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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update 12 March 2020
richardscamans • Mar 12, 2020
Update correct as of 16.00, 12 March 2020
Status Change in UK – delay not contain
· The Prime Minister has just held a press conference following
today’s COBRA Emergency meeting to advise on the Government’s next steps
in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. In light of the growing number of
cases within the UK, the Government has decided to move from containment
to the delay phase of managing the outbreak. In practice, this means a
small number of changes will be made acknowledging that greater numbers
of the population will be exposed to the virus over the next 2 weeks,
with the peak of the outbreak expected 2-8 weeks time. We are currently
4 weeks behind Italy.
· The main effect of the change in status is that now anyone
exhibiting symptoms of the disease – a new and persistent cough and
temperature – will be required to self-isolate for 7 days. The current
advice during the contain phase related to those exhibiting strong
symptoms and who had been in contact with someone who had recently
travelled from an affected global area and required self-isolation for
14 days.
· The Government also recommended that vulnerable people and
particularly the elderly should now look to socially distance themselves
and stay at home to reduce their likely exposure to the infection. No
other advice is being given at present to others on social distancing.
· The Government is not advising schools should close nor will
it ban public gatherings – the medical advice is that this is does not
give a better outcome than providing for a gradual exposure to infection
to allow immunity to be built up in the wider population ahead of
Autumn. Contrary to some press comment, government has no plans to ban
or advise against people watching sport in pubs or to avoid hospitality
venues. This will be kept under review and advice may yet change.
· PHE advice regarding those who have come into contact with an
affected person and for employers regarding the isolation of co-workers
will be updated. Currently, there is a requirement to trace those who
have come into contact and isolate them as well. That will no longer be
as practical and the Government has highlighted that there are no
compulsory requirements around closure and cleaning.
UK Health Update
As of 9am on 12 March 2020, 29,764 people have been tested in the
UK, of which 29,174 were confirmed negative and 590 were confirmed as
positive. Eight patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have died
As of 12 March, 104 further people in England have tested positive
for COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in England to 491. The
total for the UK now stands at 590, which includes 60 in Scotland, 19
cases in Wales, and 20 in Northern Ireland. Contact tracing is underway
for all cases including where the route of transmission is not yet
clear.
· Public Health England has launched a new COVID-19 data
dashboard to track cases. The dashboard shows reported cases of
coronavirus in the UK, including new cases confirmed each day, cases by
upper tier local authority in England and number of deaths. Public
Health England has also published guidance here:
Scotland Update
· The Scottish First Minister has recommended that mass
gatherings of 500 or more are cancelled but has said that it is not her
advice at present to shut schools, colleges and universities.
· This is counter to the advice of Scotland’s Chief Medical
Officer who has said that stopping mass gatherings is not the best way
to stop the spread of the virus and that the risks of going to a
football match at the weekend are relatively low. She advises people
with symptoms should stay at home.
The Scottish Tourism Alliance has been encouraging all tourism
businesses to complete this VisitScotland Covid-19 Tourism Industry
Survey
Global Health Update
· As of 11 March globally there has been 118,455 cases, China
80,778, Italy 10,149, Republic of Korea 7,755, Iran 8,042, France 1,784,
Germany 1,296, Spain 1,639, Japan 568, USA 696, UK 456, Switzerland 476,
Netherlands 382, with 4,290 fatalities.
· A total of 853 fatalities have occurred outside of Mainland
China, Italy (631), Republic of Korea (60), Iran (Islamic Republic of)
(291), France (33), Germany (2), Spain (36), cases on Diamond Princess
Cruise ship (7), Japan (12), USA (25), UK (6), Switzerland (3)
Netherlands (4), Hong Kong SAR (3), Australia (3), Canada (1), Thailand
(1), Lebanon (1), San Marino (2), Taiwan (1), Philippines (1), Argentina
(1), Switzerland (3), Iraq (6), Morocco (1)
Business Impact & Government Measures
· The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced a number of
measures to help combat Coronavirus in the UK in the 2020 Budget
including – Time to Pay to be extended to all business taxes paid
nationally; a £5 billion emergency response fund to support the NHS and
other public services, Statutory sick pay will be paid to all those who
self-isolate, even if they don’t have symptoms; firms with fewer than
250 staff will be refunded for sick pay payments for two weeks. There
will also be access to emergencyfunding.
· Business Rates relief for the whole year will be provided to
all hospitality businesses with premises with a rateable value of less
than £51k – this is extended to cover hotels, nightclubs, cafes and
coffee shops for the first time, but the low threshold limits the
effect. We have been in touch with DEFRA, BEIS and DCMS to press for the
threshold to be lifted or a shorter term business rates holiday to be
offered to all hospitality businesses explaining that this is an
existential threat. We are seeking urgent clarification about whether
this will fall within state aid rules
· Advice from KPMG today to the hospitality sector was:
undertake an immediate 13 week cashflow forecast and reschedule payments
where possible to prioritise payroll and business essential costs;
identify all government tax bills payment of which can be deferred and
speak to your local office; contact local authorities to propose delayed
payment of business rates; set up urgent meeting with landlords to ask
for rent holiday, deferred payment of monthly rent payments. Speak to
banks to arrange payment terms and financing. Barclays has urged
companies to speak to their local relationship manager. NatWest
announced the establishment of a UK-wide £5bn Working Capital Support
Fund for SME businesses affected by the Coronavirus and will also be
offering loan repayment holidays and temporary emergency loans with no
fees.
Advice and Guidance
· We are expecting PHE to publish tourism industry specific
guidance from Govt
· ACAS have produced Workplace Guidance which can be found on
this link: https://www.acas.org.uk/coronavirus
· PHE guidance on workplace management and cleaning is here
Travel advice
· The UK Government has updated their travel advice for
travellers returning to the UK from specified countries. The advice has
two categories
o Category 1 :Travellers should self-isolate, even if asymptomatic,
and use the 111 online coronavirus service to find out what to do next.
This applies to travel anywhere in Italy on or after 9 March, specific
areas in Northern Italy, South Korea and Iran in the last 14 days
o Category 2:Travellers should self isolate only if they have
developed symptoms and have travelled to Italy before 9 March, Mainland
China, South Korea, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Singapore, Taiwan
Some businesses are asking guests staying with them to confirm that
they do not fall within one of the above affected groups.
Other travel measures, advice and updates
The Bank of England has cut UK interest rates from 0.25 per cent to
0.75 per cent in an emergency move to help UK businesses and households
manage. A press conference was held at 09.00 Wednesday 11 March
The British Society for Rheumatology Annual Conference, due to take
place in Glasgow 20-22 April, has been cancelled
IMEX Frankfurt, due to be held 12-14 May has been cancelled
Qantas will use smaller aircraft and reduce the frequency of
flights, grounding 8 of the airline’s Airbus 380s
The Premier League has postponed tonight’s match between Manchester
City and Arsenal FC as a precautionary measure
Insurance provided Aviva have announced customers who purchase new
travel insurance policies will not be able to include optional covers of
Travel Distruption and Airspace Closure and advise all customers to
review their cover to ensure it meets their needs
The UK based online specialist sports insurance provider,
Sportscover Direct, has announced a "COVID-19 exclusion" from this week,
which will apply to newly-sold policies and advises customers to check
their current policies
The UK Health Minister, Nadine Dorries, has been diagnosed with
COVID-19 and is the first MP to test positive in the country
airBaltic has just announced they will be reducing capacity for
three months as well as temporarily reducing staff numbers by 250.
The World Travel and Tourism Council global summit has been
postponed from late April until the autumn to give the travel and
tourism industry time to recover from COVID-19 and its impact.
Poland’s Government has today announced the closing of some
educational establishments from 12 March to 25 March 2020 stating “the
need to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
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