#Covid restrictions

#Covid restrictions

Simon Case is unlikely to be kept on as cabinet secretary under Keir Starmer if Labour wins the next general election, senior party figures have said.Case is understood to be considering his own future after a difficult year in the aftermath of the Partygate scandal and damaging leaked WhatsApps involving the former health secretary Matt Hancock.

Former senior civil servants have expressed surprise and concern at the cabinet secretary, Simon Case's unprofessional and jokey WhatsApp chats with Matt Hancock during the Covid crisis, saying they appeared to be a highly unusual departure from normal standards.Case's correspondence with Hancock is revealed in a leak to the Telegraph, known as the Lockdown Files, which shows the head of the civil service saying it was hilarious that some travellers were being locked up in hotels after entering the UK.

Hong Kong's leader John Lee is optimistic he can remove the last pandemic curbs including mask wearing this year.My hope in 2023 is to remove all Covid restrictions, Lee said in an interview with Hong Kong Commercial Daily.He said he hopes all problems will be resolved in the first quarter, according to the report published Tuesday.

Dora Wang* longs to see her family over lunar new year, but despite the recent scrapping of Covid travel restrictions across China she has decided against travelling the 286 miles (461km) from Beijing to her home city, Dalian, in the north-east.I am really worried because the train stations will be packed, said the 31-year-old illustrator, who is five months pregnant.

A spate of deaths among celebrities and public figures across China has sparked concerns that the actual death toll from Covid-19 may be far higher than authorities are reporting.Many on Chinese social media have been mourning the death of actor Gong Jintang, who died aged 83 on New Year's Day.He was known for his portrayal of Father Kang in the sitcom Kang's Family, which first aired in 2000.

T here are encouraging signs that London is past the peak of the flu wave, a top health professor has said.Azeem Majeed, Professor and Head of the Department of Primary Care & Public Health at Imperial College London, said that a surge in flu cases had arrived early this year but appeared to now be in decline.

A n otherwise healthy 26-year-old is urging young people to take up the flu vaccine after he was hospitalised for a week over the festive period - amid a surge in cases across the capital.Olly Browning, from Oval in south London, who has no underlying health conditions, was left in intensive care needing oxygen after he contracted influenza and it led to pneumonia.

Authorities have revealed the large number of deaths weeks after they stopped diving daily updates.It is the first report of a major death toll since the end of the zero-COIVD policy.There have been almost 60,000 COVID-related deaths in China since it began removing its zero-COVID restrictions in early December, health authorities reported on Saturday.

The World Health Organisation has criticised China's very narrow definition of Covid-19 deaths, warning that official statistics are not showing the true impact of the outbreak.There is growing concern over the steep rise in Covid infections since Beijing last month abruptly lifted years of hardline restrictions, with hospitals and crematoriums quickly overwhelmed.

Boris Johnson has accused the Privileges Committee of making Mystic Meg claims and reaching a deranged conclusion, in a blistering response to its report.The former prime minister released a 1,678-word statement lashing out at the Tory-majority group of MPs he has repeatedly sought to disparage.It came after they found he committed repeated contempts of Parliament by deliberately misleading the Commons with his partygate denials before being complicit in a campaign of abuse and intimidation of the committee.

Boris Johnson committed repeated contempts of parliament by lying to the Commons about Partygate, an utterly scathing report by a cross-party group of MPs has found.The former PM would have faced a suspension of 90 days for deliberately misleading MPs and being complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the privileges committee.

A long-awaited report concluding that Boris Johnson misled Parliament with his partygate denials is set to be published on Thursday morning.After a 14-month investigation, the Privileges Committee will release its findings on whether the former prime minister committed a contempt of Parliament by misleading MPs either recklessly or deliberately by denying lockdown rules were broken in No 10.

The Suffolk Sur-Mer, 152 High St, Aldeburgh IP15 5AQ (the-suffolk.co.uk).Bar snacks: 3-8; starters 10-14; mains 18- 60 (for the whole lobster); desserts 9. Wines from 26 a bottle In 2001, my mother was diagnosed with what she would come to describe as a touch of breast cancer.Claire would later say that in just two weeks, she went from not having breast cancer the blissful day before diagnosis to not having breast cancer, courtesy of a double mastectomy.

Close Boris Johnson has suggested that his event planner friend stayed overnight at Chequers during Covid restrictions for childcare reasons as he denied the visit broke any rules.Dixie Maloney, who helped Mr Johnson and wife Carrie plan their wedding, stayed at the prime minister's grace and favour home on 7 May, when indoor gatherings were banned except for reasonably necessary for reasons such as work or childcare.

Proposals to enshrine into law hospital and care home visiting rights have been raised in Parliament by a Labour MP.Dan Carden said the care of a loved one should not be an optional extra but is an absolutely central part of dignified care as he introduced his Care Supporters Bill to the Commons.He told MPs about the dangerous hangover from Covid restrictions and criticised the lack of urgency from the Government to change things.

The US is planning to relax Covid-19 testing restrictions for travelers from China as soon as Friday, a source familiar told CNN Tuesday, citing a decline in Covid cases, hospitalizations, and deaths and more data surrounding the variants that were circulating in China.In December, federal health officials announced that, starting January 5, the US would require all travelers from China to show a negative Covid test result before flying to the country after Beijing's rapid easing of Covid restrictions led to a surge in cases.

Boris Johnson's political future looked increasingly in doubt after fresh claims emerged about visitors to Chequers while Covid restrictions were in place.BBC chairman Richard Sharp, Mr Johnson's cousin Sam Blyth and Tory peer Lord Brownlow are reportedly among diary entries referred to the police by the Cabinet Office last week.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has dubbed MP Margaret Ferrier missing in action as he prepares to campaign in her seat.Ms Ferrier was found guilty of culpably and recklessly exposing the public to the risk of infection, illness and death by breaching Covid restrictions, and the Commons Standards Committee subsequently recommended a 30-day suspension from the House.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has dubbed MP Margaret Ferrier missing in action as he prepares to campaign in her seat.Ms Ferrier was found guilty of culpably and recklessly exposing the public to the risk of infection, illness and death by breaching Covid restrictions, and the Commons Standards Committee subsequently recommended a 30-day suspension from the House.

ByteDance Ltd.'s TikTok is on track with its undertaking to have all U.S. user data hosted and overseen by Oracle Corp., as the Chinese tech behemoth struggles to win over critics worried about the national security implications of its hit video app.TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew said the American software company has begun a review of TikTok's source code and is now the default destination for U.S. user data.

The chancellor has urged Conservatives not to talk ourselves down as he warned that creating an inaccurate narrative about Britain could make it into a reality.Jeremy Hunt said he had noticed an insidious declinism creeping in among those who used to be optimists like me when it came to topics such as Brexit and UK economic performance.

Toronto saw a drop in opioid-related deaths in 2022 compared to the previous year, but one expert says there still needs to be a more robust response to the opioid crisis.There were 702 opioid-related deaths in the city in 2022, which marks 158 fewer than the 860 recorded in 2021, recently released figures from Ontario's Office of the Chief Coroner show.

Cycling on main roads in England has fallen by nearly a quarter from the peak recorded during coronavirus restrictions, Department for Transport (DfT) figures show.The decline has sparked fears the Government will fail to hit targets for increasing cycling activity.DfT data demonstrates the surge in cycling when Covid restrictions affected travel patterns peaked in March 2021.

For something else entirely, I started writing what I thought was going to be a short summary of where the three major investigations into Trump stand.But those summaries ended up getting long, so I'm going to publish them serially, starting with Fani Willis' Georgia investigation.This post relies on the work of others following the investigation far more closely, especially Lawfare's Anna Bower and GPB's Stephen Fowler.

An FFP2 mask is seen lying on a wet pavement in Frankfurt, Germany, on April 18, 2021.Frank Rumpenhorst / picture alliance via Getty Images I first heard the comparison when COVID-19 started to spread through my community: "It's like a cold," people would say.The comparison offered a familiar point of reference for a virus we are still in the process of understanding.

1679479698 Jack Doyle, who was Boris Johnson's communications chief when the partygate story broke, denied ever telling the then-prime minister that Covid-19 guidance was followed at all times in No 10.In his evidence to the Privileges Committee, Mr Doyle was asked whether he assured the then-prime minister that Covid-19 rules were followed at all times.

The tearful mother of the 15-year-old girl who was killed in a speedboat crash has branded the skipper a coward as he and the company owner avoided being sent to prison.Speedboat skipper Michael Lawrence and company owner Michael Howley have been given 18-week prison sentences suspended for two years at Winchester Crown Court in connection with the death of 15-year-old Emily Lewis.

Image Clients waited to enter Silicon Valley Bank yesterday in Santa Clara, Calif.Credit...Jim Wilson/The New York Times President Biden tried to reassure Americans that the U.S. banking industry was safe, after federal regulators took over two failing banks in three days.Several midsize U.S. banks also scrambled to calm the fears of their customers.

Alex Ovechkin chases the puck during the Capitals' 5-4 overtime win against the Penguins on Super Bowl Sunday in 2010.(John McDonnell/The Washington Post) The first time the Capitals played on Super Bowl Sunday was Jan. 12, 1975.An expansion team on its way to an 8-67-5 record, Washington allowed a touchdown's worth of goals in a 7-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, who extended their unbeaten streak to 20 games before 9,081 fans at Capital Centre.

Guinness won't make its Chicago dream come true this year by opening its brewpub in time for St. Patrick's Day.But opening a new restaurant in the summer in Chicago isn't a bad consultation prize.The brewpub, announced in September 2021, is coming along at the corner of Kinzie and Morgan, a three-minute walk north of Randolph Restaurant Row in a mostly industrial part of the West Loop where places like Recess and Tabu have found a home.

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Several English Heritage sites saw a record numbers of visitors in 2022, the charity has said.Tintagel Castle in Cornwall and Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire were among the 10 sites to see their highest visitor numbers last year.

Several English Heritage sites saw a record numbers of visitors in 2022, the charity has said.Tintagel Castle in Cornwall and Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire were among the 10 sites to see their highest visitor numbers last year.Following the end of Covid restrictions, 2022 also saw the charity hit a total membership of almost 1.2 million its highest level.

In 2017, Justin Schuble was running one of DC's biggest and most influential foodie Instagram accounts, @DCFoodPorn, while preparing to graduate from Georgetown University.The then-22-year-old planned to make a full-time job of his social media following (he was already making nearly $50K on Insta), which was a novelty at the time and led me to write a longform profile about him.

Welcome to RAIN News industry-leading coverage of The Infinite Dial 2023, the celebratory 25th anniversary of the longest-running and most authoritative survey of digital media consumer behavior in America.Since 1998, this survey of American listening, device usage, and social media trends has built epochal timelines charting American consumption and preferences.

Lest you think the Bay Area is immune to the sort of fights that are raging in school districts across the country, we are not, and a school board meeting in the East Bay was just this week filled with vitriol over books for LGBTQ kids.Right-wing pundits and politicians have succeeded in riling up otherwise apolitical parents of schoolchildren all over the U.S., and dragging reading materials for queer youth into the culture wars.

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email A new report into Boris Johnson and Partygate has been released by MPs investigating whether or not the former prime minister lied to parliament.The privileges committee today published a 24-page document which will be used to question Mr Johnson when he appears before the MPs later this month.

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Officials in No 10 struggled to explain how lockdown gatherings in Downing Street complied with the Covid restrictions in place at the time, according to newly released internal messages.

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Matt Hancock discussed withholding funding for a learning disability centre to pressure a Tory MP not to rebel against Covid restrictions, leaked messages suggest.The then-health secretary and an aide spoke about warning James Daly that a new centre would be off the table if he voted against the government, according to the latest leak.

The number of night-time workers in the UK has plunged by more than 700,000 over the past five years in the latest sign of pressures on sectors such as beleaguered nightclubs, bars and restaurants, official figures show.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the number of night-time workers fell by 723,000 to 8.7 million in 2022.

The typical American renter is now rent-burdened meaning that 30 percent of the median U.S. income is required to pay the average rent, according to a new report from Moody's Analytics.This 30 percent is a symbolic threshold, a milestone, said Thomas LaSalvia, the director of economic research at Moody's.

Carmona-Cruz, whose group is part of the Yuba Liberation Coalition, credited the courage of detained immigrants who waged hunger strikes and spoke out about medical neglect and other dangers."This also reminds me of all of the people that we fought to get out," he said."This victory is really for them, because they came out publicly about the conditions inside, risking retaliation."

Most business leaders secretly want to put an end to working from home, the head of the CBI has said.Tony Danker said working patterns would be talked about for a few years, adding the world of work had gone crazy since the Covid pandemic began.Speaking with Nick Robinson on Political Thinking, Mr Danker said he did not know where working patterns are going to end up.

A 15-year-old girl died during an adrenaline-fuelled speedboat ride when the skipper failed to pay attention and drove straight at a metal buoy for 14 seconds before hitting it, a court has heard.Emily Lewis suffered unsurvivable injuries when the rigid inflatable boat (Rib) collided with the 4.5m high buoy at 36.8 knots in Southampton Water at 10.11am on August 22, 2020.

Boris Johnson's rumoured political comeback has been dealt a fatal blow by claims that the then prime minister joked about attending an unsocially distanced party at No 10 during Covid restrictions, Conservative MPs have told The Independent.A number of Tory MPs said the former prime minister's alleged remarks at the November 2020 event not denied by his spokesperson make it more likely that he will be found to have misled parliament at the upcoming Partygate inquiry.

Holiday companies expect bookings to reach or even exceed pre-coronavirus levels on Saturday.The first Saturday of the year is known as Sunshine Saturday by the travel industry as it is typically the most popular day to book a foreign trip.Trade association Abta said tour operators and travel agents expect this Saturday will be one of the busiest for a number of years due to the UK scrapping Covid restrictions except for arrivals from China.

Oh 2022.What a ride you were.When we published our last Forward Thinking series, we were in a period of excitement: Covid restrictions were being lifted, opportunities were growing and the introduction of hybrid working had many reassessing their work-life balance.Hope and normality were starting to bloom.

The Government no longer provides free Covid testing kits, but you can purchase them from most pharmacies, usually for around £1-2 per test (Photo: Getty) Covid cases have risen significantly over the last two weeks, with experts warning of a fifth wave of 2022.There were 265,481 new symptomatic infections on Monday 26 December, according to the latest data from the  ZOE Health Study.

SAN JOSE - Former San Jose Sharks associate coach Rocky Thompson, who stepped away from the team in September 2021 after one challenging and turbulent season, has found a welcoming new home with the Philadelphia Flyers.Less than a year after he left the Sharks following one season on the bench with former coach Bob Boughner, Thompson was hired by the Flyers in July to be a part of John Tortorella's staff and is running the team's power play.