A State of Fear: How the UK government weaponised fear during the Covid-19 pandemic - Laura Dodsworth (the first e reader .txt) 📗

Don’t go out and enjoy the sunshine The Daily Telegraph, 4 April 2020

Boris Johnson fights ‘truly frightening’ virus as Michael Gove tells of Cabinet shock at PM’s condition Evening Standard, 7 April 2020

Intensive care nurse ‘going through hell’ battling coronavirus begs Britons to stay home Daily Express, 11 April 2020

UK could be ‘worst affected’ country in Europe BBC, 12 April 2020

Coronavirus: UK must prepare for ‘volatile and agitated society’ after lockdown lifted, senior police officer warns The Independent, 19 April 2020

Bombshell virus blow to economy with calls for path out of lockdown as output fall ‘worse than 2008 crash’ Evening Standard, 23 April 2020

Post-Covid UK ‘will face twenty years of pain’ – The UK’s recovery from coronavirus is likely to be slower and shallower than first hoped and Britons will be paying for action to save the economy for the next two decades, a former Bank of England rate-setter has warned The Scotsman, 27 April 2020

UK becomes first country in Europe to pass 30,000 deaths BBC, 6 May 2020

World baffled at how UK got coronavirus so wrong as global headlines blast Government’s ‘biggest failure in generation’ The Sun, 7 May 2020

UK working mothers are ‘sacrificial lambs’ in coronavirus childcare crisis The Guardian, 24 July 2020

Grim milestone as virus cases top 25m globally BBC, 30 August 2020

NHS has worst week ‘in living memory’ as doctor warns situation could deteriorate The Irish News, 27 October 2020

Matt Hancock warns that whole population is at risk of ‘long Covid’ Daily Mail, 17 November 2020

Grim and distressing milestone as Covid deaths in the country pass 5,000 The Scotsman, 18 November 2020

WHO fear Europe will be hit by a THIRD wave of coronavirus early next year due to ‘incomplete’ response to the pandemic Mail Online, 23 November 2020

Mutant Covid Metro, 14 December 2020

London faces Christmas lockdown TODAY as new super-infectious Covid mutant spreads Daily Express, 19 December 2020

HEALTH SCARE HEADLINES

Britain’s youngest coronavirus death: Boy, 13, ‘with no underlying conditions’ dies alone in isolation in London hospital after testing positive, leaving his family ‘beyond devastated’ – after UK death toll rises record 381 to 1,789 Daily Mail, 1 April 2020

My lungs felt like they were filling with quicksand then all five of my family were struck with Covid-19 hell The Sun, 2 April 2020

Covid-19 found in semen of infected men, say Chinese doctors – Authors claim study based on small number of patients opens up chance of sexual transmission The Guardian, 7 May 2020

‘I’ve been through 15 weeks of hell’: ‘Long-haul’ Covid-19 sufferers tell of ‘debilitating’ after-effects Yorkshire Evening Post, 6 July 2020

At least TWO British children have died from mysterious Kawasaki-like disease linked to Covid-19, study reveals Daily Mail, 10 July 2020

People over 6ft have double the risk of coronavirus, study suggests The Daily Telegraph, 28 July 2020

Third of newborns with Covid infected before or during birth The Guardian, 15 October 2020

Celtic star Bitton reveals he couldn’t even STAND as he opens up on Covid-19 hell that left him fearing for his health The Scottish Sun, 21 October 2020

People who contract COVID may develop red and swollen toes which turn purple Sky News, 29 October 2020

Coronavirus - every symptom you need to be aware of including ‘Covid toes’ and hiccups Daily Mirror, 30 October 2020

My Covid hell – student, 20, left in brutal pain from Covid-19 Leicester Mercury, 5 November 2020

Covid ‘could damage fertility of up to 20% of male survivors’ Metro, 12 November 2020

Baby left with lifelong condition after developing rare syndrome linked to coronavirus Wales Online, 15 November 2020

Damage to multiple organs recorded in ‘long Covid’ cases The Guardian, 15 November 2020

Is testicle pain potentially a sign of Covid? 49-year-old Turkish man who had no other symptoms is diagnosed with the virus Mail Online, 18 November 2020

A British father is suffering from blindness and paralysis in a hospital in India after being bitten by a snake while battling coronavirus, his family have said Sky News, 20 November 2020

COVID-19 could cause erectile dysfunction in patients who have recovered from the virus, doctor warns Daily Mail, 6 December 2020

THE WEIRD AND THE WAFER-THIN

Bad news for baldies as new US study finds they’re 40% more at risk of coronavirus Daily Star, 23 July 2020

Health officials recommend ‘glory holes’ for safe sex during the pandemic Metro, 23 July 2020

Why your PETS should be socially distancing: Experts warn dogs should be kept two metres away from other canines and cats kept indoors to protect owners Daily Mail, 11 November 2020

Covid survivors could have potentially life-threatening allergic reaction to hair dye Daily Mirror, 12 November 2020

Masturbate during coronavirus lockdown to ‘boost your immune system and fight off infection’, docs say The Sun, 13 November 2020

Dog-owners face 78% higher risk of catching Covid-19 – and home grocery deliveries DOUBLE the risk, study finds Daily Mail, 16 November 2020

Ice cream tests positive for coronavirus in China Sky News, 16 January 2021

SARAH, 85, BY HER DAUGHTER

My mum is 85 and she has said she doesn’t want any treatment if she gets it. She will let nature take its course.

She doesn’t have any health issues, there’s no reason to be hidden away. She was very active for someone her age and used to be involved in the University of the Third Age and go to a horticultural club, but everything that makes her life worthwhile and gives her forward motion is completely gone.

At the beginning, the ramping up of fear got to her. She began to believe it was inevitable that she would die of Covid. It was foremost in her mind.

We had to tell her to turn the BBC off. I honestly think that because the BBC is so respected and looked to as the voice of calm and reason, it has completely let down its licence payers because it kept up a constant narrative of fear. It has ceased to do its job in giving balance and it didn’t question the government fiercely. If you just watched or listened to the BBC every day, what hope