Category Archives: Coronavirus

Masks off: how US school boards became ‘perfect battlegrounds’ for vicious culture wars

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School boards are used to local grievances. But amid fury over mask mandates, members face an unprecedented onslaught

Rina Gallien doesn’t consider herself political, but when the 41-year-old mother of four heard that parents who oppose mask mandates in schools were organizing to attend the 12 August meeting of the St Tammany Parish School Board in Slidell, Louisiana, she took time off work to attend.

“I didn’t want them to think that they are the only people who care about their kids,” said Gallien, who has three children still in school and strongly supports the mask mandate reinstated by the state’s governor amid soaring Covid-19 cases in early August. “I care about my kids too, and I want them to come home safe.”

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Does Covid-19 follow a similar seasonal pattern to flu?

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Anticipating the seasonality of coronavirus is a key factor in fighting its spread, say scientists

It is well known that influenza is seasonal, peaking in the winter in temperate regions and during the wet season in tropical locations. So does Covid-19 follow a similar seasonal pattern?

To answer this question scientists compared coronavirus rates between March 2020 and March 2021 from five countries – Canada, Germany, India, Ethiopia and Chile – with daily mean temperature, humidity, ultraviolet radiation and air-drying capacity (a measure of how quickly droplets evaporate).

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Why we’re happy hobbits in Jacinda’s ‘mysterious socialist hermit kingdom’ | Max Rashbrooke

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Some British media have been mocking New Zealand for going into Covid lockdown over one case, but it’s hard to find downsides to the approach

Physician, heal thyself. This phrase has been in my thoughts ever since global media outlets, most of them British, started mocking New Zealand’s Covid elimination strategy last week.

I’m a proud British passport holder, and spent some of my best years in London, but not once during this pandemic have I ever wished to be anywhere except New Zealand. That holds true even though we’re now back in lockdown while the British freely enjoy what passes for a summer there.

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New Zealand records another 41 Covid cases as it braces for biggest outbreak of pandemic

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Cluster has grown to 148 people, with experts saying it could grow to 1,000 and take four to six weeks to stamp out

New Zealand is bracing for its biggest coronavirus outbreak yet as cases rise, the locations of interest balloon to more than 400 sites, and the number of close contacts swells to more than 15,700 people.

On Tuesday, the country recorded 41 new positive cases, bringing the total number in its outbreak to 148 – the majority of whom are Samoan, and linked to a sub-cluster who assembled at the Assembly of God church in Mangere, Auckland before the lockdown.

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‘Why are you crying?’: Qantas ad promoting vaccination hits hard for Australians unable to travel

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With images of people jetting off to see loved ones overseas, the ad offers a glimpse of what many have been missing

Qantas has released a new ad that promotes getting a Covid-19 vaccine, and it tugs at the heartstrings of Australians longing to travel again.

The ad appeals to those who have been separated from loved ones overseas, with scenes of what the future might offer when vaccination rates are high enough.

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‘Get it today’: Biden urges Americans to get Pfizer vaccine after FDA approval – video

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President Biden urged Americans to come forward to receive the Pfizer vaccine after it received FDA approval. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is trying to finish its licensing process for the drug as soon as Monday.

The president spoke directly to Americans who have said they would wait to get vaccinated until one of the vaccines received full FDA approval. 'It has now happened,' Biden said. 'The moment you’ve been waiting for is here. It’s time for you to go get your vaccination – and get it today'

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Anti-vaccine protesters occupy ITV and Channel 4 News headquarters – video

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Anti-vaccine protesters occupied the headquarters of ITV News and Channel 4 News in London on Monday afternoon, in the latest of a series of actions aimed at the media.

After marching from King’s Cross station to ITN’s headquarters on Gray's Inn Road, protesters were met by two uniformed police officers guarding the building’s revolving doors. However, they were immediately let in through an emergency exit, apparently by a supporter who was already inside the building.

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Biden hails ‘key milestone’ in fight against Covid as FDA approves Pfizer vaccine – live

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Joe Biden had a conversation with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson today, as the US and its allies continue evacuations from Kabul.

“They discussed the ongoing efforts by our diplomatic and military personnel to evacuate their citizens, local staff, and other vulnerable Afghans,” the White House said in a readout of the call.

Joe Biden urged more private businesses to require coronavirus vaccinations for their employees, now that the Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine.

“Today, I’m calling on more companies ... in the private sector to step up with vaccine requirements that will reach millions more people,” Biden said.

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What does getting Covid feel like for the fully vaccinated?

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The illness can still have a big effect on health and daily life, say three people in their 20s, 40s and 50s, who are double jabbed

As the number of recorded coronavirus infections in the UK rises again, we spoke to three people about their experiences of catching Covid despite having been fully vaccinated, and how it affected their daily lives.

Clare Jenkins, 44, from Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, contracted Covid this month after her 13-year-old daughter became infected at a party.

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Iranian government urged to accept western vaccines amid deadly Covid wave

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Vaccine supplies close to exhausted in many areas as country gripped by fifth wave and daily death toll rises

The newly elected Iranian government led by President Ebrahim Raisi is facing demands to broaden its sources of vaccines as the country becomes engulfed by its fifth and most deadly wave of Covid-19.

The supply of vaccines is said to be close to exhausted in Isfahan and Tabriz, as well as provinces including Gilan, Khuzestan and Mazandaran.

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‘I opened it and I just started laughing’: the pitfalls of pandemic shopping

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From accidentally over ordering, to products that bear no resemblance to their description or photographs, buying everything online has its downsides

When Sam Bowker and his partner moved into their new rental, they planned to buy a couch the same way they usually did – with a trip down to the local op-shop.

But Covid-19 scuppered this. The Salvation Army was no longer offering delivery services, so after a couple of drinks one evening, Bowker turned to eBay. There he found a “sleek looking black three seater lounge – it was a flatpack you build yourself, with free shipping”.

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UK Covid deaths average 100 a day with fears of rise when schools return

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Seven-day average now highest since March as children in Scotland return to the classroom

Deaths from Covid-19 are now averaging 100 a day across the UK, according to official data, and scientists have warned that case rates will jump again when millions of pupils return to schools next week.

The seven-day average for deaths within 28 days of a positive test now stands at 100, figures released by Public Health England on Monday show, a number that was last exceeded on 18 March.

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FDA gives full approval to Pfizer vaccine for Covid-19

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Decision is likely to trigger a wave of formal vaccine requirements from government departments, businesses and schools

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given full approval to the Pfizer vaccine for Covid-19. The vaccine and others have been in use for months under emergency use authorisation.

Related: ‘You are not a horse’: FDA tells Americans stop taking dewormer for Covid

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China reports zero local symptomatic Covid cases for first time since July

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Tough measures were deployed after the recent Delta variant outbreak

China’s health authority has reported no new locally transmitted symptomatic Covid cases for the first time since the Delta variant outbreak began in July.

While it is unclear whether the figure will remain at zero in the weeks to come, experts said it was yet another sign that Beijing’s “zero tolerance” approach was unlikely to be changed.

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‘You are not a horse’: FDA tells Americans stop taking dewormer for Covid

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Agency issues message after misinformation about ivermectin, a medicine used to deworm livestock, spreads on social media

Ahead of full US authorisation of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had a simple message for Americans contemplating using ivermectin, a medicine used to deworm livestock, instead of getting a Covid shot.

Related: FDA gives full approval to Pfizer vaccine for Covid-19

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‘Nothing to eat’: Somalia hit by triple threat of climate crisis, Covid and conflict

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Overlapping crises have pushed the fragile east African country to the ‘cusp of humanitarian catastrophe’, with one in four facing food insecurity

Such was the horror that erupted in her village earlier this year that Fadumo Ali Mohamed decided she had no choice but to leave. Through the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia, she walked for 30 kilometres, along with her nine children, eventually getting help to reach the capital by car.

Now in Mogadishu, she is one of more than 800,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in the capital living in cramped, informal settlements with limited access to food, water and healthcare. She doesn’t like to recall the violence she fled.

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New Zealand reports another 35 Covid cases as nationwide lockdown extended

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Jacinda Ardern said outbreak was not thought to have peaked and that country must ‘hold the course’

New Zealand’s nationwide lockdown is extending until at least the end of the week, as the country battles to contain an outbreak of the Delta variant of Covid-19.

Auckland – the country’s largest city, where the majority of cases are – will remain in lockdown until the end of the month.

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‘Spread your legs’: New Zealand makes hay with Covid minister’s gaffe

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Chris Hipkins delivered some light relief from Covid news with an x-rated health advice slip-up

A slip of the tongue from New Zealand’s Covid-19 response minister as he was updating the nation live on the coronavirus outbreak has given the country a lighthearted, albeit slightly x-rated, break from regular pandemic coverage.

At a media briefing on Sunday, minister Chris Hipkins was updating the country on the growing number of coronavirus cases in the community, when he urged New Zealanders to socially distance when they go outside to “spread their legs”.

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‘Big questions’: New Zealand Covid minister raises doubts about elimination strategy

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Chris Hipkins said the Delta variant was ‘like nothing we’ve dealt with so far’

The arrival of the Delta strain in New Zealand has prompted the country’s Covid-19 response minister to question the efficacy of its ambitious elimination strategy – an approach that has been the backbone of the country’s pandemic response.

Chris Hipkins told current affairs programme Q+A on Sunday that Delta raised “big questions about the long-term future of our plans”.

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