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All adults should do a minimum of 150 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week, even more vital for well-being and mental health in the Covid-19 era, the World Health Organization said in its first guidance in a decade.
It recommended that children and adolescents have an average of one hour of daily physical exercise and limit time in front of electronic screens.
And people of all ages must compensate for growing sedentary behaviour with physical activity to ward off disease and add years to their lives, the WHO said, launching its “Every Move Counts” campaign.
“These guidelines emphasise what many are experiencing during the Covid restrictions that are applied all over the world. And that is that being active every day is good not only our bodies but also our mental health,” said Fiona Bull, head of WHO’s physical activity unit.
“Phone a friend and do classes online together, help your family members, do it as a family. And when you can, get outside,” she said.
Pregnant women and postpartum mothers are now included in the recommendations of 150 to 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity per week for adults.
This brings health benefits for both the mother and baby, according to Juana Willumsen, a WHO technical officer. “For example there is a 30% reduction in gestational diabetes amongst women who are physically active during pregnancy,” she said.
Adults above 65 are advised to add muscle strengthening and activities focusing on balance and coordination to help prevent falls later.
In an eve-of-Thanksgiving address, Joe Biden drew on historic hardships and his deep personal loss to make a passionate appeal for resilience, asking Americans to endure a national holiday amid restrictions on travel and gatherings imposed to fight the pandemic.
More than 12.6m cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the US and more than 260,000 people have died. Vaccines are imminent but hospitalisations and deaths are surging in the US, straining infrastructure to breaking point as leaders warn of impending disaster.
His speech struck a note of unity. “We need to remember, we’re at war with the virus, not with each other,” Biden said from Wilmington, Delaware, where he is continuing transition work before his inauguration as the 46th president in Washington on 20 January.
Germany will make mask-wearing obligatory in all pedestrian high-traffic areas as well as in city centres, chancellor Angela Merkel has said.
“We are still too far away from an incidence of 50 per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days. I remain convinced [...] we still have to aim for this target,” she said.
Germany likely to extend virus curbs to early January
Germany will extend its current coronavirus restrictions through to early January unless there is a dramatic drop in infections - something that is not expected, chancellor Angela Merkel said.
Speaking after a meeting with the heads of Germany’s 16 states, Merkel said the measures introduced in early November, including limits on private gatherings and the closure of restaurants, leisure and cultural facilities, cannot be lifted given current infection rates.
The curbs will be continued “until 20 December first but we assume that ... due to the very high incidence of infection, restrictions will have to apply until the beginning of January unless we have an unexpected decrease,” Merkel said.
The agreement means continued closures for restaurants, bars, sporting facilities and cultural venues in Europe’s biggest economy, though schools and shops will remain open.
From 1 December, private gatherings will be limited to five people from two households - down from 10 people currently, though children are exempted from the new rule.
Trains will also expand their seating capacity, in order to better ensure distancing between passengers.
Fireworks will be banned on certain public squares to prevent people from gathering in large groups on New Year’s Eve in particular.
Germany will also seek a deal with European partners to close ski slopes through to early January, to prevent the virus spreading further.
“I will say this openly that it won’t be easy, but we will try,” Merkel said.
The measures were agreed after more than seven hours of tense talks, with some less-affected regions calling for lighter restrictions.
The number of new infections in Germany has plateaued over the past two weeks, with October’s exponential growth brought to a halt.
However, health officials have sounded the alarm over rapidly filling intensive care units and an inability to track the source of transmission while rates remain high.
In order to ease restrictions, the infection rate would have to come down to below 50 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants per week, Merkel said - a far cry from the current seven-day incidence of almost 140.
“The steeply rising curve has become a flat one, but this is only a partial success. We can by no means be satisfied with this partial success,” she said.
Germany has registered a total of 961,320 coronavirus cases and 14,771 deaths, according to the Robert Koch Institute disease control centre.
Wednesday saw 18,633 new cases and a record 410 deaths.
Updated
In a global push to end violence against women, activists held rallies on Wednesday and world leaders called for action to stop abuse, which has worsened during the coronavirus pandemic.
Protests from France to Ukraine were held on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to draw attention to the millions of women killed or abused every year by their partners and close relatives.
Yet another by-product of Covid-19, domestic violence has risen dramatically this year world wide with calls to emergency services increasing especially during periods of lockdown and social isolation.
Orange was selected by campaigners to denote the day because of its ability to symbolise a brighter future, free of violence.
A number of EU buildings were lit up orange, while the Greek parliament in Athens illuminated with “no to violence” display.
Greece, like so many countries, has reported a steep climb in incidences of women seeking help. In April alone, calls to the SOS hotline reporting domestic violence quadrupled.
The Italian health ministry, citing data from national statistics agency ISTAT, said calls to domestic violence hotlines shot up during the coronavirus lockdown, registering a 75% increase compared to the same period in 2019.
Together with Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez, Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte signed a joint declaration vowing to accelerate measures to stamp out violence against women, calling it “an invisible pandemic”.
In Turkey, where at least 234 women have been killed since the start of the year, riot police in Istanbul blocked a small group of demonstrators from marching to the city’s iconic Taksim Square. The government has declared the square off-bounds for demonstrations.
Elsewhere in Istanbul, some 2,000 other women staged a peaceful demonstration calling on president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government to remain committed to a European treaty on combatting violence against women.
UN agency UNAIDS said “evidence shows that the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in significant increases in gender-based violence in nearly all countries,” especially for women trapped at home with their abuser.
“Men’s violence against women is also a pandemic — one that pre-dates the virus and will outlive it,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of the UN Women agency.
“Last year alone, 243 million women and girls experienced sexual or physical violence from their partner. This year, reports of increased domestic violence, cyberbullying, child marriages, sexual harassment and sexual violence have flooded in,” she said.
Updated
The majority of England will enter the two toughest tiers of Covid restrictions from next week, ministers are set to announce amid signs of a growing parliamentary rebellion and fears that the measures could remain unchanged until spring.
On Thursday Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is expected to say that most of the country will be placed into tiers 2 or 3, which include significant restrictions on hospitality, after the national lockdown ends on 2 December.
As ministers grappled with the backlash, a further 696 coronavirus deaths were announced on Wednesday – the highest UK daily total for fatalities since 5 May.
There is widespread expectation among MPs and local leaders that almost no regions will be in tier 1, and the main battle is over avoiding tier 3, under which pubs, restaurants and hospitality businesses can only operate as takeaways, and almost all household mixing is barred.
One key area of dispute is the size of the geographic areas allocated to different tiers. MPs, particularly in north-west and south-east England, who had been fiercely lobbying for regions to be decided in smaller geographical areas, said ministers had “gone quiet” over the course of Wednesday afternoon.
The EU is planning bold measures to boost its access to drugs, from sidestepping patent rights in emergencies to offering incentives for companies to shift production to Europe, according to documents published on Wednesday.
The possible moves are meant to tackle the chronic shortages of medicines that have dogged the bloc for years and have become more serious since the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated trade disruptions and drug export bans.
The European Commission wants faster procedures during crises to produce generic versions of drugs in EU states without the consent of patent holders, an EU document says.
So-called compulsory licensing is allowed under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in emergencies as a waiver of normal regulations and could be applied during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Commission sees the need to ensure that effective systems for issuing compulsory licences are in place, to be used as a means of last resort and a safety net, when all other efforts to make IP (intellectual property) available have failed,” the first of Wednesday’s documents said.
Ironically, the proposal is part of an EU action plan on intellectual property that is mostly aimed at strengthening the protection of EU companies’ patents against foreign actors.
“Compulsory licensing is not an effective policy tool to create access and puts at risk any incentive to invest in medical innovation at a time when citizens across Europe, across the world, are looking to the life science community to find the answers to the coronavirus crisis,” EFPIA, the body representing the largest players in the European pharmaceutical industry, said in a statement.
In the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers and activists had urged the EU to use the WTO waiver to gain access to potential vaccines and drugs against the coronavirus, which have mostly been developed outside the 27-nation bloc.
The EU initially struggled to order large volumes of the antiviral drug remdesivir, which some studies have shown to be effective against Covid-19, because nearly all stocks of the drug produced by Gilead had been ordered by the US.
Though the EU executive has so far refused to invoke the WTO waiver and has struck multibillion-euro deals with drugmakers to secure Covid-19 shots and therapeutics, the pandemic has led to a reconsideration of existing procedures that largely fall under the remit of national governments in the bloc.
Canada has ordered more Covid-19 vaccine doses per capita than any other country - at least 194m and up to 414m doses for its population of 38 million.
With limited manufacturing capacity, six of the vaccines the country has ordered will have to be imported and the first are unlikely to arrive before early 2021, while a candidate from Quebec’s Medicago is likely at least six months from approval.
Canada has announced purchase deals with Moderna, Pfizer, Novavax, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi SA with GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, and Medicago.
In the unlikely event all seven are approved, Canada could buy enough doses to vaccinate the country more than five times over. The vaccines will be distributed free through the provincial health services.
Canadian officials have not given a precise timeline for deliveries, but said they expect to receive a combined six million doses of Moderna and Pfizer’s vaccines by the end of March 2021.
Prime minister Justin Trudeau warned Canadians on Tuesday that manufacturers are likely to provide their own countries with vaccines first.
“Countries like the United States, Germany and the UK do have domestic pharmaceutical facilities, which is why they are obviously going to prioritise helping their citizens first,” he said.
Michael Mullette, managing director of Moderna’s Canadian unit, said timing of shipments will depend in part on which countries have approved its vaccine, noting that Canada has been working to speed up the regulatory process.
“Canada is certainly one of the first countries to have an agreement with us, and will be serviced very quickly,” he said. Canada announced a deal with Moderna on 5 August. The EU finalised a supply deal with Moderna on Tuesday.
Health Canada said last week it could approve one or more vaccine early in the first quarter of 2021.
According to preliminary guidance published by the federal government in early November, more vulnerable people will be prioritised for vaccination. They would include those at high risk of severe illness or death from Covid-19, such at the elderly.
Others likely to be in the early waves of inoculations are healthcare workers, people providing essential services such as workers at food processing plants and grocery store staff, and other people whose living or working conditions put them at elevated risk of infection, “and where infection could have disproportionate consequences, including Indigenous communities.”
Hi everyone, this is Jessica Murray taking over the blog for the next few hours - do get in touch if you’d like to share any story tips or personal experiences.
Email: jessica.murray@theguardian.com
Twitter: @journojess_
Summary
Here’s a summary of the most recent developments:
- The global tally of cases surpassed 60m, according to researchers at both Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and the Reuters news agency. According to the latter, the pace of new infections is accelerating and the United States is reporting its worst numbers of hospitalisations.
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Authorities in Sicily asked Cuba’s government to send to the region about 60 health operators, including doctors and nurses, as hospitals are struggling with a shortage of medical personnel during the second wave. The request was filed this week to the Italian embassy in Cuba and consists of intensive care specialists, nurses, anaesthetists, resuscitators, virologists and pneumologists, the Italian newspaper la Repubblica reported.
- The Americas reported more than 1.5m cases in the last seven days; the highest weekly number since the start of the pandemic, the World Health Organization regional branch PAHO said. The rapid surge of infections in the US continued and cases accelerated in countries of North, Central and South America, PAHO said. In Canada, infections were rising particularly among the elderly and indigenous communities.
- The daily death toll in the US reached 2,157 – one person every 40 seconds. It was the first time since May that deaths had passed 2,000 in 24 hours.
- Germany reported 410 deaths in 24 hours; its worst such toll since the pandemic began. It came as the chancellor Angela Merkel met with 16 federal state leaders to discuss restrictions for the Christmas and new year holidays.
- Iran recorded its worst daily caseload, with the health ministry reporting 13,843 new infections. That pushed the national tally to 894,385 in the Middle East’s worst-hit country. The ministry’s spokeswoman, Sima Sadat Lari, told state TV the death toll rose by 469 in 24 hours to 46,207.
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Test and trace fails to contact 110,000 in English Covid hot spots. The British government’s £22bn test-and-trace system has failed to reach more than 100,000 people exposed to coronavirus in England’s worst-hit areas since the second wave began, official figures show, with four in 10 not asked to self-isolate.
- Japan has withdrawn the cities of Osaka and Sapporo from its controversial Go To Travel campaign, which was launched in July to help the country’s Covid-hit economy. Pressure has been building on the government to rethink the scheme, which offers generous discounts on travel and accommodation, after experts said it was contributing to the recent rise in coronavirus infections in parts of Japan.
- French president says lockdown to ease starting this weekend. In France, president Emmanuel Macron announced a three-stage easing of the country’s month-long lockdown, beginning this weekend with the reopening of “non-essential” businesses such as hairdressers and clothes shops, which will have to observe strict distancing rules and close at 9pm.
- CDC may shorten quarantine period guidelines. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may soon shorten the length of self-quarantine period recommended after potential exposure to the coronavirus, a top official said on Tuesday. Health authorities currently recommend a 14-day quarantine in order to curb transmission of the virus but an official said Tuesday that there is evidence that the period could be shortened if patients are tested for the virus during their quarantine.
- A senior leader of India’s Congress party died of coronavirus related complications on Wednesday, his family said, a second veteran from the opposition group to fall victim to the virus in recent days, as total cases in the country touched the 9.2m mark. Ahmed Patel, a lawmaker who was party treasurer and was seen as close to the Gandhi family that leads the party, was detected with Covid-19 a month ago and died of multi-organ failure, his family said in a statement.
Updated
France has reported a fresh surge in confirmed Covid-19 cases over the last 24 hours, along with another rise in deaths.
There were a further 16,282 new confirmed cases, up sharply from the 9,155 new cases recorded on Tuesday and 4,452 on Monday, and taking the total number of confirmed cases in France to 2,170,097.
The death toll rose to 50,618 - up by more than 380 from the previous day. There were a total of 29,972 patients in hospital with Covid-19, and 4,148 in intensive care units.
French president Emmanuel Macron, who this week announced a gradual easing of a national lockdown set up to stop the spread of the virus, wants the daily rate of new cases to drop to around 5,000 per day before restrictions are lifted.
On Tuesday, Macron said France will start easing the lockdown this weekend so that by Christmas, shops, theatres and cinemas will reopen and people will be able to spend the holiday with their families.
However, French restaurants and cafes would have to stay shut until 20 January to avoid triggering a third wave.
Updated
Turkey recorded 28,351 new cases in the last 24 hours, the health minister Fahrettin Koca has said. It is the first time since July that Ankara has included asymptomatic cases in the total.
The government had only been reporting symptomatic cases since the summer, which critics said masked the true scale of the outbreak. Data from the Health Ministry showed on Wednesday that 168 people had died in the last 24 hours; the most since the beginning of the outbreak.
Koca said Turkey has signed a contract to buy 50m doses of vaccine from China’s Sinovac Biotech. They are due to be delivered in the months of December, January and February, he has told a news conference.
Sinovac’s experimental vaccine CoronaVac triggered a quick immune response but the level of antibodies produced was lower than in people who had recovered from the virus, preliminary trial results showed.
CoronaVac and four other experimental vaccines developed in China are in late-stage trials to determine their effectiveness.
Speaking in Ankara after a science council meeting, Koca said Turkey is also in talks with other vaccine developers.
The important thing here for us to start using vaccines which are known to be effective and reliable ... I think the vaccination calendar could start on 11 December.
The US has recorded 165,282 new cases and 1,989 more deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said, taking the totals to 12,498,734 and 259,005, respectively.
Researchers led by the World Health Organization would like to go back to a wholesale food market in Wuhan in China to follow up initial cases that emerged in the city and investigate how the virus probably first spread from bats.
Peter Ben Embarek, a WHO expert in animal diseases, said that the team would like to re-interview early cases and find infected workers who may have “important information” on where they may have picked up the virus.
“There is nothing to indicate that it would be man-made,” he said, reiterating the view of the WHO and of most scientists. Ben Embarek said:
Before December 2019 we don’t really know what happened, we don’t know how the virus jumped from its most probable natural environment in the bat population over to humans. And it’s that bit of the history that we need to reconstruct.
The WHO has had assurances from China that an international field trip will be arranged as soon as possible, its top emergency expert Mike Ryan has said.
Chinese researchers are carrying out epidemiological studies into early cases and conditions at the Wuhan market while the international team of 10 experts is to carry out phase 2 studies.
The United States and, to a lesser extent, some European delegations have raised questions about the delay and sought a timeline for the international experts’ visit, diplomats say.
Ben Embarek said “it’s not too late” for the probe.
What we would like to do with the international team and counterparts in China is to go back in the Wuhan environment, re-interview in-depth the initial cases, try to find other cases that were not detected at that time and try to see if we can push back the history of the first cases.
Investigations would look into “everything that went in and out of that market at that time and try to find out where these animals and food products came from,” he said.
They would look for commonalities among market workers who got severely ill in December, and whether they were infected in the countryside or a farming environment in southern China or “perhaps even outside China”, he said.
An analysis of the Reuters data showed the rate of new infections picking up globally. It took just 17 days to go from 50m cases to 60m, compared with the 21 days it took to go from 40m to 50m.
About 580,000 cases have been reported each day over the past week and around half of all cases since the start of the pandemic were reported over the past 70 days.
In Europe, 1m new cases were recorded over just five days, for a total of more than 16 million cases, including 365,000 deaths, Reuters reports.
Governments across Europe are struggling to impose restrictions on public life while allowing families to celebrate Christmas without further fuelling outbreaks. While a national lockdown in England is due to end next week, Germany, Spain, and Italy have all announced restrictions over the holiday period, including limits on house guests.
The Latin American region has the highest number of reported deaths in the world, representing about 21% of all global cases and over 31% of all global deaths reported.
Brazil joined the United States and India as the only countries to have recorded more than 6 million infections last week. With almost 170,000 confirmed fatalities, Brazil has the world’s second-highest death toll.
While India remains the second-worst affected country in the world with almost 9.2m cases, it has continued to report a slowdown in new cases in recent weeks. It has reported an average of around 44,000 cases a day over the past week, well down from a peak of just under 97,900 cases in mid-September.
Asia-Pacific countries such as China, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand had shown how rapid, local, and intrusive steps can be effective in extinguishing outbreaks.
Global number of cases passes 60m
The global tally of cases has surpassed 60m, according to researchers at both Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and the Reuters news agency.
According to the latter, the pace of new infections is accelerating and the United States is reporting its worst numbers of hospitalisations. Officials there urged Americans to stay home for the imminent Thanksgiving holiday as soaring numbers of patients pushed medical professionals to the brink.
The United States has reported 1m new cases in less than a week, taking its total reported infections to over 12.5m and its death toll to 260,000, according to the Reuters data, which is based on official statements.
JHU, which bases its figures on both official and media sources, said 60,037,735 have been infected since the pandemic began. More than 1.4 million people are reported to have died.
South Africa’s Western Cape province, home to the tourist hub Cape Town, is experiencing a resurgence of Covid-19 infections, its premier Alan Winde has said after new cases jumped 52.1% in the past week.
The Western Cape emerged as Africa’s first regional hotspot towards the end of March when the virus spread via tourists into local communities, following the first confirmed positive case in South Africa earlier that month. Winde said:
The Western Cape government is deeply concerned about the growing number of Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations in the province, which can now be considered as an established resurgence.
Issuing a hotspot alert, Winde said a resurgence occurred when the number of active cases increased week-on-week by more than 20%.
“There is also now established community transmission of the virus again in this province, which means that it is spreading within communities at a faster rate,” he said, adding that since the start of November, hospitalisations across the province have increased by 63%.
As of Wednesday, there were 962 hospitalisations in the province, with 183 patients in intensive care units, Winde said. The total number of infections had reached 126,362.
South Africa has recorded the most infections on the African continent, with more than 760,000 confirmed cases and more than 20,000 deaths.
The country’s lockdown restrictions were eased to their loosest in September after the rate of new cases fell.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that the South African government was joining the Covax global vaccine distribution scheme, with a committed purchase for 10% of its population of 58 million people.
We reported earlier that the World Health Organization’s regional branch for the Americas has said the region saw more than 1.5m cases in the last seven days.
Now, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is recommended postponing or reducing mass gatherings during the approaching holiday season. Its assistant director Jarbas Barbosa has said:
This is not the time to be hosting any large gatherings ... during a pandemic, there is no such thing as a risk-free holiday season. Religious services should be held outdoors whenever possible or limited in size.
With every gathering, every shopping trip and every travel plan increasing the chances of spreading the virus, the safest option for everyone is to stay at home.
The organisation does not recommend relying on laboratory tests for travellers because they do not guarantee safe travel or eliminate the risks related to infected travellers, he said.
The Americas reported more than 1.5m cases in the last seven days, the highest weekly number since the start of the pandemic, the organisation said.
The rapid surge of infections in the United States continues, and cases have accelerated in countries of North, Central and South America, it said. In Canada, infections are rising particularly among the elderly and indigenous communities, Barbosa said.
Panama’s has signed an agreement with the drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech to purchase 3m vaccine doses, it has said. The vaccine doses will be distributed during 2021 pending clinical success and local regulatory approval, the government said.
Italy has reported 722 deaths – down from 853 the day before – and 25,853 new infections, –slightly up from 23,232 on Tuesday, the health ministry said.
There were 230,007 swabs carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 188,659.
Italy was the first Western country to be hit by the virus and has seen 52,028 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February; the second highest toll in Europe after Britain’s. It has also registered 1.48 million cases.
While Italy’s daily death tolls have been amongst the highest in Europe over recent days, the rise in hospital admissions and intensive care occupancy has slowed.
The number of people in hospital stood at 34,313 on Wednesday; a decline of 264 from the day before.
The number in intensive care rose by 32, following an increase of six on Tuesday, and now stands at 3,848.
When Italy’s second wave was accelerating fast in the first half of November, hospital admissions were rising by around 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy was increasing by about 100 per day.
The northern region of Lombardy, centred on Italy’s financial capital Milan, remained the hardest hit area on Wednesday, reporting 5,173 new cases.
Americas record worst week – WHO branch says
The Americas reported more than 1.5m cases in the last seven days; the highest weekly number since the start of the pandemic, the World Health Organization regional branch PAHO has said.
The rapid surge of infections in the US continues and cases have accelerated in countries of North, Central and South America, PAHO said. In Canada, infections are rising particularly among the elderly and indigenous communities, the PAHO’s assistant director Jarbas Barbosa has said.
Updated
In Egypt, an inventor is trialling a remote control robot that can test for coronavirus and tell patients off for not wearing face masks.
Mahmoud el-Komy, who designed the robot, says it can help limit exposure to infection and prevent the transmission of the virus.
His creation, called Cira-03, has a human-like face and head and robotic arms with which it can check temperatures, take blood tests, perform echocardiograms and X-rays, and display the results to patients on a screen attached to its chest.
Reuters quoted him as saying:
I tried to make the robot seem more human, so that the patient doesn’t fear it. So they don’t feel like a box is walking in on them. There has been a positive response from patients. They saw the robot and weren’t afraid. On the contrary, there is more trust in this because the robot is more precise than humans.
Cira-03 tests a patient for coronavirus by cupping their chin and then extending an arm with a swab into their mouth.
Abu Bakr El-Mihi, head of a private hospital where the robot is being tested, said they were using the robot to take the temperature of anyone suspected of having Covid-19.
United States reports 2,157 new coronavirus deaths in 24 hours – a person every 40 seconds
The daily coronavirus death toll in the US reached 2,157 on Tuesday – one person every 40 seconds. It was the first time since May that deaths from Covid-19 had passed 2,000 in 24 hours.
The deadliest day in more than six months was still short of the record of 2,806 deaths on 14 April, the Reuters news agency said, citing its own tally of official data.
Also on Tuesday, 170,000 new infections were reported, while hospitalisations reached 87,000. Experts say the numbers of infections may grow with millions of Americans disregarding official warnings and traveling for Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday
Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stressed the need to “hang in there a bit longer” on wearing masks, maintaining distance and avoiding crowds, especially indoors.
“If we do those things, we’re going to get through it. So that’s my final plea before the holiday,” Fauci told the ABC News programme Good Morning America on Wednesday.
Updated
New coronavirus regulations in India call on local authorities to establish “containment zones”, with strict controls on inhabitants’ movements in and out.
A statement issued by the Indian home ministry, quoted by Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, said:
The main focus of the guidelines is to consolidate the substantial gains that have been achieved against the spread of Covid-19, which is visible in the steady decline in the number of active cases in the country. Further, keeping in view the recent spike in new cases in few states, ongoing festival season and onset of winter, it is emphasised that to fully overcome the pandemic, there is a need to maintain caution and to strictly follow the prescribed containment strategy, focus on surveillance, containment and strict observance of the guidelines issued by the ministry of health.
Only essential activities will be allowed within containment zones, with people allowed in or out only to supply essential goods and services, or for medical emergencies.
Updated
There has been another week-on-week rise in the number of first time claims for unemployment benefits in the US, as the resurgent coronavirus crisis undermined Labour market recovery.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 778,000 for the week ended 21 November, Reuters quoted the Labor Department as saying – the second straight weekly increase in claims.
Unadjusted claims jumped 78,372 to 827,710. Economists prefer the unadjusted number because the economic shock caused by the pandemic has made it difficult to adjust for seasonal fluctuations in claims.
In total, including a government-funded programme for the self-employed, gig workers and others not covered by regular state unemployment programmes, 1.14 million people filed claims last week.
There were at least 20.5 million people collecting unemployment benefits in early November.
The number of claims have dropped from a record 6.9 million in March, after about 80% of the people temporarily laid off in March and April were rehired. That improvement, which spilled over to the broader economy through robust consumer spending, was spurred by a massive injection of cash into the economy by the government.
In a separate report on Wednesday, the Commerce Department confirmed the economy’s historic pace of expansion in the third quarter.
Gross domestic product grew at an unrevised 33.1% annualised rate, the government said in its second estimate of third-quarter output. The economy shrank at a 31.4% rate in the second quarter, the deepest contraction since the government started keeping records in 1947.
But not all were benefiting from the economic rebound. Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG in New York, said:
There is a two-tier recovery from the pandemic recession where the top of society continues to spend as normal while the bottom-half of the country sits in long lines at food banks with the opportunities for employment few and far between.
Updated
Christmas celebrations in Spain may be limited to just six people, the country’s prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has said.
“This is not a number we have pulled out of nowhere,” Sanchez was quoted as saying by Reuters.
It is a number that health professionals, scientists have told us is sufficiently rigorous and restrictive to prevent another surge in infections.
The restrictions will be negotiated with regional authorities, meaning some changes could still be introduced.
Some changes could still be introduced. Regional health chiefs, including in Catalonia and Madrid, are advocating for a less stringent limit of 10 people for holiday gatherings. The final restrictions will be the result of negotiations between them and the government.
While the rate of infection in Spain has slowed in the past month, its overall tally of nearly 1.6 million cases is the second highest in western Europe after France. On Tuesday, the death toll rose by 537 to 43,668, marking the highest daily increase of the pandemic’s second wave.
This is Damien Gayle taking the reins on the blog for a while, while Kevin takes a rest.
The idea of restaurants cooking for the poor during the pandemic has been replicated elsewhere in Italy and throughout the world.
But perhaps nowhere else is it as organised as in Turin, which hopes the idea can be sustained and even expanded.
The gamut of participating restaurants – whose chefs and staff donate their time and often use donated ingredients – runs from simple trattorias and restaurants serving ethnic food to Turin’s haute-cuisine institutions.
They began during Italy’s national lockdown earlier this year and have continued when new regional restrictions were imposed; a response to a surge in cases that has seen the death toll pass 50,000.
Their kitchens churn out meals like pasta with bechamel sauce, baked Savoy cabbage with cheese or other simple, protein-rich meals.
Once finished, volunteers take the meals to groups that distribute them, including an order of Franciscan monks, and the lay Catholic association Sant’Egidio.
Priest Mauro Battaglino of the Order of Friars Minor said more than 400 people were lining up each day at his premises – double the number before the pandemic.
“After the lockdown the problems continued,” he said, citing people who lost their jobs or part-time work, as well as the homeless relying on handouts now reduced due to the lack of street traffic and tourists. “I don’t see this ending soon.”
In the kitchen of the Michelin-starred Del Cambio restaurant, the chef Matteo Baronetto fusses over a boiling vat of paccheri – fat pasta tubes to be immersed in a light tomato sauce.
But the delicious meals will not be served to patrons of this historic eatery in the Italian city of Turin, which is shut because of the latest restrictions, AFP reports. Instead, they will be handed out to those in need.
Baronetto is part of the “Solidarity Kitchens” project, a network of 21 restaurants, volunteers and charities in the northern city that has served up about 35,000 meals since it began in late March.
The project coordinator Andrea Chiuni, the head chef of the Tre Galline (“Three Hens”) restaurant, said it did not take a lot of extra effort for professional chefs to whip up a simple, nutritious meal, even for hundreds.
Above all, the cooks on our team are so happy to belong to this movement. It’s harder to get them to stay another 30 minutes for clients than to stay longer to do this.
The owner of a Frankfurt restaurant is staging a protest against the lockdown in Germany by filling his tables with a hundred stuffed toy pandas, in a play on the word “pandemic”.
On Wednesday, German officials are expected to agree to extend a “lockdown light” until 20 December after initially imposing it on 2 November. It means bars, restaurants and entertainment venues must stay closed, while shops and schools can remain open.
Guiseppe Fichera, the manager of the restaurant Pino, said:
We wanted to put some life back into our restaurant. They are Panda-Mic pandas.
The pandas are seated at the restaurant’s tables and propped up at the bar, some with bottles of Corona beer.
“It is a silent protest. An offer to our guests,” Fichera said, adding he would keep the lights on all day and night as long as the lockdown lasts so passersby can enjoy the display.
The German government has said it will extend financial aid for firms hit by the restrictions, which, according to sources, could add up to €20bn (£17.57bn, $23.81bn) in December, in addition to an estimated €10-15bn in November.
Updated
The regional government of Madrid is proposing allowing groups of up to 10 people to gather on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and the feast of the Epiphany (6 January). The number of different households allowed to mix would be capped at three.
Under the plans, which have been submitted to the central government, the current midnight to 6am curfew would be replaced on those days by one running from 1.30am to 6am.
At all other times over the festive period, gatherings would be limited to six people and the 12am-6am curfew would remain in force.
The central government is currently consulting with Spain’s 17 autonomous regions over Christmas plans, but has suggested gatherings should be capped at six people and that the curfew on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve should run from 1am to 6am.
Sicily asks Cuba to send doctors and nurses
Authorities in Sicily have asked Cuba’s government to send to the region about 60 health operators, including doctors and nurses, as hospitals are struggling with a shortage of medical personnel during the second wave.
The request was filed this week to the Italian embassy in Cuba and consists of intensive care specialists, nurses, anaesthetists, resuscitators, virologists and pneumologists, the Italian newspaper la Repubblica has reported.
On 4 November, Rome designated Sicily as an “orange zone”, at high risk, mainly because of the lack of health facilities and beds in intensive care units.
On Monday, Italy’s government asked health inspectors to investigate whether Sicily attempted to avoid going into the high-contagion-risk red zone by inflating ICU bed numbers.
There were a further 48 deaths on the island on Tuesday; the highest daily toll since the beginning of the pandemic.
Updated
Summary
Here’s a summary of the most recent developments:
- Germany reported 410 deaths in 24 hours; its worst such toll since the pandemic began. It came as the chancellor Angela Merkel met with 16 federal state leaders to discuss restrictions for the Christmas and new year holidays.
- Iran recorded its worst daily caseload, with the health ministry reporting 13,843 new infections. That pushed the national tally to 894,385 in the Middle East’s worst-hit country. The ministry’s spokeswoman, Sima Sadat Lari, told state TV the death toll rose by 469 in 24 hours to 46,207.
- Global cases near 60m. There are 59,759,494 known coronavirus cases worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, as the world nears another sad milestone: 60m cases.The virus has killed more than 1.4m people around the world.
- Test and trace fails to contact 110,000 in English Covid hot spots. The British government’s £22bn test-and-trace system has failed to reach more than 100,000 people exposed to coronavirus in England’s worst-hit areas since the second wave began, official figures show, with four in 10 not asked to self-isolate.
- Japan has withdrawn the cities of Osaka and Sapporo from its controversial Go To Travel campaign, which was launched in July to help the country’s Covid-hit economy. Pressure has been building on the government to rethink the scheme, which offers generous discounts on travel and accommodation, after experts said it was contributing to the recent rise in coronavirus infections in parts of Japan.
- French president says lockdown to ease starting this weekend. In France, president Emmanuel Macron announced a three-stage easing of the country’s month-long lockdown, beginning this weekend with the reopening of “non-essential” businesses such as hairdressers and clothes shops, which will have to observe strict distancing rules and close at 9pm.
- CDC may shorten quarantine period guidelines. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may soon shorten the length of self-quarantine period recommended after potential exposure to the coronavirus, a top official said on Tuesday. Health authorities currently recommend a 14-day quarantine in order to curb transmission of the virus but an official said Tuesday that there is evidence that the period could be shortened if patients are tested for the virus during their quarantine.
- A senior leader of India’s Congress party died of coronavirus related complications on Wednesday, his family said, a second veteran from the opposition group to fall victim to the virus in recent days, as total cases in the country touched the 9.2m mark. Ahmed Patel, a lawmaker who was party treasurer and was seen as close to the Gandhi family that leads the party, was detected with Covid-19 a month ago and died of multi-organ failure, his family said in a statement.
Updated
The pandemic has hit Italy’s already historically low birth rate, new projections from the national statistics agency reveal.
Italy had already recorded its lowest number of births for 150 years, at 420,000, but this could fall to 408,000 in 2020 and 393,000 in 2021, according to Istat.
The projections were presented by the Istat chief Gian Carlo Blangiardo to lawmakers on Tuesday. The Agence France-Presse news agency (AFP) quoted him as saying:
The climate of fear and uncertainty as well as financial difficulties … caused by recent events will have a negative effect on the fertility of Italian couples.
The demographic recession that has hit Italy since 2015 is significant and translates into a real collapse that has no equivalent in Italian history, except if we go back to 1917-18, with the first world war and the dramatic effects of the Spanish flu.
Women and young people have been particularly badly affected by the crisis. The hospitality industry in particular is still suffering as a result of a nationwide night curfew and early closing for bars and restaurants introduced to stem a new wave, while even tighter restrictions are in place in the regions most at risk.
Employment among women fell by 1.9% between February and September this year, compared to 1.1% for men, as people were more likely to lose their jobs during lockdown and see a slower recovery, according to Istat.
It warned that the crisis was “amplifying existing inequalities in the labour market”.
The pandemic destroyed 80% of jobs gained by women since the financial crisis of 2008. Between 2008 and 2019, Italy recorded an extra 602,000 jobs held by women. But it only took three months between April and June this year to lose 470,000 of them.
In Italy, only half of women work, compared with 73% in Germany, 62% in France and 58% in Spain. Only Greece has a worst female employment level in Europe, at just 47%.
Updated
Iran reports worst day for cases
Iran has recorded its worst daily caseload, with the health ministry reporting 13,843 new infections. That pushes the national tally to 894,385 in the Middle East’s worst-hit country.
The ministry’s spokeswoman, Sima Sadat Lari, has told state TV that the death toll rose by 469 in the past 24 hours to 46,207.
Iran’s health officials have voiced alarm over a surge in infections, urging the nation to adhere to the health protocols, including wearing face masks and social distancing. On Saturday, the nation introduced tougher restrictions for two weeks to stem a third wave; including closing non-essential businesses and travel curbs.
Updated
Hello, I’m taking over the blog from Lexy Topping and I’ll be with you for the next few hours. If you’d like to draw my attention to anything, your best bet’s probably Twitter, where I’m KevinJRawlinson.
Zambia has become the first African country to default on its debts since the pandemic, leading to fears that a “debt tsunami” could engulf the continent’s most heavily indebted nations as the financial impact of coronavirus hits.
A hastily arranged G20 finance minister meeting in Saudi Arabia failed to sort out Zambia’s debt, after the southern African country missed a $42.5m (£32m) coupon payment on its bonds in October. Missing another payment on 14 November meant a technical default.
Zambia’s finance minister, Bwalya Ng’andu, was quick to blame the banks and asset and fund managers who wanted to see more transparency over an estimated $3bn debt to China, but who refused to sign the necessary confidentiality agreements, he said.
Updated
Indonesia has reported a record daily rise in coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, with 5,534 new cases, bringing the total to 511,836, according to its Covid-19 taskforce.
The taskforce’s data also showed 114 new Covid-19 deaths, bringing total fatalities to 16,225.
South-east Asia’s biggest country has the region’s highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths.
Updated
Millions of Americans are travelling and gathering for the Thanksgiving holiday, in spite of dire and urgent warnings from US doctors, nurses, health authorities and hospitals not to do so.
The travel raises the possibility of a “surge superimposed on a surge”, in the words of Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, and of a wave of deaths as Christmas arrives.
Dr Syra Madad, an infectious disease epidemiologist for New York City hospitals, said:
There is so much community transmission all over the United States that the chances of you encountering somebody that has Covid-19 is actually very, very high, whether it’s on an airplane, at the airport or at a rest area.
Updated
In Germany, Saxony’s premier Michael Kretschmer has warned of a collapse of medical care in the coming weeks as 16 federal state leaders and Chancellor Angela Merkel are due to meet to discuss restrictions for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
He told MDR radio:
The situation in the hospitals is worrying … We cannot guarantee medical care at this high level (of infections).
Reuters reports that the federal states are expected to decide on Wednesday to extend the “lockdown light” until 20 December, keeping bars, restaurants and entertainment venues shut while schools and shops stay open.
A draft proposal on Tuesday showed the plan would reduce the number of people allowed to meet to five from 1 December, but allow gatherings of up to 10 people over Christmas and new year to let families and friends celebrate together.
State leaders will also discuss whether to split school classes into smaller units and teach them at varying times, as well as a possible earlier start of Christmas school holidays.
The government plans to extend financial aid for firms hit by the restrictions, which, according to sources, could add up to €20bn ($23.81bn) in December to an estimated €10-15bn bill in November.
The Conservative parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus urged the federal states to take over part of the costs for the coronavirus measures. He told the RTL/ntv broadcaster:
It is now time for the states to take on financial responsibility.
Updated
Germany reports record covid-19 deaths
Germany has reported a record 410 Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, Reuters reports.
It comes as Chancellor Angela Merkel meets with 16 federal state leaders to discuss restrictions for the Christmas and new year holidays.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 18,633 to 961,320, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed.
That was 1,072 cases more than the day before but 5,015 less than the record increase reported on Friday.
Updated
Russia has reported a record 507 coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours on, taking its national death toll to 37,538 since the pandemic began.
Authorities confirmed 23,675 new cases of the virus, including 4,685 in Moscow, taking the total number of infections to 2,162,503 since the start of the outbreak.
In the UK, where the government has said three households will be able to gather for five days over Christmas, many voices are, in fact, advising people not to do so.
Last night, Prof Andrew Hayward, a member of the government’s Sage advisory committee, told the BBC’s Newsnight programme:
Effectively what this will be doing is throwing fuel on the Covid fire.
He said household mixing at Christmas would “likely lead to a third wave” and is a “recipe for regret”.
"Effectively what this will be doing is throwing fuel on the Covid fire."
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) November 24, 2020
Sage member Professor Andrew Hayward says household mixing at Christmas will "likely lead to a third wave" and is a "recipe for regret"#Newsnight | https://t.co/8zD8dnigeK pic.twitter.com/zVtFM7zWSS
This morning, the Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, said the decision to agree a relaxing of restrictions over Christmas was to avoid a “free for all”. Speaking to Good Morning Britain, he said:
I think it was very clear to us from the advice we received at the Cobra meeting, but also from what we hear in Wales, that unless we found a formula that allowed people to get together over Christmas, people were very unlikely to be willing to stick to the current level of restrictions that we have here in Wales.
So the choice was between a guided form of meeting over Christmas or people simply making their own solutions.
Drakeford said it was “not a matter of encouraging people” to gather over the festive period. He added:
It is finding a set of rules that give us a guided way to Christmas – without the rules that we’ve agreed, I think the risk was very high that people would simply make up the rules for themselves.
Updated
It’s Thanksgiving in the US tomorrow, and officials have been urging people to stay at home rather than travelling to see family.
The New York Times have done a zippy map, showing where people are staying home, and where they aren’t. It worked with survey firm Dynata, which analysed more than 150,000 survey responses from Nov. 13-23.
Nationwide, the survey found that only about 27% of Americans plan to dine with people outside their household. But there is substantial regional variation: in parts of Vermont only about 14% of households will be celebrating with people outside their household; in parts of Missouri, more than half of residents plan to.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday urged Americans to avoid travel for Thanksgiving and to celebrate only with members of their immediate households.
Erin Sauber-Schatz, who leads the agency’s community intervention and critical population taskforce, said:
The safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving this year is at home with members of your household.
If you haven’t already seen it, this map from Georgia Tech assesses the risk level of attending an event, given the event size and location.
This interactive tool made at Georgia Tech can help you plan for your Covid-19 risk this holiday season. Choose any county in America and an event size and see the chances that at least one Covid-19 positive individual will be present. ➡️ https://t.co/YWLEc0V6ql pic.twitter.com/cEOhl8ZsnH
— Georgia Tech (@GeorgiaTech) November 17, 2020
Updated
Having once had the highest Covid-19 rate in south-east Asia, Singapore has all but eradicated the virus after reporting 14 days without any new local cases on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
Singapore’s government said it had snuffed out the last cluster of infection at a worker dormitory.
While Singapore has reported zero local cases for two weeks, there has been a trickle of infected people arriving from abroad who have been immediately isolated, authorities say.
This is Alexandra Topping, with you for the next few hours. My thanks, as ever, to the blogging legend that is Helen Sullivan. Please do get in touch from where you are and let us know what is going on, and if we have missed anything. I’m on
lexandra.topping@theguardian.com and I’m @lexytopping on Twitter - my DMs are open.
Updated
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan.
Here is a story about a prank call – just released to the public – that happened all the way back in January, before we knew so much more about coronavirus than anyone should have to:
Summary
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- Global cases near 60m. There are currently 59,759,494 known coronavirus cases worldwide, according to hte Johns Hopkins University tracker, as the world nears another sad milestone: 60m cases.The virus has killed more than 1.4m people around the world.
- Test and trace fails to contact 110,000 in English Covid hot spots. The British government’s £22bn test-and-trace system has failed to reach more than 100,000 people exposed to coronavirus in England’s worst-hit areas since the second wave began, official figures show, with four in 10 not asked to self-isolate.
- Japan has withdrawn the cities of Osaka and Sapporo from its controversial Go To Travel campaign, which was launched in July to help the country’s Covid-hit economy. Pressure has been building on the government to rethink the scheme, which offers generous discounts on travel and accommodation, after experts said it was contributing to the recent rise in coronavirus infections in parts of Japan.
- French president says lockdown to ease starting this weekend. In France, president Emmanuel Macron announced a three-stage easing of the country’s month-long lockdown, beginning this weekend with the reopening of “non-essential” businesses such as hairdressers and clothes shops, which will have to observe strict distancing rules and close at 9pm.
- CDC may shorten quarantine period guidelines. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may soon shorten the length of self-quarantine period recommended after potential exposure to the coronavirus, a top official said on Tuesday. Health authorities currently recommend a 14-day quarantine in order to curb transmission of the virus but an official said Tuesday that there is evidence that the period could be shortened if patients are tested for the virus during their quarantine.
- A senior leader of India’s Congress party died of coronavirus related complications on Wednesday, his family said, a second veteran from the opposition group to fall victim to the virus in recent days, as total cases in the country touched the 9.2 million mark. Ahmed Patel, a lawmaker who was party treasurer and was seen as close to the Gandhi family that leads the party, was detected with Covid-19 a month ago and died of multi-organ failure, his family said in a statement.
The government spent £10bn more buying personal protective equipment in “chaotic” and inflated market conditions during the pandemic than it would have paid for the same products last year, according to a report by the parliamentary spending watchdog.
But less than 10% of the gloves, gowns, face masks and other products – ordered for a total £12.5bn – had been delivered to NHS trusts and other frontline organisations by the end of July, the National Audit Office (NAO) report found.
Of 32bn items ordered at exponentially rising prices, 2.6bn had been distributed by July. The controversial “parallel supply chain”, rapidly set up by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in March, has still not received much of the PPE it ordered, the report said, “with some of it not yet manufactured”:
Test and trace fails to contact 110,000 in English Covid hot spots
The British government’s £22bn test-and-trace system has failed to reach more than 100,000 people exposed to coronavirus in England’s worst-hit areas since the second wave began, official figures show, with four in 10 not asked to self-isolate.
A Guardian analysis found that the privately run arm of the test-and-trace programme had reached 58% of the close contacts of infected people in the country’s 20 worst-hit areas since 9 September, having barely improved since its launch.
Boris Johnson defended the value of the struggling system in a Downing Street briefing on Monday after it received a further £7bn in funding, taking its cost to £22bn this year. This amounts to nearly a fifth of the NHS budget and about the same as the Department for Transport’s:
Global cases near 60m
There are currently 59,759,494 known coronavirus cases worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, as the world nears another sad milestone: 60m cases.
The virus has killed more than 1.4m people around the world.
Updated
Senior leader of India's Congress party dies of coronavirus complications
A senior leader of India’s Congress party died of coronavirus related complications on Wednesday, his family said, a second veteran from the opposition group to fall victim to the virus in recent days, as total cases in the country touched the 9.2 million mark.
Ahmed Patel, a lawmaker who was party treasurer and was seen as close to the Gandhi family that leads the party, was detected with Covid-19 a month ago and died of multi-organ failure, his family said in a statement.
India reported 44,376 new infections and 481 deaths from the coronavirus, data from the health ministry showed on Wednesday. India has recorded 9.22 million infections, the second-highest in the world after the United States, and nearly 134,700 deaths.
Single-day cases stayed below the 50,000 mark for the 18th straight day, according to a Reuters tally, but government officials and health experts have warned of a potential spike in the country after the busy festival season.
Updated
YouTube has suspended the conservative news outlet One America News Network from posting new videos for a week and from making money off of its existing videos after it promoted a sham cure for Covid-19.
The video was removed under YouTube’s policies to prevent the spread of Covid-19 misinformation, which prohibit saying there is a guaranteed cure to the virus. OANN has been suspended for “repeated violations” of this policy, said YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi.
“Since early in this pandemic, we’ve worked to prevent the spread of harmful misinformation associated with Covid-19 on YouTube,” Choi said:
Ah, New Zealanders:
New Zealand’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been ranked the best in the world by Bloomberg, “thanks to decisive, swift action.”
It reports:
The small island nation locked down on March 26 before a single Covid-related death had occurred, shutting its borders despite the economy’s heavy reliance on tourism. Early on, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s government said it would targettarget “elimination” of the virus, pouring resources into testing, contact tracing and a centralized quarantine strategy to snuff out local transmission.
Having largely achieved it, New Zealanders are basically living in a world without Covid. The nation has seen just a handful of infections in the community in recent months, and live music and large-scale social events are back on. Though its tourism industries are suffering, New Zealand is also well-positioned for a vaccine with two supply deals in place, including one for the shot developed by Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech SE.
US stocks reached a historic milestone Tuesday as hurdles were removed from President-elect Joe Biden’s path to the White House in January, AFP reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 30,000 points for the first time ever as US political uncertainty declined and confidence grew that vaccines for the coronavirus could soon be available around the world.
In addition to news that the administration of President Donald Trump was starting to work with Biden’s team, the “Keystone State” of Pennsylvania certified his victory there, all but ensuring that Biden would be officially declared the next US leader.
“Signs of movement in the US political deadlock have combined with the steady drip of vaccine news to underpin” stocks, commented Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG trading group.
Near 1645 GMT, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 1.5% at a record 30,026.68 points.
“What’s prevailing in the stock market right now... is a belief that only good outcomes will prevail, whether we are talking about leadership transitions, the coronavirus, the economy, earnings, interest rates, inflation, and the performance of the stock market itself,” Patrick J. O’Hare at Briefing.com said.
In Europe, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index closed with a gain of 1.6%, with airlines boosted by news that England will loosen quarantine rules for travellers from abroad.
Frankfurt’s DAX 30 added 1.3%, as investors reacted also to data showing that Germany’s economy grew by a better-than-expected 8.5% in the third quarter.
Updated
In Australia, the opposition Labor party has demanded that the government explain why it did not embrace a Zoom-based campaign for former finance minister Mathias Cormann’s OECD candidacy, after Scott Morrison claimed Cormann would have contracted Covid-19 if he had used commercial flights.
It has also emerged Cormann is planning another leg of his travels after crisscrossing Europe in a Royal Australian Air Force plane, with further trips scheduled to two South American countries that are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development:
In Brussels, the EU has announced it is concluding a sixth contract to reserve doses - this time for up to 160 million from US giant Moderna, AFP reports.
“Every member state will receive it at the same time on a pro rata basis,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said.
France’s Macron, in his address Tuesday, said he hoped that the first Covid vaccines would be available for use by the end of December or in early January.
Austria said it would acquire more than 16 million doses of the vaccine through the EU and could start a vaccination campaign in January.
The government in Spain, one of the worst-hit countries in Europe, also said vaccinations could start in January and care home residents would have priority, followed by medical workers.
Even once a vaccine becomes available, any return to normality for a global economy ravaged by the pandemic seems a long way off.
The boss of Australia’s Qantas airline, Alan Joyce, on Tuesday said proof of vaccination would likely become the only way people will be allowed to fly.
Aviation’s global industry body IATA said Tuesday it estimated that airline revenue this year would plunge 60%.
After a gruelling year of successive waves of Covid-19 infections and national lockdowns there has been a burst of good news this month, with three separate vaccine candidates performing extremely well in clinical trials.
First, Pfizer and Moderna announced that their vaccines were testing at an efficacy of around 95%. Then came the news that the AstraZeneca vaccine (the one pre-ordered in bulk by the UK government) was hitting 90%. It marks not just a new phase in the Covid-19 pandemic but potentially a revolution in vaccine technology itself.
As the Guardian’s health editor, Sarah Boseley, tells Anushka Asthana, the science of mRNA – one of the building blocks of life – is the key to the success of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. By synthesising a replica of the distinctive coronavirus “spike protein”, the body mounts an immune response that fights off the virus.
It’s a technology being used by Robin Shattock at Imperial College London, who tells Anushka that his lab is also hopeful of producing an effective Covid-19 vaccine. But beyond that, the breakthroughs made this year could hold the key to fighting cancer and other deadly diseases in the future:
Japan withdraws Osaka and Sapporo from Go To campaign
Japan has withdrawn the cities of Osaka and Sapporo from its controversial Go To Travel campaign, which was launched in July to help the country’s Covid-hit economy.
Pressure has been building on the government to rethink the scheme, which offers generous discounts on travel and accommodation, after experts said it was contributing to the recent rise in coronavirus infections in parts of Japan.
“We have agreed to temporarily exclude trips destined for the cities of Sapporo and Osaka from the travel campaign,” the economy minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, told reporters.
“Although we have tried to balance economic revitalisation with virus containment, we have made this decision at the request of local governors.”
The decision is a blow to attempts by the prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, to support regional economies during the pandemic.
Osaka and Sapporo will be off-limits until 15 December, but an association of regional governors said the new restrictions should also apply to residents of those cities planning to travel to other parts of the country.
“Many governors are worried about people coming from areas where infections are spreading. I want (the government) to think of thorough measures,” Kamon Iizumi, the governor of Tokushima prefecture, told Nishimura, according to the Kyodo news agency.
The main island of Hokkaido, where Sapporo is located, has recorded more than 200 cases a day since 18 November, while Osaka reported a record 490 caseson Sunday.
International travel received a boost, however, after Japan and China agreed to resume business trips, with travellers exempted from 14 days’ quarantine period provided they test negative for Covid-19 and submit their itinerary. Japan has agreed similar arrangements with Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam.
Almost 9.6 million Chinese visited Japan last year, according to the Japan National Tourism Organisation, including 370,000 business travelers.
Samoa’s only confirmed case of Covid is… well… perhaps not as confirmed as first thought.
A sailor who had flown into Samoa on a repatriation flight on November 13 was the first person to test positive for the novel coronavirus in Samoa when he was swabbed while in isolation last week.
But subsequent tests have proven inconclusive.
“The sailor on his left nostril tested positive and on his right one tested negative,” Samoa’s prime minister Tuila’epa Sailele Malielegaoi told an extraordinary press conference.
“We will send blood samples for testing in New Zealand and results will be attained by next week Monday.”
Addressing the nation live on television and radio last week, the prime minister urged people to stay calm and remain vigilant with their virus precautions.
“Samoa will continue as normal with current restrictions imposed with faith in God.”
The Pacific is the least Covid-infected region on earth. The small and remote island nations and territories of Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, Norfolk island and Pitcairn island are believed to be still free of the virus.
Mexico’s health ministry on Tuesday reported 10,794 additional cases of the novel coronavirus and 813 more deaths in the country, bringing the official number of cases to 1,060,152 and the death toll to 102,739.
Health officials have said the real number of infections is likely significantly higher.
In non-coronavirus news, a mass stranding on the far-flung Chatham Islands in the Pacific Ocean has resulted in the deaths of more than 120 whales.
Ninety-seven pilot whales and three dolphins have died in the stranding, with 28 pilot whales and three dolphins having to be euthanised, said staff from New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DoC).
Tragedy in Tasmania: what are pilot whales, and why do they strand themselves?Read more
The Chatham Islands is part of New Zealand but lies 800km to the east, delaying the mission to rescue the animals. The DoC said the mass-stranding occurred on a “remote beach” over the weekend and it was alerted to the event on Sunday:
China recorded five new Covid-19 cases on 24 November, down from 22 a day earlier, the national health authority said on Wednesday.
All new cases were imported infections originating from overseas, the National Health Commission said in a statement.
The commission also reported six new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, compared with eight a day earlier.
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 86,469, while the death toll is at 4,634.
Handling bank notes poses only a low risk of spreading Covid-19, the Bank of England has said, after it commissioned research to find out how long the virus lasts on cash.
The use of notes has dropped sharply since the pandemic hit in March, and the Bank said one reason could be fears that cash can carry the virus.
After reopening following the first lockdown, many shops and hospitality venues encouraged consumers to make contactless payments, while some refused to take any cash:
A charity has called it “heartbreaking” that in the UK, care home residents over 65 will not be allowed to join loved ones at Christmas, despite an easing of restrictions over the festive period.
Families will be allowed to reunite when measures are temporarily eased from 23 to 27 December, allowing three households to form a “Christmas bubble”.
But government guidance for care homes in England says that outside visits should only be considered for residents of working age, due to the increased risk of exposure to coronavirus:
Updated
CDC may shorten quarantine period guidelines
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may soon shorten the length of self-quarantine period recommended after potential exposure to the coronavirus, a top official said on Tuesday.
Health authorities currently recommend a 14-day quarantine in order to curb transmission of the virus but an official said Tuesday that there is evidence that the period could be shortened if patients are tested for the virus during their quarantine.
“Let me confirm that we are constantly reviewing the evidence and we are starting to have evidence that a shorter quarantine complemented by tests might be able to shorten that quarantine period from 14 days to shorter days,” a top US health official said on a Tuesday press call.
He did not say what the duration of a shorter quarantine period might be.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the new quarantine period would likely be between seven and 10 days and include a test to prove that the person no longer has Covid-19, citing a CDC official.
The official added that people might be more likely to comply with a shorter quarantine period, even if it meant some infections might be missed, the Journal reported.
French president says lockdown to ease starting this weekend
In France, president Emmanuel Macron announced a three-stage easing of the country’s month-long lockdown, beginning this weekend with the reopening of “non-essential” businesses such as hairdressers and clothes shops, which will have to observe strict distancing rules and close at 9pm.
Churches and some cultural venues will also be able to reopen from 1 December, with a maximum of 30 visitors, and people would be allowed to exercise within a 20km (12-mile) radius of their homes and for up to three hours, rather than the current 1km, one-hour limits.
Providing infection numbers have fallen to about 5,000 a day, lockdown will be formally lifted on 15 December, allowing holiday travel, Macron said – although a nationwide 9pm-7am curfew would be in force except on 24 and 31 December, and all private festive gatherings would be expected to observe strict distancing rules.
A third stage would begin from 20 January, Macron said, when bars, restaurants and clubs should be able to reopen.
Summary
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In France, president Emmanuel Macron announced a three-stage easing of the country’s month-long lockdown, beginning this weekend with the reopening of “non-essential” businesses such as hairdressers and clothes shops, which will have to observe strict distancing rules and close at 9pm.
Meanwhile the global death toll has passed another sad milestone, with more than 1.4m dead since the start of the pandemic after more than 8,000 deaths were reported.
Global cases are nearing 60m.
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- Germany’s 16 federal states are likely to approve gatherings of a maximum of 10 people during the festive season, according to a draft proposal due to be discussed on Wednesday by state premiers and the country’s chancellor, Angela Merkel.
- In the UK, families will be able to gather in three-household groups of any size over Christmas, bringing warnings from scientists that the plan will almost inevitably see a rise in the number of coronavirus cases. Ministers said the “Christmas bubbles” would require people to make a “personal judgment” over risk for older relatives and others. The new rules will allow people to travel around freely from 23 to 27 December, irrespective of what local tier of Covid restrictions they live in.
- The Spanish government is planning to limit festive gatherings to six people and to set a 1am to 6am curfew for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, according to a leaked document seen by Spanish newspapers. “With respect to family gatherings, we recommend they be limited to members of the same household.
- The Finnish capital, Helsinki, meanwhile, is introducing tough new restrictions after a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus cases, with high schools, libraries and swimming pools to be closed and public events banned outright.
- In Sweden, whose light-touch anti-lockdown approach has attracted international attention, the country’s health watchdog criticised “serious shortcomings” in nursing homes, which account for nearly half of Sweden’s 6,400 Covid-19 deaths.
- Russia’s deputy prime minister, Tatiana Golikova, said on Tuesday the country’s coronavirus situation was becoming “more complicated” with the onset of autumn and winter. Russia recorded a record 25,173 new daily infections on Monday.
