Read Sector

Twelve years ago, I attended a conference on public health where a leading expert on pandemics introduced his talk by saying: “My task is to tell you things you don’t want to know, and ask you to spend money you haven’t got on something you don’t think will happen.” He then went on to describe, … Read more

The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has called for sanctions on employers who flout rules on keeping workers safe from coronavirus, as Matt Hancock, the health secretary, refused to confirm how new guidance on social distancing at work would be enforced. Starmer said people were “really worried about going to work” and called for a consensus … Read more

A group of Tory MPs has urged the Church of England to allow funerals to be held in churches again on a small scale. Former cabinet ministers Liam Fox and Theresa Villiers are among the 36 Tories who have written to bishops to argue the “the wishes of the deceased and bereaved are not being … Read more

Downing Street’s scientific advisers feared people might intentionally seek to contract coronavirus and that a black market in fake test results could emerge if employers allowed workers to return only when they had a positive antibody test. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, known as Sage, was warned last month by its behavioural psychology subgroup … Read more

Health ministers in Scotland were barred from seeing thousands of coronavirus results from rapid testing sites for weeks because of data restrictions imposed by the UK government. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) began setting up rapid testing centres across England and Scotland to test hospital staff and key workers for Covid-19 in … Read more