At the start of the pandemic, one of the first questions scientists asked was: “What is the risk to children?” Information emerging from China was that – pre-existing conditions aside – the younger you are, the lower your risk of getting severe COVID. While children’s lives have been taken byContinue Reading
The UK has passed the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths from COVID-19. And as the latest lockdown drags on, the inequalities that have characterised the trajectory of the COVID-19 epidemic are becoming starker than ever. When coronavirus first arrived in the UK in spring 2020, British politicians called for teamworkContinue Reading
DreamcatcherDiana/Shutterstock On March 20 2020, while the UK was anticipating its first national lockdown to control the coronavirus pandemic, I started feeling unwell with what felt like a COVID-19 infection. Over the next couple of days, I developed a collection of symptoms: fever, chills, cough, chest heaviness, exhaustion, diarrhoea, abdominalContinue Reading
South Africa has temporarily halted its rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine after a preliminary study (not yet released or reviewed by other scientists) found it provided limited protection against the South African coronavirus variant for mild and moderate cases of COVID-19. The variant, which has been found worldwide, has presentedContinue Reading
The UK government announced that from February 15, British and Irish residents travelling to England from “red list” countries will have to quarantine in a government-sanctioned hotel for ten days, at a personal cost of £1,750. Accommodation must be booked in advance, and people will need to have two COVIDContinue Reading
Lightspring/Shutterstock When I was asked to calculate the total volume of SARS-CoV-2 in the world for the BBC Radio 4 show More or Less, I will admit I had no idea what the answer would be. My wife suggested it would be the size of an Olympic swimming pool. “EitherContinue Reading
fizkes/Shutterstock Endemic viruses are those that have constant presence within a geographical area. Such viruses are all around us, though they vary by location. Examples in Europe and North America include the rhinovirus (a cause of the common cold) and influenza virus, while the dengue and chikungunya viruses are endemicContinue Reading
Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock There’s now another dimension to the race to get people vaccinated. The coronavirus is mutating, potentially making current vaccines less effective against it. This isn’t a catastrophe – the vaccines still work. But preliminary data suggests their ability to protect against certain variants of the virus is now weaker.Continue Reading
A bitter lesson of the past month is that viruses move fast. The good news of the deployment of the first COVID-19 vaccines was accompanied by the bad news that a new variant of the virus had emerged, quickening the disease’s spread and pushing up the number of patients treatedContinue Reading
The Met For those struggling with lockdown, an anti-travel book written in 1790 offers unlikely solace. Written while under house arrest in Turin, Italy, Xavier de Maistre’s Voyage Around My Room is an undervalued travelogue. De Maistre describes his travels in miniature with the enchantment of the Grand Tour: aContinue Reading
