UK needs ‘biggest-ever peacetime job creation plan’ to stop mass unemployment
Richard Partington
The biggest job creation package in peacetime is needed to prevent the worst unemployment crisis in Britain for a generation, a leading thinktank has warned.
Sounding the alarm as job losses mount, the Resolution Foundation called on the government to continue subsidising the wages of workers in the sectors of the economy hardest hit by the Covid-19 crisis until at least the end of next year.
It said the coronavirus job retention scheme – which is supporting the wages of more than 9 million workers at a cost to the taxpayer of more than £22bn so far – should be turned into a job protection scheme that would be kept in place throughout 2021.
Under current plans, the scheme will close to new entrants on Wednesday. Firms will be asked to contribute to furloughed workers’ wages from August, regardless of whether they operate in sectors of the economy that remain closed under government rules, before it closes entirely at the end of October.
The intervention came as Labour, union bosses and business leaders pressure the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to use his planned summer statement next month to extend support to prevent a looming jobs crisis from taking hold.
California governor orders bars to close in seven counties
California Governor Gavin Newsom has ordered bars that have opened in seven counties to immediately close.
Newsom is urging bars in eight other counties to do the same, saying the coronavirus is rapidly spreading in some parts of the state.
The counties under the mandatory bar closure order include Los Angeles, Fresno, San Joaquin, Kings, Kern, Imperial and Tulare counties.
State officials asked eight other counties to issue local health orders closing bars include Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Sacramento, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Stanislaus.
In this March 2020 file photo, an indoors sitting bar is closed inside the Gelson’s Market in Los Feliz neighbourhood of Los Angeles. Photograph: Damian Dovarganes/AP
Brazil records over 30,000 new cases
Brazil recorded 30,476 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours and 552 additional deaths, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.
The nation has now registered 1,344,143 total confirmed cases of the virus and 57,622 deaths.
An aerial view of crosses casting shadows at the Parque Taruma cemetery, amid the coronavirus outbreak, in Manaus, Brazil, 15 June 2020. Photograph: Bruno Kelly/Reuters
Half a million confined in Beijing
China has imposed a strict lockdown on nearly half a million people in a province surrounding the capital to contain a fresh cluster, as authorities warn the outbreak is still “severe and complicated”, AFP reports.
Health officials say Anxin county – about 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Beijing – will be “fully enclosed and controlled”, the same strict measures imposed at the height of the pandemic in the city of Wuhan earlier this year.
The move comes after another 14 cases of the virus are reported in the past 24 hours in Beijing, taking the total to 311 since mid-June and spurring the testing of millions of residents.
Medical workers swab test people for Covid-19 amid the coronavirus outbreak on 28 June 2020 in Beijing, China. Photograph: China News Service/Getty Images
US health secretary: ‘Window is closing’ to stop coronavirus in country
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Bryan Armen Graham
US health secretary Alex Azar has warned that “the window is closing” on the country’s chance to take action to effectively curb the coronavirus, as the number of confirmed cases surpassed 2.5m.
The Health and Human Services secretary pointed to a recent surge in infections, particularly in the south and said people have “to act responsibly” by social distancing and wearing face masks especially “in these hot zones”.
For a third consecutive day on Saturday, the number of confirmed US cases rose by more than 40,000. In Arizona, cases have risen by 267% so far in June and jumped by a record 3,857 cases on Sunday, the eighth record-breaking increase this month. Overall, US deaths from Covid-19 have passed 125,000 with more than 2.5m confirmed cases, according to compiled by Johns Hopkins University, far more than any other country in the world.
The fresh surge in Covid-19 cases has been most pronounced in a handful of southern and western states that reopened earlier and more aggressively, with the support of the Trump administration, despite warnings by health officials to wait to see a steady decline in cases. Texas and Florida were among the states that reversed course on parts of their reopening plans last week as cases continue to increase.
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Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.
I’ll be taking you through the next few hours of Covid-19 news from around the world – a reminder that you can get in touch with me directly on Twitter or via email at the details below. Questions, comments, feedback, tips, news, lavish praise are all welcome:
Twitter: @helenrsullivan
Email: [email protected]
US health secretary Alex Azar has warned that “the window is closing” on the country’s chance to take action to effectively curb the coronavirus, as the number of confirmed cases in the US surpassed 2.5m.
Meanwhile, more than half a million people have died so far over the course of the pandemic, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, which relies on official government data. The US has the highest death toll at 125,763, followed by Brazil at 57,070. Some 43,634 people have died in the UK.
The true numbers of deaths and cases – which passed 10, on Sunday – are likely to be higher due to differing definitions and testing rates, delays and suspected underreporting.
- The total number of people to test positive for Covid-19 worldwide has exceeded 10 million, while deaths passed 500,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. It stands at 10,070,339, while known global deaths stand at 500,306.
- US health secretary Alex Azar has warned that “the window is closing” on the country’s chance to take action to effectively curb the coronavirus, as the number of confirmed cases surpassed 2.5m. The Health and Human Services secretary pointed to a recent surge in infections, particularly in the south and said people have “to act responsibly” by social distancing and wearing face masks especially “in these hot zones”.
- Brazil recorded 30,476 new cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours and 552 additional deaths, the health ministry said on Sunday. The country has now registered a total of 1,344,143 confirmed cases and 57,622 deaths.
- Sudan is extending a lockdown in the state of Khartoum aimed at curbing the spread of the new coronavirus by one week until 7 July, the government spokesman said on Sunday.From 8 July there will be a gradual return to normal, though a night curfew will be imposed from 6 pm until 5 am, Faisal Salih told Reuters. Sudan has confirmed 9,258 cases of the coronavirus, including 572 deaths.
- The premier of Victoria, Australia is considering stay-at-home orders and suburban lockdowns to contain several coronavirus clusters in Melbourne, after another 49 cases of coronavirus were detected on Saturday – the highest daily number since April.
- Mask-wearing will be mandatory in certain areas of Iran as of next week and virus-hit provinces can reimpose restrictive measures, president Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday.
- LGBT+ Brazilians are being disproportionately impacted by Covid-19 job losses, a survey has found. A report by advocacy group #VoteLGBT has found that one in four unemployed gay and trans Brazilians has lost their job recently during the coronavirus outbreak – almost double the nation’s overall rate.
- Sri Lanka officially lifted its nationwide lockdown on Sunday, after a selective curfew was reimposed a month ago during a surge in coronavirus infections. The island nation imposed the lockdown on March 20 and lifted it gradually over the past two months, although a nighttime curfew remained in place.
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