The Standard

The Evening Standard’s health editor Ross Lydall explains what the South African variant of coronavirus is and how the capital’s battling to contain it. Residents in a “targeted area” within SE16 in Southwark are being urged to get a test after a case of the mutation was detected there. Additional testing sites, some of them mobile, are also being rolled out in Wandsworth and Lambeth where dozens of cases of the SA variant virus have been identified.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, a Wandsworth resident, is one of those who have been tested as has his Tory election rival Shaun Bailey who got a Covid vaccine in the area this week.  

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With over-50s and priority groups all offered the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, the government is now rolling out the jab to other groups. Our deputy political editor Nicholas Cecil tells us who’s going to be next, and also tells us how the debut of the Moderna vaccine will pick up the slack left by the AstraZeneca injection which is no longer being recommended for the under 30s.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is warning vaccines are not the reason the country’s coronavirus infection and death rates are down. Boris Johnson says it’s mainly down to the national lockdown rules, which began to be eased on Monday.

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Recorded in the beer gardens of Walthamstow’s Orford Road, this special edition of the Leader looks at the impact of lifting some lockdown restrictions on the hospitality industry. Chief food critic Jimi Famuwera joins the show to talk about the relief being felt by restaurateurs and bar owners across the city, but warns there is a huge unpaid rent crisis looming.

He also gives some recommendations on places to go alfresco dining, as do Evening Standard writers Susanna Butter, David Ellis and Ellie Davis. Bookings at alfresco spaces such as roof terraces and gardens were said to be “off the scale” despite the day starting with snow showers and temperatures not forecast to rise above 9C.

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The Evening Standard’s royal editor, Robert Jobson, joins the podcast to talk about the life and legacy of Prince Philip, who has died at the age of 99. Robert discusses the Duke of Edinburgh’s role in modernising the monarchy, and his importance to the Queen during their long marriage.

Buckingham Palace says Prince Philip “passed away peacefully” at Windsor Castle, where he had been staying with the Queen since being discharged from hospital on March 16. He had spent a month in hospital earlier this year and underwent surgery for a pre-existing heart condition last month.

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Our deputy political editor Nicholas Cecil is on the show after the Evening Standard spoke to a leading expert on vaccinations, following concerns the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab could cause blood clots in very rare cases. Professor Adam Finn says that even if someone was hit by the condition following the jab, “there is effective treatment” and people should take the injection if they’re offered it. 

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency says that as a “precautionary measure” anyone who has certain symptoms four days or more after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccination is advised to seek prompt medical advice. They are a new onset of persistent headache, blurred vision, confusion or seizures, shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling, persistent abdominal pain, unusual skin bruising or pinpoint round spots beyond the injection site. 

Nicholas also tells us how the latest Covid-19 infection figures show London is continuing to keep the bug at bay. 

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The Evening Standard’s Jonathan Prynn joins the podcast as restaurant groups report an enormous demand for al fresco tables. One, the Incipio Group, says it’s taken more than 300,000 bookings for post-April 12, and some of its venues are close to having their weekends sold out until September. Jonathan says the strong response has given the company confidence to press ahead with plans for a further round of restuarant launches this year.

Meanwhile, one of central London’s biggest landlords is pledging to provide 800 outdoor seats for more diners and drinkers in the streets of Mayfair and Belgravia from next Monday in another major boost to the capital’s embattled hospitality sector. The Duke of Westminster’s family property company Grosvenor said North Audley Street in Mayfair would be transformed into an “outdoor dining room” while 150 seats will also be laid on at Motcomb Street in Belgravia .

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Arts correspondent Robert Dex joins us to look at a government plan that could allow theatres to re-open without social distancing as early as this summer. Ministers are looking at how rapid tests and proof of vaccination could allow big shows to reopen in the West End, with auditoriums filled rather than nearly empty.

It follows updated advice from scientists who believe we’ll all have to socially distance for several months after lockdown restrictions are eased because of concerns over covid mutations. But Robert tells us many theatre producers are wary of introducing covid passports, fearing it might mistakenly send the signal that a night in the West End is more dangerous than going to the shops.

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The Evening Standard’s deputy political editor Nicholas Cecil joins us to explain why researchers are to begin coronavirus vaccine trials with children. It follows news that youngsters as young as five could be given the AstraZeneca jab in trials that could be key to keeping schools open after the summer. Professor Adam Finn, head of the Bristol Children’s Vaccine Centre, says giving the inoculations to millions of children may be necessary to keep the virus at bay.

Meanwhile, Nicholas also tells us how official figures have revealed the vaccine roll-out in London and across England has “flipped” to delivering more second doses than first shots. 

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Are we heading for another Roaring Twenties? After a year in lockdown, it appears the UK has saved quite a lot of money and now the Evening Standard’s Jonathan Prynn says we’re being encouraged to spend it. 

Official figures reveal an unprecedented scale of cash piles have been put aside by households while “non-essential” shops, restaurants and bars remained closed for months and foreign holidays had to be put on hold. The latest data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the savings ratio — the proportion of disposable income put aside for a rainy day — rose from 14.3 per cent to 16.1 per cent in the last three months of 2020.

For the year as a whole, the savings ratio — which peaked in the first lockdown last spring — rose from 6.8 per cent in 2019 to a record 16.3 per cent. But will this new nation of savers want to give up its cash for the sake of the country’s economy?

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