UK coronavirus live: Matt Hancock says Covid testing shortage caused by people who don't need them

Health secretary says people are booking tests when they are well as England bans gatherings of more than six peopleGatherings of more than six people banned in EnglandWhat are you allowed to do in England from MondayOxford vaccine trial on hold after participant has adverse reactionOxford vaccine trial pause - should we be worried?Global coronavirus updates - live 10.19am BST In his morning interviews Matt Hancock, the health secretary, defended the government’s plan to legislate to give itself the power to override the Brexit withdrawal agreement. Yesterday Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, admitted this would break international law.Previously the government has defended this as a tidying-up exercise, or a contingency plan to protect against the risk of a UK-EU trade deal not happening. This morning Hancock put a new gloss on it, saying it was about protecting the Northern Ireland peace process. He said:The decision we’ve made is to put the peace process first, first and foremost as our absolute top international obligation.We are also absolutely clear about if we don’t manage to achieve that [a deal], and I really hope that the Europeans will make the progress necessary in order to deliver it - it’s straightforward and available in my view - if not we absolutely have to choose and to govern is to choose and I choose peace in Northern Ireland.The Sun has learnt that London’s attempt to “clarify” parts of the 2019 exit treaty came after what they saw as veiled threats from Michel Barnier’s team that the EU could exploit parts of the withdrawal agreement if the UK did not bow to their trade deal demands.Under the terms of the deal export of “products of animal origin” such as meat, fish, shellfish, eggs and dairy from the UK mainland over to Northern Ireland will become subject to EU oversight.This has a ring of truth. The EU are very experienced negotiators and Barnier has some very good people around him who are used to negotiating with the big boys. This could be “hard-balling” but the response of the UK would be totally disproportionate. 9.45am BST Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has done a full round of media interviews this morning. Here are the main points.It’s absolutely there for the foreseeable future. I really hope we can turn this round before Christmas. I think that, in a pandemic, Christmas is a long way off. Three months is a long time in a pandemic and I very much hope this strong rule, together with the local action we’ve taken in places like Bolton ... I very hope much therefore this can work to do that by Christmas.One of the things we heard back including from the police directly was that we needed a simpler set of rules that are very straightforward, [that] everybody can understand, and we will be publishing those rules very clearly and then enforcing against them.We’re also going to enforce more strictly the rules around hospitality, including for instance you need to give your contact details when you go to hospitality, which has so far been voluntary. Large swathes of the hospitality industry have followed it. Some have chosen not to, so we’re going to make that compulsory as well.[Workplaces] are under health and safety legislation and businesses are legally obliged to follow health and safety legislation. All of our evidence is that the vast majority of the transmission that we are seeing is essentially in social circumstances, not at work.This is a normal part of a vaccine development that, when you find a problem, the system is paused while you investigate that particular problem.What it underlines is that we won’t bring forward a vaccine unless it is safe, no matter how enthusiastic I am for a vaccine. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/sep/09/uk-coronavirus-live-matt-hancock-covid-testing-shortage-boris-johnson #coronavirus_outbreak #politics #uk_news #boris_johnson #matt_hancock #pmqs #keir_starmer #health #house_of_commons