Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News Special 20201105

Candidate joe biden edges closer to victory in the president ial election well keep you across any developments. Good afternoon, welcome to bbc news. Im jane hill, with you as we build up to the latest Coronavirus Briefing from number ten. We learnt earlier today that the governments wage support scheme for furloughed workers is to be extended, across the uk, until the end of march. The chancellor told the house of commons that the governments priority remains the protection of lives and livelihoods. Rishi sunak announced that the scheme will pay up to 80 of someones wage, to a maximum of £2,500 a month, and that the policy will be reviewed in january. He also announced further help for self employed people. He stressed that furlough will remain in place for all nations of the United Kingdom after criticism that it appeared to favour england. Financial support has also been announced by the bank of england, which is pumping a further £150 billion into the uk economy. It all comes as a new four week lockdown begins in england. Our Political Correspondentjessica parker has the story. A new day, new national restrictions. Another freeze on some parts of society across england. And, with that, something the chancellor previously said he didnt want to do. Continuing on with furlough not just, as expected, for a month, but. It will be extended until the end of march. The government will continue to help pay peoples wages up to 80 of the normal amount. All employers will have to pay for hours not worked is the cost of employer nics and pension contributions. A huge announcement, made, he said, against a worsening economic backdrop. The government had faced claims it had only finally extended furlough as england went back into lockdown. I also want to reassure the people of scotland, wales and Northern Ireland. The furlough scheme was designed and delivered by the government of the United Kingdom on behalf of all the people of the United Kingdom, wherever they live. That has been the case since march. It is the case now and will remain the case until next march. Labour accused the chancellor of having ignored business pleas until the last minute. The chancellors fourth version of his winter economy plan in just six weeks. The chancellor can change his mind at the last minute, mr speaker, but businesses cant. We need a chancellor whos in front of the problems we face, not one who is always a step behind. Today, shops and other venues shut again across england, and while welcoming the furlough extension for scotland, a warning here that for some, its simply too late. Many businesses and workers expected the existing furlough scheme to end at the end of october, and i know people in this circumstance, we all all know people in this circumstance, who made people redundant. I know people who put businesses into liquidation because they didnt think furlough was going to be extended, and i think that is deeply regrettable. We shouldve had the ongoing assurance of 80 furlough from the chancellor all along. The government hadnt intended to freeze the spending taps, but it is now turning them on a lot more than planned for a longer time, to try and stave off a long lasting chill on the economy. Jessica parker, bbc news, westminster. Lets talk about the Economic Impact of this. Im joined now by pauljohnson, director of the institute for fiscal studies. Very good afternoon. What do you make of this announcement . As you say, it is much more than expected to suggest the full scheme is going to suggest the full scheme is going to be extended right through to march, and really very similar to the schemes dreamt up pretty much overnight right in march of this year. Slightly less generous than the furlough scheme was right at the beginning because employers will have to play their National Insurance contributions, but quite surprising in some ways that all of this way through the crisis nothing really new, no targeting on the most affected sectors, no differentiation between different sorts ofjobs and in particularfor the between different sorts ofjobs and in particular for the self employed scheme which is extraordinarily generous to some but leaves many, a million and more, falling through the gaps altogether. When you say not targeted for example, are you making a criticism there . Certainly for the self employed there is a clear problem here, which is that some are being given far more than in any reasonable sense they need because they are getting a lot of money even if their income is barely going down whereas others are getting nothing at all even if they may be losing all of their income. I think with the main furlough scheme, i think potentially a problem as well. We know there are still more than a Million People who are on furlough last month who are not in sectors that have been particularly hard hit by the virus and by the recession. These may well be jobs that wont come back, and in which case spending huge amounts, billions on supporting them for a full year could well turn out to be money that is not well spent in terms of actually securing those jobs in the long run. So the money in some insta nces long run. So the money in some instances you feel is going to businesses that were not viable anyway . This is the argument the chancellor was making himself just anyway . This is the argument the chancellor was making himselfjust a few days and certainly a couple of weeks ago, and clearly whilst you have got a National Lockdown as we have got a National Lockdown as we have at the moment, there is a very strong case for returning to a broad based furlough scheme. But to extend it effectively all the way through to the end of march which will mean there will be many people, possibly well over one million and possibly well over one million and possibly even 2 million, who will have been on full furlough for an entire year. In some sectors they will come back, and theres probably some scope for supporting those, but in many other sectors there are lots of people still on furlough where i think it is probably unlikely they will come back. Interestingly, the scheme then, how does it compare to other comparable economies . Where are we against other lets say european nations also trying to help business . I think there are a few differences. One is that the welfare system is in a lot of those countries are more generous than ours and more used to supporting people who first initially lose theirjobs. Secondly a lot of their furlough schemes, whilst they have continued them on, are a bit less generous. 80 of gross pay, which for most people mean they will be getting 90 and for some people more than 90 of their net pay, is really quite generous and more generous than a lot of the schemes we see elsewhere. In general, whilst there are National Lockdown is there are these schemes, i think the real issueis these schemes, i think the real issue is when you are a year through this crisis and hopefully goodness knows hopefully by march we are well out of lockdown, whether it is still appropriate that long through for a scheme which was designed pretty much over 2a hours right at the beginning to still be there in the same guise as it started, that is more questionable i think. Really interesting to talk to you. Paul johnson from the institute for fiscal studies. That is the economics we are talking about today. Theres also the Health Issues and we have the latest data we can go through. With me now is our Health Correspondent anna collinson. Talk us through what it all means. First of all we have the latest weekly surveillance report from Public Health england which covers up Public Health england which covers up to the ist of november. This shows covid hospital and critical ca re shows covid hospital and Critical Care admissions have continued to increase, though influenza rates remain low which shows even though hospitals are experiencing pressure the flu season has not yet properly started so that is a significant thing to consider. We have some slides from Public Health england. The first one shows looking at nhs regions the highest covid admission rates were in the north west. We have been hearing this week across the bbc that some hospitals in that area are struggling to cope, having to cancel nonemergency surgery, but there is hope if you look at places like liverpool which has already been living under three weeks of tier 3 restrictions, there is some hope infections are starting to tail off slightly there. We have a second slide which looks at weekly hospital admissions but by age group, and it shows it is highest in the older age groups, particularly those age 85 and over. This is a concern because the virus is more deadly the older you are, so whilst it is not surprising, concerning figures. We also had figures from the test and trace system. The keywith test and trace system. The keywith test and trace its speed. You want to quickly find out who has been infected with coronavirus and find out who they have had close contact with and get them to isolate quickly. If you do that you can break the chains of transmission coronavirus spreading, so thats why this system is so important. If you look at turnaround times, that isnt always happening. We have seen some improvements, so for the week to the 28th of october, 26 of results were provided within 24 26 of results were provided within 2a hours, well below the peak we we re 2a hours, well below the peak we were seeing in the summer which was around 93 . So that is important because if people are not being tracked down, they are wandering around acting as they would normally and potentially infecting other people. If you look at contacts, test and trace is reaching people more than ever but we are seeing just over four out of five people testing positive being reached, and out of that only 60 of their close contacts out of that only 60 of their close co nta cts a re out of that only 60 of their close contacts are being reached. Sage scientific government advisers would hope it would be around 80 for the system to be effective. Thank you very much. All the latest data there, and we are staying very much with the Health Aspects of all of this and some of what and i was talking about. What anna was talking about. What anna was talking about. Lets talk now to dr alison pittard, whos the dean of the faculty of intensive Care Medicine an organisation dedicated to intensive care training, assessment and practice. Hello, what are your thoughts on the pressure the nhs is currently under at this stage . I appreciate it may depend on which part of the country you are talking about, but in overall terms. Our members are telling us what we are seeing in the media, in that the number of patients being admitted to hospital is steadily being increasing, and in some areas it has exceeded the peak those organisations saw in april earlier in the year, and that is translating into an increasing number of patients becoming critically ill and needing admission to intensive care. As you already alluded to it, it is variable around the country, and unlike last time when it seemed to spread from the south to the north, it is the other way round. We thought initially we might be able to contain things in those hotspot regions, and although we have heard that liverpool might be starting to plateau, we are seeing in all in other parts of the country admissions to intensive ca re are the country admissions to intensive care are starting to rise. Staff and eve ryo ne care are starting to rise. Staff and everyone is concerned about the impact this will have on the patients with covid and their outcomes. It is obviously stressful and worrying for their family, but also for staff. Staff are our most valuable resource, and everyone has been through it once. It is doctors, nurses, allied health professions. This time we feel we will be in it for the long haul all the way through to next year and we need to make sure we look after our staff so we can be there to care for everyone who needs us. Of course, much of what you say is pretty sobering. Im interested in what you say about the situation in liverpool plateauing, liverpool has had strong restrictions for some weeks now so does that say to you and your collea g u es does that say to you and your colleagues but whether we like it or not, no one likes it, but that is the way forward. From your medical perspective, those lockdown measures are necessary . I cannot say as a doctor whether the lockdown measures change things or not. All i can do is listen to the science that says this is what is going to have an impact. We all know that the only way we can reduce the number of admissions to Critical Care with patients with covid is to reduce the prevalence and therefore the transmission of covid in the community. And if we can keep the admissions down, that means we can continue to look after all of the patients who need to Access Health ca re patients who need to Access Health care for non covert reasons. None of us want to have these lockdown restriction reasons. Im also a member of the public and i currently dont feel as if im living, im existing, but as a doctor and as dean of the faculty, im being told by our fellows and members we need to do something to keep transmission down so we can look after all the patients who need us. You were very articulate about that and what you say resonates with almost everyone watching, im quite sure. In terms of preparedness and capacity, again perhaps that is something that varies depending on the part of the country we are talking about but what are your members saying to you . We are in a much better position than in spring and that we know more about the disease. We know how people respond to it. We can identify it much earlier and we feel that patients are resenting to hospital or their gp much earlier. So we dont put as many patients on ventilators, which is good news. We have drugs like dexamethasone, which have drugs like dexamethasone, which have been proven to reduce the mortality rate, and we have put a lot of work in over summer to make sure we can maximise our hospital and Critical Care capacity and also make sure we have resilience amongst our staff. So we are much more agile in terms of responding to a surge in numbers. And wherever you are in the country in terms of the health care setting, everyone has put in this work, so everyone is either on standby to see an increase in numbers, or they are already providing an increased level of care. So it doesnt matter where you are in the country. If you need to come into hospital or access any health care, we will have the capacity to do so, provided we can keep numbers of Covid Patients low. It is interesting that you say that because this has come back periodically as a problem and there are still people who are concerned that all other aspects of what we might call regular health care has been put on the back burner for a long time. And as you have pointed out, we are a long way from the end of this. Big things like cancer, heart attacks and strokes, obviously, but also day to day things, operations that can be real quality of life issues. How concerned are you that at the end of this, we are going to think, how many operations did we stop . That was the approach we had in the first wave, because we didnt feel we could manage all the Covid Patients. So there was almost a blanket cancellation of all the planned care. We put measures in place over the summer in terms of capacity and staffing to make sure we have the ability to manage patients with covid and the other carers well which was put on the back burner, as you say. And we can continue to treat everybody. Unfortunately, u nless we treat everybody. Unfortunately, unless we can keep the transmission of covid down, we cant stop that translating into hospital in Critical Care admissions. The only thing we can then do is reduce that planned activity. So people will continue to get covid unless measures are put in place to reduce transmission, and that has a knock on effect on everybody else. So everyone has a role to play in terms of protecting themselves and trying to ensure that they dont pass on covid to somebody else, because you dont know the circumstances of the person you pass it on to. So we all have to stand together to fight this. Dr clare dr alison, many thanks. And we are of course talking a lot today about lockdown because the new lockdown in england is now firmly under way. But it does have some differences with the previous one that was imposed in the spring. Our reality check correspondent chris morris is here. He can remind us and compare and contrast to where we were before. Talk us through some of the differences, particularly around children . Obviously, the big difference is that schools are open. The millions of houses across the country which were suddenly home schooling, that is not happening this time. Schools, nurseries and universities are open and education is going on as normal. But there are also other things to do with children. There is a big emphasis on exercise this time, much more unlimited access. Two adults from different households can meet ina public from different households can meet in a public place and go for a walk somewhere. Crucially, they can both ta ke somewhere. Crucially, they can both take with them a child under the age of five. Preschool children dont count of five. Preschool children dont cou nt towards of five. Preschool children dont count towards that number of two, so two mums or two dads can go out with the prams and go for a walk, good for mental health. And we have mentioned toilets. It was a big issue last time. It was a lot of people got caught short, particularly people with young children, because pubs, restaurants and cafes were closed. This time, public toilets will be open. And the idea of bubbles was not around in the first lockdown in spring. One of the first lockdown in spring. One of the bubbles is for child care. A family with children under the age of 13 can go into a bubble with another household, and that household can provide informal, unpaid child care. The obvious thing to think of is grandparents. But we dont know whether a different person from that second household can be part of the bubble. We have tried to check this with the Cabinet Office and they dont seem to know at the moment. Obviously, it would be great if one day it can be granny and the nectar day can be granddad, because then both can see the grandchildren. It would be great if one day it can be granny, and the next day it can be granddad. What about those who are more vulnerable . There is no formal shielding advice this time. It was felt that it was too restrictive in the spring. People felt hemmed in. But people described as clinically extremely vulnerable, we are talking about organ transplant patients, people with types of cancer have been advised, dont go to work. Dont go shopping. But still take exercise. Exercise is an important thing for mental health. And you can go to school if you want. It is also possible to visit friends and family in care homes as long as it is covid secure. That could mean perspex screens or through a window not ideal, but better than no visits at all. Such a difficult area. We are still using the word lockdown. Is it fair to say that there are a few things happen that werent in march . Yes, a few. In general, pubs, restaurants and nonessential shops are closed, but dentists and opticians are open this time, which were only open for emergencies in the spring. Also chiropractors, osteopaths. That is pa rt chiropractors, osteopaths. That is part of the general thought that the rest of health was slightly ignored. General well being. Rest of health was slightly ignored. General wellbeing. So they can open as normal this time. And although the nonessential shops are closed, there are click and collect services. So you can click and buy a book online and then pick it up from the shop. Part of the reasoning behind that is that maybe those businesses will keep on people with limited contact so there is less risk, but you can pick up stuff in person. You will likely Garden Centres in the dumps are you saying . you can clear out your attic or your basement. The recycling centres are open, so you can take it all to the dump. Thank you very much. Until the theatres are open and cinemas, there is no life. But that is useful, thank you very much. Chris morris, looking at the differences with less time. But still a lot of restrictions. We will return to the economics of all of this. Lets return to the extension of the furlough scheme. Mike cherry is the National Chairman of the federation of small businesses. Is it welcome news . It is, and one of the welcome things is that we have a timeline to this. We can see now to the end of march with the announcement that the furlough scheme will stay in place, albeit at a slightly reduced rate compared to what it was at the beginning of the lockdown in march. I understand why you say that, but it is an to admin, hr organisations for businesses every time the system is changed like that. I wonder whether people have got in touch with you and said, we have only just have got in touch with you and said, we have onlyjust got our head around the previous job scheme, we have onlyjust got our head around the previousjob scheme, and now all our processes have to be changed again. I recognise it is more money, so it is something in it for them, but it does create a lot of paperwork, doesnt it . Well, people were obviously expecting the newjob retention scheme from last sunday after the announcement by the Prime Minister on saturday, and that is an issue. But the Welcome Point is an issue. But the Welcome Point is that the 80 is now extended through to the end of march. That will mean the job through to the end of march. That will mean thejob Retention Bonus of £1000 by the end ofjanuary will not be available, but businesses can contend with this as long as they have a timeline to work to. That has been one of the problems. They had very late notification of what the changes were going to be. We have also seen the welcome extension to the increased support for some of the self employed. But equally, there arent the grants there were at the beginning and thousands of businesses have not had any help through business rate holidays and grants. We hope local authorities can get discretionary grants out to those businesses that are not at the front line like the hospitality sector that is absolutely shocked, but those behind that supply chain and others who are equally shut but are not told to shut down. That is the missing link here. There are also gaps with some of the start up businesses. There are gaps in the access to finance and some of the banks have been difficult in enabling new start ups to get the money they need under current loan schemes despite the welcome extensions to some of those. So there is still a lot to be done, but a will of welcome news that we have a will of welcome news that we have a timeline to this. Interesting that you mention supply chains, because that doesnt get talked about a lot. Do you feel there are some businesses that are being propped up with the furlough scheme to actually just arent viable and come the end of coronavirus, however we define that, they just wont of coronavirus, however we define that, theyjust wont make it anyway, and that is a lot of public money . It is a lot of public money, but this is all aboutjob retention. The focus is on those businesses with employees, and that is welcome. The important thing is to try and fill some of those gaps were, irrespective of what support is there for employees, without Additional Support to those businesses, whether it be business rate holidays or an indication Going Forwards that beyond the end of march, there will be Business Rates relief in some way or other going into next year, because otherwise they face the prospect of perhaps not being able to open even then and yet having to pay the full rates bills again. So there are challenges ahead and discussions to be had with the treasury and the chancellor and others to make sure these gaps are filled. So you have got businesses that are able to remain in place and keep thejobs. That are able to remain in place and keep the jobs. Mike cherry, National Chairman of the federation of small businesses, many thanks. We are edging up to five oclock, which means we hope the Prime Minister is on his way. We know how things go. Lets speak to our Political Correspondent nick eardley. There is a lot to discuss, but i am also interested in the fact that we think Sir Simon Stevens will be alongside the Prime Minister, which is where we think the direction of travel might be with this. Thats right. First day of the new National Lockdown in england and i think borisjohnson we lockdown in england and i think Boris Johnson we want lockdown in england and i think borisjohnson we want to ram home some of the messages about why he thinks that is necessary. We saw the government get a bit of a kicking in the commons yesterday over its strategy. Lots of its own mps and some of its own voters were unhappy with the way things are going. So we will hear Boris Johnson with the way things are going. So we will hear borisjohnson and Sir Simon Stevens remind us of the concerns about nhs capacity, the concerns about nhs capacity, the concerns about nhs capacity, the concerns about the spread of the virus and hammer home why they think this lockdown is necessary. But as you say, Big Questions about that an announcement from the chancellor earlier today that the furlough scheme will be in place until the end of march. One question is, is that because the government now thinks it is likely that even if there isnt a full lockdown, we will be saying some forms of restrictions and business potentially closed until that j months from now . And also a question about why this decision is being made now. Boris johnson has had criticism in the last few days from some in scotland, wales or Northern Ireland and some in the north of england for making this decision when they english lockdown came in when certain parts of the uk have been under tighter restrictions for quite a while now. So he may well face questions over why that decision was made now. And the fact the furlough scheme ru ns and the fact the furlough scheme runs for the period we are talking about, some people will be watching this nervously thinking, my goodness, does this mean we are in full lockdown until march . We heard rishi sunak saying that the plan is definitely still to lift that lockdown in england on the 2nd of december, it is only in legislation forfour december, it is only in legislation for four weeks, december, it is only in legislation forfour weeks, and december, it is only in legislation for four weeks, and then december, it is only in legislation forfour weeks, and then it is up to parliament to decide whats next. The government plan at the moment is to go back to the tier system if it can get the virus under control, so that would mean in the tier 3 areas some hospitality closing as well, so in that circumstance you would need the furlough scheme, the government believes, to make sure that businesses are not too badly affected. It is also worth thinking of the political context as well. The government has been insisting for weeks that it didnt want to extend the furlough scheme. Labour have been asking for it for months, some of the devolved governments have been saying it has to happen. Rishi sunak, the chancellor, was really cautious about doing that. It is not something he wanted to do. The decision has been made in the last couple of days it needs to stay in place until march for a variety of reasons but the main ones are increasing concerns about the health picture, that is why this lockdown in england is starting again today, but also the economic picture. Clearly something has changed from when rishi sunak wanted to wind down and get rid of the furlough scheme and get rid of the furlough scheme and replace it with thejob support scheme which would see employers paying more. The fact he has gone back to the scheme he introduced in march, the state paying 80 of the salaries of many people around the uk, that is because they are really worried about the economic picture. So borisjohnson worried about the economic picture. So Boris Johnson goes worried about the economic picture. So borisjohnson goes into this press co nfe re nce so borisjohnson goes into this press conference tonight with some Big Questions facing the government about how long these restrictions will last, how bad they think the economic picture could get, and why precisely they are doing this now. Yes, and it is very striking all of that, isnt it . I was chatting earlier to pauljohnson from the institute for fiscal studies who made the point that back in march this scheme was put together frankly within 2a hours, and he was suggesting that perhaps by now here we are on the 5th of november, there might have been some tweaking to the system. There might have been some changes made because he says there will be people pointing out this scheme is not targeted. It is not a targeted scheme and the government could have made it so. Targeted scheme and the government could have made it sol targeted scheme and the government could have made it so. I think that is right, and i know since saturday, since the Cabinet Meeting when the decision to go into lockdown was finalised, there have been discussions going on between different parts of government about the idea of focusing support on tier 3 areas for example or those facing the most restrictions. The truth is it is complicated to do that because the furlough scheme works on paye and that is a tax code so it is hard to work out if somebody is in bristol, birmingham or brighton. Eventually the government has come to the conclusion that the simplest way to make sure the people who need support are getting support is just to make it uk wide. We also saw the exploration of the idea that scotland, wales or Northern Ireland might need targeted help if they went into lockdown. Remember the government there can make separate decisions on that. But it seems that has been too complicated to do so it has been too complicated to do so it has gone for the blanket approach of offering furlough to anyone who needsit offering furlough to anyone who needs it across the uk until the end of march. But there is a big bill for that, the furlough scheme is one of the most expensive innovations the government has come up with. At points it was costing £5 billion every month. It might be slightly less tha n every month. It might be slightly less than that this time because we know in england just now everything will close for a while but potentially nonessential shops back open around christmas time. Maybe in some sectors furlough wont be as necessary as it was at the start of the crisis, but the government is racking up a big bill over this. That is why rishi sunak was relu cta nt to that is why rishi sunak was reluctant to go back to the full 80 furlough, that is why the government tried to come up with the idea of reducing the amount it pays towards peoples salaries. But ultimately it is so worried about the situation we find ourselves in now, economically and health wise, that it has had to come back with the blanket system which will be in place for a lot longer than many people thought. Nick, stay with us. Thank you. We wa nt to nick, stay with us. Thank you. We want to talk momentarily, unless borisjohnson want to talk momentarily, unless Boris Johnson interrupts us, want to talk momentarily, unless borisjohnson interrupts us, about the situation in the us. There is no sign of the Prime Minister yet so it might give us time to update you on the latest in the us president ial election race, and we are hearing in the last few moments that the bbc is projecting that wisconsin will go to the democratic candidatejoe biden. As you see, that carries with it ten Electoral College votes. You might think, i already knew that, wisconsin has already gone tojoe biden, but i have to stress it depends where you are getting your information from and theres a lot of complications about how we calculate which state has gone to which candidate. Some news sites have been calling wisconsin forjoe biden for quite some time and we understand that, but the bbc system and where it gets its data from the us, we wait for certain details and that has now happened. So wisconsin projected for the democratic candidate joe biden, and projected for the democratic candidatejoe biden, and as you see from the graphics on your screen, that leaves joe biden from the graphics on your screen, that leavesjoe biden at from the graphics on your screen, that leaves joe biden at 253 from the graphics on your screen, that leavesjoe biden at 253 and donald trump at 214. Of course, as you will see, 270 is the number needed, the number of electoral couege needed, the number of Electoral College votes needed under the us system to win the white house. There is still much counting going on in a number of other states and we are talking a lot later in the day, im sure, about the legal challenges donald trump has been talking about bringing, that his team have been talking about bringing as well to some of that, but that is where we are now and we will keep you up to date with any major development. But that is confirmed. Dont take the black screen to mean anything bad, i dont think it does. We arejust anything bad, i dont think it does. We are just waiting for Boris Johnson, im told the Prime Minister is running a few minutes late. It is seven minutes past five, so a few minutes later. Not as late as saturday but i shouldnt tempt fate. Look, straight to number ten. Lets listen in. The government has done whatever it takes to protect lives and livelihoods in england, scotland, wales and Northern Ireland. We put in place an unprecedented package of economic support protecting wages and jobs of millions of people. We have built the largest Testing Capacity in europe with 32 million tests conducted so far and over half a million tests now available every day across the uk. We have ensured as we head into the winter that the nhs has at its disposal over 30,000 ventilators and billions of items of personal protective equipment, most of it now manufactured here in the uk. Across the whole of the uk, we have a shared goal to suppress the virus, ensure the nhs is not overwhelmed, and in doing so to save lives. The uk government and the devolved administrations are working together on a joint approach to the Christmas Period because we all want to ensure families can come together wherever they live. The challenges we face are significant across the uk. The average number of new cases each day is now 22,398, up from 9716 a month earlier. There are now 12,320 patients in hospital up from 2600 and 21 month earlier, 1132 patients are now in mechanical ventilation, up from 369 a month earlier, and sadly 492 deaths were reported yesterday, and the weekly average number of deaths each day is now 295 up from 53 a month earlier. So that is why new restrictions are in place in each part of the uk. In england, from today, we are once again asking you to stay at home. As i explained on saturday, you can only leave home for specific reasons, for work if you cant work from home, for education and for essential activities and emergencies. The full rules, all the details are available at gov. Uk coronavirus details are available at gov. Uk coronavirus and on details are available at gov. Uk coronavirus and on the nhs apps. Please log on to see what you can and cannot do. I know how tough this is. Staff in the nhs and in ca re this is. Staff in the nhs and in care homes are facing a tough winter. Forfamilies care homes are facing a tough winter. For families who cannot meet in the way they would want to, for businesses forced to close just as you are getting back on your feet. I know many of you are anxious, weary and fed up with the very mention of this virus, but i want to assure you this virus, but i want to assure you this is not a repeat of the spring. Schools, universities and nurseries are staying open and these measures, though they are toff, are time limited. The advice i have received suggests that four weeks is enough for these measures to make a real impact. So these rules will expire and on the 2nd of december we plan to move back to a tiered approach. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We have better treatments and techniques to take care of those in hospital thanks largely to the ingenuity of british scientists. Rapid testing is being rolled out on a massive scale with citywide testing starting tomorrow in liverpool. I am testing starting tomorrow in liverpool. Iam hugely testing starting tomorrow in liverpool. I am hugely grateful to the people of liverpool for their participation in this pilot. I hope that by working together we can get that by working together we can get that great city on top of the virus. More broadly, there is also a very real chance for safe and effective vaccines. So, taking those things together, these scientific advances can show the way ahead. And in the meantime this government will continue to support people affected by these new restrictions. As you know, we have protected almost 10 millionjobs through know, we have protected almost 10 million jobs through furlough, and as the chancellor announced earlier today we are now extending the scheme through to march. We are also extending our support for the self employed so that the next payment increases to 80 of average profits. We are providing cash gra nts profits. We are providing cash grants for businesses who are closed worth more than £1 billion every month. We are giving £1. 1 billion to local authorities in england to support businesses and a further £2 billion of funding is guaranteed for scotland, wales and Northern Ireland. As we face these challenges together, we must look after those most in need. As of september we have held 29,000 rough sleepers off the streets, two thirds of whom are now in settled accommodation. Today we are announcing a further £50 million to help councils offer safe accommodation for people who are sleeping rough or at risk of becoming homeless. This programme will help areas that need Additional Support most during the restrictions and throughout the winter. These are difficult times, and while it pains me to have to ask once again for so many to give up so much, i know that together we can get through this. So please, for the next four weeks, stay at home, protect the nhs and save lives. I will now hand over to the head of nhs england, Simon Stevens, who will talk about the preparations for winter. Thank you and good afternoon. Knowing i was coming over here this afternoon, i took the opportunity earlier today took the opportunity earlier today to ask some of my fellow nhs staff, some of the nurses, paramedics, intensive care doctors what they would like to use this opportunity to say to you, the viewers, neighbours and friends. I think it essentially boils down to these three points. First that this second wave of coronavirus is real and it is serious. Second that the Health Service has been working incredibly ha rd service has been working incredibly hard to prepare and catch up on the ca re hard to prepare and catch up on the care that was disrupted during the first wave. But thirdly, our ability to continue to do that is crucially dependent on what happens to the growth of the coronavirus infection. Left unchecked, it will disrupt care. Perhaps i can spend a moment on each of those points. The first then is that we are clearly seeing a big increase in the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals. Like you, and im sure the Prime Minister wont mind me saying so, i have watched a number of these press briefings and sometimes the charts can be difficult to keep up with so i have just one chart today that indisputably sets out what we in the nhs are seeing. If we can have that one chart, please. It shows the numberof one chart, please. It shows the number of patients being looked after in hospitals across england. You can see that the beginning of september, that was under 500 patients. By the beginning of october that had become 2000 coronavirus inpatients, and now at the beginning of november that is over 11,000. That is the equivalent of 22 of our hospitals across england full of coronavirus patients. Those are facts, not projections. As we think about the next few weeks, ina as we think about the next few weeks, in a sense we already know what is likely to happen because todays infection is the intensive ca re todays infection is the intensive care order book for a fortnights time. This animation shows that the way this virus works means that there are these lags between infections and hospitalisations and either cure is or illness severely resulting in avoidable death. So if we see the little animation, that will show that between getting the infection and knowing you have got it, there is typically a five day period. And for those patients who become severely ill, two to five days before they end up in hospital. And in total, ten days from getting infected to being in hospital and up to four weeks between being infected and being able to go home well or having unfortunately died. So the reason why action is needed is because the infections that are happening now are part of what will reduce that increase in what is happening in hospitals. For comparison, the 11,000 coronavirus patients we have in hospital compares with about 3000 patients that we would typically have in hospital on any day bring a bad winter flu season. Its compares with about 7000 patients who would be in hospital today, being looked after for cancer. So this is not really speculation, this is fact. And we know that in certain parts of the country, the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals being looked after is already significantly over the number they we re significantly over the number they were having to cope with during the april first peak. But that is not true everywhere. Fortunately, we have parts of the country where cases are rising, but hospitals are coping well. But if it continues to increase in other parts of the country, it will have knock on consequences. So we are by no means alone in this. If you look at hospitals across europe, you can see that they are filling up. Hospitals in the netherlands, spain, belgium, germany and france, the chancellor of germany has declared that german intensive care units would be full within a few weeks. The president of france, president macron declared that french hospitals would be running out of beds if infection was left unchecked. So the first point that my colleagues across the Health Service want to underline is that the second wave of covid is real and serious. But the second point is to share with you the extraordinary work that they have been doing to ensure that the Health Service is best able to cope not just with the rise of coronavirus, but the usual winter pressures and the other care we offer. As the Prime Minister said, we have new treatments that have been tried and tested in the nhs. Asa have been tried and tested in the nhs. As a result, the death rate in the hospital for some patients has more than halved since the beginning of the covid pandemic. We are doing very well, thanks to the brilliant work of gps, and expanding flu vaccine uptake this winter, which is so important given that if you have flu and coronavirus at the same time, you are twice as likely to die from coronavirus than you otherwise would be. Thats why it is great that 2. 5 million more people have had their flu jab this time this year compared to the same time last year. And as we have been discussing in the last day or two, there are prospects for coronavirus vaccines and the nhs wants to be ready to administer those when they become available. We have also been kitting out hospitals with extra facilities and equipment, expanding intensive ca re and equipment, expanding intensive care units. Our 1509a es are getting investment to separate the covid from the non covered patients that need looking after. We have substantially expanded testing and we have a four month ppe stockpile from the government. Nurses and doctors are going hammer and tongs to catch up on the disrupted care from the first wave. More than 1 Million People today will have seen a Family Doctor or had an appointment. Cancer treatments are now back at above their normal level, and routine operations in parts of the country where there is not substantial coronavirus are now back approaching normal levels. So preparation has been substantial. The Health Service is tackling disruptions. But the third point alongside the reality of the second wave that my colleagues want to conveyis wave that my colleagues want to convey is that we do need your help. There is this slogan, protect the nhs. From the point of view of people working in the nhs, what that really means is, help us help you. Protect our ability to offer the full range of Health Services, the routine operations, that cancer treatment, the mental Health Services, the Community Nursing that is required. Staff are working flat out. The good news is, we have 13,000 more nurses than we had a year ago. But coronavirus affects nhs staffjust year ago. But coronavirus affects nhs staff just like year ago. But coronavirus affects nhs staffjust like everybody else, and it has been a stressful time. I can put it no better in conclusion than the words of an intensive care doctor i was with yesterday, dr alison pittard, who said, in the here and now, we cant stop cancer developing. We cant immediately prevent heart attacks or strokes. And hospitals have of course got to respond to those. But we can reduce the spread of coronavirus in the community, and that is what we need to do to be able to care for everybody who needs it. Thank you. Thank you, simon. On behalf of everybody in government, thank you to you and everybody in the nhs for the incredible job youre doing. To you and everybody in the nhs for the incrediblejob youre doing. I wa nt to the incrediblejob youre doing. I want to go to questions from the public. We will start with tom in london. Is the first lockdown was east, playing weekly outside foot ball east, playing weekly outside football has been a major boost to my physical and mental health. Given that fitness is a key factor to prevent the risk from covid, why has this been banned in the lockdown . know how frustrating it is, tom. Believe me, your point has been hammered home to me by people across politics and every walk of life for the last few days. I would love to be allowed to let this go on, just asi be allowed to let this go on, just as i would love so many other things to go on for the next 28 days. It is just 28 days. We have got to do this package of measures to get the r down. I recited some gloomy figures that you heard about rates of infection and the number of deaths, the biggest we have seen since may. But the reproduction rate is only just above one. If we Work Together on this package of measures that we are starting today, i have no doubt we can make a real impact and allow people like you to play football again. That is the sad answer at the moment. Lets go to stephen from shrewsbury. He asks, what consideration has been given to the possibility of only limited vaccine success and how we live with covid Going Forward . That is an important question. In the scientific advances we are seeing, there are three of them. There is a kind of tripod on which we are resting our programme for the way ahead. One of them is therapeutics and medicines, and you have seen the progress made with dexamethasone and other drugs. It can have a real impact on peoples outcomes, as simon was saying. So better medicine is very important. The other one, if the vaccines dont work, is of course the testing regimes we are introducing. As i said, tomorrow in liverpool, we are beginning an experiment that has been seen nowhere else in the world exceptin been seen nowhere else in the world except in slovakia recently, where we are testing huge numbers of people. We are grateful for the cooperation of the people of liverpool. The advantage of this approach is that you can tell whether people are infectious or not in realtime, whether people are infectious or not in real time, within ten to 15 minutes. So immediately, without having to worry about the time taken to get the answer from the current testing system, you can help those people stop the spread of the virus and self isolate if they test positive. And if they test negative, they are free to do things with others who test negative in a normal way. That is the way forward. If you talk to scientists, they will say in addition that they believe things will start to naturally improve in the spring for a variety of other reasons such as the natural rhythm of these viruses and the improvement in weather conditions which will militate against the spread of the virus. But i think the Real Progress we are going to see is with science. As chris whitty often says, there isnt a virus that has threatened humanity that we havent beaten through science. The number of shots that are currently raining down on the goal is considerable from the scientists and doctors, and i believe one of them is going to get through soon. Anything you want to add . Just on the vaccine point, i agree with what you said. The point is that there are more than 200 types of vaccines that are in development at the moment. There are six that are frontrunners and two are being particularly focused on and two or three may get licensed. But the ones likely to come soonest are some of the cleverest and most innovative vaccine methods, using different types of reprogramming of viruses or using your own rna to produce the immune effect. Some of the vaccines that are more conventional, similarto the vaccines that are more conventional, similar to the as a vaccine that Louis Pasteur would have been involved in producing, they will come on stream later next year, perhaps the middle of next year. So we will have multiple opportunities here from vaccines. It is notjust one opportunity, pass or fail. Thank you. Lets go to vicki young at the bbc. You criticised political opponents who called for the furlough scheme to be extended and now you have done it. What do you say to those who have lost their jobs because you didnt provide that certainty earlier . And to sir simon, nhs staff are again facing huge pressure. Do you think the government should have had a more cautious approach over the summer about lifting restrictions . Vicki, on furlough, i think its been one of the most generous and imaginative schemes that any country has come forward with. It has been run continuously since the onset of the crisis, from the first lockdown right the way through till today. As you know, the chancellor has announced that it is going on till march to give people the certainty you describe. It is the right thing to do. As the chancellor said earlier, it was also right when we we re earlier, it was also right when we were going through the period in which we had collectively been able to depress the r to reduce the rates of infection. We needed to look at alternative systems of support to get the economy going and get people back into employment. That was why thejob support back into employment. That was why the job support system was developed and different package of measures. But now as we face this autumn surge, as simon says, in common with so many other parts of europe, it is right to go to furlough and that is what we are doing. On your second question, vicki, it is indisputably the case that we saw a welcome and substantial reduction in coronavirus injune, july and substantial reduction in coronavirus in june, july and august. Substantial reduction in coronavirus injune, july and august. That substantial reduction in coronavirus in june, july and august. That was evidenced by the number of people who require hospital care. The nhs used that period to ramp up routine operations to deal with some of the backlogs that had arisen. But when the facts change, you have to act in accordance with the new facts. Infections have been increasing much as here, but across the whole of europe. We can to stop the growth in its tracks. Prime minister, after the pictures we see last night of pre lockdown parties, do you really think restrictions can be lifted for christmas when the desire to celebrate will send the virus is urging again . And to Sir Simon Stevens, given the pressures on the nhs, do you think it is right to give people hope christmas can be salvaged . I perfectly understand why people feel frustrated by the measures we are putting in, but i also know the overwhelming majority of people will Work Together again as we all have done before to get the r down, it is onlyjust above one now, between 1. 1 and 1. 3 the last figures i saw. We can and will do this by december the 2nd, and i have every confidence we will be able, if we follow this package of measures in the way we can, and as we have done before, i have no doubt that people will be able to have as normal christmas as possible and that we will be able to get things open before christmas as well. |j think it will significantly depend on how successful we can be over the course of the next four weeks. We have shown we can do this in the past, we need to do it again. Our families, parents and children all understand what is at stake here so we have a shared endeavour to knock this thing off its perch. Thank you. Backin this thing off its perch. Thank you. Back in its box. Sky news. Just a prime just a question for Simon Stevens, given the hospitalisation figures, do you accept that realistically we will have to be living with some sort of restrictions over december and into the new year, and is that what is going to be needed in order to try to keep routine Services Going . And to keep routine Services Going . And to the Prime Minister, can you promise the man standing next to you that you will be able to extend measures if necessary on december the 2nd when over 50 of your own mps yesterday refused to support the current measures that we are now living with . Or will you have to rely on sir keir starmer to extend restrictions . Simon, the first one. Thank you, beth. This will be a function of how collectively we are able to get the infection rate down over the course of the coming month. But what we are doing in the nhs a nyway but what we are doing in the nhs anyway is make sure we have flexible facilities, that we have as many nurses able to work as we can because where coronavirus takes off ina because where coronavirus takes off in a community, that means nhs staff themselves are often affected or have to self isolate. Right now we have to self isolate. Right now we have 30,000 nhs staff either off with coronavirus or having to self isolate. That has an impact, so our success also is a force multiplier for what the nhs can provide in the way of care. On the question you asked me, beth, i have every confidence that the measures we have announced, that Everybody Knows about, that go on until december the 2nd, i havent promised it will work, that they will provide simon and the nhs with the protection they need. Just to repeat the point, they automatically expire on december the 2nd and i believe that we will then be able to have. People across this country will be able to have as normal a christmas as possible. That is the objective. But will you be able to get the vote through . Your own mps are saying they will not support you. What do you say to them . What i would say is i was very grateful to mps for voting through the measures that we did yesterday, and i believe that i am right in saying that the government was able to do it with its own votes, but obviously it was good it was a measure supported by people across all Political Parties and that is the right way forward for this country. These are measures that do carry the support of parliament, that is an important thing. I believe they will work and they will expire on the 2nd of december. Thanks to the technical advances that we are talking about, i believe we will be going through into a different period i was describing to stephen earlier. Lets go to jasmine of the financial times. Thank you. Earlier today the Uk Statistics Authority wrote a letter to sir Patrick Vallance questioning the data presented to the public. The authority said that some of the data has not always been supported by transparent information and asa supported by transparent information and as a result there was the potential to confuse the public and undermine confidence in statistics. What is your response to concerns around the nature and quality of data being provided to the public and mps . Jasmine, thank you very much. Simon commented earlier about the graph, we try to make things as clear as we possibly can. The data i have seen, yes it varies, the projections vary wildly, the scientific estimates do vary wildly, there is no doubt about it. Some scientists take different views from other scientists which is why you have to add the politicaljudgment thatis have to add the politicaljudgment that is necessary about the economic consequences and the effect on livelihoods. You have to factor all these things in. It is very tough to make these things in. It is very tough to ma ke exa ctly these things in. It is very tough to make exactly the right call. On the data, we are happy to share everything we have. Ijust think some things are irrefutable. The slide shows the number of people in our hospitals with this essentially deadly virus, and the number of deaths we heard about last night, 490, that is an irrefutable fact. We havent seen those kind of numbers since may. So i cant quarrel with the data. We have to act on those data and collectively that is what we are going to do and i know we can do it. We have done it before. Simon, anything to add on the data . Thank you, jasmine. Lets go to the daily mirror. Similar to earlier questions, given the data you have seen, how confident are you the nhs capacity will be relieved by december the 2nd so National Lockdown can be lifted . And for the Prime Minister, test and trace today reached a new low, having virtually no impact on the outbreak. Is there any point at which the government will abandon its approach giving the bulk of funding to outsourced firms . Wouldnt it be pragmatic to confirm the staff are better at it . As i said earlier with the animation that might have been too quick, falling foul of my own keep it straight forward dictum, but the point i think is that the infections that are already out there in different parts of the country last week and this week, they will be next weeks hospitalisations and the week after, but if you look at three or four weeks, we are hoping and expecting weeks, we are hoping and expecting we will not see the large further increase in hospitalisations that the Infectious Disease experts were saying well otherwise mean we run the risk that by the end of november we have more Covid Patients we had backin we have more Covid Patients we had back in april, and by december that was beginning to eat into the ability of hospitals to look after other patients. I think we know conclusively whether we are seeing that changed increase in hospitalisations by the time we get to december the 2nd. Martin, yes of course i understand peoples frustrations with nhs test and trace, and it has come in for a lot of criticism, and clearly it has taken too long for people to get their results sometimes. But they are improving. If you look at the turnaround times, they are Getting Better rapidly at the moment, even though there are huge numbers of people being tested. They have got their capacity up to 500,000 per day. It is the biggest diagnostics capacity anywhere in europe, i think more than 30 million tests have now been conducted. I would really disagree with what you said about it having no impact. Yes, it hasnt had as much impact as we would have wanted, but there is no doubt that by identifying people who have the disease and identifying the localities where people have the disease, we have been able to get the r down in a way that i dont think we would otherwise have done. So it is effective in helping to reduce the spread. What i am so hopeful about is testing because the pcr testing we have relied on, we now have this 500,000 Chain Reaction tests that were able to do, we now have big capacity now to use those in other contexts. As simon was saying a bit earlier, we are also able to use a new type of test made in this country called a lamp test, which is a rapid turnaround test which is a rapid turnaround test which will help us identify asymptomatic people in the nhs, nurses, doctors and others in care homes, and perhaps in other settings. But there is also, as i said, these immediate tests that really require very little supervision at all, and eventually you may be able to administer yourself, the so called lateral flow tests. These have the kind we are going to be trying in liverpool tomorrow, and i think these really are full of promise. I do think that testing does offer a real way forward for this country, and a real way forward through the crisis. So im going to accept the criticism is that people make about many aspects of nhs test and it is i think one of the real problems we have had, getting people to self isolate in the way that they need to. And i do really stress how important it is to self isolate when you are told to by nhs test and trace. It is vital for breaking the chains. But when you move as we will do ever more immediate test results, you help people to know whether they are positive or negative in real time, as it were, and so you are gradually able to remove the need for that quarantine and that period of self isolation. So i think that is a really Promising Development that we intend to exploit. So i am to the full. Exploit to the full, so i am very optimistic about testing generally, and wouldnt want to see it unnecessarily run down. Just building on that, the way i would say it is i think there are three lines of defence. The first line of defence is the amount of human to human transmission that is occurring, social contact, the physical distance in, the hands, face space behaviours we all engage in. The second line of defence is testing, tracing and isolating. As the Prime Minister says, given that quite a high proportion of coronavirus transmission happens either before you have symptoms or when you dont have symptoms, being able to do mass testing for people who are not experiencing classic symptoms will be key to the second line of defence. The third line of defence is what happens in Specialist Hospital care, including in intensive care unit. The right way about thinking about the intensive care unit is that if you just rely on those specialists, that is like taking the rest of the team off the pitch and leaving the icu doctor in the goal to defend. For the Prime Minister, more than 1. 2 Million People are now waiting for an nhs diagnostic test for non covid conditions, which is up from 800,000 in march. At nhs scanning capacity needs to double to reach the average of other advanced nations and to properly deal with the backlog. Will you give the nhs what it needs to buy the kit and pay for the additional staffing costs . And for Sir Simon Stevens, does the size of the nhs waiting list next year depend on the level of additional funding which has still to be negotiated with the government . Lawrence, quickly on that. Let me pre empt that. Obviously you must a nswer pre empt that. Obviously you must answer it too, but you are quite right in the sense that the pressure on the nhs caused by covid has made lots of other diagnostics. Pressure on all sorts of other tests, but that is why we need to depress the virus now. But your basic question is about the level of investment and there has never been greater investment in the nhs. Under this government at £360 million package of investment in mri scanners and other forms of scanners only recently orjust before covid began. What we are also doing of course is important in a way as investing in the kit, because we need more kit, we need more scanners of all kinds, but we also need the trained staff to operate them and thatis trained staff to operate them and that is whyjust in the last year we have 13,700 more nurses in the nhs than there were a year ago and we will continue to expand staffing levels. You cannot do it no matter how good your kit is, you cannot do it without the staff. On the diagnostics, ie the scanners, the mris, the cts mac and other investigations, we have just commissioned a report from micah richards, who has said we substantially need to expand our Testing Capacity. And where we are going to do that is notjust by putting more scanners in hospitals, but also using the opportunity to put them in high streets, in Retail Locations so as to expand the accessibility. That will need to be backed by investment, which we expect to get. In terms of your second question, the waiting list, as you know, there were predictions in his mother the size of the waiting list for an operation would be perhaps 10 Million People by the christmas. Fortunately, that is not going to be the case. We can say confidently that the work hospitals have been a bill to do in this window of opportunity while covid has been low injune, july, august, septemberand has been low injune, july, august, september and still has been low injune, july, august, septemberand still in has been low injune, july, august, september and still in parts of the country where there have not been substantial coronavirus outbreaks, thatis substantial coronavirus outbreaks, that is something we have to hold onto and build on. And your last point is that looking forward, the key constraint will be the staff available across the Health Service. If there is one small Silver Lining to have come out of the huge commitment and sacrifice Health Service staff have made over the la st Service Staff have made over the last nine months, it is that they have inspired a new generation of young people to want to sign on to become the nurses, doctors and therapists of the future. And we are going to have the biggest intake of new undergraduate nurses that we have had in a decade this autumn. And we have seen applications for medical school to become doctors up by nearly a quarter. That doesnt provide an instant answer, but it does provide some reassurance about the future. Thanks, simon and thank you, martin. Folks, that brings us to the end. Science is improving the whole time and we are other country inafar whole time and we are other country in a far better position now to fight this disease than we were in march and we will in the weeks and ahead be in an ever better position. But from now until december the 2nd, i must, alas, iask you but from now until december the 2nd, i must, alas, i ask you once again to stay at home, protect the nhs and save lives. Thank you. Studio that was the end of todays number ten briefing, the Prime Minister alongside Sir Simon Stevens, the head of the nhs in england. That final point from the Prime Minister was interesting because really, that summarised the entire hour. It really was all about and exhortation for all of us to follow the rules wherever you live across the uk, for reasons that Sir Simon Stevens made clear with a lot of what he had to say. Not a loss of key new announcements, even on a day when we had all the furlough announcements from the chancellor. Really, it was about asking everyone in the country to follow the lockdown rules. We will get the thoughts of our Political Correspondent in a moment on the politics of it, and in the moment i will turn to our Health Correspondent because she has been following all of that. I am sorry, i am racing ahead because while we we re am racing ahead because while we were listening to borisjohnson, there was a tweet from grant shapps thatis there was a tweet from grant shapps that is worth mentioning. It is about changes to the travel rules and it applies to anyone travelling from sweden or germany. Passengers arriving into the uk from germany or sweden are now going to have two self isolate. This kicks in in the early hours of saturday morning and if you come back from those countries, you will have to isolate for two weeks. Now, as promised, i will talk to anna collinson. Sir Simon Stevens was talking in simple but powerful terms about the numbers of people in hospital with covid 19. Yeah, we have been hearing from the head of nhs england, Sir Simon Stevens, this week. We already knew he was in favour of the england lockdown, saying it was needed to protect the nhs and prevent it from being overwhelmed, which ultimately means preventing nonemergency care or non covid care from being postponed, which could lead to a lot of distress. There has been criticism this week some of the data shown during these government briefings. Simon stephens almost referred to that, saying he was just going to show one slide to highlight the stark impact that he said the virus is having on people and the nhs. We can see that slide now. It shows the Covid Hospitalisations in england. As you can see, it is steady and low in august and then it sta rts steady and low in august and then it starts rising in september. Multiple things happened in september. Schools were going back, students went to university, people returned to work and the weather started to change. People were staying indoors more and that is where the virus is more and that is where the virus is more likely to spread. By october, 2000 Covid Patients were in hospital and by november, 11,000 patients. So Simon Stevens said this was the equivalent of 22 hospitals full of Covid Patients. He was keen to point out that todays infections is next weeks hospitalisations and from there, it can end up in some people are dying. Thank you. Lets talk about the political aspects with nick eardley. We have been talking about the exhortation to us all to do the right thing, as the Prime Minister would see it. Very interesting that there were a few comments about christmas, with the suggestion that if we do the right thing now, there might be some sort of christmas. But i thought that very long pause from Sir Simon Stevens told its own story. It speaks to the tension between the science and the politics here. I think thats right. Boris johnson has always wanted to give us an optimistic picture amongst all the gloom we often see at these press co nfe re nces. The gloom we often see at these press conferences. He did it again today when it came to christmas. Some scientists and politicians think the idea of a big Family Gathering on the 25th of december is extremely unlikely this year. But the government says it will work with the devolved administrations to figure out a plan and it is desperate not to tell us that christmas isnt happening this year, it wants to leave that option on the table. That is one of the reasons we are going into lockdown in england now, because it wants to get the r rate down by the time we get to december to allow christmas to happen ina december to allow christmas to happen in a meaningful way. But there were two things in particular that Boris Johnson there were two things in particular that borisjohnson wanted to get overin that borisjohnson wanted to get over in that press conference. The first was that message about following the rules, saying we are doing this for a reason. We had Simon Stevens talk about the second wave being real and serious, Boris Johnson reminding us of why he decided that this lockdown in england was necessary for the next four weeks, but also hammering the point home several times in that press co nfe re nce point home several times in that press conference that these rules will expire on the 2nd of december and saying if we do this properly, he has been told by the experts that that should be enough to allow a return to the tiered system and some parts of the country potentially going back to something that looks more normal in december. On the big political issue we were talking about earlier, furlough, he did get asked that pivotal question of why the government didnt do this earlier was that he has been under pressure to extend furlough for some time and had been reluctant to do that. Interesting that borisjohnson launched a defiant defence of the strategy, saying, we thought we could open up the economy again. It was right to get people back to work and say to employers, we need you to contribute more to pay your employees, but saying now that there is that autumn search, it is right to go back to the full furlough scheme. I think the criticism will keep coming on this and there are questions over whether the delay in announcing the extension of that furlough scheme has potentially added to the Economic Uncertainty that many businesses have felt and potentially added to the numbers of people that have lost theirjobs. Quick final thought. As you say, the Prime Minister kept coming back to that december the 2nd. Is that because of pressure from business or from his own backbenchers . What is driving the fact that he really wa nts to driving the fact that he really wants to ramp home that date . There area wants to ramp home that date . There are a couple of things. Firstly, borisjohnson doesnt are a couple of things. Firstly, Boris Johnson doesnt want to are a couple of things. Firstly, borisjohnson doesnt want to be in lockdown. He has made it clear time and again that he saw it as a last resort. He doesnt want to extend it beyond the 2nd of december if he can. But in truth, he might struggle to get the support of his party to do that because although that vote for the months long lockdown passed co mforta bly for the months long lockdown passed comfortably in parliament yesterday, there were more than 30 tory mps voting against it. 15 abstained including the former Prime Minister theresa may and others said, when it comes to the 2nd of december, we wont vote to renew this. So he will struggle to get the support of a large part of his party if he does wa nt to large part of his party if he does want to extend. Nick eardley, many thanks. The six oclock weather is coming up. Here is the weather. The reason we had those big contrasting temperatures today comes in part because of where the air came from. At the start of the month, the colder air in the south was sat across canada, where is the milderair in the was sat across canada, where is the milder air in the north was sat in the bahamas. That is partly why we have those high temperatures across northern areas, helping boost temperatures and bring warmer air to the surface. Overnight, the differences in air masses lead to different weather overnight. Mist and fog again for england and wales, with temperatures in the countryside dropping below freezing. In scotland and Northern Ireland, it stays cloudy and relatively mild. On friday, further contrasts around. The mist and fog in england and wales will lift into low cloud, which will linger before breaking and allowing the sunshine to come through. For scotland, quite cloudy and a much cooler day for the likes of aberdeen, 12 degrees compared with the 16 we had on thursday afternoon. Their weekend seems the window switch to a south easterly direction. We have a few weatherfronts bringing rain at times. On the weather menu for the weekend, it becomes cloudier with some spells of rain. It will eventually turn milder from the south. That milder air will bring in warmth across england and wales. With that comes a lot of cloud, with the threat of a bit of rain towards the threat of a bit of rain towards the south west of england. A cold and frosty stuck further north, with some fog patches. And after the first start in glasgow, temperatures really struggle. For sunday, notice much more in the way of cloud across the uk and there will be further outbreaks of rain, heavier and more widespread as well. But it will start to turn that bit milder. Today at 6 00. The chancellor rishi sunak says the uk wide furlough scheme will now run through to the end of march. Its yet another extension to the scheme, prompting labour to say hes always a step behind but the chancellor points to the millions who will benefit. Todays announcement will give people and businesses up and down our country immense comfort over what will be a difficult winter. Day one of the new lockdown for england the Prime Minister says people could have as normal christmas as possible if they stick to the rules. Also tonight. Joe biden edges closer to the white house but hes not there yet