The Prime Minister made some important announcements with regard to our response to Coronavirus earlier today. The key announcements include:
🏥 An additional £3 billion for the NHS in England for this winter – to allow the NHS to continue to use the extra hospital capacity acquired from the independent sector and maintain the Nightingale hospitals until the end of March 2021;
🔬 The Government will further increase testing capacity to 500,000 tests a day – 3.5 million tests a week – by the end of October;
📄 The Government has published a 'Contain Framework' for containing and controlling future outbreaks in England, which will enable national and local government to work closely together. And, from tomorrow, local authorities will have new powers in their areas. They will be able to close specific premises, shut public outdoor spaces, and cancel events.
It is also clear that the situation is continuing to improve. The number of infections is shrinking every day, and ONS data shows prevalence and new infections to be stable and low.