Covid live: Scotland delays vaccine passport enforcement; Turkey vows not to close schools despite cases rise



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A chair will be appointed by Christmas to the UK public inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic and sessions should take place around the country, Boris Johnson has told the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group.

The delegation of five people who lost loved ones to the virus also said the prime minister had described the wall of 150,000 hand-drawn red hearts, which the group had initiated in May opposite parliament in London as a guerrilla memorial to the deceased, as “a strong candidate” to become the pandemic’s official memorial.

He told them that while it was not his decision: “I support it, it’s very moving”. He said he would be the minister in formal charge of the public inquiry and supported the idea of the inquiry holding sessions in different parts of the country.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.


British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Photograph: John Minchillo/AP

The group counts more than 4,000 families as members and has been pressing the government for an urgent start to the inquiry. Johnson had previously only said the statutory inquiry would start in spring 2022.

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The Grammy-nominated R&B and gospel singer Kelly Price has said she almost died from Covid-19 – and was never missing, as family members feared.

Price announced her Covid diagnosis in July. According to the website TMZ, family members said the singer was rushed to hospital about a week later.

This month, Price became the subject of a missing person’s report, confirmed by authorities in Cobb county, Georgia, after last being seen at a police wellness check at her home on 18 September. Her sister spoke about her family’s worry and asked Price to make contact.

This week Price’s attorney, Monica Ewing, told NBC News Price was never missing, but recovering from Covid after being released from hospital.



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UK confirms 167 more coronavirus deaths



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Scotland delays enforcement of vaccine passports



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Also in England, the postponement of NHS appointments for some cancer patients because of the fuel crisis will heap additional pressure on patients and their families, charities have warned.

The Guardian learned that several cancer patients due to attend appointments this week at University College Hospital (UCLH), one of London’s largest hospitals, have been told they will have to be rescheduled.

A UCLH spokesperson confirmed that a “small number” of patients were having appointments rearranged, but insisted that no patients requiring urgent treatment would have their treatment delayed. The spokesperson said:


Owing to the national fuel supply we are rearranging a small number of outpatient appointments over the next few days for patients who are due to be brought into our hospitals by our non-emergency patient transport provider, offering virtual appointments where possible.

People queue for fuel at a petrol station in Barton, Cambridgeshire.


People queue for fuel at a petrol station in Barton, Cambridgeshire. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA



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