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Kit Yates

Headshot of Kit Yates

Kit Yates is director of the Centre for Mathematical Biology at the University of Bath and author of The Maths of Life and Death

March 2025

  • CPAC, Oxen Hill, Md, USA - 21 Feb 2025<br>Mandatory Credit: Photo by Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock (15161520e) Elon Musk is given a chainsaw as a gift by Argentine President Javier Millei during his appearance at CPAC, the annual Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord Convention Center in Oxen Hill MD on February 20, 2025. CPAC, Oxen Hill, Md, USA - 21 Feb 2025

    double quotation markElon Musk is a proven danger to good science, but the Royal Society won’t say it. That’s why I resigned

    Kit Yates
    It is vital to act, and I urge colleagues to do so. How can we stand by and laud this man while he undermines scientific integrity? asks academic and author Kit Yates

October 2023

  • Tjeerd Bakker, senior horological conservator at Buckingham Palace, changes the time on a mantel clock, 27 October 2023.

    double quotation markHas the time come to stop changing the clocks? This is what the science tells us

    Kit Yates
    The EU voted to scrap mandatory daylight savings time but it seems unlikely Brexit Britain will do the same, says Kit Yates, director of the Centre for Mathematical Biology at Bath University

March 2023

  • Boris Johnson visit to medical centre - Surrey<br>Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks to the media during a visit to the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre in Epsom, Surrey

    Science Weekly
    Matt Hancock’s messages: how scientifically literate should our politicians be?

    Podcast12:36
  • British PM Holds Press Briefing On Covid-19 Winter Plan<br>LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 14: Britain's Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty (L), Britain's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance (C) and Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R) walk towards the door of number 9, Downing Street ahead of a press conference in the Downing Street Briefing Room on September 14, 2021 in London, England. The prime minister's briefing was preceded by his health secretary's appearance before the House of Commons, in which he laid out the country's strategies for managing the pandemic through the autumn and winter. (Photo by Richard Pohle - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

    double quotation markDid Boris Johnson ‘follow the science’ on Covid? He couldn’t even do the maths

    Kit Yates

January 2023

  • schoolgirl doing maths

    double quotation markAs a mathematician, I fear Rishi Sunak’s plan for compulsory maths doesn’t add up

    Kit Yates
    Forcing students to endure a subject that many find unenjoyable could end up putting some off A-levels altogether, says mathematician and author Kit Yates

December 2022

  • NHS Nurses go on strike for the first time in its 106-year history in London - 15 Dec 2022<br>Mandatory Credit: Photo by Steve Taylor/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock (13669707b) A NHS nurse holds a placard during a protest outside St. Thomas' Hospital in central London on day one of the two strikes taking place this month. Thousands of nurses across the country are striking in a dispute over pay and working conditions, making it the largest strike in NHS history. Due to the industrial action, number of routine operations have been cancelled. NHS Nurses go on strike for the first time in its 106-year history in London - 15 Dec 2022

    double quotation markThe UK government won’t help – but we can take steps to avoid a Covid Christmas

    Kit Yates
    Infections and hospitalisations are on the rise, but you wouldn’t know it given the lack of public health messaging, says Kit Yates, director of Bath University’s Centre for Mathematical Biology

July 2022

  • UK COVID-19 deaths surpass 200,000, London, England, United Kingdom - 13 Jul 2022<br>Mandatory Credit: Photo by Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock (13029887e) A woman wearing a protective face mask stands above the National Covid Memorial Wall outside St Thomas' Hospital Vaccine Centre as UK covid deaths surpass 200,000. Thousands of red hearts have been painted on the wall opposite the Parliament, one for each life lost to coronavirus. UK COVID-19 deaths surpass 200,000, London, England, United Kingdom - 13 Jul 2022

    double quotation markThis Covid wave may be cresting – now let’s prepare for the next one

    Kit Yates
    There is no room for complacency about decreasing hospital admissions in England, says Kit Yates director of Bath University’s Centre for Mathematical Biology

June 2022

  • A person writes a message on the National Covid Memorial Wall, March 2022

    double quotation markBritain is being swamped by yet another Covid wave – how can we stop them coming?

    Kit Yates
    No, Matt Hancock, we are not ‘past the pandemic’. And we won’t be until the world’s population is vaccinated, says Kit Yates of the University of Bath

April 2022

  • Conservative Party's Spring Conference takes place in Blackpool<br>British Minister for Brexit Opportunities Jacob Rees-Mogg speaks at the Conservative Party Spring Conference in Blackpool, Britain March 18, 2022. REUTERS/Phil Noble

    double quotation markForcing civil servants back to the office is the opposite of ‘living with the virus’

    Kit Yates
    Jacob Rees-Mogg and the government seem to be living in the past, passing down edicts as if Covid doesn’t exist, says Kit Yates of Bath University’s Centre for Mathematical Biology

March 2022

  • Emergency ambulance in Slough

    double quotation markCovid has slipped from the headlines – but with restrictions eased, cases are rising

    Kit Yates
    Despite what many think, coronavirus is still a threat, and it will be while we fail to take precautionary measures, says Kit Yates of the University of Bath

January 2022

  • UK sees biggest jump in COVID-19 cases since 107 days<br>LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - SEPTEMBER 06: People sit on a bench according to the social distancing rule in London, United Kingdom on September 06, 2020. UK sees biggest jump in coronavirus (COVID-19) cases since 107 days. 2,988 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, as well as the highest daily reported number of cases in the past 107 days. (Photo by Hasan Esen/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

    double quotation markWhy mathematicians sometimes get Covid projections wrong

    Kit Yates
    Modelling may not be a crystal ball, but it remains the best tool we have to predict the future, says mathematical scientist Kit Yates

November 2021

  • People line up to get testid for Covid in a Johannesburg airport.

    double quotation markThe new variant is worrying – but it doesn’t change how we tackle Covid

    Kit Yates
    The only way to stop B.1.1.529 and other mutations is through testing, masks, and getting vaccines to everyone in the world, says the University of Bath’s Kit Yates

October 2021

  • National Covid Memorial Wall In London, United Kingdom - 12 Oct 2021<br>Mandatory Credit: Photo by David Cliff/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock (12535203d) Flowers rest at the foot of the National Covid Memorial Wall on the south bank footpath of the River Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, England, on October 12, 2021. The wall, created this spring, consists of more than 150,000 painted hearts, each representing one life lost in the country to covid-19. Today meanwhile saw the publication of the 'Coronavirus: lessons learned to date' report from MPs on the Health and Social Care and Science and Technology Committees, which sharply criticises the government's approach to managing the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, but also highlights successes including the country's mass vaccination programme. National Covid Memorial Wall In London, United Kingdom - 12 Oct 2021

    double quotation markBritain’s Covid numbers show we need to move immediately to ‘plan B’

    Kit Yates
    Our comparatively good position has been eroded and now, heading into the winter, the data looks truly alarming, says academic and mathematician Kit Yates