Tag: Lockdown

We're publishing another "Postcard From Manilla" on the Daily Sceptic. The Philippines boasts the longest continuous lockdown in the world and there are no signs it's about to be lifted. Sounds even worse than Australia.

Today, Australia posted its largest daily total for the number of new infections since the pandemic began. Yet parts of Sydney have been under lockdown for almost two full months. Is it time for focused protection?

There is ample evidence that school closures have hurt student achievement. And the World Bank estimates that “a school shutdown of 5 months could generate learning losses that have a present value of $10 trillion”.

Belarus has finally published its overall mortality figures up to March 2021, giving us for the first time a plausibly reliable indicator of the true impact of the pandemic in the anti-lockdown country.

A question for Chris Whitty: Given that the WHO, the Department of Health and you – as recently as March 2020 – rejected the suppression strategy, why did you describe focused protection as “wrong scientifically”?

Was lockdown illegal? While the High Court in London rejected Dolan’s case against the Government, lockdown opponents have won important victories in a number of countries, including France, Germany and Spain.

A Government minister has confirmed Chris Whitty's warning that lockdown could be reintroduced in weeks, saying Boris Johnson will "of course" consider more restrictions if the Covid situation becomes "unacceptable".

The looting in South Africa was triggered by last week's arrest of Jacob Zuma. But it's worth considering whether lockdown is a factor too. South Africa's GDP fell 7% last year, and unemployment stands at 32.6%

We are publishing an excellent comment today by a reader who asks: "If you could go back 10 years and speak to your former self, what would you tell that unsuspecting fool?" His answer will resonate with many readers.

There's a great letter in the Telegraph today asking where reporters find Brits who want to remain in lockdown. These people may be happy to merely "exist", but "some of us want to live"!