UK Coronavirus LIVE: Covid vaccine “may jeopardize blockade benefits” as cases plummet in eastern London

Hammerson, a commercial landowner, revealed that the blockade restrictions on Covid-19 damaged the business and only collected 41% of the rent from the tenants.

The company’s boss, who owns the Bullring in Birmingham and Brent Cross in London, said that only £ 19.8 million had been collected for the £ 61.5m rent to be paid by the end of 2020.

Approximately £ 12.9m has been postponed or has not yet expired and £ 28.8m is unpaid. The 41% figure is lower than the 63% collected in the second quarter of 2020 at the previous peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to data revealed in Ireland, where Hamerson owns a small number of shopping centers, rent collection was only 31%, the United Kingdom 41% and France 46%.

In the UK, the flagship site in the city center was usually hit particularly hard, collecting only 36% of the rent, but retail parks had a better time with 64% paid.

Boss has more customers during the Christmas trading period from November 30th to December 24th, as the second UK blockade ended and the tiering system allowed more stores to reopen. Said increased.

However, city center sites continue to struggle to return to pre-pandemic levels, with footfalls reaching just 60% of the previous year.

Retail parks were more aggressive and customers were usually more comfortable visiting outdoor sites with parking facilities to avoid public transport. According to Hamerson, the foothold on these sites was at the same level as it was a year ago.

During the Christmas preparation period, 75% of UK tenants were open or offered click-and-collect.

But so far this year, this is a quarter open as either a “required” retailer, a non-mandatory store offering click-and-collect, or a restaurant or cafe offering takeaway or delivery. I’m depressed.

Similar restrictions were imposed on stores in France and Ireland. Hammerson’s Irish portfolio also has only a quarter of its occupants open, and the French site has been hit by a curfew at 6 pm.

More than half of Hamerson’s Value Village has been closed, but the company added that virtual shopping services on the site expanded significantly during the closure.

The Metropolitan Police Department Secretary states that “minority” people are not compliant with Covid-19 regulations.

On the LBC radio phone, Dame Cressida Dick said: “I think it’s correct for my officers to deal with a minority of people who didn’t obey, and sometimes issue or refuse tickets. Please tell me their names and addresses, and some people. Do so, and of course they can be arrested. “

It was fined 14 seafood carriers on Monday protesting the Brexit fishery contract at Whitehall, with Met issuing more than 140 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) at Tower Hamlets and Hackney alone over the weekend. Later.

The commissioner was asked about people who refused to wear face masks in the store and said that if someone was “very rude or violent,” staff should call the police.

But she added: “You can’t patrol, you can’t patrol every supermarket. That’s impossible and not appropriate.

“I think the store, the owner, and the store manager are responsible. Sometimes I don’t underestimate that it can be a difficult task.”

Many intensive care units are “already overwhelmed,” said Alison Pittard, dean of the School of Intensive Care Medicine.

She told Sky News: “There are already overwhelming intensive care units and hospitals across the country. There are an unprecedented number of cases, a large number of very very ill people, many of whom have died.

“And there are staff who are almost kneeling after experiencing this non-stop for months, months and months.

“I think it’s unfair to hear medical professionals hear that their situation isn’t overwhelming.”

“At this point, it’s far from the future,” she said, adding that the intensive care unit expects more patients in the next 7-10 days.

Professor Janet Lord told the Today program that if more was known about the effects of vaccination on viral infections, so-called “vaccine passports” would be “happy”, but other “practical problems”. Warned that there might be.

“For practicality, is there a big badge on the jacket that says” I’m vaccinated “? “She said.

“If you’re around, you’re no longer wearing a mask, you’re hugging someone you want to hug, because it’s the people who are observing you, and that’s the risk It’s a message that may be psychological and motivational. “

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis was asked about some of the oldest patients in the area who had not yet been jabed with the coronavirus and allowed the government to begin vaccination of the next priority group. “There will be duplication,” he said.

He told LBC: “It’s very clear that we need to go through most of the first cohort before the area moves to the second cohort, but there is some overlap.

“The reality is that when you’re moving these, if you start introducing a second cohort, there’s a bit of overlap.

“Therefore, some people from the second cohort will be contacted with their vaccine while they are still finishing cohort 1.

“Another option is to go through cohort 1 and pause before starting cohort 2, which is a mistake.”

“There are some overlaps to keep things flowing and moving, but the area needs to go through most of Cohort 1 before it can start moving to Cohort 2.”

Professor Julian Savulescu, director of the Oxford Center for Practical Ethics, compared having the virus to “having a loaded gun”, but those who proved immunity should be detained. Said not.

“There is a serious ethical issue that liberal societies have the right to limit people’s freedom only if they represent a threat to others,” he told the Today program.

“Carrying a virus is like carrying a loaded gun that can accidentally fire.

“We have the right to detain people and check if they have guns, but if they don’t have guns to detain them, it’s a false imprisonment.”

Professor Savulescu added that the blockade has “life-threatening consequences” and that people with “not just pubs” and “specific immunity” need to work to get back to work and normal life. It was.

Professor Janet Lord, director of the Institute for Inflammation and Aging at the University of Birmingham, called for continued attention as the number of vaccinated people increased.

Asked if the recipient of the jab could hug her child, she told the BBC Radio 4 Today program: ..

“Even if you get your first vaccination, it’s very important that people stay alert.

“If people relax what they are doing, it reduces the benefits of vaccination.”

Professor Lord continued in response to a survey on public compliance with coronavirus regulation after vaccination. “It’s a concern about the idea of ​​a (coronavirus immunity) passport.

“People may think (it) is a passport to freedom, and even unvaccinated people see their behavior change and say,’Why bother when there is no one else? Do you need it? ‘

“That’s the real worry we have right now.”

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said it was “too early” to outline how the country’s blockade would be eased in Britain.

He told the BBC breakfast: “I think it’s a bit early to give an overview at this point. The Prime Minister said he had a review point in mid-February when he set these limits, but that review point is still there. A few weeks away.

“Wait until that point is reached, check the current situation, see how the vaccine program is deployed, how the restrictions work, and then check the next steps. I think there is.

“But whether it’s February or moving forward in March, it’s too early to give an overview relatively early in January.”

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said it was “too early” to say whether Universal Credit’s £ 20 week increase would be extended after the end of March.

He told the BBC Breakfast:

“This rise was to combat the virus. We still don’t know where to put the virus for March.

“So the Prime Minister continues to consider this with the Labor Pension Secretary, and as we get a little closer to it, but by the end of March, they will make some decisions about what the next step is. Let’s do it. “

Asked if Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering a one-time payment, a temporary extension, or a gradual reduction, Lewis said: “I don’t want to predict where we are.

“It’s too early to start predicting what will happen and what won’t.”