Summary
Here’s a round up of this evening’s Coronavirus news
- Future travellers to the United States will have to be fully vaccinated a White House official has said. The new requirement is being discussed as part of a phased approach to easing restrictions for foreign visitors.
- Millions of Britons have been given the green light to travel to Europe’s holiday hotspots, avoiding quarantine on return from France and Spain where concerns have been raised about Covid variants. The announcement was part of wider changes to travel rules for people travelling in and out of the UK.
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Coronavirus cases in Australia, while still low, are rising in some areas despite weeks of lockdown, with authorities warning that infections will rise further because of the more contagious Delta variant.
- Mental health services suffered across the whole of Europe because of pandemic restrictions. New pan-European research shows that psychiatric services were reduced to emergency care only in many countries.
- The boss of one of the UK’s largest insurance firms has suggested that employers in London’s financial district may be struggling more than those in other cities to persuade office workers to return to their desks as coronavirus restrictions ease. Nigel Wilson, chief executive of Legal & General, said there were “a lot fewer people working in the City” compared with urban centres across the UK, Europe and the US.
- Vaccinating older teenagers has been welcomed by many scientists as the “logical next step” in the rollout of the vaccine. But some experts believe more research is needed before extending the programme further. Prof Russell Viner, professor of child and adolescent health at UCL, said more safety data is needed “before we consider vaccinating younger teenagers”.
- These comments followed the news earlier today that the UK will be offering 16 and 17 year olds a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said its decision had been made after ‘large changes’ in the way that Covid has been spreading in the UK, “particularly in younger age groups”.
- Earlier today The World Health Organization called for a moratorium on Covid-19 vaccine boosters until at least the end of September to enable that at least 10% of the population of every country was vaccinated.
Travellers to US will have to be vaccinated White House says
The United States government is working on plans to introduce mandatory vaccination requirements for travellers hoping to enter the country. The Associated Press report that a White House official said on Wednesday that nearly all foreigners arriving into the US will have to be vaccinated against Covid.
If it goes ahead the new requirement will be part of the Biden administration’s phased approach to easing travel restrictions on foreign visitors. No timeline has been put in place for the rule and travel restrictions remain in place severely curtailing international trips to the US.
UK Government announces changes to travel rules
Millions of Britons have been given the green light to travel to Europe’s holiday hotspots, avoiding quarantine on return from France and Spain where concerns have been raised about Covid variants.
Ministers announced on Wednesday that fully vaccinated holidaymakers returning from France would no longer need to quarantine and ditched plans for a “watchlist” of amber countries such as Spain.
The move is likely to partially revive the struggling tourism sector but will raise questions about whether the government is being complacent about the spread of the Beta variant.
The decision to abandon plans for a watchlist under pressure from mutinous cabinet ministers will also put UK tourists at risk of having their plans aborted without any notice, raising the spectre of a repeat of last summer’s chaotic travel corridors.
A number of key destinations as well as international travel hubs will be removed from the red list – India, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE. India’s placement on the red list was the subject of substantial controversy after MPs accused Boris Johnson of delaying its inclusion in the spring as cases rapidly rose and the new Delta variant emerged.
Mexico, Georgia, Réunion and Mayotte are to be added to the red list. More countries will also be added to the green list where travellers can go regardless of vaccine status. New green list countries are Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway. All changes come into effect at 4am on Sunday 8 August in England.
Australian authorities warn Covid cases will rise despite lockdowns
Coronavirus cases in Australia, while still low, are rising in some areas despite weeks of lockdown, with authorities warning that infections will rise further because of the more contagious Delta variant.
New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, reported 124 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, up from 110 a day ago. Most cases were in the state capital Sydney which is in its fourth week of a lockdown.
“We anticipate case numbers will continue to go up before they start coming down and we need to brace ourselves for that,” said Gladys Berejiklian, premier of NSW. She added: “Until we have enough of our population fully vaccinated, we will be living with some level of restriction.”
Vaccination rates have not matched those seen in some European countries, with only about 20 per cent of over 16’s fully vaccinated.
The country is still pursuing a hardline Zero Covid policy, attempting to eliminate all cases through tough border controls and contact tracing internally. In Melbourne a school of 2000 students and 300 staff was closed after one female teacher in her 20s tested positive. The entire school are now isolating and being tested.
Victoria state, entering a second week of stay-at-home orders, had 26 new cases, up from 22.
Sydney is in lockdown until August 28th at the earliest.
Mental health services across Europe suffered during the pandemic new research shows
The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared early on that mental health services should be considered an essential service to be maintained during the pandemic. But new pan-European research shows that psychiatric services were reduced to emergency care only in many countries, with many other services being switched from in person to online.
The European Psychiatric Association (EPA) surveyed 857 psychiatrists and found that in most European countries, 50% of face-to-face psychiatric consultations were replaced with remote consultations. In Western Europe this was much higher.
City of London ‘still fairly empty’ says L&G boss as Covid restrictions lift
The boss of one of the UK’s largest insurance firms has suggested that employers in London’s financial district may be struggling more than those in other cities to persuade office workers to return to their desks as coronavirus restrictions ease.
Nigel Wilson, chief executive of Legal & General, said there were “a lot fewer people working in the City” compared with urban centres across the UK, Europe and the US, adding that it may take years for the historic streets to return to pre-pandemic levels of bustle.
“Some 525,000 people work in the City, that’s an awful lot of people,” he said in an interview from his office in L&G headquarters near Moorgate station in the City of London. “When I’m looking out of my office window, the streets look fairly empty.”
Wilson said central London employers, local authorities and the Lord Mayor of London would need to do a “really good job over the next few years” to attract workers – who often commute long distances into the centre of the capital – to come to their offices more regularly.
Vaccinating older teenagers has been welcomed by many scientists as the “logical next step” in the rollout of the vaccine PA Media reports.
But some experts believe more research is needed before extending the programme further. Prof Russell Viner, professor of child and adolescent health at UCL, said more safety data is needed “before we consider vaccinating younger teenagers”.
He said: “Any decisions about vaccinating children and teenagers must balance risks and benefits, and this is never easy.
He welcomed the decision to vaccinate teenagers, saying: “Vaccinating older teenagers is a reasonable first step and will be important for young people themselves in the return to school, and also benefit wider society including the elderly and younger children.
“This step is particularly useful now as high vaccination levels are concentrating infection amongst the unvaccinated children and teenagers.”
Chief executive of NHS Providers Chris Hopson said: “We urge everyone, including 16 and 17-year-olds, to have their Covid-19 jab when they are offered it, in line with the advice of Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
England’s deputy chief medical officer. Prof Jonathan Van Tam, said the government’s scientists are committed to giving the JCVI “time” to assess the impact of vaccination on healthy children aged 12 to 15, adding the option has not been ruled out.
Updated
Today so far ...
- The World Health Organization called for a moratorium on Covid-19 vaccine boosters until at least the end of September to enable that at least 10% of the population of every country was vaccinated. WHO officials have also said it is not proven that giving booster shots to people who have already received two vaccine doses is effective.
- The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reportedly aiming to fully approve the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine by the start of next month despite the absence of long-term safety data. The New York Times reported that the FDA has accelerated the process, recognising that an upgrade from emergency authorisation might increase take-up rates.
- Sixteen and 17-year-olds in the UK should be offered a first dose of coronavirus vaccine, the country’s vaccine advisory board recommended. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said its decision had been made after “large changes” in the way that Covid has been spreading in the UK, “particularly in younger age groups”.
- The EU executive approved a contract with US biotech firm Novavax for a potential 200m vaccine doses as a safeguard against coronavirus variants, allowing EU member states to buy 100m doses of the Novavax shot, with an option for 100m more until 2023, once the jab has been approved by the European regulator.
- The News Corp Australia journalist Sharri Markson said that YouTube’s suspension of Sky News Australia for violating its Covid medical misinformation policy, through disputing the seriousness of the disease and the need for lockdowns while promoting hydoxychlorquine and ivermectin, was “the most extreme cancellation of free speech imaginable”.
- The UK health minister who oversaw the award of Covid contracts replaced his mobile phone before it could be searched for information relevant to £85m of deals that are subject to a legal challenge. Lord Bethell, a health minister, is one of those under scrutiny over the way contracts for PPE and Covid tests were awarded at the height of the pandemic.
- Dozens of restaurants in the western French region of Brittany vowed to defy controversial new rules requiring them to check whether diners have been vaccinated, tested negative for Covid-19 or recovered from the virus before serving them. They said a “red line had been crossed” in terms of personal freedoms and that welcoming all patrons without distinction was part of their “core values”.
- Animal rights organisation Peta UK urged for a change in the law so that it is not compulsory to test vaccines on other creatures, after it emerged vegans could be exempt from any potential jab mandates. Legal experts have argued that vegans’ beliefs are protected by employment law after a tribunal last year ruled that ethical veganism is a protected status.
- A row between Ireland’s church and the state is escalating after the archbishop of Dublin told Catholic priests they can resume communions and confirmations in defiance of government coronavirus guidance. In a robust letter he said the guidance is “perplexing” and “discriminatory” given the loosening of curbs on civic life and sporting events.
- Pete Parada, drummer with Californian pop-punks the Offspring, has said he has been ousted from the band over his refusal to be vaccinated for Covid-19. He cited medical advice for not taking the vaccine, due to his “personal medical history and the side-effect profile of these jabs”.
Updated
Errors with the Australian immunisation register have prevented a frontline health worker from properly recording her two Covid vaccine doses, a problem that is being increasingly reported.
Guardian Australia this week revealed multiple instances of erroneous coronavirus vaccine records on the Australian Immunisation Register, the national database used to track vaccine status.
Some reported errors with only a first dose or second dose showing when both doses had been administered. Others said they were recorded as already being fully vaccinated despite not having a single dose.
The NHS has lost its prestigious ranking as the best health system in a study of 11 rich countries by an influential US thinktank.
The UK has fallen from first to fourth in the Commonwealth Fund’s latest analysis of the performance of the healthcare systems in the nations it studied.
Norway, the Netherlands and Australia now provide better care than the UK, it found. The findings are a blow to the NHS, which had been the top-rated system in the thinktank’s two previous reports in 2017 and 2014. The US had by far the worst-rated system, despite spending the most on care.
The Washington-based Commonwealth Fund blamed the NHS’s slip down its league table on the delays patients face in accessing care and treatment, lack of investment in the service and poverty.
The makers of the Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V have pledged to resolve delivery delays this month after several South American countries complained to Russia.
The delays occurred due to a “production scale up” and would be “fully resolved” this month, Russia’s Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) that financially backs Sputnik V, said, according to AFP.
Sputnik V will “double” its capacity in September thanks to a partnership with the world’s largest vaccine producer, the Serum Institute of India, the statement said. It added that Sputnik V has “built production partnerships with producers in 14 countries.”
Several Latin American countries that have relied on the Russian vaccine to protect their populations have in recent weeks complained to Moscow about delivery delays. Inoculation with Sputnik V requires two doses that differ from one another and cannot be swapped or mixed with other vaccines.
Guatemala last week cancelled its order of a second batch of eight million Sputnik vaccines due to a delivery delay of a previous order. Argentina – the first Latin American country to approve the Sputnik vaccine – also complained to Moscow about the delivery delays, AFP reports.
As the highly transmissible Delta variant continues to spread across at least 17 provinces, China is now facing a new dilemma: is its once-successful “zero tolerance” approach to containing the spread of the virus over, and what comes next?
Unlike Britain and Singapore, where officials have explicitly encouraged people to “learn to live with the virus”, China has yet to officially shift its messaging.
But experts are asking what next for the country’s strategy, now that it’s clear the virus is not going away any time soon. Last week, Chinese virologist Zhang Wenhong – widely known as China’s Dr Fauci – wrote in an essay about the need for the “wisdom” of long-term coexistence with the virus.
Zhang said the recent outbreak in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing should serve as “food for thought for the future of our pandemic response”. “The data tell us that even if each of us were to be vaccinated in the future, Covid-19 would still be endemic, but at a lower level with a lower fatality rate. After the liberalisation of vaccines, there will still be infections in the future …” he wrote.
Less than a week after Zhang’s opinion piece was published, the Delta variant has now spread to more than half of China’s 31 provinces, shutting down transport routes.
On Wednesday, China reported 96 new cases – 71 of them were locally transmitted. Residential areas, including those home to more than 10,000 people in the capital Beijing, have been sealed off for mass testing. In Wuhan, where the virus was first reported in late 2019, authorities have begun testing all 11 million residents.
Updated
Housing campaigners and progressive lawmakers in the US have celebrated after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended a ban on certain evictions.
The further moratorium – across areas experiencing a “substantial” spread of Covid, which could cover 90% of the population – will last until 3 October and it comes after US authorities including the White House came under serious pressure to ensure the pause was extended.
Millions faced potential eviction after Covid restrictions wrecked family finances and a days long protest took place at the Capitol, supported and attended by members of Congress.
“In the context of a pandemic, eviction moratoria -- like quarantine, isolation, and social distancing -- can be an effective public health measure utilized to prevent the spread of communicable disease,” the CDC said, according to CNN.
“Eviction moratoria facilitate self-isolation and self-quarantine by people who become ill or who are at risk of transmitting Covid-19 by keeping people out of congregate settings and in their own homes.”
AOC: “I think the message here today is clear. It’s that everyday people can make a change. We can always demand better.” pic.twitter.com/ROm8u1yEXX
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) August 3, 2021
On Friday night, I came to the Capitol with my chair. I refused to accept that Congress could leave for vacation while 11 million people faced eviction.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) August 3, 2021
For 5 days, we’ve been out here, demanding that our government acts to save lives.
Today, our movement moved mountains.
To our 7 million neighbors who are facing eviction: we're here, and we aren't going anywhere.
— Congresswoman Cori Bush (@RepCori) July 31, 2021
We must extend the eviction moratorium by midnight. pic.twitter.com/tgdBpWmjc9
Updated
Dozens of restaurants in the western French region of Brittany have vowed to defy controversial new rules requiring them to check whether diners have been vaccinated, tested negative for Covid-19 or recovered from the virus before serving them.
From 9 August, people will need to produce a Covid health pass in order to eat out or have a drink in a bar in France, as well as take a long-distance train or domestic flight. The new rule, which brought more than 200,000 protesters on to the streets last weekend, is already in effect in entertainment and sporting venues with more than 50 people.
Restaurant owners have fiercely resisted the measure, warning it will drive customers away, AFP reports.
“We refuse to play the role of health police by checking, sorting and turning customers away from our premises,” a group of 44 cafe and restaurant owners in Brittany, a region popular with tourists, wrote in an open letter on Facebook.
The owners of the hostelries spread over 38 towns and villages added that a “red line had been crossed” in terms of personal freedoms and that welcoming all patrons without distinction was part of their “core values”.
Updated
Animal rights organisation Peta UK has urged for a change in the law so that it is not compulsory to test vaccines on other creatures, after it emerged vegans could be exempt from any potential jab mandates.
Legal experts have argued that vegans’ beliefs are protected by employment law after a tribunal last year ruled that ethical veganism is a protected status. Covid vaccines have been tested on animals.
A number of people made light of the potential loophole. Right-wing political activist and former actor Laurence Fox said after claiming to be vegan: “I will only eat plant-based food and medium-rare sirloin steaks. And chicken, pork scratchings and salami.”
But vegan and animal rights activist groups have been encouraging people, including those who do not consume animal products, to get the vaccine if eligible.
Dr Julia Baines, science policy adviser and author at Peta UK, told Euronews:
The goal of being vegan and advocating for animal rights is to bring about positive changes for animals. As long as tests on animals are a legal requirement, refusing to take a medicine on ethical grounds will not help the animals who have already been used in tests or spare any the same fate in the future.
What we need is a change in the law so that animals are no longer required to suffer in tests, which is why Peta and our international affiliates are working with government agencies in the UK and abroad to draw attention to the scientific failings of tests on animals and promoting the development, use, and acceptance of modern, non-animal testing methods.
While vaccines are our best way out of this pandemic, we must look at what got us here in the first place. The link between humans’ treatment of animals and outbreaks of diseases like Covid-19 is something we continue to ignore at our peril.
Updated
A row between Ireland’s church and the state is escalating after the archbishop of Dublin told Catholic priests they can resume communions and confirmations in defiance of government coronavirus guidance.
In a letter seen by AFP, archbishop Dermot Farrell told Dublin archdiocese priests that the ceremonies can be performed “if you consider it safe”. But government guidance currently says “it is advised” that such religious ceremonies “should not take place at this time”.
The face-off between church and state has been brewing for days, AFP reports. On Friday the taoiseach, Micheál Martin, warned religious leaders against defying coronavirus curbs, which are being gradually wound down.
“I don’t approve of any unilateral breaching of regulations no matter what quarter they come from,” he said, adding that he sought “to protect people’s health”.
But in a robust letter yesterday Farrell said the current guidance is “perplexing” given the loosening of curbs on civic life and sporting events. “Many have concluded that, in the absence of appropriate justification, these guidelines are discriminatory,” the missive said.
Farrell said the four archbishops on the island of Ireland penned a letter to Martin last week, which indicated ceremonies “may resume in some parishes from mid-August”.
“It is a matter of profound regret that there has been no engagement with Church representatives regarding revision of public health guidelines,” he added.
There have been 5,035 Covid-related deaths in Ireland, a nation of 5 million where nearly 6 million vaccine doses have been administered.
Updated
An NHS nurse who is passionate about putting on spectacular shows as well as caring for patients has invested her life savings in staging an arts festival in a Devon field.
Shelly Worthy-Eveleigh, who has worked as a psychiatric nurse for 40 years, needs to attract 750 people to the Little Big festival, which will take place on a farm near Ashburton on Saturday, to break even.
With the festival just a few days away, about 500 tickets have been sold but Worthy-Eveleigh said that even if she loses money it will have been worth it to promote artists she is keen to champion and to give people a good day out.
“I feel very passionate about the arts,” said Worthy-Eveleigh. “But cuts to funding and the Covid crisis has meant that we could lose a generation of young performers. That would be such a huge shame. I also think it’s important after Covid to find ways of bringing people together. That’s what makes us human.”
The festival is described as a family-friendly day of music, comedy, art, literature, circus and trapeze acts, horticulture, film, talks, workshops and children’s entertainment.
Originally conceived as a three-day festival, its inaugural event, scheduled for 2020, was cancelled owing to the pandemic.
About one in seven (14%) adults in the US say they will definitely not take a coronavirus vaccine, a figure largely unchanged since December, according to a survey published on Wednesday.
In the latest blow to the US vaccine programme, the vaccine monitor survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the share of adults who say they have either received a vaccine (67%) or say they will get vaccinated as soon as they can (3%) is relatively unchanged from June.
Three in 10 adults remain unvaccinated, with 10% saying they want to “wait and see” what happens to other people who have taken the vaccine and 3% saying they will take it “only if required”.
The survey found that unvaccinated adults tended – unsurprisingly – to be much less worried about the coronavirus and its new Delta variant, and to have less confidence in the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines.
White Evangelical Christians and uninsured people under 65 were the two demographic groups least likely to have been vaccinated, the survey found.
It also found that members of ethnic minority groups who had not been vaccinated were more likely to fall into the “wait and see” category than the “definitely will not get the vaccine” category.
Updated
Authorities in China have sealed off a city in Hunan province after it emerged as a coronavirus infection hotspot, according to reports.
In an order made on Tuesday, officials said no one could leave the city of Zhangjiajie, which has a population of about 1.5 million. It comes after the city ordered residential communities sealed on Sunday, preventing people from leaving their homes, according to an Associated Press wire report.
Zhangjiajie recorded just 19 cases since last week, three of which were people with no symptoms, which are counted separately. But cases linked to Zhangjiajie’s outbreak have spread to at least five provinces, according to local media.
China’s worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic a year and a half ago was escalating on Wednesday, with dozens more cases around the country.
China reported 71 new cases of Covid-19 from local transmission Wednesday, more than half of them in coastal Jiangsu province.
Updated
UK to offer Pfizer vaccine to 16- and 17-year-olds
Sixteen and 17-year-olds in the UK should be offered a first dose of coronavirus vaccine, the country’s vaccine advisory board has recommended.
In a statement circulated on Wednesday afternoon, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said its decision had been made after “large changes” in the way that Covid has been spreading in the UK, “particularly in younger age groups”.
The success of the adult vaccine programme, and the safety data gleaned from that, had meant it was time to review advice for the vaccination of children, the JCVI said. The teenagers would be offered doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
The body acknowledged fears over serious potential side effects from the vaccine in younger recipients, including myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis, which is inflammation of the heart.
“These are extremely rare and usually occur within a few days of the second dose, typically more in young men,” the JCVI statement said.
“Data from the USA suggests that, in males aged 12 to 17 years, 9.8 cases of myocarditis were reported per million first doses given. This rises to 67 per million after the second dose. Most people recovered quickly.”
A more precautionary approach would be taken towards distributing vaccines to younger people “who are at lower risk of serious harm from Covid-19,” it said.
Prof Wei Shen Lim, the Covid-19 chair for the JCVI, said:
After carefully considering the latest data, we advise that healthy 16- to 17-year-olds are offered a first dose of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Advice on when to offer the second vaccine dose will come later.
While Covid-19 is typically mild or asymptomatic in most young people, it can be very unpleasant for some and for this particular age group, we expect one dose of the vaccine to provide good protection against severe illness and hospitalisation.
Updated
The EU executive has approved a contract with US biotech firm Novavax for a potential 200 million vaccine doses as a safeguard against coronavirus variants.
The European Commission announced it had approved an advance purchase agreement that will allow EU member states to buy 100 million doses of the Novavax shot, with an option for 100 million more until 2023, once the jab has been approved by the European regulator.
The first Novavax shots are expected to be available in the final three months of this year.
In a statement, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said:
As new coronavirus variants are spreading in Europe and around the world, this new contract with a company that is already testing its vaccine successfully against these variants is an additional safeguard for the protection of our population.
The EU has already signed contracts with AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK, Janssen, BioNTech Pfizer, CureVac, Moderna and held exploratory talks with Valneva.
According to Reuters, Novavax aims to complete its submission of vaccine data to the European Medicines Agency for approval before October.
Earlier this week a European Commission spokeswoman declined to comment on reports that the bloc was paying more for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Pfizer is now charging the EU €19.50 per shot, up from €15.50, while a Moderna shot costs $25.50, up from around ¢22.60, according to the Financial Times.
An EU official confirmed to the Guardian that prices in newer contracts were higher. The EU has been ready to pay to secure supplies of the messenger RNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna, after several EU member states chose to restrict use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for younger age groups, over extremely rare blood clot cases.
The higher prices also reflect the EU’s desire to secure production of vaccines and components in Europe, in response to US export restrictions and a row with the Anglo-Swedish firm AstraZeneca over which customers should have been prioritised by its UK plants.
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Here’s some reaction to the WHO call for a booster shot moratorium.
3.5 billion people in🌍 have not had a single Covid 💉
— Madhu Pai, MD, PhD (@paimadhu) August 4, 2021
Meanwhile, rich nations are:
- throwing away expired vaccines
- giving booster shots
- offering lotteries to people who are hesitant
- hoarding doses for next year
𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝙒𝙄𝙇𝙇 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙋𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙈𝙄𝘾 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝙀𝙉𝘿?
Coming from the same organisation who initially told us not to wear masks, I think I'm going to trust my government more and get the booster shot when I can🇮🇱 https://t.co/l9ew8KxCt8
— Chaya חיה 🇮🇱🌻 (@chayarivka) August 4, 2021
The doctors’ union in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has called off a three-week-old strike over pay that had brought hospitals to a near standstill.
“All doctors are asked to return to work. The strike is suspended across the country following negotiations with the government,” said Mankoy Badjoki, head of the Synamed physicians’ union.
AFP reports that the government has promised bonuses ranging from 200,000 to 640,000 Congolese francs (€85-270) as well as promotions for a number of doctors.
During the strike, doctors said they would treat only “extremely urgent” cases, in hospitals that were pre-designated on a rotational basis.
Coronavirus has infected a cumulative 50,529 people in the DRC, with 1,045 total fatalities, according to the latest available figures issued on Monday.
Updated
Stop issuing Covid booster shots to address unequal global distribution of jabs, says WHO
The World Health Organization’s head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said the WHO is calling for a moratorium on Covid-19 vaccine boosters until at least the end of September.
He said the move was to enable that at least 10% of the population of every country was vaccinated, while WHO officials have also said it is not proven that giving booster shots to people who have already received two vaccine doses is effective.
Tedros said:
While hundreds of millions of people are still waiting for their first dose, some rich countries are moving towards booster doses. So far, more than 4bn Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally. More than 80% have gone to high- and upper-middle income countries, even though they account for less than half of the world’s population.
Accordingly, WHO is calling for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September, to enable at least 10% of the population of every country to be vaccinated. To make that happen, we need everyone’s cooperation, especially the handful of countries and companies that control the global supply of vaccines.
Last week, Israeli president Isaac Herzog received a third shot of coronavirus vaccine, kicking off a campaign to give booster doses to people aged over 60 amid waning efficacy of the jabs. France, Germany and many Middle Eastern countries are also to start administering booster shots.
Katherine O’Brien, director, immunisation vaccines and biologicals at the WHO. added: “The evidence is evolving. It’s moving. We don’t have a full set of evidence around whether this is needed or not ... We need instead to focus on those people who are most vulnerable, most at risk of severe disease and death, to get their first and second doses.”
Earlier this week, Helen Clark, former New Zealand prime minister and co-chair of an influential Covid panel, criticised more developed countries for buying up many more vaccines than they require, and in many cases only redistributing their surplus when the vaccines are approaching their expiry date.
“This is completely unacceptable and unethical,” she said of richer countries stockpiling while deaths rose elsewhere.
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Scotland’s publicans and bar-goers can breathe a sigh of relief. After 24 hours of confusion and indecision, the Scottish government has agreed to authorise “vertical drinking” in the country’s bars and pubs from Monday next week.
In other words, it will finally be permissable to stand upright while having a beer, cocktail or glass of wine. Paul Togneri, a former Scottish National party press officer who now works for the Scottish Beer and Pub Association, tweeted:
Confirmation from @scotgov officials that vertical drinking WILL be allowed from Monday in Scotland's pubs and bars.
— Paul Togneri (@PaulTogneri) August 4, 2021
🍻 pic.twitter.com/Vtk9JeQUC3
Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement yesterday that from 9 August, Scotland’s “freedom day”, left other key questions unanswered. Such as: can dancers in nightclubs take their masks off on the dance floor?
John Swinney, the deputy first minister and her government’s Covid czar, seemed unsure. On BBC Radio Scotland on Wednesday morning he admitted that a rule requiring masks to be worn while dancing was, in his words, “tricky”. It may well be revised: more consultation needed was the answer.
Rules in Scotland from Monday:
— Peter A Smith (@PeterAdamSmith) August 4, 2021
✅ ‘Vertical dancing’ is okay
❌ ‘Vertical drinking’ not allowed
😷 Masks required on a dance floor, but “tricky” so maybe not required
⛪️ Masks required for shops, church, transport, school
🏟 Crowds limited to 5k outdoors, except some that are not https://t.co/9LGEU3kI8h
Pfizer jab could get full US approval by next month - report
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reportedly aiming to fully approve the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine by the start of next month despite the absence of long-term safety data.
The New York Times cites anonymous people familiar with the effort saying that the FDA has accelerated the process, with the agency saying previously in a statement that it recognised that an upgrade from emergency authorisation might increase take-up rates.
The FDA is planning to deprioritise meetings with drug sponsors and plant inspections to speed-up its formal approval of the jab, Stat News reports.
There will be some concern that established approval routes are being circumvented, particularly after the efficacy of Pfizer’s jab was shown to wane significantly with time – with the company subsequently pushing for booster shots.
Longer term data is usually required to sanction both mass rollouts of vaccines and to secure full approval, in order to establish long-term outcomes including safety, how long protection lasts and whether the jab prevents infection of just the disease.
But experts say side-effects usually show in the first months and that the mRNA Pfizer jab has been shown to be effective – with the need urgent as the pandemic continues.
A preprint of a Pfizer study published last week showed that the efficacy of the vaccine fell from 96% to 84% over six months. Stat News reported that its efficacy in preventing Covid-19 infection appeared to decline by an average of 6% every two months after administration.
Last week, US president Joe Biden said that he expected a fully approved vaccine by early autumn. A number of universities, hospitals and the largest US federal agency, the Defense Department, are reportedly expected to mandate jabs once a vaccine is fully approved.
Moderna, the second most used vaccine in the US, requested full approval for its jab in early June and remains in the process of submitting data.
Georgia governor Brian Kemp also last week urged president Biden to put more pressure on the FDA to fully approve the vaccines, arguing it would encourage more vaccinations.
“I’d love to see the Biden administration put an ‘Operation Warp Speed’ on moving away from the emergency use authorization,” Kemp said, according to the Hill.
It comes after New York City mayor Bill de Blasio announced proof of vaccination would be required for indoor activities including entering restaurants, going to gyms and attending performances.
Updated
Barack Obama is scaling back the big bash planned for his 60th birthday because of concerns about the national rise in Covid-19 cases, a spokesperson has said.
“Due to the new spread of the Delta variant over the past week, the president and Mrs Obama have decided to significantly scale back the event to include only family and close friends,” Hannah Hankins, a spokesperson for the former president, said in a statement. “He’s appreciative of others sending their birthday wishes from afar and looks forward to seeing people soon.”
About 700 people, including Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney, were expected to gather this weekend at the former president’s mansion on Martha’s Vineyard, an island in Massachusetts.
David Axelrod, a former top Obama adviser, told the New York Times that guests were asked if they were vaccinated and to provide the results of a Covid-19 test close to the event.
Growth in Britain’s dominant service sector has slowed to its weakest since March after businesses were hit last month by a triple whammy of bottlenecks, workers self-isolating and a less generous tax break for homebuyers.
The latest monthly health check on UK services firms – which account for just under 80% of the economy – found costs rising at their fastest pace in at least 25 years in July, and raised concerns that the best of the UK’s economic recovery from the winter lockdown restrictions might be over.
The report from IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply said firms were struggling with supply chain delays and shortages of workers exacerbated by the “pingdemic”, the instructions to self-isolate that have been running at more than 500,000 a week.
Heaven, one of London’s most popular LGBTQ venues, is to become the UK’s first nightclub to be turned into a pop-up vaccination centre.
More than 1,000 doses of the Pfizer jab will be available at the club on Sunday from midday until 9pm. London’s night tsar, Amy Lamé, announced the initiative on Twitter, while Jeremy Joseph, who owns Heaven, urged clubbers to get the jab.
.@heavenLGBTclub will be the UK's first nightclub to be turned into a pop up vax centre! 💙Nightclubs have always been part of the COVID solution, and I'm really proud to be working with @NHSEnglandLDN @CityWestminster and @JeremyJoseph to make this happen. #GetVaccinated https://t.co/36mGUME2Ne
— Amy Lamé (london.gov.uk/coronavirus) (@amylame) July 30, 2021
Updated
The UK health minister who oversaw the award of Covid contracts replaced his mobile phone before it could be searched for information relevant to £85m of deals that are subject to a legal challenge.
Lord Bethell, a health minister, is one of those under scrutiny over the way contracts for PPE and Covid tests were awarded at the height of the pandemic.
As part of legal proceedings issued by the Good Law Project, the government is expected to disclose Bethell’s correspondence including by email, WhatsApp and SMS relating to the award of £85m of contracts for antibody tests to Abingdon Health.
The secretary of state has a responsibility to preserve and search documents for information relevant to the case from the point at which judicial review proceedings were issued in late 2020, under the government’s “duty of candour”.
However, a witness statement from a government lawyer revealed Bethell replaced his phone in early 2021 and it may no longer be possible to retrieve the information about his dealings with Abingdon, although efforts are being made to recover them from his mobile phone provider.
Vietnam will cut the duration of mandatory quarantine for fully vaccinated visitors from two weeks to just seven days, its health ministry has said.
The country’s borders closed last year to all visitors but returning Vietnamese citizens, foreign experts, investors or diplomats, all of whom were subject to 14 days of quarantine at centrally-managed facilities.
Foreign visitors who have tested negative for Covid-19 within 72 hours and have also been fully vaccinated would be permitted to quarantine for seven days, Vietnam’s health ministry said, without stating when the new policy would take effect. Neither did Reuters report any evidence which may have been cited by officials to justify the move.
Effectively forcing anyone who wishes to enter a hospitality venue in Northern Ireland to get vaccinated would represent “blackmail”, according to an industry body.
With Stormont reportedly considering whether to impose Covid passports to increase jab take-up rates, Colin Neill of Hospitality Ulster told the BBC that the industry was being “singled out”.
You cannot blackmail people into doing stuff. Removing someone’s privilege is not an incentive, and why single out hospitality? Why not say you can’t get on the bus or you can’t go back to university?”
We have taken a hell of a hit, we are still operating under restrictions that severely limit us, we are one of the few industries where the restrictions are punitive. Here you are saying take another hit because we want to encourage young people to get vaccinated, without coming to us with any data, any research and without even speaking to us we have to take another hit.
The number of Covid-related deaths in Scotland fell last week for the first time in seven weeks, after National Records of Scotland registered 46 fatalities last week, 10 fewer than the previous seven days.
NRS said the total number of people who have died, with Covid-19 mentioned on their death certificates, has now risen to 10,370. That appears to confirm the latest surge in cases, during which there were a record number of Covid infections earlier this summer, is subsiding.
This is a different measure from the daily figure released by ministers and NHS Scotland, which records hospital deaths of Covid patients registered in the previous 24 hours. Under that measure, 7,952 people had died as of 3 August.
The number of people with Covid in Scottish hospitals had declined again to 406 yesterday, compared with a peak of 543 in mid-July; the number of people in intensive care remains closer to the latest peak, however, with 61 in ICU compared to a peak of 65 in late July.
These fatality figures are far lower than in the first and second waves of the pandemic, reflecting the effectiveness of the UK’s vaccination programme. In late April last year, weekly deaths peaked at 663, peaking again during the second wave at 452 in a week.
Updated
Japan has carried out a threat to publicly shame people not complying with coronavirus border control measures, releasing the names of three people who broke quarantine rules after returning from overseas.
Reuters reports that the health ministry said the three Japanese nationals named had clearly acted to avoid contact with authorities after recently returning from abroad. The announcement, the first of its kind, sparked a flurry of speculation among Twitter users about the details of those identified, such as their jobs and locations.
Japan is asking all travellers from overseas, including its own citizens, to self-quarantine for two weeks, during which they are asked to use a location-tracking smartphone app and report on their health condition.
The News Corp Australia journalist Sharri Markson has told Fox News in the US that YouTube’s suspension of Sky News Australia for violating its Covid medical misinformation policy was “the most extreme cancellation of free speech imaginable”.
Markson, the investigations writer at the Australian newspaper and a Sky News presenter, appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight to talk about the seven-day YouTube ban imposed on Sky News Australia. YouTube has not identified which videos violated the policy but Sky had posted numerous videos disputing the seriousness of the disease and the need for lockdowns while promoting hydoxychlorquine or invermectin.
“Sky News, the entire news network in Australia, has been censored by YouTube for an entire week for bringing responsible, informed coverage to Australian people,” Markson told Carlson. “It’s the most extreme cancellation of free speech imaginable.”
Carlson agreed and said Australia had “turned into a Covid dictatorship” where merely asking questions about masks could get you censored on the internet.
Profits at Sony Corporation have climbed by more than a quarter as demand for the PlayStation 5 games console, which boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic, continues to outpace supplies.
The Japanese entertainment and electronics conglomerate reported a 26% rise in operating profit in the three months to the end of June to 280.1bn yen (£1.85bn) from 221.7bn yen a year earlier.
The northern region of Belgium could relax coronavirus restrictions faster than the rest of the country, amid a growing gap in vaccination rates across the country.
In Flanders 77% of adults are fully vaccinated compared with just 54% in Brussels, prompting Flemish separatist politicians to consider going their own way.
The prime minister of Flanders, Jan Jambon, a leading member of the Flemish nationalist party, said the region was on course to have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.
By September, we’re going to have 90% of the adult population who will be double vaccinated. Tell me: where in the world is the situation better in that area?”
His spokesman told local media:
Until now, we have always been able to agree with the measures imposed across the country…. It is also not a goal in itself to have separate rules or relaxation for Flanders. But if it is necessary in the long run to differentiate, we will do that.
Prominent virologist Marc Van Ranst said homogenous rules across the country of 11.5m people were better, but regions should consider different measures to reflect different vaccination rates.
Speaking to De Standaard, he suggested rules could vary on closing times and capacity limits for indoor venues:
Of course you prefer homogeneous rules throughout the country. But if that doesn’t work, you can’t let one region hold back the rest.”
Since the onset of the pandemic, Belgium has mostly had the same coronavirus restrictions across all three regions, Flanders, French-speaking Wallonia and Brussels. Any change to the rules could bring complications, as the geographically -small region of Brussels sits inside Flanders.
After a slow start, Belgium’s vaccine campaign gathered speed over the spring and summer. In recent days the country has overtaken the UK on the percentage of the population who have received one dose and who are fully vaccinated. According to Our World in Data, 59.88% of Belgium’s population are fully vaccinated, compared with 56.85% in the UK.
An unbeatable leader in times of crisis, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s soaring popularity has teetered on the country’s slow road to vaccination.
This week, polling in New Zealand indicated some of the gloss may be fading from the Ardern government’s second term, which has enjoyed soaringly high popularity over the past year. The poll, conducted by Newshub/Reid Research, put Labour at 43%, down 9.7 percentage points. The results followed a similar trend line polling by TVNZ from May.
The Biden administration is preparing to offer coronavirus vaccines to migrants in US custody along the Mexico border, the Washington Post reports.
The Department of Homeland Security would vaccinate people soon after they cross into the US and await processing border officials, according to the report. Until now, only a limited number of migrants have received the vaccine while held in longer-term migration detention facilities, it said.
The plan has not yet been finalised, the paper said. There are increasing numbers of migrants crossing into the US from Mexico at the moment, according to Reuters.
One of the officials quoted anonymously said the vaccines would be provided to migrants facing deportation as well as those likely to be allowed into the US.
Health authorities in northern Mexico vaccinated hundreds of migrants living in makeshift tents close to a pedestrian crossing bridge to the US in the border city of Tijuana yesterday.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Mexican workers at factories nearby are being vaccinated in San Diego, US, without requiring visas before returning to the production lines later that day in mostly American-owned companies.
“If the maquiladoras can’t operate, then we don’t get our Coca-Cola,” Lydia Ikeda, the senior director of Covid operations at the University California San Diego Health, which is helping run the program, told the NYT last month.
Staying in Australia, here’s a piece on how the government changed its tone on the effectiveness of lockdowns – after months of members of the federal government spoke derisively about the economic cost of Victoria’s lockdowns while praising New South Wales’ more relaxed approach.
A rather amusing, if slightly long-winded, cartoon on suggestions that Australia will use cash incentives to encourage vaccine take-up.
Pete Parada, drummer with Californian pop-punks the Offspring, has said he has been ousted from the band over his refusal to be vaccinated for Covid-19.
He cited medical advice for not taking the vaccine, due to his “personal medical history and the side-effect profile of these jabs”. He added that he had “no negative feelings towards my band. They’re doing what they believe is best for them, while I am doing the same.”
In a post on Instagram, he said:
Since I am unable to comply with what is increasingly becoming an industry mandate, it has recently been decided that I am unsafe to be around, in the studio, and on tour … you won’t be seeing me at these upcoming shows. I also want to share my story so that anyone else experiencing the agony and isolation of getting left behind right now knows they’re not entirely alone.
There are countless folks (like me) for whom these shots carry a greater risk than the virus … I need to state, unequivocally, that I support informed consent – which necessitates choice unburdened by coercion. I do not find it ethical or wise to allow those with the most power (government, corporations, organisations, employers) to dictate medical procedures to those with the least power.
Thanks for joining me, Alex Mistlin, on the Guardian’s global covid live blog. Now leaving you in the capable hands of Mattha Busby. Bye for now!
UK Schools should not have any responsibility for promoting, enforcing or policing vaccination of pupils, a union has said.
School leaders’ union the NAHT said UK policy on jabs for children should be led by clinicians.
An announcement on a recommendation to extend the Covid-19 vaccination programme to 16- and 17-year-olds is expected soon.
Paul Whiteman, the NAHT general secretary, said:
The debate about whether or not to vaccinate older children has been raging for many weeks. NAHT has always said that UK policy on child vaccination should be led by clinicians.
To the extent that any such policy is controversial it is clear that schools should not carry any responsibility for vaccination promotion, enforcement or policing.
A record 1.13 million children in England were out of school for Covid-19 related reasons towards the end of term, recent government figures showed.
The figures included 994,000 children self-isolating due to a possible contact with a Covid-19 case, 48,000 pupils with a confirmed case of coronavirus, and 33,300 with a suspected case.
A further 50,700 pupils were off as a result of school closures due to Covid-related reasons, according to the Department for Education (DfE) statistics showed.
Updated
Indonesia’s Covid-19 death toll has surpassed 100,000 fatalities, CNBC Indonesia reports, citing health ministry data.
Indonesia reported 35,867 new coronavirus cases and 1,747 new deaths, the report showed, bringing the total number of cases and deaths to 3.532 million and 100,636 deaths, respectively.
Updated
Antibody levels above 90% in every nation of the UK - ONS
Antibody and vaccination levels have continued to increase across all regions of the United Kingdom in recent weeks.
The figures currently stand at:
- 93.6% in England
- 93.2% in Wales
- 90.7% in Northern Ireland
- 92.5% in Scotland
In England, the lowest antibody levels were seen in the north-east (91.3%) and the highest in London (93.9%) in the week beginning 12 July.
Covid-19 antibodies are generated through vaccination or from previous infection.
Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
Updated
Groups supporting the bereaved relatives of UK care home residents who died during the coronavirus pandemic will seek to become core participants of the forthcoming public inquiry, PA reports.
Two organisations - John’s Campaign and the Relatives & Residents Association (R&RA) - have told the government they will apply for the status when the legal process allows.
The groups, represented by solicitors Leigh Day, are calling for the inquiry to start urgently to “provide answers to those whose lives have been most severely affected and to learn lessons before it is too late”.
Updated
The head of Australia’s Covid vaccination programme, Lt Gen John Frewen, says the government may yet use cash incentives to encourage take-up.
Frewen also said it was “mathematically” possible for 80% of eligible Australians to be fully immunised by December.
“It really is about people in Australia coming forward and coming forward with some urgency to get vaccinated,” he said.
You can read the full report from Guardian Australia’s chief political correspondent, Sarah Martin, here:
Updated
Staying in Scotland, Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives has said he is “still particularly worried that young people will be wearing masks when they return to school later on this month”.
He told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “They’ve had a year-and-a-half of disrupted learning already ... we do have to look at how this impacts on all pupils.”
Asked whether the UK government would offer further furlough support if local lockdowns are once again imposed in Scotland, Ross said: “The UK government will look to support individuals and businesses here in Scotland, as they have through the pandemic.”
“My reading is the UK government will continue to support business and individuals if that is required.”
Updated
The Scottish government has admitted that continuing to mandate mask-wearing in nightclubs could be “tricky” on the dancefloor, after industry leads slammed the notion as “ridiculous and dangerous”.
The first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced the ending of most legal coronavirus restrictions on Tuesday, but the wearing of face coverings in indoor settings will remain mandatory “for some time to come” - this includes in nightclubs.
Donald MacLeod, who owns the Garage and Cathouse nightclubs in Glasgow, immediately responded that making people wearing masks on a dancefloor was a “ridiculous and dangerous idea which effectively makes opening unviable”.
This morning the deputy first minister, John Swinney, told Good Morning Scotland that he accepted mask-wearing for clubbers would be “a challenge” and insisted that discussions with the nighttime industry were ongoing today.
Stephen Montgomery, of the Scottish Hospitality Group, said he hoped the government could be convinced to waive the face covering rules for night clubs. On the same programme, he said: “That discussion will go on today with government officials and hopefully, fingers crossed, we’ll be able to convince the first minister in some way to do away with face coverings in nightclub settings. At least give us some clear guidance because these guys are really on their knees now.”
Updated
Ukraine has received 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines from Denmark, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Wednesday.
“We’re grateful to our Denmark friends for their support in overcoming this global challenge,” Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter.
Our agreement with @Statsmin Mette Frederiksen to support vaccination program in 🇺🇦 has been implemented. Today, 🇺🇦 received 500 thousand doses of #COVID19 vaccine from 🇩🇰. We’re grateful to our 🇩🇰 friends for their support in overcoming this global challenge. Mange tak!
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 4, 2021
Ukraine has lagged behind other European countries in vaccinating its population of 41 million people. So far, 2.1 million Ukrainian citizens have received two jabs as of 4 July.
Updated
Olympic host city Tokyo confirmed a record high of 4,166 new daily Covid infections today as the virus continues to surge against the backdrop of the games.
Daily case numbers in the city are rising faster than at any previous point of the pandemic and a number of athletes, including the entire Greek artistic swimming team, have been forced to withdraw following positive tests.
29 people, including four athletes, tested positive for Covid on Wednesday, taking the total number of Olympics-linked infections to 322.
Despite the disruption, officials from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic party have agreed to withdraw a new policy which asks Covid patients with less serious symptoms to isolate at home rather than seek hospital care.
Updated
Israel, home to one of the world’s most successful vaccination drives, has decided to reinstate several restrictions to combat coronavirus amid a wave of rising infections, our Middle East correspondent, Bethan McKernan reports.
The government announced late on Tuesday after a cabinet meeting that tighter measures including only allowing vaccinated people at indoor gatherings of 100 or more people, requiring masks at outdoor gatherings of more than 100 people, and ordering government agencies to reduce the number of people working in offices to 50% would be introduced from Sunday.
The health ministry has also moved to impose stricter regulations for people arriving from abroad: all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, arriving from the US and 17 other countries must now quarantine for 14 days starting from 11 August.
Despite Israel’s early successes in the fight against Covid-19, the country is grappling with a post-vaccination wave of infections caused by the highly infectious Delta variant.
A record 3,834 new Covid cases were recorded on Tuesday – the highest daily number since March.
The prime minister, Naftali Bennett, is also considering new lockdowns from next month, Israeli media reported. Israel is “in a competition between vaccines and epidemics, between an open country and more restrictions”, he said in comments carried by Hebrew news outlets.
Over 57% of the country’s 9.3 million citizens are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Last week, Israel became the first country to announce it would begin offering a third coronavirus shot to people over 60 who have already been vaccinated. More than 100,000 people have received the booster shot.
Updated
Russia has reported 22,589 new Covid-19 cases, including 2,502 in the capital, Moscow.
The government coronavirus task force said there were 790 coronavirus-linked deaths in the past 24 hours, pushing the national death toll to 161,715.
Updated
Summary
A quick update on the day’s Covid news from around the world:
- UK Teenagers aged 16 and 17 will reportedly be given the green light for Covid-19 vaccination, according to the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon. Minister Michelle Donelan has said the government was awaiting JCVI advice but an announcement “could come today”.
- China reported its highest daily number of local coronavirus cases in months as mass testing and contact-tracing campaigns uncovered a trail of Delta variant infections.
- Double vaccinated people are three times less likely than unvaccinated people to test positive for coronavirus, according to the REACT-1 study.
- More than 200 areas across England and Wales had at least twice as many deaths as average during the first Covid wave, according to analysis by the Office for National Statistics.
- Fewer than one in 20 Covid-positive children who experience symptoms continue to be symptomatic beyond four weeks, a study carried out in the UK between September 2020 and February 2021 has found.
- South Korea posted a sharp increase in coronavirus cases on Wednesday. 1,725 cases, an increase of more than 500 on the previous day, were reported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
- The legal requirement for physical distancing in Scotland will be removed from next week, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
- The US government has issued a new moratorium on evictions that will last until 3 October, following mounting pressure on Joe Biden to take action to help keep Americans in their homes as Covid-19 continues to spread.
- New York City is to require proof of vaccination for indoor activities including entering restaurants, going to gyms and attending performances, mayor Bill de Blasio said.
- Thailand has reported 20,200 new Covid cases and 188 deaths – both records since the start of the pandemic last year, increasing the likelihood that virus-related restrictions will be extended.
- Helen Clark, former New Zealand prime minister and co-chair of an influential Covid panel, criticised more developed countries for buying up many more vaccines than they require.
Updated
Macau ordered compulsory coronavirus testing for all residents on Wednesday after a family of four was found to be carrying the Delta variant, breaking the city’s record of over 16 months virus-free.
AFP reports that over the next three days authorities plan to test all 680,000 residents at 41 testing centres, the government said.
The testing is one of a host of new measures announced after the gambling hub recorded 491 days without a single local infection.
The city’s casinos remain open for now but the resurgence in cases has raised concerns that casinos, Macau’s main economic engine and source of revenues, may have to close in the near-term if the spread is not contained.
Macau has kept infections low by closing itself off from the rest of the world for much of the pandemic and placing restrictions on arrivals from mainland China.
It has recorded only 60 cases and no deaths but the zero-Covid strategy has come with deep economic costs for the only place in China where gambling is allowed.
Macau’s casinos account for about 80% of government revenue.
The city ordered a shutdown of all casinos for two weeks when the virus was first detected last year, causing a loss of $937m, according to an estimate by the University of Macau.
Updated
The UK government should “try a whole range” of incentives in order to encourage young people to take up the Covid jab, Labour have argued.
The shadow environment secretary, Luke Pollard, told Sky News that consistent messaging was key to driving uptake among people aged 18-29.
Cheap taxi rides and discounts from the biggest takeaway companies have been mooted by the government as potential ways to boost Covid vaccination rates among the young.
Asked about the potential vaccine roll-out for 16- and 17-year-olds, Pollard said: “This has been carried out around the world in a safe way and if this increases the resilience of a nation then it is a good idea.”
Updated
A leading professor of infectious disease has said the latest data “would support” extending the UK’s vaccination programme to 16- and 17-year-olds.
Steven Riley, professor of infectious disease dynamics at Imperial College London and co-author of the React study, told LBC: “Our data would support that in that we’d expect there to be a really good knock-on effect from extending the vaccinations for that group.”
The study found a “lot of transmission” among secondary school-aged children.
The Pfizer vaccine has now been approved for children aged 12 and older.
Riley added: “What we should probably think about is September, October, November: how much immunity can we have in order to hopefully keep prevalence going down, or if prevalence does start to go up a little bit for it to be as slowly as possible, so there is justification in extending those vaccinations down.
But Riley warned that “we have to balance against the other needs for the vaccine as well”.
In the UK, more than 46.8 million people have had at least one dose – nearly 90% of the adult population – and more than 38 million – over 70% of adults – are fully vaccinated.
The government is expected to extend vaccinations to 16- and 17-year-olds today but the issue has raised moral concerns. Children are generally at low risk of serious symptoms or hospitalisation while vaccine supply remains an issue in many countries.
Helen Clark, former New Zealand prime minister and co-chair of the panel reviewing the WHO’s handling of the pandemic, criticised more developed countries for buying up many more vaccines than they require.
Updated
Thailand has reported 20,200 new Covid cases and 188 deaths – both records since the start of the pandemic last year, increasing the likelihood that virus-related restrictions will be extended.
The country recorded its previous high of daily Covid-19 cases at 18,912 and record-high daily fatalities at 178 just last Saturday.
The new cases and fatalities reported on Wednesday brought total cases to 672,385 and deaths to 5,503, data from the health ministry’s website showed.
The restrictions, which took effect on Tuesday, include curbs on travel, mall closures and curfews covering 29 provinces classified as “dark red zones”. The move will be reviewed on August 18.
Apisamai Srirangsan, a spokeswoman for the government’s Covid-19 task force, said that if the situation does not improve, the “curbs will be extended to August 31”.
She noted that the number of infections in the provinces was now higher than in Bangkok, so containment measures had to be tightened to curb the spread.
Last month, the government called on people to follow the restrictions, warning that daily cases could reach 30,000 under a “worst-case scenario”.
Updated
Double vaccinated people three times less likely than unvaccinated people to test positive for Covid-19, finds major study
Double vaccinated people are three times less likely than unvaccinated people to test positive for coronavirus, according to the React-1 study.
The study, a major Covid monitoring programme, led by scientists from Imperial College London are based on swab tests taken by almost 100,000 people in England between 24 June and 12 July.
During this period, 0.63% of people were infected, or 1 in 158. This represents a four-fold rise compared with the study’s previous report, when 0.15% or 1 in 670 had the virus as of 7 June.
The study’s analyses of PCR test results also suggest that fully vaccinated people may be less likely than unvaccinated people to pass the virus on to others, due to having a smaller viral load on average and therefore likely shedding less virus.
Prof Paul Elliott, director of the React programme, said:
These findings confirm our previous data showing that both doses of a vaccine offer good protection against getting infected. However we can also see that there is still a risk of infection, as no vaccine is 100% effective, and we know that some double vaccinated people can still become ill from the virus.
So even with the easing of restrictions, we should still act with caution to help protect one another and curb the rate of infections.
Updated
South Korea posted a sharp increase in its coronavirus cases on Wednesday.
1,725 cases, an increase of more than 500 on the previous day were reported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
Total infections rose to 203,926, with 2,106 deaths.
The daily tally hit a new high of 1,895 last week, partly fuelled by the more contagious Delta variant, with the fourth Covid-19 wave showing little signs of subsiding, reports Reuters.
Health authorities were concerned that people travelled about 6.4% more last week compared with the week before, or about 34% more than in early January, in the regions beyond the capital Seoul and its neighbouring areas, largely for summer vacations.
The government tightened social distancing curbs last week across most of the country for two weeks ahead of the peak summer holiday period.
Senior health official Lee Gi-il told a briefing: “The movements in those regions have been increasing for three consecutive weeks…There is fatigue from long periods of distancing, and it’s a summer vacation season.”
Updated
More 16- and 17-year-olds should get a coronavirus jab if offered, a leading public health authority has said.
Prof Paul Elliott, director of the React programme, and chair in epidemiology and public health medicine at Imperial College London, said that a surge in infections to mid-July was being “driven” by younger people.
The React study saw the highest rates of infection among unvaccinated people.
Elliot told Sky News:
Clearly what’s important now is that as many people who get offered the opportunity to have the vaccination should take it.
“We also found that the viral load was lower in the double-vaccinated people compared to the unvaccinated people – so the chances of passing on (the virus) is actually lower if you had two jabs of the vaccine, so you’re not only protecting yourself but you’re protecting the people around you.”
“The highest rates of infection was in the 13- to 24-year-old group, and the increase that we saw going up to mid-July was being driven from these younger people.
Updated
Decision on vaccines for 16 and 17-year-olds could come 'today', says minister
Further to reports that the Covid vaccine could soon be recommended for UK 16 and 17-year-olds, universities minister Michelle Donelan has said a decision on the issue could come “today”.
Donelan told Sky News the government is awaiting feedback from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) before making their own announcement.
She added: “We are waiting for the JVCI update on this which could be today.”
“It is a smart idea for everyone to get vaccinated.”
Updated
More than 220,000 children (under 18s) in England have already had a Covid-19 vaccine, according to NHS figures.
In June, vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi announced that a number of under-18s would be eligible for the jab if they had certain health conditions, lived with someone who is immunocompromised, or were approaching their 18th birthday.
NHS data shows that 79,616 children have had both doses
The figures come as it emerged that the offer of a vaccine is expected to be extended to include all 16 and 17 year olds.
There has been debate about offering vaccines to children. Some experts say children should be able to get vaccinated to prevent further disruption to schooling.
Others have questioned vaccinating children on moral grounds – they are generally at low risk of hospitalisation from Covid – when vaccine supply remains a serious issue in many countries.
The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 has been approved for use in children aged 12 to 17.
Alex Mistlin here taking over our live coverage of the Covid pandemic around the world. Spotted a mistake? Got a tip? Feel free to contact me: alex.mistlin@theguardian.com
China tightens travel restrictions
China has responded to the spike in Covid cases we mentioned earlier with a dramatic tightening of travel restrictions across the country.
The latest outbreak has so far infected more than 400 people in 25 cities, including the capital city Beijing, reports our correspondent Helen Davidson.
Wuhan, the city at the epicentre of the pandemic more than 18 months ago, has seen its first cases since the virus was eliminated there last year. Mass testing is being carried out in the city.
Overall, cases have been reported in 17 of the 31 provinces.
Nanjing and Yangzhou have since cancelled all domestic flights, while Beijing has suspended 13 rail lines and halted inbound long-distance ticket sales from 23 stations, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.
Full story here:
Updated
Hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers have returned to major cities after the government said export factories could reopen despite the deadly coronavirus wave.
The factories had been closed by the government’;s two-week lockdown. But that ends on Thursday, sparking a rush back to work for people who provide clothes for some of the major brands in western fashion.
There was a typical scene at the Shimulia ferry station, 45 miles south of Dhaka, as tens of thousands of workers waited hours for boats to take them to the capital.
Third highest daily cases in NSW
The outbreak in Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, has seen the third highest number of daily cases so far. There were 233 new cases announced on Wednesday, 47 of whom were 47 were infectious in the community, 21 were in isolation for part of their infectious period, and 73 cases were under investigation.
Concern about the spread heightened after a man in his 20s died of the disease at his home in south-west Sydney.
For a full roundup here’s a report from our reporter Anne Davies in Sydney:
Staying with the UK, the government has been criticised for failing to meet a promise to recognise the status of people who have been double-vaccinated overseas but who are returnign to the UK.
Despite a pledge by vaccine minsiter Nadhim Zahawi last month, a health department spokesperson told the Guardian: “Only Covid-19 vaccines administered in England and Wales can currently be shown through the NHS Covid pass.
Here’s the full story:
Jab 'for more UK teenagers'
UK minsiters are set to give their approval for the coronavirus vaccination programme to be rolled out to more than a million more teenagers aged 16 to 17.
It is expected that ministers will on Wednesday approve advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) which recommends healthy teenagers aged over 16, who have not yet been able to get their vaccine, be offered the chance to be immunised.
Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, had hinted on Tuesday that a decision was imminent.
Chinese outbreak grows
China has reported its highest daily number of local coronavirus cases in months.
Authorities reported 71 domestic cases on Wednesday, the highest since January, as China battles its largest outbreak in months by testing entire cities and locking down millions.
The official results of those tests have revealed a low caseload despite the outbreak of the Delta variant spreading to dozens of major cities.
Beijing had previously boasted of its success in crushing Covid-19. But the latest outbreak is threatening that record with nearly 500 domestic cases reported since mid-July, when a cluster among airport cleaners in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, was found.
Welcome
Good morning/afternoon/evening wherever you are in the world and welcome to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Teenagers aged 16 and 17 will reportedly be given the green light for Covid-19 vaccination, according to Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon.
- More than 200 areas across England and Wales had at least twice as many deaths as average during the first Covid wave, according to analysis by the Office for National Statistics.
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China reported its highest daily number of local coronavirus cases in months as mass testing and contact tracing campaigns uncovered a trail of Delta variant infections.
- Fewer than one in 20 Covid-positive children who experience symptoms continue to be symptomatic beyond four weeks, a study carried out in the UK between September 2020 and February 2021 has found.
- The legal requirement for physical distancing in Scotland will be removed from next week, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
- The US government has issued a new moratorium on evictions that will last until 3 October, following mounting pressure on Joe Biden to take action to help keep Americans in their homes as Covid-19 continues to spread.
- New York City is to require proof of vaccination for indoor activities including entering restaurants, going to gyms and attending performances, mayor Bill de Blasio said.
- Helen Clark, former New Zealand prime minister and co-chair of an influential Covid panel, criticised more developed countries for buying up many more vaccines than they require.
- The most disadvantaged areas of Sydney have had almost twice as many Covid cases as the rest of the city during the current outbreak, according to a Guardian Australia analysis.
- A Sydney man in his 20s has died of Covid as local cases continue to proliferate in the worst outbreak so far in New South Wales.
- Prof Sarah Gilbert, the co-creator of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, has been immortalised with a Barbie doll in her honour.
- Lindsey Graham became the first US senator to disclose a breakthrough infection after being vaccinated against Covid.
- Morocco is introducing new coronavirus restrictions, including a curfew from 9pm to 5am, as infection rates rise.
