As coronavirus infections surge across Europe, and with the threat of the omicron variant looming, countries are imposing increasingly stringent pandemic controls. In Austria, citizens will be subject to a vaccine mandate in February. In Greece, meanwhile, a vaccine mandate will apply to those 60 and over, starting in mid-January.Continue Reading
AFTER the past 21 months, all writer and frazzled mum-of-two Eimear O’Hagan wanted for her birthday was some time alone. Lying by the pool, a book and a cocktail to hand, I sighed contentedly. Eimear O’Hagan The only decisions that lay ahead of me were which of the hotel’s restaurantsContinue Reading
What impact the new omicron variant will have is still unknown. But with early data suggesting it could be the most transmissible form of the virus yet – and that it could be less susceptible to existing antibodies – it shouldn’t be taken lightly. The World Health Organization has advisedContinue Reading
People Image Studio/Shutterstock On discovering the omicron variant, many countries moved quickly to impose travel restrictions and other public health measures, such as compulsory mask wearing. But, given the lack of data, is this the best course of action? These measures have tangible costs, and some have argued that theyContinue Reading
GERMANY is set to ban people who have not had their Covid jabs from shops, pubs and restaurants in what has been dubbed as a “lockdown for the unvaccinated”. The draconian measures comes as Germany battles a record number of infections amid a fourth Covid wave, with intensive care unitsContinue Reading
Alexandros Michailidis/Shutterstock Hospitals are there to help sick people get better, but they can also be an infection risk. During the pandemic, many healthcare workers have caught COVID from patients they’ve been treating. Non-COVID patients have also picked up the virus while in hospital. In non-pandemic times, patients with highlyContinue Reading
PattyPhoto/Shutterstock Some countries, such as the US and Israel, are now offering COVID vaccines to all children aged five and over. It’s a sign of how well vaccine rollout has gone in these places, but also that the pandemic is still raging on. Governments are going further and further toContinue Reading
WE don’t know much yet about Omicron – the new variant of the Covid virus. But we do know a lot about the vaccines that have been protecting us during the past year — and we have no reason to believe that those vaccines won’t work against this latest strainContinue Reading
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the B.1.1.529 lineage of Sars-CoV-2, thought to have emerged in southern Africa, is to be designated as a variant of concern (VoC) named omicron. This decision has already precipitated a broad shift in priorities in pandemic management on a global scale. TheContinue Reading
junpinzon / Shutterstock Public health measures to combat COVID, such as lockdowns, quarantines and social distancing, have made many people anxious. In many countries, including the UK, studies found that rates of anxiety and depression rose following the onset of the pandemic. Coping with anxiety can be a challenge evenContinue Reading