Covid news live: Plan B decision delayed by ministers

Masks have been made mandatory again for staff in parliament except MPs – sparking accusations that politicians are behaving as if they are “above the rules”.

The Commons authorities have updated Covid guidance to say all staff, visitors and media must cover their faces to combat the upsurge in cases, reports Adam Forrest.

However, it remains up to each MP whether they choose to wear a mask or not. Conservative MPs have come in for heaviest criticism, having largely ditched face coverings in recent months.

Following my earlier post (10.38am), here’s Zoe Tidman with more on the growing numbers of children booking to get vaccinated against Covid.

Since Friday, parents of children aged between 12 and 15 have been able to use an online booking system to book them in for a vaccine at local sites.

In just four days, more than 80,000 children in that age range have secured an appointment for a Covid jab through that system.

On Monday alone, nearly 33,000 bookings were made for 12 to 15-year-olds this way, NHS England said.

Any reduction of NHS staff due to vaccination requirements would be a “devastating” blow, leading doctors have said after health secretary Sajid Javid said on Monday he is “leaning towards” making the jabs compulsory for staff in England.

It followed data which showed around 100,000 NHS workers remained unvaccinated.

However, the British Medical Association (BMA) said the threat that staff could lose their jobs if they do not get a Covid-19 vaccine is “of grave concern”. It added the government must consider the legal, ethical and practical implications of mandating vaccines.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said in a statement:

“There is … an important distinction between believing every healthcare worker should be vaccinated and advocating for mandatory vaccinations; this comes with its own legal, ethical and practical implications that must be considered. The threat to staff who refuse the vaccine of losing their jobs is also of grave concern.

“One of the BMA’s main concerns is the impact this decision may have on the workforce. Vaccination coverage among NHS workers is high – latest data shows that in several hospital trusts in England the number of staff who have had both vaccinations is in excess of 90 per cent.

“However, even if a small number of staff were forced out of work because they are not vaccinated, this would have a big impact on a health service that’s already under immense pressure … It would be irresponsible to move forward with this plan without doing this at the very least, and we would recommend delaying the policy until such time as a more complete understanding of its implications on workforce levels can be reached.”

The health secretary has tweeted a vaccine update, commending the “80,000+ young people aged 12-15” who he says have “booked in for [their] Covid-19 jabs since Friday”.

“Vaccines are safe & help kids stay in school,” Sajid Javid added.

Back to plan B talk now, though it isn’t the only proposal being discussed. A senior scientific adviser to Boris Johnson’s government has admitted that so-called ‘plan C’ restrictions have also been discussed in case the surge in Covid cases gets worse.

Ministers have denied reports that the government is preparing plan C curbs that would ban the mixing of households in England this winter if cases continued to rise.

But Prof Lucy Chappell, chief scientific adviser to the Department of Health and Social Care, told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that further measures beyond plan B had been “proposed”, reports Adam Forrest.

As it’s Budget day, we have a special blog dedicated to the incoming announcement, which you can find here.

Matt Mathers, who heads up our daily Inside Politics newsletter, will be taking you through the predictions, pledges, economics and politics of it all.

Stay here, with me, for all the latest Covid updates in the UK and from around the world.

Let’s get some expert commentary on what some health staff and officials are hoping to see in today’s Budget.

Dr Murray Ellender, a practicing GP and the co-founder of eConsult, said:

“Whilst it’s positive news that £2.1bn has been earmarked for “improving IT and digital technology”, the only way to give the patients who need it a better and more direct route to care is by investing in digital triage.

“The system is currently failing to do this. Our latest data tells us that nearly half of UK adults who visited the emergency room in the last 12 months did not require urgent A&E treatment. In fact, upon seeing a medical professional, 24 per cent were told to visit another health professional, 13 per cent of whom were sent to their GP and 11 per cent who were sent to a pharmacist.

“By investing in triaging the needs of patients at the beginning of their healthcare journeys into General Practice A&E or Outpatients, we can get patients to the right clinician, at the right time, first time and every time. This will create a digital eco-system for patients, improving patient outcomes and driving efficiency throughout the system.

“Of course, cash injections like these may help with easing the immediate blow. But our healthcare system desperately requires a careful overhaul. Part of this means extra budget into assistive technologies intended to free up resources by empowering the clinician to focus on delivering more effective and efficient healthcare journeys for the patient, and to spot the early signs of potentially critical conditions, fast-tracking those patients to the right point of care.

“The pandemic has made it abundantly clear that the entire system is built on a flawed infrastructure of insufficient and disconnected triage. If we don’t invest in this widespread change now, we not only face a bleak winter, but we may witness the ultimate breaking point for our NHS.”