Holy orders: Vatican rolls out ‘no jab, no job’ policy February 18, 2021 The Vatican has issued a decree to its 5,000 staff warning that those who refuse a Covid vaccination may be fired. Employees at the holy site must have a documented medical reason for refusing a jab or face “consequences of various degrees which may go as far as the termination of employment”, said Cardinal Giuseppe [...]
Government plugs £18.5m into Long Covid research February 18, 2021 The government has pledged to invest £18.5m into research projects looking at the long-term effects of coronavirus, also known as Long Covid. The funding will support four studies seeking to identify the causes of Long Covid and potential treatments for people with chronic side-effects. Imperial College London will receive the bulk of the funding to [...]
Summer holidays to Greece could be on the cards with vaccine passports February 18, 2021 Greece’ tourism minister has raised hopes that Brits could go on summer holidays to the Mediterranean country through the use of vaccine passports. Speaking to the Today programme, Haris Theoharis said that his government was already in early discussions with UK ministers about how such a system might work. He said that using digital vaccine [...]
Airline bosses beg Boris for way out of travel restrictions February 18, 2021 The chief executives of the UK’s largest airlines have come together to call on Boris Johnson to include plans for the restart of international travel in next week’s roadmap for the easing of lockdown. Putting aside their normal rivalry, the bosses of BA, Easyjet, Virgin Atlantic, Ryanair and Tui have today written to the PM [...]
One in four consumer-facing businesses may ditch staff if furlough ends in April February 18, 2021 A quarter of British businesses expect to fire staff if furlough is not extended beyond April, the British Chambers of Commerce said on Thursday. Results from the latest BCC survey on the impact of coronavirus shows how lockdowns have pushed businesses to the brink. Three in every five firms have seen revenue fall in the [...]
UK nightlife ‘faces extinction’ without government support February 18, 2021 The UK’s nightlife scene is at risk of extinction without urgent financial support, the government has been warned. A group of 40 cross-party MPs today urged the prime minister and chancellor Rishi Sunak to bring forward a sector-specific grant package and lay out a detailed roadmap for reopening venues to avoid “irreversible losses” for businesses. [...]
British firms draw up ‘no jab no job’ contracts ahead of lockdown easing February 18, 2021 British companies are beginning to draw up “no jab, no job” contracts after the government yesterday admitted it was “up to businesses” to decide how to enforce vaccination requirements. Barchester Healthcare, which runs more than 200 care homes across the country, said it will not hire new staff who refuse the Covid-19 vaccine on non-medical [...]
Coronavirus cases fall across England ahead of lockdown easing announcement February 18, 2021 Coronavirus cases have declined strongly across England since January, according to the latest study, suggesting that the current lockdown measures have worked to drive infection rates down. The study, known as REACT-1 and led by researchers at Imperial College London, found that national prevalence was two thirds lower between 4 and 13 February than it [...]
Tracking the pandemic’s impacts on small business February 18, 2021 Next week the Government will provide an update on the lockdown exit plan with a much-speculated upon roadmap to recovery out of the pandemic. This roadmap needs clear signposts and barrier-free routes to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) recover. It has been a turbulent year for them, evidenced in results from the ACCA UK [...]
The future of cities: The age of urban miracles is not over February 18, 2021 Will the Covid-19 pandemic permanently derail our urban world and end the eminence of the greatest global cities, like London? The answer depends on whether the switch to working from home is permanent. Our city centres are ghostly quiet because so many of us have stopped commuting and are dialling into our jobs. But not [...]