Category Archives: Coronavirus

Is England an outlier in abandoning Covid isolation rule?

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How does England’s move to end self-isolation compare with rules in other European countries?

Boris Johnson has announced plans to abolish the legal requirement for people in England to self-isolate, even if they test positive for the coronavirus and have symptoms.

The move, planned for later this month, would represent “an important step for this country as we move out of the pandemic”, said the prime minister’s spokesperson. “It shows that the hard work of the British people is paying off.”

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Covid live: Sweden scraps almost all restrictions and testing despite pleas from scientists; Spain’s King Felipe tests positive

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Sweden scraps almost all of its few restrictions and stops most testing; Spain’s King Felipe tests positive after displaying mild symptoms

Sajid Javid, the UK health secretary, has pledged to recruit 15,000 new health workers by the end of March to tackle the pandemic treatment backlog.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said the NHS planned “to recruit 10,000 more nurses from overseas and 5,000 more healthcare support workers by the end of March” to improve capacity.

“Remove your mask,” a man demands, as I walk through the crowd. When I say I would like to keep it on, he immediately asks if I’m from mainstream media. I reply that I am and he says “don’t twist the truth just because you’re on the government dollars”. He is not the only one demanding I remove the mask.

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Lower house sits late to continue religious discrimination bill debate – as it happened

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Debate over religious discrimination bill to continue as House of Representatives agrees to sit late; Brittany Higgins calls for Jenkins review to be implemented; nation records at least 68 deaths from Covid – follow all the day’s news

The Coalition has been sitting on a major report into the state of the care workforce in Australia since September last year, Sarah Martin reports. The report “set out to examine the needs of the care and support workforce for aged, disability, veteran and mental health care”:

I mentioned the Health Services Union’s survey earlier, in the context of the opposition hoping to wound the government over the aged care crisis.

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‘We stand with Ottawa’: muddled messages and fraying consensus at New Zealand’s anti-vax protest

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Parliament protests wane amid a profusion of concerns ranging from a ‘plandemic’ to genetic manipulation and the plight of an oil refinery

On day two of a protest against New Zealand’s Covid-19 policies on Parliament’s grounds in Wellington, the stamina and consensus of the crowd was fraying. On Tuesday, thousands arrived in convoys from across the country, but by Wednesday just a few hundred were left, despite pleas from protesters on social media for the crowd to “hold the line”.

Perhaps it is because the list of complaints is extensive – there are signs about the vaccine mandates and restrictions for the unvaccinated, signs blaring vaccine disinformation, conspiracies that Covid-19 is a “plandemic”, worries about gene therapy manipulation of children, accusations of media corruption, claims of iwi (tribal) groups selling out, and requests to save a Northland oil refinery from closure.

Cars are scrawled with imported causes and slogans: “We stand with Ottawa”, referring to the Canadian protests against vaccine mandates and “drain the swamp”, a catch-cry of Donald Trump’s presidency.

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‘A bad dream’: Nepalis who made UK’s PPE speak out on claims of abusive working conditions

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Glove manufacturer Supermax has repeatedly won NHS contracts during the pandemic, despite claims of forced labour. Now, a group of former workers are seeking justice

“I don’t have any dreams for the future because every dream depends on money,” says Resham, a 45-year-old from Banke, a district in Nepal bordering the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. “Time is passing and I’m getting older. Whatever comes my way, I will face it and go ahead with life.”

Last year, Resham returned to Nepal after spending 10 years working at Supermax, a company producing medical gloves in Malaysia. In October, the US banned imports from Supermax based on evidence “that indicates the use of forced labour”, and the month after, Canada terminated its contracts. The UK, meanwhile, has named the British subsidiary of Supermax as an approved supplier in a new £6bn contract for gloves for NHS workers.

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As Hong Kong tightens Covid restrictions again, residents complain of being held ‘hostage’

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Large parts of the world are opening up, but Hong Kong is still pursuing ‘dynamic zero’ despite rising cases and a public running out of patience

A viral open letter from a member of Facebook group, HK Moms, marked something of a shift in public opinion. The group is the type not usually preoccupied with the city’s political upheavals, but the letter revealed a limit had been reached.

Addressing Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, it accused the government of holding its citizens hostage with new Covid measures – the toughest restrictions since June 2020.

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Arrests in Ottawa as Canadian truckers block main bridge to US

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Police detain 23 in Ottawa protests over Covid restrictions, while trucks block Ambassador Bridge linking cities of Detroit and Windsor

Traffic has ground to a halt at the busiest border crossing in North America, as Canadian truckers and others angry with vaccine mandates spread their protest beyond Ottawa.

Trucks started blocking the Ambassador Bridge linking the cities of Detroit and Windsor late on Monday, closing down traffic in both directions. On Tuesday, entry to Canada remained blocked while US-bound traffic slowed to a crawl. Each day, 8,000 trucks normally cross the bridge, which handles about 27% of trade between Canada and the US. Protesters also targeted another major border crossing in Coutts, Alberta.

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Covid live: hundreds block streets by New Zealand parliament; Hong Kong faces new curbs amid record cases

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‘Convoy for freedom’ gathers in Wellington, inspired by Ottawa protests; Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam says she will stick to ‘dynamic zero’ strategy

For more than a week, the centre of Canada’s capital city has been paralysed by protesters who have blockaded the downtown area with trucks and cars. City police have described the protest as a “siege” and on Sunday the mayor of Ottawa declared a state of emergency.

If you’re a bit confused about how this all began and what’s it all about read on below:

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‘A slap in the face’: uproar in Virginia as governor relaxes school mask rules

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Most families want masks in schools – so why did Virginia’s new governor make them optional?

Emily Paterson was finally feeling able to relax. Her two sons were now fully vaccinated, and with mask policies in place at their school in northern Virginia she felt safe sending them every day, even as the Omicron variant surged.

Then Virginia’s new governor, Glenn Youngkin, took office on 15 January of this year – and, with his second executive action, he made masks in schools optional.

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Unesco warns of crisis in creative sector with 10m jobs lost due to pandemic

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Artists finding it harder than ever to make a living despite being part of one of the fastest growing industries

Ten million jobs in creative industries worldwide were lost in 2020 as a result of the Covid pandemic, and the increasing digitisation of cultural output means it is harder than ever for artists to make a living, a Unesco report has said.

Covid has led to “an unprecedented crisis in the cultural sector”, said Audrey Azoulay, the director-general of Unesco, the UN’s cultural body, in a foreword to the report. “All over the world, museums, cinemas, theatres and concert halls – places of creation and sharing – have closed their doors …

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Australia politics live news updates: PM apologises to Brittany Higgins as parliament acknowledges history of bullying, harassment, sexual assault

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Apology for staff and politicians who have experienced sexual harassment, assault and bullying at Parliament House; Daniel Andrews welcomes border reopening, announces free RATs for kids in childcare; anti-vaccine mandate protests continue; Victoria records 9,785 Covid cases and 20 deaths, NSW records 9,690 cases and 18 deaths; Queensland records 5,178 cases and 12 deaths. Follow the latest updates live

The defence minister Peter Dutton has told the Today show he is reserving his right to take legal action against former NSW premier Bob Carr, who doubled down on his claims that Dutton was the “mystery minister” who called prime minister Scott Morrison a “psycho”. Dutton said:

It was not me. I mean, every family’s got this crazy uncle that wakes up from the rocking chair and sort of in a startled way shouts out something and I just don’t know what is going on with Bob Carr. Is he the full quid or not? He’s a bizarre guy. He hasn’t produced any evidence. He’s now saying if it’s not me, then the person needs to come forward to prove my innocence. I just find it bizarre. But anyway, I just find it bizarre. But anyway, I think he has discredited himself.

He hasn’t produced any evidence and you can’t just make a claim and then back away from it. But that’s what he’s done. I think it’s embarrassing for him and I think most journalists frankly have treated him as a bit of a joke and this sort of relevance deprivation syndrome cuts in for a lot of former politicians as we’ve discussed on the show before.

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New Zealand Omicron wave likely to peak in March with up to 30,000 cases a day, says Ardern

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Prime minister says number of people who get booster vaccines will dictate how high the peak will be

As New Zealand hits new records for daily case numbers, prime minister Jacinda Ardern has said she expects Omicron infections to start peaking in late March.

The country reported 202 cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, following several days of numbers sitting around the 200 mark – including a record 243 cases on Saturday. The past seven days are among the highest weeks of case numbers since the pandemic began.

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Do you need a booster shot or do you have immunity after you’ve had Covid-19? – video explainer

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Guardian Australia's medical editor Melissa Davey looks at the difference between the immunity to Covid-19 that comes from vaccinations and boosters and that which comes naturally after recovering from infection.  Overall, viewing Omicron infection as a ‘natural booster’ which makes a third vaccine dose unnecessary is unwise

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Ottawa protesters defy growing calls to end occupation of capital

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Protesters against Covid vaccine mandates have defied government calls for them to end a 10-day occupation of Canada’s capital, a day after the city’s mayor declared a state of emergency and promised to “get the city back”.

Ottawa police have described the protest as a “siege” on the city, where hundreds of trucks and cars have blockaded the downtown areas. On Sunday, Mayor Jim Watson warned that officials were “losing this battle”, and a civil class-action lawsuit was filed against protesters over the incessant horn blasting and disruption to daily life.

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Ottawa protests: how did the rallies against vaccine mandates begin and what’s next?

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Protesters occupying Canada’s capital city say they will not leave until all vaccine requirements and mandates have been abolished

For more than a week, the centre of Canada’s capital city has been paralysed by protestors who have blockaded the downtown area with trucks and cars. City police have described the protest as a “siege” and on Sunday the mayor of Ottawa declared a state of emergency.

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Covid live news: Canadian capital declares state of emergency over protests; Vietnam reopens schools after year-long closure

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Residents furious as protesters opposed to Covid-19 restrictions paralyse Ottawa; more than 17 million Vietnamese students due to return to school

Sajid Javid, the UK health secretary, has said he believes the NHS waiting list is going to grow even more due to 8-9 million people who have stayed away during the pandemic.

Speaking on Sky News, he urged those who have stayed away to “please come forward”.

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Harm to AstraZeneca jab’s reputation ‘probably killed thousands’

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Scientist who worked on jab criticises ‘bad behaviour’ by scientists and politicians who damaged reputation of Covid vaccine

Scientists and politicians “probably killed hundreds of thousands of people” by damaging the reputation of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to an Oxford scientist who worked on the jab.

Prof John Bell said: “They have damaged the reputation of the vaccine in a way that echoes around the rest of the world.”

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How the UK’s dutiful launderette is fading under Covid and energy prices

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A much-loved community space and an essential service, their days now seem numbered

The first thing Rajiv Shrikul does when he opens up his launderette in south Edinburgh each morning is pray. He says the 7am routine, which he started as a young boy in India, helps him cope with the kaleidoscope of personalities that pass through his shop. “Some people are angry, some are generous – you need to have a very stable mind. Meditation calms you down, especially in these hard times.”

Photograph: Murdo MacLeod

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Australia to reopen international border on 21 February

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Scott Morrison announces all fully vaccinated visa holders will be able to enter, two years after Covid border closure

Australia will open its border for fully vaccinated tourists and all visa holders, a decision branded “bittersweet” by those who have missed funerals in recent weeks due to ongoing restrictions.

Scott Morrison on Monday announced the nation would open to all fully vaccinated visa holders, including tourists, on 21 February, almost two years after borders were first closed.

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Ottawa declares state of emergency as Canada trucker protest paralyses city

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Police chief describes situation as a ‘siege’ as thousands of protesters join demonstrations against Covid restrictions

The mayor of Canada’s capital declared a state of emergency Sunday and a former US ambassador to Canada said groups in the US must stop interfering in the domestic affairs of America’s neighbour as protesters opposed to Covid-19 restrictions continued to paralyse Ottawa’s downtown.

The mayor, Jim Watson, said the declaration highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government. It gives the city some additional powers around procurement and how it delivers services, which could help purchase equipment required by frontline workers and first responders.

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