Local lockdown extended by a week in Aberdeen

NO further deaths have been recorded at hospitals in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

The latest figures, published yesterday, show the toll of people who have died in the region’s hospitals with the virus still stands at 1,735.

The number of UK coronavirus deaths in hospitals has risen by 11, taking the total to 34,063, while a further 77 have died in all settings, taking the official toll to 46,706.

THE local lockdown imposed in Aberdeen a week ago after a spike in coronavirus cases is to remain in place.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the number of new cases in the Granite City had fallen in recent days but was still “much higher” than in other areas.

She said it was, therefore, too early to lift any of the restrictions.

It means pubs and restaurants will remain closed, with restrictions on travel and visiting other households still in place.

The first minister said the restrictions would be reviewed again next Wednesday

Wednesday, and pledged: “As soon as we can relax any of them, we will do so.”

Ms Sturgeon said a total of 177 cases had now been linked to the outbreak, 12 more than yesterday, with 900 contacts having been identified.

DATA released today as part of the British Medical Association’s latest survey of doctors during the pandemic reveals significant levels of long-term Covid-19 symptoms in patients and doctors, highlighting concerns that the NHS will continue to experience pressure in the months ahead.

Of almost 4,000 doctors in England and Wales questioned about their experiences over the last two weeks, almost a third have seen or treated patients with symptoms they believe are a longer-term effect of the patient having had Covid-19.

Symptoms most commonly reported in doctors and patients included chronic fatigue, reduced exercise capacity, muscle weakness, memory loss, concentration difficulties and loss of sense of smell.

ENGLAND’S revamped coronavirus contact-tracing app is set to begin public trials today.

The software will be based on Apple and Google's privacy-centric method of one smartphone detecting another, which matches contacts on the phones themselves rather than sending potentially sensitive information to a centralised computer.

Engineers are still trying to reduce how often the Bluetooth-based tech wrongly flags people as being within 2m (6.6ft) of each other.

Officials are concerned about people going into quarantine as a consequence.

The Isle of Wight will be involved again, along with one other area and a volunteer group.

It is thought the Government intends to launch the experiment without much fanfare, as it is still unclear when a formal national rollout will take place.

THE UK economy suffered its biggest slump on record between April and June as coronavirus lockdown measures pushed the country officially into recession.

The economy shrank 20.4-per cent compared with the first three months of the year.

Household spending plunged as shops were ordered to close, while factory and construction output also fell.

This pushed the UK into its first technical recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of economic decline, since 2009.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the BBC the Government was, “grappling with something that is unprecedented”, and that it was, “a very difficult and uncertain time.”

But shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds blamed Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the scale of the economic decline, saying: “A downturn was inevitable after lockdown, but Johnson’s jobs crisis wasn’t.”