Britain’s biggest step out of lockdown has arrived with a massive dash of déjà-vu as hugs, holidays and indoor pints and meals returned with the reopening of hospitality amid warnings the country might be loosening restrictions too soon. Social distancing measures and restrictions remained in place on ‘Freedom Day’ as Britain’s big reopening was overshadowed […]
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Boris Johnson has warned that the route out of lockdown may face “serious disruption” because of the India variant, just two days before the biggest lifting of restrictions in England for a year. Rising numbers of cases combined with “important unknowns” about the variant, including how transmissible it is, means “hard choices” may have to […]
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Surge testing is being deployed in east London after “several” variant cases of coronavirus were detected in the community. The Tower Hamlets Council’s website confirmed “a small number” of “variants of concern” that were “first identified in Brazil and South Africa” have been identified in Tower Hamlets and tweeted that ”enhanced Covid-19 testing” will be […]
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A former leader of the Conservative party has warned that the decision to offer under 30-year-olds an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine “plays into hands of anti-vaxxers”. Sir Ian Duncan Smith said the new advice issued by the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is “messy, confusing and very unhelpful” and risks jeopardising “all […]
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Boris Johnson has warned vaccinated people not to meet up indoors this Easter because the jabs “are not 100% effective”. The prime minister’s video message comes as politicians across party divides are uniting to oppose the possible introduction of vaccine passports that risk creating “a two tier nation of division”. More than 70 MPs and […]
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The UK government and European commission have moved to avert a trade war over vaccines by pledging to “create a win-win situation and expand vaccine supply for all”. A joint statement released this evening states: “We are all facing the same pandemic and the third wave makes cooperation between the EU and UK even more […]
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Thousands of anti-lockdown protestors defied the government and Covid restrictions to take to London’s streets today, with at least 33 arrested by the Metropolitan Police after “ugly clashes”. Huge protests in Manchester passed without any arrests reported though the city centre was brought to a standstill by demonstrators against the new policing bill, violence against […]
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The chief medical officer for England has warned “a lot more people will die” if the government lifts lockdown restrictions too soon. Chris Whitty told MPs on Tuesday (March 9) that despite the vaccine roll-out he expected a “significant” and “substantial” surge in Covid infections given there is “nothing to suggest the virus is going […]
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Health secretary Mat Hancock has hailed the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines which reduces the risk of illness and hospitalisation in older adults by up to 80%. Data released by the government has shown that a single dose of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine significantly cuts the likelihood of people aged over 70 becoming seriously ill. […]
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Furious campaigners have launched a petition to try and stop a US private health insurance company taking over 49 NHS GP surgeries in London. The government is being accused of “privatisation by stealth” of the NHS and is facing calls for an investigation after it emerged one of the UK’s biggest GP practice operators is […]
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