Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

In a recent tweet, Robert Jenrick, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, said he will be meeting with religious leaders to plan the reopening of places of worship, whether for public worship or individual prayer. He said, ‘We will work together to agree how and when to do so, whilst protecting the public and controlling the virus.’ He said that private prayer could be allowed before buildings are opened up to the public. Currently places of worship in England are not expected to open before 4 July at the earliest. Bishops in Scotland have formed a Coronavirus working group to look at the best way of meeting long-term pastoral needs during the pandemic, but the Church is not expected to return to normal until 2021. They said that even when churches reopen, parish activities will still be greatly restricted. Pastoral working groups will identify and publicise advice or resources to help dioceses and parishes face fresh challenges in a safe manner.

Nurse academic Irene Tuffrey-Wijne says figures about deaths from coronavirus of people with learning disabilities are needed now to help prevent unnecessary deaths. Public Health England have stated that an expert group will analyse data on the deaths from coronavirus of those with learning disabilities and autism. However, the data will not be published until 2021. Ms Tuffrey-Wijne said, ‘It’s not good enough to look at this retrospectively in 2021; it will be too late then to prevent unnecessary deaths in 2020.’ The Care Quality Commission says there has been a 175% increase in deaths of people with learning disabilities living in adult social care organisations in England, compared with the same period last year. But while elderly people are entitled to be tested for coronavirus, people with a learning disability are not. See

A blood test to find out whether people have been infected with coronavirus in the past has been approved by Public Health England, a ‘very positive development’. The test looks for antibodies to see if a person has already had the virus and might now have some immunity. Until now, officials have said such tests are not reliable enough. The government previously spent £16m buying antibody tests which proved to be ineffective. This test is the first one to offer serious potential. Experts at Porton Down evaluated the test and found that if someone had been infected, it gave the correct result 100% of the time. And if someone had not caught coronavirus, then it gave the correct result in 99.8% of cases.

The Freedom Church in Kingswood (Bristol) has set up Freedom Groups which meet weekly via Zoom. Church members in the groups are encouraged to invite neighbours to join. The church has also created a prayer line, Prayer4You, where people can contact the church for spiritual support. ‘We wanted to offer a bit more than a leaflet through the door offering help,’ explains associate pastor Revd Dr David Hull. ‘We wanted to offer the opportunity to engage in a light touch way with questions of faith.’ As well as places to talk, pastors record a short weekly video message for groups to watch. Each broadcast introduces a faith issue which the group can then discuss. ‘It is an opportunity for people outside the church to begin to think about and discuss questions of faith in any way they want to.’

On 10 May Boris Johnson will announce plans to ease lockdown restrictions. High Street retailers want to hear how they might reopen. There will be bargains as managers try to shift stock. People are wondering if they will be able to meet friends and family. Will small groups of friends or relatives meet in a small group or in ‘bubbles’? Recently a grandmother asked a Downing Street briefing if being able to hug her grandchildren would be among the first changes. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that her question ‘brought home the emotional impact’ of lockdown, and he hoped she could do it ‘as soon as possible’. Pray for God to direct every decision made by our leaders as they plan the various stages of our nation’s future. Pray for company bosses rethinking how premises and equipment are shared as they organise safe walking routes in offices, on factory floors and building sites.

Coronavirus has prompted a new appreciation of food and farming, a new interest in healthier eating, local food and national food security, and a greater awareness of injustices in the food chain. Pray that all these will be sustained beyond Covid-19 and will help improve relationships between producers and consumers, strengthen rural economies and create a more just and fairer food system. As families gather for more meals at home, pray for a strengthening of family life and a renewed awareness of the Lord who 'put us in families' (Psalm 68:6). The countryside has never been more popular. People have been flocking to farmland for exercise and recreation, and to enjoy all the sights and sounds of spring. Pray for a reconnecting between town and country and for farmers to deal graciously with the increased footfall.

Anna-Maria Tudor, 32, had an abortion at 23 weeks that she now regrets after learning that her unborn child may have felt pain while being aborted. Medical researchers say there is now ‘good evidence’ that the brain and nervous system, which start developing at 12 weeks, are adequate for the baby to feel pain at 23 weeks. They argue that women considering an abortion at this stage of pregnancy should be told about the pain their unborn baby could experience while being terminated. Ms Tudor is launching a landmark abortion court case. She is seeking a declaration that current NICE guidelines, not requiring women to be informed that an unborn child could suffer pain during an abortion, are unlawful. Pain relief during an abortion is not required by law, but painkillers are given to unborn babies receiving surgery in the womb for spina bifida.

England's children's commissioner is highlighting pressures facing mothers caring for babies born in lockdown without the usual family and state support networks. An estimated 76,000 babies will have been born in England under lockdown so far. Although helplines for parents have been set up in most areas, the usual sources of physical support from family, friends and voluntary services are not at present available. Also births are not being registered, due to rules tied to the pandemic, so even basic information about new babies is not being gathered. Pray for the new mothers depending on phone support from health visitors and GPs, often not readily accessible. May God give strength and confidence to new mothers and fathers unsure of ‘baby routines’ and facing unexpected challenges. Many babies have missed the health checks that would have picked up urgent development needs in the first few weeks because parents have not wanted to attend and risk potential infection.

500+ clergy and lay people signed a letter to the Times calling for a rethink to current guidance on church shutdown. They said that closed churches are stifling their prophetic witness and defence of the poor. They agreed that temporary closure of churches for public worship is necessary in the current crisis. However, the broadcast of services from a closed church is explicitly permitted by government guidelines and almost all other churches are doing this, but ‘the Church of England has gone beyond this advice’. Since the publication of this letter, the CofE has responded by issuing revised guidelines outlining the precautions which must be taken if a church building is being used for private prayer or streaming worship: see

The National Cyber Security Centre reports that Chinese, Russians and Iranians are targeting healthcare bodies involved in coronavirus research. The first country to find a vaccine or cure will achieve diplomatic and geo-political influence. Healthcare and medical research staff were urged to improve their password security and implement two-factor authentication on accounts to reduce the possibility of threats. Matt Hancock has given the intelligence service access to the NHS IT network. Boris Johnson wisely stated, 'The race to discover the vaccine to defeat this virus is not a competition between countries but the most urgent shared endeavour of our lifetimes'. Pray for nations to share vital information and resources rather than competing with each other and potentially wasting time duplicating identical tests and research.