Today @meenalsworld is presenting the briefing. Welcome!
This week's numbers 
Professor Oni is presenting the latest numbers. Daeths remain at a plateau.
Hospital admissions remain flat
New cases have increased which is a cause for concern
Positivity rates remain high
Zero Covid is further away than in July.
Summary
Today's theme is the return to work
Stephen Reicher presents the Safe Workplace Charter
Most employers are responsible and talking to their workers. But we need ALL employers to be doing this.
Workplace safety should be a priority and have a regulatory framework in place.
One of the reasons the UK has done badly in this pandemic has been the systematic dismantling of measures such as Health and Safety. We need a clear regulatory framework.
Janet Newsham from the Hazards Campaign joins us to present proposals on return to work.
Central Government's role is crucial
You need a risk assessment of your workplace that allows you to be confident in going back to work.
Specialist advice is needed on air flow and ventilation.
Your employer has a duty of care to get occupational health advice. Otherwise you can ask not to go to work.
We should be working with any organisation that represents small businesses. Rogue and sweatshop employers are the ones we have an issue with. There will be a huge equality dimension in the return to work.
PHE published a study last week that showed that the majority of outbreaks in schools are between staff or students - and staff - rather than between students.
Schools are very good places to teach children about the nature of transmission and the skills they need to prevent transmission themselves.
We think schools are like any other workplace and the advice provided is inadequate.
Proper PPE must be available in schools, with facemasks of a suitable standard.
Working from home has not been easy but we've done it because it has been the safest way to proceed. Threatening people to go back to work without ensuring that workplaces are safe is not the answer to this problem.
Statutory sick pay is the equivalent of 29% of average pay. If you have a household of four adults who work in the same factory they could all be forced to isolate at the same time so may not be able to pay bills or even eat.
The concern over the timing of sending people back to work is that the rate of transmission is accelerating, students are coming back, the weather is colder and damper.
It's not just your office that needs a COVId safe plan. Coffee shops and public transport are workplaces too.
Occupational Health is only available to half the workforce. Why don't we have this available to everyone in the UK?
We will be seeing a lot of cold-like viruses which is why it's a tragedy that GP practice was cut out of the Covid system.
At the moment, it feels like education is a gamble for the Government. We need a public information campaign for parents and teachers.
It's a wrap! Thank you for joining us!
