News Round-Up

• “Everything you need to know about our post-lockdown rules” – The Daily Mail on the rules that are expected to be put in place on July 19th
• “‘Stronger’ Covid restrictions could be needed in autumn and winter” – Freshly published SAGE papers show that ministers were urged to keep restrictions, such as face masks, in place, according to the Telegraph, rather than allow for a “Big Bang” in lifting restrictions
• “Boris says self isolation for double-jabbed must stay for now” – Boris Johnson said that while he intends to lift the requirement to self-isolate for those who’ve received both jabs, it will not happen on July 19th, according to the MailOnline
• “Could cautious firms keep masks and distancing permanently?” – MailOnline warns that many cautious businesses could force their staff to wear face masks and observe social distancing after “Freedom Day”, for fear of outbreaks and compensation claims
• “Britain should not give out third doses until other nations are jabbed” – Oxford University’s Sir Andrew Pollard says Britain “hasn’t got the evidence” another shot will be needed to bolster immunity, MailOnline reports, pointing out that there were still relatively few cases among the vaccinated.
• “Train bosses say social distancing not always possible” – Transport for Wales has said that as passenger demand increases, social distancing “will not always be possible” during busy times, the BBC reports
• “Manchester University sparks backlash with plan to keep lectures online” – More than 3,000 students have signed a petition against Manchester University which has said it wants to keep lectures online in perpetuity with no reduction in tuition fees, the Guardian reports
• “Businesswoman bans holidaymakers who have had Covid vaccine” – Businesswoman Sharon Girardi has banned people who have had the Covid jab from her holiday cottages, MailOnline reports, claiming they are a health risk to other customers and are causing pet deaths
• “How long does Covid immunity really last?” – According to the Telegraph, new research suggests that the vaccines may provide immunity for at least two years
• “Victims of serious crime forced to wait 18 months for justice” – The Telegraph sets out how social distancing rules and the lockdowns have led to long delays in the justice process
• “Headteacher slams parents for holidaying with isolating kids amid class closures” – The headteacher of East Crompton St James’s CE Primary School in Oldham has written to parents urging them to follow the rules and to report law breakers to the police, according to the Manchester Evening News
• “It’s time for NHS contact tracing to ping off” – “Little wonder people are ignoring Test and Trace,” says Libby Purves in the Times, “when its punitive rules confine the healthy and cripple businesses”
• “How bad will the third wave be?” – “The vaccines have forced the virus to switch its focus onto the young, who are much better equipped to resist it,” says Professor Phillip Thomas in the Spectator. “Although the pandemic is not over, the sting in its tail has been drawn”
• “Sturgeon has no credibility on Covid” – “As Scotland is named coronavirus capital of Europe, the First Minister must take responsibility for her failings,” writes Stephen Daisley in the Scottish Mail
• “Are we heading for another Covid U-turn? There are reasons to be apprehensive” – The Telegraph’s Paul Nuki examines the data that could be used to justify a U-turn on the July 19th unlocking
• “The terrifying truth is that millions do not want lockdown ever to end” – “We’re entering the early stages of a new culture war pitting freedom-lovers against proponents of Zero Covid,” says Sherelle Jacobs in the Telegraph
• “Sadiq Khan must resist to pandering hysterical mask enthusiasts” – Maintaining compulsory face covering on the tube would “set a tone that is far from conducive to the restoration of optimism and confidence”, writes Patrick O’Flynn in the Telegraph
• “What were you thinking Boris,” – Writing for MailOnline, Dan Wootton attacks the decision to award the George Cross to the NHS as a “major folly”
• “My shamefully silent Church” – As football terraces sing out, UnHerd’s Giles Fraser laments that in church “the voice of praise has mostly fallen silent. Cowed by a desire to be overly compliant with every jot and tittle of Government instruction”
• “Lockdown lessons from America” – Alan D. Miller, co-founder of Open For All, reminds us in Spiked that U.S. States that imposed harsh restrictions fared no better than those that didn’t
• “Exit Hancock, pursued by catastrophe” – Daniel Miller expects no “fundamental shift in strategy” from Hancock’s replacement, he says in the Conservative Woman, merely “a shift in tactics”
• “Covid vaccines: not merely dangerous, but rubbish” – “If society has to be permanently restructured, people who are not at risk vaccinated, and booster jabs given every few months for it to work against a virus with an IFR of 0.15%, then the vaccine can’t be much use,” writes Harry Dougherty in the Conservative Woman
• “Professor Neil Ferguson replies to email – ‘Thanks. Filed under ‘Vaccination (nutters)’” – At the Unity News Network, David Clews reports on some correspondence he and one of his readers have had with Neil Ferguson
• “Thanks for nothing!” – “I refuse now to clap or thank, as I refused to in 2020, any aspect of the NHS,” writes Roger Watson, responding to “Thank You Day” in the Unity News Network
• “Healthy 13 year-old dies in sleep after getting jab” – Hugo Talks tells the story of 13 year-old Michigan boy, Jacob Clynick, who died in his sleep a few days after receiving his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine
• “Why We Must Halt the Global Roll-Out Now” – Cardiologist Peter McCullough joins Dan Astin Gregory to talk about his ongoing efforts to raise awareness about the safety profile of the vaccines. On Odysee now after it was deleted by YouTube
• “Spain restricts nightlife as virus surges among the young” – Some Spanish regions are reinstating curbs on nightlife only weeks after dropping them, Euronews reports
• “Luxembourg’s PM taken to hospital after testing positive for COVID-19” – Euronews reports that Xavier Bettel has been taken to hospital “as a precaution” a week after testing positive for coronavirus, and is undergoing further tests
• “Germany worried about COVID-19 vaccination ‘no shows’” – Mario Czaja, head of the Berlin Red Cross, has expressed her disquiet that 5%-10% of people were skipping their vaccines appointments, Reuters reports, saying that it is having a “massive effect on Berlin’s vaccination coverage”
• “New Canada-U.S. border rules for fully-vaccinated land travellers now in effect” – Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are fully vaccinated are permitted to cross the land border from the U.S., the Post Millennial reports, with no further requirements for testing or quarantines
• “How College Covid Vaccine Mandates Put Students In Danger” – With 520 of America’s 5,300 colleges and universities requiring students to be fully vaccinated before they return to class, the Federalist argues that the excessively narrow definition for medical exemptions puts many students at unnecessary risk
• “Why Did Donald Trump Take a Covid Route So Damaging to Trump?” – “Trump initially began his journey as a person who wanted to keep the virus out of the U.S., like a bad import,” writes Jeffrey Tucker in Real Clear Markets, and that, he says, is where the former President started to go wrong in his response to Covid
• “Lockdown hardship hits Dhaka’s rickshaw pullers again” – The closure of offices and Government buildings in Dhaka, Bangladesh has lead to a heavy drop in income for the city’s rickshaw pullers, the Dhaka Tribune reports
• “Covid cases force Japanese officials to reconsider fans at Olympics” – As Delta Covid cases continue to grow in Japan, the Financial Times reports that the Japanese Government is coming under pressure to reverse course on allowing spectators at the forthcoming Olympic Games
• “Don’t sing in church, not even for a livestream says New South Wales” – New guidance issued in New South Wales says churches should not have any singing, even for a livestream from an otherwise empty building, according to Eternity News, in order to protect anyone providing technical assistance
• “Asking vaccinated New Yorker’s why they’re wearing masks outside” – Fleccas Talks goes out and about in the streets of New York to try to find out why some vaccinated New Yorker’s are continuing to wear masks
• “Tech Censorship, The Value of Conversation, and Covid Treatments” – Bret Weinstein joins Megyn on the Megyn Kelly Show to talk about the ramifications of tech censorship and the obligation to truth as well as Covid vaccines and treatments
• “If we spend the rest of our lives living in fear of a disease that is under control – I give up!” – Neil Oliver greeted yesterday’s announcements with weary scepticism, and says “it’s only a matter of time” before we are back in some form of lockdown

• “The Prime Minister confirmed today that Covid ‘contingency measures’ exist for the autumn/winter” – Covid Recovery Group Chair Mark Harper MP pointed out in Parliament yesterday that emergency powers will remain in place after July 19th, in case they’re needed