Surge testing rolled out in more London boroughs over new South Africa Covid cases March 2, 2021 The London boroughs of Barnet and Merton have become the latest regions in the capital to receive surge testing, after officials identified new cases of the South Africa Covid variant. Residents in the N2 and NW4 regions of Barnet, as well as the Wimbledon Park area in Merton, are strongly encouraged to take a Covid-19 [...]
How many Covid-19 infections are there in your London borough? March 2, 2021 London has seen a sharp drop in the number of recorded coronavirus cases over the past few days, after figures released on Friday showed the capital currently has the lowest R rate in the country. A further 629 cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of positive tests in London [...]
Search for mystery Brazil Covid variant narrows to 379 households March 2, 2021 The hunt for a mystery person infected with a new, more transmissible Brazil variant of coronavirus has narrowed to 379 households, the health secretary has announced. In total six cases of the new strain, also known as the P1 variant or Manaus variant, have been identified across England and Scotland. One case has still yet [...]
Millions of people in England have almost no Covid cases in their area March 2, 2021 Millions of people in England are living in regions where coronavirus cases have plummeted close to zero, according to the latest official data. Public Health England (PHE) said 971 out of 6,791 “Middle-Layer Super Output Areas” (MSOAs) in England have too few Covid cases to be published on the national database. PHE does not publish [...]
UK rolls out ‘vaccination status’ requirement for some international arrivals as ministers mull vaccine passports March 2, 2021 The government has updated its requirements for all international arrivals to England participating in the Test and Release scheme to provide their vaccination status, as ministers edge closer to introducing vaccine passports for foreign travel. The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) introduced the Test to Release scheme in December as a way of [...]
Pandemic set to cause ‘shecession’ as Covid-19 hampers gender equality at work March 2, 2021 The pandemic is causing a “shecession”, as women’s economic empowerment is expected to decline for the first time in almost a decade, according to PwC’s latest Women in Work Index. For the past nine years, all countries across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have made consistent gains towards progress for women in work. [...]
Zoom shares surge as video app beats quarterly revenue estimates March 1, 2021 Zoom shares jumped more almost 10 per cent this evening after the video conferencing platform said it expects quarterly revenue to smash analysts’ estimates. The company forecast revenue for the latest quarter to come in between $900m (£646.3m) and $905m, compared with estimates of $829.2m, according to IBES Refinitiv data. The announcement pushed shares in [...]
Matt Hancock takes over as head of government’s vaccine taskforce March 1, 2021 Matt Hancock will take over top-level responsibility of the government’s vaccine taskforce, the health department has announced, as ministers prepare to ramp up the nation’s largest ever immunisation programme. The health secretary will take charge of cabinet-level ministerial responsibility for the taskforce from business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng. The move is to allow “for end-to-end oversight [...]
Single Covid vaccine is 80 per cent effective in preventing hospitalisations among over-80s March 1, 2021 A single injection of either the Astrazeneca/Oxford jab or the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine is more than 80 per cent effective in preventing hospitalisation among over-80s, the health secretary has announced. Speaking at this evening’s Downing Street press conference, Matt Hancock hailed the new data from Public Health England as “extremely good news,” adding that it may [...]
Former French President Sarkozy sentenced to three years in jail March 1, 2021 Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to three years in jail for corruption charges, after he was found guilty of trying to bribe a magistrate. Two years of the three-year sentence will be suspended, and it is unlikely the former President will spend a single day in jail. The remaining one-year prison term [...]
