Category Archives: Society

Mass weekly Covid-19 testing of population to be trialled in England

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Jeremy Hunt says UK should embrace repeat testing as route to more ‘normal life’

The UK government is to trial routine weekly Covid testing of the population as part of preparations to head off a possible winter second wave, as the former health secretary Jeremy Hunt called for such tests to become the norm.

Matt Hancock said the government was committing an extra £500m to scale up testing capacity and launch community pilots trialling the effectiveness of repeat testing in schools and colleges, as well as in the population as a whole. It will also ramp up the trials of a new test kit that it is claimed can provide results within 20 minutes.

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Vaccine-derived polio spreads in Africa after defeat of wild virus

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Fresh cases of disease linked to oral vaccine seen in Sudan, following outbreak in Chad

A new polio outbreak in Sudan has been linked to the oral polio vaccine that uses a weakened form of the virus.

News of the outbreak comes a week after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that wild polio had been eradicated in Africa.

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‘I had to stand up’: young refugees learn to take on MPs and the UK media

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The voices of young asylum seekers have been absent from the debate over their futures – until a charity decided to teach them public speaking

Naqeeb, a 20-year old refugee from Afghanistan, has watched with increasing dismay the reaction of politicians and journalists to the people who are risking their lives attempting to reach the UK across the Channel.

Among those packed aboard flimsy dinghies are teenagers and children travelling alone: more than 400 unaccompanied minors have attempted to cross from France to England by sea this year.

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Quarter of Covid victims in England and Wales have dementia – study

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Data also shows up to 75% of all deaths in care facilities globally were of people with dementia

People with dementia accounted for a quarter of all Covid-related deaths in England and Wales, and three-quarters of all deaths in care facilities globally, data shows.

The London School of Economics and University College London are looking at the mortality rate of those with dementia in a regularly updated report. According to their research, up to 75% of Covid-19 deaths globally in care facilities are those with dementia as an underlying condition.

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‘It destroys lives’: why the razor-blade pain of vaginismus is so misunderstood

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This common condition can lead to relationship breakdown and unnecessary surgery. So why is treatment still so poor and underfunded?

I was just a few weeks into a new relationship when the pain started. Whenever my boyfriend and I started to have penetrative sex, it felt as if there were razor blades inside me. At first I laughed it off, but soon I became terrified of intercourse. My body would freeze with fear as my clothes came off. By the time we said: “I love you,” even kissing made me feel anxious. I would spend entire day trips and holidays with him worrying about the pain.

When I first went to my GP, the advice I got was to “try and relax”. It was about as helpful as telling someone having a panic attack to “just chill out”. Without a real solution, I started to question whether I was imagining the pain. Or if maybe, somehow, I was to blame for it. My boyfriend was kind and supportive but I felt I was letting him down. Some days, I would feel so ashamed that it was hard to think about anything else. Other days, I’d feel an overwhelming sense of loss for the carefree woman I had been.

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Recognise DfID expertise and influence in FCO merger, Raab urged

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Department for International Development gave ‘huge heft to global Britain’, says ex-secretary of state ahead of 2 September merger

Dominic Raab must recognise the “extraordinary influence and expertise” of staff at the Department for International Development (DfID) to maintain Britain’s position as a world leader, according to former Conservative development secretary Andrew Mitchell.

Mitchell, who was secretary of state from 2010 to 2012, said the DfID, which merges with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 2 September to become the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), had contributed “huge heft to global Britain” in terms of soft power.

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How the race for a Covid-19 vaccine is getting dirty

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Scientists worldwide are working against the clock to find a viable coronavirus vaccine – but are corners being cut for the sake of political gain and profit?

To begin with, it felt like a sleek performance from a well-honed relay team. On 11 January, only 10 days after reporting a new respiratory disease, the Chinese published the genome sequence of the virus that causes it. Researchers around the world set to work building vaccines against Covid-19, as the disease became known, and the first candidate entered human trials on 16 March; it was joined, as the months passed, by dozens of others.

Scientists were jubilant, and they had every right to be. They’d broken all vaccinology records to get to that point. But then tensions began to surface among the team members, and lately even the most distracted spectator will have noticed that they appear to be trying to nobble each other openly on the track. With accusations that the Russians and Chinese hacked research groups in other countries, biotech executives criticised for cashing in on their own, as yet unapproved vaccines, and Russia approving a vaccine that is still in clinical trials, the quest for a vaccine seems to have turned sour.

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Under-25s bearing brunt of Covid mental-health toll – survey

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Findings reveal anxiety, inability to concentrate and fears over employment at high levels among young people

Young people have suffered more with mental health issues over the last few months than any other age group, according to a far-reaching study that has scrutinised the effects of the pandemic on the under-25s.

A troubling picture of growing levels of anxiety and an inability to concentrate was reported by those aged between 18 and 24 as part of an extensive survey of more than 6,000 adults carried out by YouGov and designed by the Resolution Foundation, which was subsequently analysed by the independent charity the Health Foundation.

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National Trust sacking education officers ‘will hit worst-off children’

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Volunteers accuse charity of excluding deprived and minority ethnic schoolchildren

Volunteers are accusing the National Trust of excluding deprived and minority ethnic schoolchildren from enjoying nature and visiting its properties with the planned sacking of the charity’s education officers.

The number of protests and petitions are growing over the trust’s controversial “reset” involving the proposed loss of 1,200 jobs, including its learning staff, as the charity plans to stop providing any curriculum-based content or learning activities for schools.

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Revealed: auditors raised minimum-wage red flags at Boohoo factories

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Exclusive: Third-party reports set out allegations at 18 Leicester suppliers

The fast-fashion retailer Boohoo has been selling clothes made by at least 18 factories in Leicester that audits say have failed to prove they pay the minimum wage to workers, a Guardian investigation has found.

Third-party audit reports produced over the past four years make claims of “critical” issues over record-keeping and working hours at the time they were written, suggesting that in parts of the supply chain workers may be paid as little as £3-£4 an hour.

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It’s tempting to think only charities can end abuse in aid. But we need state backup | Frances Longley

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The UK government has gone quiet on global safeguarding. The new FCDO must work with NGOs to hold abusers accountable

When stories of sexual abuse, harassment and exploitation in the aid sector surfaced in February 2018, a firestorm of blame and recrimination broke out across British NGOs. Household names were vilified, and the secretary of state for international development publicly declared that we had lost our moral compass.

Stories from victims and survivors were horrific and needed to be heard. NGOs were ashamed that abuse was still happening on our watch. We apologised, made promises of improvement and change. We came together as a sector and rapidly acted. Policies, processes and training were improved across hundreds of organisations and thousands of staff around the globe.

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Covid turns tide on India’s Ganesh festival traditions

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Thousands of ritual statues are dunked into the sea off Mumbai each year – but coronavirus and pollution concerns are forcing change

In the quiet housing estate of Angrewadi in the heart of Girgaon in south Mumbai, people are celebrating the 100th consecutive year of the Ganesh Chaturthi, the Hindu festival of the elephant-headed god of new beginnings. Statues of Lord Ganesh are brought into homes and put on display for offerings and prayers.

On the 11th and final day of the festival, the ritual of Ganesh Visarjan takes place – falling this year on 1 September. The statues, normally made of soluble plaster of paris, are traditionally carried in a public procession with music and chanting, and are then immersed in either a river or the sea. Here, they slowly dissolve in a ceremony that dramatises the Hindu view of the ephemeral nature of life – but also causes widespread pollution.

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‘Fear of failure’ giving UK children lowest happiness levels in Europe

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More than a third of UK 15-year-olds scored low in the annual Good Childhood Report

Children in the UK have the lowest levels of life satisfaction across Europe, with “a particularly British fear of failure” partly to blame, according to a major report into childhood happiness.

More than a third of UK 15-year-olds scored low on life satisfaction, the annual Good Childhood Report from the Children’s Society found. They also fared badly across happiness measurements including satisfaction with schools, friends and sense of purpose compared to children in other European countries.

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Data on Covid care home deaths kept secret ‘to protect commercial interests’

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Exclusive: English and Scottish regulators refuse to reveal homes with most fatalities

Covid-19 death tolls at individual care homes are being kept secret by regulators in part to protect providers’ commercial interests before a possible second coronavirus surge, the Guardian can reveal.

England’s Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the Care Inspectorate in Scotland are refusing to make public which homes or providers recorded the most fatalities amid fears it could undermine the UK’s care system, which relies on private operators.

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Grassroots groups hold Beirut together, yet big NGOs suck up the cash | Hayat Mirshad

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Local charities work constantly to support Lebanese society. It’s time they had a fair share of foreign aid

Every person in Lebanon has probably been asked: “Where were you during the Beirut port explosion?”

My response is always the same: I was here, in Beirut.

On 4 August, when the explosion ignited our skies, I was here – fighting for my life as windows, doors, and buildings collapsed around me. I was still here in the painful hours that followed, working with fellow activists to spearhead clean-up efforts, distribute food and rescue neighbours trapped under the rubble. And when it was revealed that our government’s alleged negligence led to the fatal blast, I remained here – on the streets with my sisters – to demand justice.

We were among the first to respond to this disaster. We were here before international aid workers arrived, before France hosted an international aid conference for the humanitarian response, and before the dust settled on our now devastated city.

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Obesity increases risk of Covid-19 death by 48%, study finds

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Comprehensive study suggests vaccine may not work as well for overweight people

Obesity increases the risk of death from Covid-19 by nearly 50% and may make vaccines against the disease less effective, according to a comprehensive study using global data.

The research from leading global experts warns that the risks for people with obesity are greater than previously thought.

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Africa’s triumph over wild polio shows the power of regional unity | Matshidiso Moeti

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The legacy of a successful battle is now helping combat Covid, but we must stay vigilant, says WHO’s Africa regional director

Africa has declared victory over a virus that once paralysed 75,000 children on the continent every year.

Four years have now passed since wild polio was last detected in Africa. After a year of rigorously evaluating polio data from all 47 countries in the WHO’s African region, an independent body of experts announced during a virtual ceremony on Tuesdaythat the continent was free of wild polio.

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Boris Johnson drops advice against face mask use in English schools

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Prime minister makes another coronavirus U-turn days before return to classrooms

Pupils in England will no longer be advised against using face masks in secondary schools after Boris Johnson made an 11th-hour U-turn days before classrooms reopen.

In lockdown areas such as Greater Manchester, which have greater restrictions to stop the spread of the virus, wearing face coverings will become mandatory in school corridors where social distancing is more difficult.

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Leadership of merged DfID evidence of ‘hostile takeover’ by FCO, say critics

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NGOs and MPs fear appointments to Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office reflects unbalanced priorities

The UK’s ambassador to the EU is to become political director of the newly merged Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), one of seven senior officials who will form the core of the leadership team when the department launches next week.

Tim Barrow is one of five appointees from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office chosen to serve on the board of the FCDO. Two further appointments are officials from the Department for International Development (DfID).

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Africa to be declared free of wild polio after decades of work

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Achievement comes following Nigeria vaccination drive, with last cases of wild virus recorded four years ago

Africa is expected to be declared free from wild polio, after decades of work by a coalition of international health bodies, national and local governments, community volunteers and survivors.

Four years after the last recorded cases of wild polio in northern Nigeria, the Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC) is expected to certify that the continent is free of the virus, which can cause irreversible paralysis and in some cases death.

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