We’ve launched a new blog at the link below – head there for the latest:
Australians are wasting more food during the coronavirus pandemic, mainly because of panic buying and food delivery services.
The annual bill for the country’s wasteful food choices has surged to $10.3 billion since the pandemic reached Australia, according to Rabobank’s 2020 Food Waste Report – up from $8.64 billion.
That is an all-time annual high of $1,043 per household, and an increase of around $170 each.
“It’s to be expected that food waste has been de-prioritised by Australians during this stressful year when our attention has been focused on other urgent issues,” Rabobank’s Glenn Wealands said in a statement on Monday.
“(But) the average household is now wasting nearly 13% of the groceries they buy and also spending more on food delivery and self-prepare food services.”
Updated
Labour is calling on the UK education secretary to ensure students who have faced significant disruption to their education during the pandemic are not unfairly disadvantaged in their GCSE and A-level exams.
Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, said thousands of pupils have missed out on essential learning because of the government’s failure to “get a grip” on the pandemic.
She reiterated a call for the education secretary to ensure pupils are assessed on what they have been taught, have reserve papers for all subjects so self-isolating pupils do not miss out and put in place a plan B in case exams do not go ahead.
Updated
Christmas carolling, attending church services, volunteering and taking a trip to Santa’s grotto will all be permitted in the run-up to Christmas, according to guidance for England published by the government.
However, the new rules vary across the different tiers that regions will enter when lockdown ends on 2 December. For example, the advice says school nativities will be able to take place, with those in tiers 1 and 2 able to attend in person, while those in tier 3 in England will have to watch streams or recordings.
Lanre Bakare has the details here.
Canada is prolonging its restrictions for all travellers entering the country, except from the United States, until 21 January, the government said on Sunday, in a bid to limit the spread of the virus.
Restrictions for people arriving from the United States will continue until 21 December and may be extended then, health minister Patty Hajdu said.
The ban does not apply to Canadian citizens, permanent residents and essential travel.
Brazil has registered 24,468 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours and 272 new deaths, the country’s health ministry said on Sunday. This compares with 51,922 infections and 587 on Saturday.
The country has now registered 6,314,740 total confirmed coronavirus cases and 172,833 deaths.
Updated
Summary
Here’s a run-through of the latest coronavirus developments for anyone just joining us.
-
Children in Iraq have started returning to school for the first time since late February, with social distancing measures in place and schools operating six days a week.
-
Lebanon will begin to slowly relax coronavirus restrictions imposed two weeks ago from Monday, as it looks to boost its struggling economy ahead of Christmas.
- Turkey’s daily coronavirus death toll hit a record high for a seventh consecutive day on Sunday, with 185 fatalities in the last 24 hours.
-
The WHO delivered 15 ventilators to hospitals in Gaza on Sunday as the Palestinian territory suffered a rise in Covid-19 infections.
-
New York City’s state schools will start to reopen on 7 December, beginning with primary schools, the mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced on Sunday.
-
The top infectious disease expert in the US has warned that the country may record a “surge upon a surge” of the virus in coming weeks.
-
Greece announced 1,193 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, a significant decrease compared to recent figures and its lowest number since 2 November.
- Doctors and nurses are protesting in Madrid, Spain against cuts that they say have left them struggling to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.
-
France’s highest administrative court has ordered the government to loosen coronavirus rules allowing no more than 30 people at religious services, in the face of angry objections from church leaders.
- There have been a further 12,155 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK, according to government data. This compares to 15,871 cases registered on Saturday.
Updated
France reported 9,784 new cases on Sunday, down from 12,580 on Saturday and 13,157 last Sunday.
The number of people in intensive care fell by another 21 to 3,756 and the number of new deaths fell to 198 from 213 on Sunday, health ministry data showed.
Updated
Iraqi children return to school
Children in Iraq have started returning to school for the first time since late February.
Schools will operate for six days a week, in a bid to maintain social distancing in classrooms.
Primary school pupils will attend class one day a week, while secondary school students will go in twice a week. Remote learning will be relied upon during the rest of the week – although online education remains out of reach for many.
Updated
In England, police have apologised after a pastor was accused of breaking coronavirus regulations while holding a religious service online, PA reports.
The Rev Daniel Mateola said he was “treated like a criminal” when officers arrived at Kingdom Faith Ministries International church in Milton Keynes earlier this month.
Thames Valley police said there had been a “misunderstanding” by officers in “what is an ever-changing and complex area of enforcement”.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 143,333 further coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s total to 13,142,997. This compares to 176,572 cases reported on Saturday.
Deaths have risen by 1,210 to 265,166 – a slight decrease from 1,283 on Saturday.
The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.
Updated
NHS bosses plan to enlist celebrities and “influencers” with big social media followings in a major campaign to persuade people to have a Covid vaccine amid fears of low take-up.
Ministers and NHS England are drawing up a list of “very sensible” famous faces in the hope that their advice to get immunised would be widely trusted, the Guardian has learned.
Health chiefs are particularly worried about the number of people who are still undecided, and about vaccine scepticism among NHS staff. “There will be a big national campaign [to drive take-up],” said one source with knowledge of the plans. “NHS England are looking for famous faces, people who are known and loved. It could be celebrities who are very sensible and have done sensible stuff during the pandemic.”
Read the exclusive report by Denis Campbell here.
Lebanon to gradually ease restrictions
Lebanon will begin to slowly relax coronavirus restrictions imposed two weeks ago from Monday, as it looks to boost its struggling economy ahead of Christmas.
Acting health minister Hamad Hassan said restaurants will reopen at 50% capacity but bars and nightclubs will remain closed and weddings will be banned, while an overnight curfew will start from 11pm instead of 5pm.
Schools would also reopen but with some classes still held online, Hassan said.
Updated
Arcadia is expected to enter administration in the coming hours after the weekend failed to bring a last-minute rescue deal for Sir Philip Green’s retail giant.
The appointment of administrators by the owner of household names including Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins and Burton would be the biggest corporate failure of the pandemic.
Amid concerns among MPs and unions about the impact of possible job cuts from the 13,000-strong workforce and a shortfall in the group’s pension scheme, the company’s collapse was also expected to jeopardise a takeover by JD Sports of the department store chain Debenhams, which rents out space to dozens of Arcadia-owned outlets.
Turkey's death toll hits record high for seventh consecutive day
Turkey’s daily coronavirus death toll hit a record high for a seventh consecutive day on Sunday, with 185 fatalities in the last 24 hours.
The number of new coronavirus cases, including asymptomatic infections, decreased slightly to 29,281. Turkey only started reporting asymptomatic cases on Wednesday.
The total death toll stands at 13,558.
The government introduced tighter measures a week ago including nightly curfews at weekends, restrictions on movements of people of non-working age, a move to online schooling and limiting restaurants and cafes to takeaway services.
Updated
Greece announced 1,193 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, a significant decrease compared to recent figures and its lowest number since 2 November.
The total number of cases stands at 104,227.
There were 98 deaths over the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 2,321. Greece announced a record increase in deaths on Saturday, with 121 fatalities registered.
The country’s public health system is close to capacity, according to a report in Kathimerini, with 603 patients on ventilators. In Thessaloniki, patients are being transferred to a private clinic requisitioned due to the crisis.
The WHO delivered 15 ventilators to hospitals in Gaza on Sunday as the Palestinian territory suffers a rise in Covid-19 infections.
The donation was funded by Kuwait and came a week after local and international public health advisers said the territory’s hospitals could soon become overwhelmed.
“These devices will help medical teams provide better service to patients, but it is not enough,” said Abdullatif Alhaj of Gaza’s health ministry, adding that hospitals had suffered acute oxygen shortages.
The health ministry said more than than half of the territory’s 150 ventilators were in use.
There are 342 Covid-19 patients in Gaza’s hospitals, including 108 in a critical condition.
Updated
New York City’s state schools will start to reopen on 7 December, beginning with primary schools, the mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced on Sunday.
Schools were closed less than two weeks ago when test positivity rates across the city passed the 3% benchmark agreed by the mayor and teachers’ union.
To go into school, students must have a signed consent form agreeing to weekly coronavirus testing or a letter of medical exemption from a doctor, the mayor said.
Updated
The top infectious disease expert in the US has warned that the country may record a “surge upon a surge” of the virus in coming weeks.
Dr Anthony Fauci said he did not expect current guidance around social distancing to be relaxed before Christmas.
“When you have the kind of inflection that we have, it doesn’t all of a sudden turn around like that,” Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABC.
“So clearly in the next few weeks, we’re going to have the same sort of thing. And perhaps even two or three weeks down the line ... we may see a surge upon a surge.”
Updated
Italy registered a further 20,648 coronavirus infections on Sunday, compared with 26,315 the previous day.
There have been 541 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, the health ministry reported, down from 686 on Saturday.
The country has seen 54,904 Covid-19 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February, the second highest toll in Europe after the UK. It has also registered 1.585 million cases to date.
Updated
UK reports 12,155 cases, 215 deaths
There have been a further 12,155 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK, according to government data. This compares to 15,871 cases registered on Saturday.
A total of 1,617,327 people have tested positive.
A further 215 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported on Monday, bringing the total to 58,245. There were 479 on Saturday.
Sunday figures are often lower because of reporting delays over the weekend.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 73,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
Updated
Hello, Clea Skopeliti here taking over the blog for the next few hours. You can reach me by Twitter DM or email with any suggestions for coronavirus coverage or news tips. Thanks!
In Italy, the Serie A club Udinese has blamed a sudden outbreak of Covid-19 infections at the club on this month’s international break, saying it began with a player returning from a national team match, Reuters reports.
Udinese were without Stefano Okaka, Ilija Nestorovski, Sebastien De Maio, Thomas Ouwejan, Rolando Mandragora and Kevin Lasagna, as well as the head coach, Luca Gotti, when they faced Lazio on Sunday – though they still pulled off a shock 3-1 away win.
The club’s sporting director, Pierpaolo Marino, told broadcast DAZN:
In the midst of this epidemic Udinese was a happy island because thanks to the organisation of the club we had established protocols that had helped us to avoid contagion.
Then a player who came back from the national team matches tested positive and new infections arose from there. Obviously it is not his fault, but the Fifa system is not working at the moment and we are the ones paying the consequences.
Updated
French court orders government to loosen rules on religious ceremonies
France’s highest administrative court has ordered the government to loosen coronavirus rules allowing no more than 30 people at religious services, in the face of angry objections from church leaders.
The council of state said it was giving the prime minister, Jean Castex, three days to change the rules, as the limit of 30 set to combat the coronavirus was not sufficient to allow people to attend services when they wanted.
Catholic associations filed a complaint with the body on Friday describing the government measures as “unnecessary, disproportionate and discriminatory”.
Their lawyers argued that the latest coronavirus rules in France – which on Saturday allowed non-essential businesses to open – meant that in the run-up to Christmas a superstore could host hundreds of people but a cathedral could admit only a handful.
France’s Council of Bishops (CEF) applauded the ruling, saying “common sense has been recognised” while expressing the hope that “resorting to justice should be the exception in the dialogue with the authorities in our country”.
Its representatives were due to meet Castex later Sunday to discuss the next steps.
Updated
UK reports 208 deaths in last 24 hours
The UK government have reported a further 208 deaths of people who tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 40,405.
Patients were aged between 39 and 100 years old. All except 13 (aged 56 to 86 years old) had known underlying health conditions.
Date of death ranges from 25 October to 28 November 2020 with the majority being on or after 25 November.
The number of deaths of patients with Covid-19 by region are as follows:
East of England – 21
London – 15
Midlands – 63
North East & Yorkshire – 50
North West – 32
South East – 14
South West – 13
Total: 208
Updated
Fantastic news for weary parents in the UK, you might be subjected to able to enjoy the delights of a traditional Christmas pantomime this year after all! YAY.
My colleague Libby Brooks writes:
With winds over 35 miles an hour and sideways rain, an outdoor pantomime on the Isle of Skye was always going to demand some creative stage management.
But Daniel Cullen, producer of the island’s first drive-in panto – a production of the Grimms’ fairytale Rapunzel, with a Scottish twist – is confident he can reach an accommodation with the wintry weather.
There will be “contingency umbrellas” to protect the cast’s radio mics, and coordinated rainwear to match their multicoloured costumes. The stage is a 14-metre HGV trailer parked outside the Sligachan hotel with a view of the Red Cuillins. And the audience, who will tune in to the dialogue on their car radios, have been instructed to bring blankets and whatever else they need to keep warm.
With many venues across the UK still closed because of Covid, the traditional pantomime – which Cullen points out is often the only time a family experiences live theatre all year – will be missing from many festive calendars.
But after the success of socially distanced drive-in events over the summer, the format has been repurposed to offer some welcome end-of-year release, even as restrictions tighten for many.
Updated
Doctors and nurses are protesting in Madrid, Spain against cuts that they say have left them struggling to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Banging drums and singing “less flags and more nurses”, about 4,000 protesters marched through the Spanish capital, the region hit hardest by the coronavirus, Reuters reports:
Lucia Tielvez, 65, an auxiliary health worker said:
They [healthcare] are segregating. In the private health companies it is a business. In the public, everyone comes. If you don’t have money, you don’t get.
Madrid’s conservative regional government has denied cutting health services.
Photographs published in Spanish media on Sunday showing cities packed with Christmas shoppers sparked fears of a spike in infections.
Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish PM, urged people to avoid large family gatherings this Christmas to avoid a rise in Covid-19 cases. He told party supporters on Saturday:
The next few months will be decisive. Experts predict that we will attend a critical stage of the pandemic, coinciding with the first mass vaccines.
Spain’s left-wing government is considering limiting Christmas gatherings to six people.
Spain added 10,853 new cases of coronavirus to its tally on Friday, according to health ministry data, down from more than 12,000 new cases the day before.
The number of people who died from coronavirus in Spain rose by 294 on Friday, bringing the total death toll from the pandemic to 44,668, while the cumulative total of cases reached 1,628,208.
Updated
Universities in the UK fined students more than £170,000 for breaching coronavirus safety rules in the first weeks of the new academic year, a Guardian analysis has found, as students told of struggling to make friends without flouting restrictions.
Twenty-eight institutions fined students for breaking university, local and national Covid rules, including bans on household mixing, and mandatory face coverings and social distancing, according to responses from 105 universities to freedom of information (FoI) requests.
Nottingham University students paid more than one-third of the total amount, with 91 fined a total of £58,865 up to 12 November – more than the amount levied on its student population by police. The university said the individual fines it issued were up to £1,500.
The fines handed down to 1,898 students amounted to £170,915. Most universities only disclosed fines levied in the first two to three weeks of term. Some said the money would be paid into their student hardship fund.
France’s state council, the country’s highest court, today ordered the government to review a law limiting the number of people in churches during religious services to 30, Reuters reports.
The council said in a statement that the measure was not proportionate to coronavirus infection risks.
Last week, the government announced that a nationwide lockdown in place since 30 October would be unwound in phases.
Shops selling non-essential goods were allowed to reopen from 28 November and indoor religious services were allowed to resume, but the number of worshippers was capped at 30 people, regardless of the size of the place of worship.
Catholic organisations have challenged the limit, arguing that churches and cathedrals are much more spacious than retail outlets, where the limit is one person per eight square metres.
Updated
Germany will decide in early January which coronavirus curbs can be lifted, the premier of the state of North-Rhine Westphalia has said.
Reuters reports that he urged people to observe hygiene and distancing rules to help bring case numbers down.
“We have to see at the beginning of January what is possible again and what has to stay closed,” the premier of the country’s most populous state said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio.
Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed with leaders of Germany’s 16 federal states to extend and tighten measures against the coronavirus until at least 20 December and they are likely to extend them into January.
The economy minister, Peter Altmaier, said on Saturday the measures could last into early spring if infections were not brought under control.
Laschet said restrictions should be eased as soon as possible and if the incidence of infections allowed. He added:
I find it hard to imagine that we will be closing everything for months on end and contributing billions from the federal coffers month after month.
There were 14,611 new confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday, about 1,000 cases fewer than a week ago.
Reported cases are usually lower at the weekend as fewer tests are conducted.
Updated
England is at risk of a third wave of coronavirus in the new year if the right balance is not struck on restrictions, Dominic Raab has warned, as Downing Street faces an angry rebellion from Tory MPs on its strengthened tiers measures.
The foreign secretary also refused to rule out the prospect of a third nationwide lockdown next year. The Commons will vote on Tuesday on whether to approve the three-tier system replacing the national lockdown.
Boris Johnson wrote to Tory MPs on Saturday in an attempt to head off a potential rebellion, saying the new regulations will have a “sunset” clause meaning they will end on 3 February, will be reviewed every fortnight until then, and will only continue with MPs’ approval.
Further analysis of the health, economic and social impacts of Covid and the measures taken to suppress them will also be published before Tuesday’s vote, Johnson said.
My colleague Harriet Sherwood writes that this year in the UK carols from King’s College Cambridge, a keyChristmas moment for many in the country, will be sung in empty chapel for first time in a century.
Harriet writes:
For many of us, it is the moment when Christmas really starts: the soaring voice of a boy soloist at King’s College, Cambridge opening its iconic Christmas Eve service with Once in Royal David’s City.
As usual, this year – remarkably, given the pandemic – the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 4. But there will be a major difference: instead of hundreds of people packed into the medieval chapel, its pews will be empty.
Stephen Cherry, the dean of the chapel, told the Observer:
The congregation normally joins in with full-throated singing at verse three [of Once in Royal David’s City] – all those people, squeezed in, sharing this magical moment.
[This year] they will be in their kitchens or in their cars or wrapping presents. We hope that, wherever they are, people will join in with the carols.
In South Korea authorities have announced a ban on year-end parties and some music lessons on Sunday and said public saunas and some cafes must also close after coronavirus infections surged at their fastest pace since the early days of the pandemic.
From Reuters:
South Korea has been one of the world’s coronavirus mitigation success stories but spikes in infections have reappeared relentlessly, triggering alarm in Asia’s four-largest economy.
Authorities reported 450 new infections on Sunday after more than 500 cases were recorded for three days in a row, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.
What authorities are calling a third wave of infections is spreading at the fastest rate in nearly nine months, driven by outbreaks at military facilities, a sauna, a high school and churches.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said restrictions would be tightened on gatherings and activities seen as prone to virus transmission, especially in the capital Seoul and surrounding urban areas. Chung told a briefing after meeting health officials:
Year-end events and parties hosted by hotels, party rooms, guest houses and other accommodation facilities will be banned outright.
Saunas and steam-bath rooms with a high risk of mass infection would also be banned as would the teaching of wind musical instruments and singing, he said.
For rest of the country, social distancing rules would also be tightened from Tuesday, he said.
Separately, Chung said the government was talking to parliament about the possibility of new relief funds for households and businesses, which would be the third this year, as the economy struggles. He said:
Our assessment is that we need the third crisis support fund ... The government will come up with a conclusion on this after discussing with both the ruling and opposition parties.
In the Czech Republic, the government will allow restaurants and non-essential shops to reopen on Thursday, December 3, as the current wave of the coronavirus pandemic eases, Health Mister Jan Blatny said today.
The country will move down one notch to level 3 on its 5-level risk scale, which means all shops and restaurants can open but must limit customer numbers to allow for social distancing. A night-time curfew will be lifted and limited sports activities can resume.
In the Old Town Square in Prague, the Christmas tree is going up, but there will be no Christmas market this year.
The Christmas tree in Old Town Square is coming together, but sadly no marketplace this year due to the current COVID restrictions. #Christmas #Prague pic.twitter.com/g4CQUEIBHc
— Expats.cz (@expatscz) November 28, 2020
Stringent new coronavirus restrictions in the UK, which will come into operation when the current national lockdown ends on December 2, are necessary to “bear down” on the pandemic but tiers will be downgraded in areas where the virus is in retreat, Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary has said this morning.
Speaking on Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday, Raab said:
The reality is that we want to come out of national lockdown and stay out of it.
There is hope and there is light at the end of the tunnel at the prospect of regulatory approval of the vaccine being ready to be in place and distributed by the spring, which will allow a real step-change back to life resembling normal.
The two things we need between now and then are this tiered approach so that we target the virus where it is the most dangerous.
We are starting with a more restrictive approach than previously with the localised approach, but that allows us to ease up when we are confident the virus is going down and stabilised - there’s a review every two weeks.
The second thing is the testing and what we’ve seen, we’ve had 12 million people tested and we’ve seen in Liverpool with the community-wide testing... that really helps us to bear down on the virus.
Those two things are the crucial bridge to that light at the end of the tunnel in the spring.
Raab said coronavirus cases would rise exponentially if restrictions were not applied on a wider level, such as across counties.
Where you’ve got low levels in a particular area but it’s surrounded by areas others with higher levels...
If you don’t apply on a wider levels - which is why we’re using the countywide basis - the same restrictions, all that happens is the virus in those lower levels... goes up exponentially.
But asked why that did not apply to London, which is in tier 2, the Foreign Secretary said “you’ve got to look at the five principles.”
Updated
Russia reported 26,683 new coronavirus cases on Sunday after the number of daily confirmed infections hit a record 27,543 on Friday.
The new cases took the national total to 2,269,316 since the start of the pandemic.
The coronavirus crisis center confirmed deaths of 459 coronavirus patients in the last 24 hours, lifting the Russian death toll to 39,527.
Indonesia has reported a record rise in coronavirus inections, after 6,267 new cases and 169 deaths, according to its Covid-19 task force.
Indonesia marks yet another grim #coronavirus record today with 6,267 new cases and 169 deaths
— Matthew Tostevin (@TostevinM) November 29, 2020
That’s all from me. I’m now handing over to my colleague in London, Alexandra Topping, who will keep you up-to-date with all the latest global pandemic news.
Updated
Russia reported 26,683 new coronavirus cases on Sunday after the number of daily confirmed infections hit a record 27,543 on Friday.
The new cases took the national total to 2,269,316. The coronavirus crisis center confirmed deaths of 459 coronavirus patients in the last 24 hours, pushing the Russian death toll to 39,527.
A year after Wuhan alarm, China seeks to change Covid origin story
Nearly a year after doctors identified the first cases of a worrying new disease in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the country appears to be stepping up a campaign to question the origins of the global Covid-19 pandemic, report Emma Graham-Harrison and Robin McKie.
State media has been reporting intensively on coronavirus discovered on packaging of frozen food imports, not considered a significant vector of infection elsewhere, and research into possible cases of the disease found outside China’s borders before December 2019.
The official People’s Daily newspaper claimed in a Facebook post last week that “all available evidence suggests that the coronavirus did not start in central China’s Wuhan”.
A foreign ministry spokesman, asked about state media reports that the virus originated outside China, said only that it was important to distinguish between where Covid-19 was first detected and where it crossed the species barrier to infect humans.
“Although China was the first to report cases, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the virus originated in China,” Zhao Lijian told a briefing. “Origin tracing is an ongoing process that may involve multiple countries and regions.”
Chinese scientists have even submitted a paper for publication to the Lancet – although it has not yet been peer-reviewed – that claims “Wuhan is not the place where human-to-human Sars-CoV-2 transmission first happened”, suggesting instead that the first case may have been in the “Indian subcontinent”.
Claims that the virus had origins outside China are given little credence by western scientists. Michael Ryan, director of the health emergencies programme at the World Health Organization (WHO), said last week that it would be “highly speculative” to argue that the disease did not emerge in China.
Updated
Summary
- Britain has secured an additional two million doses of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine candidate, meaning it will have access to enough doses of the vaccine for around 3.5 million people. Overall, it has access to 357 million doses of vaccines from seven different developers.
- In the UK, a further 479 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Saturday, down from 521 the previous day. Police confirmed that 155 people were arrested at anti-lockdown protests in central London, with offences including breaching coronavirus regulations, assaulting a police officer and possession of drugs.
-
North Korea is further toughening restrictions on entering seawaters as part of elevated steps to fight the coronavirus pandemic, state media said Sunday, two days after South Korea said the North had banned sea fishing.
- South Korean authorities will consider tighter social distancing restrictions on Sunday to clamp down on economic activities after last week saw the fastest spread of infections since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Brazil has registered 51,922 additional coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours and 587 new deaths, according to the country’s health ministry.
- Mexico reported 10,008 new confirmed coronavirus infections and 586 additional deaths on Saturday. This brings the official number of cases to 1,100,683 with a total death toll of 105,459.
- The Australian state of Victoria, which has recorded 30 days with no confirmed coronavirus cases, has eased some of its restrictions. From 11.59pm tonight, businesses will be allowed to open their workplaces to a quarter of their employees.
- South Australian health authorities are urging anyone who visited several “high-risk” locations to get tested for coronavirus immediately, after a Covid-19-positive man broke his required home quarantine in Adelaide.
Updated
For many in the UK, it is the moment when Christmas really starts: the soaring voice of a boy soloist at King’s College, Cambridge opening its iconic Christmas Eve service with Once in Royal David’s City.
This year, reports religious affairs correspondent Harriet Sherwood, there will be a major difference: instead of hundreds of people packed into the medieval chapel, its pews will be empty.
“The congregation normally joins in with full-throated singing at verse three [of Once in Royal David’s City] – all those people, squeezed in, sharing this magical moment,” Stephen Cherry, the dean of the chapel, told the Observer.
This year, instead of the congregation physically present, “they will be in their kitchens or in their cars or wrapping presents. We hope that, wherever they are, people will join in with the carols.”
The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 4.
Updated
Baby born with coronavirus antibodies in Singapore
A Singaporean woman, who was infected with Covid-19 in March when she was pregnant, has given birth to a baby with antibodies against the virus, offering a new clue as to whether the infection can be transferred from mother to child.
The baby was born this month without Covid-19 but with the virus antibodies, Reuters reported, citing a story in the Straits Times newspaper. “My doctor suspects I have transferred my COVID-19 antibodies to him during my pregnancy,” Celine Ng-Chan told the paper.
Ng-Chan had been mildly ill from the disease and was discharged from hospital after two-and-a-half weeks, the Straits Times said. Ng-Chan and the National University Hospital (NUH), where she gave birth, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The World Health Organisation says it is not yet known whether a pregnant woman with Covid-19 can pass the virus to her foetus or baby during pregnancy or delivery.
To date, the active virus has not been found in samples of fluid around the baby in the womb or in breast milk.
Updated
Angela Giuffrida, the Guardian and Observer’s Rome correspondent, reports from a bar that hopes to give customers a brief respite from the global pandemic:
Cristina Mattioli, owner of the aptly named Bar Feeling, banned all Covid chat after the mood became too heavy, spoiling the convivial atmosphere, especially over morning coffee.
She recently pinned two notices behind the bar. One of them reads: “Speaking about coronavirus is prohibited”, while giving examples such as prophesying over possible outcomes of the pandemic or what rules might be included in the next government decree.
The sign next to it suggests alternative topics of conversation, including who will win this season’s Grande Fratello VIP, the Italian version of Big Brother. “After nine months, it became too much,” Mattioli told the Observer:
Everyone had their theories about what would or wouldn’t happen... we are not virologists or part of a government that has to make important decisions. And while it’s important to follow the rules and be careful, it’s also important not to underestimate the psychological impact of this pandemic and so this was a playful way to say let’s not forget all the other subjects.”
Updated
On the front page of this morning’s Observer:
British prime minister Boris Johnson faces a growing Tory mutiny over new Covid-19 restrictions as furious Conservative MPs accuse the government of exaggerating capacity problems in the national health service in an attempt to win their support.
Tomorrow’s front page pic.twitter.com/ynZSyccj1E
— The Observer (@ObserverUK) November 28, 2020
A rising coronavirus caseload is pushing hospitals in the Balkans to the cusp of collapse, Agence France-Presse has reported.
After nearly a year of keeping outbreaks more or less under control, infections have begun to increase. The Western Balkans, one of Europe’s poorest corners, has seen its death toll double in the last month alone to reach nearly 10,000.
“The situation reminds me of the war, and I’m afraid it could get even worse during the winter,” the doctor, who requested anonymity, told AFP.
The crisis is exposing gaps in healthcare systems that have long suffered from low funding and a brain drain crisis, with an exodus of promising young doctors and nurses leaving to seek better wages and training abroad.
Even before the pandemic began, the Balkans had some of the lowest density rates of doctors in Europe, according to World Health Organization data.
Hospitals are now facing further shortages as staff fall victim to the respiratory disease.
In Serbia, some 2,000 medical workers have been forced to self-isolate just as medical wards are seeing a huge inundation of patients filling beds in the capital Belgrade. “I never had such an experience in my professional career”, Rade Panic, the president of a Serbian doctors’ union, told regional TV channel N1 on Friday.
“I didn’t have room for patients that we medically consider young, I didn’t have anywhere to transport them”, added the anaesthesiologist, who works in the “red zone” of a hospital treating the most serious Covid-19 cases.
Bosnia, North Macedonia and Montenegro are all in Europe’s top ten when it comes to highest per capita death rates on the continent. Yet governments in the region have been reluctant to return to the drastic lockdowns imposed at the start of the pandemic, instead opting for lighter restrictions such as early closure of restaurants.
Updated
The coronavirus pandemic has devastated tourism businesses in Thailand, which remains largely shut to foreign travellers. In Lopburi, a province famous for its monkeys, local macaques have also noticed the lack of visitors - now there are far fewer tourists feeding them. In March, large crowds of monkeys were filmed brawling in the streets, apparently fighting over a yoghurt pot.
While on tour in central Thailand, British musician Paul Barton has been playing classical music to the macaques to help calm them.
WATCH: British musician Paul Barton plays the piano to soothe Thailand's hungry monkeys https://t.co/vRHvCtMmbY pic.twitter.com/I9RBFbfdGv
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 29, 2020
North Korea steps up rules of entry on seawaters
North Korea is further toughening restrictions on entering seawaters as part of elevated steps to fight the coronavirus pandemic, state media said Sunday, two days after South Korea said the North had banned sea fishing.
The Korean Central News Agency said the country is mobilizing more anti-virus units and establishing strong steps to “completely remove uncivilized and unhygienic elements that could help make room for the spread of an epidemic” at winter, according to a report by Associated Press. Some experts say the coronavirus can spread more broadly during cold weather when people typically spend more time indoors.
KCNA said officials were building firm anti-epidemic measures along border areas to prevent the coronavirus from entering the country. In front-line coastal areas, authorities were working out more stringent rules for venturing out at sea and collecting filthy materials in the waters, according to KCNA.
North Korea has maintained no single virus case has been found on its territory, a claim widely questioned by outside experts. Despite its claim, North Korea has swiftly sealed its borders, flown out diplomats and isolated residents with symptoms. A major outbreak in North Korea could have devastating consequences because of its broken health care system and a chronic lack of medicines.
North Korea has previously mentioned a restriction on entering the sea. Sunday’s report came after South Korea’s spy service told lawmakers Friday that the North’s anti-virus steps included a ban on fishing and salt production, as well as and the lockdown of the capital, Pyongyang, northern Jagang province and other areas.
A Chinese factory owned by South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix Inc halted operations on Sunday after a plant worker was found to have an asymptomatic infection of the coronavirus.
The Korean worker based at the plant in Chongqing city since February had departed on Thursday for South Korea, according to Reuters, which cited the official Xinhua news agency. He was tested at Incheon airport in Seoul and confirmed positive for Covid-19 on Saturday, it reported.
All factory staff as well as staff and recent guests at the hotel where the worker lived have been isolated and given nucleic acid tests, the news agency said.
“We’re cooperating with the local government on their containment efforts, and at the same time trying to resume production as soon as possible,” said a spokesman at SK Hynix.
He declined to comment on the impact the suspension would have.
SK Hynix, the world’s No.2 memory chip maker, employs about 2,700 workers in the Chongqing facility, including some Koreans.
The city has carried out nucleic acid tests on 3,283 people, with 2,674 found negative, Xinhua said. Almost 500 environmental samples had also been collected, and all found negative.
As of Saturday, mainland China had a total of 86,512 confirmed coronavirus cases, it said. China’s death toll from the coronavirus remained unchanged at 4,634.
Updated
Here is the Guardian’s full report on the situation in South Australia, where health authorities are urging anyone who visited Flinders University and three other “high-risk” locations to get tested for coronavirus immediately.
Some of the world’s leading long-distance runners participated in a half-marathon in New Delhi on Sunday, even as India’s capital grapples with a surge in Covid-19 cases, Reuters news agency reported.
More than 60 professional runners participated in the race, while several hundred enthusiasts ran in other cities on routes of their choice, using a mobile app to post race timings, said the event organisers.
Although air quality was poor on Sunday, the runners got a bit of a reprieve, as pollution levels in the capital were dramatically better than those of recent weeks.
The race was scaled back as the city experiences a third wave of the pandemic.
“Organisers are not inviting general runners at the stadium like every year to avoid a big gathering,” an event official said, adding that hundreds of amateur runners were running in other cities after registering through an app.
Defending champions from Ethiopia, Andamlak Belihu and Tsehay Gemechu, were among the elite athletes running the 21-kilometre (13.1 mile) race.
The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2020 “is a very significant moment for Indian sports since the pandemic began,” said Abhinav Bindra, brand ambassador of the event and India’s only individual Olympic gold medallist.
One new case of Covid-19 has been detected in hotel quarantine in Western Australia, according to state’s department of health.
The state’s total number of cases now stands at 818, including 24 active cases.
Yesterday 690 people presented to WA Covid clinics – 687 were assessed and swabbed. In total, there have been 546,698 Covid-19 tests performed in the state.
Some more detail from Reuters news agency on the additional two million doses of the Moderna vaccine candidate that have been secured by the UK government.
Moderna’s experimental vaccine is 94.5% effective in preventing Covid-19 based on interim data from a late-stage trial.
Deliveries to Britain could begin as early as the spring, if the vaccine meets the standards of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
Britain has also ordered 40 million doses of a vaccine developed by Germany’s BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc of the United States, which has been found to be 95% effective in preventing the spread of the new coronavirus.
The UK regulator is set to approve the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine this week, and deliveries will begin within hours of the authorisation, the Financial Times said on Saturday.
Britain has also secured 100 million doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC and Oxford University and has targeted a rollout to begin before Christmas.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 14,611 to 1,042,700, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday. The reported death toll rose by 158 to 16,123, the tally showed.
The Australian state of Victoria, which has recorded 30 days with no confirmed coronavirus cases, has announced some changes to its virus restrictions.
From 11.59pm tonight, businesses currently operating with staff at home - such as offices in the central business district – will be allowed to open their workplaces to 25% of employees. Standard workplace requirements, including density limits, continue to apply. Businesses with fewer than 40 staff can have 10 staff on-site subject to density quotients.
The Victorian public service will continue to operate on the basis that if staff can work from home, they must do so.
Under these new arrangements, face coverings are mandatory indoors, unless an exemption applies. This includes settings such as public transport, including when waiting at stations, ride shares, hospitals, care facilities and shopping.
Face masks are not required outdoors except where physical distancing cannot be maintained, such as outdoor markets.
A permit is required to enter Victoria from South Australia unless an exemption applies.
A total of 3,569,240 test results have been received in Victoria, which is an increase of 5905 since yesterday, according to Victoria’s chief health officer professor Brett Sutton.
Colorado governor Jared Polis and his partner have tested positive for Covid-19 and will remain isolated at home, his office said in a statement.
This evening I learned that First Gentleman Marlon Reis and I have tested positive for COVID-19. We are both asymptomatic, feeling well, and will continue to isolate at home. pic.twitter.com/Ttzxi72ThC
— Governor Jared Polis (@GovofCO) November 29, 2020
Earlier this month, Polis extended mandatory mask wearing in the state. He is the latest of several politicians to test positive, including two congressman in Colorado, who were confirmed to have the virus last week.
In the Philippines, people living under general community quarantine have been told that all Christmas gatherings will be limited to 10 people.
Seven areas remain under the restrictions, including the national capital region Metro Manila. Tomorrow, president Rodrigo Duterte will announce which areas will maintain such measures for the month of December.
The country has so far recorded 427,797 cases and 8,333 deaths, according to data collated by Johns Hopkins University.
UK secures additional two million doses of Moderna vaccine
Britain will have access to a further two million doses of Moderna Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate, Reuters news agency has reported.
Following the latest deal, Britain has access to enough doses of Moderna’s vaccine candidate for around 3.5 million people. Overall, it has access to 357 million doses of vaccines from 7 different developers, according to a government statement.
“With a wide range of vaccine candidates in our portfolio, we stand ready to deploy a vaccine should they receive approval from our medicines regulator, starting with those who will benefit most,” Britain’s health minister, Matt Hancock, said in the statement.
Cambodian president Hun Sen has advised the public to avoid large gatherings after the wife of a government official tested positive for Covid-19. He has described the case as the first instance of community transmission, according to local media.
The government is tracing anyone who had contact with the woman, including in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Banteay Meanchey and Mondulkiri provinces. Cambodia has so far managed to avoid a major outbreak, with the government reporting 309 cases.
South Australia on alert after man with Covid breaks home quarantine
Some further information on South Australia’s Covid-19 alert this afternoon.
Authorities are alerting people who attended the Intensive English Language Institute at Flinders University between 13 and 28 November.
The alert follows contact tracers interviewing a man in his 30s – one of two new Covid-19 announced on Saturday – and learning that he broke his home quarantine requirement to visit Flinders University.
An SA Health spokeswoman told Guardian Australia “it now transpires that after further interviewing he’s actually broken his quarantine and has been out and about”.
The man was a casual contact of a confirmed Covid-19 case, and because of SA’s tough measures to quash its Parafield cluster, was supposed to be one of at least 4,000 residents quarantining at home.
The man visited the following locations and authorities are asking anyone who attended them at the same time to get tested – even if they have no symptoms. The stores are: Big W Brickworks Torrensville (Sunday 22 November 12.15-12.50 pm), Foodland Norwood (Sunday 22 November 1.20-2pm) and Kmart Kurralta Park (Sunday 22 November 2.45-3.10pm).
Updated
In France, shops selling “non-essential” products were allowed to open again on Saturday, after several weeks of lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Here are some very Christmassy scenes from Paris and Cabries.
South Australian authorities issue quarantine notice
South Australian authorities have announced a coronavirus quarantine alert for people who attended the Intensive English Language Institute at Flinders University between 13 and 28 November, Australian Associated Press has reported.
Anybody who visited the Adelaide campus and those in their immediate household must self-quarantine for 14 days under the health department directions.
Authorities are also asking anybody who visited the Flinders University Sturt campus over the same time to get tested as soon as possible.
The directive follows the identification of a man in his 30s on Saturday who contracted the virus while attending a class at the institute. He and a child from the original family at the centre of Adelaide’s Parafiekd cluster were SA’s two newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases announced.
The child was already in quarantine and posed no risk to the public, chief health officer professor Nicola Spurrier said. Spurrier said the student and his family were also in quarantine before testing positive but his infection validated the decision to ask casual contacts to self-isolate.
“The information I’m giving you today shows how contagious this virus is,” she told reporters on Saturday.
The diagnoses brought the Parafield cluster number to 33 people but Spurrier said she was worried unidentified cases were still circulating.
South Korea mulls stricter virus restrictions
South Korean authorities will consider tighter social distancing restrictions on Sunday to clamp down on economic activities after last week saw the fastest spread of infections since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, Reuters news agency has reported.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun is to meet with health authority officials this afternoon to decide whether virus curbs need to be tightened further to slow transmissions.
South Korea reported 450 infections on Sunday after reporting more than 500 new coronavirus cases for three days in a row, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
This third wave marks the highest level of infections in nearly nine months.
South Korea on Tuesday began applying Level 2 social distancing rules, the third-highest in the country’s five-tier system, in greater Seoul area.
China on Sunday said 11 new coronavirus cases were detected on the mainland throughout the course of Saturday, compared with six cases a day earlier.
All of the new infections were imported cases, the National Health Commission said in a statement. There were no new deaths. China also reported 10 new asymptomatic patients, compared with four a day earlier.
As of Saturday, mainland China had a total of 86,512 confirmed coronavirus cases, it said. China’s death toll from the coronavirus remained unchanged at 4,634.
Mexico confirms more than 10,000 coronavirus cases
Mexico reported 10,008 new confirmed coronavirus infections and 586 additional deaths on Saturday, health ministry data showed, bringing the official number of cases to 1,100,683 with a total death toll of 105,459.
Health officials have said the real number of both is likely to be significantly higher due to little testing.
Updated
Around the world about 200 Covid-19 candidate vaccines are being developed, with more than 40 in human clinical trial stage. The Australian government has agreements to secure four of the most promising vaccines, and will roll them out if they prove to be safe and effective.
Here is an explainer on these four vaccine candidates:
Since the start of the pandemic, 62,094,129 coronavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide, while 1,449,709 people have died, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker.
The US has recorded the highest number of deaths (266,009), followed by Brazil (171,974) and India (136,200).
Australia extends Homebuilder scheme until March
The Australian government is extending one of the measures it put in place to try and arrest the economic damage from the Covid-19 pandemic - although at a reduced rate.
The Coalition government extended its Homebuilder scheme until March – when its main stimulus measures, the wage subsidy jobkeeper and the additional Covid supplement to the unemployment benefit, jobseeker, are also due to expire.
The renewed Homebuilder scheme aims to provide a boost to the construction industry, with eligible home builders entitled to a $15,000 grant towards the cost of the build. That’s reduced from $25,000 from when the scheme was first launched earlier this year, but the cap for eligible homes has increased. The three-month extension is expected to see an additional 15,000 homes built on top of the 27,000 homes predicted to be supported by the scheme.
House construction is down in Australia; while 170,000 new homes were built in the last financial year, the Treasury predicts, even with the government scheme, only 140,000 homes will be constructed in the current financial year.
Updated
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak.
Here are the latest developments:
Brazil has registered 51,922 additional coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours and 587 new deaths, according to the country’s health ministry. In total, Brazil has now registered 6,290,272 total confirmed infectionss and 172,561 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Victoria, in south-east Australia, recorded its 30th consecutive day without a new Covid-19 cases, with no lives lost on Saturday and just under 6,000 tests conducted. New South Wales has also now gone 22 days without any local transmission.
