coronavirus
Israel’s antibody breakthrough
The Israeli government is reporting this morning that the country’s Institute for Biological Research has made a breakthrough in the…
Our toothless response to China is embarrassing
If you have been troubled by the government’s failure to get tough on the country responsible for our present malaise,…
Herd immunity may only need 10-20 per cent of people to be infected
Since mid-March there has been an assumption that herd immunity against Covid-19 would not be achieved until around 60 per…
Sweden tames its ‘R number’ without lockdown
Sweden has been the world’s Covid-19 outlier, pursuing social distancing but rejecting mandatory lockdown. Schools, bars and restaurants are open…
Have we been fighting a very different disease to China?
One of the great mysteries of coronavirus is how the epidemic has become much more severe in Europe and North…
The problem with immunity passports
Could we see ‘immunity passports’ in Britain? Ministers are reportedly discussing them as a route out of lockdown. According to today’s…
Spain’s fiendishly complex rules for easing the lockdown
Once upon a time, when travel was still allowed, I checked into a small hotel in back-of-beyond Extremadura, in South-West…
Is the PM an example of why those with Covid-19 should be hospitalised earlier?
There is so much to ponder in the prime minister’s interview about how Covid-19 almost killed him. But, in respect…
Lancet editor’s Chinese propaganda
Ever since the coronavirus first began to spread in the UK, one of the government’s staunchest critics has been the…
The underground doctors’ movement questioning the use of ventilators
In the 1780s, medical authorities largely agreed: insufflation of the rectum with tobacco smoke was the best treatment for near-drowning.…
Slippers
Tartan, monogram, moccasin, clog. What do your slippers say about you? Trick us all you like with your office Manolos,…
Portrait of the Week
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, returned to work at Downing Street after recovering from his Covid-19 sickness. Speaking outside…
Without ceremony
The competitive world of Covid brides
Hopping mad
The ghost of Samuel Beckett oversaw the Hip Hop Loves NY livestream last Thursday night. Time and time again its…
The Turf
Seven hundred pages of memoir is stretching it a bit even for an ex-inhabitant of No. 10 with David Cameron’s…
Barometer
Multiplying by hundreds The Queen penned a personal 100th birthday message to Captain Tom Moore, who has raised money for…
Real life
Without making any efforts in that direction, I now know all about a certain telecom firm’s future business plans. My…
High life
Gstaad When indolence becomes intolerable, remembrances of things past become a lifesaver. Charles Moore’s SpectatorNotes also helps. His recent…
A difficult path
The route out of lockdown won’t be smooth – or fast
Call that care?
As the NHS was preparing for the Covid onslaught, thousands of hospital patients were discharged to care homes in an…
Antisocial distancing
Rudeness is spreading like a virus
Putin’s stress test
Coronavirus is a double whammy for his regime
If this is a war, let’s fight it like one
Under the cloud of conformity that has settled over the land as a replacement for air pollution, heretics who doubt…
Lockdown productivity? Let it go
On the day our A-level exams began some wit wrote on the blackboard: ‘I wasted time, and now doth time…
Travelling lite
The brother of a friend in Durban was once given a generous donation by a wealthy aunt. ‘I hate to…
