Here are the morning headlines for Tuesday, February 1, as the number of Covid patients in hospitals in Wales has fallen by 20% in a week.
The latest figures from Digital Health and Care Wales show the average number of hospital patients with confirmed Covid dropped to 551 on Friday, two-and-a-half times less than the same time last year.
There were 18 patients in critical care with Covid, which is the lowest number since early August. It was down on the 20 reported on January 27 and almost half the Omicron wave peak of 39 on January 5.
Meanwhile, 11 deaths were reported by Public Health Wales on Monday as the infection rate rose for the seventh day in a row.
Although hospital cases are falling, the case rate in Wales has risen. The latest infection rate based on PCR tests, for the seven days up to January 25, now stands at 551.9 cases for every 100,000 people – up on the 527.8 recorded on Sunday.
That means a daily average case number of 2,486 positive tests a day, which is 76% lower than the peak in early January.
The highest infection rate in each Welsh local authority for the seven days between January 19 and January 25 was Newport with 927.1 cases per 100,000, followed by Carmarthenshire with 694.5 and Cardiff with 665.
Cardiff recorded the most positive cases over the latest 48-hour period with 547, followed by Swansea with 371, Carmarthenshire with 350 Newport with 320, Rhondda Cynon Taf with 304, Caerphilly with 252, Vale of Glamorgan with 216, Bridgend with 204 and Neath Port Talbot with 201. Cases for your area here.
Two-thirds of physicians in Wales feel overwhelmed
Nearly two-thirds of physicians in Wales say they feel "overwhelmed" due to excessive workloads and high staff absence rates.
A new Royal College of Physicians (RCP) membership survey found that 63% of respondents in Wales had felt overwhelmed at least once while at work in the past three weeks while one in six (17%) said they felt overwhelmed almost every day.
The RCP said high levels of staff sickness are still putting immense strain on "demoralised" clinicians who are working under the extreme pressure of Covid-19 coupled with usual winter illnesses.
With so many people off work more than half of respondents (52%) in Wales said they had been asked to cover rota gaps at short notice in the previous three weeks and almost a third (30%) had been asked three times or more.
While staff absence has been felt acutely during the pandemic, the RCP said much of the pressure stems from workforce shortages that existed long before the pandemic began.
Over the last year the organisation confirmed that 59% of consultant physician posts advertised in Wales went unfilled. That’s three in every five advertised posts remaining empty. In 63% of those cases it was because there were no applicants at all.
The RCP is now calling for investment in "hospital at home" services that provide specialist medical care in the community across Wales. It claims these teams can help to reduce hospital admissions, get people home more quickly, and improve the quality of patient care.
Mandatory NHS vaccines in England are axed
Mandatory Covid jabs will be ditched for NHS and care staff in England, UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid has confirmed.
The rule was set to be enforced from April, which meant if staff hadn't had their first dose by this Friday they would not be double vaccinated in time. There has never been a similar rule in Wales, with First Minister Mark Drakeford saying that any staff who lost their jobs in England would be welcome in Wales.
Mr Javid told the Commons on Monday night: "Given the Delta has been replaced it's only right that our policy on vaccination as a condition of deployment is reviewed."
"I believe it is no longer proportionate to require vaccination as a condition of employment through statute.
“So today, I am announcing we will launch a consultation on ending vaccination as a condition of deployment in health and all social care settings.
“Subject to the responses, and the will of this House, the government will revoke the regulations.”
Vaccination now compulsory in Austria
A new law comes into force in Austria on Tuesday (February 1) that makes Covid-19 vaccines compulsory for anyone over 18.
Several countries have introduced mandates for health workers and the elderly, but this is the first time a nation in Europe has adopted such sweeping measures.
Karoline Edtstadler, minister for the EU and Constitution, says the Austrian government is "very aware that it is really a strong step and really hard measure", but, one that is necessary.
"We as politicians, have the responsibility to be sure that the healthcare system is still working, that society, as a whole, can live normally," she said. "In this case, this interference (in human rights) can be justified. We have the need to get out of the pandemic and we know that vaccination is the only way to get out of it and to get back to a normal life."
The mandate expires in January 2024, and could end earlier if the pandemic allows.
And despite coming into force on Tuesday, authorities will not start checking people's vaccination status until mid-March.
Those who refuse to get vaccinated face fines ranging from EUR600 to EUR3,600. Exceptions apply for those who cannot get vaccinated for medical reasons or who are pregnant. Currently around 72% of Austrians are fully vaccinated.
The far-right, anti-vaccine Freedom Party says it will fight the measure in court. Its leader, Herbert Kickl, has said the law "paves the way to totalitarianism in Austria".
Opponents of the law are taking to the streets and demonstrators from many different parts of society have protested.
Austria has gone farther than any of its neighbours with this vaccine mandate. Other European countries will be watching closely.
Fall-out after 'partygate' report is published
Boris Johnson has landed a temporary reprieve from any immediate threat to his leadership as Conservative MPs appeared to be satiated by promises to overhaul the operation of No 10 in response to the partygate saga.
The Prime Minister faced angry backbenchers on Monday as he offered his mea culpa to the Commons. Key points of the report here.
Mr Johnson apologised to MPs after senior official Sue Gray found "failures of leadership and judgment" as gatherings were held while England was under coronavirus restrictions in 2020 and 2021.
Criticism came from across the House, including from former prime minister Theresa May who asked whether Mr Johnson either did not "read the rules", understand them, or "didn't think the rules applied to No 10".
Former Conservative Party leader William Hague has said the Prime Minister "should be very worried" and criticised his apology to the House of Commons after the Sue Gray report was published.
He said Boris Johnson had the opportunity to propose real change in response to Sue Gray's report and squandered it.
Writing in The Times, Mr Hague said the PM had plenty of time to craft a comprehensive and substantial response which gave his critics "pause for thought" but instead "decided to do the minimum".
"The Prime Minister could have got on the front foot, advancing his position on a broader front of ensuring integrity in government," he said.
"Yet for some reason, this very intuitive politician decided to do the minimum in responding to the report rather than go further in his apology and his proposals.
"Instead of reinforcing the momentum in his favour, he quite possibly stalled it.
"If I were him, I would be very worried about the number of his own MPs who asked unhelpful questions at the end of his statement."
Ms Gray revealed in an "update" that of the 16 alleged gatherings she had deemed necessary to investigate, at least 12 linked to government properties in Downing Street and Whitehall were being investigated by the police.
This included at least four directly linked to Mr Johnson either because he was reported to have attended, or because they are reported to have taken place in his flat.
Three alleged gatherings not previously reported were also included in the report.
But the police investigation had prevented her from delivering any meaningful report as to not impact the inquiry.
Polling on Monday night from Opinium said 62% of UK adults wanted the PM to resign, and 64% believed Tory MPs should make him go.
It comes after the Met revealed it is reviewing more than 300 images and over 500 pages of information passed to officers by the Gray inquiry.
Cabinet ministers test positive
Two of Boris Johnson’s Cabinet ministers tested positive for Covid on what was already a bad day for the Prime Minister.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will miss a trip to Ukraine with the Tory leader after she tested positive on Monday evening.
The pair were due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, amid warnings a war with Russia could be ‘imminent’.
Ms Truss announced she was isolating – after she appeared in the Commons without a mask to show Mr Johnson support when he made his apology.
UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who was wearing a mask, had sat beside her, while Home Secretary Priti Patel, who did not have a face covering, was the other side.
Earlier in the day, the foreign secretary announced plans for legislation with new powers to sanction individuals and businesses linked to the Russian state.
Later on, she attended a meeting open to all members of the parliamentary Conservative party where the PM addressed MPs and peers to rally support after what was described as a ‘difficult day’.
Meanwhile, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi – who was absent from parliamentary questions – announced that he had found out he was infected on Sunday night.
Both politicians said on Twitter they were triple-jabbed and would be working from home.
On Tuesday morning, Wales' Economy Minister Vaughan Gething announced that he had tested positive.
Phillip Schofield tests positive for coronavirus
Phillip Schofield has tested positive for coronavirus, throwing his presence during this Sunday's Dancing On Ice live show into doubt.
The TV presenter shared a photo of a lateral flow test showing a positive result with his three million Instagram followers late on Monday evening.
He captioned the image: "Well bollocks!! Currently just a slightly sore throat."
Current NHS guidelines say that if a person tests positive they usually have to self-isolate for 10 full days or longer if symptoms occur or do not go away.
However it is possible to cut the period short after five days as long as the person tests negative on day five and day six.
If Schofield needs to observe the full period or longer then he will be forced to miss this week's episode of Dancing On Ice.
The presenter, 59, usually hosts the ITV celebrity skating competition alongside Holly Willoughby, 40 who is also his co-presenter on This Morning.
Willoughby has been absent from the weekday daytime show for the past two weeks due to other work commitments, and Schofield has instead appeared beside former Saturdays star Rochelle Humes.
Presenter Ria Hebden became the second contestant eliminated from the show on Sunday, after ending up in the skate-off during movie week.
Judges Oti Mabuse, Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean and Ashley Banjo unanimously chose to save former S Club 7 star Rachel Stevens.
Italian businessmen 'scammed £366m in coronavirus tax credits'
Italian police said they have broken up a ring of businessmen accused of cheating the government out of 440 million euros (£366 million) in tax credits that were granted as part of government measures to help struggling businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Police said 35 people were targeted with arrest warrants, home detention or other restrictive measures and that authorities carried out 80 searches across the country, from Trentino in the north to Sicily in the south and points in between.
The investigation was sparked by suspicious transaction reports that were shown to be from non-existent companies or failing companies, financial police said in a statement.
Those companies had been taken over by front men who posed as the legal representative and entered the necessary data in the Italian government's tax database to apply for tax credits.
Subsequent investigation showed that a criminal organisation, involving some 12 core businessmen, "was totally dedicated to the creation and marketing of false tax credits, subsequently monetised by transferring them to unsuspecting buyers unrelated to the scam", the statement said.
The Italian government passed a series of measures to try to keep Italian businesses afloat after Italy became the first epicentre of the outbreak in Europe in February 2020 and imposed the first nationwide lockdown and production shutdown in the West.
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