News Round-Up
26 July 2024
Government Has Just Declared War on Free Speech
26 July 2024
by Toby Young
The 'pingdemic' continues to wreak havoc on businesses that are trying desperately to recover from the damage caused by lockdown, with one in 10 pubs and restaurants having been forced to close over the past month.
Another week, another record in the number of people told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid app. In the week up to July 21st, 689,313 'pings' were sent out by the app – an increase of 11.4% increase on the week before.
The end of self-isolation rules for fully vaccinated Brits could be delayed past August 16th, the Policing Minister has suggested, saying that we will have to "wait and see" what the scientists advise.
A reader of the Daily Sceptic has written a guest post comparing the U.K.'s enthusiastic, money-no-object embrace of a contact-tracing app with the much more cautious approach of Sweden. Result? No 'pingdemic' in Sweden.
A small list of key workers have been made exempt from self-isolation rules amid reports of food shortages, but to make matters more confusing, the Government says they must stay at home when they are not on shift.
The domestic holiday industry was relying on this crucial summer season to make up for losses from the past year. But hotels, theatres and cafes are being forced to close due to staff shortages caused by the "pingdemic".
More than nine in 10 Brits would test positive for antibodies against Covid, according to the latest ONS data. But that hasn't stopped the NHS app 'pinging' a record 620,000 people in England and Wales in just one week.
The ability of the police to deal with crime is being stunted by the "pingdemic", with officials saying that response times are "under strain" due to staff shortages caused by self-isolation rules.
Can the Government back up its fear-inducing claims, and explain why it is stating that the SAR of Covid is more than three times the figure published in its own data?
Supermarket chain Iceland is having to recruit 2,000 backup staff to stave off disruption caused by the "pingdemic" after the Government told businesses they "should not be encouraging to break isolation" rules.
© Skeptics Ltd.