Hospital patients will be discharged early to hotels or their own homes to clear beds for coronavirus sufferers under emergency plans to prevent the collapse of Britain’s National Health Service.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said hospital chiefs were “looking at all options” to meet the demand for hospital beds.
Under the “home and hotel plan”, patients would be discharged early to hotels or their own home at an unprecedented rate.
Hotel chain Best Western is already accepting Covid-positive patients from King's College hospital in south London. Rob Paterson, chief executive of Best Western, said the company over the weekend spoke to another 26 hospitals desperate for extra bed space.
Health chiefs also plan to ask care homes to start accepting Covid-19 patients, as long as they have been in isolation for two weeks and show no symptoms of the illness.
Patients discharged from hospital will be overseen by volunteer organisations such as St John Ambulance and the British Red Cross, as well as the British Army and any available NHS staff.
Authorities are concerned the country’s hospitals are yet to witness the peak of the winter wave, with more than 35,000 coronavirus patients currently admitted.
Mr Hancock said patients would be discharged early to a home or hotel only “if it’s clinically the right thing”.
"This obviously would be a further back-up plan ... we consider all the options," he told BBC's Radio 4 Today programme.
"This would be for step-down patients, so patients who have been in hospital, who no longer need the full hospital treatment but aren't quite ready to go home."
Mr Hancock said it was unclear when England could begin lifting lockdown restrictions.
Some MPs are pressuring ministers to ease the measures from March 8, but Mr Hancock said an end date was not set in stone.
Meanwhile, London mayor Sadiq Khan warned that an “unsustainable strain” on the NHS would require tougher coronavirus measures.
He wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson requesting the closure of places of worship, as well as asking for mandatory mask-wearing in supermarket queues, high streets and other busy outdoor settings.
Mr Johnson said he did not rule out tougher restrictions if the situation did not improve.
In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced rules over takeaway and click-and-collect services would tighten. From Saturday, only shops selling essential items can offer click and collect, while takeaways are no longer allowed to serve customers indoors.
Some shops in England are tightening safety measures on their own accord. Sensing a "change in tone" from the government, major department store John Lewis suspended its click-and-collect services, while supermarket Waitrose will more strictly enforce mask-wearing in its outlets.
The government is hoping to approve 24-hour vaccination centres to speed up the inoculation programme and ultimately end restrictions.
"We’ll be going to 24/7 as soon as we can," Mr Johnson told MPs.
However, there have been conflicting messages from the government, with Mr Hancock previously playing down the prospect of round-the-clock facilities, saying people preferred to get vaccinated during the day.
Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said the 24-hour plan was currently unlikely to happen. “Obviously, when we have limited vaccine volume, we do not want staff standing around waiting for people in centres that are open 24 hours,” he said.
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The years Ramadan fell in May
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 2 Bournemouth 1
United: Sharp (45 2'), Lundstram (84')
Bournemouth: C Wilson (13')
Man of the Match: Jack O’Connell (Sheffield United)
EXPATS
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Juliet, Naked
Dir: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Chris O'Dowd, Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke
Two stars
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures
October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA
