Covid UK News Live – Latest Vaccine Updates & Lockdown

England’s top GP has said the NHS is fighting an epidemic of misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.

Dr Nikki Kanani, Primary Care Physician and Chief Medical Officer for NHS England and NHS Improvement, has established the health service ‘blueprint’ to address vaccine concerns.

In an opinion piece published by the i newspaper, Dr. Kanani said that the health service is “fighting dual epidemics: Covid and misinformation, particularly around the vaccine.”

He said misinformation should not be allowed to spread “faster than the virus itself”, warning that scary stories and myths “cost lives.”

Holyrood has voted to declare that Scotland is facing a “mental health crisis”, with the opposition MSP uniting to defeat the government.

The vote in the Scottish Parliament came when the Health Committee warned that after the coronavirus pandemic “a mental health tsunami is coming, if the first wave has not reached us already.”

The committee’s coordinator, Lewis Macdonald, expressed his concern in a letter to Public Health Minister Mairi Gougeon, urging her to explain how the Scottish government would handle the situation.

That came when the Liberal Democrats raised the issue in a debate in Holyrood, where the motion, which “acknowledges that there is a mental health crisis in Scotland,” passed 65-58.

The Bristol variant of the coronavirus has reportedly been detected for the first time in the United States.

Research on the variant shows that it has the same composition as the Kent strain in the UK, but with an additional mutation in the spike protein E484K.

Danielle zoellner explains more:

Government data through February 16 show that of the 16,499,549 punctures given in the UK so far, 15,940,972 were first doses, an increase from 364,865 the day before.

Some 558,577 were second doses, an increase of 12,412 over the figures published the day before.

A man has denied sending an offensive tweet about Captain Sir Tom Moore after the centennial fundraiser’s death.

Joseph Kelly was charged under the Communications Act after the charge on February 3, the day after the WWII veteran’s death.

The 35-year-old man, from Castlemilk, Glasgow, was not present when the case was called to Lanark Sheriff’s Court today and attorney Archie Hill entered a plea of ​​not guilty on his behalf.

The court charge states: “On February 3, 2021 at Waverly Court, Lanark, you Joseph Kelly caused a post to the public via social media to be sent to you via a public electronic communications network that was extremely offensive or in an indecent or obscene manner or threatening character, and that made offensive remarks about Captain Sir Tom Moore, now deceased. “

Sheriff Nikola Stewart set a midterm appearance for May 19 before the trial date of June 17.

The New York attorney general filed a lawsuit against Amazon, accusing the online giant of “blatant disregard” of worker safety requirements during the coronavirus pandemic.

Liam James has more details:

The government has confirmed that a further 738 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 from today, bringing the UK total to 118,933.

Separate figures released by UK statistical agencies for deaths in which Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, along with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show that there have been 138,000 deaths. related to Covid-19 in the UK.

The government also said that, as of 9 a.m. today, there had been another 12,718 laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK.

It brings the total in the UK to 4,071,185.

Extending the symptoms of Covid-19 beyond the ‘classic triad’ of cough, fever and loss of smell could help detect millions more infections, scientists have said.

The researchers behind a new study have urged anyone who is feeling unwell to take a test that suggests expanding the list of symptoms to include fatigue, sore throat, headache and diarrhea would help detect around a a third more than Covid-19 cases.

Samuel Lovett has more details:

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has revealed that she was infected with Covid-19, saying it left her with “long-tail fatigue and brain fog.”

The celebrity wrote on her wellness blog, on her Goop website, saying she was in the process of starting a long-term healing plan.

Paltrow revealed: “Joking aside (no, 2021 was not the easiest year to do a dry January), cleaning up my diet, exercising and even thinking patterns last month made me feel energized, healthier and, believe it or not – wanting more. I am expanding this focus even further throughout the first quarter.

“A bit of history: I had Covid-19 from the beginning, and it left me some fatigue and mental confusion.”

The actress is the latest celebrity to share the experience of having Covid. Others who have done so include Sharon Osbourne, Tom Hanks, Idris Elba, and Bryan Cranston.

Boris Johnson’s promise to “level up” the country is “just a catchphrase” unless children are put at the center of the plans, the outgoing Commissioner for Children warned.

The prime minister must show that he takes vulnerable children seriously by placing them at the center of plans to “build back better” after the pandemic, Anne Longfield said in her final speech in office.