Category Archives: Coronavirus

Many ‘long Covid’ sufferers unable to fully work six months later

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Respondents to global survey report 205 symptoms across 10 organ systems after infection

Many people suffering from “long Covid” are still unable to work at full capacity six months after infection, a large-scale survey of confirmed and suspected patients has found.

While Covid-19 was initially understood to be a largely respiratory illness from which most people would recover within two or three weeks, as the pandemic wore on increasing numbers reported experiencing symptoms for months on end.

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21 things to look forward to in 2021 – from meteor showers to the Olympics

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From finally seeing the back of Donald Trump to being in a football stadium – the new year is full of promise

You probably found a few things to enjoy about last year: you rediscovered your bicycle, perhaps, or your family, or even both, and learned to love trees. And don’t forget the clapping. Plus some brilliant scientists figured out how to make a safe and effective vaccine for a brand new virus in record time.

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Watching New Zealand’s Covid success from bungling Britain has been torture | Todd Atticus

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Living between the two countries, I know that the British government’s best isn’t good enough

Like most Britons this past year, I’ve spent more time than I care to admit doomscrolling social media. But in between the muted festive lockdown celebrations, I also saw photos of crowded house parties, family barbecues and road trips to baches and beaches. My social feeds have split into alternate realities. Because although I’m a British citizen living in Oxford, I’m also a resident of New Zealand, where things really couldn’t be more different.

As a resident of two countries, with friends and family in each, I’m used to witnessing events and political developments in both places at once. Usually this experience is a rewarding one where new ideas and cultural differences cross-pollinate in my brain and expand the way I see the world. But in 2020 it’s been an exercise in frustration. The torture of watching how one country has handed the Covid pandemic so well, while living in another that has bungled it so badly, has been one of the defining characteristics of my past year.

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US pharmacist who tried to ruin Covid vaccine doses is a conspiracy theorist, police say

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Officers say Steven Brandenburg told investigators he intentionally tried to spoil the doses because he believed the vaccine could change DNA

A Wisconsin pharmacist who was convinced the world was “crashing down” told police he tried to ruin hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine because he believed the shots would mutate people’s DNA, according to court documents released on Monday.

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Boris Johnson urges people to stay home as England braces for third national lockdown – video

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The prime minister warned that the weeks ahead 'will be the toughest yet' as he announced England would be placed under its strictest nationwide lockdown since March. Schools will be closed until mid-February and people will be advised to leave their homes only once a day for exercise. But Johnson added that the arrival of the Oxford vaccine showed that 'the end was in sight'

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Keir Starmer: Labour will support ‘necessary’ new lockdown measures – video

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The Labour leader said he supported Boris Johnson's decision to move England into a third national lockdown amid a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. 'Whatever our criticisms of the government, we've all got to pull together now to make this work,' Starmer said. Under the strict new measures, announced the day the UK recorded a record high of 58,784 new cases, people will be ordered to stay at home unless they are engaging in a small number of exempted activities

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Georgia official suggests Trump could face criminal inquiry over ‘find votes’ demand – live

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The Guardian’s Stephanie Kirchgaessner reports:

David Perdue, the Georgia Republican facing a Senate runoff election on Tuesday, has twice bought a significant number of shares in a US bank shortly after meeting with financial policy makers, raising more questions about his prolific stock trading while in office.

Related: Revealed: David Perdue bought bank stocks after meeting financial officials

DC mayor Muriel Bowser urged residents to avoid downtown in the next couple of days, as the city prepares for pro-Trump demonstrations in connection to Congress’ electoral vote count on Wednesday.

The Democratic mayor said at a press conference today, “We will not allow people to incite violence, intimidate our residents or cause destruction in our city.”

[Bowser] urged calm Monday as some 340 National Guard troops were being activated while the city prepared for potentially violent protests surrounding Congress’ expected vote to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

According to a U.S. defense official, [Bowser] put in a request on New Year’s Eve to have Guard members on the streets from Jan. 5-7th, to help with the protests. The official said the D.C. National Guard members will be used for traffic control and other assistance but they will not be armed or wearing body armor. ...

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Husband from one of UK’s first married Down’s syndrome couples dies of Covid

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Wife of Tommy Pilling ‘utterly devastated’ after partner’s death on New Year’s Day

The husband from one of the UK’s first couples with Down’s syndrome to marry has died from Covid-19, it has emerged.

Tommy Pilling, 62, from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who had been treated in three different hospitals since early December with a chest infection, died on New Year’s Day.

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Outcry after Canadian politicians confess to ignoring holiday travel advice

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Jason Kenney, Alberta’s premier, faces calls to resign after refusing to punish party members and staff who took vacations

As winter descended over Canada and coronavirus case numbers rose, officials begged residents to remain home over the Christmas holidays.

But a string of politicians at federal or provincial levels have admitted to having taken vacations outside of the country, prompting outrage across the country and raising fears that their behaviour could undermine confidence in Canada’s fight against the pandemic.

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The many U-turns on the road to England’s third lockdown

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November lockdown decision has been followed by a series of flip-flops and 11th-hour announcements

The government’s coronavirus strategy for England has changed a number of times since the start of the November lockdown, as infections soared and a new variant of the virus emerged.

14 October 2020: Johnson dismisses calls from the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, for a “circuit-breaker” lockdown, telling MPs: “Opportunism is the name of the game for the party opposite.”

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Netherlands and Germany refuse entry to UK nationals for non-essential travel

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Thirteen people barred since Brexit because UK no longer exempt from EU Covid-related travel restrictions

More than a dozen UK nationals have been refused entry to the Netherlands since 1 January because Britain is no longer exempt from Covid-related restrictions on non-essential travel from outside the EU since it left the bloc.

A Dutch border force spokesman confirmed on Monday that up to 13 British citizens had been turned away at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport since Friday because their trips were not necessary and third-country coronavirus regulations now applied.

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UK to move to highest coronavirus alert level as full lockdowns loom

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Boris Johnson to make TV announcement on Monday night after pressure to tackle soaring infection rate

The government is expected to announce new steps to control the spread of coronavirus, as the chief medical officers recommended that the UK move to the highest coronavirus alert level.

Boris Johnson is due to make a TV address on Monday evening where he is set to announce mass school closures and tight lockdown restrictions. MPs will be recalled to parliament from Wednesday.

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Greek Orthodox church to defy lockdown by opening for Epiphany

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Holy synod says services will be held at places of worship on Wednesday despite closure rules in Greece

The Greek Orthodox church has announced it will defy government lockdown orders aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus and open places of worship to mark Epiphany this Wednesday.

After an emergency session of the holy synod, its governing body, senior clerics said they would press ahead as planned and celebrate the baptism of Christ on 6 January.

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Nicola Sturgeon confirms Scotland to go into new lockdown – video

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Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, announced to the Scottish parliament that her cabinet had decided to introduce from midnight on Monday a legal requirement to stay at home, except for essential purposes. 

The new 'stay at home' Covid rules, mirroring the very strict controls imposed last March, would also be legally enforced and greatly restrict who was able to travel, the Scottish government’s cabinet agreed earlier on Monday

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Italian government under pressure over economic recovery plan

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Prime minister to meet with coalition party leaders as Italia Viva threatens to quit in dispute over Covid-19 fund

The fate of the Italian government hangs in the balance this week amid a confrontation between the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, and his coalition ally and former prime minister, Matteo Renzi.

Renzi has repeatedly threatened to pull his small Italia Viva party from the ruling majority unless the government changes tack on how to reboot Italy’s fragile economy. Renzi has also called for Conte to relinquish his control over the secret services and for the government to speed up the distribution of Covid-19 vaccinations.

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US Covid hospitalizations at record high as Fauci warns ‘it will likely get worse’

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  • Holiday gatherings and cold weather set to fuel further surge
  • Biden pledge of 100m vaccine shots in 100 days doable – Fauci
  • Coronavirus – live coverage

US hospitalizations from Covid-19 were at a record high on Sunday, at 125,544, as hospitals struggled to cope and providers made plans to ration care.

Related: Covid vaccine: Oxford man, 82, first in world to get Oxford/AstraZeneca jab

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First patient receives Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine – video

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An 82-year-old retired maintenance manager has become the first person in the world outside clinical trials to receive the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

Brian Pinker, a dialysis patient, received the jab at 7.30am on Monday from Sam Foster, a nurse at Churchill hospital, part of the Oxford University hospitals NHS foundation trust.

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New-sprung: the project turning PPE offcuts into Covid patient mattresses

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Cheap, hygienic and sustainable, the mattresses made by Indian fashion designer Lakshmi Menon also generate income for rural women

At the height of the pandemic in the Indian state of Kerala, fashion designer Lakshmi Menon, 46, heard that every new Covid care centre had to have 50 beds. Mattresses were in short supply. Every time a patient was discharged, the mattress had to be incinerated. “I thought: that’s a lot of mattresses and a lot of burning,” says Menon.

Menon’s solution was to collect the mountains of plastic pieces from factories that make PPE – all the little bits left over after cutting. Women then braid the bits into rope-like plaits 6ft long. The braids are laid out in a zigzag and the ends tied together. The result is a light, soft, washable, hygienic mattress for just 300 rupees (£3) – half the price of a normal one.

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Tier 5, closed schools, national lockdown? The new Covid rules England could face

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As coronavirus spreads rapidly, what are the options for the government?

Pressure is building on the government to move rapidly to curb the currently rapid spread of coronavirus, with ministers indicating tougher rules for England could be imminent. So what new restrictions might be considered?

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‘Not enough work, not enough money’: can this Kyrgyz village survive without tourists? A picture essay

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Life was hard in this remote area of central Asia, until tourism offered new hope. Then Covid-19 struck and the visitors stopped coming

  • Photographs by Danil Usmanov

It has been over a decade since Umar Tashbekov saw his opportunity. His village, Sary-Mogol in Kyrgyzstan, at an altitude of 3,600 metres, is close to Lenin’s Peak, a popular mountain destination for tourists. If they were already hiking there, why not attract them to visit his village too?

Sary-Mogol is a three-hour drive from the nearest city of Osh, in the country’s south-east. Life here is not easy – short summers and unfavourable growing conditions make it hard to grow much more than potatoes and barley. The main source of work is the large livestock market in town. Others find employment as teachers or in the nearby coal mine. Out of its 5,200-strong population, about 500 people have left for Russia where companies welcome factory workers.

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