded” from the celebrations.

It was also quite an emotional moment for some who shared a bond with the club with family members.

Adam Conuel, another fan, described the promotion in one word: “Unbelievable”.

He added: “My grandad passed away last year, we were quite close, he was a supporter all his life too, like my dad.”

He described the celebrations as “emotional” and said “look how many people are here, it’s crazy, I never thought in my lifetime… every conversation I’ve had with my grandpa used to be ‘we were rubbish weren’t we’ and he’s missed the past two years of us being unbelievable so it’s quite emotional to watch us.”

Again and again one name surfaced from fans out celebrating – their coach McKenna.

The 37-year-old Northern Irish manager has taken the English football league by storm in recent years, charging up to the Premier League.

A former Manchester United assistant manager, McKenna was praised repeatedly by fans for his handling of the club and his brand of attacking, and successful, football.

When he took charge of Ipswich, they were languishing in League One and now within three years he has catapulted them to the Premier League.

Speaking on board the bus, McKenna told Sky Sports News: “It’s an incredible turnout, amazing seeing so much joy.

“Everyone deserves it, the whole town deserves it, the players … for how hard they’ve worked. And the supporters, who’ve followed so loyally for years and have been waiting for a day like this.

“We just set out to be as good as we could possibly be.

“The closer you get to the end you know you’re within reach of an amazing achievement and we’re so glad we were able to finish off well.”

UK

Scottish singer drafted in to replace Olly Murs at Glasgow Take That concert thought offer was a ‘joke’

Published

5 hours ago

May 6, 2024

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Scottish singer drafted in to replace Olly Murs at Glasgow Take That concert thought offer was a 'joke'

A Scottish singer plucked from obscurity at the last minute to replace Olly Murs as the opening act for Take That in Glasgow has told Sky News he thought the life-changing opportunity was a “joke”.

Daniel Rooney, 26, was playing at the Radisson Red hotel opposite the OVO Hydro when news broke that Murs was forced to cancel his support act on Friday due to transport issues.

TV presenter Ross King, who was enjoying a family dinner at the hotel, was impressed with Mr Rooney’s vocals and recommended the singer to his friend and Take That frontman Gary Barlow.

With 30 minutes to go before the show was due to start, Mr Rooney was quickly whisked to the arena and opened the festivities with a range of upbeat cover songs.

Barlow later thanked him on Instagram.

Mr Rooney, from Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire, told Sky News he thought it was a wind-up at first.

He said: “I was thinking, ‘right, who’s trying to play a wee joke on me here’. But thankfully it wasn’t a joke and Ross King was saying, ‘I’ve got an opportunity of a lifetime here, Danny boy, so are you up for it?’

“And I was.”

Mr Rooney started to feel a mixture of emotions on his way to the stage. As well as excitement, he began to feel apprehensive about what he was going to play.

He said: “I was obviously buzzing just to get that news. It was just mental.

“I had a wee discussion with the boys from Take That, who were brilliant and really good with me.

“We just agreed on making it really fun and making the songs nice big singalongs.

“It was just really great. The crowd were brilliant, and they sang to every song and the feedback was magic.”

Mr Rooney paid tribute to Mr King for the opportunity and thanked him for his warm introduction onstage to explain the situation to the crowd.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr King said: “I was listening to [Mr Rooney] while I was having dinner and was very impressed – never thinking that 30 minutes later I’d be saying ‘come with me and support Take That’.

“Gary Barlow is one of my closest pals and I’ve known the band since 1990. When Gary called me and said ‘you’re going to have to go on, Olly is stuck in London’, I thought it was a wind-up. But no.”

Mr King agreed to go on, but then pitched the idea of Mr Rooney.

Mr King added: “Daniel was the coolest guy in the Hydro and played a blinder. I was thrilled to share the stage with him and help out my old mates too.

“I know this has made news all around the world, so I hope Daniel continues to have the success he deserves.”

Mr Rooney now intends to head into the studio to record some music.

He added: “I’ve got some ideas and demos there, so this is the opportunity to get them out now and just really capitalise on the moment.”

Murs apologised for cancelling his performance at short notice after falling foul of flight issues.

The former X Factor star said he had been at Heathrow from 11am ahead of his performance on Friday night, but the flight was cancelled after “several delays” and an accident with a cabin crew member.

He later shared a video of himself being driven to Glasgow for his Saturday and Sunday performances.

Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine programme on Monday, Murs paid tribute to Mr Rooney for holding his nerve and being able to perform in front of an arena crowd of thousands with just 30 minutes’ notice.

Murs said: “Fair play to him, that’s amazing. You know what, credit to him.”