Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams announce moves as Covid infections continue to fall dramatically
The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams announced on Sunday that a dramatic drop in coronavirus infections could lead to the lifting of vaccine mandates on restaurants, bars and theaters as soon as 7 March.
His announcement came shortly after the governor of New York state, Kathy Hochul, announced plans to lift the mask mandate on schools, effective Wednesday.
Continue reading...White House sees program as a more elastic testing infrastructure that will accommodate surges and remain on standby
Nearly half of 500m free Covid-19 tests the Biden administration made available to the US public have not been claimed, as cases plummet.
Wild demand swings have been a subplot in the pandemic, from vaccines to hand sanitizer and tests. On the first day of the White House test giveaway in January, the covidtests.gov website received more than 45m orders. Now officials say fewer than 100,000 orders a day are coming in for packages of four free rapid tests per household, delivered by the US Postal Service.
Continue reading...The convoy, which set out to ‘clog the streets’ has had too few vehicles to make an impact on traffic
Ryan Wright stood around a campfire in Lupton, Arizona, a town on the Navajo reservation where members of an American trucker convoy protest were resting for the night. As the fire flickered he discussed a conspiracy myth about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, he proffered, was a distraction. “I’m not the only one that feels this way,” Wright said. “But I feel like it’s a big fat smokescreen to keep everyone distracted on what is really going on in the world.”
Continue reading...The question In the 1970s, I was anorexic and was in hospital for months as a teenager after being admitted as a medical emergency weighing just 5st. In those days, treatment was harsh, drug-based and punitive in tone.
I recovered to live a fulfilling life. I was married for 30 years, raised two children, worked as a teacher and ended my career as head of a large comprehensive school.
Continue reading...Two studies released by scientists but yet to be published in journals say virus did not emerge from Wuhan Institute of Virology
International scientists on Saturday released two major studies which one participant said made it “extraordinarily clear” a market in Wuhan, China was the source of the coronavirus which fueled the Covid-19 pandemic – and not a Chinese government laboratory, a theory championed in the US by rightwing campaigners, columnists and politicians.
The question of where Covid-19 came from and how it spread has proved divisive.
Continue reading...Making sure adults and older children are vaccinated is the best thing to do if worried about under-fives not being eligible, expert says
Children under the age of five are not yet able to be vaccinated against Covid leaving some parents worried their younger children could catch the virus from older siblings who have returned to school.
Less than 50% of children aged five to 11 have received their first vaccine dose. But it is hoped child vaccination rates will be bolstered by Australia becoming the first country to approve the Moderna vaccine for children aged six and over. Pfizer continues to be available to children aged five and over.
Continue reading...The goal of a universal vaccine would have seemed a fantasy only a few years ago. But not now…
This week the government announced additional vaccine booster jabs for the over-75s and suggested a further shot is likely to be needed in the autumn. But imagine if the next Covid vaccine jab you have were the last you would ever need. That’s a dream being actively pursued now by researchers, who feel it could be possible to make a “universal” vaccine against the Sars-CoV-2 virus that would work well not only against all existing variants but any that the virus could plausibly mutate into in the future.
Some are thinking even bigger. In January, Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, and two other experts called for more research into “universal coronavirus vaccines” that would work not only against Sars-CoV-2 but against the many other coronaviruses in animal populations that have the potential to spill over into humans and cause future pandemics. “We need a research approach that can characterise the global ‘coronaviral universe’ in multiple species,” Fauci and colleagues wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine, “and apply this information in developing broadly protective ‘universal’ vaccines against all [coronaviruses].”
Continue reading...Burnout from two years of battling Covid pandemic has created flood of departures and public concern, says survey
A record number of more than 400 workers in England have left the NHS every week to restore their work-life balance over the last year, according to a new analysis of the workforce crisis hitting the health service.
The flood of departures comes with staff complaining of burnout and cases of post-traumatic stress disorder following two years of battling the Covid pandemic. There are now concerns that the exodus is impacting the quality of care, with more than a quarter of adults saying they or an immediate family member had received poor care as a result of the workforce problems.
Continue reading...Chief scientific adviser and England’s chief medical officer will focus on health inequalities and emerging technologies
The government’s two most senior advisers in the pandemic will turn their attention to health inequalities, the state of the UK’s air and emerging technologies following the milestone decision to end all legal Covid restrictions in England this week.
While the pandemic is far from over, Boris Johnson’s announcement on Monday of the “living with Covid” plan is expected to be the last time Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, and Sir Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, will flank the prime minister to explain the UK’s response.
Continue reading...Researchers say country’s successful Covid pandemic response and high-trust society is no inoculation against misinformation
New Zealand’s anti-vaccine convoy is hoping to be there for the long haul. Once a ragtag collective of tents, it has become a fully fledged encampment: it has free clothing tents, admin checkpoints, yellow-vested security guards, portable toilets, tents for charging phones, and a “blues lounge” where the band plays a light, jazzy reimagining of Pink Floyd’s Brick in the Wall. “We don’t need no vaccination, we don’t need no thought control,” a woman croons, tapping the bongos.
On the surface, the occupation of parliamentary grounds evokes a poorly planned but amiable music festival, but an undercurrent of violence – or its threat – throbs below. As well as chalked messages of peace and love, some protesters came bearing nooses, promises of a “war crimes trial” for politicians, journalists, and scientists, or outright demands to “hang them high”.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak said to have agreed to decision not to follow public health advice on testing in vulnerable settings
Public health advice is no longer being followed under Boris Johnson’s “living with Covid” strategy to end mass testing, senior civil servants have acknowledged in a leaked account of a cross-Whitehall briefing.
The briefing by a senior member of the Covid taskforce was delivered to civil service leaders across Whitehall on Thursday afternoon, making clear that following public health advice was no longer the sole priority.
Continue reading...Latest updates: Swedish report says government should have shown better leadership at start of crisis; new US mask guidelines expected on Friday
At least 5.2 million children around the world have lost a parent, grandparent or family member who helped care for them to Covid, according to a new study.
The research looked at coronavirus mortality data across 21 countries from the start of the pandemic between March 2020 and October 2021.
Continue reading...UK watchdog says app was not clear about how data is used and it may consider ‘further regulatory action’
The Scottish government and NHS Scotland have been rebuked for breaching data privacy laws on a Covid vaccine status app downloaded by millions of people.
The Information Commissioner’s Office, which polices the UK’s privacy laws, said it had warned the Scottish government and NHS last year that there were serious privacy problems with the app, but not all those problems were fixed before it was launched.
Continue reading...Programme that involves small communities bidding for slice of €420m fund sparks controversy and division
Perched on a rock surrounded by a vast nature reserve, the hilltop hamlet of Trevinano sent tremors across the Lazio region when it was announced this month that it and its 142 residents were in line for €20m (£16.73m) from a Covid recovery fund to save small villages on the verge of extinction – equal to a whopping €140,845 per resident.
“This initiative is generating a lot of envy and bad feeling,” said Alessandra Terrosi, the mayor of Trevinano, who has the responsibility for spending the millions before 2026, when the funding programme ends. The hamlet’s good fortune has fuelled rancour among its neighbours who missed out, raised questions over how efficiently Italy will invest some of the €191bn coming its way from the EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund and had critics asking if €20m is just too much money for one small village.
Continue reading...Nearly two years after the first lockdown was implemented, legal restrictions related to coronavirus are finally being lifted. Here we chart what has changed in people’s lives
It’s nearly two years since the prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced the first national Covid lockdown and, for many Britons, life feels close to normal.
As of Thursday, there are no longer any restrictions in England – no legal requirement to wear masks or to self-isolate after a positive Covid test. But have our lives changed in other ways that will outlive the pandemic? Have our habits changed for good?
Continue reading...It’s appropriate to question restrictions, but those who want to lift them all immediately won’t be responsible for the consequences
If the protesters in front of New Zealand’s parliament have anything in common, it is a self-professed opposition to “Covid vaccination mandates”. These, they say, are an unacceptable burden on the individual rights of those who choose not to be vaccinated and so must be abolished immediately.
These protesters are correct about one thing. Although the various mandates, which mean around 40% of New Zealand’s workforce face losing their jobs if not vaccinated, are not strictly compulsory in the sense of making it an offence to not be jabbed, they do limit individual rights. Specifically, the right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment, as guaranteed by section 11 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.
Continue reading...As the government continues to lift pandemic safety measures, five people share their outlook on ‘living with Covid’
From Thursday, people who test positive for coronavirus are no longer required to self-isolate by law in England. Free mass testing for the general public in England will end on 1 April.
The change is part of the government’s new “living with Covid” plan, announced earlier this week, which will see the end of all pandemic regulations.
Continue reading...Latest updates: Iceland confirms no extra restrictions for unvaccinated; people in England who test positive for Covid no longer have to self-isolate
Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here again, taking over the live blog from Tom Ambrose to bring you all the latest global developments on the coronavirus pandemic. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
We start with the news that the Queen has postponed two scheduled virtual audiences on Thursday after her Covid-19 diagnosis, Buckingham Palace said.
The two virtual audiences that had previously been scheduled to take place today will now be rescheduled for a later date. Her Majesty is continuing with light duties. No other engagements are scheduled for this week.
Continue reading...Incident comes a month after prime minister’s vehicle was chased and forced on to a curb by demonstrators
A group of shouting protesters have chased the New Zealand prime minister’s van down a driveway as she visited a Christchurch primary school, amid tensions over increasingly volatile anti-vaccine mandate protests.
Jacinda Ardern, who was visiting a primary school in Christchurch, was met by a crowd of people shouting “shame on you” and “traitor”. Some held signs saying that the prime minister would be “put on trial” and “held responsible”, and one man brandished a fabricated arrest warrant – references to conspiracy theories that a cohort of world leaders and powerful people are secretly using vaccines to commit a genocide, and would soon be put on trial and hanged for treason.
Continue reading...City, which is pursuing a zero-Covid strategy, is registering thousands of cases a day in its worst-ever wave of the virus
Hong Kong’s government has invoked emergency powers to allow doctors and nurses from the Chinese mainland to practise in the financial hub as it struggles to tackle a spiralling coronavirus outbreak.
“The regulation will provide a legal framework for the CPG (central people’s government) to render the necessary emergent support to Hong Kong in a more effective and expeditious manner,” the government said in a statement.
Continue reading...