31 articles from SUNDAY 10.1.2021

One in five in England have had Covid, modelling suggests

Analysis shows 12.4 million people infected since start of pandemic, against 2.4 million detected by test and trace Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageOne in five people in England may have had coronavirus, new modelling suggests, equivalent to 12.4 million people, rising to almost one in two in some areas.It means that across the country as a whole the true number of...

Make face masks compulsory outdoors | Letters

Face coverings should be mandatory the moment you step outside, writes Christine Whatford, while Michael Weedy wants joggers to wear masks“It is inescapable that the facts are changing and we must change our response,” Boris Johnson told the Commons last week (Boris Johnson ‘extremely cautious’ on when England’s schools will reopen, 6 January), so I am surprised this changed response...

Salim Abdool Karim: 'None of us are safe from Covid if one of us is not. We have mutual interdependence'

The face of South Africa’s Covid science on why Africa has been hit less hard than Europe, the new variant in the region, and the danger of vaccine nationalism Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe epidemiologist Salim Abdool Karim could be considered South Africa’s Anthony Fauci. As co-chair of the South African Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19, he is the...

UK Covid variant extremely unlikely to evade vaccines, scientists say

Antibodies collected from former patients very rarely target parts of virus mutated in new variant, research finds Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage The new coronavirus variant that is sweeping the UK is extremely unlikely to evade immune responses generated by vaccines or a previous Covid infection, scientists say.Researchers in the US found that antibodies collected...

GPs in England see big drop in common cold and flu cases

Exclusive: coronavirus restrictions and increased uptake of flu vaccine is likely explanation, say expertsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageGPs in England have reported a big drop in cases of influenza, colds and other common infections – with cold rates now about a quarter of the five-year average, and flu at about a 20th of the usual level for this time of...

Why it's time to stop pursuing happiness

Positive thinking and visualising success can be counterproductive – happily, other strategies for fulfilment are availableLike many teenagers, I was once plagued with angst and dissatisfaction – feelings that my parents often met with bemusement rather than sympathy. They were already in their 50s, and, having grown up in postwar Britain, they struggled to understand the sources of my...

Are our personalities set in stone, or can we work on – even improve – them?

Ask yourself what your ideal personality will be and, with self-awareness and repetitive practice, traits will followAt some point most of us have been assigned a neat label for our personality, as if it were a brand of clothing. It could have occurred during a job interview, for an online dating profile, or in a social-media quiz that matches your traits with a character from Game of Thrones. Or...

Big Tech’s attention economy can be reformed. Here’s how.

This week a violent mob mounted the biggest attack on the Capitol, the seat of American democracy, in more than 200 years, driven by the false belief that the presidential election had been stolen. The chief author of that claim was President Donald Trump, but the mob’s readiness to believe it was in large part a product of the attention economy that modern technology has created. News feeds...

Does vitamin D combat Covid?

It’s cheap, widely available and might help us fend off the virus. So should we all be dosing up on the sunshine nutrient?In March, as coronavirus deaths in the UK began to mount, two hospitals in northeast England began taking vitamin D readings from patients and prescribing them with extremely high doses of the nutrient. Studies had suggested that having sufficient levels of vitamin D, which...

How race to track mystery gene with links to three cancers saved millions

25 years ago, a mutation was discovered that makes some people susceptible to the disease, and now it has transformed treatmentTen years ago, Tony Herbert developed a lump on the right side of his chest. The clump of tissue grew and became painful and he was tested for breast cancer. The result was positive.“I had surgery and chemotherapy and that worked,” he said last week. But how had...

The age of national self-interest must end if we are to vanquish the pandemic | Will Hutton

Libertarianism has led to rich countries vying for vaccines. Collaboration, not competition, is the only the way forwardCoronavirus - latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageLast week, the “age of I” finally peaked. The 45-year rise of libertarianism reached its high tide. The doctrine that gave us Brexit, Trump and a wholly inadequate response to a global pandemic has been exposed for...

Plan for the future now or Covid will last for years, UK scientists warn

Experts condemn government’s ‘short-term’ response and urge it to rethink its approachCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSenior British scientists have warned that a lack of long-term planning in the battle against Covid is leaving the nation vulnerable to major outbreaks of the disease for at least another year.The rollout of vaccines currently under way would cut...

Talking to yourself behind a face mask may do you good. Just ask Boswell | Rachel Cooke

Literature and now science suggest muttering in the second or third person can help with anxiety in difficult momentsNo one actively likes wearing a mask, but for some of us putting one on does more than merely help to stop the spread. Last week, I interviewed a neuroscientist and experimental psychologist who told me that a few people have told him that if they wear theirs outside, at least no...

Now we have the coronavirus vaccine, how soon can we get back to normal life?

The government has ordered sufficient doses to inoculate the entire population of the UK against Covid-19 but we are in for a long haulCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageWhen will the Covid-19 vaccine begin to have an effect on the nation?The government has pledged to offer vaccines to 15 million people – the over-70s, healthcare workers and those required to shield by...

Rapid Covid testing across England will help identify symptomless carriers

Tens of thousands are unwittingly spreading coronavirus – lateral flow devices will confirm infection in under 30 minutesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageRapid testing to find symptomless carriers of Covid-19 is to be launched in England this week. The aim of the programme is to identify some of the tens of thousands of infected people who are unwittingly spreading...

Holidays on the moon: out of this world package deals from the 60s

It’s 1969 and the Observer is boldly predicting a new vacation experienceBefore anyone had even landed on the moon, the Observer Magazine was already thinking way ahead with science correspondent Gerald Leach’s travel guide for the first holidaymakers there in 30 years’ time (‘Wish You Were Here’; 13 July 1969), though it was sensible enough to counterbalance this with a report on the...

The five: space missions for 2021

After 2020, anyone would be forgiven for wanting to escape Earth, and Mars, the moon and the asteroid belt beckonThis Nasa telescope, which is to replace the Hubble, has been subject to many delays – its first planned launch was in 2007. A March 2020 takeoff was delayed due to Covid, while its initial $500m budget has spiralled to more than $10bn (£7.4bn). It is a more sensitive telescope than...