National NHS guidelines on vaccinating elderly hospital inpatients have not changed - more than six weeks after a Sky News investigation revealed many on non-COVID wards were being refused the jab. When 99-year-old Betty Hilless developed a leg infection in January, she did not want to go to hospital. She was worried about catching COVID. But her GP suggested it was her best chance for getting a vaccine, so she agreed to be admitted. Once in hospital, her daughter Jan Maibaum was told inpatients were not being vaccinated. Image: Betty Hilless contracted coronavirus eight days after being refused a jab Image: Betty Hilless contracted coronavirus eight days after being refused a jab She said: "I asked about whether she'd been given the vaccine and they said: 'Oh no, we don't do … 阅读全文

The US Congress has approved a $1.9trn (£1.3trn) COVID-19 relief bill. The House of Representatives gave final congressional approval to the sweeping package by 220-211 votes, seven weeks after Joe Biden entered the White House and four days after the Senate passed the bill without a single Republican vote. Republican politicians opposed the package as bloated, crammed with liberal policies and not taking heed of signs the pandemic crisis is easing. Most noticeable to many Americans is the provision to provide up to $1,400 (£1,000) in direct payments this year to the majority of adults and extend $300 (£216) per week emergency unemployment benefits into early September. The House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed the COVID relief bill as "historic" and "transformative". That may sound like predictable partisan hyperbole, but the … 阅读全文

Test and Trace is taking a beating. Again. The latest to take a turn: the Public Accounts Committee, which has issued a report on the controversial service. The cross-party committee of MPs found that despite having access to "unimaginable resources", Test and Trace could not produce "clear evidence" it had reduced the spread of the virus. Live COVID updates from UK and around world The news provoked outrage on social media, where Test and Trace is always a popular whipping boy. Lord Macpherson, who until 2015 was the most senior official at the Treasury, called it "the most wasteful and inept public spending programme of all time". The shadow minister for schools, said £37 billion - the budget allocated to Test and Trace - had been flushed "down the toilet." … 阅读全文

Another 231 coronavirus deaths have been recorded in the UK - and more than 23.7 million jabs given. The total of deaths is higher than Monday's count of 65 - and compares to 82 recorded on Sunday - but data is often higher after a weekend 'lag' in reporting figures. The number of new cases recorded in the past 24 hours stands at 5,766. The overall number of deaths in the UK is now 124,797 and the total number of cases recorded throughout the pandemic sits at more than four million - 4,228,998. Live COVID updates from UK and around world Government data up to 8 March also shows of the 23,773,959 jabs given in the UK so far, 22,592,528 were first doses - a rise of 215,273 on the … 阅读全文

The Braddoch family are taking rapid flow COVID tests for the first time. They're in the comfort of their own homes, just as millions of people may be when they become entitled to two tests each week from 1 March. The new measures apply to anyone in a household or support bubble with a child or young person who goes to college, primary or secondary school in England. Thirteen-year-old Zach Braddoch is nervous. He's heard horror stories from friends who have taken these before. "They said when they stick it up your nose you can feel it on your eye balls," he says. Luckily for Zach, these tests are designed to be self-administered. His father James has already opened the packets and started examining their contents. A long swab, a … 阅读全文

A new lockdown has been imposed across the West Bank as Palestinians face a fresh surge of coronavirus cases and a continued wait for a proper vaccine rollout. The Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh announced the 12-day shutdown late on Saturday and blamed it on the struggle to get vaccines delivered to the territory. In the last 24 hours there have been 910 new cases and five deaths in the West Bank. Image: Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh announcing the lockdown Image: Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh announcing the lockdown To date Palestinians in the West Bank have received 10,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik vaccine. A separate delivery of 20,000 Russian vaccines has been delivered to the other Palestinian territory, Gaza. The Covax scheme, the global initiative to get vaccines … 阅读全文