COVID-19 News And Updates

In the early days of Covid-19, Indigenous leaders used their voice and averted a catastrophe | Fiona Stanley and Marcia Langton

Despite underfunded services, early Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership saved hundreds of lives – this is what is possible when we are listened to

Consultation is not a new concept. Neither is the wisdom and insight that comes from listening. Lived experience counts. Most people would agree. Yet when it comes to a simple request from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to have a voice, suddenly these things are open to debate.

“Show us the evidence,” critics say. “Will it do anything to close our nation’s disgraceful gap in outcomes?”

Prof Fiona Stanley AC is a patron and founding director of the Telethon Kids Institute

Prof Marcia Langton is a Redmond Barry distinguished professor at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne

from Coronavirus | The Guardian
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Government disposed of 3bn items of PPE bought in pandemic, data shows

Department of Health and Social Care in England has removed 269,500 pallets of PPE from its stock

The government has disposed of more than 3bn items of personal protective equipment (PPE) it bought during the pandemic, figures have revealed.

An estimated 3.14bn items have been shed through a mixture of recycling, energy from waste processes – including some incineration – donations and sales.

from Coronavirus | The Guardian
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London’s Riverside Studios to enter administration

The Hammersmith arts centre, which faces soaring energy bills and debt from its redevelopment, said it has struggled to rebuild revenue streams after the pandemic

London’s Riverside Studios has begun to enter administration, citing “eye-watering” energy bills and the debt incurred by its recent redevelopment.

The arts centre, situated on the Thames in west London, is marking its 45th anniversary of operating in Hammersmith but the board of the Riverside Trust charity said that it has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.

from Coronavirus | The Guardian
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Margaret Ferrier should be suspended for 30 days for Covid breach, says MPs’ watchdog

Possibility of byelection in Rutherglen and Hamilton West after MP took train despite positive test in 2020

Politics live – latest updates

An MP who broke Covid rules in the early stages of the pandemic is facing a 30-day suspension from the House of Commons, raising the prospect of a byelection in her Glasgow seat.

Margaret Ferrier, the independent MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, was found by the standards watchdog to have damaged the reputation of parliament and put the public at risk when she travelled by train after testing positive.

from Coronavirus | The Guardian
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Covid vaccine booster doses only needed for high risk groups, WHO says

Guidance says strong population-level immunity due to infection and vaccination means boosters have less impact

Only high risk groups should receive ongoing Covid-19 booster doses because strong population-level immunity means ongoing boosting of the general population offers little impact, the latest update from the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

The vaccination guide, from WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation, says each country needs to take into account its own epidemiological situation, stressing that its recommendations are for short-to-medium term planning and subject to change.

from Coronavirus | The Guardian
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UK Covid inquiry under fire over three weeks allocated to Wales

Bereaved families and unions criticise ‘extraordinarily short’ hearing on Welsh government’s response

Politics live – latest updates

Bereaved families have strongly criticised a proposal by the UK Covid-19 inquiry to set aside only three weeks for its public hearing on the Welsh government’s response to the pandemic.

Members of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru argued that the Labour-led government would escape proper scrutiny unless more time was allocated. Trade union leaders suggested there was a risk Wales could be seen as the “poorer relative” in the inquiry.

from Coronavirus | The Guardian
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Boris Johnson jokes he was given Partygate fine for ‘eating lunch at his desk’

Former prime minister told audience in Lagos that his fine from police for breaking Covid laws was ‘bizarre’

Boris Johnson has made light of his police fine for the Partygate scandal during a speech in Nigeria, joking that he was criminalised for standing up and eating lunch at his desk for 20 minutes.

The former prime minister dismissed his fine from police for breaking Covid laws as “bizarre” at a conference in Lagos on “rehumanising human experience”.

from Coronavirus | The Guardian
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‘Being truthful is essential’: scientist who stumbled upon Wuhan Covid data speaks out

Florence Débarre’s discovery of genetic data online showed for first time that animals susceptible to coronavirus were present at market

One of the most compelling clues to the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic was uploaded without announcement to a scientific database, going unnoticed for weeks.

And then, just as suddenly, it vanished from public view.

from Coronavirus | The Guardian
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Covid app for England and Wales discontinued as usage dwindles

Exclusive: Wind-down of NHS contact-tracing app part of drive to ‘learn to live’ with coronavirus

The Covid contact-tracing app for England and Wales, which was downloaded 31m times during the course of the pandemic, is being wound down later this week.

Coming about three years since the first nationwide lockdown, the move is part of a drive to encourage people to “learn to live” with the virus. Users of the app will receive a notification on Tuesday telling them it is being discontinued. They will no longer receive alerts informing them when they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.

from Coronavirus | The Guardian
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In a sceptical era, understand this: vaccines do work – and our children need them| Devi Sridhar

Covid accelerated a decline in vaccinations in England. We have to make a stronger case for them, and ensure everyone can get them

In 1959, at the age of 29, the promising England footballer Jeff Hall died of polio. His death sent shock waves across Britain, and caused an immediate change in attitudes towards vaccination, from complacency to a sudden rush to clinics. A polio vaccine had been available for three years, but takeup was low. After Hall’s death, the demand was so high that vaccines had to be flown in from the US. As the Daily Express put it: “In the past 10 years over 3,000 people have died of polio in England and Wales. But it took the death of one footballer to get [people] pouring into the clinics.” More than half a century later, we may be returning to complacency when it comes to getting children vaccinated.

The past decade has seen a decline in the uptake of almost all routine vaccinations for children in England. Currently, no childhood vaccinations meet the 95% target set by the World Health Organization. The US has a similar shortfall, and the WHO warns that the long-term decline in childhood vaccination rates is a global phenomenon. Here, the consequences have been increased cases of vaccine-preventable diseases such as whooping cough in nurseries and schools, as well as a rising number of polio samples found in sewage in London.

from Coronavirus | The Guardian
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