News Round-Up

• “Covid scare-mongering returns: Sir Patrick Vallance says new variant may take world by storm, Chris Whitty warns NHS is still under huge pressure and Jenny Harries calls for Brits to keep wearing face masks because Covid infections are so high” – Sir Patrick Vallance, England’s Chief Scientific Adviser, has warned the world “could be taken by surprise again with a variant that escapes immunity”, as UKHSA head Jenny Harries advises the public to wear masks again, reports the Mail.
• “Covid cases collapse on eve of free testing being axed” – Covid cases in the U.K. have collapsed by nearly a quarter to below 75,000, in a sign that the recent resurgence is over, as the country prepares to enter the next phase of living with the virus, reports the Mail.
• “Covid testing centres get dismantled ahead of free swabs being axed” – The Mail reports that hundreds of walk-in centres across the country were closed after people made last-ditch visits yesterday to get tested before free lateral flows are axed for most adults in England on Friday.
• “People with a cold urged to ‘stay home and avoid contact’ under new guidance” – Ministers have issued new guidance for people after lifting COVID-19 restrictions, reports the Evening Standard. The gist seems to be, treat all colds as man flu and take time off work and school. Has the Government thought this one through?
• “Pupils with Covid should stay at home for three days, not five, says guidance” – Telegraph report that the Department for Education says under-18s should isolate for less time to “balance risk of transmission with disruption to education”.
• “Jonathan Van-Tam having ‘sleepless nights’ over spring Covid booster take-up” – Outgoing Deputy Chief Medical Officer says it is “going to be important” that over-75s come forward for second booster vaccine, according to the Telegraph.
• “Hong Kong to stick with Zero-Covid despite easing, says Carrie Lam adviser” – FT report that the Chinese city is doubling down on its failed strategy.
• “Chinese city axes plan to kill all pets belonging to COVID-19 patients” – Langfang city officials ordered the “complete culling of indoor animals” owned by Anci district residents who have tested positive for Covid in a district-wide directive on Tuesday, but have backed down after an outcry, reports the Mail.
• “Bodybuilder who opened gym in lockdown fights back tears in court” – Eddy Ellwood, 58, told Teesside Magistrates’ Court he had become an activist against the restriction after a member of his fitness club died by suicide, the Mail reports.
• “Another Cabinet minister defies Boris’s stonewalling on Partygate” – Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan admitted that police issuing a first batch of 20 fines meant lockdown laws had been broken, according to the Mail.
• “How Britain is spending £7 million a month just storing PPE – with billions of items not even suitable for use – as it’s claimed the Government paid three times the value for protective equipment during pandemic” – Billions of items remain unsuitable for frontline use and there were “inconsistencies” between the volume of PPE ordered and what the Department for Health and Social care received, reports the Mail.
• “Cambridge bosses voice ‘widespread concern’ over long term Work From Home impact” – A study by Cambridge Ahead, a membership organisation of 47 major businesses in the city, found four fifths of 97 respondents now spend less time in the office than before the Covid outbreak, the Mail reports.
• “One in eight Britons admit they’ve never taken a Covid test in poll” – Less than half of the YouGov respondents feared the COVID-19 situation was worsening in the U.K. (45%), as positive cases continue to stagnate, while deaths and hospitalisations creep up, the Mail reports.
• “The descent of New York” – New York had a homeless crisis before Covid, but pandemic-related evictions combined with a fierce bidding war over available rental apartments has driven even more desperate people on to the streets, writes John R. MacArthur in the Spectator.
• “Sajid Javid: Zero Covid has been a disaster” – Watch Health Secretary Sajid Javid speak to UnHerd‘s Freddie Sayers in a broadly reassuring interview for sceptics as he looks back at lessons learned from the Covid era.
• “Gas Rationing? Germany Paying a Horrible Price for Decades of Green Energy Insanity” – As Germany braces for extreme economic and social hardship, it is worth reflecting on the misery the empty promises of green energy advocates have delivered, writes Eric Worrall in Watts Up With That?
• “Vast majority of homes not yet ready for energy-saving heat pumps without major building work” – Millions of homes are set to be excluded from a boiler upgrade scheme because they cannot prove they have sufficient insulation, reports the Telegraph.
• “Boris Johnson opens the door for a fracking revival” – The Prime Minister halts order to seal three fracking wells to “evaluate options” amid the energy crisis, reports the Telegraph. (Also in the Mail.)
• “World sport cracks down on transgender athletes competing in women’s competition as Sally Gunnell speaks out” – Fresh guidelines on transgender athletes are set to be created amid new cases across sports, as it’s announced that trans cyclist Emily Bridges has been barred from the national championships on Saturday.
• “How should Prince William respond to questions about slavery?” – Great Britain’s abolition of the slave trade was signed into law in 1807, by King George III, and in the period since, no member of the royal family has urged us to return to slavery, writes Douglas Murray in the Spectator.
• “Spooked police horses given special training on going over the LGBT rainbow” – The Met said it had been getting the animals used to the colourful markings which have been painted over zebra crossings on some roads, reports the Telegraph.
• “They’ve already come for Gandhi. Will Nelson Mandela be next?” – Watch Toby speak to Nick de Bois on talkRADIO about the ludicrous threat to a statue of abolitionist and explorer David Livingstone in Glasgow after it was alleged he had “links to slavery”.

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