Summary of complaint
We have received complaints from readers who believe our article听Changing nature of Covid: Is it just a regular winter bug now?听听minimised the dangers posed by the virus.
Our response
Our intention was to examine the evidence, compare the data on deaths from flu and Covid, and look at seasonal patterns.
All three professors we interviewed told the 麻豆官网首页入口 there were positive signs about the evolution of Covid.
However, some did express caution and warned that Covid is still dangerous, which we reflected in our reporting. We quoted Prof Paul Hunter who felt Covid was 鈥渨ell on its way鈥 to becoming seasonal; Prof Adam Kucharski who we said 鈥 remains a little more cautious鈥 and Prof Mike Tildesley who said Covid 鈥渃ould still end up causing more deaths than flu this winter.鈥
A chart in the story showed the recorded winter deaths from Covid and flu between October 2022 and March 2023 where deaths from flu outstripped the Covid death toll.
Some people were unhappy that we did not mention long Covid however this is an issue we have covered previously on the 麻豆官网首页入口 News website.
The 麻豆官网首页入口 also interviewed Sally, a woman who is still heavily impacted by Covid. She expressed her fears about Covid and how it has stopped her from doing things she usually enjoys.
On the 31st October we听added a paragraph referring to the risk from respiratory bugs for vulnerable groups and the precautions they are advised to take, and added a note advising readers of this update.