LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Staff huddled together, sat on each other’s laps, and party rubbish was left out overnight, according to insiders who attended parties at Downing Street during the lockdown. Insiders who were there at some of the incidents have
LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Top officials who violated the Covid lockdown rules at the parties in and around Downing Street are to be named by Sue Gray. After the Met Police’s conclusion of their investigation, the senior civil servant is free
LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – No 10 has said that PM Johnson has been informed he would face no further penalty after the Downing Street parties’ investigation was closed by the police. Carrie Johnson, Mr Johnson’s wife, will not face a second
LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – The High Court concluded that the government’s policy on discharging patients from hospitals to care homes during the onset of the Covid pandemic was unlawful. Two women sued the former health secretary and Public Health England, alleging
LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – As part of the NHS’s spring booster initiative, almost 600,000 patients in England will be contacted to arrange an additional Covid booster this week. Adults who are over 75 years old, care home residents, and the most
Difficulties in finding staff are not specific to the United Kingdom. The pandemic has made many people reassess their life’s priorities, and many are using what they experienced during lockdown to rebuild their lives in a different way. In the United Kingdom,
In the United Kingdom, the “work from home” mandate has been removed. People are free to return to their office or may have to return to their offices depending on the organisation they work for. In the past two years every time
Morning cups of luxurious coffee may turn into bitter, dwindling cups due to a global coffee shortage. Global coffee shortages are expected after lockdowns due to Covid-19 in Vietnam has resulted in supply chain disruptions. The port that is used as a
An official investigation has been launched following the surfacing of three staff parties that were held by the government last year. The three parties, namely on the 27th November, 18th December, and 10th December will be investigated to determine whether there were
Following the discovery of the Omicron variant within South Africa, by South African scientists, South Africa has been placed on the red list, barring South Africans to visit multiple countries. Health officials stated that hospitals had recorded large spikes in admissions due
The Omicron variant has thrown a spanner in the works regarding the UK’s response to COVID-19, with the country undergoing another spike and raising the Covid alert level. Yet despite the virus running rampant, not enough people have opted to take the
With many unknowns surrounding the new Omicron variant of Covid 19, experts are speculating the effect the new variant may have on the growth of the economy in the coming year. If Omicron proves to be milder than previous variants and cause
With currently 437 cases confirmed of the Omicron variant in the UK, Number 10 has suggested that the new variant is more transmissible than the Delta variant. After an update given in parliament on Tuesday, the PM’s spokesperson stated that the Prime
On the 5th December in Brussels, demonstrations in Brussels turned violent, as protestors began firing at police officers with cobblestones and fireworks. The police had to retaliate, firing teargas and using water cannons in an attempt to disperse the crowd of protestors.
Following the recent spike in the Omicron variant, many countries have introduced new levels of restrictions in order to try and curb its spread. This has encouraged the UK government to reintroduce a travel red list. Among the countries listed is Nigeria.
This week the surge of the Omicron variant has led the countries to impose a series of further restrictions in the Middle East. So far, the Omicron variant has been detected in Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and only today
Boris Johnson apologised to MPs after a video emerged showing Downing Street staff joking about a lockdown Christmas party at the prime minister’s state address. The footage obtained by ITV shows the prime ministers then press chief Allegra Stratton joking about the
Ex-chief aide to Boris Johnson Dominic Cummings has said that is, “very unwise for No 10 to lie” about the Christmas parties which took place in 2020. Cumming has accused journalists of playing down what happened last year after Boris Johnson’s spokesperson
According to the British Medical Association, a high number of unvaccinated persons admitted to hospitals with Covid-19 is “seriously restricting” the ability of the National Health Service to offer emergency treatment. Unvaccinated persons who are very ill with Covid-19 are delaying the
New infections, hospitalisations and deaths have surged over the past fortnight. Some health experts and opposition politicians have demanded the Government urgently reintroduce compulsory face coverings and work from home guidance as part of the Government’s “Plan B” in a bid to
There has been a concerted effort amongst prominent health bodies and celebrities alike to encourage pregnant women to get fully vaccinated in recent weeks. Hesitancy amongst pregnant women is understandable but misguided. The evidence should allay any safety concerns one may have –
California’s ambitious program to provide rent relief to every low-income tenant struggling during the pandemic has been plagued by delays and challenges, and some renters who are waiting for the aid to arrive say they are now facing eviction threats. California officials
Not until the automatic doors of Eurostar arrivals opened could Sue Stevens be sure that her daughter, Laura, had made it back from Paris. Eighteen bitterly hard months had passed since they had seen each other, while a late moment of bureaucratic confusion at
Dr Anthony Fauci has said there is no immediate need for a Covid-19 booster for fully vaccinated Americans but remained open to the possibility in the future, as reports suggest that one major pharmaceutical company plans to lobby government officials to approve
Israel is offering a booster shot of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to adults with weak immune systems, but says it is still weighing up whether they should be given to the general public. The rapid spread of the Delta variant has fuelled a rise in
England is braced for a four-week extension of coronavirus restrictions to 19 July, after Boris Johnson said he will take a “cautious” approach to the final removal of lockdown. Hospitality chiefs told The Independent that the extra month of curbs will cost
The Pfizer Covid vaccine may cause side effects, although not everybody gets them. Experts advise the most common side effects are pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain and fever, but that most side effects are mild or moderate
People could be wearing face masks several years from now in order to avoid the spread of respiratory diseases, according to Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser. Fauci said people have grown accustomed to wearing masks during the Covid-19 pandemic,
Boris Johnson is due to confirm the next stage of lockdown lifting in an announcement later. The third step in the government’s roadmap is set to include the return of indoor hospitality and household mixing from next Monday. The prime minister is expected to appear at 5pm
A smattering of reports from the UK and elsewhere have found AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine triggers an unusual blood clotting disorder. It must be emphasised that the complication is an extremely rare occurrence – around eight people develop this condition for every million doses of
A German “jab to freedom” bill that would from this weekend lift social-distancing rules, testing requirements and curfews for people who have been fully vaccinated, is drawing criticism for discriminating against young people still months from getting their first dose. The legislation,
India is now identifying more than 1 million coronavirus cases every three days, with many times more thought to be going unregistered in a vast country where public health surveillance is often poor. Daily deaths exceeded 2,800 on Sunday, but these too are
Iraq’s interior ministry has said 82 people died and 110 were injured in a catastrophic fire that broke out in the intensive care unit of a Baghdad hospital tending to severely ill coronavirus patients. Negligence on the part of hospital authorities has
Germany’s health minister has said he wants to hold talks with Moscow about obtaining supplies of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, in an effort to boost the country’s inoculation campaign. Jens Spahn said Germany would have no hesitation in acting independently of
At the peak of Israel’s Covid vaccination drive, the halls of a huge basketball arena in Jerusalem were filled with people, each anxiously waiting up to two hours until their number was called. More than 3,000 people a day were being vaccinated
Europe may not be subject to the drastic lockdown measures introduced to combat the first wave of coronavirus a year ago, but many countries still face another Easter of greatly reduced meeting and movement. In France, new restrictions come into effect across the country
In December, two weeks before the European Medicines Agency authorised the first vaccine against Covid-19 for use across the European Union, Berlin unveiled a plan to rocket-fuel its immunisation drive with German precision engineering. Jabs would be mass-administered in purpose-built vaccination centres
Just days after signing the $1.9tn coronavirus relief package into law, Joe Biden was on the road selling the benefits of the bill to the American people – and also to his own party’s political prospects. The president kicked off his “Help is Here”
The UK has set a new daily coronavirus vaccine record for the second day running. A further 873,784 doses were administered on Saturday, health secretary Matt Hancock confirmed. This included 686,424 first doses and 70,449 second doses in England, 9,415 first doses and 13,160
Winters in Berlin are notoriously tough but this year has been like no other. “I’m really tired of it,” Ina Eggers, a teacher in the city, says. “Winter is always hard but now [with lockdown] we don’t have anything to do, so
To the dates 4 August 1914 and 3 September 1939 can now be added a third: 23 March 23 2020, the day the government declared war on Covid-19 and announced a lockdown to combat the virus. It’s strange how history repeats itself. The same
The Dutch government suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine over reports of blood clotting in Norway, adding its name to the list of nations including Ireland, Denmark and Iceland. The suspension in the Netherlands will last until at least March 29 and has
Boris Johnson will put up to 1 million jobs at risk if he fails to name a date for the reopening of pubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues when he unveils his roadmap out of lockdown on Monday, industry sources have warned. Trade body UK Hospitality said it had received indications from
A new strain of COVID-19 was identified in the UK just before Christmas – the Kent variant – and since then others have been discovered. This week, Public Health England confirmed at least 38 cases of a new Covid strain that was first
Germany suffered its largest economic contraction since 2009 last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, with gross domestic product shrinking by six percent. Industry leaders are now calling on Ms Merkel to publish a strategy allowing pandemic restrictions to lift to help
The UK risks a new wave of coronavirus as large as the current one if coronavirus restrictions are lifted too soon, a government scientific advisor has said. Professor Steven Riley said the “incredibly successful” rollout of the vaccine and “incredibly high vast uptake” does not mean
Ocado has reported booming sales at its online grocery service as shoppers switched to supermarket home delivery services during the Covid-19 pandemic. Retail sales at Ocado, which now delivers Marks & Spencer groceries, jumped 35% to £2.2bn in 2020, but the overall group, which includes
The United States has administered an average of 1.3 million Covid-19 vaccine doses per day in the last week, as cases and hospitalisations continue to decline across the country. “We are on track to meet the president’s goal of 100 million shots in 100
The Australian Open has been rocked by a positive result at one of the tournament’s designated quarantine hotels, with up to 600 players, officials and support staff now expected to go into isolation. The grand slam, which was delayed by three weeks due to
Israel’s health ministry has said it will offer coronavirus vaccines to anyone over the age of 16, as part of a rapid campaign in which the majority of older and vulnerable people have already received shots. The ministry has told healthcare providers
