JAB S A GOOD UN
Every care home resident in Britain has been offered Covid vaccine as Boris Johnson pledges to accelerate jab roll-out
Updated: 1 Feb 2021, 0:58
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BORIS Johnson today hailed the vaccine roll out as it hit the “crucial milestone” of jabbing every care home resident.
The landmark moment in the battle against Covid came as Britain’s jabbers inoculated over 600,000 people on Saturday - nearly one per cent of the entire nation in just 24 hours.
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The Covid-19 vaccine has been offered to every care home resident in the UKCredit: PA:Press Association
And it comes as Covid cases plunged by 30 per cent in the last week as the nation finally appears to be getting to grips with the second wave of the pandemic.
Experts are seeking to urgently test 80,000 people in England for Covid-19 after it emerged that the South African strain of the virus may have spread in some regions.
Health officials said 11 people had been identified over the last five or six days who have tested positive for the variant, but who have no links to travel.
This suggests there may pockets of spread in local communities of the new variant, with the possibility of further cases.
Experts from Public Health England (PHE), who have been sequencing around 5% to 10% of all positive cases looking for variants, are now hoping to break any chains of transmission. All but two areas involved single cases of the variant.
LIVE: Matt Hancock leads coronavirus briefing amid care home vaccine milestone
Boris Johnson said care home residents will be reunited with their families as soon as we sensibly and safely can”
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Matt Hancock will lead a Downing Street press conference as the coronavirus vaccine rollout continues.
The Health Secretary is set to celebrate hitting the crucial milestone of offering a first dose to all elderly care home residents in England.
Figures are expected to show “virtually all” care home residents have had the jab - except where there is an active outbreak of Covid.
Every person over 16 living in these locations is strongly encouraged to take a COVID test this week, whether they are showing symptoms or not.
Mobile testing units (MTUs) will be deployed offering PCR testing to people without symptoms who have to leave their home for work or essential reasons, with local authorities encouraging people to get tested in the area by providing additional home test kits.
People with symptoms should book a test in the usual way and people without symptoms should visit their local authority website for more information.
This additional testing will begin in these areas from Monday.
South Holland groups back new mental health reforms
| Updated: 16:44, 28 January 2021
A proposed major reform of mental health care could make a huge difference to so manyâ says a key supporter of those with mental health issues.
Vanessa Browning, who lives in Spalding and runs Community Mind Matters, set up to help residents with depression and anxiety, said she backs new Government proposals â100 per centâ.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock has unveiled a new white paper for the proposals, saying âwe must bring the Mental Health Act into the 21st centuryâ.
Vanessa Browning and Jack McLean pictured last year with the Community Mind Matters bench in Spaldingâs Ayscoughfee Gardens. The bench is available for people wanting to chat with a support worker about any anxieties or concerns.