SWITZERLAND OPENS LINK FROM NORTHERN EUROPE TO THE MED VIA ALPS TUNNEL

 Cyprus Mail 4 September 2020 - Reuters News Service

Switzerland officially opened the Ceneri Base Tunnel on Friday, the final piece in a direct, flat rail link connecting northern Europe to the Mediterranean via routes beneath the Alps.

The 15.4 kilometre (9.57 miles) tunnel marks the completion of the New Rail Link through the Alps (NRLA), a 22.8 billion Swiss franc (18.85 billion pounds) project dubbed Switzerland’s construction project of the century.

Together with the 57.1 kilometre Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world’s longest rail tunnel which opened in 2016, and the 34.6 kilometre Loetschberg tunnel, Ceneri completes a system that allows uninterrupted freight transport from Rotterdam and Genoa under the mountains.

“It’s the last part of the puzzle,” Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) Chief Executive Vincent Ducrot told reporters. “The goal to have a flat rail line through the Alps has now been achieved.”

The tunnel, which has taken 10 years to build, runs beneath Monte Ceneri, replacing a steep surface railway which had a high-altitude tunnel at the top. Its north portal is situated at Camorino, and the tunnel breaks through the mountains in the south at Vezia, near Lugano.

Switzerland wants to use the tunnel, which is due to enter service on Dec. 13. 2020, to transfer more freight transport from trucks to rail, decreasing CO2 emissions and protecting the Alpine environment.

“The environmental benefit is obvious, but it’s not only about the Alps,” Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga, who attended the opening ceremony, told Reuters. “It’s a competitive advantage for Switzerland and a sustainable transport policy.”

The 3.6 billion franc tunnel, the culmination of Switzerland’s efforts to ease the transalpine journey which began with the opening of the Gotthard summit tunnel in 1882, can carry up to 170 freight trains and 180 passenger trains per day.

The project’s aim is to reduction in the number of trucks crossing the Alps to 650,000 per year, cutting daily CO2 emissions by 890 tonnes. Last year, there were around 900,000 transalpine truck journeys, according to Swiss Federal Office of Transport.

 

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CYPRUS TO GET €479m FROM EU TO TACKLE UNEMPLOYMENT

 Cyprus Mail 4 September 2020 - by Gina Agapiou

Cyprus to get €479.070.000 from the European Union to tackle unemployment during the coronavirus pandemic, the finance ministry said on Friday.

The European Commission accepted the request of Cyprus and included the country in the first group of 15 Member States for the allocation of the emergency support funds, totalling €81,4 billion, said a written announcement by the finance ministry. The relevant proposal is pending for the final approval from the Council of the European Union.

The EU adopted the ‘Support  to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency’– SURE as part of the emergency support package to tackle the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis. This new temporary support instrument will offer financial support of up to € 100 billion in total, in the form of loans granted by the EU to the Member States, on favourable terms.

Cyprus’ government submitted on time, specifically on August 6, 2020, to the European Commission a formal, thorough, and fully substantiated request for a loan of € 479,070,000 to finance government employment support projects.

“Cyprus together with two other Member States will receive the largest loan rate, from 2.0 per cent of their own GDP 2019” the ministry said. The amount of loans as a percentage of GDP 2019 per Member State (from the 15 Member States) ranges from 0.5 per cent to 2.0 per cent, with an average of 1.5 per cent of GDP for the 15 Member States, the announcement explained.

The loan is expected to have a significant benefit given that the maximum average loan term will be 15 years and that the EU, during this period, can borrow from markets at a much lower interest rate than Cyprus could, the ministry said. The current secondary yields of the Cypriot bonds are around 1.25 per cent while the EU could borrow today at an interest rate significantly below 1.00 per cent.

The maximum number of projects allowed to be submitted from funding are eight per member state, with an average of five projects. Cyprus, like three other Member States, submitted eight projects which were approved by the European Commission.

As additional interest has been expressed from more member states, the European Commission submitted a proposal to the Council for another Member State on August 25, 2020, raising the total number of applicants to 16 and the total amount of loans expected to be granted to € 87.3 billion.

 

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OUTDOOR HEAVY WORK SUSPENDED DUE TO HEAT WAVE

 Cyprus Mail 4 September 2020 - by Staff Reporter

All heavy labour outdoors must be suspended until 5 pm today because of the extremely high temperatures, the labour ministry has announced.

A met office red alert is in force with temperatures set to soar to about 45 C inland today while the labour ministry has also issued a warning about high concentration of dust in the atmosphere.

The ministry’s department of labour inspection said that bearing in mind the particularly unfavourable forecast regarding conditions for the rest of the day and in line with the law, it wanted to inform employers and the self-employed that all heavy outdoor work must be suspended between 12 noon and 5 pm today because of the risks the heat posed to workers’ health.

As regards light and moderate work, it reminded that a special code is in place regarding the type of work to be carried out, the weather conditions and the technical and organizational measures in place to avoid heat exhaustion. Instructions include organizing the work schedule so that heavier work is carried out during the cooler hours, regular short breaks in a cooler space, rotation of employees, provision of cool drinking water and provision of head coverings among other.

Under the code, for temperatures between 39C to 44C in the shade, work must be interrupted depending on the relative humidity and depending on the kind of work.

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DEADLINE FOR ASYLUM APPEALS CUT FROM 75 TO 15 DAYS

 Cyprus Mail 4 September 2020 - by George Psyllides

Parliament on Friday amended the constitution to allow for a reduction in the time limit for filing appeals against the decisions of the asylum service from 75 to 15, as part of a wider government effort to tackle illegal migration.

It was the 28th amendment of the Republic’s constitution, passed with 38 votes in favour and 14 against, those of main opposition Akel.

The amendment will allow the government to cut the number of days, from 75 to 15, granted for appeals to the administrative court of international protection against the decisions of the asylum service.

Voting on three other related bills was postponed over procedural issues.

The interior ministry welcomed the vote, which it described as the first but decisive step in enforcing the government policy on asylum and migration.

In a written statement, the ministry’s spokesman said the amendment complemented the effort for swift examination of the particular category of applications and the effort to reduce illegal migration in the country.

The ministry has also introduced bills designed to stamp out sham marriages, restrict third country students, expedite the examination time of visibly unfounded asylum applications, and boosting the administrative court for international protection.

It thanked the parties for passing the amendment and noted that “both the particular constitutional amendment, and the other amending bills, which we expect will be approved by parliament in a later session, will be immediately applied in a bid to tackle the huge problem our country faces with the continuous rise of migrant flows.”

The ministry reiterated that the government’s aim was to receive and host refugees who have a real need for support but also the “drastic reduction of the number of undocumented economic migrants who have flooded our country.”

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TUI RESUMING FLIGHTS TO CYPRUS

 Cyprus Mail 4 September 2020 - by Evie Andreou

British tour and flight operator TUI is resuming flights to Cyprus with 11 flights arriving just this weekend.

Following the lockdown and other restrictions due to the pandemic, the company had announced it would not resume flights to the island until after September 4.

According to information from airport operator Hermes, five TUI flights will arrive in Paphos on Saturday from Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, and East Midlands. Six more flights are expected to arrive at Larnaca on Sunday.

The tour operator is offering £200 off Cyprus holidays for those spending £1,250 and over for departures between September 5 and October 31.

TUI Airways is operating in total 25 flights next week to Larnaca and Paphos airports.

Between September 5 and 11, some 132 flights are expected from the UK operated by TUI, British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair and WizzAir.

Cyprus is among the countries the UK has exempted from advice against ‘all but essential’ international travel while people arriving from the island to the UK do not need to self-isolate.

According to British news portal The Sun, Cyprus remains as one of the last British holiday hotspots not facing quarantine restrictions since other popular destinations such as France, Spain, Croatia and Malta have all been placed on the UK quarantine list in recent weeks. Portugal and Greece face travel restrictions in Wales and Scotland.

The newsportal, quoting Quash Quarantine spokesperson Paul Charles, reports that daily cases per 100,000 population in Cyprus remain at just 7.5 over seven days, which is well under the UK’s 20 mark which puts countries at risk of quarantine.

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OXFORD'S CORONAVIRUS VACCINE ENTERS HUMAN TRIALS IN JAPAN

 Daily Mail 4 September 2020 - by Izzy Nikolic For Mailonline

© Provided by Daily Mail MailOnline logo

Oxford University's coronavirus vaccine has started human trials in Japan and will be tested on 250 patients as part of a deal to supply it to the country. 

UK drug giant AstraZeneca, which owns the rights to the vaccine, announced today that it is beginning Phase 1/2 clinical trials. 

The small-scale trials will be done on 250 patients in multiple facilities across the country. 

Phase one and two tests are done on small groups of people to see whether the vaccine causes any serious side effects and whether it appears to provoke the immune system. These generally do not prove that it protects against disease.

AstraZeneca has agreed deals with Japanese pharmaceutical companies Daiichi Sankyo and JCR Pharma, and others, to make and distribute the vaccine there.

These trials will form part of that agreement and add to ongoing tests of jab in countries around the world.

Following an announcement on Tuesday that 30,000 American volunteers were taking part in the final stages of the trial, there are now more than 50,000 people testing out the jab - known as AZD1222 - around the world.

Volunteers have already been injected with the experimental drug in the UK, US, Brazil and South Africa and are being monitored by scientists. Further tests are planned in Russia.

Oxford's Professor Sarah Gilbert, the brains behind the jab, has said preliminary data from trials in some countries could be expected in the coming weeks.

AstraZeneca's announcement comes as another vaccine hope - made by the German company CureVac - is entering mass production with its developers confirming they plan to manufacture 100million doses by the end of the year.

© Provided by Daily Mail Oxford's coronavirus vaccine, AZD1222, has started human trials in Japan and will be tested on 250 patients (stock photo)

It comes as a German biotech firm announced it is planning to produce 100million doses of its vaccine by the end of the year.  

A Curevac investor, Dietmar Hopp, told the Handelsblatt business daily on Friday: 'We want to make 100 million doses available by the end of the year.'

He added that regulatory approval is expected to come in spring or summer next year but said that 'limited clearance' could come this year - meaning that people who work in jobs with higher infection rates could be eligible for the jab before others. 

The company's vaccine is likely to be beaten to the market by a US rival, Moderna, and another German company - BioNtech.  

Billionaire Mr Hopp added: 'We can't win this race. But we want to win the race to produce the best vaccine and here we have good chances.'

German biotech firm announces it will make 100million vaccine doses by end of year  

German biotechnology firm Curevac, which has been developing its own Covid-19 vaccine, has announced it expects it will be able to mass-produce the jab by the end of the year. 

A Curevac investor, Dietmar Hopp, told the Handelsblatt business daily on Friday: 'We want to make 100 million doses available by the end of the year.'

He added that regulatory approval is expected to come in spring or summer next year but said that 'limited clearance' could come this year - meaning that people who work in jobs with higher infection rates could be eligible for the jab before others. 

The company's vaccine is likely to be beaten to the market by a US rival, Moderna, and another German company - Biontech.  

Billionaire Mr Hopp added: 'We can't win this race. But we want to win the race to produce the best vaccine and here we have good chances.'

Curevac, worth $10billion, is just one of a number of firms which are desperately trying to create a successful Covid-19 vaccine by using molecules to carry a genetic code called messenger RNA. 

Tesla founder Elon Musk was recently spotted in Germany and visited Curevac this week. 

Mr Hopp said that Curevac is looking at expanding its cooperation with Grohman (a subsidiary of Tesla) in developing RNA printers which would help vaccine production. 

 

Curevac, worth $10billion, is just one of a number of firms which are desperately trying to create a successful Covid-19 vaccine by using molecules to carry a genetic code called messenger RNA. 

Tesla founder Elon Musk was recently spotted in Germany and visited Curevac this week. 

Mr Hopp said that Curevac is looking at expanding its cooperation with Grohman (a subsidiary of Tesla) in developing RNA printers which would help vaccine production.  

Cambridge-based AstraZeneca said further trials are planned in Russia where there has been a million cases of coronavirus.

AstraZeneca and Oxford scientists have repeatedly promised to deliver the vaccine to the most vulnerable groups to Covid-19 by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the British drugmaker on Tuesday struck a £15million deal with Oxford Biomedica to mass-produce the vaccine if it is proven to be effective.

Gene and cell therapy firm Oxford Biomedica will be the sole manufacturer of the vaccine in Britain for 18 months.

AstraZeneca has also struck deals with manufacturers in China, the US, and across Europe as it looks to supply the entire world with the Oxford jab. 

Oxford Biomedica says it will receive £15m as a capacity reservation fee, plus as much as £35m to make multiple large-scale batches of the vaccine if it works.  

Early trials have shown promising results, with tests showing the vaccine is safe to use in humans and appears to provoke an immune response. But data that proves it protects people is not expected until later this year. 

To prove without doubt that it protects people from infection, vaccines need to go through rigorous phase three trials.

In these tests the vaccine is being given to tens of thousands of people in real-world environments to see if it stops them from catching Covid-19 in the community. 

The Oxford scientists behind the jab had to move their studies abroad over the summer – to South Africa and Brazil where Covid-19 is still rife – to speed up the trials.

There are not enough people catching the virus in the UK anymore to be able to reliably test whether the jab is working. 

Professor Sarah Gilbert, who is leading the Oxford team, is confident the jab could be ready for the most vulnerable people in society by the end of the year. 

She announced this week that preliminary data from the phase three trials would be presented to regulators soon. 

WHICH COUNTRIES HAVE ORDERED OXFORD'S VACCINE ALREADY? 

UK

The UK is the host of research and development efforts of the vaccine, which has been developed by researchers in Oxford and will be manufactured by AstraZeneca, a company based in Cambridge.

The British Government has ordered 100million doses of the jab and has already started manufacturing them so they're ready to go if and when clinical trials are successful. The price paid has not been disclosed.

US

The US Government has ordered 100million doses of the vaccine and contributed $1.2billion (£910m) to the research and development of the jab.

European Union (EU)

The European Commission has agreed a deal for 300million doses of the vaccine if its clinical trials work, with the option to buy a further 100million. The deal has been made on behalf of countries in the EU. The amount of money spent is unknown. 

Australia

Australia has confirmed it ordered enough doses of the vaccine to give one to its entire population of 25million people. It is not clear how many doses the nation has ordered. The UK - with a population of 66m but an order of 100m - ordered more than it needs. 

China

One company in China has agreed a deal with AstraZeneca to make at least 100million doses of the vaccine.

Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products, based in the city of Shenzhen, will increase capacity to 200m per year by the end of 2021.

Russia

A Russian company, R-Pharm, also has a deal to produce and distribute the vaccine, but it is unclear how many it will make or what it will pay to AstraZeneca.

Brazil

Brazilian officials have set aside $360million (£274m) for at least 100million doses of the vaccine. Brazil is currently in one of the worst Covid-19 crises in the world with more than 3.6million official cases so far and 114,000 deaths.

The team have genetically engineered a virus to look like the coronavirus — to have the same spike proteins on the outside — but be unable to cause any infection inside a person.

This virus, weakened by genetic engineering, is a type of virus called an adenovirus, the same as those which cause common colds, that has been taken from chimpanzees.  

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock says frontline health and care workers, and those at an increased risk of serious disease, including elderly care homes residents, will be first in line to get access to a vaccine. 

Over-50s and those with heart and kidney disease will be next, according to Mr Hancock, who said health bosses were also considering fast-tracking access for people from BAME backgrounds, who are disproportionately affected by Covid-19. 

It's more likely the average person will get their hands on a Covid-19 sometime in early 2021, according to the UK's vaccine tsar, Kate Bingham.

Mass-manufacturing is already under way, however, so that the vaccine can be produced as quickly as possible. 

AstraZeneca claims it can manufacture two billion doses by summer 2021. The US has already ordered 300million doses and the UK has pre-purchased 100million. 

It emerged last week that Number 10 is drawing up emergency plans now in case of a scientific breakthrough before Christmas, officials said.   

The new rules being drafted will not shortcut the path a vaccine must take before it is approved for human use, and rigorous clinical trials must still be completed.

It is intended, instead, to speed up the approval process by giving the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) the power to issue a 'temporary authorisation' without waiting for the jab to be fully licensed by Europe.

Rules during the Brexit transition period - which doesn't end until 2021 - mean any new medicine for coronavirus must be licensed by the European Medicines Agency.

But the new rule - for which officials are holding a three-week consultation - would mean that if scientists prove their vaccine works and is safe, the MHRA could approve it and get it used in Britain before it's licensed by the European Union.

This will not cut short safety trials or any of the scientific work but will mean less paperwork has to be done before the jab can be used. 

The rules are being drafted now in case a working vaccine is found before the end of the year, while the Brexit transition period is still going.

Drug manufacturers are so hopeful that their jabs will work that they are already manufacturing millions of them without knowing whether they will be used. 

As well as speeding up the process of getting it from labs to patients, the British Government is planning to speed up the vaccination programme once it starts.

It will do this by training huge numbers of staff to give out the vaccines so there can be a constant flow of jabs being administered.

More doctors and nurses will be given the relevant training and health workers in other parts of the NHS may also be trained up.

Student doctors and nurses, and staff such as midwives, paramedics and physiotherapists could be among the newly trained staff. 

There are around 1.1million people working in the NHS and officials say 'no options are off the table' in who they could train up.

Everyone who is included in the programme will go through a 'robust training programme', the Department of Health said. 

WHICH VACCINES HAVE THE UK SECURED DEALS FOR? 

1. GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur: 60million doses 

The Government revealed on July 29 it had signed a deal with pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Sanofi Pasteur

If the vaccine proves successful, the UK could begin to vaccinate priority groups, such as frontline health and social care workers and those at increased risk from coronavirus, as early as the first half of next year, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said. 

Human clinical studies of the vaccine will begin in September followed by a phase 3 study in December. 

The vaccine is based on the existing technology used to produce Sanofi's seasonal flu vaccine. Genetic material from the surface protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is inserted into insect cells - the basis of Sanofi’s influenza product - and then injected to provoke an immune response in a human patient.  

2. AstraZeneca (manufacturing University of Oxford's): 100million

AstraZeneca, which is working in partnership with Oxford University, is already manufacturing the experimental vaccine after a deal was struck on May 17.

Professor Sarah Gilbert, who is leading the Oxford team, is confident the jab could be ready for the most vulnerable people by the end of the year.

Her comments came after the results from the first phase, published in The Lancet on July 20, showed promise.

The team have genetically engineered a virus to look like the coronavirus - to have the same spike proteins on the outside - but be unable to cause any infection inside a person. This virus, weakened by genetic engineering, is a type of virus called an adenovirus, the same as those which cause common colds, that has been taken from chimpanzees. 

3.  BioNTech/Pfizer: 30million 

US drug giant Pfizer - most famous for making Viagra - and German firm BioNTech were revealed to have secured a deal with the UK Government on July 20.

It reported positive results from the ongoing phase 2/3 clinical trial of one called BNT162b1 on July 1.  The company is still running phase 2 trials at the moment.

Pfizer's vaccine is one called an mRNA vaccine, which do not directly inject bits of the virus into the body but send genetic material.

mRNA vaccines programme the body to produce parts of the virus itself by injecting the body with a molecule that tells disease-fighting cells what to build. The immune system then learns how to fight it.

4. Valneva: 60million 

The Government has given Valneva — whose vaccine is understood to be in the preclinical stages of development — an undisclosed amount of money to expand its factory in Livingston, Scotland. 

While the Government revealed a 60million dose deal on July 20, the company said it had reached agreement in principle with the UK government to provide up to 100million doses. 

Valneva's jab is an inactivated whole virus vaccine, meaning it injects a damaged version of the coronavirus itself into the body.

The virus has been destroyed in a way that makes it unable to cause infection, but the body still recognises it as a dangerous intruder and therefore mounts an immune response which it can remember in case of a real Covid-19 infection. 

5. Janssen (Johnson & Johnson): 30million

The Government has agreed to buy 30million doses of a vaccine made by Janssen if it works.

Officials have agreed to help the company in its development of the jab by part-funding a global clinical trial. The first in-human trials of Janssen's jab began in mid-July and are being done on adults over the age of 18 in the US and Belgium.

The jab is named Ad26.COV2-S, recombinant, and is a type of jab called a viral vector recombinant vaccine.

Proteins that appear on the outside of the coronavirus are reproduced in a lab and then injected into the body to stimulate an immune reaction.

The 'Ad' part of the vaccine's name means it works using an adenovirus - a virus best known for causing the common cold - as a vehicle to transport the coronavirus genetics into the body.

6. Novavax: 60million

Britain has ordered 60million doses of a vaccine being developed by the US-based company Novavax. It will help to fund late-stage clinical trials in the UK and also boost plans to manufacture the vaccine in Britain.

Novavax's jab, named NVX-CoV2373, showed positive results in early clinical trials.

It produced an immune response in 100 per cent of people who received it, the company said, and was safe and 'generally well-tolerated'. 

Novavax's candidate is also a recombinant vaccine and transports the spike proteins found on the outside of the coronavirus into the body in order to provoke the immune system. 

7. Imperial College London: Unknown quantity

Imperial College London scientists are working on Britain's second home-grown hope for a jab. The candidate is slightly behind Oxford's vaccine in terms of its progress through clinical trials, but is still a major player.

The UK Government is understood to have agreed to buy the vaccine if it works but details of a deal have not yet been publicised. 

Imperial's jab is currently in second-phase human trials after early tests showed it appeared to be safe. 

Imperial College London will try to deliver genetic material (RNA) from the coronavirus which programs cells inside the patient's body to recreate the spike proteins. It will transport the RNA inside liquid droplets injected into the bloodstream. 

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UK - CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON CONTROVERSIAL €106bn HS2 RAILWAY WITH PROMISE OF 22,000 JOBS

 The Independent 4 September 2020 - by Harry Cockburn

© Provided by The Independent

Construction of the world’s most expensive railway ever built is now “formally underway” in the UK, as contractors working on HS2 move from preparatory works and design to begin building the controversial rail link.

Prime minister Boris Johnson, who endorsed the plan earlier this year after he said “in a hole the size of HS2, the only thing to do is keep digging”, is due to attend an as yet undisclosed site on Friday where he will stage a “shovels in the ground moment”.

The government gave the £106bn project the green light for construction in April at the height of lockdown, saying it could not be delayed any longer.

Mr Johnson said the north-south rail link, which has already run tens of billions of pounds over budget and several years behind schedule, would “fire up economic growth and help to rebalance opportunity”.

“HS2 is at the heart of our plans to build back better — and with construction now formally under way, it’s set to create around 22,000 new jobs,” the prime minister said.

“As the spine of our country’s transport network, the project will be vital in boosting connectivity between our towns and cities.”

The original budget for the project was £32.7bn when it was first unveiled in 2012. But costs have steadily risen and a government-commissioned review warned last year that the final bill for HS2 could reach £106bn at 2019 prices.

It means the railway will ultimately cost over £307m per mile for the 345 miles of high speed line.

Critics have said there are better ways to spend over £100bn on rail infrastructure, and the project continues to face opposition on environmental grounds.

The first phase of the project will install a high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham, and then on to Manchester and Leeds in the second phase.

The complete HS2 network is unlikely to be ready until 2040.

It is the largest infrastructure project in Europe, and involves the construction of more than 300 bridges and 70 viaducts for the first phase alone.

Construction will begin with the biggest engineering challenges — such as the stations and tunnels — followed by the main viaducts and bridges.

Most activity this year will be focused on HS2’s city centre stations and major construction compounds such as in Old Oak Common, west London and Calvert, Buckinghamshire.

This year the Wildlife Trusts urged the government to rethink the project due to what it described as the loss of “irreplaceable” woodlands.

What is HS2, when will it be completed and how much will it cost?

A report by the organisation released in January warned HS2 will damage or destroy 108 ancient woodlands, five internationally protected wildlife sites, and 693 local wildlife areas.

Wetlands, wildflower meadows and historic wood pasture are all among those which will either be lost or significantly damaged by the new line, according to the study.

In March, the RSPB also criticised the impact of the project, and said after the organisation’s suggestions on how to preserve biodiversity were ignored, that “the scheme has descended into an example of worst, rather than best, practice.”

The RSPB said it was not only disappointed with the government’s decision to proceed with HS2, “but also with the wild claims that it will be an environmentally leading scheme.”

At the time HS2 said: “HS2 Ltd takes the environmental cost of construction very seriously. That is why before any works take place on site, surveys are conducted by qualified ecologists to ensure we meet legal tests, and we have tailored mitigation plans in place for protected species.

“We’re also delivering an unprecedented programme of tree planting and habitat creation alongside the new railway — with seven million new trees and shrubs set to be planted between London and Birmingham alone.”​

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps claimed the formal start to construction on Friday “marks a major milestone in this government’s ambitions to build back better from Covid-19”.

Tory government accused of ‘wild claims’ over HS2 environmental impact

He said: “Shovels in the ground to deliver this new railway means thousands of jobs building the future of our country’s infrastructure.

“This fantastic moment is what leaders across the North and Midlands have called for — action to level-up our country by boosting capacity on our railways, improving connections between our regions, and spreading prosperity.”

HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Thurston said: “This is a hugely exciting moment in the progress of HS2. After 10 years of development and preparatory work, today we can formally announce the start of full construction, unlocking thousands of jobs and supply chain opportunities across the project.

“We are already seeing the benefits that building HS2 is bringing to the UK economy in the short term, but it’s important to emphasise how transformative the railway will be for our country when operational.

“With the start of construction, the reality of high speed journeys joining up Britain’s biggest cities in the North and Midlands and using that connectivity to help level up the country has just moved a step closer.”

Additional reporting by PA

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'SIGNIFICANT GAPS' IN UK's BREXIT BORDER PLANS, LOGISTICS BOSSES WARN

 Sky News 4 September 2020 - by Sharon Maris, News Reporter

© Getty The government has been urged to speed up the UK's Brexit border preparations

Haulage bosses have called for an urgent meeting with cabinet ministers over concerns about "significant gaps" in the UK's Brexit border preparations.

Eight logistics organisations have written to Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove warning that the UK-EU supply chain "will be severely disrupted" from January, if issues are not resolved by the end of the Brexit transition period.

Areas of concern include IT systems and physical border infrastructure.

The letter states: "As key participants in the supply chain who will be required to deliver a functional operating border for GB and EU traders next year, we have visibility of the current state of preparedness which, as it stands, has significant gaps.

"If these issues are not addressed, disruption to UK business and the supply chain that we all rely so heavily on will be severely disrupted."

Logistics UK has also warned that the Smart Freight system is among the vital components that might not be ready in time.

Smart Freight is one of eight IT systems that hauliers will need to use to move goods between the UK and Europe from the beginning of next year.

Sarah Laouadi, European policy manager at Logistics UK, said: "We are concerned that mass user testing of the software will not be possible until October - or maybe even November.:

"This is far too late for the thousands of companies and tens of thousands of people who build our complex supply chains to redesign their own processes and contractual relations before the transition period ends.

"This timeline brings Smart Freight onstream at the height of the Christmas peak - traditionally the busiest time of year for the logistics industry - the worst possible time for our members to test and train staff in new working practices.

A Freight lorry (L) prepares to leave the Port of Dover after disembarking from a cross-channel ferry, in Dover on the south coast of England on June 12, 2020."Even if the software is ready by the end of the year, the government's plans ignore the users' perspective - our members will need time to learn the new system, adopt it and help to iron out any potential issues in the system.

"This will leave logistics businesses carrying the can for the government's failure to plan in a timely fashion - something we have been warning about for some time now."

Ms Laouadi warned that, without time to plan and bring in the new systems, the sector is "being set up to fail at the start of the new year".

Road Haulage Association chief executive Richard Burnett said: "There are a range of critical issues the chancellor, Michael Gove and the transport secretary need to address, ranging from the Smart Freight app and other untried and untested IT systems, to the lack of customs agents and clear processes for tackling the mountain of red tape traders will face.

"The government's pace is simply too slow on this, and that's why we - the people who run the UK's supply chain - need an urgent meeting with those at the top of government dealing with Brexit preparations."

A government spokesperson said: "The border operating model sets out in significant detail the approach to UK border controls after the transition period.

"We worked closely with industry in its development and will continue to do so as we move towards the end of the transition period."

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EMA EVALUATING DEXAMETHASONE TAW FOR COVID-19

 Cyprus Mail 4 September 2020 - by Staff Reporter

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has started evaluating an application for the authorisation of Dexamethasone Taw for treating hospitalised adult patients with COVID-19.

The application, from Taw Pharma, will be evaluated by EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) according to an accelerated assessment timetable. This will enable the CHMP to issue an opinion on the benefits and risks of Dexamethasone Taw within the shortest possible timeframe.

In July 2020, published results from the RECOVERY trial found that in patients receiving hospital treatment for severe respiratory complications of Covid-19, there were fewer deaths in those treated with dexamethasone. In patients on invasive mechanical ventilation, 29% of those treated with dexamethasone died within 28 days of starting dexamethasone treatment compared with 41% of patients receiving usual care, a relative reduction of about 35%. In patients receiving oxygen without mechanical ventilation, the figures were 23% with dexamethasone and 26% with usual care. No reductions in death occurred in patients who were not receiving oxygen therapy or mechanical ventilation.

Before receiving this application, the CHMP had started reviewing the results of the RECOVERY trial in order to provide an opinion on the use of dexamethasone medicines for Covid-19. The outcome of this review will be considered in the evaluation of Dexamethasone Taw.

Should the available data show that the benefits of Dexamethasone Taw outweigh its risks in the treatment of hospitalised adults with Covid‑19, EMA will issue a positive recommendation on the medicine’s new use in patients with Covid-19. The agency will then liaise with the European Commission to fast-track the authorisation.

Dexamethasone medicines have been authorised for several decades for treating various conditions on the basis of their anti-inflammatory properties. This application has no impact on the use of other dexamethasone medicines.

More about the medicine

Dexamethasone Taw is being developed as a hybrid medicine. This means that it is similar to a ‘reference medicine’ (in this case Fortecortin Inject) containing the same active substance, but differs in certain respects, such as strength, use or pharmaceutical form. Like Fortecortin Inject, Dexamethasone Taw will be available as an injectable medicine and, if authorised, will be used to treat the same conditions with the addition of COVID-19.

More about the procedure

Further information on how EMA fast-tracks its regulatory procedures so that marketing authorisations of safe, effective and high-quality COVID-19 related medicines can be granted as soon as possible is available on EMA’s website.

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