Coronavirus latest: New York City mayor confident of school jab mandate win

Tens of thousands of healthcare workers in New York state could lose their jobs on Monday if they do not agree to get a Covid-19 vaccination in a key test of vaccine mandates. Just 84 per cent of the 450,000 state hospital employees were fully vaccinated as of September 22, leaving more than 70,000 workers at risk of dismissal.

NHS hospitals can reduce their social distancing and testing requirements, the UK Health Security Agency has recommended, as the health service aims to avoid a winter surge in Covid-19 and flu patients. Recommendations for England’s hospitals include reducing physical distancing rules from 2m to 1m in line with World Health Organization advice.

Joe Biden, US president, has promised to push ahead with plans to roll out vaccine mandates despite resistance from many workers. On Monday he again urged people to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as he received his own booster shot. He said his administration would continue its plans to roll out new vaccine mandates. 

A senior official at the Federal Reserve signalled the US economy is strong enough for the central bank to begin reducing its massive bond-buying programme, but urged a “patient” approach to raising interest rates. John Williams, president of the New York Fed, set the stage for the Fed to scale back its $120bn-a-month asset purchase programme this year.

Aldi plans to invest heavily in the next two years to create “more ways to shop” with the discount chain, including an expansion of its online ordering service. The low-cost supermarket chain will invest £1.3bn until 2023, create more than 2,000 new jobs next year and open 100 stores in the UK over the next two years, the group said.

Harvard Business School has moved all its first-year and some second-year MBA students to remote learning amid a rise in breakthrough Covid-19 infections. Students will move to online classes for the week of September 27 and the school has also asked students to stop unmasked indoor activities, cancel group travel, and limit in-person interactions.

SoftBank and Tony Fadell, the former Apple and Nest executive, are among those investing $122m in ticketing app Dice, betting that the live music industry will not only recover but ultimately benefit from a “rethink” caused by the pandemic. London-based Dice was launched in 2014 by music industry veteran Phil Hutcheon.

For Britain’s biggest care home operator, the pandemic that has claimed more than 2,000 of its frail and elderly residents is far from over. Forty-three of HC-One’s 326 homes are in lockdown and closed to new residents, occupancy rates remain at least 10 per cent below pre-pandemic levels, and there is a looming staff crisis.