2 NEWS
THEWEEK 13 February 2021
The main stories...
It wasn’tall bad
ThegrowthoftheSouthAfricanvariant–akaB1351or
501Y.V2–is“notgoodnews”,saidTheIndependent.While
theAstraZenecavaccinemaywellpreventitcausinglife-
threateningillness,even“mild”and
“moderate”casesofCovidcanbebad
enough,andhelpperpetuatetransmission.
Thesemutationssuggest“Covidwillbe
aroundforlongerthanwasatfirsthoped”.
ItbeggarsbeliefthattheGovernmentis
onlynow,twomonthsaftertheSouth
Africanstrainfirstemerged,introducing
hotelquarantining,saidTheTimes.Itmay
beacaseoftoolittle,toolate:morethan
halfofthecountrieswherethevarianthas
beenidentifiedarenotevenontheredlist.Ministershaveactedtooslowly,saidtheFT,andit’sstill
unclearwhetherthey’llsecureintimethe28,000hotelrooms
they’llneedforthefirstmonthofthequarantinescheme.But
thestrategyisasoundone:hotelquarantinehasworkedin
NewZealandandSingapore,andexpertsbelievethe“double-
testing”regimewillpickupthegreatmajorityofpre-arrival
infections.It’sonethingtointroducenewmeasures,however,
andanothertoenforcethem.“Theten-yearprisonterm,while
eye-catching,isp erhapsmoreatacitadmission” of howhard
the ruleswill beto police.TheUKannouncedtighterbordercontrolsthisweek,warning
thatpeoplewhotrytoconcealtheirarrival
fromcoronavirushotspotscouldbejailed
foruptotenyears.Thenewrules,which
comeintoforceonMonday,willoblige
UKresidentsreturningfrom 33 high-risk
countries,includingPortugalandmuch
ofSouthAmerica,topayupto£1,750to
coverthecostofaten-dayquarantineina
designatedhotel.Thosewhorefusetodoso
facefinesofupto£10,000.Thosearriving
fromanyothercountrywillcontinueto
havetotakeaCovidtestbeforetheir
journeyand,uponarrival,toself-isolatefortendays,while
havingtotakefurthertestsondaystwoandeight.Scotlandis
goingfurther,requiringallinternationalarrivals,notjustthose
from“redlist”countries,toenterquarantinehotels.Thenewmeasuresarearesponsetogrowingconcernsabout
thethreatfromnew,morevirulentCovidstrains.Officialsare
particularlyworriedaboutthenewSouthAfricanvariant:a
studysuggeststheAstraZenecaCovidvaccineofferslittle
protectionagainst mildand moderate illness.How much it
protectsagainst hospitalisationand death isnot fullyclearyet.What happened What theeditorialssaid
Welcome home?
The mutating threat
Thiswasn’tpartof the plan, saidThe DailyTelegraph. Before
Brexit, ministershadsworn thatthe Northern Ireland Protocol
would allow trade betweenGreat Britainand
theprovinceto continue seamlessly.The reality
looks rather different. “Many of the worst
predictionsabout delays,burea ucracy,red tape
andpettifogging ruleshavecometo pass.”Andit’stheNorthern Irishpublicwhoare
sufferingthe consequences,said The Times.
Supermarket shelves have beenleft empty, online
deliveries have been delayed, and businesses
have had to grapple with tough new restrictions
onimports asinnocuous as seedsand soil.
Worse,thesituationhas “upsetthedelicate
equilibrium ofNorthern Ireland’s peace”, said
The Economist.Borderofficials have been
withdrawnfrom ports overfearsof attack;
policehave warned streetprotests would havestarted already
if it weren’t forthepandemic. It’sanalarming situation, said
the IrishIndependent.And it’sincumbent on both sidesto
come up with workable solutionstofix this mess. “Brussels
must be amenable,justasBritain mustbe reasonable.”OfficialsfromLondon and Brussels were
holdingtalksthisweek aimed ataddressing
chronicpost-Brexit trading delays between
Great Britainand Northern Ireland. Business
groups have complainedthat onerous new
customs rules areseverely hampering their
ability to movegoodsacross the Irish Sea;
Britain has calledon Brusselsto extendgrace
periodsallowing forthe freeflow of food,
medicines andother essential goods. Cabinet
Secretary Michael Goveurged the EU to adopt
amore“pragmatic”approachtotheNorthern
IrelandProtocol, which isaimed atavoiding
ahard borderon the islandofIreland.Boris Johnson last week threatened to suspend
partsof theBrexitdeal unlessBrusselsreduces theseverity
of checks on goodsentering NI fromGreat Britain. The
previous week, in an attemptto halt the flow of vaccinesto
Britain, theEU had sought to impose controls at the Irish
borderby triggeringaclause in theBrexitagreement.What happened What the editorials said
Gove wantsapragmatic EU
Trade friction
A70-year-old man from Oldham
has become the oldest person
to row solo across the Atlantic.
In aboatnicknamed “Never
Too Old”, Frank Rothwell set
off from La Gomera in the
Canary Islands on 12 December
and crossed the finish line in
Antigua on Saturday–a
moment he said was
“completely euphoric”. He has
raised more than £880,000 for
Alzheimer’s Research UK in
memory of his brother-in-law,
Roger, who died with the
disease during Frank’s journey.ASwedish company claims
that it has createdafat-free ice
cream that tastes just like the
real thing. While makers in the
past have struggled to replicate
the creamy texture of ice cream
without fat, Lub Foods says
that it has cracked the problem
by using Epogee fat (EPG)
–aplant-based oil that our
digestive enzymes are unable
to break down, so almost none
of it is absorbed by the body.
EPG has not yet been approved
in Europe, but the ice cream
became available the US last
year–and has so far racked up
$10m in sales.The oldest person in
Europe–aFrench nun
who turns 117 this week
–has survived Covid-19.
Lucile Randon, known as
Sister André since taking
her vows in 1944, tested
positive for the virus on
16 January and isolated
in her retirement home
in Toulon, southern
France–though she said
she “didn’t even realise
Ihad it”. Shehas now
been given the all-clear in time to celebrate her birthday. A
spokesman from the retirement home said Sister André, who
is blind and usesawheel chair, “showed no fear of the disease”,
but had been “very concerned about the other residents”.
COVER CARTOON: HOWARD MCWILLIAM©C
OVER IMAGE: THE TIMES/NEWS LICENSING