The Queen arrives at church in Sandringham
Queen Elizabeth and her son Prince Edward travel to St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham. The Monarch attended the Sunday service while her husband, Prince Philip, remains in hospital in London. .
When George H. Bush handed over to his Democratic successor, Bill Clinton, he wrote a heartfelt letter wishing President 42 luck and “great happiness”. George W. Bush offered Barack Obama friendly advice as he was leaving office to “ignore the critics” and that he was "pulling" for him. Since George Washington gave the keys to the White House over to John Adams in 1797, the transfer of power between presidents has largely been peaceful, if on occasion spiteful. This year all norms, however, have been broken. For starters, Donald Trump only conceded last week - at the urging of White House lawyers - after his supporters stormed the US Capitol. The formal process finally began this week, with White House staff pictured removing its current occupants’ belongings - everything from paintings to a taxidermy pheasant.
The mother of teenage actor Archie Lyndhurst has revealed he died from a brain haemorrhage while he slept at his family home in west London. The teenager, who had been acting since the age of 11 and was son of Only Fools and Horses star Nicholas Lyndhurst, starred in the hit CBBC show So Awkward as Ollie Coulton and was dating co-star Nethra Tilakumara. Archie had no signs of illness before his death his family said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed on Friday that staff at a Chinese virology laboratory became sick with a Covid-like illness in autumn 2019, months before the coronavirus spread widely from Wuhan. The day after a World Health Organization team landed in the central Chinese city on Thursday to probe the origins of the pandemic, Mr Pompeo suggested that a possible “laboratory accident” at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) merited investigation. In the final days of the administration of Donald Trump, who has been widely criticised for overseeing a disastrous pandemic response in which 393,000 Americans have died, Mr Pompeo has repeatedly sought to blame Beijing for the pandemic that has now killed over two million people worldwide. In a statement claiming to reveal previously “undisclosed information”, the State Department said it “has reason to believe that several researchers inside the WIV became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses.” While acknowledging it had no definitive proof that the outbreak began in a lab, the State Department accused the Chinese Communist Party of “systematically” preventing an investigation into the pandemic’s origin. “The CCP has prevented independent journalists, investigators, and global health authorities from interviewing researchers at the WIV, including those who were ill in the fall of 2019,” it said. The arrival of the WHO investigative team was delayed by months of sensitive diplomatic negotiations. China has constructed an image as a global leader in the fight against the pandemic and there are concerns the secretive ruling party may try to restrict information that counters this narrative. Visa issues blocked the arrival of the team earlier this month, which a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry blamed on a “misunderstanding”. WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus offered a rare public rebuke expressing his frustration at the delay. Chinese officials barred two members of the team from boarding their flight to Wuhan after testing positive for antibodies during a layover in Singapore. The 13 members of the team who arrived are now under a two-week quarantine in Wuhan during which time they will interview Chinese experts by video link. After undergoing more testing, they plan to spend another two weeks interviewing researchers, hospital staff and workers at the Wuhan market to where the first infections were traced.
Contamination ‘probably a one-off’ and no cause for panic, virologist says
Armin Laschet was elected as the new leader of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat party (CDU) on Saturday, signalling the start of an election campaign that will see the end of her 15 years in power. The 59-year-old Mr Laschet will hope to succeed Mrs Merkel as chancellor when she stand down following general elections in September. Mr Laschet defeated Friedrich Merz, a long-standing rival of Mrs Merkel, and Norbert Röttgen, a former environment minister, to win the leadership with the votes of 521 of the 1,0001 party delegates. It was a vote to stay on the course Mrs Merkel has set for the party. Mr Laschet pitched himself as the continuity candidate against the pro-business Mr Merz, who wanted to take the CDU back to what he saw as its conservative roots. "We'll only win if we stay strong in the middle of society," he said in his final pitch to delegates."We have to win, not because we want to win, but because we have to for our country, for our future." As regional leader of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, he had the most government experience of the candidates, but saw his standing damaged by his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Although he failed to inspire during the campaign, he was the preferred candidate of the party establishment, and Mrs Merkel made her own backing clear in a speech on Friday when she said she wanted to see "a team" win -- Mr Laschest was the only candidate standing in a team, with Jens Spahn the popular health minister as his running mate. But Mr Laschet is not guaranteed a clear run at the chancellorship in September. German party leaders are not automatically candidates for chancellor and the CDU is not set to name its candidate until Easter. Waiting in the wings are Markus Söder, the leader of the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, and Mr Spahn, Mr Laschet's running mate. Both are considerably more popular with voters than Mr Laschet and both have both been on manouvres to secure the chancellor candidacy. But the CDU will be relieved the party leadership is finally settled. A new leader was supposed to have been elected last April, but the contest was twice delayed by the pandemic. In the end the party conference had to be held online, with delegates watching from their homes as the three candidates spoke in an empty television studio.
Donald Trump isolated and enraged ahead of Biden inauguration. A slew of aides have deserted the president and the Pentagon has decided not to hold an armed forces farewell tribute
Fifty-strong Northern Research Group calls for emergency increase to stay – ahead of Commons vote
Military also being sent to hospitals in London
A lot of camera trickery was involved, too.
Forty-seven players have been forced into two weeks of hotel quarantine in Melbourne after three coronavirus infections were reported on two chartered flights carrying them to the year's first grand slam, the tournament organisers said on Saturday. Two dozen players who arrived from Los Angeles entered strict hotel quarantine after an aircrew member and Australian Open participant who is not a player tested positive for the new coronavirus. Later, another non-player passenger on a flight from Abu Dhabi tested positive, prompting the organisers to usher 23 players into hotel quarantine.
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Labour chiefs are hoping to crown Anas Sarwar as new Scottish leader "imminently", with the Left struggling to find a candidate. Ian Murray, the Shadow Scottish Secretary and the party's only MP north of the Border, said the party "cannot afford a contest" so close to May's Holyrood election. He said that "if the party was being sensible" it should get a candidate selected and in place "imminently". The Edinburgh South MP added: "It has to be wrapped up by mid-February." Although Mr Sarwar, the clear frontrunner for the role, is yet to announce whether he will stand, Mr Murray said the moderate Glasgow MSP would be "very much worth supporting" if he stood. Senior moderates were hoping that Mr Sarwar could reach a deal with Monica Lennon, the party's health spokesman at Holyrood, who was viewed as his most likely challenger. Ms Lennon told BBC Radio Scotland she was "ruling nothing in and ruling nothing out at this stage." She added: " I’m listening to members and colleagues and I’m having discussions with them."
Forecasters say there has been up to 2cm of snow in Norfolk and East Anglia with more expected to fall.
The rollout of the coronavirus vaccine is well and truly underway, with jabs set to accelerate in the coming weeks as several new mass vaccine centres open their doors. According to new regional data released today by the NHS, the Midlands, North East and Yorkshire and the South East have seen the highest numbers of vaccinations to date. More than 447,000 doses (including first and second jabs) have been administered in the Midlands, while the fewest (236,000) have been handed out in the East of England. But can you drink before the vaccine, how quickly are you immune and are there any side effects? We have broken it down below... Can I drink alcohol after the vaccine? Alcohol is unlikely to make any difference to your health after you receive the vaccine, say experts, but out of an abundance of caution some alcohol charities recommend leaving it two weeks before getting a drink. Dr Fiona Sim, speaking in her capacity as chair of the independent medical advisory panel for alcohol charity Drinkaware, said: “We advise that you don't drink any alcohol for at least two days before, and at least two weeks after, you've been vaccinated, to try to ensure your immune system is at its best to respond to the vaccine and protect you.” She is also a Senior Clinical Adviser at NHS England and a visiting professor at the University of Bedfordshire. She added that the most important thing is getting the vaccine - and that applies to heavy drinkers as well as teetotalers. How long does it take to develop immunity? Public Health England says it will take “a few weeks” to develop immunity after your Covid vaccination - advice shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), America's influential equivalent. If you look at the trial data for the three Covid-19 vaccines currently approved for use in the UK, “you can see there’s a clear difference after three weeks,” says Trudie Lang, professor of Global Health Research at the University of Oxford. How much immunity/protection will I have after the first dose? The subject of vaccine doses has been the centre of much debate. In December, former prime minister Tony Blair urged the government to give as many people as possible an initial dose of a Covid vaccine - rather than preserving stocks so there is enough for second jabs. Although both the Pfizer-Biontech and Oxford University-Astrazeneca vaccines require two doses, Blair said that this could help bring the country out of lockdown sooner and said that the first dose gives “you substantial immunity.” “Partial immunity does occur after the first dose and we can see some protection occurring on day 12 after the first dose, but best immunity is seven days after the second dose,” says Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, a member of The Commission on Human Medicine (CHM). Once the second dose is administered – which comes 21 days after the first – people can expect full immunisation seven days later. This means that immunity can be expected 28 days after the first dose. However, Dr Pankhania says that there is a chance you can catch the virus after receiving the vaccine. This means if you are clinically vulnerable or shielding, it’s important to continue taking precautions. “None of the vaccines offer 100 per cent protection, so there is a small chance that you won’t be immunised - even after receiving one,” he says. “The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 95 per cent effective, meaning roughly 5 per cent of people won’t be protected. This is more likely if you are older, or already immunocompromised. Others may still get ill, but not as severely as they would have been without the vaccine.” Can I go out, go to work, or hug my grandkids after having it? No. The vaccines have been proven to protect against serious illness, but they have not been proven to protect against transmission, says Prof Lang. So you should continue to follow social distancing guidelines after receiving the vaccine. Those guidelines are only likely to be lifted once a large enough share of the UK’s elderly and vulnerable population have been vaccinated. Do I need the vaccine if I've already had Covid? Yes. Reinfection from Covid-19 is rare, and a recent study of healthcare workers by Public Health England found that immunity in most cases lasts at least five months (and maybe longer - five months was just how long the study lasted). But it is impossible to know whether or not you are immune simply by having had the virus, and so experts still recommend getting a vaccine. “Re-infection with COVID-19 is possible, [and a] vaccine should be offered to you regardless of whether you already had COVID-19 infection,” says the CDC Does the vaccine stop me transmitting Covid to other people? The short answer is, we don’t really know. Although it’s true that the vaccines do prevent life-threatening illnesses, none of the three approved vaccines - Moderna, AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech - have proven that they can stave off the virus altogether. It’s the same for transmission, too. “If you are immunised, there is still a potential for you to develop a mild infection and as a result be infectious to other people,” says Dr Bharat Pankhania, senior consultant in communicable disease control at the University of Exeter. Clinical trials of the covid vaccines show that they do substantially reduce the risk of becoming ill with the virus, but some people may still get infected and be able to spread the disease. “There may be a chance that it prevents you from being infectious too, but at the moment we can’t be 100 per cent sure,” adds Dr Pankhania. This uncertainty may be a consequence of the speed at which the vaccine was developed. Normally, a trial would observe recipients of a vaccine for a longer period of time, showing not just whether they became ill, but whether they still transmit a virus, before a vaccine entered wide use. Although it’s likely that the coronavirus vaccines provide at least reduction in transmission, it’s too soon to know for sure, or to what degree. “The proof of the pudding is in the testing. When we test these out in real life, with real people, we will know better,” says Dr Pankhania. In practice, this means that as the coronavirus vaccine is rolled out, precautions such as social-distancing, mask-wearing and handwashing will remain a high priority. Will I need to continue getting Covid tests after the vaccine? Yes, if you have symptoms - even after getting both doses of the vaccine - you will need to get tested. This comes back to the idea that it could still be possible to transmit the virus after you are immunised. “Medical professionals are very interested in testing people who are post immunisation but became infected, as it helps us in our research to tell whether the vaccine is working or not,” says Dr Pankhania. He adds that the outcome of your test won’t be affected by the vaccine, as the dose is too small to be counted as an infection. Are there any side effects? There are many rumours circulating about side effects of the coronavirus vaccine - most of them false. As a starting point, the NHS website lists a range of side-effects to be aware of. They are usually mild and will go away quickly on their own. They include: A sore arm where the needle went in Feeling tired A headache Feeling achy Feeling or being sick The NHS website says it’s fine to take painkillers if you are experiencing any of the side effects. Out of all the European countries, Norway is offering the most cautious approach to the vaccine rollout. Norwegian officials said 23 people had died in the country a short time after receiving their first dose of the vaccine. Of those deaths, 13 have been autopsied, with the results suggesting that common side effects may have contributed to severe reactions in frail, elderly people, according to the Norwegian Medicines Agency. Severe allergic reactions to the covid vaccine in the UK have been very rare. Last year the trials of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine were halted after a participant suffered an adverse reaction. However, clinical holds of trials are not uncommon, and the vaccine was approved by the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) last year. Medical experts in the UK still agree that it’s far safer to get the vaccine than to not. Will the vaccine give me Covid symptoms? No. The vaccine might have some minor side-effects (see above), as would a flu jab or any other vaccination. But it will not give you Covid-19, or its symptoms. “Mild reactions have been reported in some people, which could be things like a fever, or feeling slightly unwell,” says Prof Lang. “But that doesn't mean you've got Covid. And that's the same as a normal flu vaccine. The vaccine’s not live.” Will I still need to wear a mask? Yes. In fact, experts predict we will be wearing masks well into 2021 and beyond. This is because it will take many months to ensure that those who urgently need protection - health care workers, the elderly, people with serious underlying health conditions - get vaccinated. Several studies have linked populations that have high rates of mask-wearing with lower infection rates. A recent study published in Health Affairs compared the coronavirus infection rate before and after masks were made mandatory in 15 states and the District of Columbia. It found that compulsory mask-wearing led to a slowdown in daily covid-19 growth rate, which became more apparent over time. The first five days after a mask mandate was issued, the daily growth rate slowed by 0.9 percentage points compared to the five days prior to the mandate; at three weeks, the daily growth rate had slowed by 2 percentage points. “It is going to take a very long time to be sufficiently confident that a nation's population has been immunised, and that viral activity has dropped significantly enough to say that we no longer need to wear masks,” says Dr Pankhania. He explains that the primary function of the vaccine is to stop vulnerable people dying; the second is to try and subdue the number of people who are infected. The third - eliminating the virus - only comes once we have achieved the first two goals. As Dr Pankhania sees it, there is a chance that we may never truly eliminate the virus, adding that we are “several years away from that point.”
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Carers are refusing to have the coronavirus vaccine, industry leaders have warned, amid concern over anti-vaxx disinformation being spread on Whatsapp. With outbreaks of Covid-19 in care homes more than trebling in a month, vaccines are seen as vital to stem the spread among residents. Discussing care homes at a Downing Street press conference on Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted "we clearly have got a problem there again", but insisted the vaccine rollout in the sector should "make a huge difference". However, a leading industry insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, warned that some carers are not prepared to take the vaccine. The warning comes as some communities have been reportedly targeted with rumours on messaging sites such as WhatsApp with misinformation about vaccines containing alcohol, beef and pork. “The take-up has been good and better than expected,” the care source said. “But there are some carers who don’t want it or can’t have the vaccine because of religious reasons.” “However, I think that if vaccination were to be made mandatory, that would be counter-productive, because more and more people will eventually need a vaccine to do something as simple as go travelling, or go on holiday.