Category Archives: Coronavirus

Boris Johnson: inquiry into Covid response will start in spring 2022

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PM says it would be wrong to take up advisers’ and officials’ time if cases rise again this winter

A public inquiry will be launched next spring to investigate “rigorously and candidly” what mistakes the UK government made during the coronavirus pandemic, but could take weeks before it starts hearing evidence, Boris Johnson has announced.

The prime minister said it was “absolutely vital” that “we should learn the lessons” of tackling Covid, promising a chair would be appointed and terms of reference confirmed after consultation with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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Why is the world still being hit by wave after wave of Covid when we know how to stop it? | Helen Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

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Leaders failed to act fast enough when Covid-19 appeared. They must not keep making the same mistakes

Death and illness from Covid-19 is steadily rising once again. In the last week of April, more than 93,000 people died – approaching the worst of the global second wave. How can this still be happening? How can some countries still be experiencing wave after wave of infection when we know how to prevent them?

For the past eight months, the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response has been rigorously reviewing the evidence of what happened to allow Covid-19 to take a firm grip – and why. The panel spoke to hundreds of experts and people on the frontline of the response, and conducted extensive original research and numerous literature reviews.

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Covid pandemic was preventable, says WHO-commissioned report

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Independent panel castigates global leaders and calls for major changes to ensure it cannot happen again

The Covid pandemic was a preventable disaster that need not have cost millions of lives if the world had reacted more quickly, according to an independent high-level panel, which castigates global leaders and calls for major changes to bring it to an end and ensure it cannot happen again.

The report of the panel, chaired by the former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a former president of Liberia, found “weak links at every point in the chain”.

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NHS in England and Wales treated fewest ever violence-related injuries in 2020

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Lockdown was reason behind sharp fall in number of people treated by NHS for injuries outside the home, say researchers

Lockdown led to the smallest number of people on record being treated by the NHS for injuries caused by violence away from the home, a study shows.

The closure of pubs, clubs and other venues that sell alcohol as part of the bans on social mixing was a key reason for the sharp decline in serious violence, the researchers say.

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US airline chiefs add to pressure for transatlantic travel to restart

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American, Delta and United bosses join BA and Virgin Atlantic in saying US-UK vaccination levels mean routes should reopen

Major US airlines have weighed in alongside UK carriers to urge the reopening of transatlantic travel, calling on governments in Washington and London to arrange a summit as soon as possible.

The airlines said safely reopening borders was essential for economic recovery and asked the nations’ leaders to meet before the G7, and take a decision with sufficient time for airlines to plan and restart services.

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Coronavirus live news: Scotland to allow indoor meetings from Monday; arrests at AstraZeneca patent protest

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First minister confirms easing of restrictions; EU pressuring AstraZeneca to deliver 120m doses by end of June; arrests made at protest over vaccine patents

Brazilian states halted vaccination of pregnant women on Tuesday after a death in Rio de Janeiro led health regulator Anvisa to warn against the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for expecting mothers, Reuters reports.

A pregnant woman in Rio de Janeiro died after receiving the AstraZeneca shot, according to state Health Secretary Alexandre Chieppe, in a case authorities are still investigating.

Sao Paulo state suspended Covid-19 vaccination for pregnant women with risk factors and Rio state suspended immunisation of all pregnant women. Both states cited the Anvisa recommendation as a reason for the decision.

AstraZeneca investors narrowly approved pay package proposals for its chief executive, Pascal Soriot, after nearly 40% voted against the policy, which could hand him pay and perks of up to £17.8m for 2021, Julia Kollewe reports.

Related: Nearly 40% of AstraZeneca investors reject boss’s bonus rise

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Nearly 40% of AstraZeneca investors reject boss’s bonus rise

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Covid vaccine maker passes its remuneration policy but suffers sizeable rebellion

AstraZeneca has suffered a substantial shareholder rebellion over proposals to hand its chief executive, Pascal Soriot, bigger bonus awards for the second consecutive year.

Nearly 40% voted against the policy, which could hand him pay and perks of nearly £18m for 2021.

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McDonald’s and Uber to help encourage vaccine-hesitant Americans

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McDonald’s to promote vaccine information on coffee cups while Uber and Lyft to give free rides to vaccine sites

Incentivising the vaccine-hesitant in America has reached the fast food and ride-share industries.

Burger chain McDonald’s has announced it is partnering with the White House to promote vaccination information on its coffee cups.

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What is the deadly ‘black fungus’ seen in Covid patients in India?

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Usually very rare, mucormycosis has a high mortality rate and is difficult to treat

A rare black fungus that invades the brain is being increasingly seen in vulnerable patients in India, including those with Covid-19, as the health system continues to struggle in the midst of the pandemic.

The health ministry on Sunday released an advisory on how to treat the infection. In the state of Gujarat, about 300 cases had been reported in four cities, including Ahmedabad, according to data from state-run hospitals.

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Nepal says its Covid response is under control – everyone can see it’s not true

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I’ve watched from the UK as family and friends share increasingly desperate news. Nepal’s leaders have ensured the lack of preparation

Waiting for India’s Covid wave to break over Nepal has been as painful as it was inevitable. Now that it’s happening, this country of 30 million people is even more hapless and unprepared than India seems to have been.

My friend, Dr Rakshya Pandey, a pulmonary care doctor in Kathmandu, says that during her long shifts, the thought sometimes enters her mind: ‘‘Where would I go if I get sick? Where would I take my mother if she gets the virus?”

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US authorizes Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for children ages 12 to 15

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Move expands inoculation program as vaccination rates slow

US regulators on Monday authorized Pfizer and its partner BioNTech’s Covid vaccine for use in children as young as 12, widening the country’s inoculation program even as vaccination rates have slowed significantly.

The vaccine has been available under an emergency use authorization (EUA) to people as young as 16 in the United States. Today’s decision means the FDA is amending the EUA to include children aged 12 to 15. The vaccine makers said they had started the process for full approval for those ages last week.

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Boris Johnson confirms further easing of lockdown in England

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PM says social distancing will be left up to ‘personal choice’ as he confirms next phase of roadmap will go ahead as planned

Social distancing and the 1 metre-plus rule could be scrapped next month, the prime minister has suggested, as he confirmed the next step of England’s lockdown easing but said families and friends should think carefully before deciding to hug.

Heralding a “very considerable” easing of measures, the prime minister said that from next Monday pubs and restaurants can open their doors to serve customers inside, and people can gather in groups of 30 outside.

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English pubs and restaurants can open indoors from next Monday, says Johnson – video

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Social distancing between family and friends is to be left up to 'personal choice' from next week and gatherings of six people from different households will be allowed indoors again, Boris Johnson announced, as he laid out the next phase of England's lockdown easing. However, he urged people not to 'throw caution to the wind', and to continue social distancing in public spaces.

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End of England’s hug ‘ban’ highlights confusion over law and guidance

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Analysis: people have had right to hug whoever they want throughout pandemic - they were simply advised not to

Newspapers and news programmes on Monday morning reported that people in England would soon be allowed to hug again.

It was a tremendous feelgood story, one that filled the country with hope that the end of the coronavirus pandemic, and its inhuman restrictions, is in sight.

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India: dozens of suspected Covid victims wash up on Ganges River banks

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Locals believe bodies were dumped in river because cremation sites are overwhelmed

Dozens of bodies believed to be Covid-19 victims have washed up on the banks of the Ganges River in northern India as the pandemic spreads into India’s vast rural hinterland, overwhelming local health facilities as well as crematoriums and cemeteries.

Local official Ashok Kumar said that about 40 corpses washed up in Buxar district near the border between Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, two of India’s poorest states.

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‘Like purgatory’: diaspora in despair as India sinks deeper into Covid crisis

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Indian Americans scramble to secure oxygen canisters for family members, desperately work to raise funds and pressure US legislators to lift vaccine patents

Since the pandemic began, Fatima Ahmed has lost 29 of her family members in India and one in the US to Covid-19.

A few days ago, her uncle died in his car as he was driving back home from a hospital in Hyderabad, a city in southern India. “All the hospitals were at capacity, so they couldn’t take him in,” said Ahmed. “He pulled over and he called the rest of the family, the khandan – before he passed.”

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NSW health minister condemns media for naming Sydney ‘barbecue man’ at centre of Covid outbreak

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Brad Hazzard says AFR story that identified man was ‘appalling’, and warned it would undermine public health

• NSW restrictions: what you can and can’t do under new coronavirus rules
• NSW Covid hotspots: list and map of Sydney case locations
• Follow the Australia live blog

The New South Wales health minister has said a newspaper’s decision to name the man who visited numerous barbecue shops in Sydney while infected with Covid-19 was “appalling” and would undermine public health.

Brad Hazzard said the Australian Financial Review’s story identifying a patient “stinks” because it may discourage the public from cooperating fully with the contact tracers in the future and the man had not consented to have his identity revealed.

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US ‘turning the corner’ on pandemic as vaccinations sharply reduce infections

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Restrictions on public behavior to be gradually lifted, key figures in the fight against the disease say

The US is approaching a turning point where Covid vaccinations are sharply reducing infection and hospitalization rates and in turn allowing restrictions on public behavior to be gradually lifted, key figures in the fight against the disease said on Sunday.

“We are turning the corner,” said Jeffrey Zients, the White House Covid response coordinator. With about 58% of adult Americans having received at least one shot of vaccine, and with some 113 million people now fully vaccinated, the country was on track to meet Joe Biden’s goal of 70% of the population at least partially vaccinated by 4 July, he said.

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Covid live news: EU not renewing orders for AstraZeneca jabs after June; third of UK adults fully vaccinated

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Latest updates: pressure builds on Indian government to announce national lockdown; third of UK adults now fully vaccinated against Covid-19; Laos records first Covid death

The number of Covid-19 patients in French intensive care units fell below 5,000 for the first time since late March on Sunday, Reuters is reporting that health ministry data showed.

The number was down for a sixth day in a row at 4,971, against 5,005 the previous day, the ministry said.

The United States is closer to getting the coronavirus pandemic under control and health officials are focused on the next challenge: getting more Americans vaccinated, the White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said on Sunday, Reuters reports.

“I would say we are turning the corner,” Zients said in an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union.”

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