News Round Up

• “Boris Johnson ready to confirm the return of indoor socialising and dining from May 17th” – At a press conference today, the Prime Minister is expected to confirm that he will allow six people or two households to mix inside from May 17th, according to the Telegraph
• “One third of British adults have now had both Covid vaccine doses” – The NHS is hailing another vaccine milestone, the Independent says, with 33% of UK adults having received two jabs
• “Efforts to develop at-home pills to tackle COVID-19 could be hindered by ‘poor’ development of antiviral drugs” – Professor Peter Horby, a member of SAGE, has said that the development of antiviral drugs which could be used to tackle COVID-19 has been “really poor” and could hinder efforts to find an ‘at home’ treatment, according to the Independent
• “Hundreds of students self-isolating after Covid case connected to North Wales school” – NorthWalesLive reports that 247 students from Ysgol Glan Clwyd in St Asaph will need to self isolate up until May 17th after a positive Coronavirus case at a school
• “The pandemic has affected poor people’s mental health the most” – Writing in the Guardian, Torsten Bell argues that those on the lowest incomes have paid the highest price for the lockdown pandemic
• “Free lateral flow tests may not be OK for departing green list holidaymakers” – Concerns about reliability have cast doubt on the use of self-administered free lateral flow tests for travellers to affirm their virus-free status when travelling to green list destinations, according to the Telegraph. Instead, holiday makers may have to pay for pre-departure tests
• “China and its closed border allies are now trapped in a zero Covid nightmare” – “In recent decades we have come to think of the Pacific rim as perhaps the world’s most dynamic economic region,” writes Ross Clark in the Telegraph. But now “from China down to Australia and New Zealand, it has become an arc of introversion”
• “Pick for Britain!… as long as you’re not from the UK” – Gawain Taylor in the Critic writes about his experience of taking part in last year’s ‘Pick for Britain’ campaign
• “Update on Ivermectin for COVID-19” – Sebastian Rushworth investigates some more Ivermectin studies and finds that the weight of evidence continues to support its use
• “EU will not renew AstraZeneca contract as it pivots towards Pfizer’s vaccine” – In the Telegraph‘s latest dispatch from the EU v AstraZeneca war, the European internal market commissioner Thierry Breton says the Commission won’t renew its contract with the drug company
• “Bees in the Netherlands trained to detect COVID-19 infections” – Dutch researchers have developed a flying Covid test, Reuters reports
• “Spain celebrates end of COVID-19 lockdown with street parties” – The end of Spain’s national state of emergency was greeted with impromptu fiestas on the streets and beaches, according to Deutsche Welle
• “Willing victims flock to get puncture wounds in Count Dracula’s castle for once” – Bran Castle in Romania is offering free Pfizer jabs to visitors who come, without appointment, on any weekend in May, according to MailOnline
• “We’ve moved from one set of restrictions to another” – “We suspect,” says the Cyprus Mail of the country’s new ‘Covid pass’, that “if there is no strong reaction from people in the immediate future, the Government’s temporary measure will be with us for a long time, if not permanently”
• “Orthodox Jewish camp to ban kids, staff vaccinated for coronavirus” – Camp Hikon in upstate New York won’t allow vaccinated campers or staff to attend, according to the Jerusalem Post
• “New York enacts law requiring businesses to take steps to combat airborne disease” – Governor Cuomo has signed the Hero Act into law, making New York the first state to require businesses to follow regulations designed to prevent the spread of airborne infectious diseases, including COVID-19, the Washington Examiner reports
• “Fauci says next Mother’s Day will be ‘close to back to normal’ if ‘certain conditions’ are met” – The Post Millennial highlights Dr. Fauci’s hope that by this time next year the U.S. will be “about as close to back to normal as we can”, provided everyone gets vaccinated
• “The Baby Bump that Wasn’t” – In article for the AIER, Micha Gartz looks at why the Covid baby boom did not materialise
• “Vietnam says new Covid outbreak threatens stability” – The Prime Minister of Vietnam is concerned that a fast-spreading outbreak of Covid threatens political stability if it’s not brought under control, according to Reuters
• “But it’s for your own protection…” – “We need to stand up to leaders obsessed with power and take back our freedoms ourselves until we are back to normal,” writes Joel Agius in Spectator Australia. “And when I say normal, I mean the real normal”
• “Hardly a coincidence political leaders all over the world parrot ‘build back better’ mantra” – Sky News Australia’s Cory Bernardi becomes the latest convert to the Great Reset conspiracy theory
• “The Security Junkie Syndrome; How Pausing the World Leads to Catastrophe” – A Tedx Talk by the Swedish psychiatrist David Eberhard looking at the effects of lockdown and why people are feeling less secure despite living in the safest period in history
• “The odd little knock and bump is not going to deter us” – Nick Hudson discusses PANDA’s propulsion into the global spotlight after his famous presentation, as well as the allegation that the organisation is anti-vaxx, with Alec Hogg on BizNews Radio
• “Guide to Hugging” – Bob Moran has pulled out his guide to hugging, following news that the Government says it will be permitted once again