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New cases of Covid-19 are declining across most of the US, even in some states with vaccine-hesitant populations.
But almost all states where cases are rising have lower-than-average vaccination rates and experts warned on Sunday that relief from the coronavirus pandemic could be fleeting in regions where few people get inoculated.
Case totals nationally have declined in a week from a seven-day average of nearly 21,000 on May 29 to 14,315 on Saturday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
For weeks, states and cities have been ending virus restrictions and mask mandates, even indoors:
Evening summary
Here are the key developments from across the globe:
- The UK has reported eight new deaths and a further 7,490 positive cases, according to official data. Sundays figures are an increase of 2,149 from last weeks figure of 5,341. Becoming the second week in a row, the country has recorded over 2000 new cases from an increase on 30 May - 6 June, which showed an increase of 2,101.
- G7 leaders have renewed calls into an investigation of the origin of the pandemic amid questions over whether it leaked from a Chinese laboratory.
- Lebanon administered more than 40,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in a weekend drive to contain the pandemic.
- British prime minister Boris Johnson has rejected suggestions by a former prime minister that there may be an ‘unforgivable moral failure’ in the supply of vaccine doses to cover the needs of poorer nations.
- The Colombian president Ivan Duque received his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Sunday, as he urged people to continue keeping themselves safe against Covid-19 amid a record number of daily deaths.
- Peru has passed two million positive cases, with 2,001,059 people now contracting the virus and 188,443 deaths.
- Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa pledges no return to Covid restrictions despite growing infections over the past month.
That’s all from me, Edna Mohamed, tonight. My colleague Helen Sullivan will be here shortly to take over. Thank you all for following along with me!
From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on the possible delay to England’s 21 June unlocking, which would see clubs and entertainment venues reopened to full capacity and an end to social distancing measures.
An official decision on the roadmap to be announced tomorrow.
Govt source says ministers have agreed to delay lifting of covid regulations for 4 weeks - but, not clear if what caveats or exceptions may apply and no official confirmation tonight - PM will announce final decision early evening tomorrow
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) June 13, 2021
Brazil has recorded 1,129 Covid related deaths and 37,948 new cases, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.
The data has also shown that nearly 490,000 people have died from the virus during the pandemic, with 17.4m people infected.
The Copa America football tournament, held in Brazil after the previous host dropped out due to rising cases, begins on Sunday.
A US federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by 117 workers at a hospital in Texas over its requirement that they are vaccinated.
Jennifer Bridges, a nurse and the lead plaintiff in the case had argued that if she was fired for refusing a vaccine, it should be considered wrongful termination. She also said the vaccines are experimental and dangerous.
But in a ruling issued on Saturday, the US District Judge Lynn Hughes upheld Houston Methodist Hospital’s policy mandating employees are vaccinated.
Reuters reports,
The judge did not find merit in either argument.
“Methodist is trying to do their business of saving lives without giving them the Covid-19 virus,” Hughes wrote in a five-page decision. “It is a choice made to keep staff, patients and their families safer.
“Bridges can freely choose to accept or refuse a Covid-19 vaccine; however, if she refuses, she will simply need to work somewhere else.”
The judge said Texas law only protected employees from being fired for refusing to commit an illegal act and that the requirement is consistent with public policy.
Three vaccines received emergency authorisation in the United States, though they have not received full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also said last month that U.S. companies can mandate that employees be vaccinated against Covid-19 with certain exceptions.
In a statement, Houston Methodist called the lawsuit frivolous and said it was pleased with the judge’s decision. It said that 24,947 hospital employees have met the requirements.
A lawyer for the hospital workers who brought the lawsuit did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Vietnam has reported 103 new Covid-19 cases in its night update, raising the national caseload to 10,538, and 171 recoveries on Sunday. The recent government data also has the death toll stood at 59.
Health ministry confirmed 103 new #COVID19 cases, 171 recoveries on Sunday evening https://t.co/RUMHngToId@WHO @BNODesk pic.twitter.com/uUGsNjH6I0
— Viet Nam Government Portal (@VNGovtPortal) June 13, 2021
Updated
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa pledges no return to Covid restrictions despite a growing number of infections over the past month, particularly in the capital, Lisbon.
Concerns are growing that St Ives may face a spike in Covid cases as the G7 summit winds up with hospitality venues, police officers and a protest camp all reporting cases of the virus.
At least five venues in St Ives, the town closest to the main venue summit, Carbis Bay, have closed or are limiting their operations because of cases.
Two police officers have had positive tests and one protester at an Extinction Rebellion camp is also isolating.
Andrew George, who speaks for the Liberal Democrats in Cornwall on health, said he was concerned about the cases.
He said he did not believe the leaders were “vectors” for Covid. “But other people associated with G7 – security staff, police, media have been intermixing.”
Ahead of the event, George had called for the UK government to publish advice on the possibility of the summit leading to a Covid spike but said it had refused on security grounds. “We won’t know the full consequences of what has been going on possibly for a fortnight.”
Among the venues that have shut or restricted their business are the Pedn Olva hotel and the Lifeboat Inn. The Porthgwidden Beach Cafe said it had decided to close its doors “due to the uncertainty over local Covid-19 cases”.
The bar at the Western Hotel was closed and another harbourside hotel had a note pinned to its window saying: “Closed until further notice.” Staff at nearby venues said it too was closed because of Covid.
Sarah Green, a theatre director who also runs an online business training the NHS, said: “It’s getting really worrying.”
More on the story here:
In a statement to Reuters, EMA’s head of strategy, Marco Cavaleri, said that the AstraZeneca vaccine had a favourable risk-benefit profile for all age groups, particularly those aged over 60.
Cavaleri said:
Unfortunately, my words have not been interpreted correctly in a recent interview with La Stampa.’ The AstraZeneca shot “maintains a favourable benefit-risk profile in all ages but particularly in the elderly above 60.
A European Medicines Agency (EMA) official has said in an interview that it might be worth abandoning the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for all age groups where alternatives are available, AFP reports.
EMA’s head of strategy, Marco Cavaleri, also told Italy’s La Stampa newspaper that the Johnson & Johnson jab should be preferentially used for the over-60s.
Updated
Since the pandemic began last year, 3,797,342 have lost their lives to the virus, according to an AFP compilation of official data.
The US continues to be the worst-affected country with 599,672 deaths, followed by Brazil with 486,272, India 370,384, Mexico 230,095 and Peru with 188,443.
Updated
Peru's covid-19 cases top two million
Peru, who has been hit hard by the pandemic has passed two million positive cases with 2,001,059 people now having contracted the virus and 188,443 deaths, according to the health ministry.
Updated
While new Covid-19 cases decline across most of the US, even in some vaccine-hesitant states, almost all states beating that trend have lower than average vaccine rates, which experts warn that the current relief could be fleeting in regions where few people get inoculated.
According to data from John Hopkins University, nationally, case totals have declined in a week from a seven-day average of almost 21,000 on 29 May to 14,315 on Saturday.
AP reports,
Dr Leana Wen, a public health professor at George Washington University, said she is concerned that the natural immunity of those who have been exposed to coronavirus may soon wane. And she’s worried that states with low vaccination rates could become hot spots.
“Just because we’re lucky in June doesn’t mean we’ll continue to be lucky come the late fall and winter,” said Wen, the former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore. “We could well have variants here that are more transmissible, more virulent and those who do not have immunity or have waning immunity could be susceptible once again.”
In Mississippi, about 835,000 people have been fully vaccinated, or 28% of the population, compared to the national average of 43%. But despite the lagging vaccination rate, the state’s rolling average of daily new cases over the past two weeks has decreased by about 18%, according to Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Albert Ko, who chairs Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at Yale, said there is no accurate data to show what percentage of the population in “high burden” states such as Alabama or Texas have been exposed to the virus, but he said estimates have put it as high as 50%.
“I think it doesn’t deny the importance of vaccination, particularly because the levels of antibodies that you get that are induced by natural infection are lower than that of what we have for our best vaccine,” Ko said.
Ko said it is important that even those exposed to the disease get vaccinated because natural immunity does not last as long as vaccine immunity and the levels of antibodies are lower.
Wen said research strongly suggests that vaccinations provide a benefit to those who already have some antibodies due to infection.
“I think it is a fallacy that many people have that recovery means they no longer need to be vaccinated,” she said.
France reports that 30.3m have received a first vaccine and 15,759,420 people have a complete vaccination schedule. The country also records 13 new Covid-19 related deaths.
#Vaccination #COVID19 | Au 13 juin :
— Ministère des Solidarités et de la Santé (@Sante_Gouv) June 13, 2021
✔ 30 252 980 personnes ont reçu une première injection
✔ 15 759 420 personnes ont un schéma vaccinal complet
The Colombian president Ivan Duque received his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Sunday, as he urged people to continue keeping themselves safe against Covid-19 amid a record number of daily deaths, Reuters reports.
The country, which has recorded more than 95,000 Covid-19 deaths, is currently vaccinating everyone over the age of 60 and people over 16 with pre-existing health conditions, including teachers and military personnel.
President Duque said from Bogota’s military hospital, “Today more than ever, we must be aware that the pandemic has not ended.”
Duque, who is due to receive his second dose on 4 July, encouraged Colombians to continue social-distancing practices and the use of face masks while also paying tribute to medical workers and those who have died from Covid-19.
On Saturday, Colombia reported 577 deaths, a new daily high, while ICU’s in many cities remain close to capacity amid a prolonged third spike in cases.
According to the health ministry, their first shipment of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine will arrive on Tuesday and will be primarily used for rural populations.
British prime minister Boris Johnson has rejected suggestions by a former prime minister that there may be an ‘unforgivable moral failure’ in the supply of vaccine doses to cover the needs of poorer nations.
Leaders at the G7 summit pledged more than 1bn vaccine doses, with 870m jabs to be shared directly and the rest through funding to the Covax initiative to poorer nations.
While the prime minister said that pledge was made up of ‘a massive contribution by the United States and other friends”, the former Labour prime minister, Gordon Brown, said that the summit ‘will go down as a missed opportunity” due to the lack of a plan to deliver 11 billion vaccine doses.
PA reports,
Mr Johnson told a news conference at the end of the G7 summit that “we are going flat out and we are producing vaccines as fast as we can, and distributing them as fast as we can”.
The target to vaccinate the world by the end of next year will be done “very largely thanks to the efforts of the countries who have come here today”, Mr Johnson said.
He said the UK’s contribution to the 1 billion dose pledge is another 100 million vaccines from now to next June.
Earlier, Mr Brown said the summit could be seen as an “unforgivable moral failure” due to the gap in vaccinations between rich and poor nations.
He told Sky’s Trevor Phillips On Sunday programme: “When we needed 11 billion vaccines, we’ve only got offered a plan for 1 billion.”
He added: “I think this summit will also go down as an unforgivable moral failure, when the richest countries are sitting around the table with the power to do something about it.
“Now that we’ve discovered the vaccine, we have not delivered the comprehensive plan that will deliver vaccination by the middle of next year.”
Mr Brown continued: “We will have a huge problem of a division between the richest countries that are safe and the poorest countries that are not safe.
“But then the problem will come back to haunt the richest countries because we will have contagion spreading that will hurt even the people who are vaccinated because of mutations and variants.”
In June 2020, as the first reports of long Covid began to filter through the medical community, doctors attempting to grapple with this mysterious malaise began to notice an unusual trend. While acute cases of Covid-19 – particularly those hospitalised with the disease – tended to be mostly male and over 50, long Covid sufferers were, by contrast, both relatively young and overwhelmingly female.
Early reports of long Covid at a Paris hospital between May and July 2020 suggested that the average age was around 40, and women afflicted by the longer-term effects of Covid-19 outnumbered men by four to one.
Over the past 12 months, a similar gender skew has become apparent around the world. From long Covid patients monitored by hospitals in Bangladesh and Russia to the Covid Symptom Tracker app, from the UK-wide Phosp-Covid study assessing the longer-term impact of Covid-19, to the medical notes of specialist post-Covid care clinics across both the US and the UK, a picture has steadily emerged of young to middle-aged women being disproportionately vulnerable.
Dr Sarah Jolley, who runs the UCHealth post-Covid care clinic in Aurora, Colorado, told the Observer that about 60% of her patients have been women. In Sweden, Karolinska Institute researcher Dr Petter Brodin, who leads the long Covid arm of the Covid Human Genetic Effort global consortium, suspects that the overall proportion of female long Covid patients may be even higher, potentially 70-80%.
“This pattern has been seen in other post-infectious syndromes,” says Dr Melissa Heightman, who runs the UCLH post-Covid care clinic in north London. “Around 66% of our patients have been women. A lot of them were in full-time jobs, have young children, and now more than a quarter of them are completely unable to work because they’re so unwell. Economically, it’s a bit of a catastrophe.”
More on why women seem to be more prone to long Covid here:
Lebanon administered more than 40,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in a weekend drive to contain the pandemic, AFP reports.
During the weekend, nearly 50 centres across the country administered jabs on a walk-in basis to anyone over 50 and those disabled over the age of 16 who had not received a single dose.
Fariss Abiad, the head of Lebanon’s main hospital for Covid-19 patients, called the drive “successful by all standards”.
The so-called ‘Pfizer marathon’ was the latest in a series of weekend vaccine drives organised this month to contain the virus.
Home to more than six million people, Lebanon, has recorded over 542,000 infections, including over 7,700 deaths since last year. However, its current rates are the lowest they have been in months.
According to the health ministry, nearly 927,000 people had received at least one vaccine dose since vaccine programmes began in February.
On Sunday, 22,696 doses had been administered, the health ministry said on Twitter, following 19,089 jabs given the previous day.
— Ministry of Public Health - Lebanon (@mophleb) June 13, 2021
The IMF welcomed the Group of Seven’s support for expanding the global lenders emergency reserves by $650bn and said it would work with members on ways to $100bn to the world’s poorest countries.
The IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said that the allocation of Special Drawing Rights would help boost global reserves and allow countries to fund much needed fiscal measures to exit the pandemic.
Reuters reports,
She said she would work with IMF members in the coming months on how they could re-allocate some of their SDRs or use budget loans to reach the global target of raising $100 billion to help the most vulnerable countries deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This was a consequential summit. The renewed spirit of international cooperation was palpable, with the G7 stepping up its efforts to help the world exit this crisis. I can assure you that the IMF is playing its part,” she said.
G7 leaders have renewed calls into an investigation of the origin of the pandemic amid questions over whether it leaked from a Chinese laboratory.
A joint report made earlier this year by the WHO and Chinese experts concluded that it was “extremely unlikely” to escape from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the city at the centre of the outbreak.
PA reports,
At the news conference to mark the end of the G7 summit in Cornwall, Boris Johnson said that the best advice available to him remained that it jumped species from an animal.
However, he said that it was important to keep an open mind as to what exactly happened.
“At the moment, the advice that we have had is that it doesn’t look as though this particular disease of zoonotic origin came from a lab,” he said.
“Clearly, anybody sensible would want to keep an open mind about that.”
The final summit communique called for a “timely, transparent, expert-led, and science-based WHO-convened phase 2 Covid-19 origins study”, including in China.
Speaking to reporters at the summit on Saturday, the head of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that after almost 3.75 million deaths worldwide, people deserved to know the source of the outbreak.
“We believe that all hypotheses should be open, and we need to proceed to the second phase to really know the origins,” he said.
UK Covid figures increase by 2000 for the second week in a row
The UK has reported eight new deaths on Sunday and a further 7,490 positive cases, according to official data. The latest figures are down from yesterdays 7,738 and the 12 deaths.
However, Sundays figures are an increase of 2,149 from last weeks figure of 5,341. Becoming the second week in a row, the country has recorded over 2000 new cases from an increase on 30 May - 6 June, which showed an increase of 2,101.
The data also showed that 78.4% of the adult population had had a first vaccine dose, while 55.9% have had a second.
The #COVID19 Dashboard has been updated: https://t.co/XhspoyTG79
— Public Health England (@PHE_uk) June 13, 2021
On Sunday 13 June, 7,490 new cases and 8 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported across the UK.
41,551,201 people have now received the first dose of a #vaccine. 29,792,658 have received a 2nd dose. pic.twitter.com/TP63N9Km4v
Updated
Hi, I’m Edna Mohamed; I’ll be taking you through the latest Covid developments for the next few hours. As always if I miss anything you can drop me a message on Twitter or email me at edna.mohamed.casual@theguardian.com
Summary
Here’s a round up of the latest developments:
- The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has suggested that remaining Covid restrictions in England will only be lifted when the all the adult population has been offered a vaccination at the end of July. He said: “The critical thing is to get as many of the adult population double vaccinated as possible... At that point we can go irreversibly through the gears and open up in a way that we haven’t been able to do to date.”
- The prospect of a delay to lifting of restrictions in England has prompted unease among Tory backbenchers including Steve Baker and Mark Harper. But an Observer poll found that the majority of people support a pause.
- Government scientific advisers have backed delaying the easing of lockdown. Unlocking too quickly will “fan the flames” of the virus, according Professor Andrew Hayward a member of the Nervtag committee. Professor Stephen Reicher, a member of Spi-B said all the data points to a delay.
- Italy reported 26 coronavirus-related fatalities on Sunday taking its death toll to 27,002. Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, said his government could reintroduce mandatory quarantine for travellers from England if Covid cases continue to rise in the UK.
- Russia has reported 14,723 new cases in the the largest one-day national caseload since 13 February. In Moscow where new infections are at their highest since Christmas Eve, the mayor has offered residents the chance to win a car if they have a vaccine.
- The G7 has called for an “expert-led” study by the World Health Organisation into the origins of Covid. Joe Biden said “The world has to have access.” Boris Johnson said the WHO should have access powers similar to international weapons inspectors.
- G7 countries have pledged 1 billion vaccine doses over the next year and work with the private sector, the G20 and other countries to increase the contribution. Gordon Brown said the pledge was not enough and a missed opportunity.
- Possible contamination in a batch of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, identified by US Food and Drug Administration continue to cause problems with vaccine roll out. South African health inspectors have said they will not release vaccines that may have been contamination. Germany has demanded an extra 6.5 million doses from the company to make up for a shortfall.
- Indonesia has announced its biggest increase in cases in almost four months. New cases in Taiwan have fallen for the third day in a row.
Updated
The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro led thousands of supporters through the streets of São Paulo on Saturday, and was fined for failing to wear a face mask in violation of local Covid-19 measures.
The state government press office said a fine equivalent to about $110 (£78) had been imposed.
Italy reported 26 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday, down from 52 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 1,390 from 1,723.
Italy has now registered 127,002 deaths linked to Covid since its outbreak emerged in February last year. That is the second-highest toll in Europe behind the UK and the eighth-highest in the world.
FLASH | Covid: 1.390 positivi e 26 vittime nelle ultime 24 ore. Effettuati 134.136 tamponi, il tasso di positività è dell'1%: lieve aumento rispetto allo 0,8% di ieri#ANSA
— Agenzia ANSA (@Agenzia_Ansa) June 13, 2021
Joe Biden told a G7 press conference that he has not ruled a Chinese lab-leak being the cause of the pandemic.
He said he and other G7 leaders had raised the issue at the summit.
He said: “I’ve not reached a conclusion because our intelligence community is not certain yet, whether or not this was a consequence from the marketplace of a bat interfacing with animals in the environment that caused this Covid-19 or whether it was an experiment gone awry in a laboratory. It’s important to know the answer to that.”
The US president also backed giving WHO inspectors more access powers.
He said: “The world has to have access, so we’re trying to figure out at the G7 whether we could put together an international basis upon which we could have a bottom with transparency.”
And he conceded “it may take slightly longer, worldwide” to end the pandemic than the WHO’s target of 2022. He said “This is a gigantic, logistical effort”.
Italy’s Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, said his government could reintroduce mandatory quarantine for travellers from England if Covid cases continue to rise.
His comments at the G7 summit come amid concern in the UK about a sharp rise of cases of the highly infectious Delta variant first discovered in India.
Johnson said it was important to keep an open mind on the origins of coronavirus as he backed a beefed up role for the WHO based on the powers of international weapons inspectors.
Asked if he still believed the disease could be traced back to the “demented” tradition in China of using pangolin scales in medicine, Johnson said “I think I do think there’s a problem with zoonotic diseases.”
He added: “The thing we have to focus on, is the practice that seems to be particularly prevalent in, in some parts of Southeast Asia for farming wild animals. That is really where the risks are.”
On the lab-leak theory he said: “At the moment, the advice that we’ve had is it doesn’t look as though this particular disease of zoonotic origin came from a lab. Clearly, anybody sensible would want to keep an open mind about that.”
He added:
One of the things that we agreed to do was to strengthen the World Health Organisation and to make sure that their inspectors can have powers similar to those used by the OPCW [Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons] or the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency or other weapons inspectors who can who can go on the scene and try to determine as independently as possible exactly what is what is going on.
So that people can have confidence about origins of these diseases, so hopefully in the future, a lot of this is obscurity will be will be dispelled.
Boris Johnson has refused to be drawn on the government plans for easing the lockdown during a G7 press conference.
The prime minister was asked what proportion of adults needed to get two doses of the vaccine before restrictions could be eased. He declined to answer and said the press would have to wait until Monday for details about the government’s plans for 21 June.
The number of passengers travelling through UK airports fell by 223 million last year, an annual decline of 75%, as governments imposed travel bans and restrictions because of the coronavirus pandemic.
About 74 million people passed through UK airports in 2020, less than a quarter of the 297 million recorded in 2019, according to PA Media’s analysis of annual Civil Aviation Authority data.
The Airport Operators Association (AOA) said the figures demonstrated the devastating impact of the virus on aviation.
Cardiff airport suffered the largest drop in passenger numbers at 86.7%, followed by Glasgow Prestwick at 85.8% and Exeter at 85.5%.
Read more here:
Updated
The authorities in England have urged those watching the England v Croatia game at Wembley to stay safe.
If you're out in London watching the England match today, we hope you have a great time. But please stay safe, and remember:
— NHS London (@NHSEnglandLDN) June 13, 2021
🧼Hands
😷Face
↔️Space
🌳Fresh air #ItsComingHome #Euros2020 pic.twitter.com/3GVX7c8H1h
EURO 2020⚽ | Commander Jane Connors has a clear message ahead of the first England game tonight 👇 pic.twitter.com/TrSnWuWw20
— MPS Football Unit (@MPSFootballUnit) June 13, 2021
And spare a thought for those who have to work during the game.
Best of luck @EnglandFootball!
— London Ambulance Service (@Ldn_Ambulance) June 13, 2021
Matt from the LAS men's football team is getting in the #ItsComingHome spirit! #Euro2020
(Filmed on a break) pic.twitter.com/DTEkdVib6q
Three people were detained in Paris after officers used tear gas to disperse hundreds of youths gathered for a street party in defiance of Covid social distancing limits and an 11:00 pm curfew, AFP reports.
The so-called Project X gathering on Saturday, a reference to an American film from 2012, on the vast lawns in front of the Invalides war museum was the third party at the site since Thursday.
Videos on social media showed largely maskless youths surrounding a car and then climbing and jumping on its roof, while others bombarded police vans with bottles.
Other mass parties were broken up after midnight in the Tuileries gardens near the Louvre and on the banks of the Seine river, police said, as people enjoying warm evenings outside found it difficult to respect the coronavirus curfew.
Many bars across the city remained open after 11:00 pm over the weekend, the first since the curfew was pushed back from 9:00 pm last Wednesday, according to AFP reporters.
“We had our ‘bac’ [high school exit exam] this year and we really needed to let loose,” said Cedric, 17, who came with friends from the nearby 15th district of the capital.
“I understand and obviously I share the desire of these youths and other people to get together again and have a good time,” said Marlene Schiappa, the minister in charge of citizenship.
“But the virus is still here, the pandemic still exists, and we need to respect the health rules,” which she told Europe 1 radio.
Health authorities reported 3,972 new cases over the previous 24 hours on Saturday, while the number of patients in intensive care fell to 2,110, far below the peak of nearly 6,000 during the third wave of cases that began in March.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has said the excitement of the Euros football championship was needed after “the darkness and trauma” of the pandemic.
Speaking as he arrived at the Trafalgar Square fanzone to cheer on England in their first game against Croatia, Khan praised the “heroic” key workers, hundreds of whom have been invited to watch the game in the specially-created zone on Sunday.
“We’ve invited our amazing key workers to thank them for all they’ve done for our city,” he said.
Khan added:
They’ve gone above and beyond over the last 18 months ... this is our way to thank them. After the darkness and trauma of the last months we need this to uplift our spirits.
You can tell how excited I am I’m one of the first people here ... bring it home. It’ll be nice to see people face to face, facial expressions, body language. The best thing about football is that it brings people together.
Updated
G7 calls for expert-led study on origins of Covid
The G7 will call for an “expert-led” study by the World Health Organisation into the origins of Covid, according a draft communique seen by Reuters.
It says: “We call for a timely, transparent, expert-led, and science-based WHO-convened Phase 2 Covid-19 Origins study including, as recommended by the experts report, in China”.
The wording of the document reflects frustration among western governments at a WHO inspection visit to the China early this year that was highly controlled by the Chinese authorities.
That visit concluded that it “extremely unlikely” that the virus began from a leak from a laboratory in Wuhan. But since then US intelligence is reported to found evidence that three workers from the lab report Covid-like symptoms in December 2019.
Earlier, the UK foreign secretary, said the lab-leak theory was an unlikely based on the available information.
Speaking to Sky he added: He said: “But we don’t have all the answers. That’s why internationally, we wanted the review to be able to go in to China, to get all the answers to have all the cooperation so we have the full picture, rather than these possible potential plausible options. But on balance, we do not believe that it came from a laboratory we think it’s much more likely to have been a jump from animals to humans.”
A G7 plan to donate 1 billion vaccine doses to poorer countries will have limited impact because it includes some previous pledges, but it still offers a small lifeline to a global vaccine buying system, experts have told Reuters.
A US initiative announced on Thursday to donate 500 million doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech SE vaccine is part of the G7 pledge.
Many of the promised doses will flow through Covax, a global vaccine buying system backed by the World Health Organization and Gavi, the vaccine alliance.
The pledge does not represent entirely new resources, and the donation is far short of the 5 billion to 6 billion shots needed by poorer nations. Moreover, the plan does not address distribution gaps that could make it difficult to deliver doses.
But experts said it is still a much-needed boost to Covax, which has so far only distributed 83 million shots worldwide.
Covax has struggled to secure deliveries as wealthy nations reserve enough shots to vaccinate their populations several times over.
“It’s going to rescue Covax from its pretty dire predicament right now, so it’s a very significant step,” said Stephen Morrison, the director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank.
The UK’s 100 million dose pledge is “entirely new” according to a spokesperson. But the European Union’s 100 million dose commitment was promised during a summit in May, and the US commitment partially replaces earlier promises to fund Covax directly.
The US has already donated $2bn to Covax, according to a White House official. In February, the Biden administration pledged $2bn more. But that second $2bn will now fund the purchase of the Pfizer doses, along with $1.5 billion in additional funds, according to the official.
Even if the shots are acquired and shipped, they risk overwhelming developing countries’ limited distribution infrastructure, especially if many are delivered together late this year.
The World Bank extended a $12bn line of credit for developing countries to build out vaccine distribution infrastructure, but governments have drawn down only about $3bn.
“The low-income countries are wary of increasing their debt profile, that is the reality,” said Edwin Ikhuoria, executive director for the One Campaign, a nonprofit focused on poverty and public health.
Others argue that wealthy countries should find a way to ship doses more quickly, especially as some near expiry in countries with high vaccination rates, including those made by Johnson & Johnson Inc.
“When you just see the graph of the increase of vaccination coverage in wealthy countries and the accelerated pace at which that has been happening, and then when you look at the pace in developing countries, it’s just so stark,” said Kate Elder, senior vaccines policy adviser at Médecins Sans Frontières. “Doses are needed now.”
Authorities in an Indian city have organised a special drive-through vaccination camp for disabled people in a bid to address low vaccination rates, especially among more vulnerable members of society, Reuters reports.
Organisers of the weekend campaign in Ahmedabad, the biggest city in Gujarat state, aim to vaccinate 500 disabled people, who often struggle to book slots and get access to vaccination centres.
People taking advantage of the offer queued up at the centre in vehicles, wheelchairs, and on customised mopeds for their free COVID-19 vaccine shots.
“The vaccination process is now more convenient,” said Mahendra Chudasma, a 45-year-old man who is visually impaired.
Despite being a major producer of coronavirus vaccines, India faces a huge task in inoculating its 1.3 billion people, partly due to the logistical difficulties of reaching remote areas and also scepticism about the shots.
India holds vaccination drive for people with disabilities https://t.co/CKoLiwhxKY pic.twitter.com/CNqdkWNMry
— Reuters India (@ReutersIndia) June 13, 2021
Boris Johnson, Joe Biden and other world leaders behaved in a Covid-secure way at a beach barbecue and RAF Red Arrows flypast on Saturday night, Downing Street has insisted.
No 10 said there were fewer than 30 guests, the event was outside and all participants in the summit have a daily testing regime.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said:
The event last night was done in an entirely Covid-secure way within the existing rules,”
This was an informal gathering of the G7 leaders and rightly it is held in private ... but you can see it was a relaxed atmosphere and gave the leaders a chance to discuss outside of a formal setting.”
The dinner was cooked by Simon Stallard, from the Hidden Hut in Portscatho, and included beef, lobster and other local fish.
Summary
Here’s a round up of the latest developments:
- The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has suggested that remaining Covid restrictions in England will only be lifted when the all the adult population has been offered a vaccination at the end of July. He said: “The critical thing is to get as many of the adult population double vaccinated as possible... At that point we can go irreversibly through the gears and open up in a way that we haven’t been able to do to date.”
- The prospect of a delay to lifting of restrictions in England has prompted unease among Tory backbenchers including Steve Baker and Mark Harper. But an Observer poll found that the majority of people support a pause.
- Government scientific advisers have backed delaying the easing of lockdown. Unlocking too quickly will “fan the flames” of the virus, according Professor Andrew Hayward a member of the Nervtag committee. Professor Stephen Reicher, a member of Spi-B said all the data points to a delay.
- Russia has reported 14,723 new cases in the the largest one-day national caseload since 13 February. In Moscow where new infections are at their highest since Christmas Eve, the mayor has offered residents the chance to win a car if they have a vaccine.
- G7 countries are poised to pledge 1 billion vaccine doses over the next year and work with the private sector, the G20 and other countries to increase the contribution. Gordon Brown said the pledge was not enough and a missed opportunity.
- Possible contamination in a batch of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, identified by US Food and Drug Administration continue to cause problems with vaccine roll out. South African health inspectors have said they will not release vaccines that may have been contamination. Germany has demanded an extra 6.5 million doses from the company to make up for a shortfall.
- Indonesia has announced its biggest increase in cases in almost four months. New cases in Taiwan have fallen for the third day in a row.
Updated
Indonesia has reported 9,868 new infections, its highest daily increase in cases in almost four months.
The Southeast Asian country also reported 149 Covid deaths taking the total to 52,879.
Indonesia mengumumkan 9.868 kasus baru #COVID19 tgl 13 Jun 2021.
— KawalCOVID19 (@KawalCOVID19) June 13, 2021
Total: 1.911.358
Kasus aktif: 113.388 (+5.064)
Sembuh: 1.745.091 (+4.655)
Meninggal dunia: 52.879 (+149) *underreported
Org diperiksa: 48.350 (20,4% +ve)
- PCR/TCM: 27.370 (33,9% +ve)
- Antigen: 20.980 (2,8% +ve) pic.twitter.com/6TbAVF2HqK
Updated
Moscow announces vaccine car lottery
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin is offering residents the chance to a win a car in a bid to encourage vaccine take up, AFP reports.
The move comes as authorities seek to speed up Russia’s vaccination drive that has stagnated while new infections in Moscow and across the country are on the rise.
“From June 14 until July 11, 2021, citizens who get their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine will become participants in a car lottery,” Sobyanin announced on his website.
Every week five cars will be raffled out, each worth around 1 million rubles (£9,850).
“But of course the main gain for those who get vaccinated cannot be compared to any car - it is their own health and peace of mind,” Sobyanin said.
A government tally reported 7,704 new virus cases in Moscow on Sunday, a six-month high.
Despite introducing a strict lockdown after the pandemic swept across Russia last spring, authorities lifted most restrictions by mid-summer in an effort to protect the struggling economy.
Russia started its mass vaccination campaign in December, with the homegrown vaccine Sputnik V - touted by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the best in the world - that is free and widely available in Moscow.
So far, 18 million people or 12% of the population has received at least one dose of a vaccine with polls showing that a majority of Russians do not plan to get immunised.
Updated
Tory backbencher Steve Baker, has also expressed unease about that government’s apparent willingness to delay the easing of restrictions.
In a Twitter thread he said the “we now need to leave to live with the virus”.
We now need to learn to live with the virus, which, as the scientists tell us, will be with us forever and start focusing on delivering the Prime Minister’s plan to lead the way in vaccinating vulnerable people around the world.
— Steve Baker MP FRSA (@SteveBakerHW) June 13, 2021
Germany’s health ministry said Johnson & Johnson must deliver 6.5 million vaccine in July to make up for a shortfall expected in June after the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) told the company to dispose of millions of doses because of contamination concerns.
“This is regrettable because each dose counts,” a ministry spokesman said on Sunday in response to an enquiry by Reuters.
“We therefore expect from J&J that this amount is delivered in July as quickly as possible.”
Without disclosing or confirming the number of vaccine doses affected, the FDA said in a news release that it had authorised two batches of the vaccine for use, that several other batches were not suitable for use and that others were being evaluated.
J&J had been due to deliver 10.1 million doses of its one-shot vaccine in the second quarter, the ministry said.
The ministry spokesman said that Germany will receive 50.3 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the second quarter, Moderna would ship 6.4 million and AstraZeneca 12.4 million, all fulfilling their supply commitments.
South Korea will exempt some travellers who have received their vaccine shots overseas from its mandatory two-week quarantine health authorities have announced.
As of May 5, the quarantine exemption was only applicable to people fully vaccinated in South Korea.
The new policy, which will be implemented on 1 July, will apply only to certain people, such as citizens and foreign residents, as well as those coming to visit family, or for the purpose of business, academics or public interest, said Son Young-rae, an official with the Central Disaster Management Headquarters.
Exempt travellers will need to fill out an application, and still need to be tested before and after arriving in South Korea. Some travellers from countries with major outbreaks or variants will not be allowed to skip the quarantine, he added.
South Korea reported 452 more cases as of midnight on Saturday, bringing total infections to 147,874, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.
The death toll in the country stands at 1,985.
More than 11.8 million people - 23% of the country’s population - have received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to the KDCA.
The Tory MP, Mark Harper, a former chief whip and a leading lockdown sceptic, has warned that a delay to the easing of restrictions would be “devastating for business confidence and people’s livelihoods”.
In a Twitter thread he insists that the plan to lift restrictions in England on 21 June can proceed safely.
We have a rapid rollout of effective vaccines and are heading into summer. If, even at this point, the Govt won’t release restrictions, this points to restrictions in the autumn and winter, when respiratory diseases increase and the NHS is always under more pressure…1/8
— Mark Harper (@Mark_J_Harper) June 13, 2021
Updated
Gordon Brown has said the G7 summit “will go down as a missed opportunity” due to the lack of a plan to deliver 11 billion vaccine doses.
The Labour former prime minister said the summit could be seen as an “unforgivable moral failure” due to the gap in vaccinations between rich and poor nations.
The group of seven leading industrialised nations have collectively agreed to provide a billion vaccine doses in an effort to end the pandemic in 2022.
The UK is expected to contribute 100 million doses within 12 months as part of the pledge.
G7 leaders gathered in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, are expected to formally announce the vaccine agreement on Sunday afternoon.
Speaking to Sky’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday programme, Brown said:
When we needed 11 billion vaccines, we’ve only got offered a plan for one billion.
I think this summit will also go down as an unforgivable moral failure, when the richest countries are sitting around the table with the power to do something about it.
Now that we’ve discovered the vaccine, we have not delivered the comprehensive plan that will deliver vaccination by the middle of next year.”
We will have a huge problem of a division between the richest countries that are safe and the poorest countries that are not safe.
But then the problem will come back to haunt the richest countries because we will have contagion spreading that will hurt even the people who are vaccinated because of mutations and variants.
US President Joe Biden has already promised to donate half a billion Pfizer vaccines for 92 low and lower-middle income countries and the African Union. The G7 leaders will also set out a plan to expand vaccine manufacturing in order to achieve that goal.
South African health inspectors have said they will not release Johnson & Johnson vaccines that may have been contaminated during production at a US plant, Reuters reports.
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) said it made the decision after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) raised concerns over manufacturing practices at the Baltimore plant.
“SAHPRA reviewed the data provided by the FDA and has made a decision not to release vaccine produced using the drug substance batches that were not suitable,” SAHPRA said in a statement.
The findings by the FDA would impact two million vaccines that are awaiting release at Aspen Pharmacare’s Gqeberha manufacturing site, acting health minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said on national broadcaster, SABC.
Kubayi-Ngubane said the government was in talks with J&J over replacing the affected vaccines.
Fears of a third COVID-19 wave are mounting in the country, which has recorded the highest number of infections and deaths on the continent, with daily infections rising to over 9,000 per day.
Professor Andrew Hayward, from University College London and a member of New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said a full unlocking could “fan the flames” of rising infection levels.
Prof Hayward compared the process to driving a car round a bend in the road without knowing what was around the corner.
“I think it’s clear we will have a substantial third wave of infections, the really big question is how much that wave of infections is going to translate into hospitalisations,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme.
“But we still don’t know how bad it could be.”
Referring to the Delta (Indian) variant, he said: “I think 60% more infectious is extremely worrying, that is the thing that will drive the speed with which the next wave comes along.
“I think if we were to open up more that would really fan the flames and lead to this increasing even faster.”
He added:
If we’re driving down a road and coming up to a bend and you’re not quite sure what’s around that bend, but you think there might be something bad, you don’t put your foot on the accelerator, if anything you slow down.
It’s analogous to that. We’ve got to be really cautious because there is still a substantial chance that we could have a wave of hospitalisations that could put substantial pressure on the NHS.
Raab: 'we don't want to yo-yo in and out of measures'
The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has suggested that remaining Covid restrictions will only be lifted when the all the adult population has been offered a vaccination at the end of July.
Speaking on the BBC Andrew Marr show he said: “The critical thing is to get as many of the adult population double vaccinated as possible and we’ve always said we were aiming to do that by the end of July. At that point we can go irreversibly through the gears and open up in a way that we haven’t been able to do to date. The crucial overarching immediate objective is to get those second doses dispensed.”
Raab also came close to conceding that the vaccine programme had only weakened the link between rising cases and increased hospitalisations, and not severed it. He said:
The crucial thing in the four tests that we set at the outset of the roadmap ... is the link between transmission of the virus and any variants and hospitalizations. We know we’ve made great progress in weakening the link between transmission and hospitalisation. The question is whether we’ve severed and broken it. We’re looking at the data in real time and the PM will set out the positions tomorrow.
Public Health England found that the Delta variant was up to 60% more infections than the Alpha variant and twice as likely to put people in hospital.
Raab said the government wanted to avoid having to reimpose restrictions.
Asked if ministers could hold the Conservative party together if easing restrictions was delayed, Raab said:
The key point is we want to move out of locked down irreversibly. I think the vast majority of people in the country, but also parliament, will understand that. We don’t want to yo-yo back in and out of measures... It’s that critical link between transmission and hospitalizations ... which is probably the most sensitive right now.
G7 pledges more than 1bn vaccines
G7 countries will provide 1 billion vaccine doses over the next year and work with the private sector, the G20 and other countries to increase the contribution over months to come, according to an almost finalised draft of the communique seen by Reuters.
The draft said:
The commitments since we last met in February 2021 including here in Carbis Bay provide for 1 billion doses over the next year.
We will work together with the private sector, the G20 and other countries to increase this contribution over the months to come.
Two sources said the draft had been largely finalised by diplomats who worked late into Saturday night to agree the text.
Thailand has denied Taiwanese claims that it is blocking exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Reuters reports.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Friday Taiwan had ordered 10 million doses from AstraZeneca , which was mainly producing them in Thailand, but Thailand was “giving priority for vaccines to be used in Thailand”.
But responding on Twitter, Thailand’s deputy government spokesperson Traisuree Taisaranakul, said: “Thailand is not blocking exports of AstraZeneca. It is a matter for the producer to manage.
She did not specify whether she meant AstraZeneca or the Thai manufacturer, Siam Bioscience.
Both Thailand and Taiwan have seen a surge of coronavirus cases in recent week after months of successfully keeping their outbreaks in check.
The Philippines said this month it was expecting delays of AstraZeneca*s Thai-made vaccines due to production delays. Malaysia also said it was expecting delays.
AstraZeneca’s distribution plans in Southeast Asia depends on 200 million doses made by Siam Bioscience, a company owned by Thailand’s king that is making vaccines for the first time.
Russia: largest rise in new cases in four months
Russia has reported 14,723 new cases, including 7,704 in Moscow, the largest one-day national caseload since 13 February.
The number of new infections in Moscow was the most reported in one day since Christmas Eve. The city’s mayor told residents on Saturday to stay off work this coming week to curb the spread of the virus.
Russia recorded 14,723 new coronavirus infections Sunday, the highest number in four months, as Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin outlined new restrictions in the capital https://t.co/u3VZAkHejL
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) June 13, 2021
The coronavirus task force said that 357 people had died of coronavirus-related causes nationwide, taking the death toll to 126,430.
The federal statistics agency has kept a separate toll and has said that Russia recorded about 270,000 deaths related to COVID-19 between April 2020 and April 2021.
Professor Stephen Reicher, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (Spi-B) which advises the government, said current data suggest pausing the lifting of Covid restrictions.
Asked on Times Radio what he expected the government to announce on Monday regarding final stage lockdown easing, he said: “I think we’ll hear a delay, because all the data now points that way.”
He added:
In a situation where things are getting worse we don’t know how much worse they’re going to get. We don’t know how many people are going to get seriously ill.
There’s still a lot of damage that can be done, therefore it makes good sense to pause.
I think pausing not moving forward is not enough when things are getting worse and we should be thinking about all sorts of measures, not further restrictions, not lockdown, but the basics that we’ve never got right.
There are all sorts of things we should be doing better to lower the level of infections to make sure we’re not going backwards.
The real issue now isn’t should we go forwards ... it’s how do we stop ourselves going backwards?
The UK’s foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has insisted the government will take a careful and cautious approach to easing the lockdown.
Sky was asked by Sky’s Trevor Phillips whether the final phase of easing would go ahead as originally planned on 21 June.
He said: “The prime minister will set out the proposition tomorrow ... We’ve done a great job with this vaccine rollout, but as the PM said we want to proceed irreversibly. and that means we need to do it carefully and cautiously.”
Raab also defended the lack of social distancing at a G7 beach barbecue on Saturday.
He said: “It was outside, which is very well ventilated on the beach. We have taken every measure possible to make sure this is not just Covid secure, but able to take place and I think we’ve gone well beyond and above, in terms of making sure making sure that this is Covid secure.”
Phillips pointed out that the gathering came at a time when the government has banned gatherings of more than 30 people.
Raab said: “The G7 is not 30 people - there was social distancing.”
When Phillips pointed out that social distancing was not being observed at the barbecue, Raab said: “There have always been different principles for social entertainment or weddings, than for government business.”
Raab also said the government thinks it is unlikely that the pandemic began with a lab leak in Wuhan.
He said: “If you’re asking me whether we think on the balance of probabilities that it originated in a lab, our best information for now is that it didn’t.
He added:
But we don’t have all the answers. That’s why internationally, we wanted the review to be able to go in to China, to get all the answers to have all the cooperation so we have the full picture, rather than these possible potential plausible options. But on balance, we do not believe that it came from a laboratory we think it’s much more likely to have been a jump from animals to humans.
A prominent academic has joined calls for the government to postpone its planned lifting of coronavirus restrictions on 21 June, PA reports.
Epidemiologist Sian Griffiths also said an envisaged “all-or-nothing Freedom Day” could be a bad idea in itself, promoting instead a more gradual lifting of measures aimed at containing the spread of the virus.
It came after Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated on Saturday that he is set to announce a four-week delay for lifting restrictions, calling the spread of the Delta variant, first identified in India, a matter of “serious, serious concern”.
Professor Griffiths, an associate director of Public Health England, said the recent rise in Covid cases in the UK has changed the landscape on reopening. Speaking to the BBC she said:
The public health advice would be to take it slowly and in a sustained way so we can keep up the progress we’ve been making.
It does depend on the balance. It’s a political decision at the end of the day, what happens on the 21st of June, but, from a public health point of view, we’re seeing the cases increase, we’re seeing a slight increase in hospitalisation in areas where there are a lot of cases, and the vaccination does work, but we need to get second doses into everybody over 50, and expand the vaccination programme to keep everybody safe.
I think waiting a little bit longer to sustain the progress is necessary, but it may not be an all-or-nothing Freedom Day.
I have a problem with the concept of Freedom Day. I think this could be done more gradually, but obviously these are decisions that are having to be made during the course of discussions today. There are so many things that need to be taken into account.
Updated
Welcome to a Sunday edition of our coronavirus live blog covering the latest on the pandemic in the UK and across the world.
Boris Johnson appears poised to announced a delay of up to four weeks for the final phase of lifting restrictions in England. An official announcement is due on Monday, but on Saturday Johnson said the government had to be “cautious” because of the rise in cases of the more infectious Delta variant.
Speaking to Channel 5 he said: “We are seeing some worrying stuff in the data, clearly. We are seeing the Delta varian, causing an increase in cases, we are seeing an increase in hospitalisations.”
An Opinium poll for the Observer found that 54% think the lifting of restrictions should be postponed, up from 43% from a fortnight ago.
There may be some more clues on the what the government is planning in the Sunday political shows.
Meanwhile, restrictions in Europe continue to be lifted with little sign of the Delta variant taking hold on the continent.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 1,489 according to data from the Robert Koch Institute. The reported death toll rose by 18 to 89,834 the tally showed.
Meanwhile, Taiwan has recorded another drop in new infections. Sunday’s figure for new cases is 174, compared to 250 on Saturday and 286 on Friday.
Updated
