Category: Coronavirus

Despite travel restrictions easing, taking a holiday closer to home this summer could save lives, businesses and livelihoods.

Sally Dobie explains the impact the pandemic has had on seaside towns and in particular their restaurants; the government funding was helpful but nothing can compare to customers during summer.

Martin Brooks questions how covid passports will work with new variants and new vaccines. There are multiple medical questions to be answered and the government must address the issue.

Ahead of the elections this week, Alex Toal speaks with Councillor Andrew Cooper, the Green Party candidate to be the first mayor of West Yorkshire.

Dr Stella Perrott looks at the pandemic and poverty. Although there are some exceptions, the poorest countries of the world are most affected by coronavirus

Natalie Bennett highlights how care homes have been deprived during the coronavirus pandemic; they are a matter of public health, and by valuing profit over care, people in need have been forced to suffer.

Sue Wilson explains the impact the pandemic has had on the tourism industry in Spain. It has been devastating, but they have the support of the EU.

David Goff attempts to get a refund of public money for the multi-million pound covid contracts the government gave out for PPE. The supplies were of a poor standard, and legitimate PPE companies were ignored.

Emily Sheperd introduces the online festival. ‘Footsteps Festival 2021’, for those people who are living well with pain. The pandemic has halted in-person support and tools to help people cope with any pain.

Jane Thomas examines the impact of the vaccine bounce on the political divides in the UK, both on party politics and Brexit. Will the vaccine bounce be temporary? If so, what will come in to replace it?

Andy Brown shows how the pandemic has revealed the sleaze within government. Officials, and the prime minister included, took advantage of a bad situation to benefit themselves. The result? The reputation of the country and civil service has been ruined.

A significant proportion of the population thinks that the Conservatives will win the next election and that Johnson’s doing a fine job of handling the pandemic. The opposition must speak out against Brexit and the government’s handling of the pandemic.

Alex Toal breaks down the Greensill scandal, and the broader problem of the revolving door which Cameron’s actions have highlighted. Politicians have had an uncomfortable level of closeness with the private sector for years, and the scandal is nothing new. But we need to change our incentive structures to improve practices.

Andy Brown explains how changes in human life, such as removing large areas of forests, has put us closer to wildlife and therefore pandemics and natural disasters. Human-induced climate crises must be taken seriously by politicians around the world.

The prime minister’s Easter coronavirus announcement will take place 5pm this evening. What’s in his basket of tricks?

David Goff points out that vast amounts of money have been spent on a Track and Trace system which doesn’t even work, and was set up in the name of the NHS. Billions have been spent on an app which could have been spent on food parcels, surgical gowns and PPE. Can we have our money back?

Peter Benson draws to light the impact the pandemic has had on mental health and people’s wellbeing. He quotes a ‘Mind’ ambassador, who tell us all to embrace our emotions and check up on friends and family.

Cole Brothers (John Lewis) in Sheffield is to close, causing local residents to ask what the future holds for the city.

Andy Brown asks what use a potential pandemic inquiry could really be. An inquiry will not tell us more than what we know about why the government failed. We need to learn lessons.

Is there an oppressed minority on the political right who have been dominated into silence? Will no-one stand up for them? Cometh the hour, cometh the Fox. Roger Winterbottom wonders what it is they really want to say.

Juliet Lodge reviews the EU’s covid certificate programme, how will it work in reality, and what future steps could be. The covid certificate programme will be free for all EU citizens, and will help enable travel across the continent.

One prominent NHS figure thinks we need to re-evaluate our thinking on Test and Trace. “Shurely Shome Mistake?” Test and Trace is really a winner! If everybody’s saying something, it must be true, right? Usually, the answer is yes, for a good reason, though this truism is lost on people like the Flat Earth Society. […]

Helen Johnson reports from an event by the Zero Covid Alliance, asking whether a zero covid strategy would have been better. Countering previous arguments by the government that Zero Covid would have been unnecessary, and that pursuing a strategy more like New Zealand’s would have been more fruitful.

Pam Jarvis brings to light the impact of the pandemic on young people’s mental health and their education. She suggests that the ‘Reggio Emilia’ is one that we could learn from.

Covid passports are likely to be sold to us as our way out of lockdown – but are they ID cards in any other name? Professor Juliet Lodge looks at the wider issues around this controversy.

Peter Ellis, in part 2 of his review of the UK government’s handling of the pandemic, explains three initiatives that would keep a handle on the pandemic.

Emily Horner explains the purpose of the new wellbeing support service for teachers in Bradford. They are facing mounting pressures from the pandemic and the service aims to provide advice and reassurance to those who need it.

Historic structural and cultural barriers within the NHS, the ‘one size fits all’ mentality of Whitehall, and the ‘blame-game’ culture of politics, were several factors that stifled innovation and success.

Sally Dobie writes on the challenge of moving into the care sector in the middle of a pandemic. “But the people I’ve met in this field of work have shown me how much difference ‘caring’ makes, and I’m proud to work alongside them”.

A failed track and trace programme. Locking down too late, lifting too early. The fact that the quarantine compliance is voluntary and not enforced (as in other countries). An incomprehensible border policy. It’s this that has cost the economy as much as anything. And that’s what the chancellor should have concentrated on today, and be fixing tomorrow.