Boris Johnson confirmed today that "nothing" is ruled out in responding to the Indian variant including new lockdowns. But does the data show that the variant is anything for us to worry about?
The Prime Minister has told MPs that coronavirus variants pose a potential lethal danger and a new surge in autumn is highly likely. Is the supposedly 'irreversible' lifting of lockdown under threat?
Seychelles is locking down again – even though it has fully vaccinated more than 60% of its adult population with two vaccine doses, more than any other country in the world including Israel. Why?
Despite the vaccines there will be another Covid wave, Boris said yesterday, as he announced a task force to find new treatments before winter. Is this another sign of waning Government confidence in the vaccines?
If the Government still has confidence in the vaccines then it needs to act like it. If it doesn't then it needs to be upfront about this so a proper debate can be had about what that means for the future.
The drop in Covid cases has been caused by Britain's "exemplar vaccine programme", says King's College London epidemiologist Professor Tim Spector – despite the Prime Minister saying that lockdown is behind the fall.
Has Boris lost his faith in the vaccines? That's certainly the impression you'd get from what he has said this morning. But he is wrong to claim that infections have fallen mainly because of the lockdown.
Now is the time to return to normal, just as a number of states in America have done and seen no catastrophe. It is not the time to think we can create a 100% effective barrier against a seasonal respiratory disease.
An Oxford University study has confirmed the remarkable effectiveness of common asthma treatment Budesonide for treating COVID-19, reducing the risk of serious disease by 90% if taken at an early stage.
The Times has published the latest instalment in Jonathan Calvert and George Arbuthnott’s new book, laying the blame for Covid's second wave at the feet of Chancellor Rishi Sunak. But is that fair?
