I like a good portmanteau. Brunch, Labradoodle, Abenomics. Even the word portmanteau is a portmanteau of the actress Natalie Portman and former tennis player Julien Benneteau.
But I draw the line at Deltacron, the latest Covid-19 variant to spread across the country. The strain, also known as BA.2, is believed to be more infectious than even OG Omicron.
And in concert with falling restrictions, the continued return to the office and greater socialising, it is perhaps no surprise that Covid infections in the capital have jumped by nearly 50 per cent in the last week.
As our Health Editor Ross Lydall reports, there has also been a 28 per cent increase in the number of people with the virus being admitted to hospital in London, with the number of beds occupied by Covid patients at the highest level for a month.
Kingston has one of the highest infection rates in the country, according to the UK Health Security Agency, with almost 800 cases per 100,000 population.
This here by the way is an exceedingly useful summary of all you need to know about the new variant, from its symptoms to how worried the scientists are.
It is tempting to blame a single aspect of government policy, be that masks on the tube or something else. The truth is that when we talk about the ‘new normal’, this is it – neither permanent lockdown nor prelapsarian 2019. It is somewhere in between, with new variants and sub-variants popping up, requiring nimble policy responses and a healthy dose of luck.
In Ukraine, Britain’s military intelligence chief Lieutenant General Jim Hockenhull has accused Vladimir Putin of unleashing “reckless and indiscriminate” firepower on the country after his initial invasion plan failed, “bedevilled” with problems of the Kremlin’s own making. There are fears that Russia’s strategy will now lead to even more civilian casualties, with thousands already believed to have been killed.
In the comment pages, Defence editor Robert Fox says that Putin’s latest rant shows that he has lost his mind.
Melanie McDonagh has read Lord Ashcroft’s new Carrie Johnson biography, ‘First Lady’, and concludes that she sounds like the wife from hell – but that right now, who cares?
And public male nudity used to be the preserve of athletes, naturists and hen do strippers. Now it’s the “friendly neighbourhood dentist, documenting leg day at Fitness First in eye-popping detail at five-minute intervals across his Instagram stories.” Where have all the fully clothed men gone, asks Paul Flynn?
Finally, promising food, fun and lots of colour, Holi festivities are happening across the capital this week. Jochan Embley has the lowdown on where to go for the best celebrations.
Have a good weekend.
