The Houston Methodist hospital system said its employees must take the shot by June 7, making it the first healthcare provider to issue a mandate, stiffening its rules after previously offering $500 to any worker who received the inoculation voluntarily. Those who decline may be fired. “Mandating the vaccine was …
Read More »Lack of real leadership: Covid-19 exposed ‘massive problems’ in the EU & the West, Russia’s FM spokeswoman tells RT
The European Union (EU) has repeatedly exhibited an inability to make decisions and defend its own interests lately, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told RT Deutsch’s Thomas Fasbender in an exclusive interview. The bloc failed to act as a truly independent entity during the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project saga. …
Read More »At least 13 dead after fire breaks out in ICU ward of Covid-19 hospital near Mumbai, India
The fire erupted around 3am local time on Friday in the ICU ward of the Vijay Vallabh private hospital, housing around 90 patients. At the time the fire struck, 18 patients were being treated in the ward, but only five survived the incident and were transported to nearby hospitals. The …
Read More »Indian ‘double-mutant’ Covid-19 variant adds 55 infections in UK as strain that ‘evades immune system’ reaches Belgium
The latest figure, reported by Public Health England on Thursday, puts the total number of B.1.617 Covid-19 strain cases in the UK to 132, an increase from 77 reported a week ago. Earlier this week, the UK added India to its travel ‘red list’ over the new coronavirus strain, which …
Read More »Covid-19 no longer leading cause of death in England and Wales, govt data shows for first time in months
The latest data on monthly deaths found dementia was responsible for the largest number of fatalities in England in March, causing 10.1% of all deaths. Meanwhile, heart disease was cited as the main cause of death in Wales, at 11.8% of all recorded fatalities. Coronavirus was relegated to the third …
Read More »UK corruption watchdog report alleges ‘systemic bias,’ says Downing St’s Covid-19 procurement favoured firms friendly with MPs
According to a Transparency International UK paper released on Thursday, over 20% of the £18 billion in public money spent by Boris Johnson’s administration – or one in five government Covid contracts – between February and November last year has at least one link to possible corruption. Claiming the government …
Read More »‘As sorry as we are’: German lawmakers approve new controversial Covid-19 lockdown bill following heated debate
The bill introducing new binding lockdown rules for the German states with high infection rates was approved by a narrow majority in the Bundestag on Wednesday. It received support from 342 MPs while 250 lawmakers voted against it and 64 abstained. Some restrictions introduced by the amendments have been eased …
Read More »Saying America scored a Covid-19 ‘victory’ against China is wrong and offensive
A few days ago, I arrived in the United States to spend a few weeks visiting friends as things begin to safely open back up. Within less than a day, I was able to get my first Covid-19 vaccine dose and already have my second scheduled. It speaks to how …
Read More »Sweden’s goal was to live with the Covid virus rather than try to suppress it, and this new book sets out its success
As someone who tends towards scepticism about anything governments do in relation to health – I always prefer giving people information and the freedom to choose, particularly when it comes to our ‘bad habits’ like smoking, drinking alcohol, and eating the ‘wrong’ foods – I’ve found the illiberal responses by …
Read More »UK will face ‘another Covid-19 wave this year,’ PM Johnson warns, says country will have to ‘learn to live with virus’
“The majority of scientific opinion in this country is still firmly of the view that there will be another wave of Covid at some stage this year and so we must as far as possible learn to live with this disease,” he told a news briefing on Tuesday. The PM …
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