It's a good day. Most of the people in the UK have had Covid-19. People have had it many times. Since April there has been no legal requirement to self-isolate, testing is no longer free and a lot of time has passed since most have had their booster, which means that immunity has started to wane.
The result is that case rates are on the rise and there are fears that another wave may be coming.
I will be looking at whether a future of constant Covid reinfection is an annoyance or a danger. It will be right after the news.
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Projections show that the centrist grouping of the president has lost its absolute majority in the French parliament.
The government is facing growing anger over its refusal to join last-ditch talks to avert the biggest rail strike for three decades, with millions of people facing a week of canceled trains.
The war in Ukraine could last for a long time, according to Western leaders. Boris Johnson said thatUkraine's allies need to steel themselves for a long war as Russia brought reserve forces to help capture the city of Sievierodonetsk.
The number of suspects in the murders of a British journalist and an indigenous advocate in Brazil has risen to eight.
Dame KellyHolmes said she needed to do this now for her. At the age of 17, she realized she was gay.
The idea of getting reinsured with Covid was not on the minds of the people at the beginning of the epidemic. By April 2022, England had recorded over 890,000 re infections. According to a study published by Imperial College London in December of last year, the Omicron variant is five times more likely to cause disease than the Delta variant. The consequences of that may be unknown.
What is the next wave?
Epidemiologists and infectious disease experts say that Covid-19 won't become a more seasonal virus until at least 2020. It would be understandable to think that the infections are not likely in the summer. In 2020, Covid-19 was the same as it is today. The Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants have led to an increase in infections despite the fact that it is June.
We are on the verge of a new wave, experts warn The idea that the virus is now something akin to the common cold is implausible, according to Dr. Stephen Griffin, who was quoted in Linda Geddes' piece last week.
The scale and severity of infections would be the real concern if another wave were to happen. The chief executive of the National Health Service warned last week that frontline services are currently facing a situation "as challenging as any winter before the Pandemic" because of a lack of staff. There are millions of people waiting for treatment.
How about Covid?
A new report by King's College London may reinforce the idea that catching Covid-19 is not a big deal. The percentage of people who experienced long Covid was less than half in Delta cases.
The data does not show that this will be the case in the future. One in 23 people who catch Covid-19 have symptoms for more than the four week maximum, which is a lot of people. Two million people in the UK are thought to be living with the effects of long covid. This Today in Focus episode has something to say about what it is like. It is difficult to get on with life due to the symptoms reported by sufferers. We don't know much about the long term health consequences of exposing more people to these types of reinfections.
What about people with compromised immune systems.
The Welsh government dropped restrictions in late May. Learning to live safely alongside coronaviruses is the next phase. The 500,000 immunocompromised and immunosuppressed people in the UK are supposed to do that without ongoing measures, but how?
Exposure to Covid can be life threatening for some people. A world that is determined to get back to pre-pandemic times is not only dangerous for them, but also poses a new threat to the outside world. Without more targeted help for the clinically vulnerable, a new stance of personal responsibility mixed with the good old blitz spirit would be written off aslateral damage.
What are we going to do next?
Current vaccines are less effective against a new variant of the disease. It is believed that zero Covid is a pipe dream, but allowing coronaviruses to run rampant increases the likelihood of its evolution.
The new subvariants of Omicron are more resistant to the existing vaccines. It looks like the clinical trials can't keep up with the ever-changing virus as vaccine manufacturers try to create new versions of them.
More vulnerable adults and frontline social care and health workers will only be eligible for the autumn booster. There is no appetite for a vaccine drive from the government.
It's possible that covid will become the equivalent of a cold. We don't know how long that will take or how much it will cost us.
The libel case brought against her by Arron Banks was vindicated by her. She wrote that the litigation felt like it was meant to try to crush her. This case shows that no journalist is safe. There is a person named Archie.
Donna Ferguson talked to Marvyn Harrison, a black father who was having a hard time with his children. Harrison found a community after admitting that he was struggling with other black fathers. Nimo is a person.
The interview with Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine, was published in Saturday magazine. She says she couldn't believe it happened. I didn't have my passport prepared. There is a person named Archie.
How do you wake up and realize you are a meme? The man who became the face of the worst person you know meme was talking to Ashifa Kassam. Nimo is a person.
The app which is supposed to fix bill-splitting is called Splitwise. She writes that it fails to take into account the truth that people always find new ways to be assholes. There is a person named Archie.
The governing body of swimming voted to limit the participation of trans athletes. To be eligible to race, trans women need to prove that they have not experienced male puberty.
Matt Fitzpatrick won the US open with a six under par, beating world No 1 Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris by one.
The Canadian Grand Prix was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen. The third place finish was by Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes. Verstappen has a 49 point lead in the drivers' championship.
The Guardian leads with "Ministers refuse to join last-ditch effort to stop rail strikes". The Telegraph has a story about the rail union threatening to go on strike for six months. The summer of discontent is over, now teachers and nurses are fighting for pay. The Daily Mail has a story about the plague spreading. The Express is hoping that voters won't forgive rail strike betrayal and that Labour fails to condemn it. The union general secretary has told people to expect a long fight with Network Rail, and that the strikes will continue until the autumn. The top story in the Financial Times is "City bosses warn UK is ill-equipped to deal with severe economic shock".
When the bombardment of Mariupol became unbearable, a man and his dog went to find safety. Daniel Boffey's story is amazing.
The world is not all bad.
The popular appetite for mending beloved items is growing in the face of supply chain issues. With pop-up repair cafes thriving and more and more fashion brands offering mending services, London's Somerset House arts centre has just opened an exhibition devoted to reuse and restoration.
The senior curator began work on the exhibit in early 2020 after noticing that mending felt relevant to all the conversations about sustainable living. The idea of care is tied to it. I like the word "mend" because it talks of healing and the ability to fix something.
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