The Spectator

Thursday

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Queen speaks, mobile masts burn and Boris Johnson goes into hospital

Home The number of people who had died from the coronavirus disease Covid-19 in the UK by Sunday 5 April was 4,313, compared with a total of 1,228 by 29 March, and of 281 by 22 March. In the following two days the total rose to 5,373. Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, was taken to hospital after his Covid-19 symptoms had persisted for ten days, and then to intensive care. His fiancée, Carrie Symonds, roughly six months pregnant, had spent a week in bed with Covid-19 symptoms. The aim was for there to be 100,000 coronavirus tests a day in England by the end of April, Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said; by 1 April 10,650 people a day were being tested.

The Spectator

Is Bernie Ecclestone the world’s oldest father?

Game on A few things which are still going on, in spite of coronavirus: — Football in Belarus, where the 2020 season recently began. Choice fixture over the weekend is Sunday’s clash between league-leaders FC Minsk and BATE. — Practice games in Sweden’s 5th and 6th divisions are going ahead as gatherings of fewer than 50 people are still allowed. Fifth division Skabersjo IF, who last week played sixth division Vastra Ingelstad, aren’t allowed their usual supporters, however – last season they had an average gate of 70. — Bets were still being taken last week for the Setka Cup, a table tennis competition in Moscow, and for Taipei’s Super Basketball. Father figures Bernie Ecclestone is to become a father again at the age of 89.

The Spectator

Letters: Our churches bring comfort – they must reopen

Is ‘the Science’ scientific? Sir: I hope that those in the highest places will have read and will act upon Dr John Lee’s excellent summary (‘The corona puzzle’, 28 March). His article cuts through the information overload and explains the surreal situation the country is now in. Draconian decisions have been made on the basis of ‘the Science’, apparently without realising that it is not science at all. The dangers of mere extrapolations, both mathematical and humanitarian, are widely understood. Modelling is, in this instance, a sophisticated form of extrapolation and even more dangerous. A specific model cannot be dignified with the term ‘science’ until it has withstood thorough testing.

The Spectator

Only Boris can end the lockdown

Events make a mockery of predictions. And events of recent days have borne that truth out most starkly. Nobody could have predicted where our nation stands today. We have gone from being a supposedly divided country into one united in response to an unprecedented crisis. The news that the Prime Minister has been admitted to intensive care has united the country in shock — and in hope for his recovery. From the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, Boris Johnson led in the way he always has. He threw himself into efforts to counter the virus. He dispensed optimism and hope where there was understandable fear.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Coronavirus costs skyrocket

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad: News and analysis Boris Johnson spent a second night in intensive care overseen by the ‘most knowledgeable respiratory specialist in the country’.The EU’s top science adviser has resigned over a disagreement with Brussels leaders over Covid-19 strategy.Meanwhile, talks between EU finance ministers over a €1.5 trillion bailout package for the southern member states have stalled after a marathon 16-hour discussion.

Tuesday

The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Boris ‘in good spirits’ – but still in ICU

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad: No. 10 says the PM is ‘good spirits’ in the Intensive Care Unit of St Thomas’ Hospital in London. He is receiving standard oxygen treatment but is not on a ventilator. Isabel Hardman has the latest.Donald Trump has asked two pharmaceutical companies in London developing potential Covid-19 therapies to offer assistance to the PM.A new report from University College London finds the school closures ‘do not appear to have a significant effect’ on the spread of Covid-19.

The Spectator

Full list: senior government figures affected by coronavirus

Boris Johnson, who has tested positive for coronavirus, was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of St Thomas' Hospital in London on Monday night, after his symptoms worsened. According to Number 10 officials on Monday, Boris remains conscious and was moved to the ward as a precaution in case he requires ventilation. The Times reports today that he has not been intubated and only needed four litres of oxygen – the normal threshold for intensive care is 15 litres.

Monday

The Spectator

The haunting beauty of empty cities

From our US edition

COVID-19 has a horrid ability to turn fiction into fact. Deserted modern cities are usually the realm of post-apocalyptic sci-fi movies. Now, many of us live in them. The world's greatest streets are dramatically empty; suspended suddenly in a dream-like quiet. It's eerie and also very beautiful. We usually often don't notice how remarkable our cities are the commotion. We are distracted by the crowds, the commotion and the congestion. Now it is hard for urbanites to notice anything else. The Spectator has looked around the world, and asked various writers in various places to describe where they live in lockdown.

empty cities london
The Spectator

Full list: Keir Starmer’s new Shadow Cabinet

Keir Starmer, the newly elected leader of the Labour party, has taken no prisoners with his cabinet reshuffle. Corbyn allies like Richard Burgon are out, and Ed Miliband is back. Here is the full make-up of Starmer's top team: Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer: Anneliese DoddsFormerly: John McDonnellAn Oxford PPE graduate, Dodds is a long time supporter of Starmer's leadership campaign. She has served as a shadow Treasury minister since July 2017. She had even been tipped for promotion by the former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell in early March, as he said he was ‘hoping she gets a significant role in the new administration’. Dodds is the first woman to be appointed Shadow Chancellor (and potentially Chancellor, if elected to office).

The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Is Boris still in charge?

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad: News and analysis Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital for further coronavirus tests last night. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will take over day-to-day operations while the PM is in hospital. James Forsyth has the details.Scotland’s chief medical officer has resigned after personally breaking the lockdown guidance by visiting her second home (twice). Podcast here.It could be a month before the UK finds a Covid-19 antibody test that works, according to Oxford University’s Professor Sir John Bell.

Saturday

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Coronavirus hits cabinet, EasyJet grounded and postman soldiers on

Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, contracted the coronavirus disease Covid-19, as did Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary. The Prince of Wales had earlier been tested in Scotland and isolated himself with the disease for a week. Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, also isolated himself after suffering symptoms, as did Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s chief strategist. By Sunday 29 March, 1,228 people in the United Kingdom had died of the disease, compared with a total of 281 a week before. Two days later the total was 1,789. Two more temporary hospitals, in Birmingham and Manchester, in addition to the Nightingale Hospital in the London docks, were being built. Restrictions might last six months.

The Spectator

One thing is missing from the government’s coronavirus response: an endgame

The failures of Britain’s pandemic planning have been brutally exposed in the past few weeks. The scandalous lack of protective equipment for NHS workers, the failure to prepare for mass testing: there will be plenty of time, when this is over, to apportion blame for all this. But what is even more striking is the achievements of those in the military, the health service and public service who have — in a matter of days — done the seemingly impossible in preparing the NHS to cope with the virus. A few weeks ago, the world was admiring the ability of the Chinese government to rapidly build a 1,000-bed hospital in Wuhan. Since then the NHS, the British Army and their partners in the private sector have made arrangements for 4,000 beds in a London exhibition centre.

The Spectator

How much are people eating during lockdown?

People power Boris Johnson said that the reaction to the coronavirus crisis showed ‘There really is such a thing as society’ — an apparent reference to an interview Mrs Thatcher gave to Woman’s Own in 1987. A reminder of what she actually said: ‘I think we have gone through a period when too many people have been given to understand “I have a problem, it is the government’s job to cope with it!”… and so they are casting their problems on society, and who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people, and people look to themselves first.

The Spectator

Letters: Why coronavirus is so hard to investigate

Corona mysteries Sir: John Lee highlights the issue of dying of seasonal flu vs dying of coronavirus when assessing attributable deaths (‘The corona puzzle’, 28 March). The obvious solution would be a high autopsy rate. However, autopsies on known or suspected coronavirus deaths are not being done in case they lead to mortuary technologists and pathologists becoming infected. (Tuberculosis, HIV and even rabies infections are easier to prevent in mortuary work than coronavirus.) This contributes to a lack of information about how coronavirus affects people. In the long term, it also seems unlikely that anatomical examination of the dead will revert to its pre-coronavirus autopsy rate of 17 per cent of all deaths (in England and Wales).

The Spectator

2448: Issues solution

The novels are A Modern Utopia (anagram of AORTAE IMPOUND 17/5), The Time Machine (HEATHEN/MIMETIC 22/27), Tono-Bungay (BATON/YOUNG 29/31) and Men Like Gods (SMOG/LIKENED 8/26) by H.G. WELLS (33). First prize Joanne Aston, Norby, Thirsk Runners-up David Morgan, Gilesgate, Durham City; R.R.

Friday

The Spectator

Covid-19 update: UK will be world leader in antibody testing, says Matt Hancock

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad: News and analysis The UK aims to be a world leader in Covid-19 antibody testing, says Matt Hancock.Singapore, which was thought to have beaten the virus, is closing schools to ‘pre-empt escalating infections’.The first person to be charged with breaching lockdown legislation has conviction dropped after police admitted they had misunderstood new laws.NHS makeshift hospitals to open in Bristol (1,000-patient) and Harrogate (500 beds). NHS Nightingale, in London, was officially opened by Prince Charles this morning.Global Covid-19 infections pass one million.

The Spectator

Matt Hancock: How we’ll get to 100,000 tests a day

The health secretary Matt Hancock spoke to BBC Radio 4's Today programme earlier this morning where he explained how he thought the government could reach his new target of 100,000 coronavirus tests a day. This is an edited transcript of that conversation:  Mishal Husain How do we get from a testing level of 10,000 tests a day to 100,000 a day in England by the end of the month? That target, unveiled by the government yesterday, includes both swab tests, currently being used to diagnose whether people have the coronavirus, and the as yet unvalidated antibody test, which would identify those who have had it and which could therefore be a key part of adjusting the social distancing rules currently in place.

Thursday

The Spectator

Covid-19 update: UK lockdown sends nearly a million applicants to Universal Credit

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad: News and analysis Almost a million people have applied for universal credit in the first two weeks of the government lockdown, nearly ten times the normal number.UK Covid-19 deaths rose by 569 yesterday, bringing the total to 2,921 – the largest daily increase, up six from yesterday’s figures.One in five small businesses could fold over the next month, due to collapse in demand and difficulties in accessing loans, according to research by a group of accountants. No lockdown please, we’re Swedish: Fredrik Erixon’s letter from Uppsala.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Coronavirus roundup: deaths jump by 563 in one day

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad:  News and analysis UK Covid-19 deaths rose by 563 yesterday, it emerged, by far the largest one-day rise. The total is now 2,352. But there are still, as of today, no reports of hospitals being overwhelmed – not even in London.Just 2,000 out of 500,000 frontline staff in NHS England have been tested for coronavirus, No. 10 has said.NHS staff may not get the protective equipment they need for another two weeks, Robert Jenrick, the Communities Secretary, has said.US government scientists have said their aim is to keep Covid-19 deaths in America under 240,000.