Category Archives: Coronavirus

UK government has abandoned its own Covid health advice, leak reveals

Posted on by

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...

Covid live news: Sweden ‘should have clamped down harder’ as pandemic hit; US set to ease mask guidelines

Posted on by

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...

NHS Scotland Covid app rebuked for breaching data privacy laws

Posted on by

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...

Covid recovery funding pits Italy’s dying towns against each other

Posted on by

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...

Lockdown lifestyles: how has Covid changed lives in the UK?

Posted on by

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...

End New Zealand’s Covid mandates too quickly and the mistake could be measured in funerals | Andrew Geddis

Posted on by

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...

‘People won’t know if they are infected’: Britons on the end of Covid controls

Posted on by

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...

Covid live: Iceland to lift all remaining curbs; coronavirus isolation rules end in England

Posted on by

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...

Anti-Covid vaccine mandate protesters chase New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern outside school

Posted on by

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...

Hong Kong to allow in doctors from mainland China as Covid cases overwhelm hospitals

Posted on by

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...

Freedom or folly? The end of England’s Covid restrictions

Posted on by

Today marks the first day in nearly two years that no laws will be in place in England to deal with the spread of Covid-19. But is the government still following the science?

All the remaining Covid restrictions in England will be lifted today. Instead of a legal requirement to self-isolate when infected, people with coronavirus will be simply advised to avoid passing on the disease. But the government is also removing financial support for those self-isolating, as well as winding down its expensive contact-tracing infrastructure and refusing to continue funding tests for individuals.

It is a moment that has brought celebration to many in Boris Johnson’s Conservative party, a large number of whom have long been stridently opposing every new restrictive measure designed to curb the spread of the virus. But as the Guardian’s Peter Walker tells Hannah Moore, not everyone is overjoyed at the news. Many on the Labour benches detect an overtly political motivation that they say has trumped a more cautious science-backed approach to living with Covid. While Johnson claims to be moving to end restrictions in England faster than anywhere else in Europe, Scotland and Wales are moving notably slower. Meanwhile, those who have in the past been deemed clinically vulnerable to Covid are now expressing anger and anxiety about what is to come.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong domestic workers left homeless after being fired for contracting Covid-19

Posted on by

Dozens of live-in workers have been forced to sleep rough in the Hong Kong winter after bosses refuse to allow them back in the house

Live-in domestic workers in Hong Kong have been left homeless after they were diagnosed with Covid-19 and their employers fired them or refused their return to the residence, support groups have said.

Many of the workers, who are mostly women from Indonesia and the Philippines, were also left without insurance to cover their medical bills.

Continue reading...

Australia news live updates: Marise Payne says calling Russian troops peacekeepers is ‘obscene perversion’

Posted on by

More heavy rainfall for south-east Queensland; foreign affairs minister says Australia could impose more sanctions on Russia if tensions escalate further. Follow all the day’s news

The Australian government should consider building up to six conventional submarines to bridge the gap before the nuclear-powered submarines under the Aukus plans are ready, a new report says.

Under the trumpeted Aukus partnership, the US and the UK have promised to help Australia acquire eight nuclear-propelled submarines, but Scott Morrison has indicated the first of these might not be in the water until about 2040. The government plans to extend the life of Australia’s ageing Collins class submarines in the meantime.

Despite extending the life of the Collins-class submarines by 10 years, they are projected to be withdrawn from service at 24-month intervals from 2038. From a strategic and operational standpoint, the RAN could be left with no submarines capable of being deployed, leaving our armed forces with a significant capability gap. This conflicts with Australia’s increasingly high strategic threat and would undermine national security.

The order of up to six conventional submarines will take one to two years to complete detailed planning and achieve government approval before contracts can be awarded. Within two years of the contract being signed, manufacture of the submarines should start, which would be in 2026.

In the wake of the recognition of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) by the Russian Federation, Ambassador Alexey Pavlovsky was summoned to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to be presented with a strong protest. At the same time, the Australian government announced a new package of unilateral sanctions.

In this respect, the following should be noticed. Contrary to what the Prime Minister of Australia asserted today, Australia does not always stand up to the bullies.

Continue reading...

Covid live: Poland, Slovakia and Iceland latest countries set to end most coronavirus restrictions

Posted on by

Move comes as case numbers and deaths continue to fall in many nations

Hong Kong reported a record 8,674 new Covid infections on Wednesday, as the city prepares for compulsory testing of its residents after authorities extended the toughest social restrictions imposed since the pandemic began.

Health authorities reported 24 deaths compared with Tuesday’s 32, as they step up measures, with assistance from their mainland counterparts, to contain the outbreak. On Tuesday, Hong Kong reported 6,211 new cases.

Continue reading...

US trucker convoy gathers for cross-country trip to protest Covid rules

Posted on by

Group calling itself the ‘People’s Convoy’ is one of several due to arrive in capital, similar to the demonstrations in Ottawa

A group of US truckers were due to embark on Wednesday on a 2,500 mile cross-country trip from California to Washington to protest against coronavirus restrictions.

The group, which is calling itself the “People’s Convoy”, is one of several starting from different parts of the country and due to start arriving in the US capital at various points through to late next week – all inspired by the demonstrations that recently paralyzed Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, for weeks.

Continue reading...

CDC changes guidance and advises longer interval between vaccine doses

Posted on by
  • Research suggests longer wait can provide better protection
  • CDC advises eight-week interval between first and second shots

Some people getting Pfizer or Moderna Covid vaccines should consider waiting up to eight weeks between the first and second doses, instead of the three or four weeks previously recommended, US health officials said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday quietly changed its advice on spacing the shots.

Continue reading...

Johnson’s Germany comparison highlights UK’s low sick pay

Posted on by

Proportion of UK worker’s salary covered is typically less than quarter of Germany’s 100% in first six weeks

Asked this week about whether his move to drop Covid isolation requirements would drive infectious workers into the office, Boris Johnson said UK workers should learn from their German counterparts and stay home when unwell.

The prime minister did not mention the stark differences in the support available for British workers compared with Germany and the rest of the world, and whether this could explain their reluctance to take a sick day.

Continue reading...

Australia news updates live: Morrison announces sanctions and travel bans for Russian individuals; 23 Covid deaths recorded

Posted on by

Scott Morrison announces targeted sanctions and travel bans for Russian individuals after Cabinet committee discusses Australia’s response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine; Victoria records 17 Covid deaths, NSW records six. Follow all the day’s news live

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has called for a health-first approach to alcohol and other drug use.

This comes after reports of the Reason party’s Fiona Patten introducing a private member’s bill to institute a decriminalisation model in Victoria.

Instead of a punitive approach via the criminal justice system, Victorian police would instead issue a mandatory notice and referral to drug education or treatment to people possessing a drug of dependence or who are believed to have used a drug of dependence. Compliance with this process would result in no finding of guilt or criminal record.

It is similar to the Portuguese model introduced in 2001. Of the more than 32,000 drug arrests in Victoria in the year leading up to September 2021, 80% were for drug use or possession only rather than trafficking large drug quantities.

RACGP president Dr Karen Price said saving lives and reducing harm must always come first:

Alcohol and other drug use is, primarily, a health issue that should be managed by health professionals, including GPs.

Almost everyone knows someone who has been negatively affected by alcohol or other drug use in some form, it cuts across all demographics and all segments of society. So, if you declare a “war on drugs” you are declaring war on someone’s partner, family member, colleague, or friend – it just makes no sense.

Continue reading...

National guard troops to be deployed in DC as trucker convoy protests loom

Posted on by

US protest to follow Canadian truckers’ demonstration against pandemic restrictions

The Pentagon is expected to approve the deployment of 700 to 800 unarmed national guard troops to the nation’s capital, a US official said on Tuesday, in the face of trucker convoys that are planning protests against pandemic restrictions beginning next week.

The District of Columbia government and the US Capitol police are requesting the national guard assistance. The troops would be used largely to help control traffic and are expected to come from the district’s national guard and three states, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss aid not yet formally approved.

Continue reading...

Children ‘breathe out fewer aerosols’, which may reduce Covid risk – study

Posted on by

Primary-aged children produce about four times fewer particles than adults, which may help explain their lower transmission risk

Primary school-aged children produce about four times fewer aerosol particles when breathing, speaking or singing compared with adults, which could help explain why they seem to be at lower risk of spreading Covid.

Various studies have suggested that young children are about half as susceptible to catching Covid as adults, and, despite carrying a similar amount of virus in their noses and throats, appear to pass it to fewer people if they do become infected.

Continue reading...