| HIERARCHY | Elevated growth rate of Covid-19 is key, reportedly, in the order of things (9) |
| NATURE | You have to eat and run - that's the order of things! (6) |
| ROOKIES | New recruits lost money in the room and keys reportedly (7) |
| PACEOFCHANGE | Growth rate? |
| FOODCHAIN | One is expected to swallow it to replace China in the natural order of things (4,5) |
| PORCELAIN | China in hole over onset of Covid-19! Thousands ultimately wiped out, killed (9) |
| SEMBLANCE | Mask enables millions perhaps to tackle onset of Covid-19 (9) |
| DEPRESSED | The cupboard in "19" is blue (9) |
| EXCHEQUER | Former supermarket cashier reportedly in the accounts department (9) |
| GOODTIMES | Kris Kristofferson hit, in the wake of Covid requested it! (3,3,4,5) |
| DAME | From the Latin for "mistress of the household", word for a female ruler in its earliest sense, now a title given to a woman with the rank of Knight Commander or a holder of the Grand Cross in the orde |
| ELBE | Royal treatment: Mr. Elba, dashing actor who in 2016 chose his mum to escort him to Buckingham Palace to receive the honor of membership in the Order of the British Empire |
| OFFICER | In the Order of the British Empire, a member of the grade next below commander (7) |
| TENTH | Like "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" in the order of the franchise |
| HYSTERONPROTERON | *Figure of speech in which the natural order of things is reversed for emphasis |
| OTTER | Semi-aquatic animal selected by J. K. Rowling as the form of Hermione's patronus in the Order of the Phoenix (5) |
| BLUEBIRD | North American bird in the order of Passerines, used in the title of a famous Word War II song (8) |
| SOUTHAFRICA | Country thought to be the source of a highly infectious variant of Covid-19 (5,6) |
| SCIENTIFIC | Methodical fellow involved in analysing onset of Covid-19 in cities |
| ACCESS | Approach in treatment of cases having first sign of Covid-19 (6) |
