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.

The culture of “special measures” prepares to counter the threat of the virus

And the threat to the NHS seems distant enough to experiment with the relaxation of the two metre rule.

Sweden backtracks on herd immunity. Or does it?

The country’s leading epidemiologist seems to have abandoned his Coronavirus strategy, according to newspaper reports. But the truth is more complicated.

The alert level: proof at last that the Coronavirus crisis is governed by politics not science

Professor Chris Whitty has refused to downgrade the Covid-19 threat to Level 3 – despite the fact the UK is easing lockdown.

Jonathan Caine: No, the Coronavirus pandemic does not support the case for a united Ireland

The available evidence “leads to a conclusion that the death rate in Northern Ireland is almost identical to that in the Republic”.

Anwari Ali: The Government must dissuade vulnerable Muslims from fasting this Ramadan

Those with Chronic Kidney Disease, diabetes and high blood pressure must be protected.