What the papers said in the week ending 27 March 2021
A full year into the Covid-19 pandemic – Time for reflection
- There is praise for the quiet dignity of Professor Chris Whitty who has become a household name and a man who is trusted more than others. Information about his family and the rigorous and extensive training he has followed is impressive and reassuring ‘A class act’: Chris Whitty, the calm authority amid the Covid crisis | Coronavirus | The Guardian
- There are moving accounts of the impact of losses on the lives and health of many individuals ‘I’ve lost who I was’: UK pauses to reflect on year of Covid | World news | The Guardian
- ‘I have grieved in a hidden limbo’: losing a loved one in Covid’s first wave | Coronavirus | The Guardian
- Tensions within locked-down households have led to escalated misery and cries for help Calls to domestic abuse helpline in England up by 60% over past year | Domestic violence | The Guardian
- For some the pressures of home have been feeling too great. For others the lack of contact with loved ones has been the greatest burden. It is understood that we need to make changes to facilitate re-socialisation on small scales and larger scales. Investment in creation, maintenance improved equipment of public spaces such as parks is called for. Fine words – but these need to be matched by brave redistribution of resources for the common good, rather than for individual pleasures Action needed to tackle post-Covid ‘loneliness emergency’, MPs say | Loneliness | The Guardian
- A-connected-recovery-findings-of-the-APPG-on-loneliness-inquiry.pdf
Yet self-centred greed is identified at international and local levels:
- The world’s richest countries are hoarding vaccines. This is morally indefensible | Coronavirus | The Guardian
- Greed and capitalism or vaccine altruism? | Boris Johnson | The Guardian
- It’s not ‘greed’ behind the Covid vaccine success. It’s state finance and the NHS | Vaccines and immunisation | The Guardian
Additional damage:
With so much resource devoted to the pandemic we have seen week by week that other needs have been pushed aside. There are now many people suffering from cancer and other deadly conditions who have not received treatment. The painful conditions which are common in later life are relegated to long waiting lists NHS hit by Covid disruption as cancer referrals plunge | NHS | The Guardian
We are learning that more than half of people sufficiently affected by Covid-19 to require hospital care are still symptomatic five months on: Seven in 10 UK Covid patients still affected months after leaving hospital | World news | The Guardian
Despite all the effort, devotion and expense we are left uneasy to wonder if we could have handled this better: Taiwan with a population of 22 million has seen only 10 Covid deaths. The UK 126,000 deaths from 68 million How Taiwan triumphed over Covid as the UK faltered | Taiwan | The Guardian
Other matters:
A politically motivated wrong has been made right after 47 years: Shrewsbury 24: how industrial action led to 47-year fight for justice | UK criminal justice | The Guardian
We may be seeing a return to night-classes and other modes of adult education: Adult education, mental health and democracy | Further education | The Guardian
- The Guardian view on adult education: bring back evening classes | Education | The Guardian
- The-Centenary-Commission-on-Adult-Education-Report-LOW-RES.pdf
Fewer people are registered as unemployed: UK unemployment falls for first time in Covid-19 pandemic | UK unemployment and employment statistics | The Guardian
Though closure of shops has continued, independent stores and local shops are doing well – fewer closures and more openings British high street lost 11,000 shops in 2020, study shows | Retail industry | The Guardian
Vinyl records are finding favour from nostalgia, perhaps the quality of sound – and the attractive packaging UK vinyl spending on track to overtake CDs for first time since 1987 | Vinyl | The Guardian
The modest financial gain in the pension on reaching 80 has sparked a thoughtful exchange How to spend that 25p pension windfall | Carers | The Guardian
Ford motors said farewell to the Anglia, Consul, Zephyr and others during our lifetime – Now the Mondeo’s days are numbered Ford to end production of Mondeo model | Ford | The Guardian
John Humphrys will soon give way to Clive Myrie as host/question-master of Mastermind – joining Magnus Masterson, Peter Snow and Clive Anderson as former black chair specialists John Humphrys | Media | The Guardian
We have lost Dame Fiona Caldicott – first female President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists who maintained an elegant national profile most significantly as guardian of personal information. Dame Fiona Caldicott obituary | Health policy | The Guardian
Last comment on lockdown relates to a change of fortune for cheeses from a French Monastery – unable to sell so much to their usual outlets of hotels and restaurants, the monks opened their doors (via the internet) to all comers
- French monks locked down with 2.8 tonnes of cheese pray for buyers | Cheese | The Guardian
- Opération fromage : Abbaye de Cîteaux & Divine Box
Most recent posting says all cheeses have been sold!
David Jolley
