Category Archives: Health policy

What will ‘living with Covid’ actually mean?

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Last week Boris Johnson announced that all Covid regulations in England, including the requirement to isolate after testing positive, were due to be abolished on 24 February. Whilst the Omicron variant has caused fewer hospitalisations and deaths than many predicted, some scientists say the changes may be going too far, too soon. Madeleine Finlay gets the Guardian science correspondent Hannah Devlin’s view on whether there’s scientific evidence backing up this decision and what the changes could look like

Archive: Daily Mail, Sky News

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John Major says Boris Johnson broke lockdown laws and is creating mistrust

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Former Tory PM fiercely attacks Johnson and issues barely veiled challenge to MPs to remove him

Boris Johnson broke lockdown laws, appears to believe rules do not apply to him and is creating an atmosphere of mistrust in politics that threatens the long-term democratic future of the UK, Sir John Major has said.

In a fierce and wide-ranging attack, Major said Johnson had regularly sent ministers out to “defend the indefensible”, with the truth seen as “optional”, and was badly tarnishing the UK’s reputation overseas with populist-style “megaphone diplomacy”.

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Covid rules are to be axed in England, but is pandemic’s end really in sight?

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Analysis: Plans to end isolation rules have been gleefully announced, but questions about infection control remain

As the threat of the Omicron wave has receded in England, the government has been quick to move the conversation on to “living with Covid”.

It was inevitable that this would mean the eventual lifting of legal restrictions, including the need to self-isolate. But even given the optimistic tone in recent weeks, Boris Johnson’s announcement on Wednesday came sooner than many expected.

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Is England an outlier in abandoning Covid isolation rule?

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How does England’s move to end self-isolation compare with rules in other European countries?

Boris Johnson has announced plans to abolish the legal requirement for people in England to self-isolate, even if they test positive for the coronavirus and have symptoms.

The move, planned for later this month, would represent “an important step for this country as we move out of the pandemic”, said the prime minister’s spokesperson. “It shows that the hard work of the British people is paying off.”

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Dorries claims vast majority of Tories behind Johnson

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Culture secretary dismisses resignation calls over ‘partygate’ after another Tory says PM should go

The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, has rejected calls for Boris Johnson to resign in order to restore trust after the “partygate” scandal, claiming that the “vast majority” of the party were behind the prime minister.

It comes after the former schools minister, Nick Gibb, became the latest Conservative MP to publicly call for Johnson to go, citing constituents “furious about the double standards” and the prime minster’s “inaccurate” statements in the Commons.

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Novavax Covid vaccine approved for use in over-18s in UK

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Nuvaxovid is similar to flu jab and may have reduced side-effects, which could persuade vaccine holdouts

The Covid-19 vaccine developed by Novavax has been approved by the UK regulator for use in people over the age of 18.

The vaccine will not be immediately widely available as its use as part of the UK’s vaccination programme will be considered by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

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Firms handed £1.3bn in Covid contracts claimed £1m in furlough grants

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Dozen UK companies given VIP fast-track contracts to supply PPE to NHS paid idled staff at taxpayers’ expense

Companies handed a combined £1.3bn in controversial fast-track Covid contracts with minimal scrutiny also claimed at least £1m in furlough grants, it can be revealed.

Analysis of the accounts of companies that won lucrative emergency contracts to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) to the NHS during the height of the pandemic shows 12 also claimed funds to put staff on furlough at taxpayers’ expense.

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Peter Greaves obituary

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My friend Peter Greaves, who has died aged 89, was a health and nutrition officer for Unicef whose work made a huge difference to children’s lives around the world. He was an early advocate of low-cost interventions including immunisation, oral rehydration and breastfeeding.

While he was Unicef’s chief nutrition adviser in the mid-1980s, he managed to get Unicef and the World Health Organization to agree on the final draft of The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. This document helped transform global maternal care policies.

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No 10 set for U-turn over mandatory Covid jabs for NHS staff in England

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Minister says lower severity of Omicron variant ‘opens the window for us to look at it’

Downing Street appears likely to drop its policy of dismissing frontline NHS and care staff in England who refuse Covid vaccinations, a minister has strongly indicated, after nursing and care organisations called for this to happen.

A decision would be made “in the course of the next few days”, according to Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury. He said the lower severity of the Omicron variant of Covid did “open a space” for the policy to be reversed.

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UK scraps Covid testing after arrival for double-vaccinated travellers

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Requirement to take lateral flow test will end from 4am on 11 February, cheered by airlines as a ‘landmark’

Coronavirus testing for double-vaccinated travellers arriving in the UK will be scrapped from 4am on 11 February.

In a boost for travel firms and families planning trips abroad, eligible passengers will no longer have to take a post-arrival lateral flow test (LFT). The change will save families about £100 a trip. The industry body Airlines UK said it was a “landmark day”.

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‘More people will die’: fears for clinically vulnerable as England axes plan B

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Coronavirus pandemic’s finishing line has not yet come clearly into focus for millions of people

“We must learn to live with Covid in the same way we have to live with flu,” Sajid Javid told the nation this week. For most people, the parallel with flu is now valid: vaccinations and acquired immunity have defanged Covid to the point that there is no longer much risk of becoming severely unwell.

However, the pandemic’s finishing line has not yet come clearly into focus for a sizeable minority in society. In England, 3.7 million people fall in the clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) category, including those with blood cancers, an organ transplant, kidney disease and other conditions linked to immunosuppression.

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Mixed messages? How end of Covid plan B could change behaviour in England

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Analysis: Experts say when the rules are relaxed there tends to be a gradual erosion of protective behaviours

All plan B measures in England will be lifted next week, meaning an end to compulsory mask-wearing in shops, vaccine certificates for entering venues, and guidance to work from home. But are the public ready to embrace these freedoms just weeks after Covid cases in the UK hit a record high and with daily deaths higher now than when the measures were introduced?

Some are likely to feel more than ready to cast aside restrictions that have been financially and personally cumbersome, while others may fear things are moving too quickly. Regardless of the range of attitudes, changing the rules will shift behaviour.

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‘In the name of God, go’: Tory fury spills over as Boris Johnson clings on

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Former minister demands PM’s resignation in Commons, one Conservative MP defects and others clamour for concessions

Boris Johnson has faced a defection and a demand to quit from one of his most senior MPs during a dramatic day in Westminster, with even allies of the prime minister warning the current situation cannot go on.

David Davis caused shockwaves when he told Johnson in the Commons: “In the name of God, go.” Less than an hour earlier, Christian Wakeford, the MP for Bury South, quit the Conservatives and joined Labour in fury at the Downing Street parties scandal.

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Work from home and and mandatory mask rules to be dropped as England moves back to plan A – video

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Boris Johnson has announced updates to Covid regulations as plan B measures are due to expire. The work-from-home mandate will be dropped, as will mandatory face mask-wearing, including in classrooms. Rules over self-isolation after a positive Covid test remain in place 

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Boris Johnson unlikely to be seen in public for a week, says Downing St

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Period stuck inside No 10 comes at arguably fortuitous time for PM facing intense scrutiny over ‘partygate’

Boris Johnson is unlikely to be seen in public for the next week after a member of his immediate family tested positive for Covid, Downing Street has said.

While self-isolation for contacts of coronavirus cases is no longer mandatory, Johnson’s spokesman said the prime minister would heed guidance to limit outside contacts as much as possible for seven days after the test.

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Covid isolation to be cut to five full days in England, says Sajid Javid

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Health secretary confirms reduction in self-isolation period, in decision that could help address staff shortages

The health secretary, Sajid Javid, has confirmed that the minimum time people with Covid in England have to spend in self-isolation is to be cut to five full days.

From Monday, people would be able to leave isolation on day six if they tested negative on days five and six, Javid told the Commons.

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Boris Johnson does not believe he broke Covid rules at party, says minister

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Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis defends PM as he pulls out of public engagement in Lancashire

The Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, has insisted the prime minister was “very, very sincere” when he apologised for attending an alcohol-fuelled gathering in the Downing Street garden, but did not believe he had broken the rules.

Boris Johnson told MPs on Wednesday he thought he was at a “work event” when he dropped into what his own principal private secretary had called “socially distanced drinks”.

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UK government urges all pregnant women to get immediate Covid jab

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Campaign comes as figures show almost all expectant mothers hospitalised with coronavirus symptoms were unvaccinated

The UK government is warning that almost all pregnant women admitted to hospital with Covid symptoms were unvaccinated in one analysis over several months last year, as it kicks off an advertising campaign encouraging expectant mothers to get boosted.

The campaign is calling on pregnant women not to wait to get either their first, second or booster jab. It will highlight the risks of Covid-19 to mothers and babies, with testimonies of pregnant women who have had the vaccine to be broadcast on radio and social media.

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Nadhim Zahawi: UK should lead move from pandemic to endemic Covid – video

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The education secretary has called for the UK to show the rest of the world how to move from 'pandemic to endemic' Covid, as he suggested it would be helpful to cut the isolation period to five days to ease workforce shortages. Nadhim Zahawi also played down suggestions that the government was about to start charging for lateral flow tests, which would lead to fewer infections in the community being identified

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