LABOUR’S Diane Abbott and the Morning Star call today for all forces striving for a Zero-Covid strategy to suppress the virus to build a united campaign to change government policy.

“Zero Covid” — a policy aimed at eliminating rather than managing coronavirus — has had great success in driving down infections to negligible levels in countries including New Zealand, China and Vietnam, saving hundreds of thousands of lives and allowing ordinary economic and social life to resume.

Britain entered its third national lockdown this week as new cases continue to soar, with well over 50,000 new infections reported yesterday and 1,162 deaths — bringing the total to over 77,000 deaths, compared with under 5,000 in China, 35 in Vietnam and just 25 in New Zealand.