Covid-19: Hospitals could be 'overwhelmed', and mass testing 'distraction'

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Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on Saturday. We'll have another update for you on Sunday.

1. Hospitals could be 'overwhelmed' without new tiers - minister

If MPs do not back the government's tougher three-tier system when lockdown in England ends, hospitals could become "overwhelmed", Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has warned. The government is facing opposition from Tory MPs over the new restrictions, which begin on 2 December. MPs are due to vote on the new measures ahead of their introduction. Labour is yet to decide whether it will support the restrictions. It has warned, however, that areas in tier three will be stretched to "breaking point" without further financial support from the Treasury.

image copyright PA Media

2. Tier two drinkers 'have to leave pub after meal'

Drinkers visiting pubs in tier two regions in England will have to leave when they finish eating, No 10 has confirmed. Pubs in those high risk areas can only open if they function as a restaurant, with alcohol only being served as part of a "substantial meal". The PM's spokesman said: "We've been clear that, in tier two I believe, that you need to have a substantial meal if ordering any alcohol and it remains the case that the guidance says that once the meal is finished, it is at that point [you have to leave]." So, what exactly are you allowed to do in each tier?

image copyright Getty Images

3. Mass testing a 'distraction' from vaccine rollout

Mass testing plans in England could become a "distraction" from other priorities such as the rollout of a vaccine, health leaders have warned. Boris Johnson said that mass community testing, as seen in Liverpool, will be offered to all areas in tier three after lockdown ends. But experts said it requires "enormous" resources. In a joint statement, the Faculty of Public Health and the Association of Directors of Public Health said improving NHS Test and Trace must remain the top focus for testing. How does mass testing work?

image copyright PA Media

4. Calls in Denmark to dig up millions of dead mink

Denmark's government has been urged to dig up millions of mink that were buried in mass graves. A mutated form of the virus on Danish fur farms prompted a cull of nearly 17 million of the animals. Two burial sites in Jutland are highly controversial, with one near a bathing lake and the other not far from a source of drinking water.

image copyright AFP
image caption Diggers tipped piles of dead mink into trenches in Jutland

5. 'People have got clean on Zoom'

Recovery services have had to adapt in 2020, with some people using video-conferencing software to kick their drug and alcohol addictions. Jade Hargreaves, from Burnley, has been sober for three years and said losing face-to-face meetings was difficult. "But people have got clean this year on Zoom and that's amazing. Hats off to them because it's hard," she said.

image copyright Reuben Foundation
image caption Jade Hargreaves said she is in a much better place than she was a teenager

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