Here are the coronavirus headlines for Tuesday, February 8, as an update on the long Covid recovery programme is set to be given by the Welsh Government.
Health Minister Eluned Morgan will be fronting the latest coronavirus briefing at lunchtime on Tuesday ahead of the latest lockdown review in Wales at the end of this week. Follow live updates here.
The Welsh Government has said that a review of Wales’ long Covid programme has found it is helping to treat and manage the needs of people who have sought help for their symptoms.
But Plaid Cymru have called for specialist clinics like they have in England, saying people are having to go private to seek treatment.
The review of the recovery programme found;
- Of the 2,431 recorded cases of people with long Covid via GP systems in Wales, 2,226 have accessed Adferiad services.
- Around 3.5% of people with longCovid were referred to secondary care services.
- Less than 27% of people with long Covid had been hospitalised with Covid-19.
- The Covid Recovery App has been an effective digital tool to help people manage their condition.
- The majority of people who took part in the review said they felt their concerns were listened to and they were supported to get the help and information they needed.
- More than 70% rated their experience of the service above average and more than 87% would recommend the service.
- People responding to the national patient evaluation, undertaken by CEDAR who used long Covid services, reported an improvement in their health outcomes and were satisfied with their experience.
The £5m programme was set up to diagnose, rehabilitate and support those suffering from long Covid in Wales.
All health boards in Wales provide integrated, multi-professional rehabilitation services for people with Long Covid and refer people to specialist care services wherever needed. Read the story of one long Covid sufferer here.
Ms Morgan said: "In Wales we are committed to ensuring every person suffering from long Covid receives support and care tailored to their particular needs and symptoms rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, as close to home as possible.
"It’s great to see the results of this review, which show people are receiving the right care they need for them and positive health outcomes are being maximised.
“We know it affects everyone differently. By following the primary care model we have ensured people are treated by the most appropriate specialists for their symptoms. Not everyone suffering from long Covid will need to see a specialist and this model will stop people waiting a long time for treatment.
“We are still learning about long Covid and this review will help us improve services further. We will continue to monitor the support required and adapt accordingly as we learn more to ensure services are available to all those who need support.”
Every person who seeks help for long Covid receives a comprehensive assessment of their symptoms so they can be treated for their specific concerns and receive tailored support.
A long Covid expert group has been set up to consider the impacts of the condition, treatments and referral methods.
Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for health and care, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said: “There are thousands of people in Wales with long term symptoms following Covid – but with the current approach, there's little certainty in the medical outcomes they can expect
"Feedback from the long-COVID cross party group which I co-chair, says that Welsh Government must rethink its approach and set up the specialist teams that patients and medical experts internationally are calling for.
“We didn’t expect GPs to work in isolation when COVID-19 first arrived, so why does government think this is appropriate now? This piecemeal approach to a serious condition is forcing some patients to go private, which is awful when you consider that long-COVID is more prevalent in people living in more deprived areas. Treatment for long COVID should not be a preserve of the rich.”
Read more : All the latest coronavirus news from Wales, the UK and world here.
The Covid restrictions being looked at in next lockdown review
The Welsh Government's three-weekly review of Covid restrictions takes place this week, for the first time since the nation moved back to Alert Level 0.
Members of the cabinet will be briefed by experts throughout the week to look at the latest data, projections and what could change when.
Last month, Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford said that if the trends being seen at the time were continued, the rules around face masks and Covid passes would be up for review this week.
The law on face masks has already been changed in England where wearing a mask is only advised.
At the last review, the First Minister said: "We will review it on the 10th of February, because it's part of those alert level zero measures.
"The question we asked for advice on is, are those measures still necessary and proportionate given the state of the virus in Wales? And if the advice is things are so good you don't need to have them in place then we would respond to that advice. If the advice is they still form an important part of the defence that is what we'll do.
"I think there will be many people who, on an advisory basis, finding themselves in places where there are lots of other people and where we know the risks are greater because you're indoors and because our ventilation may not be as good as it otherwise would be, I think there will be lots of people who will choose to go on wearing masks because it gives them confidence that they're keeping themselves safe. I would certainly consider that myself."
Covid passes too will be on the agenda this week before Wales' first home Six Nations game this weekend. Read more here.
Latest infection rate for Wales
Nine more people have died with coronavirus in Wales, according to latest figures, but the infection rate has once again fallen.
The data from Public Health Wales, published on Monday, February 7 and covering a 48-hour period, shows 3,382 new positive cases to bring the total to 792,667.
The overall number of people who have died within 28 days of testing positive in Wales rises to 6,872.
The latest infection rate based on PCR tests, for the seven days up to January 31, now stands at 466 cases for every 100,000 people – a reduction from the 500.4 recorded on Sunday.
The infection rate based on PCR tests is only a guide to the spread of Covid in Wales as it does not include lateral flow test results, which are reported weekly in Wales. People with no symptoms who test positive on an LFT no longer need a confirmatory PCR test. Cases for your area here.
Dramatic drop in school cases in Wales
Covid cases in schools have plunged by almost half in Wales this week. In the six days to February 3 a total 1,665 cases were confirmed among staff and pupils compared with 3,274 the week before.
The data released by Public Health Wales on February 4 showed schools Covid cases fell across all local health authority board areas and nearly all councils. Only one council, Gwynedd, saw a tiny rise of two cases from 33 to 35.
A vast majority of cases are in primary schools with 1,053 compared to 470 in secondary schools and 142 in "other" which includes special schools and pupil referral units. Even so cases halved this week in primaries.
In Wales’ largest local authority, Cardiff , schools cases fell by 250 and in Swansea it fell by 135.
The highest number of cases by local health authority area was in Aneurin Bevan with 369, but that board also recorded the sharpest drop in numbers. Read more here.
Hospitality leaders call for VAT cut to be held
More than 250 business leaders have urged the Government to keep VAT at 12.5% to help the recovery of fragile hospitality and leisure firms.
In a letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, 261 hospitality and leisure business leaders warn that April's planned rise to 20% will "exacerbate the squeeze on household finances".
They say customers are feeling the pinch from increasing costs while firms face higher prices for labour, energy and food and drink supplies.
They are calling on Mr Sunak to rethink the increase as under these circumstances "the reduced rate is ever more important".
Business leaders from Apex Hotels, BaxterStorey, Bourne Leisure, Big Table Group, Caffe Nero, Center Parcs, Cote, Fuller's, Greene King, Hilton, IHG Hotels and Resorts, JD Wetherspoon, Loungers, Marston's, Mitchells & Butlers, Moto Hospitality, Nobu, Parkdean Resorts, Pho, Pizza Express, Pizza Hut, Punch Pubs, Revolution, Rekom, The Restaurant Group, The Savoy Hotel Group, Wagamama and Young's, are among those who have signed the letter.
A major concern of the impact of the VAT rise is that businesses will have no choice but to significantly raise their prices, further fuelling inflation across the economy.
Business leaders also fear that April could be a "cliff edge" for the hospitality industry, as the VAT increase is set to happen alongside a rise in the national minimum wage, plus changes to business rate relief and an end to the rent moratorium.
The letter says: "The reduced rate also bolsters deliverability of many of the Government's key policies - including levelling up, high street regeneration, employment and skills growth, and investment in net zero - allowing our sector to fully play its part in an economic recovery.
"The Government has rightly celebrated being the most open nation in Europe following the Omicron variant.
"As we look to revive our tourism, maintaining a reduced rate of VAT is imperative, as it simply brings us in line with the levels of VAT levied in our competitor European nations."
UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: "This is about so much more than an extension to temporary measures in the face of the challenges brought by Covid, it's about working to establish the right tax level for our world-class hospitality and tourism industries.
"It is vital, in the interests of competitiveness, job creation, growth and ensuring hospitality and tourism play their full part in driving the economic recovery."
A Treasury spokesperson said: "We've supported hospitality jobs and businesses throughout the pandemic with our £400 billion package of funding and continue to do so.
"We've always been clear that the lower rate of VAT was a temporary measure to support businesses as they recover and thanks to the strength of our fantastic vaccine programme, which has enabled restrictions to be lifted and the economy to reopen, it's right that our package of support reflects this."
Call for contact tracing to be scrapped in Scotland as part of 'return to normality'
Nicola Sturgeon is set to address the coronavirus situation across Scotland in her latest update at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.
The vast majority of restrictions have been lifted, with hospitality venues now fully reopened following a reimposition of certain measures over the festive period in an effort to curb the spread of the omicron variant.
Her update comes after health secretary Humza Yousaf said Scotland was now "through the worst" of the latest pandemic set back.
The Scottish Tories are set to publish a policy paper on Tuesday, with one of the main recommendations to wind down Scotland's Test and Protect scheme.
The "Back to Normality" document will call for the end of contact tracing in the coming months, with funds instead re-directed towards bolstering the NHS.
The Scottish Tories also said the performance of Test and Protect has declined in recent months, adding that the requirement for confirmatory PCR tests after a positive lateral flow test being dropped has made the scheme "less useful".
But on January 5, the day before the change was made, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged Scots who receive a positive lateral flow test to report their result online to begin the contact tracing process.
"We are urging the Government to adopt a new, more targeted approach to Covid," said Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane.
"We would place a higher emphasis on protecting vulnerable groups and trusting the public, instead of blanket restrictions such as mandating face masks in classrooms.
"One of the key proposals is replacing Test and Protect. It was incredibly useful in earlier stages of the pandemic but it has become increasingly redundant in recent months.
"We are nearing the point where Test and Protect is no longer an effective use of scarce NHS resources.
"As we start to move beyond the pandemic, our approach must adapt to fit the new situation."
A Scottish Government spokesman said that Test and Protect "continues to deliver an effective public health function despite record numbers of cases".
Neil Young urges Spotify employees to leave company 'before it eats your soul'
Neil Young has urged Spotify employees to leave the company "before it eats up your soul" in the latest stage of his campaign against the streaming giant.
The Grammy-winning musician said the firm's chief executive Daniel Ek is the "problem" with the streaming service, rather than controversial podcast host Joe Rogan.
Young previously requested his entire back catalogue be removed from the platform due to the spread of coronavirus misinformation on the site, which he attributed in part to programme The Joe Rogan Experience.
But on Monday he wrote: "To the workers at Spotify I say Daniel Ek is your problem - not Joe Rogan. Ek pulls the strings.
"Get out of that place before it eats up your soul. The only goals stated by Ek are numbers, not art, not creativity.
"To the musicians and creators in the world I say this: You must be able to find a better place than Spotify to be the home of your art."
The singer's campaign to remove his music triggered a wave of similar action from fellow artists and content creators, including Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash and the Science Vs podcast.
His latest criticism of Spotify and its chief executive comes after Mr Ek told his employees that cancelling Rogan was "not the answer" and that he was "deeply sorry" for the impact the controversy was having on them.
"While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I realise some will want more," he said in a note to staff.
"And I want to make one point very clear - I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer."
Spotify reportedly paid 100 million dollars (£74 million) to exclusively host The Joe Rogan Experience in 2020.
Spike in cases across Asia following New Year celebrations
Many Asian countries are facing a spike in Covid-19 infections after the widely celebrated Lunar New Year holidays.
The spike comes as health officials grapple with the highly transmissible Omicron variant and expectations that numbers will continue to rise in the coming weeks.
The Lunar New Year, which is China's biggest holiday, was celebrated across Asia on February 1 even as pandemic restrictions in many countries kept crowds and family outings to a minimum.
Hong Kong's authorities are confronting record cases that are straining its so-called "zero-Covid" policy. On Monday, it reported a new high of 614 local infections.
"We expect there will be more cases coming in a few days. We consider this as some effects after the holiday events and clusters," said Edwin Tsui, an official with the Centre for Health Protection. "With our current containment measures, we hope we can still contain the disease."
Hong Kong currently requires all cases to be admitted to hospital.
On Monday, authorities announced that close contacts of infected persons will be allowed to isolate at home, starting from Tuesday. Those who test positive while in home isolation will be transferred to a hospital.
Hong Kong has aligned itself with China's "zero-Covid" policy that aims to totally stamp out outbreaks, even as many other countries change their approach to living with the virus.
Authorities look to impose lockdowns on residential buildings wherever clusters of infections are identified, and have banned public dining after 6pm.
In Singapore, a dramatic rise in coronavirus infections followed last week's holiday, with cases tripling to 13,000 on Friday. Singapore has reported more than 100,000 cases spanning the last month, although over 99% of the cases are mild or asymptomatic.
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