2 July 2021 – Latest data from Public Health England shows that the household transmission rate is 9% for the alpha variant and 12% for the delta variant meaning that 88-91% of household contacts do not catch it.
News
Government modellers proved wrong again
2 July 2021 – When a disease is transmitted in a chain person-to-person, as for childhood infections like measles, then reducing human contact reduces transmission. The data on gastroenteritis shows clear evidence of this.
Testing incentives and unintended consequences
2 July 2021 – The answer is not more testing, but less — or ideally no — testing of school children. Not for nothing was Operation Moonshot described as a “misguided policy, unlikely to reduce transmission” in the British Medical Journal.
New research suggests ivermectin works
2 July 2021 – Last week Dr Tess Lawrie from the Evidence-Based Medicine Consultancy and colleagues published a peer reviewed systematic review and meta-analysis in the American Journal of Therapeutics that showed moderate-certainty evidence of large reductions in COVID-19 deaths.
New aggressive testing and isolation guidelines for schools
2 July 2021 – New aggressive testing and isolation guidelines mean that more and more healthy children are currently sitting at home, on their own, isolating. Schools, children and families are in turmoil.
Children’s mental health crisis deepens
28 June 2021 – HART believes that as a matter of urgency, children’s needs must be prioritised. Unnecessary testing of healthy children must stop. Fear messaging must stop.
Overblown claims of brain damage caused by COVID-19
24 June 2021 – A paper on the changes to the brain after COVID-19 has been dramatised and used to further frighten people.
Vaccine update
24 June 2021 – We have previously noted concerns about myocarditis and pericarditis caused by the mRNA vaccines (of which Pfizer is the main one in use in the UK), especially in young people.
The impact of lockdowns on excess mortality
24 June 2021 – An important new paper from the prestigious National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) in the US examines the impact of “shelter-in-place” (SIP) policies on excess mortality across a sample of 43 countries and all US states.
The dubious ethics of covert psychological ‘nudges’
24 June 2021 – On 6 January 2021, HART member Dr Gary Sidley (along with 46 other psychologists and therapists) wrote a letter to the British Psychological Society (BPS) expressing concerns about the ethics of deploying covert psychological ‘nudges’ as a means of gaining the public’s compliance with COVID-19 restrictions.
The COVID-19 testing trap
24 June 2021 – Frontline staff, many of whom have had a SARS-CoV-2 infection, are getting increasingly frustrated by being forced to isolate due to positive testing.
Bloomsbury announce all staff must be vaccinated
24 June 2021 – Bloomsbury Publishing have told their UK staff that COVID-19 vaccination will be compulsory before returning to the office on 19 July.
Morally repugnant restrictions on children continue
24 June 2021 – Schools have been digesting a devastating update from the Department of Education that implies substantial ongoing restrictions over the next few months.
Protecting them to death
22 June 2021 – It is not unusual to hear that relatives have not seen residents for 14 months. This has been especially barbaric for dementia patients and their families.
The ‘People’s Lockdown Inquiry’ launches
17 June 2021 – The People’s Lockdown Inquiry (PLI) is a compilation of personal stories and reviews that aims to capture the impact of lockdowns on the British people.
Some animals are more equal than others
17 June 2021 – Many people have been shocked at the pictures of G7 leaders in Cornwall last week freely enjoying themselves without, apparently, a care in the world about COVID-19.
Vaccination update
17 June 2021 – HART member, Dr Ros Jones joined with 60 other doctors and academics to voice grave concerns about the safety and necessity of COVID-19 vaccines for children.
It is time to ditch the mask
17 June 2021 – This week, Boris Johnson squandered the opportunity to remove all the remaining COVID-19 restrictions, extending the mask and social distancing requirements until, at least, 19 July.
