covid
China’s increasingly authoritarian Covid pass
A Chinese health app, developed to enforce the Communist party’s draconian Covid-19 restrictions, is being repurposed to tighten political control…
Is there a new Covid wave – and do we need to worry?
Is Covid back on the rise? The ONS survey shows increasing prevalence in England and Northern Ireland, with ‘uncertain’ results…
Ricky Gervais is an achingly conventional Millennial posing as a naughty maverick
Just how edgy and dangerous is Ricky Gervais? There is no one more edgy and dangerous, we learn from no…
Welcome to the age of post-Covid nihilism
Washington, DC Amid the recent orgy of violence across America, it was the carjackings that finally got me. Lost amid all…
What Boris needs to do to survive
Most people date the beginning of Boris Johnson’s current woes to the start of the partygate scandal, and especially to…
The World Health Organisation has lost all credibility
Let’s be honest: is there anyone out there who has faith in the ability of the World Health Organisation (WHO)…
New York has become the city that never eats
Is there anything more extraordinary than dining in New York City? Whetheryou’re sitting down for the Michelin star experience of…
Could we be heading for a second Covid recession?
The political story for the moment is the cost of living crisis. But by the end of the year could…
Should we worry about the BA.2 Omicron variant?
When the Omicron variant (now categorised as BA.1) swept across the world at the end of last year it was…
I stink at virtue signalling
The lodger looked at me blankly and pronounced wearily, as though intoning something he was tired of parroting, that I…
Is China's zero Covid game up?
Omicron has broken through China’s Covid wall. On Tuesday, the country saw a record-high of more than 5,000 cases, the…
Will Nicola Sturgeon’s mask restrictions have any effect?
As England axes the last of its Covid regulations, Nicola Sturgeon is extending Scotland’s – saying that mask wearing in…
China’s zero Covid strategy is a threat to the global economy
Aside from deterring a few tourists, and people filming fantasy epics, closing down New Zealand during the Covid pandemic didn’t…
Covid is rising again. Should we worry?
For some time now, Covid has been rising in Scotland – there are now more Scots in hospital with Covid…
Sage admits its models were 'at variance to reality'. But why?
The Sage committee was set up as a pool of experts on tap to advise government. During the pandemic, it mutated…
Ending restrictions won't save Boris
Boris Johnson certainly managed to rally the troops on their first day back from recess this afternoon as he told…
The pointless tyranny of Italy’s Covid pass
While most European countries, especially Britain, are relaxing their Covid restrictions, Italy which has the toughest of the lot, this…
On Sage’s Covid models
In the confusion that has arisen from the demonstrable inability of a certain type of mathematical model to predict the…
What is Boris's partygate defence?
The presumption of many MPs — and maybe many of you — is that the Met is bound to issue…
Are ethnic minorities still more likely to get Covid?
Is there a genetic element to the risk of being infected with Covid — and are some disadvantaged ethnic groups…
Can Macron really lecture Putin about democracy?
A penny for the thoughts of Vladimir Putin on Monday as he stared at Emmanuel Macron from the end of…
Britain's unethical Covid messaging must never be repeated
Over the last two years – under the guise of a Covid-19 communications strategy – the British people have faced…
Two years on, what's the evidence for lockdown?
Did lockdowns save lives? We will never have a definitive answer to this vital question because it was impossible to…
Johnson's defence deteriorates
That Boris Johnson regards the Gray update as an opportunity to come up for air was very clear from his…
Has the past decade blunted our sense of the duty of care?
Jay Elwes 2 April 2022 9:00 am
Modern British history can be divided into two parts: before Covid and after. That is the central pillar of this…