The Tories not talking about Covid could seriously damage Britain’s shaky economy

As infections rise, workers must be told to stay at home when they’re sick ahead of the autumn flu season, and sick pay must be available to claim on day one, argues James Moore

Covid is still with us despite the Tories’ unwillingness to talk about it (PA)

There are three things the Tory leadership contenders are desperate to avoid talking about: the cost of living crisis, NHS waiting times, and Covid-19.

Let’s talk about the last of these. Covid is currently behaving like a Doctor Who villain, in that it almost feels as though it is governed by a collective intelligence – one that is taking politicians’ attempts to shove it into the corner as a personal affront.

Omicron has been busily refining its spikes, and evolving new subvariants that improve on the ability of the original to infect and reinfect the unfortunate hosts (us).