Covid: Boris Johnson faces MPs and Nicola Sturgeon mask breachon April 19, 2022 at 6:43 am

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Tuesday morning.

Boris Johnson is expected to apologise to MPs after being fined – along with his wife, and Chancellor Rishi Sunak – for breaking lockdown rules by attending a birthday gathering for the PM in No 10 in June 2020. Opposition parties are expected to try and censure the prime minister in the coming days, amid claims – denied by the PM – that he lied to MPs. The government argues there are more important issues to focus on.

Police have spoken to Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, after she was filmed without a mask in an East Kilbride barber shop on Saturday – before a law requiring face coverings in crowded indoor places was lifted on Monday. Police Scotland says it’s satisfied no further action is necessary. Ms Sturgeon says she put on her mask after realising she had forgotten to do so “within seconds” of being in the shop on Saturday.

The British Chambers of Commerce, which represents tens of thousands of businesses, is calling for companies to be given free or cheap lateral flow tests. It says three quarters of its members had at least one person off sick in the last four weeks and that testing is needed to keep staff and customers safe. The government says it’s given firms £400bn in Covid support.

Civil servants must stop working from home and return to the office, according to a letter from Cabinet Office minister Jacob Rees-Mogg to colleagues. Average daily attendance in the week of 4 April was 44% and the government says departments must “make maximum use of office space”. In February, the Institute for Government think tank argued hybrid working was needed to help the civil service recruit the best staff.

While the pandemic sent so many careers into turmoil, it has given some an unexpected shot in the arm. Some 11,483 of the 71,000 people who took paid roles – and thousands more who volunteered – with the Covid-19 vaccination programme have since taken permanent roles with the NHS in England. Volunteer Tamryn Saby, who worked for an airline for 11 years, has studied to become a therapeutic radiographer. “Being part of the vaccine roll-out… helped build my confidence for a career in healthcare,” she said.

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