pandemic - Page 12

State propaganda in China has been accused of inventing a Swiss biologist to dispute the origins of the Wuhan coronavirus.

A leading lockdown-sceptic Conservative MP has branded “disproportionate” plans being considered to pressure nightclubs to use vaccine passports during ‘covid surges’ as the price for staying fully open.

Times columnist Hilary Rose has praised Friends star Jennifer Aniston for dropping actual friends and acquaintances who will not disclose their vaccination status, saying: “Hear, hear, Jen, and respect for speaking out.”

Queen guitarist Brian May has given a bizarre interview in which he lamented that it has become “impossible” to go against the herd before criticising Eric Clapton and “anti-vax people” and saying he doesn’t “want people spreading misinformation”. 

Greek healthcare staff have until September 1st to be fully vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus or face indefinite suspension from their jobs.

Spanish populist party VOX has threatened legal action in Madrid if the government implements a so-called health pass that would require vaccination or a negative coronavirus test to enter certain businesses.

Transport Minister Grant Shapps has said that vaccination will be a feature of foreign travel “for ever more”, also claiming that young people will not be able to “leave the country” without it.

A Swedish vaccine researcher has claimed that people could be required to take more doses of the Wuhan coronavirus vaccine, stating that it is unclear how long vaccine protection lasts.

Coinciding with Biden’s surrender to the CDC’s new masking guidance, public optimism about the coronavirus pandemic has tanked.

Two weeks of media-manufactured “delta variant panic” brought me to the realization that, at least for me and mine, the coronavirus pandemic is over.

The British government will reportedly begin rolling out 32 million “booster” vaccines by next month to all those over the age of 50.

Footage of police helicopters flying over beaches and parks in Australia to enforce draconian coronavirus lockdown measures is circulating on social media. 

Local government officials are sending representatives door-to-door to “encourage vaccine uptake” in Cheshire, England. 

The movement against vaccine passports in France grew to over 150 cities on Saturday, with with 150,000 protesting against health passes.

TARTU, Estonia (AP) – With her father in tow, 13-year-old Gloria Raudjarv marched through a vaccination centre inside a sports hall in Estonia’s second-largest city and up to a nurse for her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Ethical vegans may be exempt from being forced by their employers to be vaccinated because their lifestyle beliefs are protected by law, a legal firm has claimed.

Scuffles broke out in the Italian parliament on Thursday as members of the national conservative Brothers of Italy (FdI) protested the passing of the coronavirus “health pass”.

Transgender activists in Italy have objected to the Wuhan coronavirus “Green Pass”, claiming it would reveal information on their gender.

Reform UK leader Richard Tice has criticised as “blackmail and coercion” the government proposal of vaccine passports.

Murder has increased 16 percent across major U.S. cities during the first half of 2021 when compared to the same period in 2020, and by 42 percent when compared to 2019, according to a Thursday update to the Council on Criminal Justice’s (CCJ) pandemic crime report.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has suggested that vaccines may be needed for “mass events” and travel, in what appears to be more targeted attempts to force young people to be vaccinated.

The administration’s wholesale dependence on the CDC left the Biden White House unable to explain to the public the revised guidance.

To the confusion of scientists, the number of new coronavirus cases has fallen for the sixth day in a row in the UK post-Freedom Day. However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cautioned the country was “not out of the woods yet”.

Fewer than half of young people in the UK are wearing masks since ‘Freedom Day’, with the demographic having the sharpest decline in mask use out of all age groups.

National Rugby League (NRL) players and their families have been banned from their balconies and ordered to tape them shut to stop Covid in parts of Queensland, Australia.

BERLIN (AP) – German politicians were deeply divided Sunday over a warning by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff that restrictions for unvaccinated people may be necessary if COVID-19 infection numbers reach new heights in the coming months.

Boris Johnson’s government is instructing councils and other bodies in receipt of so-called “European” coronavirus recovery funding to cover all relevant signs and so on with the EU flag, despite Brexit.

Sweden has decided to grant exemptions to the county’s Wuhan coronavirus travel ban for eSports “athletes” entering the country from outside of the European Economic Area (EEA).

PARIS (AP) – Some 160,000 people, including far-right activists and members of France’s yellow vest movement, protested Saturday across the country against a bill requiring everyone to have a special virus pass to enter restaurants and mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for all health care workers.

PAPEETE, French Polynesia (AP) – President Emmanuel Macron is visiting French Polynesia to showcase France’s commitment to the region amid concerns about the impact of climate change on the Pacific island territory, the legacy of French nuclear testing on its atolls – and most of all, growing Chinese dominance in the region.

BERLIN (AP) – Some 35,000 revellers marched for LGBTQ rights at Berlin’s annual Christopher Street Day celebration on Saturday, twice as many as expected.

Tory lockdown sceptics are threatening to boycott October’s Conservative Party Conference if vaccination passports become a legal requirement for entry under government guidelines.

Brexit leader Nigel Farage has said that since ‘Freedom Day’ on Monday, England appears to be locking down rather than opening up, as hundreds of thousands of Britons are advised to quarantine after being pinged by the NHS coronavirus app.

(AFP) — Thousands marched through Australia’s two biggest cities in anti-lockdown protests Saturday, sparking violent clashes with police in Sydney.

Experts are saying London mayor Sadiq Khan’s violence reduction unit has not even started to make an impact on youth violence in the British capital, as the number of teen killings looks set to reach a record high. 

U.S. life expectancy fell by a year and a half in 2020 due mostly to the coronavirus pandemic, but drug overdoses and rising homicides played a role as well, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Wednesday.