COVID-19 (Page 15)

MargJohnsonVA/Shutterstock The “living with COVID” strategy being pursued by many countries relies heavily on two key pillars. First, that vaccines continue to protect most people from severe disease. And second, that where they don’t, people will receive antiviral treatments. But are the antivirals currently available sufficiently effective, accessible and durable? Research advances in the realm of antiviral therapies since the pandemic began have been considerable. At the same time, no medicine is perfect. The concern is that if not deployed properly, the effectiveness and longevity of antiviral treatments may be compromised. So let’s take a look at what’s in the antivirals arms locker, and how we got to this point. Read more: COVID: WHO recommends two new treatments – here’sContinue Reading

JP WALLET/Shutterstock We are all pretty fed up with COVID, and perhaps keen for a summer of holidays, social outings and family get togethers. But while the threat posed by COVID has certainly decreased the virus can still be dangerous, especially for older people. Meanwhile, young people are generally at lower risk from COVID. So if you are younger and healthy, how should you balance attempts to return to normal social activities with a moral responsibility to care for people who may still be vulnerable? This article is part of Quarter Life, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, toContinue Reading

When cases rise, we can make small changes to our behaviour. Jaromir Chalabala/Shutterstock Thankfully, the UK now looks to be past the peak of both the recent heatwave and the latest COVID wave. But there will be more of both – and in future, we might think about how we protect ourselves from COVID in the same way we protect ourselves from the weather. An umbrella is a useful analogy. If we look out the window or check the weather forecast and see rain, we would probably take an umbrella out with us. Similarly, if COVID cases are starting to rise or if a new wave is forecast, we might consider grabbing a face mask, for example. But just asContinue Reading

Many people now favour a hybrid model of working. Klever LeveL/Shutterstock We’re in the middle of a remote working revolution. In the UK, though remote working was slowly growing before the pandemic, in 2020 the number of people working from home doubled. While this rapid rise can be explained by COVID lockdowns, a recent survey my colleagues and I conducted with 2,000 London workers found that six in ten employees still regularly work from home despite restrictions no longer being in place. And most don’t want that to change. Findings from other parts of the world similarly point to a substantial increase in the number of work days being undertaken from home. This article is part of Quarter Life, aContinue Reading

IF you had to work from home at any point because of coronavirus you could be due hundreds of pounds back according to Martin Lewis. Even if you only worked from home for a day you could be due a whole years tax relief. Even if you didn’t claim tax relief in the previous two years – you can back-claim up to four years. You’ll have needed to work from home at any one point in the previous two financial years to still be eligible to claim up to £280. Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com is encouraging employees to make sure they put in a claim NOW in his latest blog post. Martin said: “If you had to work from home,Continue Reading

Gladskikh Tatiana/Shutterstock About 2 million people in the UK have persistent symptoms after COVID infection, termed long COVID. Commonly reported long COVID symptoms, such as fatigue and shortness of breath, have a significant effect on people’s daily activities, quality of life and capacity to work. But long COVID symptoms are much broader than this. In a new study published in the journal Nature Medicine, we identified 62 symptoms associated with long COVID. We also explored some of the factors linked to an increased risk of developing long COVID. Read more: Long COVID: vaccination could reduce symptoms, new research suggests Much of the initial work undertaken to understand long COVID has been among people who were hospitalised, but most people infectedContinue Reading

BRITS have been warned travel luggage chaos could last MONTHS as bags today piled up at Gatwick Airport. Suitcases were today abandoned by travellers returning to the Sussex airport after they waited for them for more than an hour. Bags were today abandoned by travellers at Gatwick after they waited for them for more than an hourNNP Bags pile up at Edinburgh Airport where £35-an-hour handler jobs can’t be filled LT1Media Passengers faced long queues at busy airports such as Bristol and Stanstead[/caption] Families desperate for a summer holiday have this weekend faced travel chaos with massive queues at airports and to get on ferries from Dover. And the nightmare is feared to be just beginning with chaos and confusionContinue Reading