A summary of today's developments
-
Rules for English travellers heading overseas have been significantly simplified, with the “amber” list of countries scrapped and the traffic light designation replaced with destinations listed as either “red” or “green”, under new rules.
- Scotland will end its current traffic light system for international travel but will not follow England in further easing Covid-19 testing for those entering the country.
- A panel of advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration have voted to recommend Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for Americans 65 and older and those at high risk of illness after rejecting a call for broader approval.
- Four US senators have asked President Joe Biden to lift restrictions that have barred travel by Canadians across the northern US border since March 2020.
- Brazil registered 11,202 new coronavirus cases and 333 further deaths in the last 24 hours, the country’s health ministry said.
- The number of people in France who have received at least one jab against Covid-19 has crossed the 50 million mark, President Emmanuel Macron said.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) worth £2.8bn is not fit for purpose in the UK and cannot be used by the NHS, a health minister has revealed in parliament.
- The first civil lawsuit began in a court in Vienna, Austria, over a notorious outbreak of coronavirus at a popular ski resort last year, where thousands of people from 45 countries claim to have become infected.
- Ukraine is on the brink of its most deadly period of the coronavirus pandemic with vaccination rates struggling and infections on the rise. Health officials in Kiev recorded the highest number of new cases since May, while average daily hospitalisations rose by nearly 400 people this week compared with last week.
- People will have to show an NHS Covid pass to enter nightclubs and attend many events in Wales from next month, the first minister, Mark Drakeford, has announced.
- Cuba has started vaccinating two-year-olds – while in Cambodia the start of school has heralded a programme to vaccinate children between six and 12.
- Public employees in Slovenia will need to be vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 to continue working, the government said on Friday, as it tries to boost its low rate of inoculation.
- Travellers entering Switzerland who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 or recovered from the virus will need to provide a negative test result from Monday, the government said, as it seeks to stem a further rise in the number of infections.
- Short sightedness in children is on the increase in China – and possibly elsewhere in the world – the result, scientists believe, of too much time indoors during lockdown.
Updated
Surges in coronavirus cases in several U.S. states this week, along with staffing and equipment shortages have prompted warnings at some facilities that care would be rationed.
Montana, Alaska, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Kentucky experienced the biggest rises in new Covid-19 hospitalizations during the week ending September 10th compared with the previous week.
In Alaska, the influx is so heavy that the state’s largest hospital is no longer able to provide life-saving care to every patient who needs it due to the influx of Covid-19 hospitalisations, according to an open letter from the medical executive committee of Providence Alaska Medical Center.
Some hospital workers have become so overwhelmed by the fresh wave of cases that they have left for jobs at retailing and other non-medical fields, Nancy Foster, vice president of quality and patient safety the American Hospital Association, told Reuters.
Updated
Older people, men and those from ethnic backgrounds in the UK are more likely to end up in hospital or die even after they have been double-vaccinated against Covid-19, researchers say.
University of Oxford scientists used a range of data to show that while the risk of severe Covid-19 after vaccination remains low, some people are at greater risk than others.
They include older people and those from Indian and Pakistani backgrounds.
Also at greater risk are those from a deprived background, the immunosuppressed, residents in care homes, and people with chronic conditions such as Down’s syndrome, kidney disease, sickle cell disease, HIV/Aids and liver cirrhosis.
A tool developed by researchers predicts those most at risk of serious Covid-19 outcomes from 14 or more days after a second vaccination dose, when substantial immunity is expected to have developed.
They hope it will help patients work with their doctors to make decisions about continued shielding, and will help inform policy around booster jabs and Covid treatments, PA reports.
Four US senators on Friday asked the president, Joe Biden, to lift restrictions that have barred travel by Canadians across the northern US border since March 2020.
Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Jon Tester of Montana and independent Angus King of Maine asked Biden to allow Canadians vaccinated against Covid-19 to travel to the US before October.
The border state senators said in a letter the restrictions have led to “economic and emotional strain in our communities.”
Updated
Brazil registered 11,202 new coronavirus cases and 333 further deaths in the last 24 hours, the country’s health ministry said on Friday.
Mexico’s health ministry on Friday reported 3,754 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country and 192 deaths.
It brings the total number of official infections since the pandemic began to 3,552,983 and the death toll to 270,538, Reuters reports.
You can follow the latest Covid developments in Australia in our dedicated blog here -
Here is some reaction to a panel of advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voting to recommend Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for Americans 65 and older and those at high risk of severe illness, after overwhelmingly rejecting a call for broader approval.
Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease expert at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the panel, said the recommendation was “a step back” from the Biden Administration’s recommendation of widespread boosters starting September 20.
“That is not this. This is: ‘We’re going to test the water, one foot at a time,’” said Offit, who voted “no” on the initial question of widespread use of boosters and “yes” on the more modest offering of vaccines for those at higher risk.
The White House earlier on Friday said it was ready to roll out boosters of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine next week if health officials approve them.
After nine lions and tigers contracted coronavirus at Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, its chief veterinarian Dr. Donald Neiffer said: “It came on a little bit insidious.
“I believe last Thursday we had a single animal who was a little inappetent... but it’s not something that requires us to jump right on it.”
Dr. Neiffer added: “We are seeing an overall trend moving upwards.
“Based on how they’re behaving today, the majority of them are eating more, moving around more. There’s less discharge and coughing.
“I would hope that there’s some significant improvement seen in these guys by Monday of next week.”
A sea of more than 650,000 white flags is lining the National Mall near the Washington monument in the nation’s capitol to represent the American lives lost so far to Covid-19.
The outdoor art installation titled, In America: Remember, by social practice artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg, is scheduled to stand for 17 days from Friday in the shadow of the White House.
US advisers recommend Covid booster vaccines for older Americans
A panel of advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have voted to recommend Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for Americans 65 and older and those at high risk of illness after rejecting a call for broader approval.
A summary of today's developments
- The first civil lawsuit began in a court in Vienna, Austria on Friday over a notorious outbreak of coronavirus at a popular ski resort last year, where thousands of people from 45 countries claim to have become infected.
- Rules for English travellers heading overseas have been significantly simplified, with the “amber” list of countries scrapped and the traffic light designation replaced with destinations listed as either “red” or “green”, under new rules.
- Scotland will end its current traffic light system for international travel but will not follow England in further easing Covid-19 testing for those entering the country.
- A panel of expert outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted against broadly approving Covid-19 vaccine booster shots, but may vote on a narrower approval for older adults later on Friday.
- The number of people in France who have received at least one jab against Covid-19 has crossed the 50-million mark, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) worth £2.8bn is not fit for purpose in the UK and cannot be used by the NHS, a health minister has revealed in parliament.
- Ukraine is on the brink of its most deadly period of the coronavirus pandemic with vaccination rates struggling and infections on the rise.Health officials in Kiev on Friday recorded the highest number of new cases since May, while average daily hospitalisations rose by nearly 400 people this week compared to last week.
- People will have to show an NHS Covid pass to enter nightclubs and attend many events in Wales from next month, the first minister, Mark Drakeford, has announced.
- Cuba has started vaccinating two-year-olds – while in Cambodia the start of school has heralded a programme to vaccinate children between six and 12.
- Public employees in Slovenia will need to be vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 to continue working, the government said on Friday, as it tries to boost its low rate of inoculation.
- Travellers entering Switzerland who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 or recovered from the virus will need to provide a negative test result from Monday, the government said on Friday, as it seeks to stem a further rise in the number of infections.
- Shortsightedness in children is on the increase in China – and possibly elsewhere in the world – the result, scientists believe, of too much time indoors during lockdown.
A panel of expert outside advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted against broadly approving Covid-19 vaccine booster shots, but may vote on a narrower approval for older adults later on Friday.
The panel voted overwhelmingly against approving boosters for Americans age 16 and older, potentially undermining the Biden administration’s plan to roll out third shots of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine as soon as next week.
But there was widespread support among panellists for a third dose for older Americans, who are at higher risk of severe Covid-19 and may be more likely to have waning immunity after the first rounds of shots. FDA officials said that a vote to recommend approval for such groups was possible later on Friday.
The FDA will take the panel’s recommendation into consideration in making its decision on the boosters.
Many committee members were critical of the booster plan, arguing that the data presented by Pfizer and the FDA was incomplete and that the request for approval for people as young 16 is too broad. Most of them said they were not needed yet for younger adults.
Senior FDA members have been split on the necessity of the boosters, with interim head Janet Woodcock backing them and some of the agency’s top scientists arguing they are not needed yet.
If the FDA goes ahead and approves the booster, a separate panel advising the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will meet next week to recommend which groups should get them.
Updated
The US administered 383,994,877 doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the country as of Friday morning and distributed 464,315,725 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Those figures are up from the 383,038,403 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Sept. 16 out of 462,384,885 doses delivered, Reuters reports.
The agency said 211,097,597 people had received at least one dose, while 180,572,171 people were fully vaccinated as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Friday.
A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport criticised the Scottish government’s “decision to diverge yet again and further curtail Scotland’s aviation and travel industries in their recovery”.
He said: “We are now the most restrictive country in Europe yet there is no justification or health benefit to retaining testing measures, something clinical professionals and experts have themselves said.
“This is great news for airports in Manchester and Newcastle - passengers will now travel there to avoid expensive tests and save around 100 per person, taking money out of Scotland’s economy and threatening our airline capacity.”
Scotland terminates traffic light system for international travel
Scotland will end its current traffic light system for international travel but will not follow England in further easing Covid-19 testing for those entering the country.
From October 4, the green and amber lists will merge but the red list will remain.
Current amber list rules - which allow fully vaccinated people to avoid isolating- will be the default for non-red list countries, PA reports.
Vaccinations that took place in 17 countries including Canada, Australia, Israel, and New Zealand will now be regarded as eligible under the rules, joining jabs in UK, the EU, the USA and the European Free Trade Association.
Eight countries - including Turkey, Pakistan and the Maldives - are also being removed from the red list with effect form 4am on Wednesday.
Travellers from Egypt, Sri Lanka, Oman, Bangladesh and Kenya will also no longer be required to hotel quarantine from that date.
But Scotland will not follow the UK government’s decision to ease testing rules.
Those arriving north of the border will still be required to take a pre-departure test before returning - including from non-red list destinations - even if they are fully vaccinated.
The Scottish government will also not follow their UK counterparts in allowing vaccinated travellers to replace the day two PCR test with a cheaper lateral flow test from the end of October.
In a statement, the Scottish government said the testing changes had “not been adopted at this stage in Scotland due to significant concerns at the impact on public health”.
The UK’s transport secretary Grant Shapps outlines the reasons for the changes to travel restrictions.
Belgium’s prime minister Alexander De Croo has criticised people who refuse to get vaccinated for putting others at risk and hampering a country-wide push to relax restrictions.
“This epidemic is becoming an epidemic of unvaccinated people, it is not defensible,” De Croo told a press conference.
“Endangering other people is a right which one cannot have.”
Belgium has fully vaccinated 84 percent of adults, one of the highest rates in Europe, AFP reports.
But there are major disparities between different regions, with the capital Brussels dragging behind on 64 percent of over-18s fully jabbed.
The nation-wide requirement to wear a mask in public places such as shops and restaurants will be dropped from October 1, however the Brussels region will keep the obligation in place.
Senior scientific advisers have publicly accused the UK’s government of sidelining behavioural experts and appearing unwilling to listen to “uncomfortable truths” on vaccine passports and masks during the pandemic.
The scientists told the Guardian that their input to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) was apparently no longer wanted owing to the expansion of in-house expertise.
They also warned of an absence of independent advice at a time when the virus’s spread depends largely on individual behaviour and social norms rather than laws.
The intervention comes as ministers face criticism for mixed public health messaging on face coverings – including the new cabinet meeting maskless in a packed room on Friday – and a U-turn on vaccine passports in England, while Scotland and Wales press ahead.
Following the announcement that the UK has simplified its travel rules including scrapping the need for fully vaccinated passengers to take expensive Covid-19 tests on arrival from low-risk countries, travel companies have given their reaction.
Thomas Cook described the changes as “a shot in the arm for the travel industry” while airline bosses, such as EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren, urged the government to go further by eliminating any screening of vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries.
The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) said the changes were good news for the industry. But workers in the sector would be among those most hurt by the end of the government’s furlough programme, which has paid salaries of staff sent home during the pandemic and expires at the end of this month, Reuters reports.
“But there is still a way to go before UK aviation can truly take off again and the industry remains precariously placed after a dire summer season,” BALPA acting general secretary Martin Chalk said.
“With furlough ending it is going to be hard for cash strapped airlines to get back up and running as demand returns.”
The US is ready to roll out Covid-19 vaccine booster shots next week if health regulators approve the plan, Reuters reports.
“We’ve been working through the last few weeks, intensely with our partners, our governors, state, and local health officials, federal pharmacy programs, the community health centers to ensure that we are ready for next week,” White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said at a briefing.
Ukraine is on the brink of its most deadly period of the coronavirus pandemic with vaccination rates struggling and infections on the rise.
Health officials in Kiev on Friday recorded the highest number of new cases since May, while average daily hospitalisations rose by nearly 400 people this week compared to last week.
New infections have steadily been increasing, with 27,600 new cases recorded in the last seven days compared to 17,000 in the previous week.
“This wave will mostly likely be the deadliest,” former deputy health minister and founder of the Centre for Public Health Analysis, Pavlo Kovtonyuk, told AFP.
“We have very few people who are vaccinated to hold it back,” Kovtonyuk added.
Summary
Here’s a roundup of the day’s key developments:
- The first civil lawsuit began in a court in Vienna, Austria on Friday over a notorious outbreak of coronavirus at a popular ski resort last year, where thousands of people from 45 countries claim to have become infected.
- Rules for English travellers heading overseas have been significantly simplified, with the “amber” list of countries scrapped and the traffic light designation replaced with destinations listed as either “red” or “green”, under new rules.
- The number of people in France who have received at least one jab against Covid-19 has crossed the 50-million mark, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) worth £2.8bn is not fit for purpose in the UK and cannot be used by the NHS, a health minister has revealed in parliament.
- People will have to show an NHS Covid pass to enter nightclubs and attend many events in Wales from next month, the first minister, Mark Drakeford, has announced.
- Cuba has started vaccinating two-year-olds – while in Cambodia the start of school has heralded a programme to vaccinate children between six and 12.
- Public employees in Slovenia will need to be vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 to continue working, the government said on Friday, as it tries to boost its low rate of inoculation.
- Travellers entering Switzerland who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 or recovered from the virus will need to provide a negative test result from Monday, the government said on Friday, as it seeks to stem a further rise in the number of infections.
- In western US states hospitals are facing a “dire” crisis of care, as Covid cases fill wards and ICU units
- Shortsightedness in children is on the increase in China – and possibly elsewhere in the world – the result, scientists believe, of too much time indoors during lockdown.
I’m finishing up for the day now and handing over to my colleague Nadeem Badshah. Thanks so much for joining me.
More than 50 million have received at least one jab in France
The number of people in France who have received at least one jab against Covid-19 has crossed the 50-million mark, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.
Macron made the announcement in a video posted on social media in which he also said that “the vaccine saves lives and the virus kills, it’s that simple”.
After a slow start, France now has one of the world’s highest vaccination rates, with close to 90% of adults in the country of 67 million people having received one or two vaccine doses, AFP reports.
The introduction of a Covid “health pass” in July, requiring people to prove that they have been either vaccinated or recently tested negative for Covid-19 to be able to access restaurants, bars, gyms or museums acted as a game-changer for millions of vaccine sceptics.
But there have also been weekly demonstrations across French cities against the health pass, with 180 more protests expected on Saturday.
Updated
An earlier entry, based on a tweet from Ireland’s taoiseach, Micheál Martin, and citing figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, said that Ireland had become the first EU member state to vaccinate 90% of its population. In fact, Malta achieved that feat in August. The entry has been removed.
Updated
The US plans to buy millions of additional doses of the Pfizer Inc Covid-19 vaccine to donate around the world, The Washington Post reported on Friday, citing two unidentified people familiar with the deal.
U.S. to buy hundreds of millions more doses of Pfizer vaccine to donate to the world https://t.co/X4gGoKzBJz
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 17, 2021
Italy reported 66 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday against 67 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 4,552 from 5,117.
Italy has registered 130,233 deaths linked to Covid-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth-highest in the world.
The country has reported 4.63m cases to date, Reuters reports.
New Zealand will delay the reopening of its trans-Tasman travel bubble, as case numbers in Australia rise and numbers in New Zealand continue to drop.
Deputy prime minister Grant Robertson confirmed on Friday that while the pause in quarantine-free travel had been due to expire next week, it would now be extended for at least a further 8 weeks. New South Wales announced 1,284 new cases and 12 deaths, and Victoria announced 510 new cases. New Zealand reported 11 new cases in the country, all based in Auckland.
New Zealand’s coronavirus outbreak has topped more than 1,000 cases, but daily case numbers have been trending steadily down. All of the new cases today are in Auckland, and two are yet to be epidemiologically linked.
“We are closing in around this outbreak, and … we can be cautiously optimistic about the containment of it,” said director of public health Dr Caroline McElnay.
Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins said that “protecting New Zealand from any possible further spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 is our absolute priority. We have made great progress to contain our current outbreak and are working hard to ease restrictions next week. Reopening quarantine-free travel with Australia at this point could put those gains at risk.”
Read the full story here:
Amber list scrapped in shake-up of England’s Covid travel rules
Rules for English travellers heading overseas have been significantly simplified, with the “amber” list of countries scrapped and the traffic light designation replaced with destinations listed as either “red” or “green”, under new rules.
The long-heralded shake-up of the travel rules, announced by the Department for Transport on Friday, also included a significant reduction in the number of countries placed on what was the “red” list, with almost all travel not permitted. Turkey, Pakistan and Maldives are among the countries to be removed from the red list.
Read more from my colleagues Peter Walker and Ben Quinn here:
England’s coronavirus testing strategy has been been criticised as “reckless” amid plans to end the free provision of rapid tests and relax the monitoring of cases from abroad.
Families and businesses will have to pay for lateral flow tests from next year in an overhaul of Downing Street’s approach to the pandemic.
More than 95m of the 30-minute tests have been used since they were made freely available in England from April. Reported to cost £5-£30 each, they have identified more than 620,000 cases, mostly in people without symptoms but who could still transmit the virus.
Mayors, teaching unions and directors of public health said charging for lateral flow tests was a “backward step” that threatened to throw schools back into chaos, accelerate the spread of the virus and deepen health inequalities.
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT, said:
The best way to minimise disruption to children’s education is to keep the number of Covid cases in school as low as possible. Testing is critical to this. Removing free access to Covid tests while cases are still high would be reckless. Nor can schools bear the cost of paying for tests for all their pupils and families.
Read the full story here:
The UK has recorded 32,651 new Covid cases on Friday and a further 178 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, government data showed.
That is compared with 26,911 new cases and 158 deaths a day earlier, although those figures did not include statistics from Scotland due to a technical issue.
Chile has announced a further 594 new cases and 25 new deaths from Covid. Chile’s seven-day average for cases previous stood at 453. New cases peaked earlier this year with more than 8,000 testing positive on 10 April.
🔴 AHORA | Informe Minsal por COVID-19:
— CNN Chile (@CNNChile) September 17, 2021
-Nuevos casos: 594
-Positividad: 1,03%
-Casos activos: 3.460
-Camas críticas: 532
-Personas fallecidas: 25
Más información en https://t.co/Ox6C5F6K3w #NoticiasExpressCNN pic.twitter.com/K0X6caj5JA
Updated
Updated
The head of the world’s largest vaccine-maker has said it is “unethical” to give third doses of the Covid-19 vaccine while developing nations are struggling to access first and second jabs, AFP reports.
Adar Poonawalla, the billionaire chief executive of Serum Institute of India, spoke out as he announced a $4.9bn deal to take a 15% stake in a rival pharma firm, allowing vaccine production to be increased.
Israel was the first country to recommend Covid-19 booster doses in July and several European nations including the UK have since followed, targeting high-risk groups.
The US, which is suffering rising coronavirus cases, is expected to roll out booster doses from next week.
“It’s unethical to start giving three doses to somebody when others in certain countries and populations have not even got two doses,” Poonawalla told reporters.
He added it was “not right” to roll out booster shots when poorer countries have “not been able to get the vaccines purely because the rich nations have taken away most of the vaccines”.
Serum Institute is currently producing 160m doses of Astra-Zeneca’s Covishield each month, but Poonawalla said this would go up to 200m from October.
Despite India’s export ban because of shortages that have hit the domestic vaccination drive, he said he expects restrictions will “slowly ease in the next month or two”.
Poonawalla acknowledged that “some very vulnerable sections” could benefit from booster shots, but added: “There is no evidence to say so far that Covishield requires a third dose.”
Serum Institute is taking a stake in fellow pharma billionaire Kiran Mazumdar Shaw’s Biocon Biologics.
Under the deal, Biocon will be able to manufacture and sell 100m vaccine doses annually – including Covishield and Covavax, Serum’s Novavax vaccine for children, which are undergoing trials.
Poonawalla said both companies were ramping up research for a potential new-style messenger RNA vaccine, similar to Pfizer and Moderna’s Covid-19 products.
Updated
Nearly 90% of people in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, are estimated to have Covid-19 antibodies, according to the civic body survey released on Friday.
The fifth blood serum survey that tests for antibodies, known as a sero survey conducted between August and early September included 8,674 adults out of which almost 65% of the subjects were vaccinated, Reuters reports.
The survey also revealed that more females had Covid-19 antibodies compared to their male counterparts at 88.29% compared with 85.07%.
Sero-prevalence was significantly higher in individuals who had received either first or both doses of Covid-19 vaccine as compared to their unvaccinated counterparts, the survey by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) noted.
The report said:
As the sero-prevalance amongst those who are vaccinated is much higher than the unvaccinated counterparts, it is essential to strengthen the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination program.
India’s crowded financial hub Mumbai won plaudits this year for tackling the second wave of the pandemic better than any other metropolis in the country.
The report finding comes at a time when concerns around emergence of a third wave remains. India reported 34,403 new Covid-19 cases on Friday across the country.
Updated
Travellers entering Switzerland who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 or recovered from the virus will need to provide a negative test result from Monday, the government said on Friday, as it seeks to stem a further rise in the number of infections.
Referring to a two-week school break in October, the government said in a statement:
The Federal Council wants to prevent an increase in the number of infections caused by travellers returning home from autumn vacation.
All travellers, regardless of their vaccination status, would also be required to fill out a form, while those needing to provide evidence that they are free of the disease should get a second test four to seven days after entry, Reuters reports.
Updated
Public employees in Slovenia will need to be vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 to continue working, the government said on Friday, as it tries to boost its low rate of inoculation.
The measure, set to be enforced from 1 October, will affect some 31,000 people including civil servants, policemen and soldiers, AFP reports.
They could lose their jobs if they reject being vaccinated and their position does not allow them to work from home.
Public administration minister Bosjtan Koritnik told a news conference in Ljubljana:
I rely on the employees’ awareness and hope there will be no firings.
Slovenia has vaccinated just 45% of its 2 million people, one of the lowest levels in the European Union.
Rising case numbers have pushed officials to introduce new measures, including a form of health pass that must be shown in workplaces and shops.
Police fired teargas and used water cannon on Wednesday when a rally against the health pass turned violent.
Health authorities say the latest measures have contributed to a steep increase in vaccinations.
An increasing number of countries have taken steps to boost their vaccination rates, including France and Italy, where health workers have to be inoculated.
Updated
One of the scientists behind the UK’s testing network for quickly identifying Covid variants of concern has urged the government to continue surveillance of coronavirus cases brought in to the UK from abroad.
Alan McNally, a professor in microbial evolutionary genomics who worked on setting up the lighthouse laboratories, made the comments amid reports ministers are preparing to overhaul Covid travel restrictions, including a relaxing of test rules.
It has been reported that double-jabbed travellers will no longer need to take a more costly PCR test after returning from green countries, but take a cheaper lateral flow test instead, while pre-departure tests, taken 72 hours before a passenger flies home are also likely to be scrapped.
It is only positive PCR tests that are referred for genomic sequencing – the process that identifies whether the infection was caused by a new variant of coronavirus.
McNally said:
It kind of makes sense if you look at the rates of Covid in the UK right now, they’re high, so probably lateral flow tests will be sufficient for travellers.
But I don’t think we can just completely remove all controls on travel and travel-associated Covid, we know from the past that travel-associated Covid is very high risk to this country.
The devil’s in the detail in this and I would really hope there will be a very strong mandate that any lateral flow positive test from travel have to get a confirmatory PCR test because in my opinion we still that genome level surveillance of Covid cases being introduced into the UK from abroad.
He added: “I do think it’s vitally important we do genome surveillance on travel Covid cases.”
Read the full story:
Updated
Europe’s drugs regulator said on Friday it could not confirm if women and young adults were at a higher risk of rare blood clots with low platelets following vaccination with AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine after it studied available data, Reuters reports.
Limitations in the way the data was collected meant that the European Medicines Agency could not identify any specific risk factor that made the condition, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), more likely, it said.
Updated
People will have to show an NHS Covid pass to enter nightclubs and attend many events in Wales from next month, the first minister, Mark Drakeford, has announced.
Drakeford encouraged people to work from home wherever possible and to get fully vaccinated if they are not already. He said enforcement of measures such as wearing face coverings in indoor public places and on public transport would be increased.
Wales is at alert level 0 and will remain so for the next three weeks, but the Labour-led government said Covid case numbers were very high.
Drakeford said:
Across Wales, coronavirus cases have risen to very high levels over the summer as more people have been gathering and meeting. Tragically, more people are dying from this terrible virus.
The very strong advice we have from our scientific advisers is to take early action to prevent infections increasing further. The last thing we want is further lockdowns and for businesses to have to close their doors once again. That’s why we must take small but meaningful action now to control the spread of the virus and reduce the need for tougher measures later.
Read more here:
Updated
The first civil lawsuit began in a court in Vienna on Friday over a notorious outbreak of coronavirus at a popular ski resort last year, where thousands of people from 45 countries claim to have become infected.
The case is the first of 15 lawsuits filed by plaintiffs from Austria and Germany, accusing the authorities of not responding quickly enough to Covid-19 outbreaks in Ischgl and other resorts in the province of Tyrol, AFP reports.
It is being brought on behalf of Sieglinde Schopf and her son Ulrich, the widow and son respectively of 72-year-old Hannes Schopf, who died after contracting the virus in Ischgl.
Sieglinde was not present in Vienna’s Palace of Justice on Friday but Ulrich Schopf sat alongside the legal team bringing their case, amid substantial media interest.
Lawyer Alexander Klauser, acting for the Schopf family and the VSV consumer organisation helping them and others bring their cases to court, has said the official shortcomings that allowed Ischgl and the surrounding area to become a virus hotspot were manifold.
He pointed to a report last October by an independent commission of experts that found that local officials had “reacted too late” and made “serious miscalculations” when alerted by Iceland on 5 March that several of its nationals had tested positive on returning home.
Local officials “had at least 48 hours to react” after the warning, Klauser told AFP earlier this week.
They also missed an opportunity to prevent more tourists coming to the valley that weekend, and the regional government cast doubt on whether the Icelandic tourists had been infected in Ischgl, he said.
Klauser also accused the local authorities of doing “too little, too late” when a restaurant worker tested positive for the virus.
When the valley was finally placed in quarantine, an orderly evacuation of was “thwarted” by the chaotic manner in which it was announced and organised, Klauser said, pointing the finger at chancellor Sebastian Kurz as well.
Schopf’s widow said the retired journalist and avid skier caught the virus during the panicked evacuation by bus, crammed in with other tourists who were sneezing and coughing.
The Schopf family is suing the Republic of Austria for €100,000 (£85,500) over his death.
Updated
Summary
I’m Harriet Grant and I’m handing over the Covid live blog to Nicola Slawson.
Here’s a summary of news from the last few hours
- 1.9 bn pieces of PPE held in stock by the UK is not fit for purpose
- Politicians and scientists have been discussing plans to change the rules on travel in and out of the UK, with warnings that some restrictions will have to remain in place to watch for new variants entering the country
- Cuba has started vaccinating two-year-olds – while in Cambodia the start of school has heralded a programme to vaccinate children between six and 12.
- In western US states hospitals are facing a “dire” crisis of care, as Covid cases fill wards and ICU units
- Shortsightedness in children is on the increase in China – and possibly elsewhere in the world – the result, scientists believe, of too much time indoors during lockdown.
Updated
Minister says 1.9bn items of stocked UK PPE are not fit for purpose
Personal protective equipment (PPE) worth £2.8bn is not fit for purpose and cannot be used by the NHS, a health minister has revealed in parliament.
PA Media reports that Lord Bethell – a health minister – was answering a question from crossbencher Lord Alton of Liverpool on the subject of “faulty PPE” that has not met the required level of protection.
“As of 10 June, 1.9bn items of stock were in the ‘do not supply’ category,” Lord Bethell said. ‘This is equivalent to 6.2% of purchased volume with an estimated value of 2.8 billion.
“We are considering options to repurpose and recycle items in this category which ensures safety and value for money.”
Earlier this month, it emerged the government was in dispute with several companies over 1.2bn items of PPE that has been deemed “sub-standard” or was undelivered.
At that time, Lord Bethell provided a written response to the Lib Dem peer Lord Lee, who had asked how much had been reclaimed from firms providing equipment found to be “not fit for purpose”.
The health minister replied: “As of 27 July 2021, the department was engaged in commercial discussions – potentially leading to litigation – in respect to 40 PPE contracts with a combined value of £1.2bn covering 1.7bn items of PPE.”
Updated
As the UK government prepares to announce changes to travel restrictions in England, voices across politics and science have been debating what should happen next.
A shadow minister has said that the Labour opposition backs the scrapping of the amber travel list and has done “for ages” calling it “confusing”.
Sarah Jones MP told Sky News: “We want travel to open up as safely and as quickly as possible. We’ve been calling for ages for the amber list to be scrapped, which has been touted in the papers today, because it always added to confusion – people never quite understood what the system was.
Labour has in the past called for an expanded red travel list.
Jones added: “And we’ve been calling for a proper process to work out an international vaccine passport so we can get people safely moving around.”
One of the scientists behind the UK’s testing network for quickly identifying Covid variants of concern has urged the government to continue surveillance of coronavirus cases brought into the UK from abroad.
Alan McNally, a professor in microbial evolutionary genomics who worked on setting up the lighthouse laboratories, made the comments amid reports ministers are preparing to overhaul Covid travel restrictions, including a relaxing of test rules.
It has been reported that double-jabbed travellers will no longer need to take a more costly PCR test after returning from green countries, but take a cheaper lateral flow test instead, while pre-departure tests, taken 72 hours before a passenger flies home are also likely to be scrapped.
McNally said: “It kind of makes sense if you look at the rates of Covid in the UK right now, they’re high, so probably lateral flow tests will be sufficient for travellers.
“But I don’t think we can just completely remove all controls on travel and travel-associated Covid, we know from the past that travel-associated Covid is very high risk to this country.
Updated
Cuba jabs toddlers
As Cambodia vaccinates children over six, in Cuba a programme is under way to get jabs into the arms of two-year-olds.
Vaccinating under-18s began in early September, starting with older teens. Cuba is one of the first countries to target such young children for vaccination but the health officials leading the operation say it is safe.
“Our country would not put (infants) even at a minimal risk if the vaccines were not proven save and highly effective when put into children,” Aurolis Otaño, the director of the Vedado Polyclinic University, told the Associated Press in a vaccination room.
Those between five and 10 are receiving their first shot at their schools.
Cuba faces a persistent Covid-19 outbreak that almost collapsed its health-care system. Provinces such as Matanzas, Ciego de Ávila and Cienfuegos received support from doctors from other parts of the country.
Most countries have not approved the vaccine for under-12s. Children have largely escaped the worst of the pandemic and show less severe symptoms when they contract the virus.
Yesterday an analysis of studies from around the world indicated that long covid is also rarer in children than was at first believed.
Updated
Cambodia starts to vaccinate six- to 11-year-olds
Cambodia began vaccinating six- to 11-year-olds on Friday as part of a programme to reopen schools that have been closed for months.
Countries around the world have taken different approaches to vaccinating children and many schools have reopened globally without vaccinating under-12s. Yesterday a report from Unicef urged governments to let children return to school, releasing figures showing that schools for nearly 77 million children in six countries are still almost completely closed.
Prime minister Hun Sen inaugurated the campaign to vaccinate the children, speaking live on state television and his Facebook page as his grandchildren and young family members of other senior officials were shown being given their jabs.
He said: “To protect children’s health and their lives is our duty because we want to make sure that once they go back to their schools, these children and their teachers are safe from Covid-19”
Hun Sen said he has ordered health officials to study if children aged three to five can also be vaccinated.
Nearly 72% of Cambodia’s almost 17 million people have received at least one Covid-19 shot since vaccinations began in February. China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines account for most inoculations.
Updated
UK minister warns vaccine variant could mean a return of ‘full lockdown’
The environment secretary George Eustice has been giving interviews to radio and TV programmes today. This morning’s headlines are all about changes that could make travel easier but Eustice told Sky News that is still a need to be “vigilant” of new variants, warning that they could potentially trigger “full lockdown”. A Covid committee will be discussing travel and testing later today.
On LBC radio a short time ago he said “no decisions have been made yet” on travel restrictions being lifted despite “speculation”.
Updated
‘The situation is dire’
US western states face ‘crisis’ conditions as Covid admissions rise
In the US several western states are officially rationing health care as Covid admissions rise. In Idaho, the Department for Health and Welfare announced it would be rationing healthcare further. Hospitals in Alaska and Montana are also at crisis level, Associated Press reports.
Health leaders link the admissions to problems convincing adults to get the vaccine. Idaho is one of the least vaccinated states in the US with only about 40% of residents fully vaccinated. The implementation of crisis care standards means that ICU beds will be given to those most likely to survive.
Idaho hospitals have been rationing care in northern parts of the state since last week but now St Luke’s Health System, the state’s largest hospital network, asked health leaders to allow “crisis standards of care” because the increase in Covid-19 patients has exhausted the state’s medical resources.
“The situation is dire – we don’t have enough resources to adequately treat the patients in our hospitals, whether you are there for Covid-19 or a heart attack or because of a car accident,” Idaho Department of Welfare director Dave Jeppesen said in a statement.
On Monday, the most recent data available from the state showed that 678 people were hospitalised statewide with coronavirus.
On Wednesday, nearly 92% of all of the Covid-19 patients in St Luke’s network of hospitals were unvaccinated. Sixty-one of the hospital’s 78 ICU patients had Covid-19.
Patients are being ventilated by hand – with a nurse or doctor squeezing a bag – for up to hours at a time while hospital officials work to find a bed with a mechanical ventilator, said chief medical officer Dr Jim Souza.
The normal standards of care act as a net that allows physicians to “carry out the high wire acts that we do every day, like open heart surgery and bone marrow transplants and neuro-interventional stroke care”, Souza said. “The net is gone, and people will fall from the high wire.”
Now the medical group is also preparing to monitor patients who are released from hospitals earlier than normal or trying to avoid emergency rooms completely, said CEO Dr David Peterman. “This is heart-wrenching. I’ve practised medicine in south-west Idaho for 40 years and I have never seen anything like this,” he said.
Updated
Home learning and lockdown linked to eye problems in children
A new study from China adds weight to a growing body of research that links short sightedness in children to quarantines and lockdowns.
Associated Press medical writer Lindsey Tanner reports that researchers from Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou compared data from eye exams given a year apart to about 2,000 children starting in Chinese second grade (children of six or seven). Half the children were tested before the pandemic in late 2018 and then a year later. The others were tested in late 2019 and then in late 2020 after several months of home learning and lockdown.
While the first tests showed similar levels of myopia in both groups – about 7% – it went up more in the groups retested late last year. By third grade, about 20% of those children were shortsighted compared with 13% of a group tested before the pandemic.
Eye specialists believe the concerning trend may be happening worldwide.
The study lacked information on how much time kids in both groups spent online or doing other work that might strain the eyes but a journal editorial said the results and those from earlier studies “should prompt parents, schools and governmental agencies to recognise the potential value of providing children with outdoor activity time and monitoring how much time is spent on near work”.’
Noreen Shaikh, a myopia specialist at Lurie Children’s hospital in Chicago, called the Chinese research solid and said Lurie researchers are investigating any changes in nearsightedness among US children during the pandemic.
“Anecdotally, there definitely seems to be an increase – particularly in younger children,” Shaikh said.
Myopia affects about 30% of the world’s population and evidence shows it has been steadily increasing over the past 20 years.
Updated
Good morning from London. This is Harriet Grant on the liveblog with all the latest coronavirus-related news from around the world.
Summary
That’s it from me, Helen Livingstone, for today, I’m handing over to my UK colleague Harriet Grant.
Before I go, here’s a brief roundup of what’s been happening over the past 24 hours.
- The first civil lawsuit, over a notorious outbreak of coronavirus at the popular Austrian ski resort of Ischgl in March 2020, where thousands of people from 45 countries claim to have become infected, is set to begin in Vienna.
- Africa faces a 470m shortfall in Covid-19 vaccine doses this year after the Covax alliance cut its projected shipments, raising the risk of new and deadly variants, the WHO has said, warning it could take the world ‘back to square one’.
- Australia is to trial a home quarantine system for fully vaccinated international travellers arriving in Sydney, prime minister Scott Morrison has said, as the country moves to reopen its borders despite persistent Covid-19 cases.
- New Zealand will delay the reopening of its trans-Tasman travel bubble, as case numbers in Australia rise and numbers in New Zealand continue to drop.
- A British study will look into the immune responses of children to mixed schedules of different Covid-19 vaccines as officials try to determine the best approach to second doses in adolescents given a small risk of heart inflammation,
- The UK government is planning to slash the number of “red list” countries by up to half as part of plans to simplify England’s rules for international travel, with sources claiming it would incentivise vaccination
- France suspended 3,000 health workers without pay for refusing the Covid vaccine. The health minister, Olivier Véran, said the staff had been notified in writing before the government-imposed deadline to have at least one dose.
- Alberta’s premier announced sweeping new restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus, admitting the Canadian province was gripped by a “crisis of the unvaccinated”. Alberta currently has the worst coronavirus outbreak in Canada.
- Care homes in England may be forced to close and thousands of staff risk losing their jobs if they decline to receive their first Covid-19 vaccine by the end of Thursday, ministers have been warned.
- Data shows that almost 664,000 people, or one in 500 people, living in the US have died from the virus since the pandemic began, following a surge of cases and hospitalisations, particularly in southern states, caused by a combination of the Delta variant and low vaccination rates.
- The White House offered to connect Nicki Minaj with one of the Biden administration’s doctors to address her questions about the Covid-19 vaccine, after the Trinidadian-born rapper’s erroneous tweet alleging the vaccine causes impotence went viral.
- The Italian government approved a decree making it obligatory for all public and private sector workers either to show proof of vaccination, a negative test or recent recovery from infection, a government source said on Thursday.
- A panel of health experts advising the Hong Kong government recommended children aged 12-17 should get only one dose of BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine after reports of heart inflammation side effects.
- Vaccinations are estimated to have directly averted about 230,800 hospital admissions in England, according to figures.
- All diplomats attending the UN general assembly in New York next week will have to provide proof of vaccination, the city government has confirmed, prompting an angry response from Russia.
Updated
A British study will look into the immune responses of children to mixed schedules of different Covid-19 vaccines as officials try to determine the best approach to second doses in adolescents given a small risk of heart inflammation, Reuters reports.
Children aged 12-15 in Britain will be vaccinated from next week, while those aged 16-17 have been eligible for shots since August.
However, while the children will be offered a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, officials have said that advice about second doses will be given at a later date, while more data is gathered.
Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) initially declined to recommend shots for all 12- to 15-year-olds, citing uncertainty over the long-term impact of myocarditis, a rare side effect of mRNA-based vaccines such as Pfizer’s. The heart condition typically resolves itself with mild short-term consequences, health experts have said.
Hong Kong has advised children only get one shot, owing to similar concerns over heart inflammation.
The study, called Com-COV3, will test different vaccine schedules in 12- to 16-year-olds, looking at the immune responses and milder side-effects.
“The concern here is about the risks of myocarditis, particularly with the second dose with Pfizer vaccine in young men,” the trial’s lead researcher, Matthew Snape of the Oxford Vaccine Group, told reporters.
“This will provide the JCVI with information crucial to informing their advice about immunising teenagers in the UK,” he said.
The trial will give all participants a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. That will be followed eight weeks later by either a second full dose or a half dose of the Pfizer shot, a full dose of Novavax’s vaccine or a half dose of Moderna’s shot.
The trial is recruiting 360 volunteers, not large enough to directly assess the myocarditis risk of the different combinations, which Snape said was 1 in 15,000 after two doses of the Pfizer shot in young men.
But, he added, it “would be reassuring to see if there was a lower inflammatory response after one of these changes compared to Pfizer (followed by) Pfizer,” and that it might be “reasonable to infer that the risks of myocarditis might be lower” in such an instance.
Snape is running another arm of the trial in adults, giving mixed vaccine schedules both four and 12 weeks apart, and comparing the responses. He said the results of that would be coming “very shortly”.
Africa faces a 470m shortfall in Covid-19 vaccine doses this year after the Covax alliance cut its projected shipments, raising the risk of new and deadly variants, the WHO said on Thursday.
Only 17% of the continent’s population will now be vaccinated by the end of this year, compared with the 40% target set by the World Health Organization, the global agency’s Africa unit said at its weekly briefing in the Congolese capita of Brazzaville, AFP reports.
“The staggering inequity and severe lag in shipments of vaccines threatens to turn areas in Africa ... into breeding grounds for vaccine-resistant variants,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Africa director.
“This could end up sending the whole world back to square one.”
Due to global shortages, the Covax alliance set up to ensure equitable delivery of jabs, will ship about 150m fewer doses of vaccine to Africa than planned.
Taking into account this shortfall, the 470m doses of vaccine now expected in Africa will allow only 17% of the population to be fully protected, the WHO’s regional office said.
“As long as rich countries lock Covax out of the market, Africa will miss its vaccination goals,” Moetti said.
The reduction in the vaccination target comes as Africa passes the eight million mark in infections this week, the WHO said.
About 95m doses should have been received in Africa via Covax during September, but despite the resumption of shipments, “Africa has only been able to vaccinate 50m people, or 3.6% of its population,” says WHO Africa.
The Covax international funding mechanism is supposed to allow 92 disadvantaged states and territories to receive free vaccines funded by more prosperous nations.
Last week, it revised its forecasts downwards, explaining the lack of doses “by export bans, the priority given to bilateral agreements between manufacturers and countries, delays in filing applications for approval”, among other reasons.
The first civil lawsuit over a notorious outbreak of coronavirus at the popular ski resort of Ischgl in March 2020, where thousands of people from 45 countries claim to have become infected, is set to begin in a court in Vienna, AFP reports.
The case is the first of 15 lawsuits filed by plaintiffs from Austria and Germany, accusing the authorities of not responding quickly enough to Covid-19 outbreaks in Ischgl and other resorts in the province of Tyrol.
It is being brought on behalf of the family of 72-year-old Hannes Schopf, who died after contracting the virus in Ischgl.
Lawyer Alexander Klauser, acting for the Schopf family and the VSV consumer organisation helping them and others bring their cases to court, said the official shortcomings that allowed Ischgl and the surrounding area to become a virus hotspot were manifold.
He pointed to a report last October by an independent commission of experts which found that local officials had “reacted too late” and made “serious miscalculations” when alerted by Iceland on 5 March that several of its nationals had tested positive on returning home.
Local officials “had at least 48 hours to react” after the warning, Klauser told AFP.
They also missed an opportunity to prevent more tourists coming to the valley that weekend, and the regional government cast doubt on whether the Icelandic tourists had been infected in Ischgl, he said.
Klauser also accused the local authorities of doing “too little, too late” when a restaurant worker tested positive for the virus, saying contact tracing was insufficient and the implementation of restrictions on tourist activity over the subsequent few days was only “halting”.
When the valley was finally placed in quarantine, an orderly evacuation of the area was “thwarted” by the chaotic manner in which it was announced and organised, Klauser continued, pointing the finger at Chancellor Sebastian Kurz as well.
According to Schopf’s widow, the retired journalist and avid skier caught the virus during the panicked evacuation by bus, crammed with other tourists who were sneezing and coughing for three hours.
The Schopf family is now suing the Republic of Austria for 100,000 euros ($120,000) over his death.
Welcome
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, with me, Helen Livingstone.
The first civil lawsuit over a notorious outbreak of coronavirus at the popular ski resort of Ischgl in March 2020, where thousands of people from 45 countries claim to have become infected, is set to begin in Vienna.
Africa faces a 470 million shortfall in Covid-19 vaccine doses this year after the Covax alliance cut its projected shipments, raising the risk of new and deadly variants, the WHO has said, warning it could take the world ‘back to square one’.
Here’s a roundup of what’s been happening over the past 24 hours:
- Australia is to trial a home quarantine system for fully vaccinated international travellers arriving in Sydney, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said , as the country moves to reopen its borders despite persistent Covid-19 cases.
- New Zealand will delay the reopening of its trans-Tasman travel bubble, as case numbers in Australia rise and numbers in New Zealand continue to drop.
- The UK government is planning to slash the number of “red list” countries by up to half as part of plans to simplify England’s rules for international travel, with sources claiming it would incentivise vaccination
- France suspended 3,000 health workers without pay for refusing the Covid vaccine. The health minister, Olivier Véran, said the staff had been notified in writing before the government-imposed deadline to have at least one dose.
- Alberta’s premier announced sweeping new restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus, admitting the Canadian province was gripped by a “crisis of the unvaccinated”. Alberta currently has the worst coronavirus outbreak in Canada.
- Care homes in England may be forced to close and thousands of staff risk losing their jobs if they decline to receive their first Covid-19 vaccine by the end of Thursday, ministers have been warned.
- Data shows that almost 664,000 people, or one in 500 people, living in the US have died from the virus since the pandemic began, following a surge of cases and hospitalisations, particularly in southern states, caused by a combination of the Delta variant and low vaccination rates.
- The White House offered to connect Nicki Minaj with one of the Biden administration’s doctors to address her questions about the Covid-19 vaccine, after the Trinidadian-born rapper’s erroneous tweet alleging the vaccine causes impotence went viral.
- The Italian government approved a decree making it obligatory for all public and private sector workers either to show proof of vaccination, a negative test or recent recovery from infection, a government source said on Thursday.
- A panel of health experts advising the Hong Kong government recommended children aged 12-17 should get only one dose of BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine after reports of heart inflammation side effects.
- Vaccinations are estimated to have directly averted about 230,800 hospital admissions in England, according to new figures.
- All diplomats attending the UN general assembly in New York next week will have to provide proof of vaccination, the city government has confirmed, prompting an angry response from Russia.
