The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Sweden tames its ‘R number’ without lockdown

A tattoo of Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s state epidemiologist, on the arm of Gustav Lloyd Agerblad, 32. Picture: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images.
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  • Face scans are being considered by ministers to create ‘immunity passports’, where those proven to have acquired Covid-19 can be released from lockdown. Kate Andrews argues against the idea onCoffee House.
  • The Chinese government destroyed evidence that coronavirus escaped a lab in Wuhan, according to a leaked dossier by the Western intelligence-sharing group Five Eyes.
  • The NHS will trial a tracing app on the Isle of Wight this week. Freddy Gray wishes them luck, given the quality of the island’s internet coverage.
  • A quarter of A-level students have not been given any schoolwork by their teachers. Meanwhile primary schools may begin to open from 1 June.
  • Reduced hot-desking and protective screens are among the plans being considered for workplaces after lockdown.
  • The

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Lionel Shriver

Why didn’t I read the comments sooner?

From the magazine
I adhere to a pretty iron-clad rule: not only do I avoid the bumper cars of social media, but I don’t read the comments after my columns. Many other journalists avidly lap up reader responses to their work, and there’s certainly something to be said for confronting detractors, thus learning to anticipate counter-arguments and to

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