coronavrius: Last News

COVID pandemic.Musicians, visual artists, writers, dancers, actors and those working in film are among the anonymous recipients who have been chosen at random from a pool of more than 9,000 people. News of the scheme was first shared in January.The Basic Income for the Arts scheme will run for three years at a cost of €25m (£22million), reports the BBC.As was the case in Northern Ireland, arts and entertainment venues in the Republic of Ireland were closed for long periods due to COVID restrictions which affected artists’ income.The payment is not means tested so the 2,000 people selected may still be eligible for social welfare payments and will still be able to earn other money from their work.

coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and to ease the current cost of living crisis in the UK.In a statement following the announcement, the Music Venue Trust said that it “warmly welcomes the Business Rates discount, which will maintain the 50 per cent Business Rates for grassroots music venues that the government announced pre-pandemic.”It continued: “However, with no action for businesses on energy bills, or NI liability, or VAT or any support for the sector to recover from the crisis, the outcome of the budget is that none of the extraordinary financial pressures being placed on venues have been mitigated or alleviated.“This budget has failed to respond to inflationary increases from rent, supplies, & services running in excess of 20% across the sector.

COVID.Downing Street has said that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will reveal details of his “living with COVID” plan on Monday (February 21) – outlining that factors such as vaccination, testing, and anti-viral drugs will be enough to keep people safe, rather than expecting infected people to stay at home.Self-isolation regulations for those who test positive and their close contacts are expected to cease by the end of this week.“COVID will not suddenly disappear, and we need to learn to live with this virus and continue to protect ourselves without restricting our freedoms,” said Johnson. “We’ve built up strong protections against this virus over the past two years through the vaccine rollouts, tests, new treatments and the best scientific understanding of what this virus can do.”He added: “Thanks to our successful vaccination programme and the sheer magnitude of people who have come forward to be jabbed, we are now in a position to set out our plan for living with COVID this week.”Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary told BBC‘s Sunday Morning today (February 20) this was “declaring victory before the war is over”, that ending mandatory self-isolation was “not the right thing to do” and that this was a distraction from the ongoing ‘partygate’ scandal.“At this stage the PM risks muddying the waters,” he said. “We want to see the government publish the scientific advice because at the moment this seems very premature.”“He continued: It seems like Boris Johnson is keen to declare victory before the war is over in the hope he gets some headlines about ‘victory day on COVID’ instead police officers asking questions about actions in Number 10.”Labour Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting tells #Raworth that dropping remaining

James Blunt in their latest effort to repel protesters who are camped outside of parliament.The demonstrators, who are angry at COVID-19 vaccine mandates, have been blocking the streets of the country’s capital, Wellington, since Tuesday (February 8).Tactics used by the local authorities to try and get rid of the protesters have included turning on the water sprinklers on the lawn where they camped. But protesters retaliated by digging trenches and building makeshift drainpipes to re-route the water, according to BBC News.When the sprinkler tactic proved ineffective, police turned to blasting out Barry Manilow‘s greatest hits, which include ‘Mandy’ and ‘Could It Be Magic’, on a 15-minute loop from one of parliament’s loudspeakers, as well as the ’90s Spanish hit ‘Macarena’ and a number of vaccine messages.After catching wind of what was happening, Blunt offered his services to New Zealand authorities via Twitter.

Failure are the latest act to announce they’re pulling their music from Spotify following the ongoing COVID controversy involving Joe Rogan.Last month hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address COVID misinformation on its platform, sparked by comments made on The Joe Rogan Experience.More than 270 members of the science and medical community signed the open letter, which called Rogan’s actions “not only objectionable and offensive but also medically and culturally dangerous”.Soon after, Neil Young demanded that his music be pulled from Spotify, asserting in a since-deleted open letter to his management that content like Rogan’s podcast “spread[s] false information about vaccines”.The streaming platform obliged, later confirming that Young’s content would indeed be removed from the platform.Other musicians and entertainers have since followed suit in removing their music and content from the platform including Janis Joplin, Graham Nash and Stewart Lee.Now, in a lengthy Facebook statement, cult alternative rockers Failure have announced that they too are planning to remove their music from Spotify in protest of the service platforming misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine as well as its overall business model.“Failure have wrestled with the question of Spotify and whether to have our newest music, which we control, on the platform,” the band began their statement.

Stewart Lee is the latest artist to remove his work from Spotify in protest of COVID misinformation being spread on Joe Rogan’s podcast.Earlier this month, hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address COVID misinformation on its platform, sparked by comments made on The Joe Rogan Experience.More than 270 members of the science and medical community signed the open letter, which called Rogan’s actions “not only objectionable and offensive but also medically and culturally dangerous”.Spotify previously hosted Lee’s stand-up albums ’41s Best Stand Up Ever’, ‘If You Prefer A Milder Comedian Please Ask For One’ and ‘Carpet Remnant World’.Announcing his decision to boycott the platform, he said in a statement obtained by Chortle: “I am fully aware this will make no financial difference to Spotify whatsoever, but for too long internet platforms have been able to spread lies with impunity, free from the checks and balances that govern traditional publishers and broadcasters, and their efforts to correct this still do not go for enough.“Perhaps artists big and small can band together to do something to change this where the money men won’t.”Rogan publicly addressed the backlash himself recently, in a new video where he discusses “some of the controversy that’s been going on over the past few days.”He told fans on Instagram: “I don’t always get it right.

Meat Loaf to advocate for people to be vaccinated against COVID following the singer and actor’s death.The ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ icon – real name Marvin Lee Aday – passed away last Thursday (January 20), according to a statement posted on his official Facebook page. He was 74 years old.Reports have since emerged claiming Aday died after falling seriously ill with COVID, though a cause of death has not yet been confirmed.

Adele has thanked fans for their “overwhelming” support after announcing the last-minute postponement of her Las Vegas residency.The singer-songwriter was set to begin a 12-week run of concerts in Sin City yesterday (January 21) in support of her fourth studio album, ’30’.Dubbed ‘Weekends With Adele’, the residency would have seen the star perform two shows every weekend at the Colosseum in the Caesars Palace hotel between now and April 16, 2022.Taking to Instagram on Thursday evening (January 20), however, Adele shared an emotional video message to announce that the performances would be pushed back due to “delivery delays” and COVID-related issues.“I’m so sorry, but my show ain’t ready,” she explained, adding that she and her team had “tried absolutely everything” in an attempt to put the concert together in time. “I’m gutted – I’m sorry it’s so last-minute,” Adele said.With many people understanding the predicament she faced, Adele tweeted today (January 22) to express her gratitude to those who had posted comments of support.“I have the best fans in the world!” she wrote on the platform.

Biffy Clyro have postponed their 2022 European headline tour due to ongoing COVID concerns – see all the details below.The Scottish trio were due to hit the road in Europe last October for a run of delayed concerts. In June, however, they announced that the gigs were being pushed back again to February/March this year.Taking to social media today (January 19), Biffy Clyro told fans that the concerts will now take place between August and October “due to ongoing concerns and restrictions around Coronavirus”.The show originally scheduled for Atlantico Rome on February 27 is “no longer possible”, according to the band.

Robbie Williams is hoping to head back out on the road later this year.The former Take That singer’s 11th solo album, ‘The Heavy Entertainment Show’, arrived in 2016. It was followed by his 2019 festive record ‘The Christmas Present’, which featured guest appearances from Jamie Cullum, Rod Stewart and more.Williams’ residency at Las Vegas’ Encore Theater was cut short in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, with his last UK date taking place in London in December 2019 (via Setlist.FM).During a recent interview, the ‘Rock DJ’ artist said: “Hopefully I’m going to go on tour at the end of this year.

The Strokes have announced that they’ve had to postpone their New Year’s Eve show at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center due to a spike in Omicron cases.The band were slated to play the New York venue on December 31, with support coming from IDLES and Hinds. However, due to the city’s rise in cases of the new coronavirus variant they’ve now been forced to postpone.“How can we put this….

COVID variant, with nightclubs also arguing that the lose of business over Christmas poses “a threat to the very survival of thousands of businesses and jobs”.Last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new restrictions for the country due to a rise in cases of the Omicron variant, in measures dubbed ‘Plan B’. Last night, it was voted through COVID passports would be mandatory in gigs and nightclubs.

COVID pass laws, calling them “a total infringement of our human rights”.Anna Redfern, who runs independent venue Cinema & Co, will not be implementing the rule that a NHS COVID pass must be presented in order to legally enter enter cinemas, theatres and concert halls.“I know a lot of businesses who are complying with this out of fear, I’m hoping by making a stand in this way it will give others courage to follow suit,” Redfern said, as reported by the BBC.She also referred to the new measures as “nonsensical” and “unnecessary”.Further thoughts on the new laws appeared on Cinema & Co’s Facebook page.

Reuters).

No Rome has shared a new track called ‘I Want U’ – listen to it below.The song serves as the second preview of the Dirty Hit signee’s forthcoming debut album, ‘It’s All Smiles’, which is set to arrive on December 3. First single ‘When She Comes Around’ came out last month.‘I Want U’ received its first play on Zane Lowe’s Apple Music radio show yesterday (November 8).

Bob Vylan have announced they are supporting Biffy Clyro on the band’s intimate ‘Fingers Crossed’ UK tour.The London punks will join the Scottish trio for the sold out jaunt which kicks off this Friday (October 29) at Liverpool University.

Dr Ruth McNair has practised as a GP for 27 years and is a notable figure in the LGBTQI community. She has a special interest in lesbian and bisexual women’s health and the well-being of the LGBTQI community as a whole. In 2009, Dr McNair helped establish the Northside Clinic (Melbourne) which has an inclusive policy and has an even mix of LGBTQI and straight clients. She is an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne and is frequently called upon to provide expert opinion and conduct research into various issues endemic to the LGBTQI community, in particular, homelessness. She spoke with Star Observer.