No new COVID restrictions for UK before Christmas Johnson confirms

Dec 22 2021

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that his government will not be introducing new pandemic restrictions before Christmas.

‘I wanted to confirm that people can go ahead with their Christmas plans. But we’re keeping a constant eye on the data and can’t rule out any further measures after Christmas’ he said in a Tweet.

The Prime Minister believes there is not enough evidence to justify introducing tougher measures, but he did not completely rule out new ones after the festive season.

He also highlighted how Omicron continues to ‘surge with a speed unlike anything we’ve seen before.’ He urged the public to exercise caution and wear masks indoors as per recommendation.

Johnson finally urged citizens to get their booster jab. This announcement comes after an emergency meeting on Monday, with the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) warning that waiting too long will reduce the effectiveness of any restrictions introduced.

The UK registered 89,022 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing up the total vases to 11.5M. 172 new deaths were also registered, tallying up to 147K.

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Photo Source: Liverpool Echo, Sky News

Henry Cavill called ‘the perfect candidate’ to play James Bond in future films

Dec 21 2021

As the hype of Daniel Craig’s final Bond film ‘No Time To Die’ begins to wear off, big names in Hollywood will start to suggest or hint at potential successors for Craig’s now-vacant Bond Role and one director has called Henry Cavill the perfect fit.

The King’s Man director Matthew Vaughan, who has worked with Cavill on film Argylle, has stated that Henry Cavill is “everything you’d imagine Bond to have been, or be’, providing a major vouch for the face behind the Man of Steel and The Witcher.

Cavill is the latest addition to the Bond role’s seemingly-endless list of potential candidates which includes Tom Hardy, Idris Elba and Harry Styles, amongst others.

Do you think Henry Cavill would make a good James Bond?

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Why is today the shortest day of the year and what happened at 4.59PM?

Dec 21 2021

December 21st is an important day in the calendar year for a number of reasons, mainly because it is the day when we welcome the Winter season through the Winter Solstice.

As a result of this, December 21st is the shortest day of the year on the Northern Hemisphere and as a result, the longest night. As a result of this, Tuesday will have slightly less that 10 hours of day and around 14 hours of night after the sun rose a bit later than 7am and set slightly before 5pm. The Winter Solstice can happen over three days, between December 20th and December 23rd.

While this phenomenon welcomes the Winter Season in the Northern Hemisphere, it marks the beginning of summer in the Southern Hemisphere in countries like Argentina and Australia which are currently experiencing their longest day and shortest night of 2021.

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People in the EU may not be able to travel if 9 months pass from their vaccination

Dec 21 2021

On Tuesday December 21, the European Commission effected rules which make the European Union’s COVID-19 certificate travel valid for nine months from the completion of the primary vaccine schedule. This proposal follows the introduction of several travel requirements put into place by a number EU states in an attempt to reduce the spread of the Omicron variant.

The European Union’s Justice Commissioner Dider Reynders told Reuters that the Commission was against increasing requirements and was assessing relevant measures. This new rule will be binding in 27 EU member states as of February first and will those oblige EU states to welcome fully-vaccinated travellers with a valid vaccine pass in their respective territories while also being allowed to add further requirements if they deem fit.

Italy, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Latvia, Cyprus and Austria require fully-vaccinated individuals from other countries within the EU to present a negative COVID test on arrival, a precaution which some have argued damages the vaccine pass’s credibility.

What do you make of this measure?

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