Wuhan lab leak ‘extremely unlikely’ source of Covid pandemic, says WHO February 9, 2021 It is “extremely unlikely” that Covid-19 spread to the human population through a laboratory leak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said. Investigators on the ground in Wuhan believe the most likely hypothesis for the start of the pandemic was the virus spreading to humans via an “intermediary host species”. Experts studying the likely cause [...]
Facebook bans vaccine misinformation in latest platform clean-up February 9, 2021 Facebook has banned misinformation about all vaccines in its latest effort to crack down on harmful material. In December the social media firm began removing claims from Facebook and Instagram about approved Covid-19 vaccines that had been debunked by health experts. The company today said it would extend these measures to include more false claims [...]
Test and trace app prevented 600,000 Covid-19 cases February 9, 2021 The Covid-19 app has prevented about 600,000 cases of coronavirus, the government has said. The app has also told 1.7 million people in England and Wales to self-isolate at home, according to reports. According to the latest coronavirus figures, 3,959,784 people in the United Kingdom have tested positive for coronavirus. A further 14,104 tested positive [...]
UK Government urges all over-70s to contact NHS for Covid vaccine February 8, 2021 The NHS has changed its messaging to urge all over-70s to book themselves in for a Covid vaccine, the health secretary has announced
‘No reason to believe’ South African variant will become dominant in UK, says Jonathan Van-Tam February 8, 2021 England’s deputy chief medical officer has allayed fears over the spread of a new South African variant of coronavirus, insisting there is “no reason to believe” the mutant strain will become dominant in the UK. Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Jonathan Van-Tam said the South African variant has now become the dominant strain [...]
No jab, no job policies ‘discriminatory’, says Downing Street February 8, 2021 Requiring employees to get vaccinated as part of so-called “no jab, no job” policies is “discriminatory”, Downing Street has said, despite mandatory vaccinations receiving support from several government ministers. “Taking a vaccine is not mandatory and it would be discriminatory to force somebody to take one,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson told journalists this afternoon. [...]
No hotel quarantine contracts have been signed with just one week to go until launch February 8, 2021 The government has not signed a single contract with any hotel firms despite its mandatory hotel quarantine policy set to come into effect in just one week’s time. All arrivals to the UK from around 30 “red list” countries will be required by law to quarantine for 10 nights at a government-selected hotel from 15 [...]
Millions will need third Covid vaccine dose in the autumn February 8, 2021 Millions of people will likely need a third vaccine dose in the autumn, amid growing concerns that the Astrazeneca jab may not be effective against the new South African Covid variant. It is understood that NHS chiefs are planning for the extra doses to be given alongside annual winter flu jabs, after a new study [...]
Slow vaccine rollouts cause eurozone investor morale to slip February 8, 2021 Investor morale in the eurozone unexpectedly dropped in February as lockdowns left their mark on the economy, a survey showed on Monday. Attempts to suppress Covid-19 left the eurozone trailing behind other regions in the world, as countries such as the USA showed a strong recovery. Sentix, who surveyed more than 1,250 investors, said that [...]
Have confidence in the Covid-19 vaccine, urges Nadhim Zahawi February 8, 2021 The public can have confidence in the UK’s Covid vaccines, despite worries that the Oxford/AstraZeneca’s jab is minimally effective against the South African variant. Early trials have suggested the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, only has limited protection against mild disease caused by the South African variant of Covid-19. Among coronavirus variants [...]