Month: January 2022

Tuesday 8 February 2022, 6:30pm BST

The pandemic is not receding, with hospitalisations and deaths still high. Ignoring Covid-19 is reckless and this negligence must be opposed

About this event

There are widespread and false claims that the pandemic is receding. Globally, new cases are currently well over 3 million per day and around 4 times higher than the previous peak in April 2021. In addition, this has happened extraordinarily suddenly, with the surge taking place in the first few part of this year. With a short time lag new daily deaths have also begun to rise. If there is such a thing as a ‘mild’ pandemic, this is not one of them.

The misinformation and even propaganda about the pandemic receding is clearly wrong. In Britain this is almost all based on the fall in recorded new cases. Yet deaths are still rising and hospitalisations remain stubbornly high. It is not known how much non-reporting there is of people who have had a positive lateral flow test.

Despite this the government has abandoned its own ‘Plan B’, PCR tests are largely a thing of the past and people are no longer advised to work from home. It is even reported that the requirement for those infected to self-isolate will be dropped. This is a reckless approach.

At our last meeting we reached over 48,000 people online. Join us for our next meeting, where will discuss the current phase of the crisis.

Speakers Confirmed:

• Diane Abbott MP
• Richard Horton (Editor at the Lancet Medical Journal)
• with more to follow

Monday 10 January 2022, 6:30pm BST

Where next for the Covid crisis, as Omicron cases surge will the government finally do the right thing?

About this event

Once again cases and hospitalisations are rising once more. In some countries the number of new deaths is rising sharply too. It remains to be seen whether that will happen in this country too.

But the current situation already means that large numbers are becoming seriously ill, cases of Long Covid will grow and deaths are rising at an unacceptable rate.

All of this puts enormous strain on the NHS itself. Healthcare workers are off sick themselves while serious cases mount and the peak of the winter ‘flu season is approaching. The same combination of risks, staff illness and rising cases is affecting other sectors, from refuse collection to transport to schools.

Despite all this, Boris Johnson has decided to take no extra measures to restrict the virus, in contrast to the devolved administrations. Countries such as Germany have adopted new measures successfully, and the ZeroCovid countries continue unscarred by the mass deaths seen here and elsewhere.

The question now is whether the NHS faces a breaking-point and will be able to cope with government policy. Our excellent speakers will discuss this and related topics.

Speakers Confirmed:

• Diane Abbott MP
• Kevin Courtney
• Deepti Gurdasani
• Emmy Kelly
• Richard Murphy
• Helen O’Connor
• Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP
• with more to follow