Category Archives: Society

Covid reinfections ‘to be expected’ as virus spreads, say government scientists

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Reports suggest timeframe between recovery and reinfection ‘relatively short’ for those who contracted virus twice

Government science advisers have warned that reinfections with Covid-19 are “to be expected” as the virus spreads, based on what is known about people’s immunity to other coronaviruses that cause the common cold.

Researchers on the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium said it was unclear at what point people who had recovered from the virus became vulnerable to reinfection, but cited emerging reports of second infections that suggested the timeframe was “relatively short”.

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Wales facing ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown of two or three weeks

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First minister says countrywide restrictions are top option being considered

Wales is facing a “circuit breaker” lockdown of two or three weeks to stop hospitals being overwhelmed, as the country reaches what the government described as a “critical point”.

Ministers will spend the weekend coming to a final decision on their next steps, but the Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, said on Friday a “fire-break” or circuit breaker for the whole country was the option most actively being considered.

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Remdesivir has very little effect on Covid-19 mortality, WHO finds

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Results of major trial described as sobering, with drug found not to improve survival rates

Remdesivir, one of the big treatment hopes for Covid-19, has very little effect on preventing deaths, according to a large and comprehensive trial run by the World Health Organization.

The drug, made by the US biotech firm Gilead, has been talked up as a potential cure and was taken by Donald Trump. A trial in the US had previously showed it reduced the length of stay in hospital. But the gold-standard Solidarity WHO trial, which was based on a far larger sample – 3,000 people on the drug, compared with as many who were not – showed remdesivir had little effect on deaths over 28 days.

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‘Call out the lies’: UK charities hit back over bids to blame refugees for housing crisis

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Far-right harassment of asylum seekers and refugees in emergency accommodation comes as Home Office gears up for mass evictions

Thousands of asylum seekers and refugees temporarily housed in emergency accommodation across the UK are being “unfairly and inaccurately” blamed for the national housing crisis, according to a coalition of more than 100 housing organisations.

Charities including Shelter, Homeless Link and the Big Issue say the housing emergency is the fault of the government, not those who have fled trafficking, violence and conflict.

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Coronavirus: what has changed about what we know? – video explainer

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Covid-19 has spread around the world, sending millions of people into lockdown as health services struggle to cope. From symptoms and long Covid to vaccines and treatments, the Guardian's health editor, Sarah Boseley, explains what we now know about the virus that we did not at the beginning of the crisis

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London to face tighter Covid restrictions from Friday night

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No 10 also set to extend tier 3 lockdown measures to Greater Manchester as cases rise

London will be placed in high-risk, tier 2 coronavirus restrictions from Friday night as infection rates in the capital continue to increase, MPs and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, have confirmed.

The decision came as Boris Johnson was expected to sign off on the harshest tier 3 coronavirus measures for millions more people in the north of England later on Thursday, with Downing Street putting last minute pressure on local leaders in Greater Manchester to accept the changes.

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Covid could overwhelm NHS without more curbs, northern leaders told

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Decision expected on whether to extend tier 3 rules to Greater Manchester and Lancashire

Deaths from coronavirus will continue to rise for at least three weeks and the NHS risks being overwhelmed unless the strictest curbs are imposed on another 4 million people, leaders in northern England have been told.

A decision on whether to extend tier 3 restrictions – closing pubs and restaurants and banning household mixing – to Greater Manchester and Lancashire is expected on Thursday.

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What has gone wrong with England’s Covid test-and-trace system?

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It was supposed to be ‘world beating’ but experts say it is having only a ‘marginal impact’

When the NHS test-and-trace system was launched in late May, Boris Johnson promised it would help “move the country forward”. We would be able to see our families, go to work and stop the economy crumbling.

In the absence of a vaccine, the prime minister’s “world-beating” system would be worth every penny of the £10bn funding that Rishi Sunak announced in July. The chancellor said it would enable people to carry on normal lives.

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Ending world hunger by 2030 would cost $330bn, study finds

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Research suggests that by targeting enhanced aid money more effectively and with greater innovation, a solution is possible

Ending hunger by 2030 would come with a price tag of $330bn (£253bn), according to a study backed by the German government.

Research groups compiled data from 23 countries and found international donors would need to add another $14bn a year to their spending on food security and nutrition over the next 10 years; more than twice their current contribution. Low and middle-income countries would also have to give another $19bn a year, potentially through taxation.

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England’s simpler three-tier Covid system may not be enough

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New rules should cut infection rates but are too late and open to abuse, say scientists

The three-tier Covid alert system is a significant shift in the government’s approach to the coronavirus crisis in England, and, while scientists broadly welcomed the simplified rules, there are concerns the restrictions come too late and are open to abuse.

A major benefit of the new system is that it clears up the confusing and messy patchwork of different rules in different places, which arose as regions in northern England, the Midlands and other parts of the country battled to contain local outbreaks. With simplicity and stability should come better compliance, and with that more control of the epidemic.

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Trans woman struggled to get help for mental illness before death, inquest told

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Family of Alexandra Greenway say she was passed ‘pillar to post’ and not given psychiatric support

The family of a transgender woman who was found dead at her flat in Bristol have said at her inquest that she was passed from “pillar to post” in her efforts to seek help for her mental illness.

Alexandra Greenway’s relatives told the inquest the 23-year-old recruitment consultant did not receive the psychiatric support she required before her death on 11 May last year.

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Meghan: ‘I’m told I was the most trolled person in the world’

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Duchess of Sussex speaks of ‘almost unsurvivable’ online abuse she has experienced

The Duchess of Sussex has revealed she was told last year that she was the “most trolled person in the entire world” in a podcast in which she opened up about the “almost unsurvivable” online abuse she has experienced.

Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, joined three Californian high school students during an episode of their podcast, Teenager Therapy, and discussed topics including mental health stigma, self-care and online abuse.

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Cleaning up: the social media stars making housework cool

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Donning the Marigolds need not be a chore, according to a new breed of influencers who say cleaning is fun and aspirational

There were fears that this autumn’s bumper crop of books would see some titles overlooked – but one volume definitely didn’t get brushed under the carpet. This Is Me by Sophie Hinchliffe, better known as the Instagram cleaning sensation Mrs Hinch, was the runaway hit of Super Thursday on 1 October, fighting stiff competition from almost 800 other hardbacks published that day to top the UK charts and shift more than 90,000 copies in its first week.

It’s no surprise: Mrs Hinch’s three previous books have been bestsellers, and the 30-year-old comes with a readymade audience thanks to her “Hinch Army” of 3.8 million Instagram followers.

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Northern cities seek overhaul of national tracing ‘shambles’

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Local health teams are outperforming the NHS Covid contact system, but as cases rise they want a rethink

Under the grandeur of Preston market’s Victorian canopy, the nervousness wrought by a resurgence of Covid-19 is not far away. Amid the fruit, veg and dairy stalls, all the shoppers and stallholders are wearing masks, keeping their distance. “Everybody seems to be sticking to the rules as much as they can,” said Gary Quinn, the landlord of the Orchard pub. “People haven’t been very clear on what is allowed, but I haven’t seen people acting maliciously. People are trying their best.”

Despite the efforts, the city is again seeing a resurgence of the virus, with 324 cases per 100,000 in the past seven days. Like dozens of other local authorities around the country, Preston city council is not solely relying on the national test and trace system to help track the virus. It has taken matters into its own hands, setting up walk-in test sites and its own tracing system. Its team has received 300 local contacts a week, with council staff making home visits to more than 100 people who needed to self-isolate and could not be contacted by any other means.

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Herd immunity letter signed by fake experts including ‘Dr Johnny Bananas’

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Open letter calling for new Covid-19 strategy also signed by ‘Prof Cominic Dummings’

An open letter that made headlines calling for a herd immunity approach to Covid-19 lists a number of apparently fake names among its expert signatories, including “Dr Johnny Bananas” and “Professor Cominic Dummings”.

The Great Barrington declaration, which was said to have been signed by more than 15,000 scientists and medical practitioners around the world, was found by Sky News to contain numerous false names, as well as those of several homeopaths.

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Nimco Ali calls for frank discussion on violence against women in UK

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Campaigner gives first major interview after being appointed as government adviser on issue

The UK needs a frank conversation about the fear of male violence that women live with every day, according to the government’s new adviser on violence against women and girls.

In her first major interview since her role was announced on Friday, the feminist campaigner Nimco Ali – who has been a key figure in the global fight to end female genital mutilation (FGM) – said she wanted to work across political, ethnic and gender lines.

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Aid cuts and Covid force Uganda refugees to brink of starvation

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More than 90,000 face extreme hunger with another 400,000 hit by food crisis, says report

Nearly 500,000 refugees in Uganda are struggling to eat as a result of cuts to food aid and Covid-19 restrictions.

More than 91,000 people living in 13 refugee settlements around the country are experiencing extreme levels of hunger, according to the latest analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), published this week. More than 400,000 refugees are considered to be at crisis hunger levels.

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Pubs and restaurants: do scientists think Covid closures and curfews work?

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While virus can spread easily in crowded indoor venues, 10pm cut-off is questionable

Pubs, bars and restaurants in Scotland will be banned from serving alcohol to customers indoors for more than two weeks, while pubs in northern England face the possibility of tighter restrictions. But what does the science say?

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Scottish pubs lash out at ‘catastrophic’ Covid crackdown

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Bar and restaurant owners say they are ‘getting picked on’ and measures will hit young staff

The Scottish government is facing a fierce backlash after Nicola Sturgeon announced a crackdown on indoor drinking in licensed premises, as one leading adviser said more needed to be done to ensure people were sticking to the rules in their own homes.

Scottish pub, bar and restaurant owners expressed anger and despair at “catastrophic” and “scapegoating” new regulations that are set to last for 16 days across the country, and people on online forums decried the “prohibition” that would result from harsher restrictions in central Scotland.

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Italian women take legal action over foetus graves marked with mothers’ names

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More than 100 women launch action as activists say practice is serious violation of human rights and privacy

A group of more than 100 Italian women have asked prosecutors to investigate who is behind the burial for nearly a decade of foetuses in graves marked with the names of their mothers in a cemetery in Rome.

The practice only came to light last week after one of the women, whose curiosity was sparked after reading about the so-called “fields of angels” in local newspapers, discovered a plot with a wooden cross bearing her name and the date on which the foetus was buried at Prima Porta cemetery. She subsequently posted about her experience on Facebook.

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