News Round-Up

• “Boris Johnson said ‘we simply don’t yet know enough’ about Omicron – yet his press conference did nothing but instil fear” – “I certainly fear that new restrictions are just around the corner,” writes Michael Curzon in Bournbrook Magazine.
• “A sense of proportion is required in reaction to the new Covid variant” – The Government is right to make contingency plans, but Britain is in a stronger position than its E.U. counterparts, argues Telegraph View.
• “The tyranny of Boris Johnson’s mask mandate” – “Since mask mandates belong to that class of infringements upon liberty that can only be legitimate if there is an emergency, we should regard them as illegitimate,” writes Andrew Lilico in the Spectator.
• “Travel companies brace for more pain as Omicron Covid variant spreads” – “Airline and travel companies risk a renewed battering on the stock market on Monday after Boris Johnson announced restrictions to combat the new Covid variant,” reports the Times.
• “Covid: South Africa ‘punished’ for detecting new Omicron variant” – South Africa should be praised for discovering Omicron, not hit with travel bans, its officials say, reports BBC News.
• “This is the future” – S.D. Wickett, Michael Curzon, and Luke Perry discuss the emergence of the Omicron variant and the likelihood of new Covid restrictions in Bournbrook Magazine’s regular podcast.
• “The Government is still fighting the wrong war on Covid” – Their hasty over-reaction to the arrival of a new variant reflects just how little we truly understand about this virus, writes Matt Ridley in the Telegraph.
• “Covid infections drop by 3% to 39,567 and deaths fall by over a tenth” – Department of Health officials posted nearly 40,000 daily infections – down 3.36% from 40,941 last Saturday, after Sajid Javid announced that two cases of the new variant were detected, reports MailOnline.
• “Covid in Scotland: no need to panic over Omicron variant, says Sturgeon” – Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, said that the Omicron strain of Covid was a serious development but there was no need to extend domestic restrictions including the vaccine passport scheme at present, reports the Times.
• “Be a man, not a post-Covid mouse!” – “If not enough men are willing to entertain even the briefest of conversations on the accelerating hostility of the State, then all the rest of us are doing is merely cataloguing the end of liberty,” says Tom Penn in TCW.
• “FDA signs off on new formula of Pfizer’s Covid Vaccine for kids and adults: what about safety or efficacy studies?” – “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on October 29th 2021, approved emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine for children aged five to 11 years-old and adults, signing off on a new formula that contains tromethamine, without having completed animal or human clinical trials to assess safety or efficacy,” reports Trialsite.
• “Florida reports lowest new Covid cases per capita in the nation despite criticism of Governor DeSantis for his ban on mask and vaccine mandate” – “Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis may be vindicated for his refusal to impose pandemic lockdowns, as well as vaccine and mask mandates, after the Sunshine State posted the lowest number of new Covid cases and deaths per capita in the nation,” reports the Mail.
• “South African doctor who raised alarm about Omicron variant says symptoms are ‘unusual but mild’” – Dr. Angelique Coetzee noticed otherwise healthy patients showing unusual symptoms and worries how the new variant might hurt the elderly, reports the Telegraph.
• “Thousands flood streets to decry vaccine mandate” – “A fresh round of rallies against mandatory Covid vaccination has hit Australia, with hundreds of thousands protesting in dozens of cities,” reports RT.
• “Omicron variant Covid quarantine for Western Australia travellers to South Australia” – An Australian state has slammed shut its border in a reaction to fears over the emerging Omicron variant, reports the Mail Australia.
• “Merck and Ridgeback report full phase three analysis for oral antiviral Covid pill; efficacy plunges from interim analysis” – “The full data shows that molnupiravir reduced the risk of hospitalisation or death for patients with mild or moderate Covid by about 30%, based on a study of more than 1,400 adults,” reports Trialsite.
• “Scottish schoolgirls ‘boycott gender-neutral toilets’” – “The introduction of gender-neutral toilets in Scottish schools hasn’t panned out as activists hoped, with girls in one school reportedly refusing to use the facilities due to misbehaviour and vandalism by boys,” reports RT.
• “Why England players won’t take the knee against Qatar” – They’re happy to bash America and Britain. But criticise an Islamic country? No way, writes Brendan O’Neill in Spiked.
• “Feel-gooders take a knee, do-gooders take action” – “While those who want to feel good indulge in gesture politics like that mandated by Cricket South Africa, others prefer to view cricket’s current reality in the wider social and political context,” writes Ramesh Thakur in the Spectator Australia.
• “Listen to the experts” – James Ladbroke tweets that mask mandates are a “psychological weapon”, posting a video showing some of the architects of Britain’s Covid restrictions saying that there is no scientific evidence that wearing a face covering prevents the spread of Covid.