DM1ST(^6) DAILY MIRROR TUESDAY 03.03.
Abuse Bill is
‘failing kids’
CHILDREN are not given
enough protection under
the long-awaited Domestic
Abuse Bill, charities claim.
The legislation will put a
legal duty on local authori-
ties to support victims and
their children in refuges.
But the NSPCC said
thousands will still be at
risk “because the help they
deserve is not in place”.
The Bill “fails to protect
children from the impact
of living with domestic
abuse”, the charity added.
Action for Children adds
a child must be seen as a
“victim, not just a witness”.
Switch deals
‘not the best’
A uTo-SwITCH websites
that move households to a
cheaper energy supplier
when their deal ends do
not always find the best
deal, warn campaigners.
An investigation by Citi-
zens Advice found some
services search as few as
15 of the 70 suppliers on
the market.
It means their 300,
customers could each be
£70 a year worse off.
Chief executive Gillian
Guy said: “It’s essential that
better safeguards are put
in place now.”
Heathrow to
divide Tories
T oRY MPs are in uproar
over the Government’s “de-
sertion” of the Heathrow
expansion project after the
Court of Appeal’s ruling.
In the Commons,
Labour’s Andy McDonald
urged the Government to
“rule out climate-busting
airport expansion”. But
Tory MP Crispin Blunt
said: “The Government’s
desertion of Heathrow... is
very bad news for early
delivery of Global Britain.”
Transport Minister Kelly
Tolhurst insisted the
Government is “committed
to airport expansion”.
Wind ban will
be blown out
THE Government is to lift
its four-year ban on subsi-
dies for new onshore wind
farms, reversing David
Cameron’s 2016 legacy.
The Tory Prime Minister
effectively blocked onshore
wind projects by denying
firms the chance to bid for
a price guarantee for their
electricity output.
But Labour MP Dr Alan
whitehead said more work
is now needed to “remove
the planning barriers to
onshore wind” and reas-
sess “eye-watering busi-
ness rates on solar energy”.
planning is in hand for any mass
outbreak here, concerns remain that the
NHS could buckle amid the crisis.
A leaked official document last week
suggested up to 500,000 people across
the uK could die if up to 80% of the popu-
lation is infected.
And a survey found more than 99% of
1,618 medics polled question the Govern-
ment’s assurances on the NHS’s prepar-
edness to deal with a surge in cases.
They fear services are already too badly
over-stretched – and in particular that
they have too few intensive care beds.
The Treasury was last night working
on measures to help in a major outbreak,
up from 130 a day earlier, with three so
far dying from the disease. And Latvia,
Senegal and Saudi Arabia confirmed
their first cases yesterday.
Iranian authorities uncovered a stash
of hoarded medical supplies including
millions of gloves as deaths from corona-
virus there hit 66 with 1,501 cases.
Richard Ratcliffe, husband of jailed
British-Iranian Nazanin, said she has “all
the symptoms” of the infection in her
Tehran prison but is yet to be tested.
British guests at a quarantined hotel
in Tenerife were being flown back
yesterday after testing negative. while
Health Secretary Matt Hancock says
building or role which meant contact
with patients.”
A clinician at Mount Vernon Cancer
Centre in Northwood, Middlesex,
who had tested positive and been
included in the uK tally has now
tested negative, East and North
Hertfordshire NHS Trust said.
Elsewhere, the death toll in
Italy hit 52 yesterday, up from 34
on Sunday, and the total cases
stood at 2,036, up from 1,694.
Germany confirmed 28
new cases for a total of
157, up from 129.
France has 191 cases,
by PiPPA CrerAr Political Editor
This is only
the start...
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS: UK emeRgeNCy plAN dRAfted
AS the number of UK coronavirus
cases hit 39 yesterday, government
sources warned it will take “months
rather than weeks” for the out-
break’s full impact to be felt here.
Four more people – all of whom had
travelled to the disease hotspot of Italy- have been diagnosed in England and
the toll is expected to soar.
Boris Johnson chaired his first emer-
gency CoBRA meeting yesterday and
said a “very significant” spread of the
infection is “clearly on the cards”.
He said: “It’s more likely than not that
we will face a challenge in the weeks,
months ahead.”
The Prime Minister insisted we are
well prepared for a mass epidemic and
said a “battle plan” will be unveiled today.
But confirming we face a tense and
uncertain wait to see the full extent of
the crisis, a whitehall source said: “You
are talking about months rather than
weeks before we reach the peak of this.”
Ministers from every department met
yesterday to agree the emergency plan.
It will include primary legislation that
will have to be passed by MPs and peers.
The first elements are expected to appear
next week but it might not be fully in
place until the end of the month.
Health chiefs will aim to slow the
spread of Covid-19, lower its peak impact
and push it away from the winter, when
the NHS is under the greatest pressure.
Briefing
Decisions to close schools, cancel
major events and even shut down cities
would only be taken on scientific advice.
Retired doctors and nurses could be
asked to return to the NHS.
Senior Labour figures had an advance
briefing on the action plan. And the
leaders of Scotland, wales and Northern
Ireland dialled into the CoBRA session.
Mr Johnson was slammed as a “part-
time” PM as the infection rate climbed
over the weekend. After the meeting, he
said the spread was “likely” to become
“more significant” in coming days.
He said: “we have also agreed a plan
so that if and when it starts to spread, as
I’m afraid it looks likely it will, we are in
a position to take the steps necessary to
contain the spread as far as we can, and
to protect the most vulnerable.”
All four of yesterday’s new cases had
been to Italy, which has been hit by
Europe’s biggest outbreak. Two members
of the same South Devon family,
including a secondary school pupil.
And the Maidstone Studios in Kent,
where Take Me out is filmed, shut
after a health worker at a nearby
unit tested positive.
Health chiefs confirmed the
case was a staff member for the
North East London Foundation
Trust, which has an office in Maid-
stone. Stephanie Dawe, chief
nurse, said: “They were
not working in a»» Disease spread may
take months to hit peak
»» PM’s COBRA session as
4 new cases confirmed
FeAr Masked commuter on London TubeBreATHiNG eASY
Rail commuter in gas
mask draws glances at
Milton Keynes CentralPrePArATiONS
Matt HancockAt A
glANCe
4 new cases
in UKPM unveils
‘battle plan’
later today99%of medics
fear NHS
won’t be able
to copeWorst case
scenario says
500,000 could
die here