Coronavirus live: 1.1m in UK estimated to have long Covid; Germany has jabbed millions more people than thought



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Private hospitals treated a total of just eight Covid patients a day during the pandemic despite a multi-billion pound deal with the government to help stop the NHS being overwhelmed, a new report reveals.

And they also performed far fewer operations on NHS-funded patients than usual, even though hospitals has suspended much non-Covid care, according to research by a thinktank.

The Treasury agreed in March 2020 to pay for a deal to block-book the entire capacity of all 7,956 beds in England’s 187 private hospitals along with their almost 20,000 staff to help supplement the NHS’s efforts to cope with the unfolding pandemic. It is believed to have cost £400m a month.

Doctor and nurse preparing a hospital bed on a ward in the UK.


Doctor and nurse preparing a hospital bed on a ward in the UK. Photograph: Curtseyes/Alamy

However, the Centre for Health and the Public Interest’s report (Pdf) says that on 39% of days between March 2020 and March this year, private hospitals treated no Covid patients at all and on 59% of days they cared for only one person. Overall, they provided only 3,000 of the 3.6m Covid bed days in those 13 months – just 0.08% of the total.



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England’s Covid travel ‘red list’ to be cut from 54 countries to seven

Strict hotel quarantine requirements will be dropped for travellers from dozens of countries, after ministers approved plans to slash England’s travel “red list” to just seven – down from 54.

The Guardian understands the decision was taken at a meeting on Thursday morning, following discussions about the safety of opening up the country’s borders, with an announcement due later on Thursday.

Brazil is expected to be removed from the red list, but those to remain on it will predominantly be in south America, including Peru, Colombia and Venezuela.

Passengers prepare to board an easyjet flight at Rome Fiumicino Airport bound for London Gatwick Airport.


Passengers prepare to board an easyjet flight at Rome Fiumicino Airport bound for London Gatwick Airport. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/REX/Shutterstock

The step means thousands of people hoping to visit England who would have had to undergo an 11-night hotel quarantine at a cost of more than £2,000 may be able to avoid isolation altogether – depending on their vaccine status.



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UK registers 122 Covid deaths and 40,701 new cases today

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Italy records 41 more Covid deaths today



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More than 140,000 US children lost a parent or caregiver to Covid, study finds



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German vaccination coverage better than previously thought

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at 11.32am EDT