Health & Science

• Tuesday, December 21st 2021 - 20:34 UTC

  British PM says no lockdown before Christmas, but maybe later

  

  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Tuesday admitted there will be no lockdown before Christmas in the United Kingdom, but at the same time, he admitted no course of action could be ruled out post-Dec. 25 in the fight against COVID-19.

• Tuesday, December 21st 2021 - 09:17 UTC

  BAS 2021/22 Antarctic summer field season underway; Rothera/Falklands air link twice a week

  

  Science and support teams from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are gearing up for the start of the Antarctic summer field season. All five BAS research stations will be open and undertaking essential science research after a year’s break caused by Covid-19 last season. This will be another challenging season with ongoing Covid-19 protocols to maintain safety for our staff and collaborators.

• Tuesday, December 21st 2021 - 09:12 UTC

  Omicron affects vaccinated and survivors alike, WHO says

  

  The World Health Organization (WHO) Monday warned that the Omicron strain of SARS-CoV-2 “infects those vaccinated and those recovered from coronavirus” alike, according to statements from Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

• Tuesday, December 21st 2021 - 09:06 UTC

  Novavax added to COVID-19 immunizers approved for European use

  

  The US-developed NOVAVAX vaccine against COVID-19 has been approved Monday by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), thus becoming the fifth drug of its kind to become available at a continental level.

• Tuesday, December 21st 2021 - 07:53 UTC

  Record Omicron infections in Britain; restrictions planned for Dec. 28

  

  As Britain recorded more than half a million new infections driven by the Covid-19 now dominant Omicron variant in the past seven days, and UK neighbors imposed stricter measures including full lockdowns, Prime Minister Boris Johnson following a Monday cabinet meeting said no rules would change for now, despite the steep rise in cases “hour by hour”.

• Monday, December 20th 2021 - 23:45 UTC

  Fake health passes spread fast across France

  

  French authorities are investigating the alleged existence of over 110,000 fake certificates of vaccination against COVID-19, which are required to enter restaurants, cultural venues or ride long-distance public transport.

• Monday, December 20th 2021 - 09:31 UTC

  NASA keeping track of two British explorers in Antarctica collecting info on survival on Mars

  

  The US space agency NASA is tracking two British explorers on a 3,650 kilometers journey across Antarctica to learn more about humanity's ability to survive on Mars. Explorers Justin Packshaw,57, and Jamie Facer Childs, 37 are on an 80-day trek across the southernmost continent as part of the Chasing the Light mission — a grueling expedition that could give a better understanding of the psychological and physical impact of other worlds on the human body and mind.

• Monday, December 20th 2021 - 09:05 UTC

  Corbyn's brother arrested for inciting to burn MPs offices who voted for Covid-19 restrictions

  

  A prominent anti-vaccination protestor and brother of the former leader of the British Labour Party, Piers Corbyn was arrested in London over the weekend for urging people to burn down the offices of members of Parliament offices who supported imposing Covid-19 restrictions.

• Monday, December 20th 2021 - 09:00 UTC

  German streets crowded with demonstrations against vaccines

  

  Ordinary citizens opposing anticovid measures and mandatory vaccination were mixed with neo-nazi groups and members of the far-right “identity movement” during Sunday's protests which garnered some 12,000 demonstrators in the German city of Nuremberg against the Governments sanitary decisions which compromise individual liberties.

• Monday, December 20th 2021 - 09:00 UTC

  The Netherlands goes into full lockdown until Jan. 14

  

  The Government of The Netherlands has decreed a strict lockdown until January 14 on all non-essential activities due to the spread of the coronavirus Omicron variant. A daily cap of two visitors per household has also been decreed, which will be raised to four people for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.