As the NHS struggles with a rise in hospital patients with covid and flu, people are wondering whether 2023 will be a year of lockdowns and mask mandates.
Covid is back on the agenda as China ends its zero-covid policy, lifts its lockdowns and opens its borders, letting the virus rip through its population of 1.4bn. The UK, US and India have announced they're imposing testing requirements on arrivals from China.
But this does not appear to be a sign of a step towards tighter restrictions in the UK, where infections leapt to a six-month high after Christmas, with one in 20 people likely to have had the virus over the festive period, according to the Office for National Statistics.
