News Round Up

• “Covid restrictions have ‘closed door’ on NHS appointments” – A report from the Patients’ Association warns that people are finding it increasingly difficult to see their GP, with covid restrictions having led to the closure of almost 100 surgeries, according to the Telegraph
• “SAGE admits risk of catching Covid in a pub or restaurant is ‘relatively low’ with just 226 outbreaks in them since pandemic began” – Fresh analysis from SAGE confirms that the risk of Covid infection in hospitality settings is “relatively low”, MailOnline reports
• “Amazon hopes pandemic habits stick after profits triple” – Lockdown over the first three months of 2021 delivered a massive boost to Amazon’s revenue, the BBC reports
• “Politicians are showing utter disregard for children’s welfare” – Writing in the Telegraph, Molly Kingsley takes aim at the politicians and public health officials who never considered the “dis-benefits” of masks in the classroom
• “Boris Johnson isn’t ‘following the science’ until raucous live events are back” – Neil McCormick in the Telegraph calls on Boris to “do the right thing, throw open the venue doors and let the music play”
• “Vaccinated Brits told ‘get out and socialise’ with Covid almost eradicated in most areas” – In an interview with the Mirror, Professor Tim Spector said that “two elderly vaccinated people should be able to go out and give each other a hug”
• “Ministers have forgotten that freedom is our default setting, not a privilege” – Far from “data not dates”, its more like “risk aversion and politics over cost/benefit analysis and liberty”, writes Victoria Hewson in CAPX
• “BBC presenter interrupts Oxford professor who wants immediate end to lockdown in fiery row” – “Multiple scientists say lockdowns have worked, the Government says so too,” said BBC presenter Anita McVey interrupting Dr. Sunetra Gupta. “That doesn’t mean it’s true!” the Professor replied, according to the account of the TV clash in the Express
• “Mass screening for asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection” – Mass testing is a “misguided policy, unlikely to reduce transmission”, writes Angela E. Raffle in the BMJ
• “Why lockdown has become a lifestyle” – Writing in Spiked, Frank Furedi examines how a culture of fear “is turning lockdown into something approaching a permanent state”
• “What is really going on in India?” – We are deluged by the mainstream media with “daily updates on the COVID-19 figures from India”, says Roger Watson at the Unity News Network, but always free of context
• “Skint? No, you’re asymptomatically wealthy” – Paul Stilwell looks at how the idea of ‘asymptomatic infection’ might be applied to all the looming problems brought on by lockdowns in an amusing piece for the Conservative Woman
• “What are the BMJ’s vaccine censors afraid of?” – In the Conservative Woman, Ivana Novotny reprints a letter to the editor of the BMJ, taking issue with its decision to publish then unpublish a Rapid Response about the adverse effects of the Covid vaccines by a GP
• “EU Parliament pushes free PCR tests before launch of green pass” – MEPs want to ensure “universal, accessible and free” Covid testing ahead of the introduction of the green pass scheme in order to avoid discriminating against those who have not had the jab, according to EuroNews
• “Russia produces first batch of COVID-19 vaccine for animals – regulator” – The first batch of Carnivac-Cov will go to locations in Russia, the agricultural regulator has said, but companies around the world are already expressing an interest
• “Biden is considering ordering all military members to get Covid vaccine after data shows 40% of Marines refused” – President Biden is not ruling out ‘No Jab, No Job’ for the U.S. armed forces, according to the Daily Mail
• “J&J vaccine ‘especially’ important for the vulnerable, doc says” – Dr. Martin Kulldorff discusses his experience of being booted off a CDC vaccine committee on Fox and Friends
• “How a more resilient America beat a midcentury pandemic” – The US response to the 1957 ‘Asian Flu’ pandemic offers a “stark contrast with today’s approach to COVID-19”, says Niall Ferguson in the Wall Street Journal
• “MSNBC medical ‘expert’ is upset Biden isn’t building a federal vaccine database” – The Post Millennial highlights an MSNBC clip in which Dr. Zeke Emanuel expresses regret about the lack of a national database for vaccinated Americans
• “Costa Rica to close non-essential businesses next week over COVID-19” – Restaurants, bars, department stores, beauty salons, gyms and churches in central Costa Rica are to close from May 3rd to May 9th, Reuters reports
• “China rocked by double mutant Covid strain as nation fears fresh outbreak” – The Indian variant has turned up in China and, according to Newsweek, the country “is preparing to step up public health measures in order to allay fears of a fresh outbreak”
• “Vaccine passports create a two-tier society” – “Let us say this for what it is,” writes Jake Thrupp in Spectator Australia. “A coup d’état against our rights and freedoms”
• “Australians may be fined or jailed for entering the country from India” – Australian citizens may face a $66,000 fine or five years in jail if they return home from India under new rules being considered by the Government. “It would be,” says the Sydney Morning Herald, “the first time it has been made a crime for an Australian to enter their own country”
• “Podcast host Joe Rogan clarifies vaccination comments: ‘I’m not anti-vax’” – Joe Rogan has clarified that when he said on his show that young people didn’t need to get vaccinated he meant for their own protection and has now said that unvaccinated youngsters could transmit the virus to older, more vulnerable people
• “We’re suing them to get the fireworks back” – South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is suing the Biden Administration for cancelling an outdoors Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore “without a meaningful explanation”