COVID-19

Why transmission among the triple-vaxxed shouldn’t alarm you.

— Why breakthrough infections in people who have had three jabs shouldn’t alarm you. And why vaccination and protective measures, such as more face mask use, greater testing, and better ventilation, all have an important part to play.

OPINION

Schools are stuck in 2020 too.

— It’s a new year. But it somehow still feels like 2020 too. We know so much more about COVID yet we are still having the same conversations we had in 2020, Stephanie Salgado writes.

COMMENT

Masks in schools is not a matter of opinion. It works.

— Suggesting that the benefit of wearing face masks at school to limit the spread of COVID-19 is more based on hope than evidence is misinformation. Even when it comes from the BBC.

COVID-19

Life after COVID: Most people don’t want a return to normal – they want a fairer, more sustainable future.

— We overestimate how much we think others want the world to return to its pre-pandemic ways, which makes us pessimistic about the potential to make things better.

COVID-19

The NHS and social care are beyond full stretch.

— Drawing on the latest performance, COVID data, and recent intelligence fed to him by trust leaders, Chris Hopson, CEO of NHS Providers, explains where the NHS is up to and why the government must be ready to introduce new restrictions at pace if they’re needed.

Omicron Variant

Far too early to say we don’t need to worry about omicron and hospitalisations.

— According to Chris Hopson, CEO of NHS Providers, if the current trajectory in COVID staff absences is maintained, pressure will grow significantly and even relatively small numbers of extra COVID cases will bring big difficulties to the NHS.

COVID-19

Omicron is likely to hit deprived areas the hardest.

— The fact omicron can overcome the wall of protection built up in deprived areas through high levels of prior infection means there is a risk inequalities are going to be repeated in the coming weeks and months.

COVID-19

Omicron. The worst part of the pandemic before it ends in 2022. – Bill Gates.

— According to American super billionaire Bill Gates, the Omicron variant may mean the worst part of the pandemic, but he thinks that by taking the right steps – vaccination, mask-wearing, social distancing, the pandemic could be over in 2022.

COVID-19

Omicron: What the next few weeks will look like.

— New omicron cases are doubling approximately every two days in some parts of the UK, including London.

COMMENT

On the Imperial College study on Omicron severity.

— All suggest that the observed reduction in severity is very likely due to the fact that a much larger proportion of omicron cases are people with prior infection.

COVID-19

COVID: How the disease moves through the air.

— Masks definitely catch some of the virus-laden aerosols and droplets – and that will reduce transmission between people and the number of cases of COVID-19.

COVID-19

Omicron – Your questions answered.

— An expert in global public health answers questions on the omicron variant.

What The Experts Say

We have learned from our mistakes... in order to repeat them.

— The views of experts and health professionals on the current UK situation with the Omicron variant.

COMMENT

Who do we not save?

— Stop using words like ‘balance’ to justify a policy of mass infection, avoidable deaths, and chronic illness. This was never about balance.

Analysis

When will life return to normal after the pandemic?

— Surveying by the Office for National Statistics shows Brits are increasingly pessimistic about things returning to how they were before.

What The Experts Say

This virus has got so many surprises in store for us.

— Experts and health professionals on virus predictions, the spread of Omicron, the government’s Plan B restrictions, and that false sense of security that vaccines have ended the pandemic...