Headlines
• Mass vaccination centres in Tokyo and Osaka open
• UK retail footfall last week down 28.7% vs 2019
• Spain to allow UK tourists but remains on amber list
• Cineworld reports strong opening weekend
• Israel has ended local restrictions
World news
• New data from the ONS shows overseas residents made 11.1m visits to the UK in 2020 - 73% fewer than in 2019 - and spent £6.2bn on their visits, 78% less than the previous year. Similarly, UK residents made 23.8m visits abroad in 2020, down 74% on the previous year, spending £13.8bn on visits abroad in 2020, 78% less than in 2019.
• Experimental ONS figures released today found 47% of 1,129 students at English universities surveyed between 4 and 12 May said they had gone out to meet up indoors with friends or family that they do not live with.
• In Japan, the military has set up vaccination centres in Tokyo and Osaka offering thousands of shots each day, prioritising the elderly. Currently, approximately 1.9% of the population is fully vaccinated.
• Lithuania has introduced a digital pass for citizens to record vaccinations, negative tests or recoveries from infection.
• Spain is to allow UK tourists to enter the country from today but remains on the UK’s amber list.
• Singapore has returned to partial lockdown. Schools are now shut and the message is to stay at home. People can only meet in groups of two, and dining in at food courts and restaurants has been banned.
• The head of the WHO says all health workers and elderly worldwide would have been vaccinated by now if vaccines had been distributed equitably.
• Last week, footfall across all UK shopping destinations was up just 1.1% week-on-week, analyst Springboard says, remaining 28.7% lower than for the same period in 2019.
• In Northern Ireland, restaurants, cafes, bars and other hospitality venues can operate indoors from today. Also allowed from today:
• Bahrain is to suspend entry for visitors from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal from today.
• Israel has ended local restrictions.
Company news
Leisure
• Cineworld– ‘This weekend's performance went beyond our expectations as customers were eager to return to the movies and enjoy the full movie experience, including the traditional popcorn which led to strong concession income.
In the US, following the opening of an additional 167 cinemas, over 97% of our cinemas (502 sites) have resumed operations. In ROW, Poland and Israel will be opening at the end of the coming week and the company anticipates that most if its cinemas will be open by the end of the month.”
