UK coronavirus live: Sunak extends furlough job retention scheme until end of October

The BBC’s economics editor, Faisal Islam, says some Conservative thinkers believe a version of the furlough scheme could be with us for good.

A study of staff at an NHS hospital has suggested that 3% of staff reporting as fit for duty in April were unknowingly infected with coronavirus.

Researchers at Cambridge University swabbed and tested more than 1,200 NHS workers at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge throughout April, with staff also asked about relevant coronavirus symptoms.

More than 1,000 workers reported that they were fit for duty during the study period, but 3% of them tested positive for Covid-19. Dr Mike Weekes, one of the authors of the report, said staff need to be tested regularly “regardless of whether they have any sort of symptoms”.

Under closer questioning as part of the study, around one in five staff reported no symptoms, two in five had very mild symptoms that they had dismissed as inconsequential, and a further two in five reported Covid-19 symptoms that had stopped more than a week previously.

Senior authors Weekes and Prof Stephen Baker from the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease said hospitals need to introduce screening programmes across their workforces. Weekes said:

Test! Test! Test! And then test some more.

All staff need to get tested regularly for Covid-19, regardless of whether they have any sort of symptoms – this will be vital to stop infection spreading within the hospital setting.

The study, published in the journal eLife, also explored possible routes of transmission of the virus through the hospital and among staff. Researchers looked at whether rates of infection were greater among staff working in “red” areas of the hospital, caring for Covid-19 patients.

Despite wearing appropriate PPE, “red” area staff were three times more likely to tested positive than staff working in Covid-19 free “green” areas, the study indicated. It is not clear whether this genuinely reflects greater rates of transmission from patients to staff in red areas, as staff may have instead transmitted the virus to each other or acquired it at home.

Those working in the “red” areas were also swabbed earlier in the study, closer to when the lockdown was first initiated, so the higher rates of infection in this group might just be a symptom of higher rates of virus circulating in the community at the time.

Employers have welcomed the announcement to extend the furlough scheme too. This is from Edwin Morgan, director of policy at the Institute of Directors.

A furlough extension will bring significant relief to employers and workers across the country.

We’re delighted the Treasury has taken on the IoD’s consistent calls for a flexible furlough. Many firms will be operating far below normal capacity for the foreseeable future. A part-time furlough provides a much-needed launch ramp so businesses can start to get back up to speed. A more flexible approach will allow firms to raise activity levels in tandem with demand, helping to avoid cashflow challenges.

The TUC has welcomed Sunak’s announcement. This is from Frances O’Grady, its general secretary.

We are pleased ministers have listened to unions and extended the job retention scheme to the autumn. This will be a big relief for millions.

Changing the rules to allow part-time working is key to enabling a gradual and safe return to work. And maintaining the rate at 80% is a win for the pay packets of working families.

As the economic consequences of Covid-19 become clear, unions will keep pushing for a job guarantee scheme to make sure everyone has a decent job.

The Conservative MP Cheryl Gillan says British Airways has been threatening to made staff redundant, even though it has been using the furlough scheme. She asks Sunak to condemn this.

Sunak says the government will continue to do all it can to protect jobs.

In response to a question from Sir Ed Davey, the acting Lib Dem leader, about help for the self-employed, Sunak says the scheme already operating for the self-employed is one of the most generous in the world. People will start getting help through it from early next week.

These are from Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, a thinktank focusing on living standards and inequality. Bell, who used to work as a Labour adviser, welcomes Sunak’s decision.

In the Commons Sunak seems to have taken MPs by surprise by the scale of his announcement. MPs from all sides have welcomed his decision, and opposition MPs are finding it hard to ask the usual ‘But why aren’t you doing X as well?” follow ups.

These are from Rishi Sunak summarising his announcement.

In the Commons Sunak confirms that the level of support to employees will not be reduced.

But employers will be asked to contribute more.

He says today’s announcement means the scheme will have run for eight months.

In response to his Labour shadow, Anneliese Dodds, Sunak says he has never talked about people being addicted to this scheme. That is not language he backs, he says.

And he says he has been consulting with unions about this.

Sunak says the government believes in the dignity of work.

It is doing all it can to protect people who cannot work.

He says he can announce the next stage of the job retention scheme, the furlough scheme. He says 7.5m jobs have been supported, and almost 1m businesses helped.

He says the scheme will be extended for four months, until the end of October. (It had been due to end at the end of June.)

There will be no changes until the end of July.

And in August, September and October it will continue with more flexibility.

He says employers will be able to bring workers back part-time. (At the moment the scheme only subsidises workers who are not working at all.)

He says the government will require employers to make a contribution.

But he says employees will continue to get the same support they do now – 80% of wages.