£50 million for Councils
within England to Reopen High Streets
RESPONDING to the
Reopening High Streets Safely Fund which will provide £50
million for Councils in England to prepare for the safe
reopening of high streets, Cllr Kevin Bentley, Chairman of the
People and Places Board, said:- "Social distancing looks
set to play some part in our everyday lives for some time to
come and the scale of the challenge facing our local economies
as a result of this pandemic cannot be underestimated. This
funding will help councils build on ongoing work to implement
measures to help communities and high streets transition to our
new way of life. Councils also need a greater say in how the
remaining European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) are spent.
This is vital so they can target funding towards efforts to lead
local areas and economies through this pandemic and readjust to
life when it is over. It is essential that all funding is spent
in our local communities and not sent back to Brussels when the
ESIF program ends. Councils and combined Authorities also want
to urgently work with the Government on its domestic replacement
for EU funding, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. To help get the
economy back on its feet after this crisis, it is more important
than ever that it will at least be equal in value to the funding
from the current ESIF with local areas able to spend it on
creating jobs, supporting small and medium enterprises,
delivering skills training and reigniting growth across the
country."
Muslim
comedians to come together for 'socially distant' show to
mark Eid in lockdown
40 Muslim comedians
from across the world are to come together for a 1 off the
online show to:- 'bring joy' to Muslims as they
spend Eid away from friends and family. The event, organized by
the Concordia Forum, will see acts from the UK, USA, Canada, and
South Africa performing 3 minute sketches during a 2 hour live
show to be streamed on Facebook, on Sunday, 24 May 2020.
The Concordia Forum, a global network of Muslim leaders, is
putting on the event:- 'The Socially Distant Eid Comedy Night,'
to bring joy to Muslims who are celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr (the
festival marking the end of Ramadan) alone or in isolation due
to the Coronavirus pandemic. Confirmed acts include:- Imran
Yusuf; Tez Ilyas; Aizzah Fatima; Aatif Nawaz; Yaaseen Barnes;
Bilal Zafar; Ehshaan Akbar; Yasmin Elhady; Salma Hindy; Abdullah
Afzal; Atheer Yaqoub; Nabz Pat; Suhayl Essa; Feraz Shere; and
Ismail Moses.
Muddassar Ahmed, Chair of the Concordia Forum, said:-
"This Ramadan has been particularly difficult for communities
around the world. We're proud to be pulling together some of the
brightest Muslim comedic talents to entertain those celebrating
the Eid festival at home, people looking to learn a little bit
about Muslim culture, or really anyone in need of a good laugh."
Imran Yusuf, 1st Muslim to be nominated:- 'Best Newcomer' at the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival, said:- "To beat the lockdown,
we can safely celebrate Eid via the marvel of the internet. This
show is a way to easily bring together more people to meet in
cyberspace and have a laugh with comics from all over the world,
a truly international stage beamed straight to you wherever you
are with a decent broadband connection."
The Socially Distant Eid Comedy Night will be taking place
online, from 8pm to 10pm BST, and will be live streamed on
Facebook.com.
Total UK cases
COVID-19 cases - update for Liverpool City Region and
surroundings
THE total number of Coronavirus
(COVID-19) that have been laboratory confirmed, within the UK,
has risen by 2,409 cases
and the total number now stand at 259,559, that includes tests
carried out by commercial partners which are not included in the
4 National totals. The total number of deaths of people who have had a
positive test result confirmed by a Public Health or NHS
laboratory is 36,793. Daily number of COVID-19 associated UK
fatalities added to the total, was sadly reported to be
282
according to the Department of Health. North West - total of
24,890
confirmed cases. The number of laboratory
confirmed cases within the following Local Authorities, in and
around the Liverpool City Region are as follows:-
► Liverpool, 1,591 confirmed cases.
► Sefton, 910 confirmed cases.
► Wirral, 1,233 confirmed cases.
► St. Helens, 747 confirmed cases.
► Halton, 387 confirmed cases.
► Lancashire, 3,506 confirmed cases.
► Cheshire West and Chester, 1,078 confirmed cases.
► Cheshire East, 1,186 confirmed cases.
► Manchester, 1,524 confirmed cases.
► Stockport, 1,040 confirmed cases.
► Trafford, 791 confirmed cases.
► Wigan, 1,151 confirmed cases.
► Bolton, 999 confirmed cases.
► Rochdale, 760 confirmed cases.
► Bury, 725 confirmed cases.
► Tameside, 683 confirmed cases.
► Oldham, 1,053 confirmed cases.
► Blackburn with Darwen, 406 confirmed cases.
These stats are according to Public Health England as of
24/05/2020. Last updated 5.07pm GMT. UK total includes cases
detected through:- "Pillar 2" testing (tests carried out by
commercial partners) and therefore does not equate to the sum of
the 4 countries' counts, which only include:- "Pillar 1" (tests
carried out by NHS / PHE / Devolved Administration Labs)..
UK total includes cases detected through:- "Pillar 2" testing
(tests carried out by commercial partners) and therefore does
not equate to the sum of the 4 countries' counts, which only
include:- "Pillar 1" (tests carried out by NHS / PHE / Devolved
Administration Labs).
UK Government Coronavirus Press
Conference on 24 May 2020 Video