Health News at Your Fingertips

More than 140 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine. Here’s the latest from the Guardian’s vaccine tracker

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced an independent review into the long-term funding of the capital’s transport network after the Covid-19 shutdown almost crippled the service.

It follows the government-imposed inquiry whose terms and panel were announced on Monday.

The review is the latest move in a bitter row between City Hall and Downing Street over the £1.6bn bailout begrudgingly granted to the capital after TfL fare income collapsed with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, as the public were warned to stay away from the tube and other public transport, the Guardian’s Gwyn Topham reports.

Khan said that the independent expert panel would conduct a review looking at the longer-term running of London transport, in parallel with the government inquiry.

Khan said:

“Despite the huge strides made in reducing TfL’s operating deficit over the past few years, it is clearer than ever that the current funding structure is not fit for purpose.

It is vital that we find a new solution to support not only London but the wider economy, so I am really pleased that an independent panel of experts will review TfL’s long term funding and financing options.”

You can read Gwyn Topham’s full report here

More on the fallout from the “Russia report”. It is understood Boris Johnson will strengthen counter-espionage laws in the wake of the report by the Commons intelligence and security committee (ISC). It has been suggested the UK could introduce a “register of foreign agents” like those in place in the US and Australia as part of a stronger move against foreign interference in internal affairs. You can read more here

The introduction of the Covid-19 lockdown in the UK was not “delayed”, the transport secretary has said.

On Tuesday, Wellcome Trust director and Sage member Prof Sir Jeremy Farrar criticised the timing of the coronavirus lockdown, saying it should have come earlier.

But speaking on Sky News, Grant Shapps said the government had “followed the advice very clearly” from experts during Cobra meetings early on in the pandemic.
He added:

If the accusation is somehow it was delayed that’s not the case. I was in those meetings and we moved as soon as the information was being presented to us.

The progressive lockdown started as soon as that information was clear.

Further to the previous post, here is Kirsty Williams, Wales’s education minister, writing in the Guardian on why she has announced the £50m funding for universities and colleges.

Universities and colleges in Wales will receive a £50m support package to help them cope with the impact of the coronavirus crisis. The Welsh government has announced £27m will go to higher education institutions, while £23m will be used to support students in further education colleges and sixth forms.

The education minister, Kirsty Williams, said the institutions were “stewards of place” and would help Wales recover from the pandemic, PA Media reports. She said: “This funding will provide a vital support to our institutions in their preparations for the autumn. “Each one will be important in our recovery as they work with schools, business, international partners and public services.”

The announcement comes after the country’s health minister said the NHS in Wales faces a “truly extraordinary” autumn and winter with the combined challenges of a possible second wave of coronavirus, rising waiting lists and the annual flu season.
Meanwhile, health officials said there have been no further reported deaths of people who tested positive for coronavirus in Wales. The total number of deaths remains at 1,547.

The total number of cases in the country increased by 22, bringing the revised total of confirmed cases to 16,965, Public Health Wales said.

A study has suggested women and young people have been hardest hit psychologically by the Covid-19 lockdown, as MPs were told the world will be living with Covid-19 for “decades to come”.

The new study found 27% of people in the UK were experiencing clinically significant levels of psychological distress in April, compared with 19% before the pandemic, PA Media reports. A General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) assessing the severity of a mental health problem over the previous few weeks also showed increasing distress across the population in April.

The 12 questions included how often people experienced symptoms such as difficulties sleeping or concentrating, problems with decision-making or feeling overwhelmed. Increases were bigger in some groups compared to others – with a 33% rise among women, 32% among parents with children under five and 37% among young people aged 18 to 24, the study published in the Lancet Psychiatry found.

Sally McManus, joint senior author of the study from City University, said: “The pandemic has brought people’s differing life circumstances into stark contrast. We found that, overall, pre-existing inequalities in mental health for women and young people have widened. At the same time, new inequalities have emerged, such as for those living with pre-school children.”

Data from the Office of National Statistics on homeschooling during the Covid-19 pandemic is due to be released today

Good morning. This is Caroline Davies and I will be running the UK live blog this morning.

Here are some of the main stories so far.

The British government and intelligence agencies failed to conduct any proper assessment of the threat of interference posed by Russia in the 2016 Brexit referendum. There will be more developments on this today following the damning report by MPs.

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has launched an extraordinary attack on the World Health Organization accusing it of being responsible for the death of Britons during the coronavirus pandemic.

The US president, Donald Trump, has said that he has met British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who faces charges over the Jeffrey Epstein case, numerous times over the years, and that “I just wish her well, frankly”.

Trump has also urged people to wear face masks has he admitted that the pandemic is likely to “get worse before it gets better”.

The UK government is aiming to secure stocks of up to 12 vaccines for coronavirus that are being developed around the world. The chair of the government’s vaccines task force, Kate Bingham, said the strategy was to have an entire portfolio rather than one star player.

You can get in touch with me via email on caroline.davies@theguardian.com