Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At Six 20210126

And coming up in sportsday later in the hour on bbc news as Thomas Tuchel prepares to take charge of chelsea, we look at the path hes taken to get to one of the toughest jobs in football. Good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. More than 100,000 people in the uk have now died within 28 days of testing positive for covid i9. Less than a year ago, as the pandemic took hold, the governments chief scientific adviser, patrick vallance, said 20,000 deaths would be a good outcome. But by the end of april, wed already passed that number. The vast majoritiy of those who have died were over the age of 75 more than 77,000 people. But this virus has taken young lives too, more than 1,000 were under a5. Behind the numbers the people. And the families still trying to come to terms with what has happened. 0ur health correspondent, catherine burns, has been talking to some of them. Something really precious has been taken away from me and its really hard. This is a life thats gone. And the impact is huge. Im left now with a young | family whove got no dad. My life is destroyed, everything is gone. Today, were using candles to represent those who died. 0ne light for every life lost. It started on march the 2nd, the first person to die within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus. The next day, there were two more deaths. In less than three weeks, the official death toll was over 450. You must stay at home. The Prime Minister announced a National Lockdown on march the 23rd. The next day, the official death toll reached 1,000. Richard nabieu died on april the 10th. He was a nurse who worked with elderly people. His daughter, jamie, hated not being able to visit him in hospital. I called him the morning of the day he passed away and waved, and he said, bye, jamie, and i said, bye, daddy, speak to you later, ill call you in the evening. And the evening never came. I never thought he wouldnt come home. You something that ive struggled with is the fact that he was alone, you know. I find comfort in the fact that every day, he knew how loved he was, yeah. It was a disbelief that this person, my favourite person in the whole world, wasnt here any more. We havent had the opportunity to grieve because it feels like the whole world is grieving. By the time richard died, the death toll was more than 13,000. But the first wave had peaked. The number of people dying every day began to fall. Slowly and gradually. By the start ofjune, more than 38,000 people had died. In reality, the death toll would have been higher. In the early stages of the pandemic, the figures only included people who tested positive in hospital. Ada jackson was 90 and had early signs of dementia. But family say she was happy, strong, and feisty until covid came into the care home where she lived. It started to go from one person to three people, to five people and you then started to just think, my goodness, theyre not going to be able to stop this. They had the residents locked in their room. I felt helpless. That solitary confinement in the room. I wonder if ada felt abandoned at that point in time. Ada died onjune the 3rd. She hadnt seen her family since march. These are human beings, these are people, with families. They have lives, theyre notjust numbers, this is a life thats gone. And the impact is huge. As summer continued, there was some semblance of normality. Packed beaches, foreign holidays, people were encouraged to eat out to help out. Every single day, though, there were covid deaths. The numbers were much lower. On september the 1st, three people died. But, once again, that number started to climb. There were over 700 deaths in september and more than 5,000 in october. Across the uk, there were new restrictions, but the death rate stayed stubbornly high in november, often with more than 400 people dying a day. Dean matthews was 42 years old. His wife says he was a big kid who lived for his family. Even when he had to call out an ambulance, she thought hed be ok. Just said, see you later. I didnt hug him, i didnt kiss him, just expecting a couple of days in hospital. I sent him a selfie and then he said, there she is, my gorgeous girl. And i think that was the last. That was the last time i really spoke to him. That was it, really, wasnt it . Dean died within 18 days of getting a tickly cough. He had five children, the youngest is just seven. He keeps saying, like, mum, my head cant understand, like, why hes not coming back, sort of thing. Were still at the point. Where we kind of struggle to think, like, why dean . Around a month before christmas, we were told that wed be able to have festive bubbles, but the increase in deaths was still speeding up. By december the 12th, covid had claimed more than 65,000 lives. Mum happy birthday to you including 50 year old madula sarwar. She and her husband both caught covid at the same time. The day that mum went into the icu, so the day that mum went on a ventilator, dad was also admitted. My wife was there in the same building, you know, on another floor. And she wasjust fighting for her life. And you think of all the things. Im 0k. You think of all the things that, like, youre going to miss. Sarwar recovered, but his wife was critically ill for weeks. I had a diary of every day, every day, morning and afternoon, you know . Everything isjust written here. Including the day medics said sarwar, rasheeq, and his 14 year old brother could come and say goodbye. The doctor was very sorry to say that the time has now come to an end. That was the last time i saw her. And she was so beautiful. She was so pretty. She was so beautiful, the way she was looking when she came to my life, 31 years back. So thats the most precious memory i have. By new years eve, the death toll had reached 76,000. Now, its taken just a few more weeks to get to 100,000. And this is not over yet. V0|css echo its a loss that should never have happened, it should never have gotten to that scale. Its notjust 100,000 people, it5100,000 people whose families are going to miss them for the rest of their lives. The relatives ofjust a handful of those who have lost their lives to covid since march last year. The Prime Minister says he is deeply sorry for every life that has been lost and takes full responsibility for everything the government has done. Speaking at a downing street press conference this afternoon, he said the government had done everything it could to minimise the loss of life. Heres our political editor, laura kuenssberg. 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Im sorry, i get emotional about it but its just devastating. Itsjust devastating. Whats it been like for itsjust devastating. Whats it been like for you itsjust devastating. Whats it been like for you personally . | been like for you personally . Stopping is not an option, is it . I mean, you know, were dealing with peoples lives here, you do whatever it takes, you dont stop. find peoples lives here, you do whatever it takes, you dont stop. It takes, you dont stop. And the cost of the it takes, you dont stop. And the cost of the closedown it takes, you dont stop. And the cost of the closedown to it takes, you dont stop. And the cost of the closedown to try it takes, you dont stop. And the cost of the closedown to try to | cost of the close down to try to slow the spread of the disease has broken all of the wrong records. Anna in essex was first one of millions who put on furlough, then redundant and now on the search for a job, sometimes competing with 200 others. It a job, sometimes competing with 200 others. , a job, sometimes competing with 200 others. ,. , others. It was frightening. You know, i others. It was frightening. You know. I went others. It was frightening. You know, i went from others. It was frightening. You know, i went from sort others. It was frightening. You know, i went from sort of others. It was frightening. You know, i went from sort of hero others. It was frightening. You i know, i went from sort of hero to zero know, i went from sort of hero to zero overnight. This time last year, we might zero overnight. This time last year, we might have been sitting planning whatm we might have been sitting planning what. Where we were going to go on holiday what. Where we were going to go on holiday. Now. What. Where we were going to go on holiday. Now, im worried about putting holiday. Now, im worried about putting the heating on, you know, its a putting the heating on, you know, its a realm putting the heating on, you know, its a real. Real worrying times. The pandemicabsorbed almost all the governments time and focus. It went on adequate equipment, testing or lockdown it itself, ministers have been accused of being too slow from the start. Been accused of being too slow from the start. ,. ,. , , the start. There is a strong sense i think that the the start. There is a strong sense i think that the government the start. There is a strong sense i think that the government has the start. There is a strong sense i l think that the government has been behind the curve at every stage. That there has been, if you like, a reluctance to take tough decisions when they needed to be taken. Ihla when they needed to be taken. No government has ever grappled with a problem quite like this. But hoping for the best, the countrys experiences are near the worst. I minister, nearthe experiences are near the worst. I minister, near the start they hope and gamut was to contain the numbers to 20,000. Its now five times that. What went so wrong . I to 20,000. Its now five times that. What went so wrong . What went so wrong . I am deeply sor for what went so wrong . I am deeply sorry for every what went so wrong . I am deeply sorry for every life what went so wrong . I am deeply sorry for every life that what went so wrong . I am deeply sorry for every life that has what went so wrong . I am deeply sorry for every life that has been i sorry for every life that has been lost. And, of course, as Prime Minister, i take full responsibility for everything that the government has done. What i can tell you is that we truly did everything we could, and continue to do everything we can, to minimise loss of life. And to minimise suffering in what has been a very, very difficult. Stage. And a very, very difficult crisis for our country. The appearances crisis for our country. The appearances in crisis for our country. The appearances in downing street, the announcements of the daily toll, they feel like a terrible routine. But right now, in these dark days, how the government is run and how we live is hardly normal. Not normal at all. And, soapy, theres no getting away from this, this is a horrendous landmark that, of course, no one in the government and no one in the country would have dreamt of this time last year. And certainly wouldnt have hoped for. And even though, of course everybody hopes the disease spread will start to slow more quickly, Everyone Wants to see the pace of the vaccine roll out continue as quickly as it already begun. So much has already happened. The government has expanded hugely, not least to prop up the economy but also to intervene in all sorts of ways in our lives to try to cope with this emergency. There has also been something of an increase in tension between different parts of the uk. Whether that is between edinburgh and westminster, or even parts of the north and south of england. So even when the disease fades, which of course everybody wants to happen as soon as possible, the after effects, the scars, perhaps, in some senses, they may be with us for quite some time. Laura kuenssberg, thank you. So lets look at the latest government figures. The good news is theres been another fall in the number of new cases. There were 20,089 new Coronavirus Infections recorded in the latest 24 hour period, which means that, on average, the number of new cases reported per day in the last week is 31,843. Hospital numbers remain very high across the uk an average of 37,561 people were in hospital with coronavirus over the seven days to sunday, including suspected cases in wales. 1,631 deaths were reported thats people who died within 28 days of a positive covid 19 test. Thats the seconnd highest daily death toll so far. On average in the past week, 1,242 deaths were announced every day. That takes the total number of uk deaths to 100,162 the highest in europe, the fifth highest in the world. Lets also take a look at the vaccination numbers. 279,757 people have had their first dose of one of the three approved covid 19 vaccines in the latest 24 hour period, taking the overall number of people whove had theirfirstjab to more than 6. 8 million. It will be a year on sunday since the first patients with coronavirus were treated in newcastle. Since then, almost a quarter of a Million People have been admitted to hospital with covid. The number of patients remains very high more than 35,000 across the uk. The chief medical officer for england, professor chris whitty, has warned that the death toll will remain high for some weeks before the effects of the vaccine begin to be felt. Our Health Editor, hugh pym, reports from kings mill hospital in mansfield. Machine beeps. Every day in intensive care is a daunting challenge for staff as they strive to keep patients alive. Some of the shifts that i have had are the toughest ive ever had, in particular, one night shift i had last week was one of the worst shifts ive had in 21 years of nursing. From experience, i can tell you that im seeing more sicker patients this time then i saw in the first wave. Doctors are trained to deal with death, but nothing like this. Umar has had to cope with the savage impact of covid, both in hisjob and at home. My parents have got covid. My mother in law is in the icu and ijust lost some dear family relatives of covid, so when you see these patients at the hospital, just gives you that flash flash as well. But youve got to shut that down and youve got to continue looking after your patients as best as you can. Itsjust so sad, you know. Because, for every person that dies, i we know theres a family thats not i been able to do the normal things that they would do for that loved one who has died. Edith is a hospital chaplain. She has to face up to grief most days, comforting the dying and their families, but also supporting staff who feel the losses intensely. Whenever youve got lots of people dying on the ward, do you know, i it comes at a huge cost to the staff, as well as to the families. Gary has been a hospital porter for 27 years. It is emotionally draining manual with poorly people with poorly people and then obviously we have to move deceased people. Diane is a cleaner. She is on the covid front line as much as anyone. How do you feel, personally, sometimes . Me . Upset. I go home sometimes and i could just sit and cry. And itsjust because its such a. You know, its demanding at the moment. There have been more than 400 covid deaths at the hospital but here and across the nhs, prospects for patients are improving. The medication, the care has changed dramatically over the last year. And whilst the volume people being diagnosed with covid i is higher than it was, we are seeing fewer patients die and fewer patients i going into intensive care. People need to know it is not a game. It is frightening. Barbara lived with cancer before it went into retreat. Theyre brilliant, lovely nurses. Then she was struck by covid. She was keen to get this message across. Just wear your mask and wash your hands. Thats all it is, isnt it . Its all theyve got to do. Barbara died yesterday. Her family wanted to use her interview to warn of the serious consequences of covid. The Prime Minister has said he has total confidence in the uks supply of vaccines. It comes after the president of the European Commission warned vaccine manufacturers they must deliver on their promises, after both astrazeneca and pfizer announced cuts in their supplies to the european union. 0ur europe correspondent nick beake is in brussels for us. What has prompted this row . Well we know that vaccinations what has prompted this row . Well we know that vaccinations offer what has prompted this row . Well we know that vaccinations offer the know that vaccinations offer the best way out of covid nightmare, but today this Health Crisis became more political. That is because the eu is apping angry with the makers of the astrazeneca jab, because the company told countries they will receive millions fewer vaccines than had been promised. That prompted the eu to say it has nod no proper explanation for this and as a result it will look to tighten the export of vaccines, made here in the eu. In particular, the jabs made at the big pfizer plant in belgium. Now, that affects countries including the uk. This means for britain, in the past hour, borisjohnson said he has confidence in the supply of vaccines coming into the uk. He said the creation ofjab was a global team effort and the distribution will also be. But this reminds us the race to vaccination is a very uneven one and no country wants to be left behind. ~ one and no country wants to be left behind. , ~ i. The number of people out of work has reached its highest level for nearly five years. Figures from the office for National Statistics show the Unemployment Rate rose from 4. 9 to 5 between september and november with job losses highest in retail and hospitality. But economists say the picture would be much worse without the furlough scheme which has been extended until the end of april. 0ur economics editor faisal islam has this report. This is the lockdown world of work emma in kent applying for dozens ofjobs. Working, socialising, and sleeping all from one room in a shared house. Hi, emma, nice to see you. Emma, who we first interviewed at the peak of the first wave of the pandemic, was part of the unemployment statistics until the last few weeks. So, i did have to rely on food banks. I did have to rely on friends and family to lend me money and whatnot. That wasnt the greatest impact, though. It was the isolation. Im used to going out to work. To have nothing to focus on, nothing to keep me, you know, sane. Its been a torrid 12 months for workers as large swathes of the economy were shut down in the pandemic. The official measure of unemployment was at 5 for the First Time Since 2016. While this is still low, by the standards of the financial crisis and internationally, the past year has seen unemployment up by 418,000, the highest annual rise since 2009. Joblessness is back up and that is particularly affecting young people, the industries they work in tending to be shut. Working from home more difficult. Hundreds ofjob applications going in. The vast bulk of them not even acknowledged. There is a solution to this and it is in train. The problem there will be a time lag between vaccinating people and vaccinating the whole economy. Many people cant wait. We havent seen the worst of it yet. The boss of one of the worlds top employment agencies said morejobs are being kept in this latest lockdown. We have clearly light at the end of the tunnel because we are seeing how the vaccines with all of the difficulties in the roll out, that they are coming through, so were starting to see that this can come to an end. With the uk economy among the hardest hit last year of major countries, International Experts suggest support forjobs and wages should be extended until the Vaccine Programme is complete. It will keep the economy in better shape for when you start reopening. So, kind of predictability, certainty about the fact that you will have support will be very helpful. Back in kent, emmas off universal credit and in a job. But the light at the end of the tunnel for the whole economy is still a few months off. Faisal islam, bbc news. Lets take a look at some of todays other news. Ministers are meeting this evening to agree a plan for quarantining people arriving into england. 0ptions being discussed include making people coming from high risk coronavirus hotspots stay in hotels at their own cost, or extending the plan to all arrivals. There have been violent protests by farmers on the streets of the indian capital delhi. Theyre protesting against a liberalisation of the countrys agricultural laws which they fear will leave them worse off. Police fired tear gas and at least one person died. Farmers Union Leaders distanced themselves from the violence which took place on the countrys republic day. Theres to be an independent inquiry in to the use of so called mother and baby homes in northern ireland. Unmarried pregnant young women were sent to the homes like this one in county down for almost 70 years until 1990. First minister Arlene Foster said the young women had suffered a lifetime of trauma simply for getting pregnant outside of marriage. Todays death toll of more than 100,000 means the uk has the highest in europe and the fifth highest in the world. This map shows the areas that have been worst affected in the uk the darker the colour, the higher the death rate per 100,000 people. Rhondda in south wales tops the list for the whole of the uk. The worst affected place in scotland is west dunbartonshire. In england, it is folkestone. Our home affairs editor, mark easton reports from another of the uks worst hit places blackpool in lancashire to examine why so many people have lost their lives. In the year since covid first swept across britains shoreline, it has killed 100,000 people, among the worst death rates of any country in the world. The corner of north west england around blackpool has proved particularly vulnerable. So could this part of lancashire help explain why britain has been so battered by the virus . There are political questions of course, too little too late is the criticism. But the germs of this pandemic catastrophe were here long before covid washed up. The poorer you are, the more likely it is that covid will kill you and, while britain is a rich country, its also a very unequal one. The virus death rate in englands most deprived neighbourhoods is two and a half times higher than in the richest areas and this part of lancashire has some of the poorest communities in western europe. Kath powell works with a charity that delivers food and blankets and hopes to what we calls the left behind on blackpool� s grange park estate. Hi, angela. Are you all right . Im good, how are you today . We have no idea how many people were behind these doors. Theres your meal for today. Really lonely, really isolated and who are really struggling, but actually nobody knows about. You know, nobody knows about them and they are the forgotten people. And as a society, i dont know how we let that happen. Covid preys on people with existing health problems, particularly those who are overweight. Britain is among the most obese countries in europe. In this part of englands north west, poor diet, smoking, hazardous drinking, and a lack of exercise has contributed to a quarter of the population living with a Long Term Health problem or disability. Weve created ideal conditions forthis virus, i believe, by not paying enough attention to Public Health. This has been decade after decade after decade. Ive been a gp here in fleetwood for 30 years and despite all of the advances in health care over those 30 years, the health of this community has got worse. Why though . Why . Were a rich country we are a rich country. But the richer communities are getting substantially more benefit than our poorer communities. And that left us wide open to covid . Absolutely wide open when covid came. Age is a measure of your vulnerability to covid. Britain is actually younger than most european countries, but our system for caring for the elderly has been in desperate need of reform for decades and it proved disastrously vulnerable when the virus arrived. More than 30,000 care home residents have died after contracting covid. This lancashire homes been virus free, but the manager remembers how it felt when the government sent a box of out of date face masks, as the pandemic raged back in march. Fury, anger, upset. We are, you know, drowning in lack of money and lack of support. There is a worldwide pandemic now and you just sent us out of date ppe you know, do you really respect us i that little that you cant actually i give us the stuff that we need . With the uk at the forefront of developing and administering covid vaccines, theres hope the country can emerge from the virus nightmare earlier than others. Here we go, sharp scratch. But there are 100,000 reasons why, as well as offering immunity, we should seek to fix the inequalities that left britain so exposed to the pandemic� s deadly power. Mark easton, bbc news, lancashire. Well lets return to our Health Editor hugh pym, whojoins me now. 100,000 deaths, it is a sobering moment, we are warned the death toll will remain high. Is will light at the end of the tunnel. Questions will be asked the end of the tunnel. Questions will be asked why the end of the tunnel. Questions will be asked why the the end of the tunnel. Questions will be asked why the uks the end of the tunnel. Questions will be asked why the uks rate i the end of the tunnel. Questions| will be asked why the uks rate is one of the highest in the world and what the government did or didnt do. There are more positive signs, the number of newly reported cases is down 25 week on week. New hospital admissions are falling. The head of Public Health england looked to a time when he said coronavirus would be more treatable and talked of more drugs and treatments coming on stream. He said the death rate with covid in hospitals had fallen from a third to a fifth of those with the virus. But, as chris whitty made clear, people will look at the number of deaths, he said they may be flattening down, but it will take a high while for them to come down. And theres a special programme this evening, on the people who have died with coronavirus. Families and friends tell their stories in panorama one hundred thousand. Thats at 8. 30pm on bbc one. Time for a look at the weather heres chris fawkes. Many of us have seen rain today, but there has been some snow on the forward edge of this system, such as in County Durham and the satellite show it s the cloud cover. There has been more snow over some of the Higher Elevation areas of the pennines and in scotland, where it is snowing in the hills to the north of the central belt. Tonight for many a murky night with rain across rain and southern england. A milder night, temperatures around four to eight for many. Still cold enough for a frost in the north of scotland. Tomorrow, cloudy, dulland damp in the south to start off the day. Low cloud misand hill fog as well. More rain pushes into southern wales and south west england. The best of the sunshine in scotland. For many of us, a milder day, temperatures up to 10 degrees in the south. Wednesday night into thursday we have this battle zone between the mild and cold air and a band of