Omicron or no Omicron, high-income nations should have promoted a more equitable distribution of vaccines

The new variant is a reminder that the world is in it “together” when it comes to beating the virus.

Bella Wallersteiner: As a parliamentary staffer, I’m appalled by the double standards on who has to wear a mask

Furthermore, I will not attend the Conservative Party Conference if vaccine passports are required.

WATCH: “This pandemic is not over,” warns Johnson – as he confirms that legal restrictions in England will end on July 19

“We don’t expect that the whole country will return to their desk as one on Monday.”

Andrew Murrison: There can now be no question about the Government’s timeline for opening up. June 21 must stand.

I love experts. I used to be one. But it’s in their nature, singularly and collectively, to lay it on thick.

Chris Green: The narrative for vaccinating children and Covid passports is getting stronger. We need to stop and think.

Vaccine passports could become a Trojan Horse for a domestic pass. MPs must tread very carefully.

Though the vaccines are here, we still need testing

While the light at the end of the tunnel appears to be here in the global battle with Coronavirus, it makes sense to plan for the unexpected.

London’s Nightingale hospital comes off “standby” mode – as these sites face their biggest test yet

They were designed as a last resort, but as Coronavirus cases have gone up there are more signs of them being put into use.

Ryan Bourne: Ministers must speed up the pace of vaccination. Here are some ways of doing so.

Government sometimes treats the constraints fatalistically, rather than seeing them as a problem that prices, incentives, and regulations could affect. 

WATCH: Mixed messages. Johnson suggests a more rapid relaxation of tiering restrictions than Whitty.

The Prime Minister says there are “means of escape” for those in higher tiers, but Whitty suggests that change is months away.

The Government is losing what control over the politics of the virus it has left

Johnson is being squeezed between dissenting local authorities, an increasingly divided Cabinet – and fundamental problems with test and trace.

WATCH: “We must act now.” The Prime Minister’s press conference to announce his new three-level anti-Covid alert measures.

With Sunak and Whitty, he says that the Government is “simplifying, standardising and in some places toughening local rules”.

“Project fear” and a “national trauma” – criticisms from Tory backbenchers in the Commons yesterday

From calling the measures “dystopian”, to criticising Whitty and Vallance’s latest graph, there were some scathing speeches.

WATCH: The scientific advisers make their pitch 1) Whitty says action must be taken now to keep death numbers down.

He says Coronavirus is “more virulent than flu” and mortality rates will be “significantly greater”.

Belgium hasn’t “flattened the curve” – and should not be used to justify UK curfews

The Government’s approach has been modelled on the country, even though its cases have continued to rise.

Raghib Ali: The harms of lockdown are exceeding the gains – especially when it comes to school closures

Neither the Covid-19 recovery plan nor SAGE’s minutes indicate that a formal “health cost-benefit analysis” has been done. We need one.