Switch-ed on: Nintendo operating profits soar 82 per cent May 6, 2021 Nintendo has forecast its Switch console sales to hit 25.5m units in the financial year that started 1 April, after global lockdown measures spurred a gaming frenzy. The Japanese gaming company sold 28.8m Switch consoles in the year ending 31 March, exceeding Nintendo’s February expectations of 26.5m. The Kyoto-based firm was on the receiving end [...]
Tweaked Moderna vaccine ‘effective’ against new Covid variants May 6, 2021 Moderna’s “tweaked” vaccine against new Covid variants that emerged in South Africa and Brazil has successfully neutralised them in laboratory trials, the US company announced last night. Data from a small-scale trial of 40 patients showed that a third dose of either its current coronavirus jab or an experimental new vaccine candidate increases immunity against [...]
British holidaymakers face expensive Covid tests amid delay in vaccine passports May 6, 2021 British holidaymakers face hefty Covid tests at borders as a result of delays in the development of vaccine passports for overseas travel, Downing Street admitted yesterday. Number 10 said earlier this week that tweaks to the NHS app to display proof of vaccination were unlikely to be made in time for the lifting of the [...]
‘Miracle Covid cure’ sold in church turns out to be commercial bleach May 5, 2021 A family that sold more than 28,000 bottles of a ‘cure’ for Covid-19 has been arrested after it turned out the substance was in fact a sodium chlorite solution that they mixed with an acidic activator so it became chlorine dioxide, in other words: bleach. Marketed as a ‘miracle mineral solution’, Mark Grenon and his [...]
Italy could welcome foreign tourists from next week, says PM May 5, 2021 Italy will allow tourists to enter the country without quarantining as soon as mid-May, Prime Minister Mario Draghi has announced, as he claimed the nation was “ready to welcome back the world”. Visitors who have either received a Covid-19 vaccine, have immunity from previous infection, or tested negative 48 hours prior to travelling will be allowed [...]
Coronavirus: Two Indian delegates test positive at G7 meeting in London May 5, 2021 The G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in London has been hit by a coronavirus scare after two Indian delegates tested positive for Covid. Britain is hosting the three-day meeting, which was stalled last year due to the pandemic, at Lancaster House in the capital. Although India is not a G7 member, it was among other countries [...]
India’s latest wave worsens, accounting for nearly half of global Covid cases May 5, 2021 India accounted for one in four global Covid-19 deaths last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said today, as the UK pledged to send 1,000 ventilators in aid on Sunday. The WHO said in its weekly epidemiological report that India accounted for 46 per cent of global cases and 25 per cent of global deaths [...]
‘Freedom day’: Pub bosses wipe down the bar for a 21 June return May 5, 2021 The UK’s pub bosses are wiping the bar down for a June return, coined “freedom day”, urging prime minister Boris Johnson to stick to his roadmap for the easing of restrictions. JD Wetherspoon, Greene King, Slug & Lettuce owner Stonegate and Young’s have all expressed their intentions for a 21 June return of bar service, [...]
Future of high streets look bleak as the end of Covid-19 rent debt relief nears May 5, 2021 The future of UK high streets appears bleak today, as 71 per cent of high street businesses expect further job losses without government or landlord support, according to commercial restructuring specialists Cedar Dean. As the end of the rent moratorium approaches, 80 per cent of high street tenants still face ‘unproductive’ discussions with their landlords. [...]
Over 50s to be offered third Covid ‘booster’ jab to eradicate risk of virus before Christmas May 5, 2021 Over 50s could reportedly be offered a third Covid “booster” vaccination this autumn in a bid to eradicate the threat of the virus before Christmas. Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, is currently supervising two trials, with one involving a jab modified to protect against new variants. The other trial involves a third [...]