An ambulance drives past a Covid-19 helpline sign in south London. Photo: EPA-EFE

Topic

Coronavirus UKi

Latest news and updates on the impact of a new strain of coronavirus on the United Kingdom. The virus causes the disease Covid-19 and the World Health Organisation has declared the spread of the infection a pandemic.

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After three years avoiding Covid-19 in Hong Kong and then not catching it in over a year back in the UK, Cliff Buddle began to believe he was immune. Now, reality has dawned.

  • Junior doctors are walking out for six days as part of a long-running dispute over pay that saw them take 28 days of industrial action last year
  • The government offered a pay rise of 8 to 10 per cent, while the BMA are seeking a 35 per cent improvement in part to cover inflation over several years

Close to 400 pubs in England and Wales closed in 2022, continuing a trend that has seen about 15,000 establishment shut their doors across the UK over the last two decades.

Researchers in the UK suggested less affluent people may have felt more urgency to quit, while those who were wealthier and in managerial roles may have continued due to pandemic stress.

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The inquiry is examining the UK’s pandemic response and has heard testimony about often chaotic scenes in the government of then-PM Boris Johnson, marked by incompetence, back-stabbing and misogyny.

The former British PM said portrayals of partying in Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic were ‘absolutely absurd’ as he faced a second day of questioning at a public inquiry.

The former PM resigned in disgrace after a series of scandals including reports that he had been present at alcohol-fuelled gatherings in Downing Street when most people in the UK were forced to stay at home.

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Finance minister Jeremy Hunt announced a huge package of 110 measures aimed at reinvigorating the ailing economy and boosting business investment.

Patrick Vallance, Boris Johnson’s chief scientific adviser said that the former UK prime minister struggled to come to grips with much of the science during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Covid-19 restrictions speeded up brain deterioration in people over 50, a long-term study of over 3,000 subjects has found, raising ‘important questions’ about their increased risk of dementia.

The protester shouted “true democracy is citizen-led” and “politics needs an update” before scattering glitter over Keir Starmer’s head.

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Conservative MP Dorries announced she would resign more than two months ago in the wake of former PM Johnson’s resignation. She accuses PM Rishi Sunak of helping to ‘whip up a public frenzy’ against her.

The BA.2.86 mutation was identified in someone with no recent travel history, which means there could already be “significant community transmission” the British Health Security Agency said.

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The reopened investigation concerns a Christmas party held in December 2020 in the headquarters of the governing Conservative Party which was organised by staff working on a mayoral election campaign.

He is the first politician to give evidence at an inquiry that seeks to lay bare mistakes made and lessons to be learned from the UK’s handling of Covid.

The privileges committee – the main disciplinary body for lawmakers – said he should now be stripped of having automatic access to parliament.

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A Hong Kong-based real estate fund is seeking fresh capital from outside investors to acquire UK pub, hotel and student-housing properties as landlords suffer from ever-increasing financing costs.

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The ex-PM accused opponents of trying to drive him out after he received results of a probe over misleading statements he made on Covid rule breaches.

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More than 3,000 current and former students are suing University College London for breach of contract, in a case which could be followed by similar litigation against other British universities.

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Long Covid has left Hong Kong public health advocate Dr Judith Mackay exhausted and breathless; she has tried vitamin D, traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and a steroid inhaler but nothing worked.

The findings are the latest to identify health as one of the factors dragging down the UK economy, with long-term illness since the pandemic cited as one of the main reasons people are dropping out of the workforce.

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson mounted a robust defence at a hearing that could damage or even end his tumultuous political career.

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