https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9051155/MPs-warned-coronavirus-cases-London-chart-ahead-Tier-3-decision.html
London, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire go into Tier 3 at a day's notice: Lockdown from midnight TOMORROW after Hancock says new 'faster-spreading variant' of COVID is rampant in South East
Load of bollocks!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9052077/Matt-Hancock-blames-new-strain-coronavirus-surging-cases-London-South-East.html
Matt Hancock reveals mysterious and fast-spreading new strain of coronavirus named VUI – 202012/01 could be behind surging cases in London and the South East – but it has 'only been found in 1,000 people and isn't more deadly'
Again, more fear mongering bollocks from someone who has financial interests in vaccination companies.
A mutated strain of coronavirus may be the culprit behind a rapid surge in infections in London and the South East of England, Matt Hancock suggested today.
UK experts have so far identified more than 1,000 confirmed cases of the variant, called VUI – 202012/01, the Health Secretary told the House of Commons today.
There have been reports of the strain in at least 60 local authority areas and it is believed to be similar to ultra-infectious variants racing through Europe, he claimed.
VUI – 202012/01 was picked up in Kent last week during routine testing by Public Health England (PHE) and ministers were alerted to its existence on Friday.
PHE scientists are studying the mutant strain at a Government laboratory in Porton Down to see if it behaves differently to the normal, predominant version of the virus.
Experts will seek to find out if the variant is more infectious or deadly or if it will have any impact on Pfizer's vaccine. It normally takes about two weeks to get the results.
But Mr Hancock said there was 'currently nothing to suggest' the strain is more deadly or likely to cause serious symptoms than other versions of the disease, adding that it is also 'highly unlikely' to be resistant to vaccines.
So far little is known about VUI 202012/01 – which stands for Variant Under Investigation in December 2020 – or where it originated.
All viruses naturally mutate as they spread through populations and the changes normally make minimal difference in the way they behave in humans.
Many pathogens evolve in order to become more infectious, which often makes them less deadly so they can survive for longer and be spread to more people.
Independent scientists said it was 'too early to be worried or not by this new varian' and that it would be 'premature to make claims about the potential impacts of virus mutation' before it has been rigorously studied.
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE NEW STRAN?
Experts have so far identified more than 1,000 confirmed cases in Britain;
There have been reports of the strain in at least 60 local authority areas in England;
It has been named VUI 202012/01 – which stands for Variant Under Investigation in December 2020;
It was picked up in Kent last week during routine testing by Public Health England (PHE);
Ministers were alerted to its existence on Friday;
The strain is believed to be similar to ultra-infectious variants racing through Europe;
PHE scientists are studying the mutant strain at a Government laboratory in Porton Down;
There is 'currently nothing to suggest' the strain is more deadly or likely to cause serious symptoms than other versions of the virus;
'Highly unlikely' to be resistant to vaccines.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9051813/Coronavirus-Ex-Facebook-executive-suggests-vaccinated-people-coloured-masks.html
'Pretty sure the Nazis did something similar with yellow stars': Backlash agianst former Facebook exec who said everyone vaccinated should wear a certain color mask
An ex-Facebook executive has come under fire for suggesting that everyone who gets a coronavirus vaccine should wear a distinctive face mask.
Chamath Palihapitiya tweeted his idea on Friday, before Americans started receiving the jabs, saying the masks would 'signal to others that the [wearers] are vaccinated'.
But his tweet quickly came under fire, drawing comparisons with Nazi Germany's use of golden Star of David symbols to single our Jews for persecution.
'Pretty sure the Nazis did something similar with yellow stars,' another retorted.
A third added: 'So that everyone not willing to get the vaccine (for any reason) should feel different, wrong and ashamed to such a point that he'll force himself to get the vaccine, right?'
Mr Palihapitiya, a venture capital investor who was one of Facebook's earliest senior executives, spoke out on Friday - ahead of the start of the US vaccination campaign, which got underway today.
An intensive care nurse in New York the first to receive a COVID-19 shot this morning as the death toll from the virus neared 300,000.
The nurse, Sandra Lindsay, received the Pfizer shot at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens just before 9.30am during a livestream with New York Gov Andrew Cuomo.
'It didn't feel any different from taking any other vaccine,' Lindsay said. 'I feel hopeful today, relieved. I feel like healing is coming. I hope this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our history. I want to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe.'
The first of the vaccinations were administered on a day where the COVID-19 death toll approached the harrowing 300,000 milestone and cases and hospitalizations posted new record highs.
More than 186,880 new cases were reported on Sunday as the seven-day average hit 211,494, according to the COVID Tracking Project. Hospitalizations climbed to 109,331 with a 106,656 seven-day average.
The number of new deaths on Sunday were at 1,482, bringing the seven-day average to a record high of 2,427. The US is now seeing 300 more fatalities every 24 hours than it was during the previous peak in April.
The death toll across the country is now at 299,163 and infections are now at more than 16.25 million.
That Matt Handick is constantly fear mongering here.. He wants people vaccinated so that he can collect commissions..