Coronavirus latest news: Nicola Sturgeon confirms indoor visits and hugging to be permitted from next week

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Ewan Somerville
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Nicola Sturgeon - ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP
Nicola Sturgeon - ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP

Scots will be able to hug loved ones again and enjoy indoor visits to pubs and restaurants from next week, Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed in the latest wave of lockdown easing.

Most of Scotland will be moved to Level 2 of Covid-19 restrictions on Monday May 17, meaning that six people from three households will be able to meet indoors in homes and hospitality venues - and stay overnight - and eight people from eight households can meet outdoors, excluding under-12s.

"I actually feel a wee bit emotional saying this, from Monday, as long as you stay within permitted limits, you can hug your loved ones again," the First Minister told a Scottish Government briefing.

But she warned it remains "vital to be cautious", saying that dropping social distancing will be reviewed for all situations in the coming weeks.

However, Moray, in north-east Scotland, will remain in Level 3, with Ms Sturgeon warning: "The situation in Moray, together with the emergence of new variants globally, should be a sharp reminder to all of us that the virus remains a real threat."

It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Monday he will proceed with the return of indoor socialising and dining from May 17, hailing a "very considerable step on the road back to normality".

​​Follow the latest updates below.

12:34 PM

Think seriously about jetting off on holiday, Sturgeon warns Scots

Nicola Sturgeon has called on Scots to "think seriously" about taking holidays, despite unveiling changes to the rules on non-essential travel.

Speaking at a coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh, the First Minister urged Scots to "err on the side of caution" after announcing a new traffic light system in Scotland.

"Even though the rules on non-essential travel are starting to change, that doesn't mean we're saying that non-essential international travel is desirable," she said.

"Everyone should think seriously about whether they should travel abroad this summer."

She added: "When it comes to holidays abroad, my advice continues to be to err on the side of caution and to staycation this summer."

12:13 PM

Looking ahead to summer, Greece speeds up jabs on islanders

In welcome news for British holidaymakers, Greece is stepping up Covid-19 vaccinations of its island residents ahead of a planned May 14 launch to its tourism season.

"We are giving our islands priority... by opening up vaccination of their entire adult population earlier than the rest of Greece," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said. "The aim is to fully vaccinate permanent (island) residents by the end of June."

Greece Covid - LEXANDROS VLACHOS/EPA
Greece Covid - LEXANDROS VLACHOS/EPA

Greece is keen to see crowds of holidaymakers back on its idyllic islands, prompting its tourism minister to hold talks with Britain.

The country is on England's amber travel list for when the overseas travel ban lifts on May 17, requiring at least five days in quarantine on return.

12:01 PM

Lockdown loosening will be delayed in region of north-east Scotland

Case numbers in Moray, north-east Scotland, are more than four times higher than in the rest of the country, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said.

"It's against that backdrop that, unless the situation was to materially improve over the next few days, it would simply not be safe or sensible to ease restrictions there from Monday," she said.

As well as Moray remaining in Level 3, she said the region would see travel restrictions reimposed to ensure cases do not rise in other areas of the country. "This will mean that travel in and out of Moray will be limited to permitted purposes only," she added.

But nationally, the "huge success" of the vaccination programme and with compliance with restrictions has seen Scotland's case numbers drop from an average of 226 per day to 177 per day.

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11:50 AM

Scotland isles to enjoy even more freedom from next week

Scotland's islands will move to Level 1 next week due to vaccination coverage and low case numbers, Nicola Sturgeon said.

Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland, all islands in the Highland Council area with the exception of Skye and the islands in the Argyll and Bute area are affected.

The First Minister says she hopes Scotland will reach Level 1 on June 7 and Level 0 on June 28, shortly after England is due to lift all restrictions.

She says she is hopeful that life will become more normal in the summer and autumn.

Watch the Scottish Government briefing live below:

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11:37 AM

State school attendance dips as Government finally meets laptop pledge

Pupil attendance in state schools in England has fallen over the past week, Government figures show.

Around 92 per cent of state school pupils were in class on May 5, down from 93 per cent on April 29, according to the Department for Education (DfE) statistics.

Just under nine in ten secondary school pupils were in class last week, down 1 per cent on the previous week, while attendance in primary schools remained at 95 per cent.

The DfE estimates that approximately 1 per cent of all pupils on roll - up to 84,000 children - did not attend school for Covid-19-related reasons on May 5, similar to April 29.

Meanwhile, the Government has finally met its January pledge to provide 1.3 million laptops and tablets to disadvantaged pupils, figures suggest. New DfE data shows a total of 1,313,449 laptops and tablets have been delivered or dispatched for remote learning since the start of the pandemic.

11:29 AM

Scotland to ease lockdown further next week, Sturgeon confirms

Most of Scotland will move to Level 2 of Covid-19 restrictions on Monday, Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed at a Scottish Government coronavirus briefing.

But Moray will remain in Level 3 following a surge in cases and an increase in hospital admissions.

In the rest of the country, from May 17 four people from two households will be able to meet indoors, six people from three households will be able to meet in a hospitality venue and eight people from eight houses will meet outdoors, excluding under-12s.

Adults from different households should still maintain two-metre social distancing but young children will be no longer required to stay apart. Indoor hospitality is set to resume with alcohol being served and pubs or restaurants.

11:11 AM

Booster jabs and anti-obesity drive in Queen's Speech

There is a continued need to "remain vigilant, maintain appropriate infection prevention and control, and be mindful of the risk from potential future waves" of Covid-19, the briefing accompanying the Queen's Speech says.

But the document adds: "Now more than ever the Government will back the NHS."

It says the Government is planning a potential booster vaccine campaign in the autumn to protect the vulnerable against Covid. "Over the longer term, regular boosters are likely to become a regular part of managing Covid-19," it says.

Queen's Speech - Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
Queen's Speech - Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Measures will also be brought forward to support the health and wellbeing of the nation, including tackling Britain's obesity problem.

A new incentive scheme called Fit Miles will look at paying people to eat better and exercise more while there will be more support for GPs to help people lose weight.

11:07 AM

Queen's Speech confronts huge NHS backlog brought by Covid

Boris Johnson has put repairing the NHS following the Covid pandemic at the heart of the next programme for government.

The Queen's speech to officially reopen parliament this morning includes an NHS "catch-up and recovery plan" detailing the "unprecedented challenge" now facing the health service.

The Prime Minister commits to clearing the backlog of 4.7 million people in England waiting for care and more than 380,000 waiting more than a year for treatment.

The Government has also pledged to "account for the returning demand of those people who have not come forward for care during the pandemic". It wants to persuade these "missing referrals" to see their GP to find undiagnosed conditions, including cancer.

10:57 AM

Protesters outside AstraZeneca HQ in Cambridge demanding 'people's vaccine'

Activists have gathered outside AstraZeneca's headquarters in Cambridge this morning, demanding the Covid-19 vaccine firm share its blueprints with the World Health Organization (WHO).

The protest, organised by Global Justice Now, is calling for the British-Swedish company to openly licence its jab and commit to sharing technology to ensure a "people's vaccine" for the world.

It comes as the UK and EU are under pressure to back US president Joe Biden's support for waiving patent rights on vaccines to boost supply in South Asian nations where the virus is surging (scroll down).

AstraZeneca has promised not to profit from its jab during the pandemic, and has sold its low-temperature, easy-storage vaccine at low cost.

AstraZeneca - Leon Neal/Getty Images
AstraZeneca - Leon Neal/Getty Images

10:39 AM

US approves Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for children

The Pfizer coronavirus vaccine has been approved for use in children aged 12 to 15 by regulators in the US in what was described as a “watershed moment” in the effort to bring the pandemic under control.

Until now, only those aged 16 and older have been permitted to receive the two-dose vaccine.

The Federal Drug Administration’s approval after a weeks-long safety review must be ratified by an advisory committee of the government’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

If it gives its go ahead at a scheduled meeting on Wednesday, vaccinations of children can begin immediately.

10:32 AM

UK in 'constructive' talks with US over waivers on Covid vaccine patents

Britain is seeking constructive engagement with the United States and other World Trade Organization members on the issue of patent waivers for Covid-19 vaccines, Downing Street has said after pressure from charities to back President Joe Biden's proposals.

Last week, the US threw its weight behind waiving intellectual property rights on the jabs to help manufacturers free up supply in poorer nations, where the rollout is slow.

"We are engaging with the US and other WTO members constructively on the TRIPS waiver issue, but we need to act now to expand production and distribution worldwide," the government spokesman said this morning.

"Any negotiations in the WTO on a waiver will require unanimous support, which could take a significant amount of time. So while we will constructively engage in the IP discussions, we must continue to push ahead with action now including voluntary licensing agreements for vaccines."

10:14 AM

Extremists 'exploiting Covid conspiracies to recruit vulnerable people'

Right wing extremsists are using Covid 19 conspiracy theories to identify, target and radicalise vulnerable people, one of Scotland Yard's most senior counter-terrorism officers has warned, writes Martin Evans.

Terrorists have seized on wild rumours about the dangers of 5G technology and misinformation about the vaccine to stoke distrust about authority and lure people into terrorist activity, police believe.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist from counter terrorism policing, said the pandemic had been exploited, particularly by right wing extremists, who were posing an ever increasing threat.

He revealed that counter terror police had foiled four potential terror attacks since the start of the pandemic.

09:56 AM

Covid deaths in England and Wales lowest since mid-September

Deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales have fallen to their lowest level since mid-September, new figures show.

A total of 205 deaths registered in the week ending April 30 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - the lowest number since the week ending September 18. The figure is also down 21 per cent on the previous week.

The total number of deaths registered in England and Wales was below the five-year average for the eighth consecutive week, the ONS said.

Some 9,692 deaths were registered in the week to April 30, 7.3% below the average for the corresponding period in 2015-19.

Before the eight most recent weeks, the last time deaths were below average was in the week to September 4 2020.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock welcomes the data:

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09:16 AM

Care home deaths down 30pc on previous week

Some 35 care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales were registered in the week to April 30, down 30% on the previous week.

In total, 42,416 care home residents in England and Wales have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate since the pandemic began.

The ONS figures cover deaths of care home residents in all settings, not just in care homes.

08:48 AM

Poll | Will you be hugging people on Monday?

We're interested in what you will be doing.

08:39 AM

Weekly Covid deaths down 21pc in England and Wales

A total of 205 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending April 30 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics - the lowest number since the week ending September 18.

The figure is down 21% on the previous week.

Around one in 48 (2.1%) deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to April 30 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate.

08:19 AM

Holidaymakers can use NHS app to 'prove' vaccine status

Holidaymakers who have had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine will be able to "prove" their status to other countries, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.

The Cabinet minister confirmed that people in England who travel abroad will be able to use the NHS app to demonstrate they are fully vaccinated when the ban on overseas leisure travel is lifted on Monday.

The app is currently used to book medical appointments and order repeat prescriptions, and is different from the Covid-19 app.

People who do not have access to a smartphone and know the country they are travelling to requires proof of vaccination status can call the NHS helpline 119 from Monday and ask for a letter to be posted to them.

Mr Hancock told Sky News: "The certification, being able to show that you've had a jab, is going to be necessary for people to be able to travel.

"So, we want to make sure people can get access to that proof, not least to show governments of other countries that you've had the jab if they require that in order to arrive.

08:02 AM

Vaccine working against Indian variant, Matt Hancock suggests

The Health Secretary said: "We have some degree of confidence that the vaccine works effectively against the so-called an Indian variant.

"We're more confident with the vaccines effectiveness against the Indian variant than the South African variant, but these are reasons to be to take cautious, a cautious approach at the borders in order to protect the progress that we've made at home, that's the approach that we're taking."

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07:41 AM

Indian variant poses 'global concern', says WHO

India's coronavirus crisis showed scant sign of easing on Tuesday, with a seven-day average of new cases at a record high and international heath authorities warning the country's variant of the virus poses a global concern.

India's daily coronavirus cases rose by 329,942, while deaths from the disease rose by 3,876, according to the health ministry. India's total coronavirus infections are now at 22.99 million, while total fatalities rose to 249,992.

India leads the world in the daily average number of new deaths reported, accounting for one in every three deaths reported worldwide each day, according to a Reuters tally.

The seven-day average of new cases is at a record high of 390,995.

The World Health Organization said the coronavirus variant first identified in the country last year was being classified as a variant of global concern, with some preliminary studies showing that it spreads more easily.

"We are classifying this as a variant of concern at a global level," Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead on Covid-19, told a briefing in Geneva on Monday. "There is some available information to suggest increased transmissibility."

07:25 AM

Variants 'biggest risk' to roadmap, says Hancock

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said the emergence of new coronavirus variants represent the "biggest risk" to lockdown easing in England.

Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast: "There is no doubt that a new variant is the biggest risk. We have this variant that was first seen in India - the so-called Indian variant - we have seen that grow.

"We are putting a lot of resources into tackling it to make sure everybody who gets that particular variant gets extra support and intervention to make sure that it isn't passed on.

"However, there is also, thankfully, no evidence that the vaccine doesn't work against it."

07:24 AM

Third wave inevitable, says expert

Professor Graham Medley, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and chairman of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-M) group, which advises Government, said the country may be back to normal by the end of the year if there were limited threats from variants.

But he warned there will "inevitably" be a third wave of infection "but whether that translates into hospitalisations, I think is is the big question. And that's still uncertain. I think we've lost the kind of projections that we had back in February, (they) had some really quite scary numbers in, but they were based upon the fact that the vaccines might not work, but now we know they do..."

07:09 AM

People with Covid not admitted to hospital 'go to GP more after infection'

Coronavirus patients who are not admitted to hospital have a low risk of serious long-term effects, but they could report more visits to a GP in the six months after infection, new research suggests.

According to the six-month study, people who tested positive for the virus and were not admitted to hospital had a slightly increased risk of needing medical treatment for blood clots and breathing difficulties, compared with those who had not been infected.

There was also a slightly increased risk of starting medications for breathing difficulties and migraines.

However, the risks of these factors at the individual level remained small, researchers from the University of Southern Denmark say.

Experts assessed the risk of initiating medication and receiving a hospital diagnosis for a new condition by comparing individuals who tested positive for coronavirus with those who had a negative test during the first wave of the pandemic in Denmark.

07:00 AM

Face masks could be scrapped on June 21, says Health Secretary

Face masks could be a thing of the past come June 21, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.

Asked if there was a possibility the mandatory wearing of face masks could be scrapped in the next step of lockdown lifting, Mr Hancock told Sky News: "We haven't ruled that out when it comes to the where that where we end up on social distancing rules."

He said at this stage, the only change was in schools, where wearing a mask in lessons will now not be enforced.

"These lessons are it's harder to communicate, it's harder to teach," he said.

"But in, in general settings, we're keeping the rules on masks, as they are for this step outside of schools, your mask, mask wearing is one of those things that the cost of it to your personal going about your normal life is really, really small.

"We know that they are of benefit. And that's one of the things we've learned. One of the things that scientists have developed the science on and learned during the pandemic. And so those rules will be saying the same, except for within school settings."

06:43 AM

Can two unvaccinated people hug?

Asked if two people should hug if they have not had their vaccinations, Matt Hancock said: "If two people, neither of them have been vaccinated, then of course the risk of passing on a disease is much higher than if they have been vaccinated.

"I mean that's one of the reasons that the vaccine programme is so, so important and so brilliant is that it gives that level of protection.

"And until now we've had blanket rules across the board. But now what we say with the prevalence of this disease so much lower than it was, that we think, trusting people's personal responsibility is the right way to go because those who are most at a risk from the disease, most of risk of ending up in hospital, or dying - the vast, vast majority of them are vaccinated "

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06:40 AM

What does a 'cautious hug' mean?

Asked to clarify what is meant by a "cautious hug", the Health Secretary told Sky News: "It depends on people's circumstances so we will be changing the rules to be far more about people taking personal responsibility exercising common sense according to their circumstances."

He said that people had been "behaving brilliantly" so far, and added "it is much safer for two people who've had both vaccines to be in close contact" compared to one vaccinated person and one unvaccinated person or who people who have not had jabs.

"People can exercise their own personal responsibility so your grandparents - sometimes for the first time in over a year - will be able to be close to their grandchildren.

"But of course, taking into account the individual risk of catching this disease that people have which differs according to circumstances."

06:22 AM

Today's front page

Here is your Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, May 11.

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04:46 AM

Indian strain recorded in Philippines

The Philippines has detected its first two cases of a coronavirus variant first identified in India, its health ministry said on Tuesday.

The World Health Organisation has classified the coronavirus variant, known as B.1.617, as a variant of global concern with some preliminary studies showing that it spreads more easily.

The variant was confirmed in two Filipino seafarers who returned in April from the United Arab Emirates and Oman, said Alethea De Guzman, director of the ministry's epidemiology bureau.

The seafarers were isolated on their return and had both recovered.

In a bid to prevent the entry of variants, the Philippines has temporarily barred travellers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh from entering the country.

03:48 AM

It’s up to all of us to exercise common sense, says PM

People should use their common sense when rules are relaxed to allow them to socialise indoors for the first time this year, Boris Johnson said on Monday.

Confirming that stage three of his England reopening roadmap would go ahead from May 17, the Prime Minister said he wanted people to take personal responsibility for their decisions rather than relying on "government edicts".

From next Monday, there will no longer be a requirement for people gathering in groups of six or two households to stay two metres apart, as the current guidance says.

Instead, those in a group will be free to judge for themselves whether they should hug, shake hands and sit near each other.

Read the full story here.

03:44 AM

Travel spots set to be added to the ‘green list’

The British Virgin Islands and a clutch of Caribbean countries are among a limited number of destinations likely be added to the "green list" for holidays, The Telegraph understands.

Hopes of a major expansion including popular destinations in France, Spain, Greece or Italy are, however, likely to be dashed when the Government reviews its current list for quarantine-free travel in three weeks.

It means any big summer holiday getaway to the continent for Britons is likely to be delayed until July or even August.

​EXCLUSIVE: The destinations set to be added to the travel ‘green list’

03:40 AM

People with Covid not admitted to hospital 'go to GP more'

Coronavirus patients who are not admitted to hospital have a low risk of serious long-term effects, but they could report more visits to a GP in the six months after infection, new research suggests.

According to the six-month study, people who tested positive for the virus and were not admitted to hospital had a slightly increased risk of needing medical treatment for blood clots and breathing difficulties, compared with those who had not been infected.

There was also a slightly increased risk of starting medications for breathing difficulties and migraines.

However, the risks of these factors at the individual level remained small, researchers from the University of Southern Denmark say.

Experts assessed the risk of initiating medication and receiving a hospital diagnosis for a new condition by comparing individuals who tested positive for coronavirus with those who had a negative test during the first wave of the pandemic in Denmark.

03:37 AM

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  • Treasury begins disbursing $350 billion in COVID relief funding to states and localities

    The U.S. Treasury on Monday began giving state and local governments access to $350 billion in emergency funding from the American Rescue Plan, the department announced Monday.Why it matters: Though the money is aimed at helping state, local, territorial and tribal governments recover from the pandemic's economic fallout, the administration will generally give them wide latitude on how they can use the funds. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for freePer a White House news release, they will be able to use the money to "respond to acute pandemic-response needs, fill revenue shortfalls among state and local governments, and support the communities and populations hardest-hit by the COVID-19 crisis."Recipients can also use the funds to invest in infrastructure, provide premium pay for essential workers, and support mental health and substance misuse treatment.What they're saying: "With this funding, communities hit hard by COVID-19 will able to return to a semblance of normalcy; they’ll be able to rehire teachers, firefighters and other essential workers — and to help small businesses reopen safely," said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. "During the Great Recession, when cities and states were facing similar revenue shortfalls, the federal government didn’t provide enough aid to close the gap. That was an error.""With today’s announcement, we are charting a very different — and much faster — course back to prosperity," Yellen added.The other side: Republicans have argued that the relief package is not tailored narrowly enough around the pandemic. RNC chair Ronna McDaniel told The Hill in March that the organization would hold Biden "accountable for misleading the American people and ensuring that voters know the real cost and waste of this package."More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

  • Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey Are Working Together on a Docuseries About Mental Health

    On Monday, Apple TV+ officially announced Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry’s long awaited docuseries, ‘The Me You Can’t See.’

  • Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck Staying 'As Low Key As Possible' Amid Reconciliation Rumors (Source)

    Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are continuing to spend time together after Lopez's breakup from Alex Rodriguez. The exes took a trip to Montana over Mother's Day weekend according to multiple sources, after he was previously spotted visiting her Los Angeles home more than once. A source tells ET, 'JLo and Ben have natural chemistry when they're together.'

  • Have your say: Which part of 17 May COVID lockdown easing are you looking forward to most?

    Boris Johnson is set to confirm the next stage of England's lockdown easing.

  • Chicago Teacher’s Union Proposes Door-Knocking Program for Paid Members to Discuss COVID Risk with Families

    During an appearance on CBS News, Chicago Teacher’s Union Vice President Stacy Davis Gates announced the union’s proposal for a summer door-knocking program in which paid members would engage families in the school district about in-person learning “hesitancy.” In response to the host’s question about students and parents who are “uncomfortable returning to in person learning,” Gates said that the Chicago Teacher’s Union is piloting a door-knocking program to better understand their concerns. “There are worries, there are concerns and anxieties that are being addressed by our mayor and our school district,” Gates said. She suggested that the COVID funding package allocated to Chicago public schools be diverted to family “engagement” and discussing COVID risk. “Here in Chicago our public school system has received almost 2 billion dollars for COVID relief. What we need to do is make sure those funds fund the recovery, fund engagement, ensure that the families who have suffered the most under this pandemic, black families, brown families, have the ability to recover and are heard in this process,” Gates remarked. Teachers unions and school administrations have cited parents’ safety fears over exposing their children to COVID as the reasoning for delayed re-opening. However, in cities like Los Angeles, parents are opting to keep kids home to avoid sending them to a de facto daycare, since many teachers are still working remotely and have not yet returned to the classroom. The Chicago teachers’ union voted in January to reject the city’s reopening date, demanding that its members continue to work remotely until all of the city’s instructors have been vaccinated. The implication was that students could still be out of the classroom as late Spring 2022. Teacher’s unions have blocked re-opening efforts nationwide, even as academic performance suffers, a youth mental health crisis grows, and women exit the labor force in droves to support their children’s schooling. Evidence corroborated by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that the coronavirus poses minimal risk for young people and that school transmission is low. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), one of the nation’s largest teacher’s unions, influenced the CDC February guidelines on reopening schools, the New York Post discovered. The CDC was preparing to allow all schools to resume in-person instruction regardless of the rate of community spread of COVID-19. But then AFT senior director for health issues Kelly Trautner objected and requested that new language be incorporated. “In the event of high community-transmission results from a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, a new update of these guidelines may be necessary,” Trautner’s suggestion read. The AFT also lobbied for exemptions from in-person teaching for immunocompromised faculty more prone to health complications from the disease, as well as staff with a family member at high risk for COVID-19. These language recommendations were adopted into the CDC’s released guidance on school reopening.

  • Prince Harry says most people 'carry some form of unresolved trauma, loss or grief' as he launches mental health series

    The Duke of Sussex has warned that most people “carry some form of unresolved trauma, loss or grief” as he launched his new Apple TV mental health series with Oprah Winfrey. It has been revealed that the Duke, 36, will open up about his own mental health struggles during the five-part series, which is called The Me You Can’t See. Beginning on May 21, it will feature interviews with celebrities including Lady Gaga and Glenn Close that “help lift the veil” on mental health and emotional wellbeing. The series has been co-created and executive produced by the Duke and Ms Winfrey, who will each discuss their own experiences. The Duke said: “We are born into different lives, brought up in different environments, and as a result are exposed to different experiences. But our shared experience is that we are all human. “The majority of us carry some form of unresolved trauma, loss, or grief, which feels - and is - very personal. “Yet the last year has shown us that we are all in this together, and my hope is that this series will show there is power in vulnerability, connection in empathy, and strength in honesty.”

  • Here’s What It’s Like Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine as a Kid—From a Family Doing the Clinical Trials

    Ty Dropic was only 13 years old when he signed up for Pfizer's pediatric clinical vaccine trial. From the mild side effects to his reasons for doing it, here's what it was like and why experts say kids everywhere should get vaccinated ASAP.

  • Column: If California is such an 'anti-business' state, why is its economy booming?

    A new survey concludes that California is most anti-business state, but it can't explain why it's also the fastest-growing.

  • Animal Rescue Has Released 1,000 Feral Cats into Chicago's Streets to Combat City's Rat Problem

    The Tree House Humane Society's Cats at Work program is helping Chicago residents find an environmentally friendly, feline solution to handling the city's numerous rats

  • The Next Big COVID Disaster Could Be Here

    Anadolu Agency/GettyWith India’s surge in COVID-19 cases continuing to devastate the country, wary epidemiologists are trying to forecast where the novel coronavirus will strike next.Some experts are casting a wary glance toward another vast, developing country that—like India—suffers huge health disparities and uneven access to vaccines: Nigeria.With 200 million people, it’s the most populous country in West Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world.“Nigeria is actually quite vulnerable,” Ngozi Erondui, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House Center for Global Health Security in the United Kingdom, told The Daily Beast. “It has a lot of similarities to India.”The world isn’t powerless to stop COVID from devastating Nigeria the way it’s doing India. More equitable distribution of vaccines across borders could build a firewall against a surge in cases in Nigeria, as well as in other less developed countries.COVID-19 Vaccinations Are Slowing—Just in Time for the Indian VariantBut that would require the world’s richer countries to share lifesaving resources with their poorer neighbors. And if India’s tragic example proved anything, it’s that the world’s vaccine “haves” are in no hurry to help out the “have-nots” on distant continents.That said, “African” is not synonymous with “poor.” The continent is huge and diverse. Its 54 countries with their 1.2 billion people run the gamut from big to small, rich to poor, powerful to weak, democratic to authoritarian.Likewise, the African countries’ pandemic experiences have varied. South Africa—one of the richer countries on the continent—got hit hard last summer, and then again in January. Officials there have logged more than 54,000 deaths.That’s 93 fatalities per 100,000 people, a rate that’s much lower than the 175 deaths per 100,000 population the U.S. has registered, but much higher than the global average of 38 fatalities per 100,000 people.Many of the less industrialized African countries have, so far, managed to avoid the catastrophic surges in infections that have driven up death tolls in richer countries. A total of 580,000 Americans have died of COVID; only 1,600 Nigerians have died.But that doesn’t mean COVID isn’t coming for Nigeria and other African countries—it might just mean it hasn’t gotten there yet. “I see raging COVID-19 fires breaking out across the world in the coming weeks and months,” Lawrence Gostin, a Georgetown University global health expert, told The Daily Beast. “And I am most concerned about Africa.”“I see the crisis in India as a leading indicator of what is to come in other low and middle-income countries,” Gostin added.Bear in mind, India—despite its teeming cities, limited public health measures and patchwork health care—was relatively lucky until recently. The country of 1.37 billion counted just 160,000 fatal cases through March, for a rate of 11 per 100,000.Then in April, a new and more transmissible variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, known to geneticists as “B.1.617,” spread across the country, driving cases and deaths through the roof. In a span of just a couple of weeks, India added nearly 50,000 deaths. The fatality rate jumped to 15 per 100,000.The Frustrating Reason We’re Flying Blind on New COVID VariantsIndia’s COVID surge is ongoing as of this writing, but the trends are encouraging. The daily rates of new cases and deaths are flattening. While every indication is that tens of thousands more Indians will die before the surge ends, at least the pandemic isn’t still getting worse there.But the novel coronavirus is an opportunist. It looks for densely packed, unprotected populations. Spreading via aerosols from one person to the next, it sets up a proverbial laboratory in each body it infects. Every individual SARS-CoV-2 infection mutates every two weeks for as long as it’s active, looking for evolutionary pathways that might produce a new increasingly transmissible variant.New variants help the virus spread even faster in a self-reinforcing cycle that ends only when strong social-distancing mandates, vaccinations, the antibodies of survivors—or, more likely, a combination of all three—cut off its transmission pathways. The harder it is to socially-distance, and the lower the vaccine uptake, the longer the pathogen has to run amok.It’s no accident SARS-CoV-2 thrived in India this month. Popular religious festivals drew huge, maskless crowds. Meanwhile, India’s vaccination effort has been abysmal. The country has fully vaccinated just 3 percent of its population, compared to more than 30 percent in the United States. The global average for full vaccination is slightly more than 3 percent.Nigeria, with its teeming cities, deep poverty and ramshackle health system is, from an epidemiological standpoint, a lot like India—except worse, in some aspects. Where India at least has some domestic vaccine-manufacturers, Nigeria has none. It must import all of its doses.That helps to explain why the country has partially vaccinated just 1 percent of its population—and fully vaccinated almost no one. The government in Lagos expects to receive 84 million vaccine doses from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson in coming weeks.But that’s enough to fully vaccinate just one out of five Nigerians. Vaccinating three-quarters of the population—the proportion experts say could result in “herd immunity” that blocks most transmission pathways—could take until 2022.To help Nigeria and other unprotected countries, the world’s rich countries should stop hoarding excess doses. More jabs isn’t a panacea, of course—even a country with plenty of vaccines can have trouble administering it. But while logistics, as well as hesitancy among wary citizens, could slow inoculations, a shortage of doses definitely will slow it.“The only way to know for sure how well Nigeria will administer vaccines is to ship it. Once they have a larger supply of doses, then we can see how things like distribution and hesitancy are impacting their vaccination campaign,” Shaun Truelove, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told The Daily Beast.Global supply isn’t the biggest problem. The U.S. alone, a country with multiple competing vaccine-producers, is sitting on a stockpile of more than 60 million unused doses even as more vials arrive from factories and the vaccine-uptake rate ticks downward, especially among Republicans.It wasn’t until weeks into India’s ongoing COVID surge that the administration of President Joe Biden promised to ship some of its extra vaccines to the country. The spare jabs, from AstraZeneca, aren’t even authorized for use in the United States. To Americans, those doses aren’t just surplus—they’re useless.What’s particularly egregious about the delay in releasing surplus vaccines is that health officials anticipated this problem a year ago. Last spring, the U.N.’s World Health Organization, along with several international public-private partnerships, worked together to set up the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access initiative, or COVAX.The idea was for rich countries to pay for vaccines for poor countries. COVAX’s goal was to deliver 100 million doses by March. It actually delivered fewer than 40 million. “This has set Nigeria and many countries up to fail,” Erondu said.The United States is part of the problem. The Trump administration refused to sign on to COVAX, a move that reflected its narrow “America-first” philosophy. The Trump White House either didn’t understand—or didn’t care—that vaccinating poor countries helps protect rich countries, too. Viruses don’t respect borders, after all.The Biden White House reversed the decision back in February. The administration pledged $4 billion in cash, making the U.S. COVAX’s biggest financial donor, albeit belatedly. In a parallel move, Biden signalled support for a controversial proposal for the World Trade Organization to suspend patent protections for COVID vaccines, in theory allowing any manufacturer in any country to produce doses.But experts are divided on whether suspending patents would result in more doses reaching the countries that need it. Meanwhile, many richer countries have been late to fulfill their COVAX pledges, piling delay on delay as the novel coronavirus targets one unprotected population after another.Nigeria is ripe for infection. But the West African country doesn’t have to suffer the same fate as India. Vaccines are available. Mechanisms exist to get it to countries that need it most. What’s lacking is a sense of urgency in the countries that have more than enough, and don’t seem to appreciate the importance of sharing it.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Facebook’s ‘Oversight Board’ Declines to Bail Out Zuckerberg on Trump Ban

    Welcome back to “Forgotten Fact-Checks,” a weekly column produced by National Review’s News Desk. This week we have social media’s head-scratchers, the Biden administration’s refusal to face reality on COVID and the southern border, and more media misses. Who Watches the Watchers? The independent “oversight board” tasked with evaluating Facebook’s Trump ban found that “it is not permissible for Facebook to keep a user off the platform for an undefined period, with no criteria for when or whether the account will be restored.” Having found that the ban was “not permissible,” the oversight board decided to keep it in place for another six months while CEO Mark Zuckerberg comes up with a more “permissible” reason to ban the former president. In refusing to make a final determination, the oversight board declined to play its intended role: allowing Zuckerberg to avoid the criticism inherent to policing speech on his platform. Over the past month, National Review has been following Twitter’s curation team — which writes the platform’s “Moments” and “Trending” summaries to help “surface the best of what’s happening on Twitter,” according to its about page. As it curates what is happening around the world, Twitter pledges to “organize and present compelling content,” since “curators don’t act as reporters or creators of original work.” The platform claims that its team aims “to uphold high standards of accuracy, impartiality and fairness in our curation.” Well, let’s take a look at some recent examples to see if they are meeting that worthy standard. Much has already been written about the media debacle in covering the tragic death of Ohio teenager Ma’Khia Bryant, who was shot by police as she attempted to stab someone. That crucial detail — that Columbus police shot Bryant after she disregarded orders to drop the knife and charged a fellow girl with the deadly weapon — was completely ignored by Twitter’s Moments team. So what was the top-line takeaway? Police have named the officer in question, and “he has been ‘taken off the street’ while the criminal investigation is ongoing.” While Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams retroactively stealth-edited her USA Today op-ed on the Georgia election reform bill — removing a line in which she claimed she “can’t argue with” people who choose to boycott businesses in her state — Twitter played active defense on her behalf. According to the curation team, which cited “journalists and fact-checkers,” Abrams “supports boycotts in certain circumstances but not right now in Georgia.” A number of recent “trending” summaries, which are also curated, have raised some eyebrows. Wtf is this?? Twitter employees now promoting florida trutherism pic.twitter.com/o8cBMueHsg — Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) April 26, 2021 This is a blatant lie from Twitter and missing some serious context. Tucker Carlson didn't tell people to not wear masks. He told people to stop wearing them outside because there's little to no science to suggest they help. The CDC will also soon ease outdoor mask mandates. pic.twitter.com/uXZSUM7Lmr — David Hookstead (@dhookstead) April 27, 2021 So while Twitter may say it is not a publisher, its curation team sure acts like it is. More Biden Head-Burying The Biden administration tends to respond to policy criticisms by quibbling about semantics — take the southern border and COVID as two examples. Last week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in an interview that the media was to blame for the use of the word “crisis” in describing the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, insisting that it “wasn’t really a crisis,” just a “huge challenge.” Unfortunately for Psaki, prominent Democrats — including both senators from the border swing state of Arizona — have repeatedly used the “c-word” when discussing the fact that migrant apprehension records are being shattered on a monthly basis— and have been since Biden took office. “What I didn’t hear tonight was a plan to address the immediate crisis at the border,” Senator Mark Kelly said after Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress earlier this month. “The reality is that this is a crisis,” Senator Kyrsten Sinema said in a radio interview last week. “We all know it, and the federal government must do more.” And on COVID, Biden’s chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci has defended outdoor mask mandates for children at summer camps and is now warning that the concept of “herd immunity” is “elusive” and “mystical.” On Monday, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a meticulous documenter of the pandemic since patient zero, inserted a healthy dose of reality into the public discussion. "We should be lifting the mask ordinances outside in a wholesale fashion, I think we should be lifting them in indoor settings as well in many states," says @ScottGottliebMD. "We've hit our own goal–we just are reluctant to relax the measures now." pic.twitter.com/BHoGLi4B25 — Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) May 10, 2021 The Headline Fail of the Week As we noted last time, NBC News fluffed its coverage of a critical race theory referendum failing in a Texas school district. Well here’s supposedly neutral CNN to pick up the pieces: “A school district tried to address racism, a group of parents fought back” Media Misses Remember all that “debunking” of the COVID lab-leak theory? Well, this cautious, even-handed deep-dive into all the available evidence by a prominent veteran science reporter is well worth the read. It also includes this nugget: “Science reporters, unlike political reporters, have little innate skepticism of their sources’ motives; most see their role largely as purveying the wisdom of scientists to the unwashed masses.” Politico Playbook led last Friday with a “takedown” of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis driven by anonymous former staffers. Well, turns out there are ex-staffers willing to defend him on the record too! I certainly wasn’t “scarred” @playbookdc @tarapalmeri @rachaelmbade … @GovRonDeSantis @FLCaseyDeSantis are the best of the best. Looks like anybody on-the-record here actually backs that up. https://t.co/BlMeDDjUUq pic.twitter.com/c9dNF5xYvt — Dustin Carmack (@DustinCarmack) May 7, 2021 Was a counsel to @GovRonDeSantis while was chair of the National Security Subcommittee on House Oversight. He was as awesome then as he is now. 10/10 rating. https://t.co/p4peIawxbj — Mike Howell (@MHowellTweets) May 7, 2021 Finally, Democrats on social media rejoiced when Psaki first took the podium as White House press secretary earlier this year, dubbing moments where she delivers a feisty response to reporters “Psaki bombs.” Huffpost this week seemed to get caught up in the fervor as well, publishing a piece titled, “Newsmax Reporter Tries Trump’s ‘People Are Saying’ Line. Jen Psaki Isn’t Having It.”

  • AIDS virus used in gene therapy to fix 'bubble baby' disease

    A gene therapy that makes use of an unlikely helper, the AIDS virus, gave a working immune system to 48 babies and toddlers who were born without one, doctors reported Tuesday. Results show that all but two of the 50 children who were given the experimental therapy in a study now have healthy germ-fighting abilities. “We’re taking what otherwise would have been a fatal disease” and healing most of these children with a single treatment, said study leader Dr. Donald Kohn of UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital.

  • Philippines detects Indian variant as daily COVID-19 cases near eight-week low

    The Philippines has detected its first two cases of a coronavirus variant first identified in India, its health ministry said on Tuesday, even as confirmed daily COVID-19 infections fell to a near eight-week low. The World Health Organization has classified the coronavirus variant, known as B.1.617, as a variant of global concern with some preliminary studies showing that it spreads more easily.