- “No. 10 staff joke in leaked recording about Christmas party they later denied” – “Senior Downing Street staff joked about holding a Christmas party in No. 10 just four days after the event is alleged to have taken place last December,” reports ITV News.
- “What happens next?” – “It is the measures that we would dismiss now that ought to concern us. They can be imposed in an astonishingly short period of time, accepted, and then applauded by the nation,” argues Jamie Walden, who imagines that Covid restrictions may soon become even more draconian in Bournbrook Magazine.
- “Omicron is a horrible dilemma for zero-Covid China” – “Omicron is the end of the road for China’s zero-Covid policy. The Communist Party cannot plausibly suppress a variant that spreads with lightning speed through asymptomatic cases that escape surveillance,” writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the Telegraph.
- “South Africa’s looming vaccine revolt” – Lockdown division could destroy the fragile nation, warns Brian Pottinger in UnHerd.
- “‘70% of Omicron has not mutated to evade vaccines or natural immunity’” – The promising Italian study found that while the new strain has more than triple the micro mutations as Delta, there are still large swathes of the virus that remain vulnerable to the immune system, reports MailOnline.
- “Over 13,000 operations cancelled due to Covid pandemic” – “More than 13,000 planned operations have been cancelled in the past two months, according to a report outlining the pressures facing the NHS,” reports the Times.
- “WHO interim statement on Covid vaccinations for children and adolescents” – “From the statement, the WHO is recommending that children and adolescents be vaccinated to limit transmission,” reports Trialsite.
- “If you say you’re mask-exempt, you are!” – A little loophole in the law says that you do not need to provide physical proof, like an exemption card, to show that you don’t have to follow mask mandates, says Liz Hodgkinson in TCW.
- “Nonsensical Covid rules are making a return” – Britons have largely accepted the reintroduction of restrictions until we better understand Omicron, but their patience won’t last forever, argues Telegraph View.
- “Loophole could allow Novak Djokovic to play at the Australian Open” – “A special medical exemption could allow Novak Djokovic to get around strict Australian Open rules and play in the Grand Slam even if he is unvaccinated,” reports the Mail Australia.
- “The true cost of the travel red list – and why it’s pointless anyway” – The reinstating of travel restrictions is having devastating consequences on us, our economy, and those of nations reliant on tourism, argues Annabel Fenwick Elliott in the Telegraph.
- “Where have all the adults gone?” – Adults are sacrificing children’s wellbeing to make themselves feel safe, writes Darragh McManus in Spiked.
- “New Mexico Senator leaves Democrat Party, cites Governor’s ‘unconstitutional acts’” – “A State Senator in New Mexico has left the Democrat Party, upset over actions taken by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham,” reports the Epoch Times.
- “Europe’s biggest Omicron outbreak ‘appears mild’, say Norway Covid experts” – “The Omicron outbreak at an Oslo Christmas party seen as ‘the biggest in the world outside South Africa’ is so far only causing mild disease,” reports the Telegraph.
- “Unvaccinated Queenslanders face being denied life-saving operations” – “People hoping to receive an organ transplant in Queensland may be denied the potentially life-saving procedure if they refuse to get vaccinated for Covid,” reports 7News.
- “Pfizer document concedes that there is a large increase in types of adverse event reaction to its vaccine” – “Knowing full well that safety trials were incomplete, the New Zealand Government apparently accepted information supplied by multinational commercial interests at face value,” writes Guy Hatchard in the Telegraph New Zealand.
- “Most indoor events to be cancelled amid new Covid restrictions” – “Hundreds of sold-out events are expected to be cancelled at venues across the Republic of Ireland this week as new public health restrictions for the Christmas period came into effect today,” reports the Times.
- “Now Durham student union demand principle resigns over Rod Liddle talk” – The five officers penned a rambling statement in a bid to oust South College Principal Professor Tim Luckhurst, reports MailOnline.
- “Trans counselling is not conversion therapy” – Stifling reasonable discussion will only harm children, writes Tom Chivers in UnHerd.
- “The death of the social justice warrior” – In Bournbrook Magazine’s latest video essay, S.D. Wickett narrates one of his previous articles discussing how social justice politics first began as a joke, then quickly became hegemonic.
- “Santa’s in another vaccine advert” – In a new NHS advert seeking to promote the vaccine, Santa Claus, played by actor Martin Kemp, is seen being administered a Covid jab while saying that “vaccines are the best form of protection to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe”.
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