Irish Examiner view: Covid news from China is not encouraging

As India reports cases of the BF.7 sub-variant, suggesting it has already escaped China, is there another lockdown in our future?

Patients at Baoding No 2 Central Hospital in Zhuozhou in China's Hebei province on Wednesday. Picture: Dake Kang/AP

Readers are probably winding down their Christmas exertions by now, with the crowded shops and thronged streets beginning to lose their appeal as the 25th of the month comes closer and closer. 

Still, with socially-distanced festivities still fresh in the memory, even the mild discomfort of a long checkout queue in the supermarket can come tinged with a vague sense of reassurance.